Infratecture
Infratecture
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Our first .gif to illustrate Infratecture and "going local" or "With Infratecture towards a regional food-supply-chain"
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ARCHITECTS take themselves too seriously and many believe in changing the world for the better with architecture. But actually, they change very little. Architects save no one.
During the past months during the Covid-19 lockdown, it became obvious that Architects have no relevance to the system in the context of emergencies. But INFRASTRUCTURE does. Infrastructure is relevant to keep the system running. And to some extent, it is the infrastructure in its autonomous and self-propelling modus operandi, that permits itself to keep operating.
The future will be more and more challenging, therefore it is vital to rethink and re-structure current systems in order to prevent their potential collapse. Our systems need a new structure and a new inner logic–in other words, a new kind of architecture.
The food industry is a good example for one of those systems. Here the lack of humanity and the reckless monetary opportunism is striking. Hence, we aim at providing the food industry with a new kind of architecture based on infrastructure.
Architecture is dead. Infrastructure as architecture is alive and becomes INFRATECTURE.
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Flexibility & Reformation
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Our second .gif from the process illustrating Infratecture as well as "going local" or "An established regional food-supply-chain through infratecture"
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In order to establish this system, a well-functioning distribution and cargo handling infrastructure is required, synthesizing and connecting the inner flows of the local food-supply-chain. Building new infrastructure and supply lines is neither necessary nor sustainable. The reuse and rediscovering of already built but currently unused infrastructural context, is both more environmentally thoughtful and less disruptive with respect to the existing urban mesh.
Former rail tracks and stations, which were abandoned in the late 1980s, are valuable infrastructural elements, which are still in place in the form of intact built structures. The former Line 16, connecting West to East (Fürstenried – Sendling – Giesing) via Boschetsrieder Straße is still visible and can easily be retraced and refurbished. Connecting the North-South Axis, the abandoned station Olympiastadion is another infrastructural institution still connected to the national railway system.
The compartmentalized distribution of the final products is at the same time the interface we are using to attract and bind customers. The detailed distribution relies on the fact that there will be a shift from private mobility to collective mobility. Peak Oil and Peak Gas will lead to gas prizes that become infeasible for private consumers. The private e-mobility sector already cannot keep pace in supply with the vastly increasing demand. Public transport will become more robust and capable and the overall demand for cars will decrease by the upcoming generations awareness of its responsibilities concerning climate change and GHG emissions. The shift towards less cars in the city will inevitably lead to a lower demand for street parking. About 1/5 of the public space in Munich is currently used for parking. A local parking permit costs 30€ a year in Munich. That is 12 m² for 2,50€/month in very prominent and highly frequented locations. These vacant inner city spaces are perfectly suited for positioning the actual local markets, where the business to customer interaction takes place.
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City Expansions
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The City Expansion Network
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Munich as a socially and financially attractive metropole is constantly growing and therefore has to issue land on its outskirts. The necessary city expansions are liable to extremely time consuming planning and approval processes and therefore leave tremendous parts of wasteland untouched. These city expansions in Munich will be construction sites for at least 30 years.
Until the completion of the last buildings, the new life in Freiham or Unterschleißheim is determined by construction pits, excavators, wasteland and an atmosphere of evolution and growth. The reconsideration of the unused wastelands as farmlands in intermediate mid-term usage will smoothen the intersection point of rural and urban areas and therefore create semi-urban transition spaces, which represent hyper locally grown food as one of the basic supply agents of our local food system.
In addition, these city expansion will work as networks offering relieve to the city. To become autonomous from the city center, they are required to become well connected and provided. The districts will offer not simply accommodation, a few offices and a handful of supermarkets, but also infrastructural institutions such as educational and cultural centers or green and sustainable energy production and waste management based on recycling. To provide them with further adaptability and independency, authorities are going to be settled within the city expansions. Short distances and intelligent transportation networks just as collective housing and mobility, gardening and farming round up the high moral and responsible standards of sustainable and eco-friendly cities of tomorrow.
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