Growing dwellings

The explorative design of a dwelling supporting biodiversity

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Abstract

This research has two main purposes: (1) to show the quality of dominant nature, above man and (2) to demonstrate the investigation of biodiversity in a city environment both by designing a prototype of a dwelling. The city environment, in this case, is Amsterdam; the dwelling is designed in the Jordaan. The location is chosen because this neighborhood has a low amount of biodiversity and inhabitants have difficult access to surroundings with a high amount of biodiversity. Ecology, a dynamic interaction between environmental factors, organisms, geography, and abiotic factors, is part of the integration of biodiversity in architecture. These subjects change the architecture of the prototype. Abiotic factors such as wind, sun, temperature, can affect the growth of the organism, but also influence the living conditions. The ecological flow and ecological management make influences on the ecology. Organism arrowing on nutrients and sunlight are the main ingredients to reach the purpose of the research. The use of a combination between quick growing and slow growing plants, trees, and mycelium in conjunction with an open construction is the concept of the design. This open construction made of not living natural organism stimulates the growth of the quick and slow growing plants, trees, and mycelium by stimulating the geography, for example, the air temperature and the quality of the nutrients in the ground. Whereas the ecological flow during the time secures the growth of the organism during the lifespan of the use of the construction, the ecological management by the human users is low. The growing organism slowly overtakes the human-made architecture, the surrounded city environment.