The global disasters of the past decade have caused many people to consider surviving in the extreme conditions of present-day life. As experts across the globe are toiling to produce a survival model, Russian scientists have come up with the project of eco-city which would safeguard its residents against any hostile whims from the environment. Shaped like a huge shell, the eco-city is completely self-reliant for electricity, food and air. The authors of the project have dubbed it “The Green Arc”.
Eco-city is a safe haven in the proper sense of the word. Moved by the catastrophes of the past few years, the designers plan it as a healthy and comfortable place to live in.
Bioclimatic technology takes into account every single detail: the soil, the water, the extreme conditions of the south or north, the remoteness from life-support networks, lack of fuel and the presence of seismic zones with the possibility of flooding in case of a rise in the World Ocean levels. The construction of a bioclimatic building should start with the centre support consisting of light structures which would incorporate all engineering networks. A floating platform could serve as a foundation. Lev Britvin is the author of the project’s energy concept and designer of its life-support systems.
The foundation should be designed in such a way that would enable it to move from the lower level and come to the surface in case of flooding, explains Lev Britvin.
The building is designed as a single energy grid with an uninterrupted power supply on the basis of alternative sources of energy. The recycling of waste supplies thermal energy or biodegradable fertilizers. And the eco-city will rely on its own oxygen which will be generated by tropical plants.
Architect Alexander Remizov sifted through Lev Britvin’s daring ideas to create a more realistic image of the eco-city. Remizov wanted the Green Arc to follow a more down-to-earth design, unlike other projects of eco-settlements which stipulated building skyscrapers.
Unlike other designers, we are set on translating the project into life. A skyscraper with a green farm on every floor is utopia. In case of a power cut the lifts stop and we get nowhere, concludes Alexander Remizov.
Green Arc residents will be able to study art, do sports, have a rest, receive medical service and get education. The Internet and TV will keep them in contact with outside world.
The Green Arc project was nominated for the prize of the World Architecture Festival WAF-2010 and was awarded an honorary diploma in the conceptual projects category at the First International Festival of Innovation Technology “Green Project -2010” which took place in Moscow in November last year.
Designed in response to climate change, the Green Arc seems a project of the remote future. Nevertheless, its authors are sure that an innovation-based eco-house is nothing unrealistic and can easily be built in the foreseeable future.