eco village architecture thesis

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• Published: 08 July 2022

A critical examination of a community-led ecovillage initiative: a case of Auroville, India

• Abhishek Koduvayur Venkitaraman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8515-257X 1 &
• Neelakshi Joshi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8947-1893 2  

Climate Action volume  1 , Article number:  15 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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• Sustainability

Human settlements across the world are attempting to address climate change, leading to changing paradigms, parameters, and indicators for defining the path to future sustainability. In this regard, the term ecovillage has been increasingly used as models for sustainable human settlements. While the term is new, the concept is an old one: human development in harmony with nature. However, materially realizing the concept of an ecovillage is not without challenges. These include challenges in scaling up and transferability, negative regional impacts and struggles of functioning within larger capitalistic and growth-oriented systems. This paper presents the case of Auroville, an early attempt to establish an ecovillage in Southern India. We draw primarily from the ethnographic living and working experience of the authors in Auroville as well as published academic literature and newspaper articles. We find that Auroville has proven to be a successful laboratory for providing bottom-up, low cost and context-specific ecological solutions to the challenges of sustainability. However, challenges of economic and social sustainability compound as the town attempts to scale up and grow.

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Introduction

Scientists have repeatedly argued and emphasized for an equilibrium between human development and the basic ecological support systems of the planet (IPCC 2014 ; United Nations 1987 ). Human settlements have been important in this regard as places of concentrated human activity (Edward & Matthew E, 2010 ; Scott and Storper 2015 ). Settlement planning has responded to this call through visions of the eco-city as a proposal for building the city like a living system with a land use pattern supporting the healthy anatomy of the whole city and enhance its biodiversity, while resonating its functions with sustainability (Barton 2013 ; Register 1987 ; Roseland 1997 ). In planning practice, this means balancing between economic growth, social justice, and environmental well-being (Campbell 1996 ). However, the concept of eco-cities remains top-down in its approach with city authorities taking a lead in involving the civil society and citizens to implement the city’s environment plan (Joss 2010a , b ).

Contrary to the idea of eco-cities, ecovillages are small-scale, bottom-up sites for experimentation around sustainable living. Ecovillages resonate the same core principles of an eco-city but combine the social, ecological, and spiritual aspects of human existence (Gilman 1991 ). Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland is one of the oldest and most prominent ecovillages in the world and has collaborations with the United Nations and was named as a best practice community (Lockyer and Veteto 2013 ).

Another notable example is the Transitions Town movement that started in Totnes, United Kingdom but has now spread all over the world (Hopkins 2008 ; Smith 2011 ). The movement focuses upon supporting community-led responses to peak oil and climate change, building resilience and happiness. Additionally, it emphasizes rebuilding local agriculture and food production, localizing energy production along with rediscovering local building materials in the context of zero energy building (Hopkins 2008 ). Ecological districts within the urban fabric are also termed as ecovillages (Wolfram 2017 ).

Ecovillages are intentional communities characterized by alternative lifestyles, values, economics and governance systems (Joss 2010a , b ; Ergas 2010 ). At the same time ecovillages are located within and interact with growth-oriented capitalistic systems (Price et al. 2020 ). This dichotomy presents a challenge for ecovillages as they put ideas of sustainability transformation into practice. We explore some of these contradictions through the case study of Auroville, an ecovillage located in southern India. A discussion on the gaps between the ideas of an ecovillage against their lived reality throws light upon the challenges that ecovillages face when they attempt to grow. We begin by elaborating the key characteristics of ecovillages in the “Characteristics of ecovillages” section. We then present our material and methods in the “Methodology” section. Furthermore, we use the key characteristics of an ecovillage as a framework for analysing and discussing Auroville in the “Auroville, an ecovillage in South India” and “Discussion” sections. We conclude with a reflection on the concept of ecovillages.

Characteristics of ecovillages

The concept of an ecovillage is broad and has multiple interpretations. Based on a reading of the existing literature on ecovillages, we summarize some of their key characteristics here:

Alternative lifestyles and values : Ecovillage can be seen as intentional communities (Ergas 2010 ) and social movements which have a common stance against unsustainable modes of living and working (Kirby 2003 ; Snow et al. 2004 ). Ecovillages advocate for achieving an alternate lifestyle involving a considerable shift in power from globalized values to those internalized in local community autonomy. Therefore many ecovillages aspire to restructure power distribution and foster a spirit of collective and transparent decision-making (Boyer 2015 ; Cunningham and Wearing 2013 ). However, it is difficult to convince many people to believe in a common value system since the vision is to establish a world that is not only ecologically sustainable but also personally rewarding in terms of self-sacrifice for a good cause (Anderson 2015 ).

Governance : ecovillages tend to rely on a community-based governance and there is an assumption that the local and regional communities respond more effectively to local environmental problems since these problems pertain to the local context and priorities (Van Bussel et al. 2020 ). In a community-based governance system, activities are organized and carried out through participatory democracy committed to consensual decision-making. However, participatory democracy has its own set of problems. Consensual decision-making is time-consuming, and the degree of participation tends to vary from time to time (Fischer 2017 ). Participatory processes have also been criticized on the grounds for slowing down the decision-making process and resulting in a weak final agreement which doesn’t balance competing interests (Alterman et al. 1984 ).

Economic models in an ecovillages : ecovillages have attempted to combine economic objectives along with the overall well-being of people and have experimented with budgetary solutions appealing to a wider society (Hall 2015 ). As grassroots initiatives, ecovillages have advocated and practised living in community economies (Roelvink and Gibson-Graham 2009 ) and have influenced twentieth century economic practices beyond their geographical boundaries (Boyer 2015 ). Due to the emphasis on sharing in ecovillages, they can be considered to accommodate diverse economies (Gibson-Graham 2008 ) where human needs are met through relational exchanges and non-monetary practices, highlighting strong social ties (Waerther 2014 ). In some ecovillages, living expenses are reduced by sharing costly assets and saving cost on building materials by bulk buying and growing food for community consumption and sale (Pickerill 2017 ). These economic models have their own merit but are perhaps insufficient for the long-term economic sustainability of ecovillages (Price et al. 2020 ). Eventually, ecovillages might have to rely on external sources to import goods and services which cannot be produced on-site. This contradicts the ecovillage principles of being a self-reliant economy, reduction of its carbon footprint and minimizing resource consumption, thus implying a dependence on the market economy of the region (Bauhardt 2014 ).

