Scarcity and Ocean Space - Case-Study Barents Sea, Norway

Urban systems operate at a multitude of scales, densities and levels of specialization over vast areas of the planet, as has been pointed out by Lefebvre in The Production of Space and The Urban Revolution and more recently by Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid in their essay Planetary Urbanization. Pressure on ocean space for energy production, extraction of resources, infrastructural and logistical development is steadily increasing, making the ocean a site of spatial and environmental convergence, a type of urban “hinterland”.While ephemeral in relative dimensions over time , critical nodes are beginning to emerge where the vast scale of the ocean is confined by physical limits.The first part of this paper examines ocean space in terms of scarcity within this context. Scarcity has been discussed as a relational term, relative to need or demand (Samuel and Robert, 2010) and in fact as a condition produced by ever-changing and newly created “needs”(Luks, 2010). In spite of market dynamics, some commodities have a stable and absolute quantity. “[...] the total quantity of the stuff named H2O remains unchanged through the hydrological cycle, neither created nor destroyed”(Samuel and Robert, 2010, p.110). The limitedness of ocean space completes the conception of a finite world. It also highlights the inherent problematic of measurable quantities and boundaries in relation to scarcity, both of which pose challenges to current design vocabulary and planning methods. Marine resources are considered a common heritage of mankind.The UN supports the “Marine Spatial Planning” (MSP) initiative, currently being carried out by a handful of countries and ideally aimed at a bal- ance of both use and protection of marine resources. Examples of MSP demonstrate, however, the strong link between economic priorities and ocean planning.This point will be illustrated by spatial plans for the German EEZs in the North Sea, since MSP is well advanced in Germany. Limits to conventional planning, and the need for a new form of design when dealing with a complex, three-dimensional ecosystem such as the ocean, become apparent. Part one concludes with selected theoretical positions, which can serve to inform spatial conceptualizations better adapted to ocean conditions. This discussion draws on a case-study carried out by the EPFL laboratoire Bâle (laba) on the Barents Sea- a resource-rich territory four times the size of Norway. Here, for the first time, the receding ice-front has made both the vast oil and gas reserves more readily accessible and the Northern Sea Route commercially viable, posing a critical environmental dilemma.The design re- search resulted in both long-term development plans, called ‘Territorial Constitutions’ - consisting of a plan and written articles of constitution- followed by architectural projects anchored within this framework. Selected projects, which illustrate innovative ways of designing with the specific characteristics of the ocean, will be discussed in the second part of this paper.

The Role of Ocean Space in Contemporary Urbanization

Nancy Raewyn Couling

Although the ocean is investigated by many scientific fields, research about ocean space is scarce. But energy production, extraction of resources, infrastructural and logistical development is increasing incrementally, resulting in a quantum shift in scale and intensity of spatial demands. Almost no part of the global ocean remains unaffected by human impact. The ocean is therefore a site of spatial and environmental convergence, a type of âhinterlandâ to urbanized territories. While these developments are ephemeral in relative urban terms, often remote and hard to decipher, they also carve out vast territories and leave lasting physical legacies. These phenomena have largely escaped spatial articulation. History is rich in examples of radical forms of urbanization which engaged the ocean as a network agent, without claiming territorial rights. Intensified activities, however have led to the territorialization of the ocean through the establishment of fixed exclusive economic zones. A fundamental contradiction between open ocean systems and bounded space becomes apparent. As opposed to to a territory defined by political borders, this thesis proposes an integrated, kinetic definition of ocean territory based on oceanography and biological thresholds with which urbanizing forces interact. Both the oceanâs inherent spatial properties and cultural interventions become active components. Based on this definition, the first objective is to identify and define specific forms of urbanization within ocean space. Extended urbanization refers to one of the three interacting moments of urbanization proposed by Brenner and Schmid as part of their developing theory on planetary urbanization. This has its conceptual roots in the dual urban processes implosion-explosion as described by Lefebvre in The Urban Revolution. As a specific form of extended urbanization, I argue that ocean space participates in the loose, uneven, and indistinct morphologies we are only beginning to recognize as âurbanâ. Ocean urbanization is researched first through literature pertaining to four topics which permeate interactions with ocean space and which each represent a rich field of urban theory; Networks, Seascape, Technology and Ecology. Empirical research is then carried out on two case studies; the Barents and the Baltic Seas. These seas undergo a spatial analysis based on the proposed definition of ocean territory. Under urbanization processes, networks lace the ocean floor, the seascape produces energy, technology monitors ecosystems and ecology embraces petroleum exploration. The study distills properties common to both seas, but also distinct manifestations of urban processes within each context. As a result, nine principles of urbanization can be identified. The seas also revealed dispersed intensities in particular locations. Five such situations were chosen as the object of a closer study, which are then proposed as typological conditions: Interpenetration Contraction, Expansion, Assemblage and Confluence. The second objective of the thesis is to relate these findings to current Marine Spatial Planning. What can architects contribute to the conceptualizing, mapping and managing of ocean space? A critical appraisal of ocean planning practice in relation to the research findings, concludes that the architectural challenge is to redraw limits according to ocean dynamics and to launch the ocean project.

