Local Code

Real Estates uses geospatial analysis to identify thousands of publicly owned abandoned sites in major US cities, imagining this distributed, vacant landscape as a new urban system. Using parametric design, a landscape proposal for each site is tailored to local conditions, optimizing thermal and hydrological performance to enhance the whole city’s ecology—and relieving burdens on existing infrastructure. Local Code’s quantifiable effects on energy usage and stormwater remediation eradicate the need for more expensive, yet invisible, sewer and electrical upgrades. In addition, the project uses citizen participation to conceive a new, more public infrastructure as well —a robust network of urban greenways with tangible benefits to the health and safety of every citizen.

via WPA 2.0

Local Code: Real Estates was a project by Nicholas de Monchaux and other collaborators from the College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley for the WPA 2.0: Working Public Architecture exhibition organised by UCLA’s cityLAB. I am most interested in the sequence between 02:50 and 03:30 – the notion of being able to visualise in realtime a range of analytical environmental data (sourced from a network of sensors) as a way of informing the design process. I am also interested by the theme of unused public land though from the point of cataloguing and networking these spaces as opposed to the parametric design element. I am currently working on an outline City 2.0 / OpenCity specification document which I hope to publish shortly.

About George

George Metcalfe recently graduated with Distinction as Master of Architecture from the WSA. A freelance designer and multi-creative, he is interested in the intersection between architecture, urbanism and information communication technology.

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