Different ideas led to the development of a floating city, but the main one was mobility. It was the aim of creating a structure that is fl exible to changing needs of inhabitants and is able to deal with different impacts in relatively short time. The fact of being floating on water supports this.
The proposal includes three major elements; the fi rst one is a new airport for the region of London, AKA international. As it is offshore, there are fewer impacts on housing areas; therefore operating hours can be expanded to a 24 service. Second a new large offshore port that fi nally brings together the many different ports of London provides deep water access - also for the next generation of super large container carrier - and serves the whole UK but also acts a major distribution point for the North Sea. Third is a whole new heavy industry. It is about recycling and reusing old fl oating structures in order to build the structures of the floating city itself, but also to produce and export large scale products in the field of renewable energy such as windmills. The provided flexibility and easy access to distribution is a big benefit. The project has its own web site. Visit www.jafud.com and get more detailed information by surfing trough the pool of information.
In the portfolio, AKA the book, order-nomadscycles, the work on AKA was already concluded. There where already many cycles introduced and on path is entirely about cycles. This is where this report grew out. But I would like to introduce a few key cycles the earlier project already talks about.
Water flow - Landscape
The main environmental element on the site in connection with water are the different fl ows. In the Thames Estuary we have to deal with two different types.
The Thames as a river stream that constantly brings water down to the sea. The other one is the tide that is coming on from the north sea. The two overlap and this impact is even in London very present.
In a second step these streams have an effect on the actual site in both environmental and physical terms. Especially the sandbanks in the Thames mouth are formed by these streams. They change over time and shift their location. This underwater landscape forms different channels and islands that guides the navigation trough out the area .
Adjust the timetable - Living with [by] forces The effect of the tide schedule on the individual schedule of the inhabitants in the tide area is quite strong. But this connection to a ‘higher’ force would be quite reliable. In this example, a fi sherman has to wait to earn a living due to a gap in the work schedule. From today’s point of view, it looks a bit nostalgic to be connected to such a plan [is maybe what we thought to be overcome by technology].
In connection to the profession of the fisherman, this is also about making a living from nature. His work place is on sea. It is about getting food to survive- Survival in all senses [Anika Mittal, Juergen Haepp, Fabian Neuhaus, AKA the book, cycle path, fan June 2006, Portfolio UD 2006|.
Blacktail - The gate to the seven seas
Most goods of the world trade are transported on water. They are shipped from one port to the next one and travel all around the globe.
The UK need of goods is still rising and therefore a major port is needed. In history, the ports of London have once been the biggest in the world. This was during the high time of the colonies. Since then, the port activities have declined and the ports moved out along the Thames due to different circumstances.
This new port is laid out as an off-shore solution to offer access to even the next generation of super containers ships without expensively digging out the Thames channels.
To save time, the big containers ships do not need to moor, they get unloaded and loaded during their journey into the Thames mouth. These smaller pontoons bring the goods or containers back to the edge of the tidal zone where they are stored or transferred to the rail [Anika Mittal, Juergen Haepp, Fabian Neuhaus, AKA the book, cycle path, fan June 2006, Portfolio UD 2006|.
The new port also acts as a major economical factor for the AKA development. It provides a starting point but also huge investments to get such a development going. For the area this can grow to a source of work place provider.
To handle this big loads of goods such a infrastructure would have a 24h activity cycle, with working in three shifts. The same applies to the AKA international airport and probably to the heavy industry. These three big work place providers would generate a activity cycle regarding the work that is in a overall view 24hs. On a individual perspective this varies between the three different shifts. For a majority of the inhabitants this means that their work cycle is different from normal offi ce hours. Even if they are not directly employed by on of the three, there is a big impact on second and third party work places.
Compared to the earlier research work [part one, activity cycle] where the cycle of the working hours with morning and afternoon rush hour, this around the clock, three shift work could cause three rush hours.
Offshore industry fields
For oil drilling, the time is running out. For the North sea area, the forecast is around thirty years to go, but then this place will be out of black gold.
At the moment, there are around 350 oil and gas rigs located only in the North sea. But what to do with these really big steel structures if their time is up?
AKA could develop a need for existing oil structures and set up a reuse cycle to transfer them into for the development usable units. Once transformed, they could host living, working or retail or they can be used as fl oating support structures.
This reuse process could be opened up for all different sorts of fl oating structures such as oil tankers and container ships.
This transformation process would mean heavy industry work and lot of waste and hazardous material would be involved. But the steel structure itself can be reused and brought back into a sustainable cycle [Anika Mittal, Juergen Haepp, Fabian Neuhaus, AKA the book, cycle path, fan June 2006, Portfolio UD 2006|.
Process network
AKA as a city is built of fl oating singular units. They cluster at some places and attach to each other. This network then provides walkable surface for people but also allows the units to communicate. They can exchange informations and the system as a whole knows about its confi guration and shape.
Every unit has needs, but can also provide something. Over the network these informations can be exchanged and the network it self can reconfi gure accordingly.
This applies for example to energy consumption and production. Parts of the development that a more exposed to natural forces can produce more energy trough wind, wave and sun than more sheltered units. The system is trough the network able to distribute this energy to places where it is needed.
By using the repetition of the cycles the system can learn and adjust it self to changing impacts and conditions. As explored in part one the repetition provides the possibility of feedback that inform the system about ongoing processes.
Multiple use
Multiple uses of spaces can be a solution for lack of space. Certain spaces that are not used during a particular time in a day or a week are occupied by other functions. To manage these gabs cycles have to squeeze into and adjust to other cycles.
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