Hybrid Hydro Habitat

Abstract

The municipality of Amsterdam has come forth with a request for architecture students of the Technical University of Delft within the studio of Complex Projects to investigate the future challenges of Amsterdam through scenario-research and hence come up with proposed spatial and/or architectural configurations for the year 2050. This all with the objective to develop a sustainable city. This project answers this question on an integrative level tackling multiple seemingly conflicting developments within the urban realm of Amsterdam Zuid-Oost; the energy-transition, urbanization and water-protection. Since Amsterdam is facing an increasing urbanization, the directly related resulting increase of hardened area and waste-water will require an increase of water storage and hence an intelligent water network in order to tackle the simultaneously increasing flood risk caused by multiple factors such as climate change and soil subsidence. Simultaneously, an increasing demand for energy storage as a result of a transition towards renewable energy sources (since renewable energy sources imply an imbalance between the energy demand and the energy generation) require flood-proof energy-batteries. Since water and its energy storage capacity has currently been introduced by multiple scientific sources as a sustainable (flood-proof etc.) alternative for the ion-based battery the idea of integrating a water-battery within the urban fabric where water storage will be highly needed has hence been introduced as an answer to the problem in this report. Hence, allowing water to flow through the highly urbanized urban fabric of Amsterdam Zuid-Oost in 2050 and using both its kinetic and chemical energy capacity (salinized ground-water; blue energy) to store energy. The height difference caused by the introduction of an elevated park near the area around Bullewijk station could hence be used in order for the water to flow down and extract its gravitational energy. The resulting architectural composition which incorporates a water-battery system, sport-, cultural- and educational facilities hence embodies a calming atmosphere in a vibrant city allowing currently segregated socio-economic groups to meet and hence inspire one another.