Diffuse Energy|Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life|IEDesign 2017-2018 | MSc Urbanism TUDelft

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diffuse energy

contextualizing the production and distribution of energy, the case of the Veneto region, Italy

2017—2018 IED INDIVIDUAL PROJECT Sarantis Georgiou

Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life


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Abstract This research and design project concerns the planning and implementation of a new energy system in central Veneto. The main issue it addresses while tackling this objective is ‘contextualization’: how to plan and design an energy system that reflects the site at which it is employed? Such context includes the actual patterns of territorialization and urbanization, the conditions of the ground and its implications for the appropriation of the surface, environmental data and potential challenges and/or risks. Special emphasis has been given to the public nature and character of the proposed energy system. Moreover, the proposal attempts to re-cycle existing unused and/or under-utilized infrastructure. The area in question is at the interface of Porto Marghera and central Veneto. Otherwise referred to as ‘città diffusa’, the Metropolitan Area of Venice provides a complex context that, nevertheless, creates the possibilities for a contextual energy system in order to promote the decentralization and distribution of energy (the current scheme is largely centralized), addressing environmental concerns, and, at the same time, propose a new project of urbanization. The project is characterized by a ‘territorialization’ approach, that is, an approach that seeks to provide a new backbone for further appropriation of the space. The part that reflects this ‘territorialization’ to the highest degree, and is, thus, the first to be implemented, is a manipulation of the hydrographic system. After that, a regional reforestation project can take place and, finally, the architecture of individual energy production and distribution hubs and their immaterial networks can be realized. The implementation of this project is perceived to be able to aid in the advancement of the, already, dispersed/diffused territorial economy of the region. Focusing on further establishing conditions of dispersion and diffusion, the proposed decentralized-distributed energy system is set to promote an even more flattened territorial economy and, hence, to contribute in the continued progress of the territorial project of the Veneto region by responding to changes that have occurred in the regional and national economy these past few years.


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Research questions

[RQ1] How to imagine an energy system on the basis of a territory’s context? [S-RQ1] What elements constitute the territorial context?

- territorialization patterns

- urbanization patterns

- extensive hydraulic engineering

- surface - subsurface relations

- environmental qualities

- challenges/risks

[S-RQ2] What elements does an energy system signify?

- types of energy

- network forms

[S-RQ3] What are the specific elements of the case study territory?

- diffused/dispersed infrastructural project

- diffused/dispersed urbanization

- different water management requirements

- contamination/pollution

- climate change/hydraulic risk

[S-RQ4] What are the potential contextual energy systems?

- hydroelectric power

- biomass fermentation/digestion

[S-RQ5] What infrastructural projects are required for the implementation of a contextual energy system?

- weirs/capitalizing on the topography

- dams/responding to hydraulic risk

- regional reforestation/biomass production

[S-RQ6] What are the criteria for localization of the elements of the infrastructural project?

- concentrations of urban activities

- concentrations of environmental degradation

- zones of risk

[S-RQ7] What other elements must the energy system respond to/take into account?

- quality public environments/enhancement of environmental qualities of public space

- existing unused/under-utilized infrastructure

- potentials for further urbanization


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[RQ2] How can an energy infrastructure project connect the production and distribution of

energy with risk management, environmental degradation mitigation, public space augmentation and economic development? [S-RQ] What are the operative elements for the desired connection?

- stakeholder integration and collaboration

- thorough site analysis

- use of multiple individuals’ and groups’ consultation and expertise

- development a transcalar, contextual, multidirectional and polyfunctional scheme

- focus on mechanisms and devices that pertain to the everyday life of the territory in question - development of a genealogical design research process

[RQ3] How can the infrastructural demands of an energy production and distribution project be translated into landscape elements?

[S-RQ1] What are the infrastructural demands of the conceived energy production and distribution project? [S-RQ2] What are the soft infrastructure solutions that could answer to the demands of the conceived energy production and distribution project?

[RQ4] How can the infrastructural demands of an energy production and distribution project

function as risk management, environmental degradation mitigation, public space augmentation and economic development mechanisms? [S-RQ] What are the spatial characteristics for this conflation of functions? -

[RQ4] How can existing infrastructure (both in use and unused or under-utilized) be re-

appropriated for the demands of the conceived energy production and distribution landscape infrastructure territorial project? [S-RQ] What are the spatial characteristics for this re-appropriation?

- polyfunctionality

[RQ5] How can the conceived energy production and distribution project contribute to a new wave of territorialization and urbanization of the region in question?

[S-RQ] What are the elements that function as drivers of territorialization and urbanization?

- water management

- risk management

- environmental degradation mitigation

- public space

- economic development

- infrastructural concentrations


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life


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Referential Theories and Practices/Site Analysis

1 Ecological Structure

Figures

2 Protected Areas 3 Energy Network 4 Built Surface/ Industry & Manufacturing Zones & Sites/Railway Network Central Veneto 5km