Self-sufficiency : fulfilling the community’s needs within the available resources is a cornerstone principle for many ecovillages (Gilman 1991 ). This is often achieved through organic farming, permaculture, renewable energy and co-housing. Such measures are an attempt to offset and mitigate unsustainable development and limit the ecovillage’s ecological footprint (Litfin 2009 ). The initial small scale of the community often allows for this. However, as ecovillages grow in size and complexity, the interconnectedness and inter-dependence to the surrounding space become more apparent (Joss 2010a , b ). Examples include drawing resources from central energy and water systems (Xue 2014 ). Furthermore, ecovillages might turn out to be desirable places to live, with better quality of life, driving up land and property prices in the region as well as carbon emissions with additional visitors (Mössner and Miller 2015 ). Furthermore, in their role as catalysts of change in transforming society, ecovillages need to interact with their external surroundings and neighbouring communities, the municipalities, and the state and national level policies (Dawson and Lucas 2006 ; Kim 2016 ). This is particularly relevant in the Global South, where the ecovillage development has the potential to drive regional-scale sustainable development.

The characteristics of an ecovillage, however, do not exist in a geographical vacuum. Scholarly understanding of ecovillages as bottom-up efforts to drive sustainability transitions largely draw from the experiences of the Global North (Wagner 2012 ). Such ecovillage models often challenge the dominant capitalistic paradigm of post-industrial development, overconsumption and growth. Locating ecovillages in the Global South requires an expansion or re-evaluation of their larger socio-economic context as well as their socio-ecological impacts (Dias et al. 2017 ; Litfin 2009 ) .

To build upon the opportunities and challenges of ecovillages, locating them within the context of the Global South, we present the case of Auroville, an ecovillage located in southern India.

Methodology

We use the initial theoretical framework of ecovillage characteristics as a starting point for developing the case study of Auroville. Here, we draw from academic literature published about Auroville during 1968–2021. We also draw inferences from self-published reports and documents by the Auroville Foundation. Although we cover multiple interconnected aspects of Auroville, the characteristics pertaining to an ecovillage remain the focus of our work. We review the literature sources deductively, drawing on aspects of values, governance, economics and self-reliance, established in the previous section.

We triangulate the secondary data sources against our ethnographic experience of having lived and worked in Auroville for extended periods of time (2010–2012 and 2013–2014, respectively). We have worked in Auroville as architects and urban planners. During this time, we participated in multiple meetings on Auroville’s development as part of our work. We have discussed aspects of Auroville’s sustainability with Aurovillians working on diverse aspects, from urban planning to regional integration. Furthermore, living and working in Auroville brought us in conversation with several individuals from villages surrounding Auroville, employed in Auroville. For writing this case study, we have revisited our lived experience of Auroville through memory, research and work diaries maintained during this period, photographs as well our previously published research articles (Venkitaraman 2017 ; Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). Given our expertise in architecture and planning, we have also presented the translation of the key characteristics of an ecovillage, namely, alternative values, governance and economic systems and self-reliance, in these domains.

We acknowledge certain limitations to our methodology. We rely largely on secondary data to expand upon the challenges and contradictions in an ecovillage. We have attempted to overcome this by drawing from our first-hand experience of having lived in Auroville. Although our lived experiences are almost a decade old, we have attempted to compliment it with recently published articles as well as newspaper reports.

The next section presents Auroville as an ecovillage followed by a critical examination of its regional impact, governance, and economic structure.

Auroville, an ecovillage in South India

Foundational values.

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian philosopher and spiritual leader who believed that “man is a transitional being” and developed the practice of integral yoga with the aim of evolving humans into divine beings (Sen 2018 ). His spiritual consort, Mirra Alfassa realized his ideas in material form through a “universal township” which would hopefully contribute to “progress of humanity towards its splendid future”. Auroville was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, as a township near Pondicherry, India. Alfassa envisioned Auroville to be a “site of material and spiritual research for a living embodiment of an actual human unity” (Alfassa 1968 ). On 28 February 1968, the city was inaugurated with the support of UNESCO and the participation of people from 125 countries who each brought a handful of earth from their homelands to an urn that stands at its centre as a symbolic representation of human unity, the aim of the project. This spiritual foundation has guided the development of the socio-economic structure of Auroville for individual and collective growth (Shinn 1984 ). To translate these spiritual ideas into a material form, Mirra Alfassa provided simple sketches, a Charter, and guiding principles towards human unity (Sarkar 2015 ).

Roger Anger, a French architect translated Alfassa’s dream into the Auroville City Plan that continues to inform the physical development of Auroville (Kundoo 2009 ). The Auroville Masterplan 2025 envisions Auroville to be a circular township (Fig. 1 ) spread over a 20 sq. km (Auroville Foundation 2001 ). Initially planned for a population of 50,000 people, today Auroville today has 3305 residents hailing from 60 countries (Auroville Foundation 2021 ). Since its early days, there has been a divide between the “organicists” and the “constructionists” of Auroville (Kapur 2021 ). The organicists have a bottom-up vision of low impact and environmentally friendly development whereas the constructionists have a top-down vision of sticking with the original masterplan and realize an urban, dense version of Auroville.

A map of Auroville and its surrounding regions, with the main villages in the area

Auroville has served as a laboratory of low-cost and low-impact building construction, transportation, and city planning. Although the term sustainability has not been explicitly used in the Charter, it has been central to the city planning and building development process in Auroville (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). Unlike many human settlements that negatively impact their ecology, the foundational project of Auroville was land restoration. The initial residents of Auroville were able to grow back parts of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest in and around Auroville using top-soil conservation and rainwater harvesting techniques (Blanchflower 2005 ). While the ecological restoration has been lauded both locally and globally, Namakkal ( 2012 ) argues that it is seldom acknowledged that the land was bought from local villagers at low prices and local labour was used to plant the forest as well as build the initial city. At the time of writing this paper, the Auroville Foundation still needs to secure 17% of the land in the city area and nearly 50% of the land for the green belt to realize the original masterplan. However, land prices have gone up substantially as have conflicts in acquiring this land for Auroville (Namakkal 2012 ).

Governance structure

While the Charter of Auroville says that “Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole” (Alfassa 1968 ), in reality, it is governed by a well-defined set of individuals. Auroville’s first few years, between 1968 and 1973, were guided directly by Mirra Alfassa. After her passing, there was a power struggle between the Sri Aurobindo Society, claiming control over the project, and the community members striving for autonomy (Kapur 2021 ).

The Government of India founded the Auroville Foundation Act in 1988 providing in the public interest, the acquisition of all assets and undertakings relatable to Auroville. These assets were ultimately vested in the Auroville Foundation which was formed in January 1991 (Auroville. 2015 ). The Auroville Foundation envisioned a notion of a planned future, resulting in a new masterplan in 1994. This masterplan encouraged participatory planning and recognized that the architectural vision needs to proceed in a democratic manner. This prompted the Auroville community to adopt a more structured form of governance. The Auroville Foundation has other governing institutions under it, namely: The Governing Board which has overall responsibility for Auroville’s development, The International Advisory Council, which advises the Governing Board on the management of the township and the Residents’ Assembly who organize activities relating to Auroville and formulate the master plan. Furthermore, there are committees and working groups for different aspects of development from waste management to building development.

