“Can combining ‘process architecture’ and ‘experiential architecture’ be used to re-connect the profession with culture and in so doing ensure the building is part of the community and identity of the area?”
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KATO 14:
Securing the Future of Katowice Biotechnology Faculty University of Silesia
Elizabeth Parkinson & Benjamin Twells M A r c h P l y m o u t h Ye a r 2 2
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Contents Introduction Cultural Analysis Introduction The Problems Site History Theoretical discussion Introduction Historical & Political Context Exposure to a process Experiential architecture Conclusion (Combining the two) Brief Urban Strategy Precedents Masterplan Detailed Design: The Biotechnology Faculty building Introduction Coal Biocoal MicGas
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11 12 20 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 40 45
Technical Strategy Structural Strategy Facade Regulatory Requirements Environmental Strategy Sizing U Values The Core 1:5 Model Life of the Core Construction Strategy & CDM Tank 2 & Freetime Space Critical Appraisal Model Narrative Communication Narrative Precedents References Appendix (see separate contents)
92 94 98 100 101 110 111 112 116 118 120 124 127 128 138 144 146 149
55 57 58 62 64 Energy Network 68 Humic Matter Distribution 68 Precedents 71 Users and Programme 72 Commonalities 74 Precedents 77 Hierarchies 78 Journey 86 Precedents 91
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Introduction This project has been designed for the University of Silesia, in Katowice, Poland, as alternative proposal for the campus development they are planning to carry out. The university has a large budget and has asked to receive ambitious, interesting projects which better integrate the campus with the city. The
resources to provide lower-carbon energy security and begin to reduce the ecological contamination that is the source of many of the residents’ complaints.
they intend to strengthen the institution by planning for the future in their building decisions.
city, the building’s programme has been designed to accentuate commonalities between the city and the university. The biocoal process therefore allows a mix of people to experience the building as well as remedying issues including contamination of soil and water, and job and energy security. Using coal in the process respects the city’s history and helps to move people away from associating their
We have used the culture of Katowice as a starting culture as ‘things we all share’ in order to assess the identity of the city as a whole. These cultural investigations informed the design which intends the building explored in this booklet, with the city. The cultural investigations informed the key building, the biotechnology faculty, from the outset. Biotechnology was among the faculties listed in the university’s requirements and is the connection between the city (energy production) and the university (academia). The process of biocoal is academically compatible with bioprocess the alliance of industry and academia because it of ‘green’ energy production which, if successful, will ensure the university becomes the new heart of the city. The MicGas Biocoal process1 was invented in the USA and has been tested at medium scale production. The process turns raw coal into methane, hydrogen and a very rich decontaminant named humic matter. The city can use these
Using a process inspired by the university’s
generally with energy production. This will allow the city to adapt its energy producing methods according to new technologies and its needs at the time, thus ensuring a more resilient city. In order to connect with the city and move it away from conventional coal processing, we have designed the details of the building using inspiration from experiential architecture. With a running theme throughout of subtle interdependency, we hope to connect with and empower the individual user through detail and quality of space and thereby gain a respect for the building that will ensure its survival into the future.
1 MicGas Microbial Coal Conversion http://www.micgas.com
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Cultural Analysis Introduction
By combining process architecture (using biocoal) and experiential architecture we also hope to clarify the profession’s role in the modern world. Katowice was founded because of wealth from coal mining and has assisted Poland in being one of the top coal producers in the world.2 The area is reliant on coal for income, security and identity. The industry has been in decline since 1979 and mines have begun to downsize or close. Miners are losing their jobs and face an uncertain future. Reference can be drawn from the UK mining strikes of 1984/85 in order to foresee how Silesian communities will be affected by a crash in the market if action is not taken. As in the UK3, coal is still available to mine in the area but not at its current market value4. In 2008, 40 billion tonnes of lignite coal was discovered in Legnica (Silesia)5 and there is still 19 billion tonnes (mainly in Silesia) of mineable hard coal in Poland.6 The University in Katowice was founded during the communist era and is still spatially and practically disconnected from the city (see page 8). A feeling that neither has anything in common with the other, 2 World coal association- coal facts 3 UK Coal, world coal statistics 4 Poland’s dependence on coal By Adam Easton BBC 5 We have the largest deposits of lignite in the world.� by Maciej Nowaczyk
Silesia refers to a region of Central Europe which is now predominantly within Polish borders. It has almost 8 million inhabitants. (See map adjacent)
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Medieval Border Prussian border Present Day Polish Border
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CULTURAL ANALYSIS
History Timeline
identity, the university, employment and freetime activities. Because of Katowice’s proximity to the changing politics and borders around them they have a very strong alliance to Silesia as a region (which is no longer a wider connection to a country.
solution.
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CULTURAL ANALYSIS
spatially or otherwise, probably aids the disconnection. We wish to highlight that the root commonality is the culture, location and history that both the university and the city have experienced together. This can be used to forge an interconnected future. Although coal mining has been the centre of the community for hundreds of years, it has caused many of the problems residents are troubled by. Air, water and soil quality is deemed very low, with 22% of local farms and 38% of allotments being graded as very contaminated or contaminated.7 Furthermore, 70% of the population grow their own food.8 Residents of the area have a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in Poland.9 7 Land Contamination in Katowice Voivodeship, Poland: The role of GIS by Deborah Soloman 8 (As above) 9 (As Above)
An allotment in Katowice http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000sEMr0K_ytaE/s/850/850/008-Poland-Silesia-1991.jpg
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CULTURAL ANALYSIS
The EU set emission levels for all its member states, but energy comes from coal10, which has very high emission levels. As the EU targets cannot be met immediately, Poland must earn trading points through import/export to compensate for the extra emissions11. This enforced trading in coal is reducing its economic value and reducing Poland’s energy security by forcing it to become reliant on other energy producers.12 That is why we have proposed the biocoal process in our project because it can increase the value of the coal by up to 10 times and reduce its environmental impact. The conventional is very harmful to the environment13. All coal mining should unmined coal should be permitted. The population of Katowice has been decreasing steadily since coal production started to decline14. Despite the city having only 4% unemployment, 30% of the working population are in insecure jobs. Voting percentages are low in Katowice15, diagram left). By empowering the individual through the programme and integrating residents of the city we hope to create unity, increase job security, and improve engagement with politics. 10 Poland’s dependence on coal By Adam Easton BBC News, Warsaw 23 April 2012 11 (As Above) 12 Poland’s Energy Security Strategy (article) 13 John Burn-Murdoch, Information is beautiful (book) 2011 14 Urban shrinkage in Bytom and Sosnowiec, the Katowice Conurba15 Reports on major Polish cities: Katowice, 2011 by PWC
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CULTURAL ANALYSIS
The university campus itself is physically isolated from the rest of the city by large main roads. There is a lack of a clear centre to both the city and the campus; the majority of the campus is dedicated to car parking, adding to the lack of a sense of unity and community.
Fragmentation of the City
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A lack of clear centre of the city and the campus
Disproportionate car parking provision on campus
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CULTURAL ANALYSIS
SITE HISTORY
1904. Terrace houses are present. Adjacent to a green space with ponds feeding the nearby mine. 1912. the site. The site is largely unchanged from this period to today. See appendix for historical maps.
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Securing the future of Katowice Architecture Can combining ‘process architecture’ and ‘experiential architecture’ be used to re-connect the profession with culture and in so doing ensure the building is part of the community and identity of the area?
This project attempts to re-link architecture with culture by taking two, usually mutually exclusive, methods of design and testing how they can work together to ensure a useful but also meaningful building. The profession’s previous link with culture and the perceived importance of that link has been degraded over the past century. The particular skills of the modern architect are often undervalued and, it could be said, architects themselves are confused about their role. By re-linking architecture and culture we hope to achieve the following: to strengthen the profession by clarifying its role and perceived value and, in so doing, utilise architecture skills to improve the human environment.
building will enable each user to fully interact with the design, therefore experiencing culture on a personal scale. Connecting with the individual will facilitate a connection with the community and ensure the long-term survival of the building. By clearly demonstrating the value of hiring an architect. References in this section are to Peter Zumthor’s skills in using materiality to invoke feeling and Andy Goldsworthy’s approach to
These ideas have been implemented into our design for Katowice by doing two main things. Firstly, (controlled) exposure to industry. The industrial process enables our biotechnology building’s programme to connect with the currently black energy producing culture of Silesia. The process of turning coal into biocoal will help physically represent the importance of how all aspects of the community are connected through energy production. The process also ensures the building will be functional and useful, factors which are essential to strengthen the architecture’s reputation. The programme will also be used to provide a type of community architecture, which is a typology that is often neglected by the modern architect.
and also within architectural education.
