ECOCITY 2000/2002

Arch 501, Interdisciplinary workshop.

Ahmet Sari 095129

General info - Why cities?

An ecocity is a human settlement that enables its residents to live a good quality of life while using minimal natural resources.

Cities cover less than 1% of the earth's surface but are responsible for up to 75% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. With more than 50% of the world's population living in cities (set to reach 60% by 2030), there is a ripe opportunity for humanity to reconsider the way we approach the built environment.

General info – Themes / Role…

Its buildings make best use of sun, wind and rainfall to help supply the energy and water needs of occupants. Generally multistory to maximize the land available for green space.

These conferences are held to try and educate the worlds creators of the built environment that there are viable solutions to creating nature friendly architecture and we can all improve the built environment by showing respect to this subject.

ECO CITY 2002 ( china )

Shenzhen, China,

ECO CITY 2002 ( china ) Why China?

Shenzhen had just won a national prize as a garden city for its natural restoration efforts in strips and patches of natural and agricultural areas, in mangrove forests on the coast and agricultural allotments adjacent and inside its rapidly expanding boundaries. This made the international community stand up and realize that a heavily modernized city can be both prosperous and economically responsible.

ECO CITY 2002 ( china ) key speakers

Ken Yeang, architect of “bio-climatic” buildings adapting cooling and air freshening design to larger buildings was one of our key speakers in a country building cities at a withering rate. His three or four story “sky courts” carved into the sides of tall buildings for dense hot climate cities laid down the challenge for innovation for transit oriented dense cities.

Bioclimatic high-rise. Ken Yeang

ECO CITY 2002 ( china ) key speakers

Richard Register gave the keynote, following the history of evolving urban form leading up to the enormous problems and potential for healthy change. He didn’t candy coat the car culture leadership of the United States in the wrong, energy squandering, climate-distorting direction. Ecocities, he said, are a large part of the solution. Leadership can come from anywhere.

ECO San Francisco concept, Richard Register

ECO CITY 2002 ( china ) key speakers

Using art and historic preservation in transforming aging port facilities into a wildlife refuge, presented by Chinese landscape artist You Kongjian

Red Ribbon in Tanghe River Park

ECO CITY 2000 ( BRAZIL )

Curitiba, Brazil.

ECO CITY 2000 ( BRAZIL ) Why Brazil? Curitiba, Brazil with its twenty-seven blocks

of pedestrian streets, dozens of parks and plazas and a transit system co-developed with five arms of high-density residential and commercial development along streets reserved for buses; was an obvious choice for the EcoCity conference. It had shown a form of respect and desire to create a user and environmentally low impact solution that many cities should take note from. Thus the city of Curitiba itself became the supreme topic for Ecocity 2000.

ECO CITY 2000 ( BRAZIL ) key speakers

The gem in the crown of Ecocity 4 there was the keynote by architect and past Mayor of Curitiba, then Governor of the State of Parana, Jaime Lerner. He was the inventor/-leader of much that is Curitiba’s contribution to its own citizens and to the world. We’d come to the destination of our pilgrimage, saw and knew it was good! But perhaps more importantly, we saw that it was something that could be done around the world. Said Lerner, “very major changes can come about in as little as two years.” Implication: “Get moving!”

The Wire Opera House, Jamie Lerner

ECO CITY 2000 ( BRAZIL ) key speakers

Juan Antonio Zapatel presented the case study of a Roman Aqueduct preservation project in the District of Malagueira, Portugal in which a modernized version augmented the old, both providing strategic urban shade in a hot, sunny region as well as water conveyance – and in the case of the modern version – conveyance of electric, gas and phone lines.This example showed all that the integration between new, old and forthcoming technologies can enrich our urban fabric and create new spaces and uses for all.

ECO CITY 2000 ( BRAZIL ) key speakers

Renowned architect and planner Ruben Pesci described several of his urban layout designs for South American cities.This sort of input from renowned urban planers is vital to such conferences. It breaks away from the unitary thinking and imaging that many see when they first think of ecological cities. A successful project of this type must take into consideration the entire project. The end result should be much more then the sum of its parts.

City planning and residential work,

Ruben Pesci

ECO CITY 2002 / 2000 Summary

With a whole new cultural experience following on conferences in Brazil, Senegal, Australia and the US, delegates left Ecocity with the sense of excitement and foreboding that a serious peek into a healthy future on a development juggernaut provides. Those from the US were particularly concerned that their country was setting a poor example for developing countries with hundreds of millions of people following, or even celebrating the “stampede.” It was evident that even if our country changed its course to provide a better example most would insist on their turn at the wheel and feel successful and even righteous in their driving. But with stronger theory and experience shared at Ecocity, the conferees returned home with a clearer mission and stronger set of tales and tools for change. It is clearly visible that we do have Technology, we understand the problem its theory and we have all

established that there is a problem. Now is the time to make a difference.