Things I learned on or around March 12
Half baked thoughts on arcology, real estate development and technology
Arcology
Combining architecture and ecology - an arcology is essentially a concept coined by architect Paolo Soleri for futuristic buildings that are designed to be integrated into nature.
Now that I think about it, these were specifically mentioned in Sim City, and they even called them arcologies back then.
A funny thing to me is that nearly all the arcology concept artwork online features buildings that look extraordinarily challenging to build, and are shaped unlike anything one would actually find in nature. They aren’t all that ecological.
One of the closest real-life arcologies is the Begich Towers Building in Whittier, Alaska, which is essentially an entire town (condos, stores, post office) all in one building. It stemmed from a military settlement, and has a bit of a modern brutalist beauty to it, but seems unlikely to become the template for future arcology rollout.
Similar concepts include Broadacre City - a planned development by Frank Lloyd Wright that never went beyond prototype, and is futuristic but not necessarily dense.
Meanwhile, there are Eco Villages - which range from commune-style, like the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (Northeastern Missouri) to more upscale exurb communities like EcoVillage at Loudoun County (Virginia) and Villages at Crest Mountain (Asheville, NC). Maybe this concept is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t seem to be taking off very rapidly.
And what about Tiny homes? They, too, are a more sustainable housing concept, but only really make sense for someone with a particular interest in a limited and minimalist lifestyle.
Improving how we use land is a critical part of how we address climate change. The US has about 100 people per square mile (that includes vast empty swathes of land in places like Alaska and Montana. Dane County, WI has about 350 people per square mile. That density is never going to go down. The country is going to continue growing, likely leading to more and more sprawl. Yet I rarely hear about new technologies in real estate development leading to more sustainable housing; instead we hear about these niche options, none of which are on the verge of becoming standard. Cities, meanwhile, do seem to increase attention on sustainability, but they are already dense, walkable places that tend to make more efficient use of space than the suburbs where a majority of Americans live.
So ultimately, one solution to climate change (and perhaps just a good thing to do, in general) would be to take inspiration from what’s good from these ideas - arcologies, ecovillages, tiny houses, and traditional development - and turn it into something more accessible and cool for everyone. As they exist, these concepts are interesting, but weird; similar to early electric/hybrid cars were targeted to niche environmental audiences. Perhaps we need a leap where real estate has a Tesla-like leader come in to nudge past the cutting edge and into the early majority. I have no idea how to do that, or what it looks like. But I do believe that a future is possible where real estate development maintains more natural settings (forests, grasslands, wetlands), sustains wildlife, uses renewable energy, and isn’t just targeted toward niche markets of environmentalist weirdos. Something I’ll continue to think about …