Vincent Callebaut
Vincent Callebaut | |
---|---|
Born |
La Louvière Belgium | May 27, 1977
Nationality | Belgian |
Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles |
Occupation | Architect |
Awards | Prix Godecharle (2001), International Architecture Awards (2014) |
Buildings | Agora Garden Taipei |
Projects | Dragonfly, Lilypad, King Forest |
Vincent Callebaut (b. May 27, 1977 - ) is a Belgian ecological architect who plans and builds ecologic projects for the future. He has completed many significant architectural projects since his graduation in 2000 from the Institute Victor Horta in Brussels. He is internationally known through projects produced in his own company, "Vincent Callebaut Architectures." The goal of his projects is to change the way of thinking of his clients. He has developed the theme of the "town of tomorrow," which incorporates all the needs necessary to allow the population to live in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Biography
Vincent Callebaut was born in 1977 in Belgium. He graduated in 2000 from the Institute Victor Horta, Brussels. He was awarded the "Great Architecture Prize René Serrure" for his project “Metamuseum of Arts and Civilizations”, at Quay Branly, Paris (the location of the Musée du quai Branly). In 2000 he moved to Paris. He was awarded a bursary Leonardo Da Vinci, attributed by the European community with the purpose to extend his critical thinking and his spatial inventiveness. He then interned with two architecture companies, Odile Decq's Benoit Cornette Architectes Urbanites and Massimiliano Fuksas.
In 2001 he won the Prix Godecharle[1] from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with his ecological project “Elasticity, an aquatic city of 50 000 inhabitants entirely autonomous”. This prize is awarded to promising Belgian architects. It was attributed to his dynamism, capacity to give “well-founded” information, his good expression and his personality.
In 2005, he went to the final of the “RE-New Architecture Pleasures”, which awards the best 12 architects in the French Community of Belgium. He published his second monograph, Archibiotic,[1] in 2008 in English and Chinese with the support of the United Asia Art & Design Cooperation in Beijing. This publication promoted low-carbon emission living and green architecture. He militated for the sustainable development and the new Ecopolises via trans disciplinary strategies.
In 2009, Jean Sulpice created the first eco-concept for urban farming called “Dragonfly", in New-York. This development was a metabolic farm for urban agriculture, .
In 2010, his company won the first prize for the design and the construction of an ecological residence tower in Taïwan. This project is called “Agora Garden”. It is under construction and is projected to be completed in 2016.
Time (magazine) referred his work as the best eco-utopian in 2011.
At the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, in 2012, he presented his work and was invited to design some green projects at a New Presidential Rest Houses Complex in Morocco by the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was nominated for the World Technology Award in the Environment Category, in New York.
In 2013, Vincent Callebaut was selected as one of the Top 50 Sustainable Architecture Award Members of the Green Planet Architects. Arte presented a documentary “Future by Starck” for which Callebaut was selected to illustrate the future of ecological cities. Also in 2013, Hachette, (the publishing house) gave him a monograph in the Master of Architecture section.
In 2014, Vincent Callebaut was awarded the International Architecture Awards in New York for the project Toa-Zhu Garden. This was organized by the European Centre for Architecture, Art Design, and Urban Studies. He is also the winner of the “Highly Commended Award 2014” during the World Architecture Festival in the Future Residential Buildings category, in Singapore.
Virtual projects
Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a project to create 'vertical farms' in Manhattan along the East River at the South edge of the Roosevelt Island. He wants to contribute to the durability of the city and a way to rethink the city's food production. "I want to transform cities in ecosystems, neighborhood in forests and edifices in trees" -Vincent Callebaut.[2]
One of the visions of the Dragonfly project was defined as: 'Eating an apple just picked out of a collective orchard in the fourth floor while looking at New York through the window and then go back to your office just in the upper floor.'[3]
This futurist project is aimed at rethinking agriculture. "The Dragonfly's inhabitant will become the architect of their own garden" -Vincent Callebaut. Every housing unit will get a vegetal wall in the kitchen, with fresh fruits and vegetables at hand.
Look up vegetal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
This project was inspired by the Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki with his movie "Le château dans le ciel".[4]
The objectives of the Dragonfly project were defined as:
- To create a proximity between the inhabitant and their productions.
- To reduce the intermediary in the production mode.
- To get an energetic self-sufficiency.