Auroville is an example of the ‘bottom-up’ approach, in the sense that developments are decided and implemented by the community and the state level and national level governments get involved later (Sarkar 2015 ). An example of this is seen in the regular meetings held by the Town Development Council of Auroville which also conducted a weeklong workshop in 2019 for the community which covered themes such as place-making, dimensions of water and strategies for liveable cities and community planning (Ministry of Human Reource Development Government of India 2021 ).

Conflicts often arise between the interpretation of the initial masterplan and the present day realities and aspiration of the residents (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). This is often rooted in the initial vision of Auroville as a city of 50,000 versus its current reality of being an ecovillage of around 3000 people. Spatially, this unusual growth pattern has been problematic in Auroville’s building and mobility planning (Venkitaraman 2017 ). At the time of writing this paper, there is a clash between the Residents’ Assembly and the Auroville Foundation over the felling of trees for the construction of the Crown Road project inside Auroville (The Hindu 2021 ). While the Residents’ Assembly wants a re-working of the original masterplan considering the ecological damage through tree cutting, the Auroville Foundation wants to move ahead with the original city vision.

Beyond its boundaries, Auroville is surrounded by numerous rural settlements, namely, Kuyilapalyam, Edayanchavadi, Alankuppam, Kottakarai, and Attankarai. The Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) aims to help the village communities to strive towards sustainability and find plausible solutions to the problems of contemporary rural life. In September 1970, a charter was circulated among the sub-regional villages of Auroville, promising better employment opportunities and higher living standards with improved health and sanitation facilities (Social Research Centre Auroville 2005 ). Currently, there are about 13 groups for the development of the Auroville sub-region. However, Jukka ( 2006 ) points out that the regional development vision of Auroville is top-down and does not sufficiently engage with the villagers and their aspirations.

Auroville’s economic model

Auroville has also strived to move away from money as a foundation of society to a distinctive economic model exchange and sharing (Kapoor 2007 ). However, Auroville needs money to realize its multiple land and building projects. Auroville also receives various donations and grants. During 2018–2019, Auroville received around Rs. 2396 lakhs (around 4 million USD) under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) and other donations. The Central Government of India supports the Auroville Foundation with annual grants for Auroville’s management and for the running costs of the Secretariat of the Foundation, collectively known as Grant-in-Aid. Auroville received a total of Rs. 1463 lakhs (around 2 million USD) as Grant-in-Aid during 2018–2019. The income generated by Auroville during this time was Rs. 687 lakhs (around 91,000 USD) (Ministry of Human Reource Development Government of India 2021 ).

Presently, the economy of Auroville is based on manufacturing units and services with agriculture being an important sector, and currently, there are about 100 small and medium manufacturing units. The service sector of Auroville comprises of construction and architectural services and research and training in various sectors (Auroville Foundation 2001 ). In addition to this, tourism is another important source of income generation for Auroville. As per the Annual Report of Auroville Foundation, the donations and income have not been consistent over the years. In this regard, Auroville’s growth pattern in terms of the economy has not been linear and it does not mimic the usual growth patterns associated with the development of counterparts, in terms of capitalization, finance, governance, and on key issues such as distribution policies and ownership rights (Thomas and Thomas 2013 ).

Auroville also benefits from labour from the surrounding villages. The nature of employment provided in Auroville to villages remains largely in low-paying jobs (Namakkal 2012 ). It can be argued that the fruits of Auroville’s development have not been equally shared with the surrounding villages and a feeling of ‘us and them’ still pervades. Striving for human unity is the central tenet of Auroville (Shinn 1984 ), however, it has struggled to do so with its immediate neighbours.

Striving for self-sufficiency

Auroville has strived for self-sufficiency in terms of food production from local farms, energy production from renewable sources like solar and wind sources and waste management.

Many prominent buildings of Auroville have been designed keeping in mind the self-sufficiency principle in Auroville. For example, the Solar Kitchen was designed by architect Suhasini Ayer as a demonstration project to tap the solar energy potential of the region. At present, this building is used for cooking meals thrice a day for over 1000 people. The Solar Kitchen also supports the organic farming sector in Auroville by being the primary purchaser of the locally grown products (Ayer 1997 ). Another example is the Auroville Earth Institute, renowned for its Compressed and Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) technique, which constitute natural and locally found soil as one of its main ingredients (Figs. 2 and 3 ).

Compressed earth blocks manufactured by Auroville Earth Institute

A residence in Auroville constructed using compressed earth blocks

However, it is important to acknowledge that Auroville does not exist as a 100% self-sufficient bubble. For example, food produced in Auroville provides for only 15% of the consumption (Auroville Foundation 2004 ). An initial attempt to calculate the ecological footprint of Auroville estimates it to be 2.5 Ha, against the average footprint of an Indian of 0.8 Ha (Greenberg 1998 ). Furthermore, though Auroville has strived for material innovation in architecture, it has not been successful in achieving 25 sq. metres as the limit to individual living space (Walsky and Joshi 2013 ). This challenges the notion of Auroville continuing to be an ecovillage if it aspires to be a city of 50,000 people and might end up having substantial ecological impact on its surroundings.

Urban sustainability transformation in a rapidly urbanizing world runs into the risk of focusing on technological fixes while overlooking the social and ecological impacts of growth. In this light, bottom-up initiatives like ecovillages serve as a laboratory for testing alternative and holistic models of development. Auroville, a 53-year-old ecovillage in southern India, has achieved this to a certain extent. Auroville is a showcase of land regeneration, biodiversity restoration, alternative building technologies as well as experimentations in alternative governance and economic models. In this paper, we have critically examined some achievements and challenges that Auroville has faced in realizing its initial vision of being a “city that the world needs” (Alfassa 1968 ). Lessons learnt from Auroville help deepen our understanding of ecovillages as sites of fostering alternative development practices. Here we discuss three aspects of this research:

Alternate lifestyles and values in the context of an ecovillage : Ecovillages are niches providing space for realizing alternative values and lifestyles. However, ecovillages seldom exist in a vacuum. They are physically situated in existing societies and economies. Although residents in an ecovillage seek to achieve collective identity by creating an alternative society, an ecovillage is embedded within a larger culture and thus, the prevailing ideologies of the dominant society affect the ecovillage (Ergas 2010 ) as seen in Auroville. This can be noticed between the material and knowledge flows in and out of Auroville. Furthermore, the India of the 1970s when Auroville was born with socialist values is very different from present-day India where material and capitalistic aspirations are on the rise. These are reflected in higher land prices and living costs in and around Auroville. Amidst the transforming political landscape of India in the 1970s, there were implications which were seen in the character of architectural production. Auroville welcomed and immersed itself into this era of experimentation. These developments form an integral part of the ethos of Auroville. To achieve its initial visions, Auroville depends on multiple external economic sources. In analysing ecovillages, it is important to critically examine the broader context within which they are located and how they influence and, in turn, are influenced by their contexts.

