What is your Big Idea for Philadelphia?
PRODUCTpark: a Self-Sustaining, Multi-Purpose Urban Greenway
Cities and urban centers have long been major consumers of
the world’s natural resources and energy as well as one of the largest
producers of municipal waste. These factors are not only destroying large
amounts of land in the creation of landfills, but are also a substantial
contributing factor to global climate change. With populations in urban centers
expected to increase drastically in the next 15-20 years it is unlikely that
the impact cities have on the world will subside.
In order to start relieving the pressure that cities place
on the world it is time to start re-thinking how these urban systems can become
more self sufficient and rely less on the resources of their surrounding
communities. By looking at one of the major products of cities it is possible
to start finding solutions in our city’s urban waste. By creating
multi-purposed sites within the city that are capable of utilizing the energy
potential of organic waste materials by converting, through naturally occurring
bacterial processes, organic waste and materials into a useable natural gas
that can be used to power and heat our buildings and urban spaces while
drastically reducing the cities global climactic impact.
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Contact
E-mail: EMITarchitecture(at)gmail.com
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Eric Torrens is a recent graduate with a Bachelors
of Architecture from Philadelphia University’s College of Architecture + the
Built Environment. While pursuing his B.ARCH Eric spent
considerable time studying biological and chemical systems, ultimately getting
a minor in Environmental Conservation Biology. These studies allowed
him to begin experimenting and finding ways to apply these naturally occurring
systems to current and future architectural projects. His education has led him to study with the School for Field Studies in Australia, New
Zealand, and Costa Rica and look closely at how endangered ecosystems and their
neighboring societies interact. Eric is currently working as part of
the design staff at Erdy McHenry, a Philadelphia based architecture firm
in the Northern Liberties.
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