Baganz, Gösta; Proksch, Gundula; Kloas, Werner; Wolf Lorleberg; Baganz, Daniela; Staaks, Georg; Lohrberg, Frank. (2020). Site Resource Inventories – A Missing Link in the Circular City’s Information Flow. Advances In Geosciences, 54, 23-32.
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Abstract
A circular city builds upon the principles of circular economy, which key concepts of reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover lead to a coupling of resources: products and by-products of one production process become the input of another one, often in local vicinity. However, sources, types and available quantities of underutilised resources in cities are currently not well documented. Therefore, there is a missing link in the information flow of the circular city between potential users and site-specific data. To close this gap, this study introduces the concept of a site resource inventory in conjunction with a new information model that can manage the data needed for advancing the circular city. A core taxonomy of terms is established as the foundation for the information model: the circular economy is defined as a network of circular economy entities which are regarded as black boxes and connected by their material and energy inputs and outputs. This study proposes a site resource inventory, which is a collection of infrastructural and building-specific parameters that assess the suitability of urban sites for a specific circular economy entity. An information model is developed to manage the data that allows the entities to effectively organise the allocation and use of resources within the circular city and its material and energy flows. The application of this information model was demonstrated by comparing the demand and availability of required alternative resources (e.g. greywater) at a hypothetical site comprising a commercial aquaponic facility (synergistic coupling of fish and vegetables production) and a residential building. For the implementation of the information model a proposal is made which uses the publicly available geodata infrastructure of OpenStreetMap and adopts its tag system to operationalise the integration of circular economy data by introducing new tags. A site resource inventory has the potential to bring together information needs and it is thus intended to support companies when making their business location decisions or to support local authorities in the planning process.
Keywords
Digital Mapping; Economics; By Products; Aquaponics; Economic Conditions; Fish; Spatial Data; Consumers; Food; Infrastructure; Energy Flow; Greywater; Information Flow; Biogas; Consumption; Residential Buildings; Taxonomy; Data; Resources; Sustainable Development; Urban Areas; Cities; Coupling
Horn, Erin; Proksch, Gundula. (2022). Symbiotic And Regenerative Sustainability Frameworks: Moving Towards Circular City Implementation. Frontiers In Built Environment, 7.
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Abstract
Growing in popularity, the circular city framework is at the leading-edge of a larger and older transitional dialogue which envisions regenerative, circular, and symbiotic systems as the future of urban sustainability. The need for more research supporting the implementation of such concepts has been often noted in literature. To help address this gap, this holistic review assesses a range of pertinent sustainability frameworks as a platform to identify actionable strategies which can be leveraged to support and implement circular city goals. This assessment is grounded in a holistic overview of related frameworks across interdisciplinary and scalar domains including circular city, the food-water-energy nexus, circular economy, bioeconomy, industrial symbiosis, regenerative design, and others. Building on these interrelationships, the applied strategies espoused within these publications are synthesized and assessed in the context of circular city implementation. From an initial 250 strategies identified in literature, thirty-four general implementation strategies across six thematic areas are distinguished and discussed, finding strong overlaps in implementation strategies between frameworks, and opportunities to further develop and harness these synergies to advance circular city toward sustainable urban futures.
Keywords
Circular City; Implementation Strategies; Literature Review; Circular Economy; Fwe-nexus; Regenerative Design; Systems Integration; Environmental Assessment; Rooftop Greenhouses; Anaerobic-digestion; Urban Agriculture; Built Environment; Waste Management; Climate-change; Carbon Nexus; Food Nexus; Economy
Sprague, Tyler. (2010). Eero Saarinen, Eduardo Catalano and the Influence of Matthew Nowicki: A Challenge to Form and Function. Nexus Network Journal, 12(2), 249 – 258.
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Abstract
Matthew Nowicki befriended Eero Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy and was succeeded as Chair of the School of Design at North Carolina College of Design by Eduardo Catalano. Nowicki's influence is evident in subsequent work of these two architects. Themes of function, structure and humanism resonated differently in each. All three of these interconnected individuals were engaged in the same intellectual milieu, each manifesting his own architecture in a unique yet contextual way. Taken as a whole, their endeavors stand as evidence of the shifting understanding of what modern architecture was about.
Keywords
Eero Saarinen; Eduardo Catalano; Matthew Nowicki; Modern Architecture; Hyperbolic Paraboloids; Saddle Shapes
Van Den Wymelenberg, Kevin; Inanici, Mehlika. (2016). Evaluating a New Suite of Luminance-Based Design Metrics for Predicting Human Visual Comfort in Offices with Daylight. Leukos, 12(3), 113 – 138.
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Abstract
A new suite of visual comfort metrics is proposed and evaluated for their ability to explain the variability in subjective human responses in a mock private office environment with daylight. Participants (n = 48) rated visual comfort and preference factors, including 1488 discreet appraisals, and these subjective results were correlated against more than 2000 unique luminance-based metrics that were captured using high dynamic range photography techniques. Importantly, luminance-based metrics were more capable than illuminance-based metrics for fitting the range of human subjective responses to data from visual preference questionnaire items. No metrics based upon the entire scene ranked in the top 20 squared correlation coefficients, nor did any based upon illuminance or irradiance data, nor did any of the studied glare indices, luminance ratios, or contrast ratios. The standard deviation of window luminance was the metric that best fit human subjective responses to visual preference on seven of 12 questionnaire items (with r(2) = 0.43). Luminance metrics calculated using the horizontal 40. band (a scene-independent mask) and the window area (a scene-dependent mask) represented the majority of the top 20 squared correlation coefficients for almost all subjective visual preference questionnaire items. The strongest multiple regression model was for the semantic differential rating (too dim-too bright) of the window wall (R-adj(2) = 0.49) and was built upon three variables; standard deviation of window luminance, the 50th percentile luminance value from the lower view window, and mean luminance of the 40. horizontal band.
Keywords
Discomfort Glare; Controls; Daylighting; Visual Perception
Cheng, Renée. (2020). Opinion: Change Agency, Value Change. Architect, 109(9), 20 – 20.
Keywords
Attitude Change (psychology); Air Flow; Hand Washing
The Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) recently announced 20 shortlisted projects for the 2022 Award cycle. The projects will compete for a share of the US$ 1 million prize, one of the largest in architecture. The 20 shortlisted projects were selected by an independent Master Jury from a pool of 463 projects nominated for the 15th Award Cycle (2020-2022). The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established by His Highness the Aga Khan in 1977 to identify and encourage…
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