The Gaia hypothesis (/ˈɡaɪ.ə/), proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. It was formulated by the chemist James Lovelock and the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. Learn more about it in Wikipedia.
CONTENT / A healthy ecosystem provides manifold benefits to humans and non-humans, climate stability and resilience. Envisioning future urban ecosystem services integrated within evolving cities is crucial to face the radical shift that the urban environment has to undertake in the coming years.
This seminar is followed by students from more than twenty different nationalities. This is a strength of our learning, and we want to proceed with that singularity: every student needs to study and map the interaction of the built and the natural environment at her/his/their city/town. Places that have hosted a “Gartenschau” or garden event are highly appreciated.
Taking advantage of bulk scraping of geolocated images and data, each student will develop mappings of the whole selected city/town that highlights the dynamic balance of nature in the urban realm. These mappings have to display the complexity of the existing relationships, and reveal connections and narratives that are unveiled thanks to the technology used.
AIMS / Our aim is to generate a comprehensive and comparable set of mappings of different cities around Europe, that describe the network of interactions of the built and the natural environment throughout the whole city.
METHOD / Research by design: remote sensing
Introduction: Presentation of the goals of the seminar and first contact with bulk download of images for your use. Please have Rhino and Grasshopper or QGIS installed in your computers. Basic knowledge of Grasshopper or QGIS is welcome but not mandatory.
1st mapping event: Present your first mapping ideas online (or in a pre-recorded video if you prefer so) of a ½ Pecha-Kucha format (10 slides, 20 seconds per slide: a total of 3 minutes 20 seconds).
2nd mapping event: Final crit.
SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students:
Introduction / 11th Nov 2022 12:30, 1 hour.
Technical support (if needed) / 15th Nov 2022, 1 hour.
First mappings / 18th Nov 2022 09:00, 4 hours.
Final Crit / 25th Nov 2022, 4 hours.
OPEN QUESTIONS / Your mapping reflects with the following (uncomplete) list of open questions:
Which aspects, relationships, concepts and narratives are discovered and/or triggered by this use of technology?
How can remote sensing help to perform analysis beyond traditional methods?
How can remote sensing be a design tool beyond analysis?
Which perspectives can be integrated? Which ones are left behind?
How can your mapping be useful for urban planning?
Bibliography / Local Code. Nicholas de Monchaux
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DEUTSCHLAND) /
Arturo Romero Carnicero / arturo.romero@kit.edu
Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape (GREAT BRITAIN)/
Miguel Paredes Maldonado / Miguel.Paredes@ed.ac.uk
With the support of
Eduardo Gonzalo Amorox, Gustavo Romanillos