Boosting Urban Soil

Boosting Urban Soil: Commons of Post-human urbanisation - Architecture, Materiality, Synergies

Mézière, Lucas (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

van Lierop, J.P.M. (graduation committee)
Alkan, A.S. (mentor)
Fokkinga, J.D. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Architectural Design Crossovers

2023-01-26

The ecological question is symptomatic of our time and a multi-disciplinary problem. The material manipulations produced by the architectural and urban design disciplines interfere with essential ecosystemic processes by introducing disruptive materialities and machinery. This work aimed to participate in shaping a solid foundation for the discursive and constructive nature of the practice.
After preliminary definitions, this essay investigates the fundamental ecological dysfunctions caused by the current urban and architectural design model and the construction industry. This preliminary part exposes the leading causes in terms of design semiotics, urban architecture and materiality.
At the urban scale, I then introduce an elementary framework intended for the urban developers, designers and authorities. I propose to establish the 'universal commons', such as air, water and soil, as the elementary infrastructure of the sustainable urban condition and implement, develop and protect them as such.
The final part is dedicated to architectural interventions and develops the previously established principles through the two scales of the site: local and remote.
My research focused on the soil condition, and the design showcases a possible application in terms of urban infrastructure, construction techniques, materiality and architectural principles, to the location of Three Mills Island, in the Lea Valley of London, UK.

Architecture
ecology
soil
London
Urban
Commons
Rammed earth
Synergies
materiality

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:7483ad67-05be-4ad8-96a3-e17d1ef7160d

51.528703, -0.005699

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Lucas Mézière