#droneport

Norman Foster reveals vaulted Droneport prototype at Venice Architecture Biennale

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THE NORMAN FOSTER FOUNDATION - MAKING THE DRONEPORT PROTOTYPE

The droneport prototype is the first project to be presented by The Norman Foster Foundation.

The proposal is to create a network of droneports to deliver medical supplies and other necessities to areas of Africa that are difficult to access due to a lack of roads or other infrastructure and the ambition is that every small town in Africa and in other emerging economies will have its own droneport by 2030.

The pilot project – which will be launched this year – is based in Rwanda, a country whose physical and social geography poses multiple challenges. The initial plan for three buildings, to be completed by 2020, will enable the network to send supplies to 44 per cent of Rwanda. Subsequent phases of the project could see in excess of 40 droneports across Rwanda, and the country’s central location could allow easier expansion to neighbouring countries such as Congo, saving many thousands more lives.

The creation of a Biennale pavilion was made possible by The Norman Foster Foundation which brought together professors and students from five universities across Europe, the UK and America along with a foundation for the building industry and its related research laboratory. Its theme fits perfectly with Alejandro Aravena’s motto “Reporting from the Front”. Its construction in Venice was filmed to serve as a model for replication by local communities in emerging economies such as Africa, South America and parts of Asia. Although initially a response to the droneport, the construction system is applicable to a wider range of needs – markets, schools and medical facilities for example.

Norman Foster backs world’s first ‘drone-port’ to deliver medical supplies in Rwanda

It sounds like science fiction: unmanned drones carrying emergency medicine zooming above the rolling hills of Rwanda.

But proposals — including one by eminent British architect Norman Foster — plan exactly that, to set up “cargo drone routes capable of delivering urgent and precious supplies to remote areas on a massive scale”, with the East Africa nation of Rwanda chosen as a test case.

“Speci…

Africa ‘drone ports’ proposal by architect Norman Foster aims to service half of Rwanda by 2020

An eminent British architect has proposed using cargo drones and a network of ‘drone ports’ to carry essential supplies to rural parts of Africa.

Sir Norman Foster’s firm Foster + Partners, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and its company Afrotech put forward the idea of a pilot project slated to begin in Rwanda next year.

“Specialist drones can carry blood and life-saving…

Who needs roads when you can fly? Norman Foster‘s latest project aims to support cargo drone routes that could deliver “urgent and precious supplies to remote areas on a massive scale.”

Interior Rendering of a bustling drone port (Courtesy Foster+Partners)

The scheme has significant potential in some of the barren heartland areas of Africa which are severely lacking in infrastructure, which has proven a hindrance to the health and socio-economic well being of the region. Utilizing drones in such a way could change all that by connecting stranded communities and bringing valuable resources which are desperately needed. Unlike cars or trains, drones can easily (and cheaply) bypass the need to traverse across mountains, rivers, and lakes.

(Courtesy Foster+Partners)

Medical supplies are the main priority for Foster. He has teamed up with Afrotech, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); and the Norman Foster Foundation. Drones here have the potential to disperse a variety of life-saving packages within a range of over 60 miles. This would work by using two drone networks called the Redline and the Blueline. The Redline would carry smaller packages and would primarily be for emergency medical supplies. The Blueline would be more commercial and would be able to carry “larger payloads such as spare parts, electronics, and e-commerce.”

Diagram outlining the assembly and construction of the drone port (Courtesy Foster+Partners)

A drone port would be a new typology for Foster + Partners, adding to its growing list of aviation-based buildings that includes various airports and “lunar building studies conducted in association with the European Space Agency.” The firm aims for the project’s design to be very simplistic and able to be assembled by locals. The port could also be a manufacturing site for drones which would potentially give locals greater employment opportunities.

(Courtesy Foster+Partners)

To give some scale of the issue Foster wishes to address, currently “just a third of Africans live within two kilometers of an all-season road.” With this in mind, Africa’s population is set to double by 2050 and so a solution such as this will be necessary to cater for the growing demand of Africa’s people.

“Africa is a continent where the gap between the population and infrastructural growth is increasing exponentially,” Foster said in a statement. “The dearth of terrestrial infrastructure has a direct impact on the ability to deliver life-giving supplies, indeed where something as basic as blood is not always available for timely treatment.”

(Courtesy Foster+Partners)

With a pilot project set to be built by 2020 in Rwanda, “a country whose physical and social geography poses multiple challenges,” the drone service hopes to send supplies to “44% of Rwanda.”

“Rwanda’s challenging geographical and social landscape makes it an ideal test-bed for the Droneport project,” Foster said in a statement. “This project can have massive impact through the century and save lives immediately.”

(Courtesy Foster+Partners)