Date: July 21, 2007
Urban Think Tank
As noted in a previous Club of Pioneers blog, urbanization is on the rise. And while there is the negative scenario of overpopulated cites becoming, as writer Mike Davis puts it, "a city of slums", there are urban initiatives, designers and architects who are involved in creating more liveable cities. One of those is Urban Think Tank (UTT) who work in Caracas, Venezuela.
UTT was formed ten years ago by the architects Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner who met at Columbia Univesity. Following their studies, Klumpner, who is originally from Austria, joined Brillembourg in his home town of Caracas and set up an architectural practice to bring design expertise into a city where 90 percent of its 6 million inhabitants have built their own homes.
They refer to Caracas as “the informal city” as the surrounding slums or “barrios” have no central plan, and are without infrastructure such as electricity or sanitation. As the city is overcrowded, space is always an issue when building, but UTT have found ingenious ways around this.
The Vertical Gymnasium
A major factor in the high crime rate in Caracas is the lack of public space and entertainment for young people. Many end up in gangs and Caracas has one of the highest crime rates in South America. The Vertical Gym is 3 floors and contains basketball courts, a dance studio, weight lifting, a running track, a rock climbing wall, and an open air playing field for soccer.
The design is a prototype, which means it can be easily copied and built again and again. Brillembourg says that future gymnasiums will incorporate solar energy, wind turbines and rain water.
Core Unit/Dry Toilets
The simple compost toilets designed by UTT utilizes rainwater, composts and needs no black-water pipes. In a town where water can be more expensive than gasoline, dry water toilets are essential to create sustainable and non polluted sanitation.
Instead of seeing Caracas as a no-hope zone, UTT sees is as a “laboratory” and believe that there needs to be "a network of interchanging ideas, possible solutions and goodwill” when it comes to planning for the future city.
The documentary “Caracas: The Informal City” has been made by Rob Schröder.
More information can be found here from the INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE ROTTERDAM - Here
Urban Think Tank Website
UTT was formed ten years ago by the architects Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner who met at Columbia Univesity.
The Vertical Gymnasium
A major factor in the high crime rate in Caracas is the lack of public space and entertainment for young people. Many end up in gangs and Caracas has one of the highest crime rates in South America. The Vertical Gym is 3 floors and contains basketball courts, a dance studio, weight lifting, a running track, a rock climbing wall, and an open air playing field for soccer.
The design is a prototype, which means it can be easily copied and built again and again. Brillembourg says that future gymnasiums will incorporate solar energy, wind turbines and rain water.
Core Unit/Dry Toilets
The simple compost toilets designed by UTT utilizes rainwater, composts and needs no black-water pipes. In a town where water can be more expensive than gasoline, dry water toilets are essential to create sustainable and non polluted sanitation.
Instead of seeing Caracas as a no-hope zone, UTT sees is as a “laboratory” and believe that there needs to be "a network of interchanging ideas, possible solutions and goodwill” when it comes to planning for the future city.
The documentary “Caracas: The Informal City” has been made by Rob Schröder.
More information can be found here from the INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE ROTTERDAM - Here
Urban Think Tank Website
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