EPFL2015

Étude multidisciplinaire d'un développement durable du sous-sol urbain

Pierrick Maire

Increasing demographic pressure can lead to an increase in urban sprawl, which challenges the principles of sustained development. It enhances both displacement and loss of green space. Urban planners have to design space while allowing for increases in population density. Most of the time this is achieved by using space above the ground or in urban wastelands. Underground development can contribute but is rarely used to its full potential. This study investigates the reasons for the absence of underground development in urban planning and focuses on three aspects : Law : Swiss law defines property limits and underground usage. These limits depend on the underground's four resources : space, water, geothermal power and geomaterials. These resources define to what extent underground space can be used. Sociology : Understanding and analyzing perceptions and fears caused by underground space will help in ameliorating problems with space design and setting up priorities to be observed by urban planners. Economy : building underground seems more expensive than above the ground. This study will test this hypothesis. To investigate economic feasibility, it is important to know differences of costs as well as to identify factors accounting for increased costs. In Switzerland, building opposition significantly delays or prevents construction. Therefore, public opinion is a key factor in the planning of underground space. A case study will demonstrate the consequences of such oppositions. Finally, results of different studies will be compiled and analyzed in order to help authorities identify rules to observe, opportunities to seize and pitfalls to avoid.

EPFL2011

Responsive Systems: Light and Human Responsive Systems in Architecture

Mobasher Niqui

This thesis studies the notion of responsiveness in architectural design. It tries to make a framework for understanding the act of response in architectural body. Focusing on Light as a contextual force, it studies the way light affects the built environment and architectural body, in order to introduce a light responsive system. This light responsive system will be used to design a mediatheque in the city of Geneva. Studying a multidisciplinary thematic between architecture and building physics this study is interested primarily to the architec- tural qualities of space. In parallel, it also considers the perfor- mance and comfort metrics. Two case studies in the third chapter are based on in-situation mappings and radiation analysis. The radiation calculations are done by Diva light simulator (based on Radiance software). The case studies are ordered considering the scale that they study; Their outcomes are used for the same-scale factors in a light responsive system proposed in the fifth chapter. In the chapter four the city and the program are reduced to quanti- tative design parameters to be used in the light responsive system. The term responsiveness is widely used in different disciplines. In the first chapter after a survey on these usages in different con- texts such as biology, social science and art, this study summarises a definition of responsiveness to found a framework for a light responsive system. Focusing on climate responsive systems and particularly light, in the second chapter, different approaches to use light as a form- giver for architecture are introduced. This chapter is devoted to the 6 questions such as :What are the spatial qualities of light and how lighting concerns affect architecture and design process? For introducing a light responsive system in the third chapter two case studies in two different scales are carried out. One studying the relation of light and the public space focusing on the urban promenades and the other one studying the relationship of interior light zones and the geometry; It searches for a lighting grammar in the interior space. Chapter four is devoted to analysis of the contextual and organisa- tional design problem parameters. As this study will be used later to solve a real design problem, in this chapter the objective is to propose simplified-well-behaving models of the urban context : the city of Geneva and the program: Mediatheque for the light respon- sive system. Chapter five proposes the characteristics of a light responsive sys- tem, considering all the design problem parameters.