Project Umbrella by architects Constantin Boincean, Ralph Bertram and Aleksandra Danielak has been awarded first place in the LA Cleantech Corridor and Green District Competition, presented by SCI-Arc and Architect’s Newspaper in partnership with the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Community Redevelopment Agency, along with other public and private sponsors.
More images and descriptions after the break.
The Oslo-based designers have implemented an “acupunctural” strategy for Los Angeles’ urban renewal program to help transform the city for a more sustainable future. Project Umbrella consists of mushroom-like structures that initially appear to be oversized street furniture. The structures are actually solar evaporators that can be implemented within LA’s existing grid.
The structures clarify black water from the sewage system, and through a process of evaporation and condensation, redistribute it. Conventional streets are transformed into webs of cultivated landscapes and potentially promote sustainable developments within and around them. The elements of Project Umbrella begin to act as incentives for design that is more sensitive to environmental issues.
Each component of Project Umbrella becomes a focal point for social developments and activities that coalesce to become part of a larger network, proposed by the design team, for public and non-motorized modes of transportation. Stan Allen, dean of Princeton University’s School of Architecture described the project as “highly memorable as an image, at the same time as it transforms the way the city will treat its resources in the future.”
