How to Create an Exciting and Greener Foundation

What if the concrete you are walking on to the way to your job can read your mood. A text message is sent to your mobile where you are kindly asked to walk for another ten minutes to calm down.What if the lamp in the meeting room suddenly turned green to indicate that you need to think more about sustainability. Or blue to suggest that you need to plan your meeting.What if the color of the houses changed with the season or the weather. A bit more blueish to enhance the cool frosty weather on a December morning  and a bright sunny yellow tint to enhance the rays from the summer sun. Or perhaps the other way around  –  a warm sunny yellow house on a cool morning.

What if every building had a riot control sensor. If there is a bad mood, the building will simply . . .

Earth our home concept. Elements of this image furnished by NASA

The term infrastructure usually refer to things like ridges, motorways, and sewer lines.  The physical components that combine to provide us with services and goods that help us carry out every day activities. In the future several aspects may change, in fact, the process has already started and the infrastructure is changing for the next generation. As well, as begin influenced by new technology, environmental aspects need to be included in the planning of new architectural structures and services. Infrastructure is about creating a better futures. Our ides and values influence how we build and create communities. What sort of world to we want to create? What technology can enhance our lives? How can they enrich our lives? It is about our philosophy of how the world works, our philosophy of our place in the world, and about how that philosophy is embodied in the things we build. Imagine Strawscraper, a tower covered in piezoelectric fronds that can recover wind energy. This is an urban  power plant that can generate power for people inside. At the moment, the Strawscraper is just a concept but it shows how building can be independent  and simply rely on nature to provide energy and shelter for people. A building can be an energy-producing entity. Yet, a building can be so much more! A bit more Building-ish.

You can read more about the ways to rethink infrastructure in the series Reimagining Infrastructure, by Orion magazine.