ECO POD UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Reciprocity Zoning / Re:Vision Dallas

The RECIPROCITY ZONING project was designed as an entry to the Re:Vision DALLAS competition, organized by The City of Dallas and Urban Re:Vision, in partnership with Central Dallas CDC and BC Workshop. The competition called for a very high-density residential block that does no harm, to people or place, while fostering respect for nature and our neighbors, privacy and resources, economy and consumption. The proposal is based on the notion that a city block is an integral part of the urban ecosystem, and should be designed as such, taking advantage of the different flows the city has to offer, social, economic and environmental. The design is informed by a reciprocity matrix, that contains 3 realms of resources the project draws on: Natural, Social and Programmatic. Multiple combinations can be created using different resources, each ‘Trio’ reflecting a potential initiative. The collective force of all initiatives is what creates the different spaces of the project. PROJECT YEARLY CYCLE The design offers 3 means of energy production on site, using solar panels ,silent wind turbines and heat pumps. Due to the natural conditions in Dallas, these different means peak in different seasons. URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE Considering the block as part of a larger urban strategy, we identify the potential for a new residential armature in the center of Dallas. This armature will utilize under-developed industrial areas and existing parking lots, creating an axis that uses its’ own interior circulation system to reach the new Trinity River Corridor project. The armature is supported by on-site agricultural land, waste sorting and composting, and water management systems. Parallel to the residential armature we envision the development of a new urban green infrastructure system. This infrastructure takes advantage residual space along the R L Thomton Freeway and demonstrates the potential to expand. Easements, setbacks and right of-way associated with transportation, electric transmissions, oil and gas pipelines, waterways and railways all offer linear systems that run between all urbanized areas and have the potential to be reused for socially and ecologically reconnecting increasingly deconcentrated populations. RECIPROCITY ZONING was designed by Manuel Avila and Lee Altman, with a little help from Matt Thomas

Hybrid Typologies Hybrid Typologies is a competition entry designed by Manuel Avila for the Andes Sprout Society, a farm that offers cross over (art-farm) programs in the New York State Catskill area. The aim of the competition is to design 3 mobile studios for multimedia artists working at the farm. Hybrid Typologies was recently selected by the jury for the second phase of the competition. The design concept took off looking at the challenge of a three mobile studios framed by the notions environmental sustainability. A mobile studio space opened the possibility to explore the concept of flexibility in a way in which the user -and not me, the designer- could take his or her own choices concerning the configuration, orientation and of course location of the studio. For this reason my proposal divides the studio space in two independent units, a working unit and a living one. As a result, this bi partition offers three different configurations or typologies, an independent working unit (I-WU), an independent living unit (I-LU) and finally the sum of both forms a hybrid independent working/living unit (I-WLU). Coop-Space Having in mind that different artistic disciplines may require collective spaces, or that residents may want to share a common creative or living space, my proposal looked into the possible collective typologies that could emerge by combining the I-WLUs in three different ways, three new hybrids. Sustainability The project attacked the sustainability question in three different areas; the first one is the choice of materials in which had preference for recycled or re-used materials like scrap metal, and MDF panels. The second one is in terms of water management. For this reason the project proposes a whole system of separation and treatment of gray water, and is in this way that the resident has the total control of its consumption and water reuse. Finally the use of solar energy as a source of power not only confirms the environmental responsibility of the project but also is a fundamental in the project’s concept of mobility, flexibility and independence. Phasing as a funding strategy The concept of independent units in which this project is based, also allows the project to extend its construction in phases, allocating time for funding to be raised and hopefully getting its users involved in the construction process at the time of residence. The completion of the whole project is ideally to be completed in three phases, starting in the summer of 2009 and finishing in late summer of 2011.

The Red Hook Bicycle Master Plan Design Competition was sponsored by the Forum for Urban Design in September 2008, and followed by an exhibition in November 2008. The submission "Plan B: Growing Infrastructure" by Manuel Avila and Lee Altman received an honorable mention.