Frame of reference Grid

This research and design project rests upon the work underwent at the Università Iuav di Venezia, mainly from Paola Viganò, Bernardo Secchi and Lorenzo Fabian [(Vigano & Fabian, 2010); (Vigano, Fabian, & Gianotti, 2012); (Universita Iuav di Venezia, 2012); (Universita Iuav di Venezia, 2013); (Vigano, Secchi, & Fabian, 2016)], as well as the theories and methodologies developed and proposed by Pierre Bélanger (2013). Furthermore, Filippo Lafleur’s “ReTerritorialization: A vision for Milan Urban region” (2016) and the projects elaborated under the “Delta Interventions Studio 2016-2017. San Francisco Bay - Resilience by Design. Designing for uncertain delta-landscape futures” graduation studio of the Department of Urbanism at TUDelft offered highly useful insights into the design process. Finally, the work underwent by RENZONI, C., & TOSI, M. C. (2018) on the venetian ‘città diffusa’ has been both an inspiration as well as a testing ground for the elaboration of this project. Starting from Bélanger, three key concepts were discussed through the elaboration of the project: contextuality, multi-directionality and poly-functionality. Under this framework, the infrastructural project has to take into account the conditions of both the ground, as well as the urbanization patterns (or, rather, the modalities of appropriation of space) in order to be embedded and not imposed on an already existing order. This is the precondition of the so called ‘soft infrastructure’ advocated by Bélanger: a type of infrastructure that attempts to go beyond

Vegetation Arboreal Shrubby/ Herbaceous Stunted Grasslands Permanent crops Non-standard agiculture Recreational Terrain Rocky Sandy 1

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Water system Water bodies Wetlands Power Plants Fossil Fueled Thermoelectric Hydroelectric Renewable source Wastewater Treament Plant Electricity Stations Stations Sub-stations Power Lines Major Secondary Minor Hydraulic risk Flood areas Lowlands

2

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Natura 2000 National Park Protected Area Important Bird Area

Built Surface Industrial Site Industrial Zone Railway Water


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

the mere efficiency of engineering and planning. Multi-directionality refers to the elements or processes the infrastructure project is directed to. This is not exactly the ‘function’, but, rather, the idea that for any process to be properly contextualized and attributed meaning beyond the mere ‘backbone’ of our society, it has to be elaborated through a series of other processes. Finally, poly-functionality proposes that sturdy and concrete mono-functional infrastructure poses multiple issues through time, as well as through its embeddedness in space. A polyfunctional infrastructure project has the capacity to overcome traditional disturbances in space imposed by mono-functional infrastructure and, at the same time, address more objectives than one, making it able to withstand more changes occurring through time. A final preliminary remark has to do about ‘scale’ and ‘genealogies’. In all theories and methodologies described above the issue of ‘scale’ is treated as a central one. Most importantly, this pertains to the concept of ‘territory’. Territories are the methodological and epistemological tool used so as to surpass the traditional distinction between the ‘urban’ and the ‘rural’, highlighting the fact that the conditions for the continued existence of the urban lie in its relations to a much larger space from which it extracts its resources or through the manipulation of which it establishes itself and its means of operation. To approach spatial design through territories means to scale-up: it is the integration of a whole host of natural and anthropogenic processes that reveal themselves only through specific scales

Areal Bodies Linear Bodies Streams Waterways Rivers Canals Drainage Wetlands

Hydraulic Risk Areas Lowlands (5m Contour Lines)

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Water Areal Bodies Linear Bodies Wetlands

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Water Availability Very high High Moderate Low Very low Water Management Purifiers Storage Weirs Dams Wastewater Treatment Plants Waterworks Mechanical Drainage

Water Permeability Low Relatively low Relatively high High Very high 7

Springs Points Area

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Figures

5 Hydrographic System 6 Hydraulic Risk 7 Water Availability/ Water Management 8 Water Permeability/ Springs 9 Central Veneto Proposal Scheme

Frame of reference Grid

Central Veneto 5km


rd

n lai tp low

er

we

dams responding to soil conditions and flood risk

up pe

weirs capitalizing on the topography

ry

pla

in

9

Energy Production Water Permeability High Low Industry & Manufacturing Concetration Industry & Manufacturing Concetration Very high High Moderate Low Very low

9

Strengthened Ecological structure Ecological structure Water


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

and, thus, call for a trans-scalar approach. Finally, and in line with the previous concepts on infrastructure, the notion of ‘genealogies’ permits the planning and design of the infrastructure project to take as many different and distinct forms as required by the site: the logic lies in identifying a series of design solutions that are deployed selectively throughout the space in question.

Figures

Having said that, this research and design project sought to, first, understand the ecological structure that conditions Central Veneto’s form and function, focusing on exploring ways to strengthen this structure where it is deemed important. Furthermore, the hydrographic system is explored both through its construction and its inherent characteristics pertaining to its relationship with the subsurface of the site, and through its deficiencies in the face of climate change. Finally, since the central theme of this research and design project is the production and distribution of energy, the main energy system as well as the main elements of urbanization and economy were also put under the microscope. The results of this analysis are shown in Figures 1-8 while, the outcome, a scheme for the development of the energy project at this scale is explored in Figure 9. Briefly explained, this is the understanding that different water management techniques have to be employed so as to capitalize on the potential of hydroelectric power generation: soil conditions, topography and hydraulic risk impose these two different mechanisms. On the one hand, a system of weirs capitalizing on the incremental changes in elevation and, on the

11 Main Mobility Network 12 Railway Stations Buffer Zones 13 Hydraulic Risk Areas/ Lowlands/ Built Surface/ Mobility Network Frame of reference Grid

Built Surface Industrial Site Industrial Zone Railway Water

Mobility Network Railway Motorway Primary Secondary Tertiary

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11

Hydraulic Risk Areas Lowlands (5m Contour Lines)

Railway Station Buffers 2km 5km Mobility Network Railway Motorway Primary Secondary Tertiary Built Surface Water Wetlands

Built Surface Water Wetlands

Mobility Network Railway Motorway Primary Secondary Tertiary

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Built Surface Water Wetlands

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10 Built Surface/ Industry & Manufacturing Zones & Sites/Railway Network

Venice Metropolitan Area 5km


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other, a system of dams that operate through water retention.

