Efficient Living Machine / LEDarchitecturestudio + HIDDENOFFICE

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LEDarchitecturestudio + HIDDENOFFICE’s Efficient Living Machine project transforms a building into an infrastructure able to improve and expand the lifestyle of the metropolis.  The firms propose that the skyscraper become a system of overlapping grids upon the existing environment as a way to read the city differently.   These grids contain different layers of programmed activities, ranging from recreational areas to farms, and from public parks to areas of commerce.

More details about the project, by architects Alessandro Liberati, Roberto Straccali in partnership with Roberto Salvatelli, Simone Pirro, Luca Tappatà, and Roberto Turtù, after the break:

© Alessandro Liberati

“Our skyscraper can offer citizens different lifestyles depending on the level where you are. You can switch it from the Farm, recreation and public parks, residences, offices all closely related to the variety of functions that already exist in the city,” explained Liberati.

© Alessandro Liberati

Although the project offers new nodes of activity, the system fuses with the existing city’s fabric from the union of the Metro stations, both currently and in anticipation of the future.   “This spatial structure increases the density of functions, which also has the ability to be mobile and change their configuration to the internal structure of each individual to follow what are the socio-economic dynamics of a metropolis in constant change and implemeting as an evolution of cross programming,” explained the architect.

© Alessandro Liberati

The two grids are connected via a vertical link that both joins the various means of transport and simultaneously generates new public spaces for socializing.  These vertical connections are specifically designed to function as generators for the self-sufficiency of the new metropolis, in terms of  electricity, food, heat and oxygen.  The eletricity is derived from systems of wind turbines, photovoltaic systems of high concentration and hydrogen system. The food is produced in the farm; the heating is given by the fermentation of organic waste from the farm and the whole city.  The oxygen is produced from the electrolysis and circulated to the domestic buildings to improve the living comfort.  The city has a system for collecting rainwater, which when purified are-re-entered into the system.

Cite: Cilento , Karen. "Efficient Living Machine / LEDarchitecturestudio + HIDDENOFFICE" 05 Sep 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 21 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/76571>

32 comments

  16. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Yes, and lets completely do away with context and place. Lets drop one of those systems in every city. We can all be the same! Lets forget about the need for inefficiency in a city. Creates new space for socializing? But how? If there is too much space, then there is no space for a majority to meet and gather like they do at specific large successful public spaces.

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  17. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    “Art without engineering is dreaming…” – Stephen K Roberts. Seems to fit this, this THING.

    Or maybe this part fits better; “…Engineering without art is calculating.” Hmm, maybe.

    I dunno. But I do know that this is absurd. Of course he’s bluffing about this project; he’s just trying to make waves. And he appears to be doing a good job at it.

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  19. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    One of the most blatant mash-ups I’ve seen for some time – Radiant City meets Superstudio. Why do people volunteer to publicise this sort of work – do they genuinely think we might not spot the fraud?

    I tried to read more at his website but it was down. Not very efficient of it.

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  21. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    um . . . MVRDV Pig City.
    Watch out for golf balls though. Tiger is making a comeback apparently.

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  22. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I like utopian thinking but this is way too generic and monotone, maybe it’s just the presentation. I doubt it will work though, there’s no intensive connection with the existing urban fabric in this proposal. It will be a second city, above and isolated from the original city. A bunch of elevator shafts just won’t cut it.

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  23. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Yeah, definitely Superstudio with a little bit of (Ummmm) Archigram’s Plug-In City thrown in. Total b.s. mashup of pre-existing concepts, no originality here.

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  24. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    This doesn’t make sense at all. sure you could say its all innovative with a transportation system and the stereotypical urban farm. from what I can see the actual proposal is unrealistic and too expensive to solve the problem. there is no way it would be possible to build at all, it is not structurally sound at all would never meet visual impact and building standards. Sure it might seem like a good idea but its too much in the realm of fantasy and not a practical solution that could actually be done.

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