#ourdrawings

Floating Farm Dairy by Goldsmith Company, Merwehaven, The Netherlands, 2019

The Floating Farm is essentially a compact triple-stacked structure which houses up to 40 dairy cows, with a facade that ranges from concrete to a translucent polycarbonate to a free facade. The farm floats on the harbor of a development zone in Rotterdam which aims to stimulate and facilitate innovative and experimental activities. The structure was developed to follow circular design principles, it generates all its power through floating solar panels and provides fresh water through an integrated rainwater collection and purification system. The Floating Farm Team explained that by 2050, due to population increase, the available area for fertile land becomes increasingly scarce. Climate change shows there is increasing heavy rainfall and flooding of cities and farmland.

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The Tramdepot, designed by Penzel Valier provides a large storage and maintenance facility for the growing number of trams used in the city of Bern Switzerland. The hall housing the trams is able to span 42m with minimal load bearing structures due to it’s saw tooth roof design and angled columns. The columns are designed with grooves to allow for future expansion as new truss members can simply slide in. Water captured by the roof is channeled and recycled for cleaning the trams. The depots doors automatically close and open with its motors being able to operate off the same current as the pantographs used to power the trams.

Kerhrictverwertungsanlage Site Plan Revised

AEG turbine factory site plan revisited.

Kerhrictverwertungsanlage Graber Pulver Architekten, Bern, Switzerland, 2013.

This unique “Bauen im Wald” (building in the forest)  sits on the periphery of Bern creating a clear divide, with the help of the railway, between organised banal urbanism of Bern and the considerably sized forest to the north of the site. The programs employed by this building (a waste recycling plant, Gas-Steam Combination and wood-fired CHP Plant) allows for the monumental structure, covering part of the cities energy requirements. These programs are connected by a 300 metre long, glass promenade which runs the entirety of the building,  giving the facility vistas out upon the forest, alternatively, in the evening the programs are visible from the exterior. This establishes a relationship between the machine and nature . The monumental size of the building accommodates the evolving nature of the technologies implemented by the programs.

The AEG Turbine Factory is on the border of the Wilhelmine Ring (an expansion plan developed for the city of Berlin in the 19th century). The ring is primarily made up of Höfe styled complexes which are clusters of shops and apartments with a central courtyard. The Höfe come to an end on the periphery of Berlin as they encounter the industrial area. The AEG Factory’s monumental façade acts as a threshold for these areas. Now Moabit has become a historical district with a fraction of its previous population with the Höfe being bought out by wealthy individuals. Many of the back wings have been knocked down to make space for larger courtyards, specifically those bordering the Turbine Factory. Even in old age the factory has been expanded and is still in use today producing gas turbines 100 years on. Today it can still been as a threshold between the residential district and the business/industrial district.