14 Pollution/NOx levels

Figures

Arriving at the scale of the ‘città diffusa’, a different set of elements were put under question, this time mostly pertaining to environmental degradation conditions and unused or under-utilized infrastructure. Similar to the previous scale, the urbanization patterns, the existing mobility infrastructure and the hydraulic risk of the site were analyzed. All these are depicted in Figures 10-21.

15 Nitrogen Percolation Risk 16 Insecticide used on Corn Percolation Risk 17 Insecticide used on Vine Pecolation Risk Venice Metropolitan Area 5km

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Furthermore, the concentrations of industrial and manufacturing functions through the region pose a unique possibility for the localization of the various elements of the new energy system. Acting as new ‘pores’ (Viganò, 2009), they will pose as the new ‘significant places’ in the elaboration of the proposed energy system.

Frame of reference

Contrary to that though, the issue that arose here was the elaboration of mechanisms and devices that could also tackle contamination and pollution all the while capitalizing on the previously analyzed site conditions and putting forward a second layer of potential pores: the overlay of concentrations of industrial and manufacturing functions on the basis of the stations of the railroad system are related to concentrations of environmental degradation and the field of unused and under-utilized infrastructure. The scheme depicted in Figure 22 provides an overview of these conclusions. Finally, through both these explorations, a potential site for the study of the implementation of

Grid

Very high High Moderate Low Very low

Very high High Moderate Low Very low

15

17

Very high High Moderate Low Very low

Very high High Moderate Low Very low


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures

the project was revealed: the Marzenego river basin. This site provides a unique space where most (if not all) the aforementioned elements can be tested at once.

18 Herbicide used on Maize Percolation Risk 19 Herbicide used on Maize Percolation Risk

Linking back to the referenced theories, projects and methodologies, this initial stage of this research and design project was aimed at reconciling the objective of the planning and design of a new energy system with the natural and anthropogenic conditions of the site in question. The results can be briefly described as: 1. Energy production through capitalizing on the existing patterns of infrastructure of mobility and hydraulics, 2. Special focus on the subsurface qualities of water permeability and availability, 3. Elaboration of new pores on the basis of the existing railroad network and the concentrations of environmental degradation, 4. Re-cycling of existing unused and/or under-utilized infrastructure and, finally, 5. Contextualization based on the diffused and dispersed nature of the site’s appropriation.

20 Contaminated Sites and Remediation Activities 21 Inactive Quarries/ Landfills/ Brownfields 22 Venice Metropolitan Area Proposal Scheme Frame of reference Grid

Very high High Moderate Low Very low

Contaminated Site

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20

Very high High Moderate Low Very low

Inactive Quarries Brownfields Landfills

19

21

Venice Metropolitan Area 5km


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channelization & phytoremediation

channelization and infiltration through phytoremediation

infiltration

programmed flooding & phytoremediation

programmed flooding and infiltration through phytoremediation

infiltration

Field of unused/ underutilized infrastructure Energy Production Railwroad Stations 2km Buffer Industry & Manufacturing Functions Environmental Degradation Concentration Very high High Moderate Low Very low Strengthened Ecological structure 22

Water


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Spatial Design: This research and design project concerns the planning and implementation of a new energy system in the central Veneto. The implementation of a new infrastructural project is conceived on the basis of its contextuality in respect to the conditions of the site. Such conditions include the actual patterns of territorialization and urbanization, the conditions of the ground and its implications for the appropriation of the surface, environmental data and potential challenges and/or risks. Special emphasis has been given to the public nature and character of the proposed energy system. Moreover, the proposal attempts to re-cycle existing unused and/or under-utilized infrastructure. The aims and objectives concern both the provision of energy autonomy to a network of manufacturing and logistics hubs dispersed throughout the region, as well as augmenting the environmental qualities of the various landscapes within the region. The proposed infrastructural project consists of multiple interventions: a regional reforestation project for the production of biomass, water management devices and mechanisms for the production of hydroelectric power, the employment of phytoremediation techniques for the mitigation of environmental degradation, water management devices and mechanisms that respond to potential hydraulic risk, the re-cycling of existing infrastructure, the re-appropriation of existing infrastructure on the basis of conditioning the required raw materials for the energy system and, finally, the deployment of a series of energy production hubs in sites that lie at the crossroads of the majority of the aforementioned criteria. The area in question is at the interface of Porto Marghera and central Veneto. Otherwise referred to as ‘città diffusa’, the Metropolitan Area of Venice provides a complex context that, nevertheless, creates the possibilities for a contextual energy system in order to promote decentralization and distribution of energy (the current scheme is largely centralized), addressing environmental concerns, and, at the same time, propose a new project of urbanization. The project is characterized by a ‘territorialization’ approach, that is, an approach that seeks to provide a new backbone for further appropriation of the space. The part that reflects this ‘territorialization’ to the highest degree, and is, thus, the first to be implemented, is the manipulation of the hydrographic system. After that, a regional reforestation project can take place and, finally, the architecture of the individual hubs and their immaterial networks can be realized. The implementation of this project is perceived to be able to aid in the advancement of the, already, dispersed/diffused territorial economy of the region. Focusing on further establishing conditions of dispersion and diffusion, the proposed decentralized-distributed energy system is set to promote an even more flattened territorial economy, hence, to contribute in the continued progress of the territorial project of the Veneto region by responding to changes that have occurred in the regional and national economy these past few years.