Reference will be made in this section to the Science & Technology “Give me a laboratory and I will raise the world”1. The manner in which Katowice coal mine memorial for all the miners who have died in the mines.
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Secondly, experiential architecture. The spatial composition of the 1 Give Me a Laboratory and I will Raise the World, Bruno Latour Paris 1881
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Historical and Political Context Overall the quality of the built environment, especially in the UK and the USA is decreasing. The perceived value of architects is also decreasing; their role has become confused with other professions, all of whom have different agendas; for example, the developer who is often perceived to be cheaper. This issue has stems from the lack of legislation in the UK, which allows anyone to be able to design buildings without the guidance of an architect. This relies on the assumption that the public are able to understand the value of hiring an architect despite there being no legislation requiring them to do so. The lack of legislation has also led to a number of other professions undercutting an architect’s fees.
natural world. Architecture is usually disconnected from the natural world and merely refers back to precedents from recent pasts. This removes architecture’s solid grounding within culture and society and limits the profession to being understood, valued and critiqued only by the profession itself. Architecture as a profession will continue to decline if its connection with culture and society is not rekindled. Vesely analyses the language the profession has used over the history of architecture to explain how our attitudes to what is moral, in terms of duty to the user, and what is expected, in terms of duty to the client, have changed over time in all but bespoke housing. Finding the equilibrium between these two tensions is the basis of what architecture should do.
it is differentiated from other building related professions.
Andy Goldsworthy, Three Cairns, Des Moines Art Centre, Photo By Phil Walsh, Flickr
Vesely’s book Divided Representation2, which explains architecture’s disconnection with culture due to its disregard of the natural world and a clinging to cycles of precedent referral. He goes on to say this is the reason why there has been no strong development of an architecture movement since post modernism3. In Vesely’s opinion, in order to progress, architects need to reconnect with the natural world with which all humans have a subconscious connection, as this connection is the key to connecting a building to the general public, thus ensuring it is valued and becomes part of the identity of an area. The ideas Vesely expresses are generally understood as humanist architecture, which has informed our understanding of how architecture and character are linked to culture.
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connection with the culture of the area. Cultural analysis, using of culture in the case of Katowice. (See timeline Pages 12 & 54) described as “the things we all share”4. This has informed our building’s programme and the treatment of the physical elements of the building over time. The programme is vital to ensuring the project
Character is a word no longer associated with recent architecture. This
in the elements that differentiate their culture from others. We want
character are usually buildings with a strong link to the fundamental cyclical experience of being human. These fundamental experiences can be used as a way of understanding the human relationship to the
community, in this case the DIY workshops, the soil testing facilities and the accessibility of the building to the general public. Using the process to inform design can only inform our programme to a limited scale. To go into further detail of the user experience of
2 Dalibor Vesely, ‘Divided Representation’, MIT Press 2004 3 Dalibor Vesely, ‘Divided Representation’, MIT Press 2004, page 14
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project to use space and mass as well as context research to meet the needs of both the user and client whilst also understanding the impact the project will have on the human world. By so doing, meaningful architecture is created.
4 Malcolm Miles, Lecture: Post Creative Cities (date)
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the building, we have used unifying elements of human culture that are not determined by location or nationality. The response to these unifying elements is usually subconscious. Past architects, particularly from the Baroque period, used cosmology to inform their geometric, mathematical designs5. As far back as the Egyptian Pharaohs, the stars have been used to inform design decisions6. These design decisions where informed by religion, connecting the building and the people with our connection with the rhythms of the natural world, especially the sun: before man-made light, human activity revolved around the natural light available. We have used Peter Zumthor and Andy Goldsworthy to guide the process of combining the broader fundamental aspects of human As architecture students, we are encouraged to think of architecture as being political and, to a certain extent, it is. However, this idea has limitations. Politics is cyclical, usually revolving around a four-year term, but architecture is a linear durational process with an investment in the future. To build sustainably, architects need to consider the placing of a building for its whole lifetime, connecting it to the area’s culture, which is valued, rather than to its politics, which is subject to change, and in Katowice has negative connotations. In Neil Leach’s essay ‘Architecture or Revolution?’7 he refers to Fredrick Jameson, who “…saw the construction and constitution of new spaces as the most revolutionary act, and one that could ‘replace’ the narrowly political revolution of the mere seizure of power,”8 which always passes. and diverse in our skill set. However, the architect’s ability is to design space from an individual’s experience and by ignoring human
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a typical example of Baroque Architecture Authors own.
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5 Dalibor Vesely, Divided Representation Page 7 & 378 6 History.com, Egyptian Pharaohs (http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/the-egyptian-pyramids) 7 Neil Leach, ‘Architecture or Revolution?’, in Neil Leach (ed.), Architecture and Revolution, London: Routledge, 1999, pp. 112-123. 8 Fredric Jameson, ‘Architecture and the Critique of Ideology’, in Joan Ockman (ed.), Architecture, Criticism, Ideology, Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1985, p. 71.
experience and focusing entirely on process discounts one of the main values of an architect. Also, in terms of communication within other academics, including nothing of ‘known’ architecture (experiential) hinders their ability to understand our work. Producing architects with a consciousness of human, natural and industrial systems is vital for change in the built world, however the point is often missed in the translation back into the real world.
“To be is to be perceived” George Berkeley 1710 This is why, in our opinion, graduates, who also do not know how to translate their work back into the real world, go back to conventional practice after studying process architecture. Our work needs to be in a language society can understand and we can envisage in practice. However, exposing the process on its own is not enough to ensure meaningful architecture. We propose the known (experiential architecture) and the unknown (process & systems, designing with a conscience) can work together and to mutual advantage, clarifying the architect’s role and reiterating the profession’s relevance and usefulness in today’s world.
Exposure to a Process
Relating to Culture through Program
This approach to architecture is relatively new and focuses on changing society through allowing individuals to be part of the processes that sustain modern life. In the case of our project the process is energy production. We understand that exposing wider populations to the processes that sustain modern life is key to uniting different groups in society. Human engagement with industrial processes is important, as without this connection it is impossible to fully appreciate their value. In the case of Katowice the process of energy production must be included in order for the large proportion of its society that works in heavy industry to be able to relate to it. By bringing the process into
our building we ensure it is useful and programmatically links it to its surroundings. The different levels of processing and analysis demand different levels of skill from people using or working in the building. The process will be able to adapt and change according to the city’s needs over time. The aim of the building is to guide the future of the city by being able to adapt in terms of energy production, whilst keeping a core form that will continue to be meaningful as a backdrop to the changes. which is a body of thinkers who explore the strong links between science and technology. This was an obvious starting point for understanding the relationship between how our building addresses its surroundings and how it appears as a whole to an onlooker. Also part of STS, Actor Network Theory explores how everything Latour’s essay ‘Give me a laboratory and I’ll raise the world’ written in 1881 interprets society by considering the inside world of a scientist and his relationship to the outside world; he argues any perceived disconnection between the two is false because they both rely on each other. He explains that the unique ability of the scientist is to focus on a microbial scale, thus removing the variables in nature and the in isolation. He emphasises the importance of scale both macro and micro, which also applies to academia including architecture, because if the work cannot be understood by society as a whole its relevance is limited. Our project aims to destabilise the difference in scale between the macro and micro by accentuating scale within the building and emphasising key activities on the façade, presenting them as clusters of communities across the programme working together. This also takes reference from the ‘ethnology of scientists,’9 also discussed by Latour. We interpreted the macro and micro discussed by Latour to inform our treatment of the contrasts that meet within our building: 9 Latour and Woolgar, Laboratory Life, Princetown university press, 1979, p. 153
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nature and the man-made world, explored through materiality (and coal); the academic and the city (industry), explored within our agenda, programme, plans and sections. Our building is intended to express unity and continuity between these elements, which are usually seen as separate entities. Latour quite rightly said that, “Their interests are a consequence and not a cause of Pasteur’s efforts to translate what they want or what he makes them want. They have no a priori reason to be interested at all, but Pasteur has found them more than one reason,”10 which can be interpreted as meaning: to make people interested in what you do you before offering a translation. This is true of architecture, our project and the university. We have tried to translate the message of our building to as many user groups as possible through the experience of our programme and our architecture. Designing with process- more than art As part of the university’s brief, our programme needs to unify the city so we are constructing a mutual interest between local actors. The University of Silesia plans to build a biotechnology faculty in their next stage of expansion. Because of the city’s link with coal, the process we have selected is biocoal, which will be a key tool in bringing the actors together. This link that the process has with the city has informed our building’s programme, addressing the needs of both the city and the university, and in so doing also helping to decontaminate the area. The biocoal process informed the general arrangement plans. The tanks, which are part of the process, dominate key circulation spaces and create a geometric contrast between the city’s and university’s input the most interactive points will have a visual connection with the square we propose in our masterplan. The spatial requirements determined by the biocoal process has taken us to a 1:200 scale detail only; something further is needed if we are to design more than a vessel for activity and 10 Bruno Latour ‘Give Me a Laboratory and I will Raise the World’, Paris, 1881, Page 144
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thereby showcase architect skills.
