Environment, Form & Feedback
Environment, form and feedback is a large-scale housing development in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. This communal dwelling is derived from environmental data and parametrically adapted to create a functioning “Eco-Machine” to allow the housing to better adapt to its surroundings.
The eco-machine in this habitat is retention pools for flood prevention. Given the strip district’s location along the Allegheny River. This area can be prone to massive inundation given the 100-year flood outlook. This design looks at a drastic increase in permeability of the site in the form of retention pools that surround the residential areas.
The residential buildings are derived from the topography lines surrounding the retention pools. The massing of the residential typologies is embedded into a landscape which derive the form of the living units. The height of the topography around the retention pools is derived as a formal gesture to combat a 50-year flood. The porous design allows for more river water and rainwater collection.
Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA
Ladybug for Grasshopper
DIVA Climate Analysis
V Ray for Rhino
Carnegie Mellon University