Self-Sustaining Urban Area Abode Chapeau

Hydroponic Greenhouse. Turns air we breath out into air we can breath in. Uses solar-powered turbines to pump this air. Converts (biodegradable) human waste into food for plants. Plants are edible by humans. Greenhouse creates condensation which is collected for aquarium-dwelling animals, also edible by humans and hamsters.

Beautiful green building helmets.

How this project would work, hypothetically, is by appointment. Go to your “clinic”, get a prescription, set up a meeting. Have your building evaluated, figure out the logistics of your space, and get ready to set up. Have what they refer to as, wonderfully, a “barn raising event.” And get yourself set up!

All the stuff needed to do this project can be bought relatively cheaply and can be constructed by a group of people without big machines. Urban agriculture, urban architecture.

They’ve made one 40% the size of the projected “real one.” It “works.”* Waste from one part of the system becomes fuel for another part of it. *It is a complex system, and it working in a real, “non-controlled environment,” would require constant maintenance and modification. Check out Cesar Harada below doing a sort of “test-run,” and notice how it is him who is hosting the video documentation.

How real today?

One of these fantastic hippies, Angel Borrego Cubero, says that he does not believe in altruism.

He says it is all about self-interest.

Survive!

Designer: Natalie Jeremijenko and Crew

Also see: NYU.EDU and UrbanSpaceStation.org


URBAN SPACE STATION Sofia, Madrid 2008 from cesar harada on Vimeo.