Experiential Architecture
Connecting to human subconscious
Using gestures in space through the treatment of physical components, journey through the building. To achieve maximum user experience, the more connections an architect can make with an individual through the built form the more successful a project will be. Optimum user experience can be achieved
to convey the message to the users, consciously and sub-consciously. skills to be appreciated. Peter Zumthor, an architect who has practiced these experiential values, has helped to inform our design. Zumthor discusses how the architect has to create a whole out of “innumerable details, out of various forms, materials and dimensions.”11 He also says that “these formal details determine the sensitive transitions within the larger proportions of the building. The details establish the formal rhythm, the 12 We believe that if a building is to be a success, this design thinking needs to be applied at every scale, from are the connection points between the agenda and the users.
tools can be used in conjunction with one another to build different scenarios that the architect wants to play out within the design. This is where we believe an architect’s value lies. The commonality that users share is their experience with the spatial conditions and their connection to the programme through the language set out by the architect. We believe there is an enduring connection between the user and the architect through, for example, the way a user engages with and responds to different ground textures, how a user holds a handrail whilst their senses on encountering a slab of roughened concrete. These messages will undoubtedly be received and interpreted in different ways from user to user, resulting in a multitude of responses. This deeper direct connection between the architect and the user through material, light and texture is unique and endures long after the building has been completed. To allow a building to fully carry out the architect’s intentions, spaces need to be legible to the user in terms of the programme however there should also be a deeper message running through the spatial language of the building to ensure coherence throughout. This intention should be evident through every scale and architectural decision in the building
Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who works with and around nature to create art that changes over time, dependent on its natural surroundings. Goldsworthy’s often temporary installations explore ways of human intervention in nature without damaging it, and uses geometric shapes to contrast with nature, allowing the intervention to have ‘a presence of its own.’13 Goldsworthy’s work has an aesthetic quality that draws attention to a deeper meaning. Architecture is an art form for this reason; it is able to translate a deeper agenda through aesthetics. We intend to achieve this in our project. Our project attempts to work with the existing environment, not just geographical but also political and social. In our design we have similarly improved on existing natural conditions, in this case decontamination, symbiosis of actors and energy production, by using aesthetics and process to draw attention to our wider agenda. Like Goldsworthy, we have given consideration to the changing function and aesthetic of the design: during its construction, during its decommission 11 Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, Birkhäuser, 2010, Page 14 12 Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture, Birkhäuser, 2010, Page 14 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zh4wmp3).
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Conclusion
Combining the two
to leisure usage and its lasting iconic value. Designing with human experience- more than a vessel Throughout the design process, we have questioned whether each decision is true to our agenda. Our design sets up interactions between the human, the physical built form and the activity playing experience include the promotion of inside/outside inclusivity through the deconstructed façade and the use of mass to guide users into the main entrance. Once through the reception area, the core space will be revealed in all its glory. A vast contrast in scale and materiality is planned, with the walls cast in situ using a hybrid mix of crushed local stone and concrete. This space will be the heart of the building; the core that has been extruded from the ground itself will give it a sense of belonging to and being grounded in the city. The biocoal tank is a vast cylindrical volume
architecture in terms of the profession, academia and the user/client. By referencing Vesely’s writings on culture, character and architecture link has on the built environment. We have proposed a solution to the architecture design approaches, process and experiential, in order to re-link architecture with culture and thereby re-forge the link between the architect and the end user. We have tested these approaches in our project for the University of Silesia. We have met the requirements of the university’s brief by providing a biotechnology faculty. By making the building relevant to securing the city’s identity as ‘the energy heart of Poland’14 we have also accentuated the university’s wish to be more inclusive towards the city. We have been able to design a building for the whole community of Katowice that is appropriate for the real context and brief but also demonstrates to the university that their collaboration with the energy gesture. Our intention for the project is to provide a realistic proposal
Peter Zumthor sketch of Therm Vals, Switzerland
of the role of the tank in the agenda of bringing the city into the university. The tank has no contact with any other component other than the ground on which it stands. Space surrounds it. The main circulation in the building is incorporated within the cast concrete wall so that from a human perspective the user feels protected and is prompted to look out towards the tank. The tank stands for the past, present and future of the city’s energy generation, the biocoal process serving as the catalyst for further development in renewable energy. The presence of the tank is a metaphor for change and a future where the university and the city work together.
the very least, to highlight that the city’s and university’s problems are interconnected. Our project suggests that community architecture is an area in which take on the typology, by using the university for its permanence and the For architecture as a profession to survive it must be viewed by the architects do not demonstrate the skills that differentiate them from other competing professionals, architecture will continue to decline. By combining process and experiential approaches architecture will have a more secure future.
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14 Donald Tusk, Poland Government Website (article), 2014 (https://www.premier.gov.pl/en/news/news/donald-tusk-in-katowice-the-energy-heart-of-polandbeats-in-silesia.html)
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Project Brief Can combining ‘process architecture’ and ‘experiential architecture’ be used to re-connect the profession with culture and in so doing ensure a building is part of the community and identity of an area? Using cultural studies to inform our strategy for Katowice helps to illustrate the importance and relevance of cultural studies in the material world. The University of Silesia is a cultural studies university so we thereby align ourselves with the university.
addressing the requirement of the university to be better connected to the city, we intend to link them to the city by making the project part of the development of Katowice’s cultural identity. We intend to do this by demonstrating the
Culture of Katowice
- a stronger alliance to Silesia than Poland (The changing borders around Katowice (see pages 2 & 11) strong sense of individual identity.) - a dependence on coal mines or steel works (24% of population) for employment - a resistance towards anything German, Russian or Communist - a disengagement with politics, especially national - a strong sense of pride in Silesian history - a less male dominated society, with strong, capable females - strong groups of alliances, but with no integration between groups - limited tolerance for outsiders - many in long term education as university is free - a love of DIY - a secondary income from growing food - a strong work ethic - the sensory impact of the mines on the landscape. Culture in Katowice has been shaped by drastic political changes, one dominant damaging industry and a separation between the university and the city.
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Through the biocoal process we can: provide reliable employment for residents; clean the water and the soil in the area and improve air quality; provide a low cost, less damaging form of electricity generation that is secure. As the new provider of employment and energy (replacing coal mines) the university will become the centre of the city thus making it feel more connected. If successful, the model could be used in other coal mining regions. Our aim is to combine process and experiential architecture to demonstrate their mutual inclusivity and how they can work effectively together. We are doing this to test an unconventional approach which could be used as a model to strengthen the identity of the profession. Our brief is for the building to be a functional biotechnology faculty for the university but we also want it to be a building for the community, providing jobs, services and freetime activities.
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Urban Strategy Our urban strategy explores ways in which the agenda could be implemented on a large scale. A series of the actors: small, personal changes; medium, network and institution changes; large scale building changes. faculty buildings could participate in the change from black energy to green energy. We did this by using their cultural commonalities to improve relationships between institutions. This strategy uses easy to accept changes (that the coal industry needs to adapt) to implement alternative, renewable technologies and the integration of actors). We feel that there is now an opportunity for the university to help the city and therefore gain its trust and favour. The university is possibly the only institution Katowice because they have ample funding, a concern for their surroundings (if the city is polluted the intake at the university will be affected), and a wish to plan with the long term future in mind (rather than being connected to political cycles).
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URBAN STRATEGY
Using different types of potential energy Empowering people through design
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URBAN STRATEGY
Faculty Integration (Key buildings: below, others: left)
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URBAN STRATEGY
Precedents (Research into relevant building typology)
Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research / Henning Larsen Architects
This design utilises a grid plan layout to ensure idea being that the grid allows for a high degree of mobility and small expansions over time. There is also an agenda to provide internal green space; natural spaces which enrich peoples every day experience of the building. This promotes health and well-being.
