Pocket houses and fractal playgrounds
Basic information
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Project Description
The Menger sponge is a fractal object having zero volume and an infinite surface. Sponges similar to these (the algorithm cannot be applied indefinitely), extremely porous and light, can be created at low cost; they could be modular, easy to compress and transport.
These structures can be the skeleton of buildings and objects in which liquid substances will be poured and solidify in any shape.
They would be resistant to vibrations and wind like branches and roots of trees, which are also fractal
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
The Menger sponge is a fractal object having, if mathematically imagined, zero volume and an infinite surface.
This object can really be built; obviously in reality its volume and therefore its weight cannot be zero because the algorithm that underlies the construction of fractals cannot be applied indefinitely.
Sponges of this type, that are extremely porous, can be created at low costs and are very easy to transport because they are very light and because it is possible to compress them, incredibly reducing their volume. These structures could therefore be the basis for the construction of buildings and furnishing objects: once positioned in the desired place, by pouring a liquid substance that can solidify into the sponges you could create constructions of any shape.
In this way, local raw materials could be used in any country of the world (and on any planet): sands, fibers, gypsum, mud...with the appropriate agglomerating product.
Another advantage could be the sponges' resistance to vibrations; in fact, if one thinks about trees and namely about their branches and roots, it can be seen that the latter have fractal structures which, in addition to creating large contact surfaces (in the branches useful for optimizing chlorophyll synthesis and in the roots the absorption of substances), reduce the vibratory effects caused by the wind and present in the earth.
The speed of transport of large quantities of these structures could be strategic in emergencies such as earthquakes, vaccination hubs, migrant reception centers.
The experimentation could start with miniature models and be applied to the creation of models of urbanization projects, but also in a more concrete way with mini-cities for children, pop-up playgrounds to be placed in the popular neighborhoods of cities and in the suburbs, to start an urban regeneration from the peripheral areas. I could start with a model of a playground for a suburban park, inviting children themselves to co-design it with me.
Key objectives for sustainability
The key objectives in terms of sustainability are:
Create a modular model capable of being reproduced on a different scale and to adapt this scale to the resources available or progressively available.
To find the right materials for the micro-scale proposal for miniature models and to search for local materials that can be found more easily and without having to be transported from afar.
To find the most suitable materials for the medium-scale proposal for playground's games and involve local companies.
To check which are the most environmentally friendly materials that can be used for the purpose. Studying the relationship between load-bearing structures and fractal structure using simplified software made available by local universities of architecture and design.
To develop projects for companies and shops that want to create a miniature three-dimensional model for their projects, in collaboration with the university whose cost is reinvested in the suburbs.
To involve schools and neighborhoods to identify the needs and dreams of children and their parents. Linking the aspect of modularity to the needs, rituals and development of the neighborhood.
To try to understand if these structures can have other additional features (a fountain-game, a game that recharges a battery through its use ...).
To understand which products of the modular structure processing can be biodegradable and which reusable. Finally, if the same module, very worn by time, can be reinforced directly on site. To understand if any fences, protection systems, anti-trauma flooring can be built with the modules themselves.
Ask all the bathing establishments in the city to support the project by purchasing the models for their playgrounds first and secondly by purchasing the fractal playground itself built to measure for their space.
Ask the municipal administration to renovate the play areas by adopting this model both in public spaces and in parks and schools of all level.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The key objectives in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience are:
The educational value for the participants of the co-planning who are also the users of the product.
The quality of the experience of a project that has been carried out from the idea to the realization is certainly high.
Fractal geometry such as the golden section represent examples of beauty and harmony in Nature that stimulate our sensitivity and irrational aspects of our psyche. Not only mathematicians and scientists have questioned the relationship between fractals and beauty (for example, I interviewed the playwright Rafael Spregelburd for my final exam). Citizens could therefore not only enjoy the development of their own project but also the harmonious beauty of the same. Maybe by integrating living nature into the construction modules of the playgrounds, creating a symbiosis between structures and games created with fractal modules and geometries of plants, flowers and bushes.
Being modular and based on a fractal concept, the games of the playground, the playground itself, the fences, the floors could all be of dimensions suitable for the age group of the child and interact proportionally with the living nature (trees, a stream, a green labyrinth ...).
The miniaturized models could represent a mini wealth of ideas to be capitalized and replicated in other cities and countries or in emergency situations (a playground of an improvised reception center, a playground for children displaced by a natural disaster, a playground for isolated or located villages in depressed areas...); where in a second time the co-creation work could be replicated for possible extensions of the playground with the inhabitants of those places.
Key objectives for inclusion
The Key objectives in terms of inclusion are:
The miniature models built with this technique and the playgrounds could be the starting point for the redevelopment of a marginal neighborhood. Which place is more inclusive for families than a playground? Thought by children and families themselves.
What better way to generate social cohesion, between citizens (children and adults), students, entrepreneurs, administrations, thinking and dreaming together with others the space that you will later build with others and live with others?
I also believe that this project could have relevance for university students of architecture and design, who could experiment on this idea the various levels of interaction between living nature and construction, between beauty and functionality, between spaces of aggregation and spaces of concentration and meditation.
Companies could also play an important role in this project, creating not only a relationship with universities but also with citizens, and having a direct experience of a sustainable project, in support of social inclusion and above all replicable on a different scale.
Innovative character
The innovative character of my idea consists in the following considerations: The project I have developed can be the project of a whole life and beyond, because like a fractal it opens a thousand doors and like a fractal it can be implemented on various scales. This makes it adaptable to the resources necessary for its realization. The fact that it is modular creates infinite combination possibilities. The infinite detail therefore also represents the infinite imagination and possibility for this instrument. If we think of the marine environment, for example, such structures could become barriers to protect against erosion, living structural elements that can be populated by human animals. If we think of materials we can think of new combinations between oxygen, a catalyst and natural materials of mineral origin. Someone said that "a journey of a thousand miles always begins with the first step". My first step could be a miniaturized model, then I would move on to a material or an object with a social function, then to a place with a social function (like a playground in a disused space of a city neighborhood, and then who knows...a house, a building, a marine structural element or one populated with plants around a factory.