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23 Overall Proposal

Figure

Central Veneto 5km

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Frame of reference Grid

Energy Production

Railwroad Station

Hub Energy Autonomy Zone

Railwroad Network

Hub Energy Autonomy Secondary Zone Industry & Manufacturing Functions

Strengthened Ecological structure Water


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructure Ecologies and Forms of Life Figures Weirs Dams Energy Production Hub Energy Autonomy Zone Hub Energy Autonomy Secondary Zone

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Industry & Manufacturing Functions Railroad Station Railwroad Network Motorways Primary Roads Water

24 Overall Proposal

Secondary Roads

25 Exploded Axonometric of the SubSystems of the Overall Proposal

Tertiary Roads Riparian Zone Territorial Programmed Flooding Rooms Marzenego River

Frame of reference Grid

Venice Metropolitan Area 5km


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Hub Network

Marzenego River Basin Water Management and Hydroelectric Power Generation Project

Reforestatiom Project 25


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Network Figures

Following Christopher Alexander’s (2015) elaborations on network systems, the proposed energy system is planned as a decentralized and distributed network of autonomous hubs operating in unison. Unplanned events are brought into the equation, as in the event of surplus of energy the hubs are proposed to exchange power, in the event of energy deficit the energy production capacity of Porto Marghera is called forth to aid in the process (the existing energy infrastructure and the sheer scale of Porto Marghera are utilized as a ‘failsafe’).

26 Autonomus Energy Production Hubs 27 Distribution of Surplus Energy 28 Porto Marghera involvement in case of Energy Deficit 29 Complete Decentralized and Distributed Network

Frame of reference Grid

26

27

28

29

Venice Metropolitan Area 5km


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Aims and Objectives of the Research & Design Project The aim of this research and design project is the planning and design of an energy system to aid in the energy autonomy of manufacturing and logistics hubs deployed through central Veneto. Special emphasis is ascribed to the multi-directionality of the project. Expressed in Figure, this means that the proposed energy system is perceived from more than one perspective.

30 Multidirectionality

Figure

Furthermore, the project follows a brief genealogical process (see Figure): the aims and the final elaborated mechanisms and devices tackling them are conceived as part of a logical procedure aimed at identifying diverse means of reaching the desired objective. These operate through

heritage re-use

productive landscapes

environmental degradation mitigation

hydraulic - geological risk response

Energy Production & Distribution System

re-appropriate existing infrastructure landscape

higher environmental quality environments

communal - public character 30

energy autonomy


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

a set of criteria that are based on the project’s requirement at addressing a multitude of objectives at once, relating the production of energy with mitigating environmental issues and providing quality public environments. Finally, the directionalities and the genealogies are intertwined in a single scheme that emphasizes their mutual interrelations and the operative objective for an energy system that focuses on public character.

Focus

Flattend Urban Economies Energy Transition Diffusion Autonomy

Programme

Mobility Energy Production/ Distribution Communal/Public Space Green-Blue Infrastructure

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Type

Figures

31 Project genealogies

Action

Networking New Development

Augmenting

Re-Cycling

Adapting Framing


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Mechanism

Multifunctional Device

Criterion

Green-Blue Ecological Structure Energy System Mobility System Agricultural Corridors

Riparian Area Augmentation Regional Reforestation Urban Agrarian Communal/Public Energy Production Hubs Water Management

Riparian Corridors

Industry-Manufacturing Concentration

Peri-Urban Corridors

Climate Change/ Flood Risk

Urban Corridors

Soil Permeability Pollution

Communal/Public Bio-Energy Production Hubs Hydroelectric Power Generation

Infrastructure Re-Cycling

Contamination Percolation LandďŹ lls Quarries BrownďŹ elds Mobility Network Hydrographic System


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures

32 Multidirectionality/ Multifunctionality/ contectuality/ genealogies

agriculture

productive landscapes

bio-energy

farming

bio-energy hubs

heritage re-use regional reforestation

environmental degradation mitigation

public space

hydraulic - geological risk response hydraulic risk dams hydroelectric power weirs

communal - public character energy autonomy 32

soil qualities topography


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unused/ under-utilized indrastructure

agriculture corridors

mobility network

agrarian landscapes

riparian corridors

hydrographic system

urban landscapes

sub-/peri-urban corridors urban corridors

riparian zone augmentation

‘room for the river’ programmed flooding dike system

territorial floodplains (territorial programmed flooding rooms) existing hydrographic system

ditch network augmentation

subterranean waterstreams

above-ground watestreams re-direction

re-appropriate existing infratructure landscape

environmental degradation mitigation


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

The implementation of the project begins with the construction of the proposed water management devices and the corresponding hydroelectric power generation mechanisms

Phase 1: Year 30

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Water Management Devices

During the second phase, the reforestation part of the project along the infrastructural lines of the hydrographic and mobility systems takes place.

Phase 2: Year 60

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Regional Reforesstation

Phasing of the project

Figures The final step of the process is the architectural construction of the individual hubs. At this stage, the hubs and their system are fully operational.