Even though Auroville’s architects and urban planners remain committed to their belief that architecture is a primary tool of community - building, decades later, the developments seem to have progressed at a slow pace. The number of permanently settled residents in Auroville has barely reached 2000 currently and the overall urban design remains fragmentary. Despite witnessing a slower rate of progress, it has been able to sustain a culture of innovation and Auroville remains utopian in its aim to create an alternative lifestyle (Scriver and Srivastava 2016 ).

Governance, economy, and self-sufficiency in an ecovillage that wants to be an eco-city : In growth-based societies, ecovillages present the possibility of providing an alternative vision of degrowth (Xue 2014 ). However, Auroville currently functions as an ecovillage that aspires to be an eco-city as per its initial masterplan. This growth-based model sometimes conflicts with Auroville’s vision of being a self-reliant, non-monetary society. Given the urgent need to remain within our planetary limits, ecovillages like Auroville could re-evaluate their initial growth-based visions and explore alternatives for achieving sustainability and well-being. The visions of ecovillages should thus not be set in stone, but rather remain flexible to evolving ideas and practices (Ergas 2010 ).

Similarly, governance structures might need a re-evaluation with changing priorities within the ecovillage as well as a need to be inclusive of regional visions and voices. It would be intriguing to explore on what kind of governance model/leadership is best suited to fulfil the aims of an ecovillage. Auroville seems to follow the elements of sustainability-oriented governance: empowerment, engagement, communication, openness and transparency (Bubna-Litic 2008 ), yet it is seen that conflicts arise. One solution to this could be greater external engagement with government and continuing to engage the external community about Auroville. Generally, intentional communities are organized by embracing the ideology of consensus, but it remains to be seen whether the consensus decision-making model works to its full potential in the context of alternative lifestyles. When individuals seek alternative lifestyles in the current world, there is a shift from globalized values towards local community autonomy, this shift demands a need for processes that allow for a different and more equitable approach to governance (Cunningham and Wearing 2013 ).

Ecovillages in the Global South : Situating ecovillages in the Global South requires a nuanced examination of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability that the ecovillage aims to achieve (Dias et al. 2017 ; Litfin 2009 ). In the case of Auroville, Auroville has helped bring back ecologically restorative practices in forestry, agriculture, and architecture in the region. However, the average Aurovillian has a higher standard of living than the neighbouring villagers. This in-turn influences the material consumption practices within the community. The lessons in sustainable living, in ecovillages located in the Global South, need not be unidirectional (from the ecovillage to the surrounding society). Rather, the ecovillage also stands to lean from the existing models of low-impact living.

Ecovillages in the Global South such as Auroville face similar problems related to Governance as seen in some other ecovillages in the developed world such as The Aldinga Arts Village in South Australia (Bubna-Litic 2008 ) and in Sweden (Bardici 2014 ). However, despite the issues related to consensus in Governance, the ecovillages are noted for their sustainable innovations.

Auroville’s sustainable measures have been endorsed by the Government of India as well. The Auroville Master Plan for 2000–2025 has been dedicated to creating an environmentally sustainable urban settlement which integrates the neighbourhood rural areas. The surrounding Green Belt, intended to be a fertile zone is presently being used for applied research in various sectors such as water management, food production, and soil conservation. The results promise a replicable model which could be used in urban and rural areas alike (Kapoor 2007 ).

To address the expansion and re-evaluation of the larger socio-economic context of Auroville and its socio-ecological impacts, as enunciated by Dias et al. ( 2017 ) and Kutting and Lipschutz (2009), a proposal for a sustainable regional plan was prepared in 2012 jointly by Government of India, ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency), INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) and PondyCAN (An NGO which works to preserve and enhance the natural, social, cultural and spiritual environment of Pondicherry). The report was prepared and aimed to be a way forward for unique and diverse communities to grow together as a single entity and to develop a holistic model for future development in this region. This report takes into consideration the surrounding villages and districts around Auroville: Puducherry, Viluppuram and Cuddalore (ADEME, INTACH, PondyCAN,, and Government of India 2012 ).

The concept of eco-cities in urban planning is defined as utopias, hard to achieve standards of human settlements. Ecovillages emerge as small-scale realization of the ideas of an eco-city. Over the years, the alternative practices of Auroville have served as an educational platform for researchers, students, and the civil society alike. However, realizing alternative ecological lifestyles, governance and economic system and self-sufficiency struggle with challenges and contradictions as the ecovillage interact with a larger growth-oriented capitalistic system. Although ecovillages are sites of experimentation, they are seldom insular space. Regional impacts of and on ecovillage are important in analysing their developmental trajectories. Finally, the vision of ecovillages needs to evolve as the ecovillage as well is surroundings grow and change. Experiments in ecovillages like Auroville remind us that alternative visions of human settlements come with opportunities and challenges and are a work-in-progress in achieving a more sustainable future. There is further potential to understand the consensus-based approach and the governance models in an ecovillage in a better manner.

It can be deduced from the findings that ecovillages as catalysts of urban sustainability have a lot of potentials and challenges. The potential is in terms of devising an alternate lifestyle based on an alternative style of governance while the challenges include the local ecological impact and the difficulty in consensus about certain things. There is a future possibility to explore other conditions which facilitate the mainstream translation of ecovillage practices and how future ecovillages can progress to the next level (Kim 2016 ; Norbeck 1999 ).

Availability of data and materials

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

ADEME, INTACH, PondyCAN, & Government of India (2012) Sustainable Regional Planning Framework for Puducherry. Viluppuram, Auroville and Cuddalore

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Koduvayur Venkitaraman, A., Joshi, N. A critical examination of a community-led ecovillage initiative: a case of Auroville, India. Clim Action 1 , 15 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44168-022-00016-3

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ECO-VILLAGE, AMODEL OF SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

Ecology is one of the important issues in creating sustainable residential areas like eco-cities and eco-villages. Today, development of cities and villages has created many environment damages and presenting some solutions to minimize these damages is useful. We should find a new model of residential area to fulfill with the new community requirements and create sustainable development in urban and village residential areas. The present study introduces and evaluates eco-village and how eco-villages have considered the concept of sustainability. Also, this study evaluates how sustainability goals based on the main solutions of sustainable architecture can focus on three important criteria of ecology, society and culture. The study method is based on document and analytic descriptive study. Finally, some solutions are introduced to create eco-villages based on the criteria in sustainable architecture.

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Meltem Aksoy

Sustainability concept that particularly mentions a "futurity" is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” in “Our Common Future” (Brundtland Report) in 1987. [1] Concept of ecology was and still is being evaluated with the change of environmental problems, political, economic and social attitudes. Before the industrialization, for the societies living within the nature, environmental consciousness was within the daily life. Environmentalism emerged being against to mechanization and focused on nature-centered view instead of human-centered view after industrialization. If the action of architecture is interpreted as "to build", from the deep ecologists’ perspective to interfere to the earth (to build) is an anti-ecological action. On this paper, based on the intersection of ecological sustainability and architecture, basically the circumstances that are merged when the concept of...