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Biotechnology Industry / Marlene Imirzian & Associates
This is a very interesting project planned for ‘Paradise Valley Community College, Pheonix, Arazona. The College is planning to expand its Biotechnology program. The project speaks about ‘Weaving the campus fabric’. Its all about building a more inclusive campus with greater integration between students, faculties and staff.
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URBAN STRATEGY
Precedents (Research into relevant building typology)
Andalusian Institute of Biotechnology
This institute of Biotechnology is informative in its planning and how the Architect has considered volumes, voids and circulation areas. The main issue with this precedent is that it appears to be private, a defensive, almost abrasive facade and not to have any consideration for its immediate context.
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Masterplan
The masterplan is intended to improve the city’s legibility and gathering spaces by densifying and increasing routes through the campus to allow and encourage informal mixing. We propose to use easy changes to have an underlying, but not overpowering, green agenda.
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MASTERPLAN
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Existing Typologies
Proposed Site
Clusters of styles; dense 18th century German architecture, sparse 20th century communist architecture and the 21st century additions.
between the city centre and campus centre
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MASTERPLAN
Existing Access to the Campus
Routes on the large university campus are limited and dictated by roads. The lack of clear routes adds to the lack of legibility in the city.
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Proposed Routes
Increasing legibility and connections
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MASTERPLAN
Timeline - Future
We have designed future steps towards our strategy in varying scales to ensure the success of the agenda and the long term relevance of the building.
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MASTERPLAN
Masterplan phasing
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Detailed Design
Our design uses circulation and journey to inform the mixing of actors and their experience of the building. By combining process and experiential architecture we demonstrate how two approaches can work together and be revealed as interdependent. The idea of being interdependent has informed our detailing within the design through the concealment of joints and the workings of the structure. The primary focus in the core is space (materials, light, sound, geometry) to allow an appreciation for the agenda, message and architecture. Everywhere else within the building the focus is the user, especially on the faรงade where the aim is to express programme unity. The building in turn shows the university and the city how they are connected by celebrating academia and industry in programme and space.
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DETAILED DESIGN
“Katowice - the energy heart of Poland” said byPrime Poland former minister 2014 Coal in Katowice
Coal is a deep rooted aspect of Silesia‘s culture and history. With no mining in the area the region’s identity would be under question. The viability of mining in Poland is reducing and mines are closing. Biocoal increases the value of coal by up to 10 times1. Although the process would need some adjustment and improvement as an ongoing process, in our project traditional coal use would be phased out and replaced with biocoal. Sourcing the Coal Katowice district sits in the centre of the Upper Silesia Coal Basin (USCB), which holds 93% of Poland’s Coal. We have used the calculations from MicGas, who invented the microbial biocoal process, based on lignite and sub-bituminous samples. However, these coal types have 30% more moisture content than USCB‘s assumed for USCB coal. grade of coal is that the humic matter produced can absorb heavy metals from not only soil but also water. Biocoal can therefore be used to remediate the damage done by conventional coal mining. 1 MicGas.com, Microbial Biocoal Presentation
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Existing Energy Production Network
Currently Katowice’s electrical energy is generated at the local power station, powered by coal from local coal mines. There are numerous allotments surrounding the city (shown in green).
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Connecting with Culture through Process
The Biocoal Process
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DETAILED DESIGN | COAL IN KATOWICE
MicGas Biocoal process - Figures Financial calculations were carried out on coal from Turkey which, according to MicGas1, is very similar to Polish lignite coal. The USCB only holds bituminous coal which is a higher grade than of the lignite coal used in higher grade coal is that the fertilizer produced (humic matter) can remove heavy metals and other decontaminants from water. Lower grades can only decontaminate soil.
Tests have, however, been carried out on the decontaminating properties of Polish brown coal (see chart opposite) and the increase in yield the fertilizer produced from the process could provide (see appendix). The lignite coal used in these calculations has 15% more moisture than the coal in the USCB so we increased the values of energy we ould produce by 15% to give a rough calculation for bituminous coal.
1 See Appendix, email from the CEO
100,000 Metric Tons of Bursa Lignite per Year Cost $4,000,000
Cost of Production: $262 mil
PRODUCES = Gas (2x108m2) Electricity 8x108kWh Thermal 1.8x 1012 kcal Transportation Chemical 2x106 Tons of Urca Hydrogen 5x108m3 Worth $62 mil
Grade 1 Decontaminate (9x106kg) & Grade 2 Decontaminate (4x107L) Industrial Wastewater
3 x10 m3 7
Worth $28 mil and $42 mil respectively
Grade 3 Decontaminate (3x108L)
Grade 4 Decontaminate (3x107L)
Agricultures 10 Million Hectares Forests 15 Million Hectares
Explosives Recycling 30,000 m3 Manure Recycling 30,000 m3 Municipal Sewage Water Recycling 28 Million m3
Worth $430 mil
Worth $52 mil after tax.
For more information see appendix
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DETAILED DESIGN | COAL IN KATOWICE
Reed Beds
Humic matter Tanks
The coal, mixed with water to prevent dust particles, is delivered in tankers to the back of the building. It is then pumped into the tanks through pipes so workers are not exposed to the mixture. The biocoal process runs through the building in the order in which the coal is processed. The process is intended to be shown throughout the building in different ways. For example, the storage tanks are intentionally industrial looking to represent the coal’s ‘old’ processing method. Tank 2 shows the utilitarian side of the building, Tank 1 is about the wider message, and the Reed Beds are a symbol of the biocoal in action.
Tank 1
Tank 2
rooms types according to where the process needs them and where we want the public to be able to experience them.
Storage Tanks
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Proposed Energy Production Network The University of Silesia will buy coal dust (or the lowest grade of coal the USCB can provide) from one of the local mines. The tanks There are 6 mines in Katowice. If our proposal is implemented, 1/6th of mineable coal will feed the biocoal process at the university until stocks are depleted. The mines will be kept up to date with the university‘s biocoal process. Once the mines recognise the value of the power station. When mineable coal runs out methane will be extracted from unminable coal onsite which will also feed the power station. If in time the university wants to become independent of the power station it can install the equipment to produce its own electricity from the methane it produces. Our energy calculations are therefore based on 1/6th of Katowice‘s electricity requirements. This is a basic calculation which only takes into account households of Katowice, not businesses. Energy Calculations were based on: 3000 kwh per Residence x 134,199 households in Katowice = 402,597,000 kwh1
www.se.pl/twoje-pieniadze/poradnik-se/oszczedzanie-pradu-czy-zmiana-taryfy_195007.html
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DETAILED DESIGN | COAL IN KATOWICE
Humic matter network
The area beneath the reed beds has been designed to distribute humic matter to the general public. The humic matter testing bays (see plan) adjacent to the biology will run the feed back service. to the reed beds, to decontaminate the river.
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Precedents (Industrial process and functional administration space)
BMW Factory - Zaha Hadid
This illustrates nicely the integration between industry processes and other activity such as administration or car design and detailing.
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DETAILED DESIGN | COAL IN KATOWICE
How the Process connects to the Community We are using the biocoal process to connect the building to the community through a range of individuals. Individual connections create a strong body of community association with the building. The diagram on the left shows how the different outcomes of the biocoal process allow a connection with a variety of users at a variety of intensity. The notes below explain the type of interaction each user has.
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DETAILED DESIGN
“Science is politics pursued by other means...� Carl von Clausewitz
Understanding the commonalities and differences between the different users of the building allows unexpected connections to be make between them. The commonalities can be used to build mutual respect between otherwise separate actors. The colours relate to the previous diagram, becoming more academic/ exclusive as the colours turn red.
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URBAN STRATEGY
Precedents (Connecting two entities such like the University and the city)
Siu Siu – Lab of Primitive Senses / DIVOOE ZEIN Architects
This project is about the environmental transition between urban space and natural forest. The way in which they have designed with both of these entities in mind has produced some interesting spatial outcomes. There are three evident conditions here which are: pure natural world, the hard lines of built form and the in-between. The in-between is the point at which something happens, this is a transition at which both polar opposites connect. In this example there is equal balance between natural light and man made translucent fabric. 76
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DETAILED DESIGN
Hierarchy We have used our analysis of both vertical and horizontal hierarchies within our proposal to strengthen the integration and collaboration of users. Vertical hierarchy (VH) does not always have to be the least favourable of the two. The case study (to the left) refers to an example of positive vertical hierarchy. VH can provide stability, guidance and support in the work place. VH does not have to be rigid, and although set up by monetary constraints determined by pay structures, there are other types of hierarchy that work along side these which help to stop VH being a negative experience. We have used vertical hierarchy to inform our plan layout of the building, also a practical one; it allows the DIY workshops to be easy to access but ensures peaceful areas for quiet study in the academic areas. However, to maximise inclusivity we have provided independent circulation routes that are open to the public and allow the building to be used for ‘freetime’ exploring (lunch break, weekends).