34 Phase 2: Year 60 35 Phase 3: Year 70 Frame of reference

Phase 3: Year 70 Hub Operation

33 Phase 1: Year 30

35 Grid

Venice Metropolitan Area 5km


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Phasing of the Project and Expected Results and Effects

36 Areas of Intervention and Effects

Figure

The phasing of the project takes into account the demands of the distinct landscape infrastructural elements that it is comprised of and attempts to establish a sequence of events that would, ultimately, lead to its complete implementation. Furthermore, it takes into account the other two (2) infrastructural projects that, together with this, form the complete vision for the Metropolitan Area of Venice.

infrastructure

ecology urban fabric

areas of intervention and effects

regional economy

energy risk management 36

public space


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

The effects of this research and design project are assessed on the basis of the areas outlined in Figure 36. The argumentation behind this further elaboration on the implementation of the project is that, aside from the logical course of projects imposed by their respective prerequisites, the whole project has to correspond to specific territorial constituents. Thus, the phasing is reformulated so as to incorporate the elaboration of both the sequencing of its elements based on their demands and the effects that they entail in respect to the territorial conditions (see Figure 37).

Figures

37 Phasing/ Spatial Interventions/ Infrastructural Space/Areas of Intervention and Effects

- year 30

above ground waterstreams re-direction ditch network augmentation riparian zone augmentation territorial programmed flooding plains

infrastructure

river section alteration new dike system weir construction dam construction water infiltration soil remediation

ecology

infiltration phytoremediation

urbanization along a territorial water management project

urban fabric

regional economy

energy

multifun

planting

air purif

refores

urbaniz

higher land and resource value attractive environment for economic development R&D tourism

hydroelectric energy

bio-ene

hydraulic risk heat mitigation

risk management

‘room for the river’ programmed flooding dike system improvement territorial public space waterfront improvement

37

public space

public space augmentation

refores

green-b


nctional green-blue corridors

g

fication

station

zation along a territorial reforestation project

ergy

27

- year 60

- year 70

energy hub construction and operation energy system construction and operation

renewable energy production

energy hub/system construction and operation

axial urbanization along the environmental mechanism and energy hub duality diffuse urbanization along new territorial energy project

energy autonomy and reduction of costs strengthening of regional manufacturing promotion of creative industries

energy autonomy

station

blue corridors collective-communal hub


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Restructuring the ‘Cttà Diffusa’ (territorialization and urbanization) Approaching the infrastructural project as the backbone of urbanization and, at the same time, bringing it to the foreground by imbuing it with qualities of the everyday life, the final objective is for the proposed system to function as a trigger for further urbanization and appropriation of the land. The existing order is first disturbed be the implementation of the environmental devices and

Figures

Frame of reference

existing situation 38

environmental devices and mechanisms

38 Stages in the project’s effects on the urbanization of the area Città Diffusa (abstraction)


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mechanisms. The operation of the hub creates a link between the two and their connection becomes the next infrastructural stratification that would shoulder the next stage in the habitation of the Veneto region. The nature of urbanization that already characterizes the area, ‘diffuse urbanization’ or ‘dispersed territory’ finds its conditions to the hydraulic rationalization of the land in order to house agricultural activities. The proposed step provides a new rationalization scheme to promote a similar diffused/dispersed appropriation.

operational hub

new wave of urbanization


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Stakeholder Analysis A project of this scale requires a systematic evaluation of the various people, groups and organizations involved in its implementation, as well as their respective interconnections and interdependencies. Somewhat atypical of usual stakeholder analyses, the project approaches the issue through eight (8) distinct lenses outlined in Figure 39. The reasoning behind this decision lies in the relative need both for increased collaboration and for specific actions that may arise through the implementation of the project. After establishing the different elements integral to the stakeholder coordination, the first step is to elaborate a scheme that corelates the level of participation with specific (albeit, in their general sense) actions potential stakeholders may perform. Exemplified in Figure

type of participation

Figures

39 Stakeholder Analysis Criteria 40 Levels of Satkeholder Participation and Specific Stakeholder Actions

sector

power - interests

level of participation

Stakeholder Analysis

involvement - influence

phasing

39

contracts

goals


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40, this first step outlines two (2) levels of participation, a primary one that involves actual decision making, planning and design and implementation, and a secondary one that involves the establishment of background frameworks necessary for the success of the overall project. Within the elaboration of a scheme for stakeholder participation, it is necessary to define them closely. For a project of this scale, importance and general outcomes and effects, the need for as wide a list of potential collaborators as possible arises. In this sense, the general schema of the three (3) sectors of societal participation is used together with the previously outlined correlation between the level of participation and the various distinct actions. It is important to note that for a

Primary Participatory Framework (active participation)

funding consultation expertise administrative framework planning & design implementation participatory decision-making 40

Secondary Participatory Framework


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

project such as this, the participation of multiple agencies within and outside of the territory in question (even those with no direct authority on it) is deemed crucial. That is both for financial reasons as well as for transferring expertise and, finally, establishing as much an attractive territorial environment as possible. Going further, the private sector and civil society showcase degrees of overlap. This occurs due to the different capacities that members of both can take up on within the implementation of the project; namely, whether or not they participate as citizens or affected individuals or as professionals that have monetary benefits as well (e.g. as contractors, hired

