This project is an exercise in asymmetric urban infill. Currently there are vast tracts of land in certain areas of Chicago that have remained vacant and underutilized for several decades. Reuse of this land is ecologically and socially advantageous. However, issues of land use, segregation and urban blight don't garner the same attention as does energy and material conservation. Therefore, land use never quite fits under the rubric of “green” Although land is a nonrenewable resource, there needs to be a concerted effort to manufacture desire for this precious commodity as it languishes disadvantaged communities.
As a starting point, this project eliminates the largest obstacle to affordable housing, land acquisition costs. Skilled labor costs and expensive materials round out the list of major obstacles to housing affordability. Therefore, a hybrid construction material has been proposed. Rammed earth technology requires low skill while virtually eliminating the cost of materials. Our site, which would appraise at an astonishingly low price, will be mined for its materials. To further enhance the ecological aspirations of this project (and a certain amount of irony), recycled newspaper, broken bottles and cardboard will also be incorporated, another free material with overlooked inherent value. This site, like any number of similar areas in most cities seams to collect this type of detritus. Glass shards crunch underfoot and twinkle in the sunlight as paper and plastic trash blows across tall weeds.
After the paper, cardboard and newsprint has been collected and pulped, small amounts of cement is added and this mixture is then added to earth from the excavation of the pool. The product created is known as Paper-crete. When dry, the concrete like substance is waterproof and has a high strength to weight ratio. The insulation values are high due to both the paper content and the inherent insulation value of soil. As the paper-crete is mixed, poured and compressed, variations in the concentrations of constituent ingredients will produce structural elements (beams, slabs & columns), nonstructural filler, and areas where the earth is unaltered. In effect, these predetermined areas of unaltered earth act as formwork, three dimensionally mapped out for removal, and reuse. Reinforcing bars, conduit and piping are all installed as the form rises out of the ground. Volumetric geometry will be determined using CAD-CAM enabled software, directly translating digital information into built form. A computer controlled robot will then be programmed to carve out multifaceted prisms of space from within the monolithic block. Rendered in natural stucco inside and out, the massive object becomes wall, floor, roof and ceiling, a meeting of earth and sky.
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