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DETAILED DESIGN
Detailed Analysis of Vertical hierarchy The hotel model
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DETAILED DESIGN
Horizontal Hierarchy Last terms project work 82
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DETAILED DESIGN
Summary approach to circulation and permeability but also ‘freetime space.’ Freetime space is our way of facilitating informal mixing to generate knowledge exchange and also allow users to mix across social boundaries. See page 115.
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The Journey
As an overview to the buildings key spaces the optimum journey route is shown to the left. This diagram shows where the different areas are situated in relation to each other. We have used the experience of this journey through our building to describe the detailing that would be present throughout. It links our series of key spaces.
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DETAILED DESIGN | JOURNEY
Public views into laboratories. Facade
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View back out onto the city from within the cafe.
Core
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Precedents (Exposing process along a journey)
Winery / A.Burmester Arquitectos Associados
This Winery, is an interesting example of a building constructed for an industrial process whilst maximising the experience of all users of the building. Process is exposed here in such an honest way.
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Technical Strategy
Our technical strategy is embedded into our design. From the outset we have designed with a theme of interdependence between heavy and light elements which are a reference to the human and man-made aspects of our design (coal is a natural resource and the process is man-made) and the dependence of humans on the natural world.
Heavy Weight/ Light weight
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Structural Strategy Key Structure Core- In situ concrete, chosen because of its qualities of permanence, stability and strength, in terms of experiential and structural properties. The life span of this element is intended to be 500 + years. Structural Grid - 300X300mm square section columns to be bolted to pad foundations. A variety of I-section steel beams span between them. The steel grid has been chosen for its qualities good strength to weight ratio (allowing the visibility of the structure to be minimal) and allowing the ‘deconstructed’ appearance of the facade to be non-defensive and approachable. The grid is structurally subservient to the core where they meet. The intended life span is 100 years. Pods- Lightweight steel frames ‘metsec’ insulated wall panels. Chosen because they are long lasting, lightweight and self contained so could be moved onto or off the site. The pods are structurally independent but reliant on the larger steel frame grid and the core for their positioning on the facade. Intended life span between 50 -100 years max, assuming the pod is re-appropriated and updated. throughout the building are supported Initial sketch exploring structure
acoustically, for ease of construction and to minimise dead load. Our system can be easily dismantled, compared to a conventional
The steel would be manufactured locally.
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DETAILED DESIGN | STRUCTURAL STRATEGY
GF Steel Plan 1:200
FF Steel Plan 1:200
Bolted and welded, beam to column connection Steel calculated by span/20 for between columns. The
SF Steel Plan 1:200
TF Steel Plan 1:200
Transition from square column to round connection. These are used where structural steel is exposed, all seems are welded and reinforced with webbing plates where appropriate.
Second Floor Steel Plan 1:200
Area of steels indicated on plan
external factors such as snow loads.
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DETAILED DESIGN | STRUCTURAL STRATEGY
The Facade The view of our building from the square we have designed in our masterplan is the key connection to the community. It is intended to be a deconstructed mass that becomes more dense as the user moves through the building. A movement from chaos to calm as a reference to the chaos of the natural world (in terms of science, reference Latour) and the calm of the lab world. In our most recent iteration of the design the route into the building allows a transfer of chaos (of the outside world) to the calm of the core, a contemplation space. The facade is an invitation into our building and a living display of the buildings programme. The structure allows pods to be added or taken away according to the needs of the programme.
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DETAILED DESIGN | ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
Environmental Strategy Overview
Katowice City is situated in South West Poland. It reaches highs of 24oC in July/ August and lows of -7oC in January/ December which makes it, on average, hotter in summer and colder in Winter than the UK. This wide range of temperatures means the proposal has to consider overheating as well as conserving heat in the winter. We have approached this with generous, but necessary amounts of insulation and user controlled natural ventilation where-ever possible. Rainfall is lower than the UK and the chance of snowfall is higher than in the UK. Making comparisons to UK temperatures allows us to understand how our design should vary for if the site was in the UK, which we are used to designing for. The site itself is in a large open space, currently used predominantly for car parking. To the South of the site is residential housing that is in need of renovation. All the surrounding buildings are 5+ storeys, informing the height of our building.
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Pod Designs
Environmental Strategy in detail
For our environmental strategy we have focused on the three main detailed on the 1:20 technical section. The faculty’s utilitarian spaces which feature on the facade are (from the ground up): DIY Workshops, Laboratories and academic spaces. The following pages will provide U-values, mechanical systems, thermal and lighting conditions of each as they vary according to building.
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DETAILED DESIGN | ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
Laboratory - POD Typology
Ground Floor DIY Workshops - POD Typology
Conditioned space to exterior detail
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machinery. - It is important for the external world to have visual connection with activity in the classroom. - The focus wall is equipped with interactive technology. There will be live camera footage of experiments being carried out in the professional lab spaces.
- Professional and PHD laboratories looking at hydrogen energy production and monitoring the gas produced from the biocoal process.
- Will need good natural light as well as
Roof light detail
lighting for each individual desk.
- These labs will require large amounts of power to keep the high-tech appliances running.
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Academic classrooms - POD Typology
Roof light to parapet detail
- Paramount to academic success is the ways in which you can minimise distractions from inside and outside. Acoustic treatment
- It is important for the external world to have visual connection with activity in the class room.
this case.
- The focus wall is equipped with interactive technology. There will be live camera footage of experiments being carried out in the professional lab spaces.
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Flat roof Construction
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Programme on the Facade Left: Early development section Right: Conceptual Image
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DETAILED DESIGN | ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
Building & Room Sizing
Engineering Science; Biotechnology
U Values
U values allow us to assess how much heat is lost from the building. The lower the u value the better the building performs. U = 1/(RT) RT = Sum of a R values of all the components in the element. The following calculations have been worked out through a typical exterior pod wall.
Source: Metric Handbook We have designed the building for: 300 BA students 50 PHD students 75 staff to the design.
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DETAILED DESIGN
The Core
The core is what binds the elements of our project together through: circulation, by being a circulation core; structure, through supporting the remaining structure; and experience, through the deeper meaning of the city becoming part of the university. The core is intended to be the centre for the architecture’s (not the programme’s) interactivity with the users. The programme’s interactivity with the users is created through the facade. The core will help to ensure the building is connected with the identity of the area and this will ensure its survival into the future. This is important because the embodied energy of a building depletes over time. This typology of building typically has a very high embodied energy and ensuring its long term future allows us to justify the embodied energy in its construction. The core will be made out of concrete which will be mixed with the sandstone-based aggregate created, and usually wasted, when extracting coal in the USCB. This will give it a warmer softer feel than the
The core is deliberately detached from the surrounding walls to make it the focus of the space.
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DETAILED DESIGN
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DETAILED DESIGN
1:5 Section Model
This model shows our approach to detailed design. It aims to highlight the junction surface textures and hidden joints through our concept of interdependence.
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Life of The Core
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Construction Strategy It is imperative that a local workforce is employed to construct the building to ensure the building starts to make meaningful links with its context before its use. The university’s budget for the biotechnology faculty is 100 million zloty which will be supplied by the department of education. Cost to build: We have costed the proposal according Polish building costs per m2.
Construction Sequence
University Building 3,500 zl per m2 7,128m2 x 3500 = 25 Million zl (For costing source see appendix) CDM consideration Wherever possible the most simple method of construction has been chosen. Water and electricity would need to be supplied to site, fence would be required. biology faculty and biotechnology faculty which would become public after the build was complete. It would serve as an access road to the site during the build. The building has been designed for minimal exterior maintenance although the roof will be able to carry full load, for snow predominantly but also repairs. The southern staircase provides access to the roof.
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Stage 1 - Site clearance
Stage 2 - Ground works
Stage 3 - Floor slab and boundary wall
Existing derelict and un-used buildings and out houses are to be surveyed and a decision whether they are suitable for being demolished will be made. Essentially the area will remain residential as it is important that the biotechnology building programme integrates fully with every aspect of society and the city.
