Bioscrapers

Chicago, IL

Type:

Status: Concept Design


It’s imperative now more than ever to reach a zero-energy level. We believe that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for restoring humanity’s relationship with the natural world. That is why our firm focused on a strategy utilizing a synthesized architectural and technological process to reverse the damage infringed upon the environment. Through sustainable energy performance, the reduction of energy requirements, and the introduction of renewable energy, we believe that a new way of building and living can bring us closer to that goal.

Our vision: a massive vertical village comprised of three mixed-use glass towers of varying heights located in Chicago. Imagined to reflect the beauty of the city, they will face Lake Michigan and integrate into the skyline linking itself to a continuous linear park along Chicago’s waterfront.

The site will be comprised of a hotel, office space, and residential units served by a multimodal transportation system, anchored by a futuristic landing port for E-VTOLs, or autonomous electric flying vehicles, which will offer aerial transportation to the surrounding area. We envision this futuristic skyport to handle over 150 landing and take-offs per hour. At the base, a pedestrian-friendly promenade will enhance walkability and engagement with retail and entertainment destinations, as well as a marina that integrates into the city’s dynamic downtown culture.

This stunning vertical village will generate a new model of self-sustaining energy and material degradability with the use of innovative technologies such as algae bioreactors and a bio façade. Therefore, we have named them BioScrapers.

Algae is the fastest growing organic material on the planet, ten times faster than trees, and the most efficient species that double their volume every 6 hours.  Photobioreactors, or microalgae that float freely in the water inside the glass panels will capture the energy of light through photosynthesis, using it to convert inorganic substances into organic matter. The Biomass and heat generated by these panels will be strategically installed on the facade and transported by a closed-loop system to an energy management center. The Biomass will be collected by flotation, and generate heat by a heat exchanger.

These Bio facades have the potential to purify the atmosphere, create an energy resource, and generate much-demanded Biomass while providing a non-contaminant thermal insulation building layer.

Algae bioreactors are extremely efficient CO2 sequesters and generators of O2, which turns them into a climate-neutral energy source that could lower the ecological and carbon footprints of the buildings and their fuel depletion. Moreover, the Biomass generated by these bio façade reactors can also be converted into electricity and heat, decreasing the building’s energy demands.

Algae are also active energy factories as they store solar energy in forms of oils and carbohydrate with such high production yields that qualifies them to be one of the most promising sustainable sources of third-generation bio-fuel.

Biomass can be easily stored without any loss of energy and can also be used as biofertilizer both on the vertical farming component of the concept and the multi-leveled vertical gardens. These areas situated on the exterior of the buildings, within a controlled environment, further increase biodiversity. They establish an urban ecosystem where different types of vegetation create an upright climate to be colonized by birds and insects. Thus it becomes a magnet and a symbol of the spontaneous recolonization of the city for plant and animal life.

It also plays a vital role in filtering dust and pollution particles that are prevalent in the urban environment and creates moisture and other essential elements that produce oxygen, protecting people and their homes from harmful sun rays as well as noise pollution.

A glazing system will also generate electricity, working similarly to conventional photovoltaic panels. Transparent solar panels absorb solar radiation to convert it to energy, allowing natural lighting to pour in without neglecting UV protection – improving thermal and acoustic insulation in addition to reducing CO2 emissions.

The Bioscrapers will also make use of artificial intelligence to manage a variety of highly sophisticated systems and overall management to provide a fully self-sustaining net-zero, carbon energy community that produces more than it consumes.