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This paper considers the economic and environmental issues related to the construction of eco-homes, one of the recent and acceptable projects meant to solve the sustainability issues, whose principles were presented at the Environmental Conference held in Rio in 1992. On that occasion, important traits of eco-homes were described, which can be synthetized in their efficiency and effectiveness in water use as well as radical wastewater and solid waste reduction, among other characteristics. In line with the intensively rising trend of projecting and experimental construction of such homes, their advantages are being emphasized, as well as the possibilities to momentarily start carrying out these projects in rural areas. However, in urban areas, the existing communal infrastructure and certain interest groups might obstruct the realization. This can be especially significant in the actual Serbia, characterized by the demographic abandonment of villages and small towns.

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Abstract This research dealt with the sustainable house and its relation with residents’ satisfaction, which is the research problem. Therefore, the research aims to build a base of knowledge for sustainable housing. The research assumes that sustainability standards and controls for houses achieve the comfort of residents. The research defined the sustainable architecture as an architecture that directs designer towards designs requires less materials to preserve the natural resources. Therefore, it is an environmentally conscious design. Whereas, the sustainable design is a style focuses on the importance of the relation of buildings with the environment and aims to create integration with the environment. A theoretical scope for the criteria of sustainable house was drawn. This framework was applied on different localities in the City of Kut to measure the satisfaction of the residents. The most prominent findings of this research were: firstly, residential houses rely enormously on artificial energy for various activities such as heating, cooling and illumination, which poses a thread for the reserves of natural resources. This is because of the inconvenient temperature inside the house that is resulted from improperly designed spaces of the houses and other reasons related to not appropriate urban planning that should take into account the climate conditions

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B.Arch Thesis: Eco-Tourist Hub of KHONOMA Village, By Shanjo A. Kithan, ITM University-Gwalior

• August 17, 2019

Follow ArchitectureLive! Channel on WhatsApp

Eco-tourism is one such activities which provide a solution by creating awareness and concern for the environment among both the tourist and local people of the region.

Also, the local skills could be developed and explored. The traditional and indigenous knowledge, along with scientific development can be explored.

Eco tourism Hub by itself, which talks about the tourism aspects of the context, creating a cultural Hub point which gives a platform for the villagers as well as the essence of the vernacular for the tourist.

The brief of the concept is to design an eco-tourism hub for the region of KHONOMA (Asia’s first green village) and the proximity near the region. Keeping in mind the local traditions, culture, art and Architecture .The design brief put an emphasis on the articulation of said traditions and their interpretation in modern times without losing the essence of the vernacularity.

KHONOMA is an Angami Naga village located about 20 km west from the state Capital, Kohima, Nagaland. The terrain of the village is hilly, ranging from gentle slopes to steep and rugged hillsides. The hills are covered with lush forestland, rich in various species of flora and fauna.

HORNBILL International Festival which is being celebrated for 10 days every year near this proximity which also creates a benchmark of this village.

This thesis talks about vernacular settlement which can achieve sustainability through planning, orientation, materials and architectural practices evolved from long time due to the socioeconomic, climatic and environmental factors of the Region

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

•To create an opportunity to the local people as well as for the tourist to get the essence of the context, keeping alive the essence of the context. •To design a better vision for tomorrow by keeping the Essence of the local regional context.

•Reprioritize the usage of the site based on the needs of the site demands. •To make the space a centre of public interaction and activities that reflects the people of the region.

•To engage the people by creating a hub in the village where they can learn, educate and understand each other. •To make use of the site’s assets in terms of creating a landmark for the urban fabric of Kohima people as well.

DESIGN BRIEF + PROGRAMME

The village of Khonoma (Asia’s first green village). As being said that the context of the site is a tourist spot and as the tourism is increasing each year people from around the world are travelling to see this beautiful village and the plus point is that there are many Tourism near the village which clearly states that there is a need for Eco-Tourism Hub in this arena.

Eco tourism is one such activities which will create an activities for the region. The local People gets the opportunity to expose their skills their economy to the tourist, which can create an important part of the hub.

The site will be developed with different types of components: 1. Weekly markets for the villagers, craft shops, Exhibition shops: where the villagers can get exposed and increase their growth of the economy. The market will run only on the basis of once in a week where they can sell all their organic crops or vegetables.

2. Museum: To reflect their culture, tradition and religion also to promote their legacy.

3. Workshop activities: where the tourist can educate the villagers and spread awareness and learn from one another.

The villagers can showcase their skills and even export their talents.

4. Accommodation unit for the tourist people: A home stay feeling accommodation unit for the tourist.

5.Library: It will provide a better exposure for the young generation of the surrounding villages.

6. O.A.T: Cultural program and festival season of recreational space.

DESIGN CONCEPT /APPROACH

The main challenge of design was a Site, which is having area of 92268sq.m. and facing NORTH To EAST direction also having contour difference of 40 meter. Main approach is to analyse with the existing contour and play with the levels. The existing site having contour along the river stream and the bridge is the only approach to the site.

Considering all the challenges, the design was to make ‘imperfect’ spaces with organic dynamism like villages.

With the start of the design development every space and area of the site were divided from part to whole. where every part of the space were defined according the use of the function like the open weekly market ,food stall ,craft shop ,museum ,library, OAT, Workshop area and the Accommodation unit which were segregated from each other but it was connected according to the function and use of the space.

Every function of the spaces were connected as per the user’s inferences. The general restaurant was at the core of the main area, the open market area was segregated totally from those main activities like the library, museum, workshop area, OAT and the Museum.

Although they are two different things we sense their interrelationship and emotional bond. Something very organic yet dynamic to be expressed by the site. The environment to be very vernacular with use of the roof of MORUNG style keeping alive the essence of the Region.

The Morung (or the traditional community house) at Khonoma Village. Acting as an educational institution, A Morung is where youngsters would gain their first few lessons of cultural & traditional knowledge through folk music, dance, folk tales and oral traditions. During the time of war, they were also used as used as a guard-house.

Design used the symbolism of that area through Morung.

VERNACULAR OF THE REGION

1.Use of the materials 2.local Materials, local skills, local technique 3.Keeping alive the essence of the village. 4. Implementing new technique design in terms of architectural thoughts, spaces, functions and purpose of the area. 5. New modern technologies design without losing the essence of the region

shanjo A Kithan

• B.Arch Thesis

13 Responses

I want detail sheet on mail for reffrence

Please contact if you were able to get through.I want to refer the report for my thesis as well.

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I want study report of your thesis for reference

I want to know how to contact you for more details

Hey I loved your Concept, if possible could you share your Area statement or a list of requirements? it would be of great help to my thesis tooo!!!

can i please get your thesis report for reference.