Once the sub-standard buildings have been demolished, the site can be cleared of debris and 300mm of top soil, levelled and trenches prepared for foundations. There will be a combination of footing types used, pad foundations will make up a large proportion for the steel columns to land on whilst, trench and strip foundations will support perimeter walls
Once all foundations have been poured and allowed to
support the biocoal tanks. Concrete mix is to be
tamped, next is 50mm of sand blinding, a 1200 gauge damp proof membrane, 150mm rigid foam insulation, a slip membrane followed by a reinforced mesh layer. the boundary wall can be constructed. This is to be made with in-situ concrete using a mix with added Silesian sandstone to give a slightly warmer look and feel to the concrete.
Stage 4 - Core Walls and lift/stair cores to be constructed to pour this much in-situ concrete at once. The lift and stair cores will go in at the same time as they will provide structural stability for the rest of construction process. The supports for the reed beds have been built, the tallest one in the centre will have a pump room inside it, this is where all necessary services will run for the reed beds to function. The central biocoal tank has been lifted into position as the heart of the building.
Stage 5 - Structural Steel The next stage is to erect the steel columns and beams. 300x300x12.7mm square section columns will bolt down to their pad foundations with 4 bolts cast in-situ. 300x300x12.7mm I section beams spanning between 6000mm cc columns should be system. Construction has started on the façades facade of the building. Two of the lower reed beds have been constructed. 121
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Stage 6 - Secondary steel and biocoal process
Stage 8 - Roof elements
Stage 9 - Envelope
Stage 10 - Internal and external circulation
The roof structure with all its layers of construction is installed (see detailed technical section) The main purlin to support the pitched roof over the core extrudes from the main facade to create a visual link to from outside to the centre of the building. It also allows for a strip of roof lights to be installed further enhancing this connection.
All of the structure for the building is now in place, the building can now be wrapped in its water tight facade. Primarily using glass for walls, this system won’t be load bearing it will merely hang from and transfer along the
Throughout the building circulation have been treated in two key ways. Where there is strong emphasis on a certain route then the material chosen has deliberately been heavy weight in-situ concrete. An example of this is through the core. On the other hand where circulation is purely for the sake of getting from a to b it has been treated with a light weight, perforated steel mesh. It communicates a hierarchy among circulation routes.
furniture Secondary steel such as members to support glazed facade or diagonal bracing struts are bolted in at this stage. This will give the structure more stability against wind loads and material dead loads. The secondary tank has been placed along with the two large external coal silos and all the pipework needed for this process. The two smaller humic matter tanks have been installed next to the reed beds where they will eventually be utilised as part of the water has been constructed for PHD workshops. 122
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The structure for all six reed beds have been built so they can now be water proofed and tested. The main copper, timber and aluminium cladding picking out the different uses in the pods themselves. This is all about communicating what is happening inside (lab) with the outside world. The rest of the building has have a reinforced concrete layer to give it the strength and acoustic properties needed to perform within the building.
can be installed into the service core of the tallest reed bed. The river water will be pumped up to here and left
Once all of the glazing has been installed and is 100% water tight then the pre-fabricated concrete slabs, whilst the heads locate on brackets. As this is a biotechnology faculty building there is a requirement standards than others. This is meant in terms of high controlled testing environments for lab spaces to be achieved. 123
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TANK 2
Tank two is a representation of the utilitarian aspect of the project. It is part of the fabric of the building, embedded in the circulation and users are able to come into contact with it. It is also part of one of the ‘freetime space’ areas of our building. The project deliberately features areas for people to sit/wait/relax in their time off. Freetime activities start with the DIY workshops. They have been designed for people to use to make things in their spare time. They will be able to access equipment and advice from each other and advisors. The circulation routes throughout the building are designed as a journey, not just for utility but as an experience. We hope people will use the building to go for a walk on their lunch break, eat their sandwiches or meet friends. The cafe has been designed to provide lunch and to be rented out in the evenings for events. The reed beds are an installation to represent the biocoal process actively decontaminating the area. (See page 68 - 69)
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Critical Appraisal
We started with a clear agenda for Katowice so have spent a lot of time developing a way to implement it in our design. We used only models to explore the form of the building, alongside research and reading to inform our design. The following pages contain our model narrative which shows the journey from the initial stages through to the most developed stages of our design, with only one stage explored with sketches. When our agenda became clear through our design, we developed it through computer programs and more conventional drafting methods, as well as continuing to make models for reviews. Throughout the design process we have experimented with the visual and verbal communication and presentation of our agenda. This has been vital for the testing of our theory because if our work is not understood by others the value will go unnoticed. Making process architecture part of known architecture was a key aspect of this as by doing so we could reconnect what is expected in architecture with what is moral. We have chosen conventional methods of representation to explain the complexities of our project to ensure it can be understood by as many people as possible.
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Model Narrative
1. An expression of wanting to bring the outside in through an internal street. Heavyweight wall supporting the public demonstration of the humic matter in action (humic matter in the reed beds), a public display of the tanks & revealing lab spaces. However creating a second street may have weakened both areas.
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2. This model seeks to explore the relationships between built elements. and not to be dependant on each other. Making the building part of the street. Allowing pedestrians to move amongst the process on an intimate level. Heavy weight elements shaping the threshold.
entrance to the building. They represent nature Labs continue to be on the facade. An intention to blur thresholds. We maintained the routes through the site, making them part of our circulation. The building only addressed the reed beds, not the square. 129
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6 - 10. To address the square and to test arranging rooms around the biocoal process. This revision highlighted the need for rationalisation between form, circulation, process and concept. We also explored the independent circulation in more detail, intended as a network behind the pods.
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CRITICAL APPRAISAL | MODEL NARRATIVE
10 - 11. Rationalisation of our concept. We made the content the subject, not the structure.
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12- 13. Shows inhabitation of the grid and breaking out of the grid through circulation and programme.
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CRITICAL APPRAISAL | MODEL NARRATIVE
14 - 15. Bringing the heavyweight element back in to frame the biocoal process. It also informs the journey around our building.
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13 & 14. An attempt to be rational but also break out of the grid where necessary. Not permeable enough on the facade, no view to the core space
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15. Most recent Model - 1:100 136
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CRITICAL APPRAISAL | COMMUNICATION
Communication
18. Testing media- chalk & charcoal and representation and design of the facade. This 16 - 17. Design of the facade with a consideration for the main approach and the type of representation used.
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working against our agenda.
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19. This is a graphic representation of our ideas shown in section. We are starting to set up different spatial conditions within the building, both inside and out.
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20 - 21. Experimenting with different media and playing with the facade as a stage for dramas (activity) to play out upon. The above images where made using, sketchup with painting (left) and pencil sketches (right).
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See boards for most recent communication methods
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CRITICAL APPRAISAL | PRECEDENTS
Precedents
‘Staging the city: Message Versus Meaning In Architecture’, Part 2 Project 2013, Nicholas Haynes,University Of Nottingham Nottingham UK. From the RIBA nominations website. An example of a pure appreciation of architecture “establishing a meaningful connection between architecture and the individual; the city and society.” The empty rooms are architecturally pure but with no toilets, changing spaces or even a cloakroom, their practical use is not apparent.
‘Protean Production / The Human Feculent Resource’, Part 2, Project 2013 Dan Green, Plymouth University Plymouth, UK Source: MArch Plymouth wordpress A Plymouth past project, demonstrating process architecture. In terms of pure architecture it appears as merely a factory, however important the programme may be. This means the true message behind the project is often missed and therefore the importance of the social intention is also missed.