Figures

41 Stakeholders per sector

Public Sector (surpa national level) - European Union

- European Committee of the Regions

- European Environment Agency

- European Investment Bank

- United Nations

- European Institute of Innovation and Technology

- UNHabitat

- Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators

- Food and Agriculture Organization

- Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

- Economic and Social Council

- Innovation & Networks Executive Agency

- Unesco

- Fusion for Energy

- European Research Council Executive Agency

- Research Executive Agency

- other supra-national entities

(national level) Direct Authority (specialized national institutions)

Indirect Authority

- Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport

- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research

- Ministry of Environment, Protection of Land and Sea

- Ministry of Regional Affairs and Autonomies

- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies

- Ministry of Parliamentary Relations and Direct Democracy

- Ministry of Economic Development

- Ministry of Public Administration

- Ministry of Economy and Finance

- Ministry of the Interior

- Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities

- Ministry of Defence - Ministry of European Affairs - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(regional, provincial, municipal and local level level)

- Regional Authority

(primary participation)

- General Secretariat of Programming

(secondary participation)

- Economic Development Sector

- Regional Commission for Strategic Environmental Assessment

- Core Evaluation and Perification of Public Investments

- Interregional Observatory Cooperation Development

- Regional Observatory on the Housing Condition

- Soil Regional Observatory

- Air Observatory

- Sector of Human Capital, Culture and Community Planning

- Sector of Protection ​​ and Development of the Territory

- Instrumental Resources Sector

41

- Planning and strategic development Sector

- Offices of Civil and Forestry Engineering


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professionals or employees). Irrespective of this, however, the main distinction remains between those that seek to participate in order to gain economic benefits and those who participate because the project affects their everyday lives either directly or indirectly. The analysis continues with the identification of the level of power, interests, influence and involvement within the project. Again, atypical of usual stakeholder analyses, instead of just defining the levels of power and interests, the project takes into account their influence and overall involvement in a potential territorial project of this nature. The reason for this deviation from the conventional type of stakeholder analyses is the acknowledgment of the fact that the power-interests scheme does not take into account stakeholders who are involved in such projects without having either an expressed interest in it or a clearly defined level of authority (e.g. public institutions that partake in the elaboration of such projects).

- Regional Observatory Planning

- Regional Observatory for the Landscape

- Regional Observatory on Environmental Behavior and Education

- Regional Agency for Environmental Preservation and Protection

- Local Energy Providers and Operators

- Local Water Authorities

- Port Authority - Provinces of Venezia, Trevizo, Padua and Vicenza (and their corresponding offices)

- Universities, Research Centres and Knowledge Insitutions

- Municipalities of the above provinces

- other local authorities

(and their corresponding offices)

Private Sector - investors

- consultants

- designers

- farmers

- project groups

- industry

- institutions

- developers

- freelancers

- insurance companies

- engineers

- ecologists

Civil Society - citizens

- designers

- citizens’ associations

- project groups

- affected

- institutions

- leisure

- freelancers

- culture

- engineers

- landowners

- NGOs

- farmers

- future generations

- ecologists


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures

Finally, the stakeholder analysis attempts to identify the different goals the involved stakeholders may have. In this case, the distinction is, once again, between sectors. The argument behind this is elaborated in the final Figure 44, where the concept of ‘social contracts’ is showcased. The whole project operates under the assumption that the different stakeholders have to enter a state of ‘give-and-take’ between themselves, establishing both relations of mutual benefit, on the one hand, and, on the other, mutual responsibilities.

42 PowerInterest/ InfluenceInvolvement Analysis 43 Stakeholder Goals per sector

power

influence

44 Stakeholder Contracts

convince inform

42

key actors

inform

empower

monitor

manage satisfy

interests

involvement

Goals Public Sector

Private Sector

- ecological quality

- revenues

- enjoyment of the territory

- sustainable energy

- higher resource value

- ecological quality

- risk mitigation

- attractive economic environment

- active participation in territorial development

- economic development

- active role in territorial development

- protection from risk

- public satisfaction - enjoyment of the territory 43

- citizen participation - policy integration

Civil Society


35

funding economic & financial incentives for development general goal framework expertise

Public Sector

general plan

Private Sector

implementation participation social contract involvement revenues, value & job opportunities

funding work force involvement revenues, value & job opportunities

Private Sector

participation social contract

Civil Society

general goal framework expertise needs & desires implementation

needs & desires implementation general goal framework

Public Sector

expertise participation social contract

44

involvement value & job opportunities

Civil Society


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

45

Hydrographic System Areal Bodies Linear Podies Marzenego River 46

Hydraulic Risk

Vegetation Arboreal Shrubby/ Herbaceous Stunted Grasslands Permanent crops Non-standard agiculture Recreational

Terrain Rocky Sandy Water system Water bodies Wetlands Marzenego River

47

Built Surface Unused/ Underutilized Infrastructure Railway Marzenego River

Implementation Study

48 Figures

Water

45 Slope 46 Hydrographic System 47 Ecological Srructure 48 Unused/ Under-utilized Infrastructure

Built Surface Industrial Site Industrial Zone Railway Marzenego River Water

49 Concentrations of Industry & Manufacturing Functions Frame of reference 49

0

5

Marzenego River basin 10

20km


37

50

51

Implementation Study 50 Agrarian Landscapes

Figures

51 Urban Landscapes Marzenego River basin 0

5

Frame of reference 10

20km


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures 52 Hydroelectric Power Generation Scheme