- To enable financial savings.[5]
The Dragonfly building is 575 metres (1,886 ft) high, shaped as firefly wings. It is composed of two towers related by a 'bio-climatic' glasshouse. It deploys itself between two crystalline wings made out of glass and steel. The structure in honeycomb stitch allows the sunlight to pass through the building.[5] This concept is seen as a feeder farm and reconnects the consumers with producers. This prototype of urban farm would have superimposed 132 floors and estending 600 metres (2,000 ft) vertically with garden vegetables, fields, production of meat, milk, poultry and eggs where people could grow their own food. The Dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production. It is self-sufficient in energy, water and bio-fertilizing, powered by sunshield and eolian systems. These combine solar and wind power, which would make the Dragonfly self-sufficient.[6] Everything is recyclable in a continuous auto-feeding so that nothing is lost. The spaces between the wings are designed to take advantage of solar energy by accumulating warm air in the structure during winter. During the summer it is cooling which is facilitated through natural ventilation and "evapo-perspiration" from the plants.[6] Dragonfly will be able to face climatic changes in order to build eco-responsible cities.
Vincent Callebaut has proposed the construction of a building lung called "Anti-smog" in Paris. This is intended to clean up the air along the channel of l'Ourcq in Paris. The project is under consideration.[4]
Lilypad
The Lilypad or Floating ecopolis project is based on the idea of creating a place for future refugees of Current sea level rise caused by Global Warning.
Ongoing projects
Agora Garden
Vincent Callebaut created Agora Garden, a sustainable tower development in Taipei. This building promotes vertical construction in an overpopulated city.[7] It is a concept of eco-construction to reduce the carbon footprint of its inhabitants.[8] Vincent Callebaut Architectures SARL replied to an invitation to tender in November 2010. As of 2014 the project is under construction, and due for completion in 2016.[3]
The shape of the building looks like a molecule of DNA with its double helix. This was designed to represent a symbol of life and dynamism.[7] The surface area is about 50,000 square metres (540,000 sq ft).
The aim of the project is to represent a perfect symbiosis between the human being and nature. Vincent Callebaut aims to develop an avant-gardist architecture and tries to institute a new life style in harmony with nature. The building is intended to guarantee environmental norms in order to obtain the Green Building Label delivered by the Home Affairs Ministry of Taipei. The project addresses four ecologic objectives of the Copenhagen Accord:[8]
- The diminution of the global warming.
- The protection of the biodiversity.
- The protection of the environment and the quality of life.
- The management of the natural resources and waste.
Agora Garden develops the Cradle to Cradle concept : "nothing is lost and everything transforms itself" (Antoine Lavoisier). All materials are recycled or recyclable in order to imitate the processes of natural ecosystems. For example, at the top there is a huge free access garden covered by photovoltaic panels which produce electricity for the building. The tower is surrounding by 20-metre (66 ft) trees which increase the biodiversity in the city.[8]
Agora Garden is composed of twenty levels in double helix formation, twisted at ninety degrees. The twist satisfies four major objectives. First of all, thanks to this architecture, the morphology of the building changes according to its orientation. On the East/West side we can see a rhomboidal pyramid, when one the North/South side we can see a reverse pyramid. Then, all flats have their own balconies looking like hanging garden. Thirdly, there is no vis-à-vis so inhabitants have their intimacy and a panoramic view on Taipei.[7]
The six main components of the project are :
- The forest : the building is bordered by a forest which ensure the confidentiality of the inhabitants. The light is over present and the car parks, the swimming pool and the fitness are naturally ventilated.
- The indoor and the outdoor are well connected thanks to all the bay windows.
- The central core is composed of two staircases, four high speed elevators, a car elevator and two sky garages.
- The apartments measure 650 square metres (7,000 sq ft). It could seem vast for European people but in that country, three generations live together in the same flat.
- The landscape balconies project is to build gardens which cover the entire building which bring back nature in the city. Inhabitants could easily cultivate fruits, vegetables and aromates so that they could be self-sufficient. Therefore, this gardens take part of the sustainability process. Indeed, there are compost spaces from waste to organic fertilizers, full cells and rainwater can be recycle thanks to reservoirs.
- Located at a 100 metres (330 ft) high, a huge photovoltaic pergola of 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) transforms solar rays into electric energy which is directly reintroduced into the network of the building.
Agora Garden is the symbol of the preoccupation of our century about environment. This challenge is a way to reinvent a lifestyle more respectful with the idea of self-sufficiency.
References
- 1 2 "Prix Napoléon Godecharle". BATILIFE. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ↑ "Dragonfly". Paris Match. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
- 1 2 "culturebox". culturebox.francetvinfo.fr. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Dragonfly". france-amerique.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Dragonfly". Architecture Urbanisme. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- 1 2 "Inhabitat". inhabitat.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 "France inter". franceinter.fr. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Dezeen". dezeen.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014.