Hydroblock
A.M. Wartna (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
The Why Factory Graduation Studio 2016-2017 explores the theme of (y)our world, (y)our block, (y)our house. We developed a theoretical model, a ‘software’ called "The Blockmaker". It considers a building as a collection of layers, such as users, construction, accessibility and programme. On every layer, you have a lot of possibilities and options to choose from. Also, a decision made on the one layer, can influence the other. For two or three layers that is not hard to understand and oversee, but it can hit complexity very fast. The Blockmaker software helps to choose from the options on every layer by offering direct feedback for every choice. It analyzes and evaluates every option by qualitative criteria you can set yourself. For our individual work, we use the Blockmaker to design a housing block, but we add an extra ‘filter’: a theme linked to a future scenario. In my case that is water: the Hydroblock. It stores energy by making use of the potential energy of water at a certain height, it contains a water treatment system, a shading system based on water flows and waterfalls are running down through the whole block.