Eden Falls / Visiondivision
Visiondivision shared their Eden Falls entry for a vertical zoo competition organized by Arquitectum with us. The design features a thunderous water curtain facade that offers a dramatic entry condition as visitors pass over a moat of crocodiles and into a free setting where monkeys and birds freely roam about the building, and a pool with fresh water dolphins rests on the roof.
More images and more about the zoo after the break.
The water curtain is formed as a result of the building taking water from the river, cleaning it and then pumping it through a system of huge pipes (which form the building’s structural system). The constant overflow on the roof causes the water to flow off the sides, enveloping the entire structure in a dynamic waterfall. The rush of water conceals the pipe structure and as the falling water hits the surface, it is turned into energy via turbines and a generator. The structure is completely self-sufficient and can provide for water and energy for other future structures in the reserve or existing ones in Puerto Madero. It also becomes a unique and striking symbol for the Costanera Sur and the river.
A core of circulation rests in the middle of the building and several cantilevered footbridges breach the waterfall so one can enjoy the views of the Costanera Sur, the city and the river.
The floors for the animals are divided into flats for each species, with a balcony that pierces the waterfall and a typology of plants and vegetation that is suitable for that animal.
I wonder how much water would end up wasted because of this, it sounds and looks really good, but the amount of water being pumped, the cleaning process and the amount of water loss because of wind, animal and human pollution etc.. hardly seems sustainable to me. Maybe I am wrong, thats just my point of view from the information presented.
Also, would’nt that be really unsafe? the renders show the water in a free fall from a very high altitude.. that would be very deadly.
Great idea though, I have’nt seen the rest of the projects but this one has to earn points for creativity.
No I agree totally, I’m tired of these large projects failing to move sustainability issues forward. Design MUST come second to sustainability if we are to survive the next century and simply put, photoshop cannot cover over a terrible idea. Whenever a designer picks up a pen he/she should consider how to make the world better not just get himself noticed.
haha by the way… those are some bad arse animals.. they are like twice the size of the humans in the last render.
looks like more photoshop work than architectural design. i like the idea but poorly presented, so many problems…..
Architecturally is impressive. But why don’t we find sollutions to build something in the natural environment whereby the animals and human can coexist together as one, instead taking them from their natural states and force them into a robotic structure???? Plus to much water is being wasting in this architecture eventhough it will taking from the river.
i don’t understand… what about the people inside? what panorama can they see from inside the building?
What an outrageous design!
I love seening this sort of thing, it makes me smile.
I agree totaly. Visiondivisions designs are always uplifting and many times more possible to realize then it seems at first glanze.
Lovely
Why bother to shelter the animals? Hazardous structure. You may see a basejumping giraffe. hahaha
people seem to be taking this all too seriously.
it’s speculative. Its about an idea.
The images are quite mesmerizing.
interesting idea, but not real ^^
don’t trash this design…..it is an idea. radical ideas are not always build-able, but they do challenge conventions….and are often interesting….try having some imagination
people shud stop watching sci-fi movies… outrageous.
it was fine till cleaning the water… but to waste the resources to such an extent? well…. god save the world.
You can see the winning projects on the website, I think archdaily should publish them as well.
Oh no, please tell me it ain’t true… So they use ENERGY to pump lots of water to that height, and then use a turbine to ineffeciantly regenerate a small fraction of that energy? Pump a few gallons less up there, and you will have saved more energy than you will ever generate. Not to mention that it’s a huge tower pumping water vertically for no real reason.
“The structure is completely self-sufficient”. Right.
Such a huge misunderstanding of what sustainability means. Architects should be required to take physics.
A very surrealistic and beautiful project, nice idea.
Google would say “Do you mean http://d3architectes.fr/images/chanchan01.jpg ?”
Anyway, I don’t understand why archdaily is posting this and how can people comment this joke so seriously!!!
childish
Its an idea competition and I love it!
Anyway, I totally understand why archdaily is posting this and how people comment on this lovely piece of architecture so seriously!
Hey mr F, just so you know, Three exclamation marks actually emphasizes something else then your comment.
Insane and strange but also fantastic and positive. I like it. And that roof pool takes the infinite pool concept to new heights. . .
Another trash competition by Arquitectum. They have to stop encouraging students to do sci-fi and fairy tales. You guys say it is an idea. If the idea does not solve function, structure, etc., it is not architecture. Then Pixar and Lucas Film can do better.
How can someone design like this?
Is this architecture, with no sense at all?
All the negative points on the comments… the self-called architects from visiondivision are not smart enough to think about all that when designing..
if with doubts, just check their ego-promotion page: http://www.visiondivision.com/
(advise: eat some magic mushrooms before clicking on the projects section…:)
man, how can you be so upset? get a life
zoo-ropey
not sure how it’ll work, but I LOVE it. these ideas are why I love my profession. as silly as it sounds now, pushing the limits of what a certain program can be is really the bee’s knees. remember, all innovative ideas are discredited as ‘stupid’ at first.
I was just wondering how peaceful and comfortable life could be for those poor animals living with the noise of a huge mass of water falling down everywere around them (2times niagara’s falls should be very noisy! don’t you think?).
even,
the pool on the roof is something like the cherry on the top of the cake…
please leave fresh water dolphins where they actually do enjoy and try to survive!
I want to ride on Flipper
This is one of the coolest designs I’ve seen in years, thank you archdaily! I wish i could be involved in a project like this! It would change the WORLD!
This really excites me. I don’t know how sustainable it is and how constructible but it is visually stimulating and a very interesting concept. I feel projects like this, realised or not, enable the continued development and exploration of architecture. At the very least, it stimulates discussion.
Visiondivision is Visiondivision. They always have a lot of fun in their projects. Why not?
I’ve got a better idea for this project and projects like that in general – why don’t we just put radiators outside and try to heat our planet – I mean, after all – obviously we are trying to cause more CO2 emission anyway,right?
Would the dolphins know not to jump over the edge of the infinity pool and fall to certain death?
in a smaller scale, could be another pavillion in the EXPO 2010… it perfectly matches all the requirements (?????) for it…
this is one epic building, Im so impressed by the images, just cool all the way to the bones!
el lugar de emplazamiento es una “reserva” por lo cuál es impensable toda edificación. el área es ambición de intereses inmobiliarios que acechan permanentemente, hasta hoy sin éxito. espero sincera mente que este concurso sea solo un ejercicio arquitectónico y no la punta de lanza de una “colonización” de la reserva. en ese marco considero que el proyecto no ha considerado la realidad del lugar, la absoluta contaminación del río de la plata, somete a los animales a un hábitat totalmente inadecuado, la eficiencia energética no es posible (el consumo para elevar el agua supera 100 veces lo que la caída piede generar), en fin… talvés sean ideas aplicables a dubai … por favor dejen a la reserva en paz!
the locations is a “reserve” at any building which is unthinkable. the area is ambitious real estate interests that lurk permanently, so far without success. mind sincere hope that this contest is only an exercise in architectural and not the spearhead of a “colonization” of the reservation. in this context I consider that the project has not considered the reality of the place, the absolute pollution of the river of silver, subjects animals to a totally unsuitable habitat, energy efficiency is not possible (to raise the water consumption exceeds 100 times what the fall piede generate), prob-ably be in order … applicable to dubai … ideas please leave in peace to the reserve!