Can I get your thesis report for reference please.

can I also have your details for my thesis.thank you

Can I get your thesis report for reference please

Please share the details that would be great help for my thesis

can you please describe which all case studies you reffered for the same

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Thesis Topics for Architecture :20 topics related to Sustainable Architecture

Sustainable architecture is the architecture that minimizes the negative environmental impact of buildings. It aims at solving the problems of society and the ecosystem. It uses a selective approach towards energy and the design of the built environment. Most often sustainability is being limited to the efficient water heater or using high-end technologies. It is more than that. It is sometimes about creating awareness among people and communities about how we can coexist in the natural environment. Sustainable architecture is a means to enter the context in a natural way, planning and deciding the materials before the construction that have very few negative effects on the environment. Here are 20 Thesis topics for architecture related to Sustainable Architecture:

1. Urban Park | Thesis Topics for Architecture

To make a city livable and sustainable, urban parks play a key role to provide a healthy lifestyle for the residents of the city. It provides transformative spaces for the congregation and community development . Public parks are very crucial within the cities because they are often the only major greenery source for the area.

2. Neighborhood Development

There is always a challenge to implement sustainable development at a very local level. Thus, urban sprawl, environmental degradation, and traffic congestion have made it necessary to look at problems at the basic level. In cities, there is an extra opportunity to develop a sustainable neighborhood that incorporates energy-efficient buildings, green materials, and social infrastructures.

3. Community Garden Design | Thesis Topics for Architecture

Community gardens are the latest trend for sustainable living in urban areas due to rising health issues in the cities. It helps promote farming as an activity where locals can also get involved in the activities and encourage them to use gardens as recreational spaces. The gardens assist in the sustainable development of urban areas.

4. Waste Recycling Center

Waste recycling centers can be one of the great thesis topics for architecture since waste recycling is always seen as a burden on the city. But it can be converted into an opportunity by incorporating its function and value into the urban fabric . Waste to energy plants or waste recycling centers can be integrated with public functions that engage communities.

5. Restoration of Heritage/Old Building

Building restoration is the process of correctly exposing the state of a historical building, as it was in the past with respecting its heritage value. India has many heritage buildings including forts, temples , buildings which are in deteriorated conditions and need to be restored. Thus, it helps to protect our heritage of the past.

6. Rehabilitation Housing | Thesis Topics for Architecture

Rehabilitation housing is temporary housing made to accommodate people who vacate the colonies that are required to redevelop. Rehabilitation housing also accommodates peoples who get affected by natural calamity and are displaced due to that.

7. Riverfront Development

The development of a riverfront improves the quality of built and unbuilt spaces while maintaining a river-city relationship. It provides an identity to the stretch of the land which can include the addition of cultural and recreational activities. Various public activities and spaces are incorporated to develop the life and ambiance on the riverfront which leads to the environment and economic sustainability.

8. SMART Village | Thesis Topics for Architecture

SMART village is a modern initiative to develop rural villages and provide them with basic amenities, education, health, clean drinking water, sanitation, and environmental sustainability. It aims to strengthen rural communities with new technologies and energy access.

9. Net-Zero Energy Building

A lot of energy goes into the building sector which can be reduced by incorporating energy-efficient techniques and innovations. The Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) produces as much energy as it consumes over the year, and sometimes more. NZEB can be applied to various typologies such as industrial, commercial, and residential. Due to emerging concerns over climate change, these buildings are a new trend nowadays.

10. Bermed Structure

The bermed structure is a structure that is built above ground or partially below the ground, with earth covering at least one wall. In extreme climatic conditions, a bermed structure protects from both heat and cold. The structure can be any typology be it residence, museum, or exhibition hall. These types of buildings are very energy efficient but extra care is needed to be given to waterproofing.

11. Regenerative Design

Regenerative design is active participation in engaging in the natural environment. It focuses on reducing the environmental impacts of a building on the natural surroundings through conservation and performance. While green building improves energy efficiency, the regenerative building improves the ecosystem as it will support habitats for living organisms.

12. Urban Agriculture Centre

Urban agriculture centers accommodate the space for cultivating, processing, and distribution of food in any urban area. The center helps to improve the quality of life and provides them healthy options to eat. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat products through the center improves food safety. The center can also be made a learning hub for people to collaborate and share their knowledge of sustainable food production. It can create awareness and improve the eating habits of people.

13. Revitalizing Abandoned Mill or Industry

Mills and industries are an important aspect of developing an urban area. They invoke the image of industrial development, invention, and success in their times. Thus, by revitalizing the abandoned mill, one can preserve the city’s old fabric.

14. Eco-Tourism Center

Eco-tourism center caters to the need to maintain the ecosystem with least intervention on the life of plants and wildlife. It also provides responsible travel to the people to the natural areas. The center also consists of research laboratories, data analysis and conducts studies to spread awareness among the locals about the ecosystems.

15. The Revival of a Heritage Building

Revival is a process of improvement in the condition and fortunes of the building, without losing its traditional spirit. When we talk about sustainability, Heritage revival is not paid any proper attention. On the other hand, it has a great opportunity to improve our rich culture’s heritage. It can provide positive impacts on the well-being of society as well as economic development.

16.Adaptive Reuse of a Building

Adaptive reuse is a process of retrofitting old structures for new users but retaining their earlier integrity to meet the new needs of the occupants. Thus, the best thing or feel about the building is preserved and developed in a modified way. It gives a new life to the building and removes the need to demolish the structure.

17. Redevelopment of Slum

Redevelopment of the slum is done to improve the urban sprawl created by the slums and no new land is available for the new construction. In current scenarios in many cities, urban slums are a major concern due to unhygienic and unstable living conditions. The redevelopment aims to give priority to health, livelihood, sanitation, and infrastructure without removing people from the site.

18. Vertical Farm | Thesis Topics for Architecture

A vertical farm is a structure/space in a greenhouse or a field where food production takes place on vertically inclined planes. It often includes agriculture that optimizes plant growth, and soilless techniques like aquaponics, hydroponics, etc. The farming systems can be made on buildings, ship containers, or mine shafts.

19. Wetland Restoration

A degraded wetland is restored which has been destroyed earlier on the land it has been at or still is. Restoration practices include re-establishment and rehabilitation. Wetland restoration is important to maintain ecology, wildlife habitat, and they contribute to economic well-being also.

20. Eco-Mosque | Thesis Topics for Architecture

Eco-mosque is an environmentally friendly and zero energy mosque with the perception towards modernity with sustainability. The Mosque is the epicenter of the community and an important learning place to amplify the environmental stewardship responsibilities. The Eco Mosque is a one-of-a-kind structure designed completely on green technology, being sustainable & with the minimum carbon footprint.

Madiha Khanam is an architect and an enthusiast writer. She approaches writing as a creative medium to pen-down her thoughts just like drawing and illustrating. She loves to read and write about architecture, engineering, and psychology. Besides, she loves to watch anime.