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References in the document text MicGas Microbial Coal Conversion http://www.micgas.com World coal association- coal facts http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/coal-statistics/ UK Coal, world coal statistics http://www.ukcoal.com/world-coal-statistics.html Poland’s dependence on coal By Adam Easton BBC News, Warsaw 23 April 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-17813431 “We have the largest deposits of lignite in the world.” by Maciej Nowaczyk , 09.01.2008 Wyborcza Gezette http://wyborcza.pl/1,75248,4820533.html http://www.euracoal.be/pages/layout1sp.php?idpage=76 LAND CONTAMINATION IN KATOWICE VOIVODESHIP, POLAND: THE ROLE OF GIS by Deborah Soloman http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc96/TO100/ PAP090/P90.HTM Poland’s Energy Security Strategy TUESDAY, 15 MARCH 2011 00:00 http://www.ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=279:assessing-polands-energy-security-strategy&catid=114:content0211&Itemid=374 Urban shrinkage in Bytom and Sosnowiec, the Katowice Conur2010 https://www.ufz.de/export/data/400/39017_WP2_report_Sosnowiec_Bytom_kompr.pdf Reports on major Polish cities: Katowice, 2011 by pwc https://www.pwc.pl/en/wielkie-miasta-polski/raport_Katowice_eng. pdf Countrys quest Land and resources, environmental issues, unknown author http://www.countriesquest.com/europe/poland/land_and_resources/environmental_issues.htm From the book information is beautiful 2011 article by John Burn-Murdoch Friday 6 July 2012 146
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http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/jul/06/energy-green-politics Pilot Scale Demonstration of MicGASTM Coal Biotechnology for in situ Bio-
References
Hulme -
References from research http://adbioresources.org/about-ad/what-is-ad/ http://aipslask.pl/ http://www.biogas-info.co.uk/ http://www.biogas-renewable-energy.info/anaerobic_digestion_diagram.html http://biotechnologia.pl/biotechnologia/artykuly/komercjalizacjajest-trendy-spolki-spin-out-i-spin-off,14395 http://www.cresswater.co.uk/ http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/cc/cc_201208171400a.mp3 http://www.efs.gov.pl/analizyraportypodsumowania/baza_projektow_badawczych_efs/documents/mieszkancy03042013.pdf http://en.invest.katowice.eu http://www.enviro-wts.com/#!reed-beds/cfvd http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/ http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/waste-to-energy/resources/biogas http://gazeta.us.edu.pl/node/260411 http://www.gios.gov.pl/stansrodowiska/gios/pokaz_artykul/pl/front/ raport_regionalny/slaskie http://gornictwo.wnp.pl/kopalnie/ http://www.gpw.katowice.pl/index.php http://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/miners-greens-unite/ http://www.greenpeace.org/poland/pl/wydarzenia/polska/89-Polakow-chce-zielonej-energii-i-nie-zgadza-si-na-strategi-rzdu/ http://www.illumitex.com/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/
http://info.cat.org.uk/questions/water-and-sewage/whatare-reed-beds http://katowice.stat.gov.pl/vademecum/vademecum_ slaskie/portrety_miast/miasto_katowice.pdf http://www.kreatorus.szczecin.pl/pdf/spin-off.pdf http://www.mapbox.com http://mapserver.um.katowice.pl/kjarc/mapviewer.jsf http://www.micgas.com/ http://old.wup-katowice.pl/badania-i-analizy/wynikibadan-i-analiz/analizy http://www.paiz.gov.pl/strefa_inwestora/sse/katowice http://www.play-with-water.ch/d4/index.cfm?pageNo=6&systemNo=3&eksperimentNo=303&language=en http://www.portal.katowice.pl/ http://www.ppt.belchatow.pl/ogolne/poradnik821.pdf ki/2013/06/28/1350456627/1372410169.pdf http://www.reo.pl/repowermap---mapa-instalacji-oze-weuropie http://www.richmond.gov.uk/reedbeds_hap1.pdf http://rme.cbr.net.pl/archiwum/maj-czerhtml http://www.rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/projects/details.aspx?id=210865 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0960852400000237 http://sdip.kzkgop.pl/web/ml/map/
zan_wod_powie.pdf https://www.slaskie.pl/STRATEGIA/strategia_ II_2.htm http://www.slaskie.pl/strona_n.php?jezyk=pl&grupa=3&dzi=1255610101&id_menu=267 http://www.ure.gov.pl/uremapoze/mapa.html http://www.us.edu.pl/ https://www.wfosigw.katowice.pl/ Zumthor, Peter, ‘Thinking architecture’, Birkhauser, 2006 Vesely, Dalibor, ‘Architecture in the age of divided representation’, MIT Press, London, 2004 McCandless, David, ‘Knowledge is Beautiful’, Wilam Collins 2014 Graphics Inspiration Libeskind, Daniel, ‘Daniel Libeskind : radix-matrix ; architecture and writings,’ Prestel ,1997 Libeskind, Daniel, ‘Jewish Museum, Berlin’G+B arts 1999
dot_zmiany/04_zanieczysz_wod_powierzch/iii_1_4_ 147
Appendix
Research in Detail: Industry & Agriculture; Poland, Silesia and Katowice
150 - 155
Coal; Poland, Silesia and Katowice
156 - 159
Renewable Energy; Poland, Silesia and Katowice
160- 163
Contamination
164 - 165
Eagles in Polish History
166- 167
Historical Maps of Katowice 1904 1959
168 - 169 170 - 171
MicGas
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170 - 177
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Research in Detail
Industry & Agriculture
Industry and Energy POLAND
Agriculture POLAND
Poland is ranked 9th in coal production and 4th brown coal production
- 120,700 sq miles in size or 76,000 acres - Population of 38 million people - 44.5 million acres of productive farm land - 28% percent of the population work in agriculture - Every one farm worker produces enough food for 6 non farm workers - land quality is low compared to western Europe (5764 compared to 100 in UK), therefore yields are low.
Global coal production is rising- up nearly 60% since 1990 Poland is also among the top exporters of: Amber Lead Copper Zinc
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SILESIAN VOVODSHIP (Administrative district, not the historical region of Silesia) Silesian voivodeship is Poland’s Energy Production centre. Katowice Special Economic Zone (KSSE) was established to support and accelerate the restructuring processes and create new jobs in Silesia. The Silesian Voivodeship is known as an area with very good access to transport. Katowice International Airport in Pyrzowice is situated around 30 km north of Katowice and is one of the key elements of Silesia’s transport infrastructure. 152
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KATOWICE Key facts - Size : 6650 m2 - Population of city : 313,461 - 2% of the land mass in Poland and 10% of its population - City spending and income is 0 for agriculture - Katowice soil has high heavy metal contamination, this is making life expectancy lower and infant mortality higher
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Research in Detail
Coal
POLAND Polish extraction: 76,5 mln tons One ton of extraction costs 300pln while sale price is 300pln. Prices of imported coal are falling and will continue to fall, because the supply of coal on the international market is rising. Polish natural resources: 48 mln - 226 mln tons (According to the Polish Geological Institute). According to the level of consumption in Poland, resources are enough for 44 years. 156
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SILESIAN VOVODSHIP
Katowice is still a mining city but over the last 15 years this has been decreasing. This is leaving miners without jobs and lack of direction. The City is trying to reinvent itself but lacks a clear aim. (See mine map on page 52-53) 158
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Research in Detail
Renewable Energy
In the European Union the dominant source of electricity is nuclear power, which in 2004 covered almost 32% of the total demand. Coal was the source of 29. 7 % of the EU electricity and natural gas 18%. 160
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KATOWICE DISTRICT
SILESIAN VOIVODESHIP
Renewable Energy in Silesian voivodeship in numbers: biogas: 20.1 MV biomass: 101.6 MV solar energy: 1.2 MV wind farms: 20.3 MV hydroelectric power stations: 37 MV
Above left: Geothermal activity under the city- currently unharnessed Above Right: Renewables installed in Katowice District 162
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CONTAMINATION
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History of the Polish Eagle
Other Eagles that feature in our work
Eagle of Prussia
University of Silesia’s Eagle Logo (an historical logo)
Source: 166
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Historical maps of the area 1904- 1959 Site shown in Purple
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1904
1912
1933
1942
1930
1931
1947
1959 169
Source: ‘A brighter Outlook,’ International Cost survey 2013, Turner & Townsend Page 36 +37 170
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MicGas Huge Potential of Total Value Chain of MicGAS™ Coal Biotechnology Plant
APPLICTION USE
Electricity Industrial & Thermal
100,000 Metric Tons of Bursa Lignite per Year Cost $4,000,000
Transportation Chemicals & Fertilizers Hydrogen
MicGAS™ Biorefinery $262 Million Cost MicMicrobes + Nutrients Injection
$18.4Million Cost
$61.8 Million 15 meters thick seam, 20 Million MT of Coal on 240 acres
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$28.5 Million
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$43 Million
$423.4 Million
$51.5 Million
780 x 106 kWh 1.8 Trillion kcal 55 Million gallons of gasoline 200,000 Tons of Urea 500 Million m3
Industrial Wastewater Soil Remediation
Site Specific
Gas Treatment
Site Specific
Agricultures
10 Million Hectares
Forests
15 Million Hectares
28 Million m3
Explosives Recycling
30,000 Tons
Manure Recycling
30,000 Tons
Municipal Sewage Water Recycling
28 Million m3
Assumption: Each product goes to 100% of each application use Note: 1 m of gas = 3 kWh 3
1000 m3 of gas = 1 Ton of Urea, (wiki.answers.com) 1 m3 of gas = 1.5 m3 H2, (DOE-NREL) Wastewater: L / m3 of HUMASORB®-CS Gas: L of HUMASORB®-L/ m3 Agriculture: 30 L of actosol®/ hectare Forests: 20 L of actosol®/hectare Preserving tomorrow’s world... today Wastes: 1000 L of a-HAX™ / 1 MT
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Below: Experimenting in Poland. Right: Correspondence with MicGas CEO.