Landscape Infrastructure Elements (schematic sections)

53 Water Managements Elements and Inter-relations 54 Remediation and Public Space Scheme 55 Quarries Reappropriation Scheme 56 Landfills Reappropriation Scheme 57 Reforestation Project Scheme

The hydroelectric energy production project operates through the site’s section, leveraging on its topography and is comprised of a series of weirs (high plain) and a series of dams (lower plain)

The territorial project operates under a framework of collaboration between different water management devices and mechanisms that, in unison, regulate the influx and discharge of water, while channeling it through remediation processes

The various mechanisms and devices designed to tackle flood risk (riparian zone augmentation, ditch network augmentation and territorial flooding plains) are conceived of as both public spaces and remediation devices for the contaminated soil as well as for the polluted water streams

52

53

54


39

55

Integral to the territorial project is the reappropriation of existing unused or under-utilized infrastructure. Now defunct. previously operating quarries become part of the water management and remediation process, as well as a new public space typology scattered across the territory

Similar to mining quarries, the project incorporates existing landfill locations as parts of the regional project of energy production, public space augmentation and risk mitigation 56

57

Complementary to the water management mechanism and devices and crucial for the goal of energy production, public space augmentation and risk mitigation, the regional reforestation project operates through all different territorial actions


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures 58 Marzenego River 59 Riparian Zone/ Programmed Flooding 60 Territorial Rooms/ Programmed Flooding/

Water Management Devices and Mechanisms

61 Marzenego River Basin Grid

Marzenego River

58

Taking into account ownership status, existing structures and the existing mobility and hydrographic system, the augmentation of the river’s riparian zone is proposed as a 1st line of programmed flooding

Riparian Zone 1st line of programmed flooding

59

Through the exploitation of the site’s topography and the existing canal system, a project of establishing territorial rooms for programmed flooding is proposed

Territorial Programmed Flooding Rooms 2nd line of programmed flooding

60

5km


41

62 Riparian Zone/ Programmed Flooding

Figures

63 Territorial Rooms/ Programmed Flooding 64 Marzenego River 65 Riparian Zone Dikes 66 Territorial Rooms Dikes 5km

Grid

61

64

62

65

63

66


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures

68 Riparian Corridor

Multifunctional Green - Blue Corridors Frame of reference

Agrarian Corridors Agriculture Corridor enhancement of the existing ditch netwrok green - blue corridor agriculture

reeds for phytoremediation

67

67 Agriculture Corridor

reforestation for biomass production

programmed flooding

Nano Scale/ Typology


43

Agrarian Corridors Riparian Corridor augmentation of the riparian zone green - blue corridor recreational space

programmed flooding

68

reeds for phytoremediation reforestation for biomass production


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures

69 Sub-/ Peri-Urban Corridor 70 Urban Corridor

Frame of reference

Urban Corridors Sub-/Peri-Urban Corridor

enhancement of the existing ditch netwrok green - blue corridor

reeds for phytoremediation

69

reforestation for biomass production

Nano Scale/ Typology


45

Agrarian Corridors Urban Corridor enhancement of the existing ditch netwrok

green - blue corridor

70

reeds for phytoremediation reforestation for biomass production


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life Implementation Study

Figures

Frame of reference

Marzenego River Basin Energy System 0

Weirs Dams Energy Production Hub Energy Autonomy Zone Riparian Zone Territorial Programmed Flooding Rooms Marzenego River Water

71

5

10

71 Marzenego River Basin Energy System Marzenego River Basin 20km


47

System Metabolism

Figures

hub

residences industrial/ manufacturing industries zone agriculture

electricity/ heat

electricity electricity

energy hub

weirs reeds for trees for the phytoremediation reforestation project farming waste

72

secondary energy source

agriculture waste

agro-food & farming zone

electricity

biomass

fermentation/digestion

biomass

fertilizer

biogas

electricity grid

primary energy source

collection/storage

72 System Metabolism

dams

farming


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Figures 73 Example Site 74 Hub Area Example 75 Peri-urban Area Example

Example Site

76 Riparian Area/ Quarry Site Example

73


49

- energy production - distribution hub - enhancement of the existing ditch network - phytoremediation - reforestation - green - blue corridors

74

- enhancement of the existing ditch network - phytoremediation - reforestation - green - blue corridors

75

- riparian zone augmentation - existing unused/under-utilized infrastructure (quarry) re-appropriation - reforestation project - flood risk management - phytoremediation 76


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Hub Typology Integral element to the whole energy system, the individual energy production and distribution hub is deployed throughout the territory, following the criteria set out previously. Function-wise, it is the singularity where both the bio-energy and the hydroelectric power converge and then disperse towards the productive vicinity.

Figures

The primary goal of this device is the provision of energy autonomy for the manufacturing and logistics hubs of the complete system. It is conceived as both a storage facility for the

78 Energy Hub Representation Frame of reference

Movable Workshop Assembling zone Package & distribution zone Industrial area Manufacturing flow

77

Storage zone Package zone Distribution zone Farmland Agriculture flow Storage zone Public space Energy production zone Biomass farming Biomass flow Biomass storage zone

77 Energy Hub Typology

Energy Hub


51

various biomass products, as a bio-energy production infrastructure, as an energy distribution facility and as a publicly accessible significant place, furthering the goal of a public oriented energy system. The immediate productive area is set to be able to take advantage of the hub’s energy qualities in further promoting urbanization.

