THE GREEN WALL PROJECT

Konstantin Flöhl

Linus Grimminger

Professur

Architectural Design and Participation

Projektarbeit

The recent pandemic has made us reconsider the way we live, the way we work, the way we inhabit public space.

Questions arise, such as:

What is density today?

What is sharing today?

What is living today?

What is working today?

These are times of transition where needs are being redefined.

We considered the implications of the corona pandemic on the daily lives of people, on architecture and the city.

There is the challenge to RETHINK the way we design, to RESHAPE forms of living in order to RESHARE collective space.

The task was to design collective housing at the light of the new needs and wishes, such as the need to work from home, the need to mix work and family life, the need to exercise, the wish to enjoy outside space without leaving the home and the wish for biophilic design.

„SOCIAL METABOLISM (…) IS THE SET OF FLOWS OF MATERIALS AND ENERGY THAT
OCCUR BETWEEN NATURE AND SOCIETY, BETWEEN DIFFERENT SOCIETIES, AND
WITHIN SOCIETIES.“
DR. STEFAN PAULIUK
INSTITUT FÜR UMWELTSOZIALWISSENSCHAFTEN
OUR INITIAL GOAL WAS TO INTEGRATE A SOCIAL METABOLISM IN OUR PROJECT.
THE SOCIAL METABOLISM ENABLES US TO FLIP THE PARADIGM OF EXPLOITATION
TO THE ONE OF PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION. ESPECIALLY THE PANDEMIC
HAS SHOWN US THE IMPORTANCE OF SUBSISTENCE AND INDEPENDENCE.
FURTHERMORE, THE NOVEL CONSTRAINTS OF LIFE, FORCE US TO RECONSIDER
OUR LIFE SYNERGY WITH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN RELATIONS.
BUILDING UPON THIS THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, THE IDEA OF THE GREEN
WALL PROJECT EMERGED. IT FEATURES TWO DISTINGUISHABLE VERTICAL
SLABS, DISTINCT IN FUNCTION AND APPEARANCE, WHICH ENGAGE IN
SOCIAL INTERACTION AND THUS REPRESENT THE SOCIAL METABOLISM.
THE SOUTHERN SLAB ACTS AS A HIGHLY DENSE LIVING MACHINE, WHICH
PROVIDES A SOCIAL DISPERSION THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT STAGES OF SOCIETY.
THIS DISPERSION IS ENSURED BY A HIGH VARIETY OF TYPOLOGIES, THAT ARE
RANDOMLY MIXED, AND THEREFORE GUARANTEE SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN
THE INHABITANTS. NEVERTHELESS, INTIMACY IS CREATED, BY ITS HOMOGENEOUS
VISUAL APPEARANCE, WHICH ACTS TO DEEMPHASIZE THE INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY OF
EACH UNIT. THE COMPOSITION OF THE UNITS GIVES US SOME PRIVACY BECAUSE
NO ONE CAN UNDERSTAND WHICH PART BELONGS TO ANY GIVEN INHABITANT.
THE GREEN WALL, AS A HYDROPONIC VERTICAL FARM STANDS OUT AS A
LANDMARK, CREATES A UNIQUE IDENTITY TO THE SITE, AND RECLAIMS
THE INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND, THROUGH ITS RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND
SUSTAINABILITY VALUES. IT SYMBOLIZES THE ANTAGONIST TO THE HARSH
INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT AND IS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING IMPULSE TOWARDS
OUR CONSUMER BEHAVIOR, SUPPLY CHAIN DESIGN, AND SYSTEM DEPENDENCY.
THE THIRD PROTAGONIST, THE TRACTION VOLUMES, ARE THE PHYSICAL AND SYMBOLIC
CONNECTION BRIDGES OF THE HOUSING WALL AND THE GREEN WALL. THEY ARE
THE CATALYST FOR A SOCIAL METABOLISM. NOT ONLY ARE THEY CONSTRUCTIONAL
RELEVANT, BUT MOREOVER, THEY PROVIDE CIRCULATION SPACE, WHICH ALLOWS FOR
SERENDIPITY IN OUR DAILY LIVES.