Sci-fi blueprints for an eco-future

Nudging Space, part of Arcosanti, a town conceived by Paolo Soleri
Can you imagine an overcrowded but ecofriendly future China where people live in harmony with nature? The 90-year-old internationally renowned architect Paolo Soleri and the three-member MVRDV, one of the world's most infl uential architectural groups, have brought their brilliant architectural concepts to Beijing to shed some light on the possibility of such a world.

Entitled Three Dimensional City: Future China, the exhibition, currently being held at the Beijing Center for the Arts, displays the architects' ideas on building a sustainable city of the future. Their sketches, three-dimensional models, videos and other pieces on show, reveal their architectural explorations into ways of solving present and future ecological problems.

"In China a series of problems have been caused in the process of fast-paced urbanization and it's time to reflect on what we can do to build a sustainable society," commented Weng Ling, curator of the exhibition. "By holding the exhibition we are trying to offer a platform for people from all circles to discuss this issue seriously."

"We hope that people here and the government will be inspired by the brilliant ideas of international architects like Paolo Soleri and MVRDV," she added.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the large-scale installation China Hills, which is being displayed in the center of the exhibition hall.

The installation, in the shape of hills with terraces on which farmers grow rice, is a scale model of a future Chinese city conceived by the architectural group MVRDV.

The stepped terraces of the model hills are decorated with mini human beings, trees and other animals instead of crops, referring to a real world where all creatures and plants live in harmony. China Hills presents a well-balanced mix of urban programs and nature, agriculture and energy production, all realizable with today's technologies.

In this architectural plan, all facilities needed for human existence are contained in the interiors of the hills, according to MVRDV's Jacob Van Rijs.

The group has conceptualized the possibilities of a hypothetical site, one kilometer long, one kilometer wide and 500 meters high, providing enough space to accommodate over 100,000 inhabitants, an effective way of solving the shortage of living space in urban areas.

"As the urban population grows, more space than available land today will be needed," explained Van Rijs. "In our design the building is terraced to offer suffcient space naturally lit for needed plantation and energy production is carefully taken into consideration."

MVRDV was set up in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, their realized projects include the Dutch Pavilion for World EXPO 2000 in Hanover, an innovative business park Flight Forum in Eindhoven and the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam among others.


VRDV's China Hills, on exhibition in Beijing.
With the aim to conceive a blueprint feasible for future China, the group conducted a tremendous amount of research on China's ecological conditions. China Hills is the outcome of extensive study of the country's population distribution, water resources and climate, explained Van Rijs.

As part of the exhibition in Beijing, Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri is offering his blueprint for a future China. Famous for his elaborate sociological philosophies and city plans, Soleri is presenting his "Lean Linear City" theory to combat concerns about China's urban development.

His theory refers to a continuous urban ribbon which is actually two main parallel structures of 30 or more stories that extend for kilometers or hundreds of kilometers, with each structural module able to accommodate 1,500 people and including space for productive, commercial, institutional, cultural, recreational and health activities.

Soleri is widely considered the father of "arcology," an idea that conceptually interprets the interrelationship between architecture and ecology. His unremitting e. orts on carrying out his theory in establishing self-su. Cient sustainable cities since the 1960s, has made him one of the most respected architects in the world.

Among Soleri's life-long activities and designs promoting eco-friendly architecture and fulfilling his theories, one of the most signifi cant projects is Arcosanti, an experimental town in the heart of Arizona's desert, about 110 kilometers away from Phoenix.

The mini city began construction in 1970 and is considered a miracle in the international architectural world. Its compact structures will eventually occupy only 10.12 hectares on 1,643 hectares of land, surrounded by a green belt. It will accommodate 5,000 people, with residents living close to nature.

The Beijing exhibition includes a wide range of Soleri's work; sketches, original manuscripts that recorded his thoughts on the Arcostanti project and his Lean Linear City theory, as well as videos about the experimental town.

Along with the exhibition, a forum on Saturday was attended by designers participating in the exhibition and experts from the fi elds of urban planning, architecture, design and art, all discussing the possibilities of experimental eco-friendly three dimensional cities in China.

Three Dimensional City: Future China will run until February 28, 2010.

Source: Global Times