78


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Impression Figures 79 Impression/ View toward Martellago

(view toward Martellago) riparian zone

79

pedestrian bridge

weir


53

territorial floodplain

remediation


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Remediation Figures 79 Remediation Techniques

phytovolatilization absorption of contaminants from the soil and releasing them in volatile form through transpipration

phytoextraction removal of toxic contaminants from the air

phytodegradation breakdown of contaminants

phytoextraction

rhizodegradation

removal of toxic contaminants from the soil

breakdown of contaminant through microbes in the roots

rhizofiltration filtering or the water

phytostabilazation reduction of heavy and/ or toxic contaminants’ mobility through the soil

phytodegradation breakdown of contaminants


55

References Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto Website: http://www.arpa.veneto.it/ ANGUILLARI, E. (2013). Vento 2100: Living with water. Living Landscapes - Landscapes for living. Paesaggi Abitati: Conference Proceedings. Florence: Planum. The Journal of Urbanism. Bélanger, P. (2013). Pierre Bélanger: Landscape Infrastructure: Urbanism beyond Engineering. Wageningen: Wageningen University and Research. Caravello, G. U., & Michieletto, P. (1999). Cultural Landscape: Trace Yesterday, Presence Today, Perspective Tomorrow for “Roman Centuriation” in Rural Venetial Territory. Research in Human Ecology, 26(2), 45-50. European Commission. (2018, 05 29). Veneto. Retrieved 06 30, 2018, from GROWTH: Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/ regional-innovation-monitor/base-profile/veneto European Environment Agency. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from European Environment Agency Website: https://www.eea.europa.eu/ Fabian, L. (2012). Extreme Cities and Isotropic Territories: Scenarios and Projects from the Environmental Emergency of the Central Veneto Citta DIffusa. Journal Disaster Risk Science, 3(1), 11-22. doi:10.1007/s13753-012-0003-5 Grulois, G., Tosi, M. C., & Crosas, C. (Eds.). (2018). Designing Territorial Metabolism. Berlin: jovis Verlag Gmbh. Infrastruttura dei Dati Territoriali del Veneto. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from Infrastruttura dei Dati Territoriali del Veneto Website: http://idt.regione.veneto.it/app/metacatalog/ Lafleur, F. (2016). Re-Territorialization: A vision for Milan Urban region (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3A02d0f2b0-f9b6-403381a7-669fa9beb478?collection=education OSMaxx. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from OSMaxx: https://osmaxx.hsr.ch/ Regione del Veneto. (n.d.). Retrieved from Regione del Veneto Website: http://www.regione. veneto.it/web/guest Regione del Veneto, U.O. Sistema Statistico Regionale. (2017). Rapporto Statistico 2017: Il Veneto si racconta, il Veneto si confronta. Venezia: Regione del Veneto, U.O. Sistema Statistico Regionale. Renzoni, C. (2017). Water and asphalt. The Project of Isotropy in the metropolitan Region of Venice. (M. Hebbert, Ed.) Planning Perspectives, 32(2), 302-303. Renzoni, C., & Tosi, M. C. (2018). Genealogies of the Ecological Issues on the Italian Discourse on Citta Diffusa: Territories and Debates. In M. C. Geoffrey Grolois (Ed.), Designing Territorial Metabolism (pp. 71-85). Berlin: jovis Gmbh.


2017—2018 IED Infrastructure and Environment Design Infrastructural Ecologies and Forms of Life

Universita Iuav di Venezia. (2012). Recycling CIty: Lifecycles, Embodied Energy, Inclusion. Venezia: Universita Iuav di Venezia. Universita Iuav di Venezia. (2013). Reycling CIty 2: Energy, Recycling and the DIffuse City. Venezia: Universita Iuav di Venezia. Vanore, M. (2010). Cultural infrastructures in Veneto. Earth and water pathways in the landscapes of the arceaology. In R. Amoeda, S. Lira, & C. Pinheiro (Ed.), Heritage 2010 – 2nd International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development (pp. 641-650). Évora: Green Lines Institute for Sustainable Development. Viganò, P. (2009). The Metropolis of the Twenty-First Century. The Project of a Porous City. OASE, 80, 91-107. Retrieved from https://www.oasejournal.nl/en/Issues/80/ TheMetropolisOfTheTwenty-FirstCentury Vigano, P., & Fabian, L. (Eds.). (2010). Extreme CIty: Climate Change and the Transformation of the Waterscape. Venezia: Universita Iuav di Venezia. Vigano, P., Fabian, L., & Gianotti, E. (Eds.). (2012). Recycling City: Lifecycles, Embodied Energy, Inclusion. Pordenone: Giavedoni Editore. Vigano, P., Secchi, B., & Fabian, L. (Eds.). (2016). Water and Asphalt: The Project of Isotropy. Zurich: Park Books.

all drawings are elaborated by the author

Sources: Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto Website: http://www.arpa.veneto.it/ European Environment Agency. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from European Environment Agency Website: https://www.eea.europa.eu/ Infrastruttura dei Dati Territoriali del Veneto. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from Infrastruttura dei Dati Territoriali del Veneto Website: http://idt.regione.veneto.it/app/metacatalog/ OSMaxx. (2018, 07 07). Retrieved from OSMaxx: https://osmaxx.hsr.ch/ Regione del Veneto. (n.d.). Retrieved from Regione del Veneto Website: http://www.regione. veneto.it/web/guest


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