FUTURE CITY MOBILITY BICYCLE- Marten Wallgren

I thought this article was quite interesting. As i know alot of people love bicycles which will hugely become a key factor of future sustainable living!! Enjoy!!

Imagine riding through Picadily Circus and all you hear and see are people talking and birds in the sky. This was the guiding vision of this year’s winners at the Future City Mobility competition for designers to envision how London’s transportation could look in 2030.

Marten Wallgren, a Swede studying at the Royal College of Art and with three collegues, won the SeymourPowell award for their concept dubbed, “London Garden”. The scheme incorporates a

network of electric buses, taxis, and scooter-bikes, all of which interconnect to make London Garden a car-free zone.

The concept of London Garden includes special bicycles that operate in three modes. The first mode is the cruising option with the possible addition of regenerative braking. The second mode is a rigorous bicycling, where additional resistance is supplied to generate and store electricity. The third mode cashes in on stored power and turns the bike into an electric scooter. These bicycles are foldable, and are stored for community use in tall, treelike structures that double as bus stops. The bike racks themselves are meant to generate power from rainwater, sun, and even kinetically from the wind as its swooping arms away.

The bicycles also work as modular components within the urban environment where they can be folded and carried on-board electric buses and taxis. Once docked inside, they double as seats and the stored energy that was generated during pedaling is now transferred into the vehicle and even credited as currency towards your fare.

http://www.psfk.com/2009/08/future-city-mobility-bicycle-transportation-via-folding-scooters-electric-buses-and-bike-trees.html

HUMERA ...

Our Dying World

Transport and the effects on our environment!
There has been a massive push for a reduction in our carbon footprint, and in many ways we are succeeding however in transportation, emmissons are still rising!

Having accessiblity to different modes of transport, can depend on a numebr of things, the distance you intend to travel, but even if the distance is short, still people will chose to drive instead of walk, I know I am guilty of this on a lazy day.
If we couldnt aford to drive however, we would be forced to walk or to catch public transport so in essance having a reduced carbon foot print is related to amount of money you have?
Aviation accounts for a lot of transport pollution, but once again you can only fly if you can afford it!
IS there a way to make people take action and reduce their carbon foot print?
Making the public transport better?

I may seem a bit sceptical but I think it would be a very hard job getting people out of the comfortable cars, and onto a bus!

Immobility

Physical Immobility

When does obesity become disablity?

Our nation is getting bigger and bigger! When does the standard width of a door way get bigger?

As architects of the future, how are the disablities of today physically going to effect the way we design everyday things?



About 46% of men in England and 32% of women are overweight
an additional 17% of men and 21% of women are obese!!!

Overweight and obesity are increasing.
The percentage of adults who are obese has roughly doubled since the mid-1980's.

I think that it wont be long before legislation is passed, in which to alow the mobility of our MASSIVE population to be accounted for.

Would you purchase one of these? humera...!

you know how they say that one day everything and anything will be replaced by robots... well i came across something really interesting... its relevent to mobility, as we physically move from humans to robots in the mere future...and relevent to architecture as building a brick wall is a main aspect to most buildings...one day once we're all successful architects, you may decide to invest in one of these !! but take a look and let me no what you guys think.. :D :D :D

On September 29, Storefront for Art and Architecture will inaugurate a new exhibition showcasing research conducted over the past 3 years at ETH Zurich by Swiss architects Gramazio & Kohler into full-scale digital fabrication in architecture using industrial robots. At the same time, construction work will begin on Pike Loop, the first architectural project to be built on site by an industrial robot in the US.

Located on Pike Street, the robot, R-O-B, will work for up to four weeks—in full view of the public— to construct a brick wall, a highly sculptural response to the specific identity of the site. The same robot unit recently built the award-winning installation, Structural Oscillations, at the 2008 architectural biennial in Venice. For the Pike Loop installation, more than seven thousand bricks aggregate to form an infinite loop that weaves along the pedestrian island. In changing rhythms the loop lifts off the ground and intersects itself at its peaks. The installation was coordinated through the New York City Department of Transportation’s Urban Art Program.a

Amandeep

I found Neil’s previous post very interesting and maybe he’s right in saying that the future built environment could be drastically different. The interactive commerce is thriving pulling a lot of sales and may drive many high street shops out of business, or will they conform to joining the rising internet world? Woolworths is a very good example of this..

And (referring to my last post), this virtual shift may even be the way modernity is heading, and may provide the change we need without the need for permanence...maybe?

Amandeep

Oh yeh I wanted to mention that Jess brought up immobility which I think is a very important factor to look at. If we were immobile, the world would be a very dull and boring place, and De Botton discusses how our happiness and anticipation of travel provides us with some sort of satisfaction.

Nowadays, people as well as architects are becoming more aware and responsive to those with disabilities, creating spaces that are much more accessible to everyone, creating a more socially mobile community.

And also touching upon what Humera said that mobility can also be the moving of social status, position in a job and inqualities. She has also shown how it has happened over time, and this can be seen over many events- women given the vote, Martin Luther King providing black people with equal rights etc. But I still think there is a division between the Third world and the more wealthier countries, which maybe because of lack of communication. But I hope that after looking at previous events where the social link was separated, that this may be bridged in the not so distant future.

Hey all!

After watching a video from mikes blog about mobility in 80 years, it made me think about where architecture will be in that same era! It made me think about how our lives will change... most of us ofcourse will probably be dead by the time that 80 years has come, so i did

some research on future architecture within the next 30-40 years, and its amazing to see how our lives will evolve, wheather we live in a house a flat, a canal boat, and so on.

Environmental- Vincent callebaut and his concept of the Lily pad,

“ as a solution to the alarming problem of global warming creating an ecotectural marvel that will serve as a luxurious future retreat for 50,00

0 inhabitants seeking refuge from rising waters. I believe the world will be desperately seeking shelter from the devastations of climate change, the auto- sufficient amphibious city will serve as a luxurious solution.too bad that right we are close to 7 billion people and this luxurious future retreat is just for 50,000 inhabitants”

“i call this project “Lilypad“, but this ecotectural marvel is also called as “Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees”. The whole structure is covered in green walls and roofs, the top portion covered in grasses with the inner portion featuring a palm oasis, and the under portion serving as a bed for natural sea planktons and oceanic plants. Finally if you were already planning to reserve a place to this luxurious future retreat stay calm, i hope that “Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees” will make the transition from design to reality around the year 2100”

The Venus Project: Working Toward Sustainable Global Civilization

In order to survive global warming, the growing human population and other challenges in the upcoming centuries, some believe that we must start from scratch with a new model of human civilization that directs our technology and resources toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of the people and the planet. The Venus Project is a vision for a brand new world civilization and redesign of our entire culture. Circular cities with built-in farms and public transit, along with sea cities that can accommodate millions, are just part of this complex and visionary idea to take us “beyond politics, poverty and war”.

Dystopian Farming in Manhattan

Resembling the nest of an insect, the Dystopian Farming project by Eric Vergne combines farms, worker housing and market places, mixing politically opposing classes – farmers and urban consumers. The idea is to reject the romanticizing of food projection and embrace genetic engineering, airoponic watering and nutrient technologies in a fully man-controlled environment in order to meet Manhattan’s food production needs.