Management of this company. Later they conducted tests with our actosol humic fertilizer and reported positive results. We have signed NDA with them but still have not been able to get them to move forward. Subject: FW: BioCoal Project Poland Dear Lizzi: I am very pleased to receive your email and honored that you have chosen our MicGAS Coal Biotechnology as your project basis to bring about positive changes in Poland especially in Silesia area. I noted from your email links all the efforts you and your other student collogues have already put in to lay out an approach at the University of Silesia----- a urban strategy and master plan centered around your MicGas technology. Regarding your question : Do you think this possible, if not now in the future? My answer is that it very much possible now because as you will note we have not only done test work with coal samples from that area but lot of effort has been to seek deployment of HUMAXX
Slide #11 of test work and products we made from brown coal samples we received from Belchatow and Zloczew. You will note that we showed that HUMASORB --humic based product is very effective
During this trip I also presented our coal biotechnology to - a team from PGE -- a coal mining and electricity generation company in Belchaltow. - about humic fertilizer use to group of soil and agriculture experts at the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation Institute in Pulawy. Grzegorz Wozniak in Warsaw. I am intrigued to note that you all with major in architecture have chosen to look at coal. I believe that our approach of coal use can help set a path to rejuvenating many coal mining areas, clean up and create high wages jobs. In my Slide #65 I show our approach of using monolithic domes as low cost bioreactors and I hope as part of your architects studies hopefully you will study this type of construction which being used for low cost buildings, housing etc. Note www.monolithic.org I have attached some info about Poland--which I have used to understand the needs in Poland.. I thought may help you all. Looking forward to hearing from you.
up contaminants from water etc. in the area. We are continuing to work with these coal samples at our Research Center. We are working on applicability of our biotechnology for both mined coals for producing gas and organic humic products and as well as for deep un mineable coal to inject microbes and produce gas. Belchatow sample was from an areas where more than 300 million tons of coal exist which otherwise is un mineable due to depth and hydrology. MicGAS approach shall produce only gas have failed --due to high cost but more so due to adverse environmental impacts. We have MicGAS Insitu lab test projects going on in USA, Australia and India. Hopefully we will be able to make it work in deep un mineable coals. This way we will be able to produce lot more gas as well as at lower cost and overcome the environmental concerns from coal use--with zero to negative CO2 emissions. Regarding your question as to how much energy from coal. Based on test work with coal in Turkey ---similar to may be in Poland please note answer in Slide # 15. Also I noted your vision of ultimately moving to hydrogen. Yes hydrogen will be the most preferred fuel but the challenge is that with approaches being looked at high cost and of course storing it as well using it. But cost remains the big hurdle. I believe by producing methane from coal at a very low cost with our MicGAS approach will allow to convert methane to low cost hydrogen.
With my best wishes Daman S.Walia,Ph.D. President/CEO ARCTECH Inc. 14100 Park Meadow Dr. Chantilly,Virginia 20151 703 222-0280 (T) 703 222-0299 (F) www.arctech.com www.humaxx.com www.ihccs.org Offering “ Balanced Sustainable Solutions”
You indicated you have received positive feedback about your project. Please let me know from whom and how they can support? Please note background of my efforts in Poland: --- you may have of heard of a very prominent Polish scientist Prof Bohdan Zakiewicz who lives in Los Angles -- he may be in his 80’s has been in communication with me for almost 20 years or so has been telling many Polish experts about our MicGAS Coal Biotechnology. ---- In Nov 2012 , I travelled to Poland at the invitation of Azoty Tarnow--- a very big company who contacted us with interest in deploying our Coal Biotechnology in Poland. We had conducted feasibility tests with Polish coal samples I indicated above and presented the attached power point to the Senior
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Dear Daman S.Walia, Thank you for your prompt and detailed reply. Regrading the information you sent, I have a few further questions:
attached Anaerobic digester at a village in Germany--this has become a tourist attraction. This type of construction and architect most likely can provide a lower cost housing for people---another one my vision for providing the must have needs--shelter.
Why are the studies on Lignite coal not hard coal? Is it because the potential increase of value is higher for Lignite coal? I ask because, as I am sure you are aware, our site sits in the Upper Silesia
a local lawyer, a local MP, a Professor at the University of Silesia (providing us with some information about the reception of our work within the University heirachy) and the University students we have been working closely with.
ANS:We have tested hard coal or bituminous coals also--- These will produce gas and humic based
Let me know what supporters you mentioned above have suggested for funding and moving forward with the project. To start with does the University/city have seed funds -- to start the project? We will be happy to team, collaborate, bring our IP etc.
Will need to conduct feasibility tests on coals from that area to see how much gas will be produced. When I defend the technology to my peers I guess there are issues around ‘green’ technology’s general image with the public, certain unhelpful stereotypes and the thinking that a ‘green Our biotechnology use of coal offers potential for green solutions for many needs by more
liquid humic product e.g. actosol for use on agriculture lands.
The more detailed information I can obtain from you the more convincing my project will be to a client who is based in an area so dependant on coal.
Our project runs until the end of May and we will also exhibit in London at the beginning of June. process on a large scale? I noticed the visuals of your design for a biocoal plant, how detailed are these? I ask this because we would hope to include an element of the industrial process on the university site. We think the main works should be proposed at the site of extraction, therefore not turning the university campus into a factory (we think this would be undesirable for the client).
Who is the client you mentioned? Let me know how we can support you in your this project. We will be happy to have you all come and visit us here in USA so you can see yourself. We are located in Washington DC area.
I understand you might feel these questions are to intrusive but I hope you can trust me to use the information to the technologies advantage. Kind Regards, Lizzi Parkinson
coal mining site. At University site pilot unit can be established along with products application tests With my best wishes, I would like to provide you with further information about the arrangement and assumptions we have with the University of Silesia. They have access to funding from various sources and are interested to explore their options. They have already received a conventional masterplan recommended by the city council, which they found uninspiring. I think they are hoping to aim higher with the development. Our year group was invited to visit them and come up with alternative masterplans. We chose coal as an obvious starting point and other groups have chosen other strategies. In my
Dear Daman S.Walia, Thank you for your patience with my questions! I think we have covered almost everything. I hope you don’t mind me asking but there is just one question outstanding on the subject of the technology’s current success. From what I have read the technology seems absolutely perfect for the site we are working with. However, I don’t feel I am fully aware of its weaknesses;
security for the future of their energy producing identity. However the University, although it has expressed a desire to involve the city with its plans, is a purely academic institution at present. Our challenge as architecture students is to show the university (why they should spend their funding
--we produce and sell various organic humic products. Do not make gas.
Daman S.Walia,Ph.D. President/CEO Offering “ Balanced Sustainable Solutions”
lignites in Turkey to gas and organic humic products.
With my best wishes,
involving the local polytechnic university which has closer links to the practical application of the subject. We want the University to become the core of the City and energy production is one of the main components of this. I think that the best chance this technology has is with institutions which have the luxury of increased emphasis on long term planning and money to spend on it. Universities Comment: Thanks for sharing your approach.
Dear Lizzi: Please note my answers below.
and Australia.
Yes Do you have any of industrial size?
As Plymouth architecture students our focus is on people and their relationship with space but with a Yes here in Virginia USA. sizes and cost on existing buildings but because this is a new technology the closest comparison I can make is to the anaerobic digestion plants. Do you think this is reasonably fair to say? Do you have proposed plans or existing plans (drawings) of plant needed for the size needed to support the area? Answer: Glad to note that architect students are envisioning focus on people, space and technology system. Yes our approach of use of monolithic construction for anaerobic digesters is designed to achieve modern architect--- lower cost digesters then conventional based on concrete , metal etc which can be utilized to give longer residence time for the microbes ( 30-40 days or so ) in batch mode. Our approach includes to install solar system on the dome to produce hot water to heat the anaerobic digesters to 40-50 degrees C. I had given you link ---www.monolithic.org . Also note
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What are the issues you are coming up against when promoting the technology? You young people have explained it very succinctly as I noted from your YouTube video ‘existing institutions are fragmented and they want to highlight strengths and common goals’ to solve needs.----- need integrated solutions to make the economics work as well as meet the needs. Institutions are stove piped. What problems can you foresee with a plant which is designed to provide 6th of Katowice’s energy requirements? (We estimate to be around 67 x 106 kWh per year, processing 50,000 tonnes of bituminous coal per year)
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