Ryerson Winter 2021 Reviews: ARC 920 - The Post-Anthropocene

Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University

Please join us for final reviews for "Genesis of Ecologies in the Post-Anthropocene" taught by Vince Hui

Architects are optimistic as they project a future where humanity can engage their built ideas in daily life. This studio challenges students to project into a future without humanity built upon the remnants of daily life. The Earth has been a victim of many anthropogenic factors that have had an indelible impact on its biosphere and environment. That harbingers of an imminent mass extinction are either teetering on the edge or already have passed the point of no return speaks to the inevitability that humans will become extinct just as the other 99% of life on the planet. These symptoms range from the increased UV-B radiation and acidification and anoxia of the oceans to the presence of toxins in the atmosphere and a global rise in temperature and water levels. The Anthropocene will mark human extinction. The Earth will remain and move forward in a Post-Anthropocene state bearing the impact of human settlement. From the detritus of synthetic chemicals and substances in the biosphere to the monuments of civilization made of materials that will remain for millennia, life must emerge and evolve within a framework of this grave new world. This studio presents students an opportunity to integrate advanced simulation, modeling, and representation skills from current and future architectural praxis in conjecturing the world’s new ecosystems, organisms, and emergent, intertwined relationships among them. Architectural design theories and precedents ranging from the Emergence group through to interactive design will be complemented by a multidisciplinary integration of resources including biomimetics and robotics. Design precedents from artists (Theo Jansen through to Geoff Darrow) and architects (Rachel Armstrong to Hernan Diaz Alonso) will serve as a catalyst for design discourse. Steeped in discussions from parametric logic and characteristics of life through to evolutionary design matrices and digital ecosystems, students will engage digital tools in developing their design projects. The studio projects serve as opportunities for students to creatively explore a myriad of complex design facets in the new ecosystems they will develop in the Post-Anthropocene era. Projects will encourage discourse at a hypothetical and hyper-theoretical level that will mandate extensive research, design knowledge, synthesis, and digital investigation. Students have contextualized their individual design work in four different cities and contexts:THURSDAY, APRIL 22 | MORNING 10:00 AM -12:30 PM Seoul, Korea Overpopulation leads to an increased demand for nuclear power. As energy consumption doubles for every person, the civic priorities shift from conserving energy to producing and extracting as much energy as possible. With technology advancements, micro nuclear power generation facilities are created and proliferate in urban cores over the span of 20 years to meet the insatiable demand for electricity. To facilitate this demand, water canals have become integrated into every major road, connecting and serving the nuclear towers. The excess of nuclear power plants causes air and water contamination leading to human extinction. This unsustainable condition has rendered cities derelict with the unmaintained infrastructure responsible for an unsettling microclimate with a pervasive mist that pervades the remnants of the urban core. Rio de Janeiro At the height of human civilization in Rio de Janeiro, nature is completely controlled and modified by hyper-genetically modified organism (GMO) activities within raised farm pods and the new urban environment. Due to uncontrolled GMO, all produce developed from the apex has evolved to be poisonous, starving the entire civilization and leading to human extinction. The collapse of the GMO farm pods catalyzes the uncontrolled growth of flora and fauna in Rio&amp;#39;s Post-Anthropocene while rubble from the apex built environment dominates much of the landscape with plants and animals reclaiming their space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6PhYPQjYU THURSDAY, APRIL 22 | AFTERNOON 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM Tokyo, Japan In the year 2220 the city of Tokyo moved to an alternative resilient city plan, most of the public lives in pods that function like bunkers, and the underground flooding system was extended. Unfortunately, that was not enough to get them through the nuclear war which led to the extermination of the entire human race. Without humans, other species began to flourish and thrive, and evolve over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiqi27RjW9g San Francisco, USA Situated along the San Andreas fault, this area is known for active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. The city is built upon landfills and historic marshland which is susceptible to ground liquefication in the aftermath of a major earthquake.  By interbreeding these two species of flora, scientists of the past were able to develop a revolutionary form of infrastructure, which was able to structurally support the city, raise it above sea level and densify it. In the apex of civilization, the major and frequent earthquakes have altered the bay area with permanent fissures and new water ways. San Francisco’s architecture became composed of a combination of living organisms and manufactured materials. https://youtu.be/X5C0hGBtBH8 (first minute) https://youtu.be/fwHEyoxh5W4 (aftermath)

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Ryerson Winter 2021 Reviews: ARC 920 - The Post-Anthropocene

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