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ECO-TOURISM HUB IN SHANKARPUR, WEST BENGAL: Revival of a dying ecosystem using Disaster-resilient Architecture

“The waves lashing on to the sand dunes, the crystal-clear sea, the sun setting in the horizon and the casuarinas whispering on the beach.” ~SPRIHA It was perhaps the scenic vision of Shankarpur, fifteen years ago, which first drew me to the place. It was a weekend getaway, a serene, isolated beach in the heart of Bay of Bengal with a small village and fishery. The soft sand dunes and white shells along the beach, the fishermen dragging boats through the dunes into the water, the coconut trees at a distance and “Thakur Da’s dokan” (Grand Pa’s shack) with its “Luchi and Aloo” (bread and potato) were among the many attractions. There were casuarina forests along the beach with nature trails and natural butterfly sanctuaries. Some of the trees had hammocks tied between them. Me and my family were walking through the forest, where we once discovered a natural butterfly sanctuary. The forests were surrounded by the fisherman’s village. For some unknown reason, we kept going back to Shankarpur every year for vacations. It was like being in the lap of nature. However, over the years, when we went for our yearly vacations, we noticed incessant deforestation. The casuarina forests which were once whispering and roaring, withstanding all the storms, were slowly diminishing. Irresponsible tourism and commercialization had destroyed the beach. Suddenly the wildlife and natural sanctuaries were gone. The coastline had started shifting forward. There was a massive ecological disbalance and degradation. After a few years later, in 2016, there were no more casuarina trees. The beach was eroded and deserted. It was no longer accessible. We realized that due to incessant storms and cyclones and the sea level-rising the sand dunes were swept off and now “Thakur Da’s dokan“ (Grandpa's shack) was gone. After I joined Architecture school, I identified the relationship between the environmental, social, and economic aspects of an eco-system. I dared to challenge conventional tourism and explore how architecture can sensitively reverse the ecological disbalance. After re-visiting the village and interacting with the villagers, the following questions arose in my mind: • How can architecture respond to natural disasters and the atrocities of nature? • Were the incessant cyclones and rising sea-levels purely natural disasters or were these the result of devastating human activities and irresponsible coastal tourism? • How can architecture reverse or withstand the damage of these disasters? • Can architecture be a medium of inspiration, thereby educating local communities and tourists, fostering social and economic welfare? • How can I, as an Architect contribute to the change and establish a paradigm shift in the tourism industry?____”REVIVAL OF A DYING ECO-SYSTEM USING DISASTER RESILIENT ARCHITECTURE.” As a student of architecture, I have learnt “the extent up to which the world can be designed and changed, and I aspire to be a part of the change.” What follows in the upcoming pages, is a tribute to my childhood memories and how I have tried to reinforce my dream into reality. “To half the decline of an eco-system it is necessary to think like an eco-system. “ ________Jean Jaques Rousseau. In a world that is shrinking and eco-systems that our dying, there rises a distinct need to extend a field of action of responsible tourism which benefits the environment and thereby the society and consequently the economic growth. While zero-emission, zero-waste and zero-poverty seem to be faraway goals, as an Architect we can discover the world without distorting it. Revitalize ecosystems instead of impoverishing and polluting them. We can build a platform for active participation and restoration of cultural heritage, exchange without arrogance and enrich local communities through eco-sensitive design. In the years to come, the relationship that we maintain with nature will determine the sustainability of the homo-sapiens that we are. Along the coastline of Bay of Bengal, lie many pristine and scenic beaches with rich flora and fauna, namely Digha, Mohana, Talsari, Mandarmoni and Shankarpur which attract millions of tourists over the year. This region is a transitional zone in between sea and land where the casuarinas and mangrove forests were once seen to be whispering and roaring. However , over the last few years, due to incessant storms and cyclones, the sea-level rising and irresponsible coastal tourism there has been a massive ecological disbalance and degradation. Now the casuarina trees are almost gone, and the natural wildlife sanctuaries that once used to exist have all diminished. Along the various beaches which are flooded with tourists, Shankarpur was spotted as a small village with a beach expanding up to 1200 metres. It was comparatively less explored and commercialized than the neighbouring sea beaches but had immense potential for establishing a tourism hub which contributes to its environmental, social and economic standing. It is a severely ecologically affected zone. The coastline has been severely eroded and due to the coastal inundation, there has been removal of sand dunes and forest cover. The Forest Department has been giving proposals for restoring and replanting the lost green cover. There has also been a loss of cultural resources and social disruption due to negligence and lack of employment opportunities. Despite having a soaring literacy rate of 77% the small village population is at an economic and cultural standstill. There are limited transport and communication facilities. All these factors establish a need for a platform which is conducive to the development of the whole area. With this mindset, I shall design an Eco-tourism hub, resolutely committed to the concept of resilience. My proposal will follow the principles of sustainability and disaster resilience. It should protect the life and livelihood for coastal communities and conservation of ecological resources. It should create an interactive ground for locals and visitors so that there may be interchange of ideas and cultural exchange. The project conceives a site-oriented approach and demonstrates how the built environment engages with the natural environment. The natural endowment of the site with its vast expanse of water bodies , parts of which are partially dry, will all be developed. Provision of nature trails and aquascape retreats will be given. Since the beach is inaccessible, natural and artificial aquascapes will play an important part of the design. Nurseries for organic farming, promote self-reliance. Local communities will be involved in cooking and serving authentic cuisines. An eco-friendly approach and cost-effective vernacular architecture will be contextual to the place and easy to accept for the local people. It will challenge the conventional hotels and resorts in coastal regions and serve as an example or prototype to the tourism industry. Resort developments have been planned in border zones, rather deep within ecosystem units. The vernacular colour palette has been maintained among all the built forms to establish a visual linkage. The landscaping has become an extension of the existing ecosystem, mimicking it and preventing further fragmentation.

The site is located 200 metres from the high tide line thereby complying with the coastal regulation norms. It covers a vast expanse of 22 acres with existing palm and coconut tree forests, four existing waterbodies and an existing temple. It is surrounded by the village on its periphery and the shoreline is 200m to its south. Two abutting roads run along its southern and western periphery. The natural endowment of the site has barren organic patches of land in intermediate spaces in the forests. These pristine areas have been left untouched to cause minimum intervention with the existing ecosystem. An FAR of 0.3 has been maintained. Owing to the coastal regulation norms and height restrictions, a horizontal expansion has been opted for. A total built-up area of 78,456 sq.m has been achieved. Tropical cyclones cause maximum cumulative economic loss, hence disaster-resilient techniques were opted for. Most of the built forms are on stilts. This gives a base isolation to the structures and at the same time creates minimum interference with the existing landscape and green cover. The roofs were designed at an angle of 35-40 degrees to enhance resistance to high velocity winds. TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION: Floating structures that rise to survive floods___Buoys protect homes from floods and rising sea levels by making houses float as high as the flood water level rises.The buoys can be made by recycled jugs. When water levels rise tanks lift the building while vertical guideposts extending from the stilts, hold the construction in place letting it go up and down. These amphibious homes are already in use in Vietnam. This technology has been introduced by Dr. ELIZABETH after HURRICANE KATRINA. Some solar passive techniques used are Trombe Michael's wall cooling action and the Parasol roof principle. Building orientation, shading techniques and flow of wind through fenestrations were also taken into considerations. Locally available and recycled materials have been used for construction. The vernacular architecture of West Bengal has been explored with the use of bamboo cross-bracing, mud, and thatched roofs. Climate responsive forms have been adopted taking reference from the pre-fabricated DELTEC HOMES.

Supervisor: Ar. Anshuman Laloo Head of Department: Ar. Maitrayee Mishra Designer: Spriha Chakravorty

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Eco-village: The Latest Architecture and News

Anastasia elrouss designs a vertical eco-village in beirut, a new way to inhabit the built environment.

Anastasia Elrouss Architects has imagined the MM Residential Tower, a vertical eco-village in the fast-developing suburbs of Beirut , Lebanon . Labeled Urban Lung, the project, sitting on a 900-square-meter rectangular site, generates 14 stacked floor plates around a central and open planted core. The ground floor and basement level, rented by Warchee NGO , will encompass farming and carpentry workshops for women.

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An Eco-Village for Orphaned Kenyan Children - Competition Winners Announced

The One Heart Foundation has announced the winners of the Children’s Eco-Village Design Competition . Attracting 45 submissions from 21 countries, the brief asked participants to propose an environmentally-friendly campus for orphaned and abandoned children, to be built in Soy, Kenya .

New Moscow – Новая Москва

Urban development by international competitions 2012-2014.

Exhibition: May 31 - July 5, 2014 Opening: Friday, May 30, 2014, 6.30 pm Speaking at the opening:
 Dr. h.c. Kristin Feireiss , Aedes Berlin Sergey Kuznetsov , Chief Architect of Moscow, Committee for Architecture and Urban Development in Moscow Reiner Nagel , Director of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur Mary Margaret Jones , Hargreaves Associates, New York Roisin Heneghan , Heneghan Peng Architects, Dublin Irina Korobina , Director of the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow

Aedes Cooperation Partners

Opening | Dr. h.c. Kristin Feireiss, Aedes Berlin © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Sergey Kuznetsov, Chief Architect of Moscow, Committee for Architecture and Urban Development in Moscow © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Reiner Nagel, Director of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Mary Margaret Jones, Hargreaves Associates, New York © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Irina Korobina, Director of the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Roisin Heneghan, Heneghan Peng Architects, Dublin © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

Opening | Petr Kudryavtsev, Citymakers, Moscow © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

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Moscow Metro International Competition

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• Picturing: Streets – Discovering global streets through visual stories December 15, 2020
• Open International Competition for an architectural & urban planning concept on the Sirius federal territory July 5, 2021
• Competition 100 Social housing June 5, 2013

Submission:  July 31, 2014 Registration: July 31, 2014 Language:  English or Russian Location:  Moscow, Russia Prizes:  2 Prizes of (RUB 3.500.000) ($102.000) each.  and a total of RUB 3.890.000 ($114.000) spread in ten prizes for the finalists. Type:  Open competition for architects.

We are happy to announce the launch of online registration for those wishing to take part in the Architectural and Design Competition for Moscow Metro Stations Solntsevo and Novoperedelkino. The aim of the Competition is to create an inimitable, one of a kind profile for the two Moscow Metropolitan underground railway stations of Solntsevo and Novoperedelkino. The prize fund for the Competition stands at 3,890,000 rubles (including VAT) and is to be divided between the 10 Participants who pass through to the second stage of the Competition. Each of the two winners will be invited to settle a contract for the implementation of their architectural and design concept to a sum no larger than 3 500 000 rubles. Should you be able to make any news article or feature on this, thereby giving foreign architects the opportunity to participate in the Competition, we would be very grateful and willing to provide any assistance necessary.

Urban Transformations Competition: Designing the Symbiotic City

Competition [milan] world expo pavilion, this might interest you...., feeel design world prize ‘ 3rd season, the top door stopper – viefe design competiton, bci interior design awards 2024: tone x texture, architecture competition + course: adaptive reuse x placemaking, ai x biomimicry: architecture competition + course, int interior design awards, architecture masterprize (amp), hybrid coworking competition, houzee awards 2023, the studio school – a challenge to design....

Moscow (Architecture Skyline)

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• Moscow State University: The tallest of Moscow's Seven Sisters, it's been housing the State University since 1953, being the tallest educational building in the world with its 240m of height.
• Zuev Workers' Club: Projected by Ilya Golossov to be a recreational center for factory workers, its construction was finished in 1929 and it's still a reference in Constructivist architecture.
• Spasskaya Tower: Overlooking the Red Square, this clock tower on the Kremlin's walls was built by Milanese architect Pietro Antonio Solari back in 1491, and once the Kremlin's main entrance.
• State History Museum: The State History Museum complex has been open since 1872, and houses many artifacts, varying from pre-historical relics to artworks acquired by the old royalty.
• Mercury City Tower: The 5th tallest builing in Russia and Europe overall, this 338m tall skyscaper in the International Business Center stands out for its copper glass façade and spiky shape.
• Bolshoi Theater: First opened in 1825, it's home of the internationally renowned classical ballet company, and premiered works of composers such as Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

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Victor Mukhin

• Scientific Program

Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

However, up to now, the main carriers of catalytic additives have been mineral sorbents: silica gels, alumogels. This is obviously due to the fact that they consist of pure homogeneous components SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. It is generally known that impurities, especially the ash elements, are catalytic poisons that reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst. Therefore, carbon sorbents with 5-15% by weight of ash elements in their composition are not used in the above mentioned technologies. However, in such an important field as a gas-mask technique, carbon sorbents (active carbons) are carriers of catalytic additives, providing effective protection of a person against any types of potent poisonous substances (PPS). In ESPE “JSC "Neorganika" there has been developed the technology of unique ashless spherical carbon carrier-catalysts by the method of liquid forming of furfural copolymers with subsequent gas-vapor activation, brand PAC. Active carbons PAC have 100% qualitative characteristics of the three main properties of carbon sorbents: strength - 100%, the proportion of sorbing pores in the pore space – 100%, purity - 100% (ash content is close to zero). A particularly outstanding feature of active PAC carbons is their uniquely high mechanical compressive strength of 740 ± 40 MPa, which is 3-7 times larger than that of  such materials as granite, quartzite, electric coal, and is comparable to the value for cast iron - 400-1000 MPa. This allows the PAC to operate under severe conditions in moving and fluidized beds.  Obviously, it is time to actively develop catalysts based on PAC sorbents for oil refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and various technologies of organic synthesis.

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

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