The document proposes 37 ideas for designing buildings in a post-oil world, with an emphasis on sustainability and self-sufficiency. Some of the key ideas include growing crops vertically in urban farms and stacking agricultural landscapes within dense urban areas to minimize land use. Another idea is designing buildings to harness renewable energy from the sun, wind and water through the use of photovoltaics, wind turbines and tidal power generation. Underground construction is also proposed to take advantage of geothermal properties while freeing up space above ground.

1. 50 Ideas for a Post-Oil Building
Kenneth Wong | Plexus Plan Ex1 | Design 7

2. 1 PUBLIC SPACE
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Stacked landscapes. Increasing densities
alongside an increase in quality of life,
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emphasizing on both nature as well as
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technology. MVRDV calls this creating a ‘new
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nature’, both literally and metaphorically.
PUBLIC SPACE
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3. 2 Urban animal towers.
Intiensifying animal farming into a single buid-
ing may have benefits such as prevention of
diseases and different facilities on different
levels dedicated to each part of the farming
process.
Pig City, MVRDV, 2000-01

4. Hydroponics Facility:
Cabbage, Bok Choi...
3 Urban Farm Towers 2.
Concept can also be applied to crop produc-
tion. High rise crop production minimises land
area needed as newer technologies such as
hydropnics and aeroponics can ensure efficient,
organic production of crop for people’s daily
needs. Under a more climatically controlled
environment, we can better control crop disease
and ensure that the crops receive an optimum
Carrots
amount of nutrients.
Onions
Mushrooms
Distribution Centre

5. 4 Urban Farm Towers 3:
Urban farm modules - an assemblage of farming
components creating a farm city-like building.

6. 5 Recycled + Sustainable Materials.
We don’t necessarily have to look at manufactur-
ing new construction materials all the time.
Many materials around us can be reused and
recycled. Unique properties of some natural
products used to influence the design of our
buildings.

7. 6
+ Self-sufficient, off-the-grid-homes. Is it possi-
ble to harness the power of the environment - by
+
utilising clean-energy generators such as photo-
- = voltaic panels, solar water heaters, wind turbines
=)
and geothermal systems as alternative sources
of energy, to an extent that houses can be
independent of the city’s energy grid?

8. 7 Central Business District
Power Station
Renewable Energy - Wind power. How can the
Residential Tower II location and form of our buildings be influenced
University
by the need to harness energy from the strong
winds that blow through our city?
Hydroponics Farm
Residential Tower I

9. 8 Hydrogen Fuel Cells.
In the future, hydrogen could also join electricity
as an important energy carrier. An energy carrier
moves and delivers energy in a usable form to
consumers. Renewable energy sources, like the
sun and wind, can’t produce energy all the time.
But they could, for example, produce electric en-
ergy and hydrogen, which can be stored until it’s
needed. Hydrogen can also be transported (like
electricity) to locations where it is needed.

10. 9 Renewable Energy - Hydro electricity. Could
we create lagoons within the Port Philip Bay
and take advantage of tidal energy to produce
electricity? Could we create offshore develop-
ments that take advantage of this energy? Tide
rises and falls twice a day, where tidal streams
are created by the flow of water from one area to
another.

11. 10 Renewable Energy - Biogas. Assuming that
buildings of the future will increase in density and
inevitably increase in size as well, the amount of
human manure will also aubstantially increase as
a result of a larger dwelling population. Energy
can be produced from biogas for heating and
lighting. Storage silos can be incorporated into
these buildings for biogas production. After the
gas has been taken out, the manure can also be
distributed to crop production centres as fertilis-
ers.

12. 11
Multi renewable energy sourced facility. For
example, a biomass energy plant might feature a
secondary power source such as solar powered
heating to ensure a consistent production of en-
ergy. Similarly, a tidal energy plant offshore can
also feature wind turbines, where it’s location is
also ideal for harnessing wind power.

13. 12 Flexible Facades. Building facades that are cus-
tomisable to respond to changes in the weather.
Examples include motorised screens that move
in response to the changing direction of the sun’s
rays, or glass that change in opacity in response
to the intensity of light/interior temperatures.
Users should also be given opportunities to
choose from a selection of ‘facade options’ to
suit their needs.
Loblolly House, Kieran Timberlake & Associates, 2007

14. 13 Kit of Parts. Buildings could also be composed
entirely of off-site fabricated, ready-made com-
ponents which can assembled quickly on-site.
This minimises disruption/inconveneince to activ-
ity in the site surroundings. Lengthy on-site con-
struction and fabrication of materials contribute
a fair deal to air and noise pollution in the area.
The idea of the building as a kit of ready-made
parts also mean that these parts can be disas-
sembled with minimal decomposed debris and
can be relocated and reassembled elsewhere.
Loblolly House, Kieran Timberlake & Associates, 2007

15. 14
CITY Location. Location.
Location of newly developed ‘Green’ Power
Plants nearer to buildings as they are less/not
pollutive or hazardous. It also minimizes loss
of energy (wire resistance) as a result of trans-
porting them over greater distances.

16. 15 RESIDENTIAL
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T R A N S P O R TT R A N S P O R T
PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE Repeating ground planes. Building on the
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AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE concept of stacked landscapes, the ground
plane should be re-activated on the upper lev-
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AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE
ings as well as creating multi-tiered landscape
RESIDENTIAL RESIDENTIAL of public spaces such as gardens within or
PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE between buildings.
COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL
AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE
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17. 16
Increase Building Envelope. Higher density
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from higher plot ratio can be achieved from
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AGRICULTURE
increasing the maximum height allowed for
PUBLIC SPACE AGRICULTURE
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buildings. High rise buildings allow for more
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PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE
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programme units.
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PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE
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18. 17 RESIDENTIAL
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AGRICULTURE
PUBLIC SPACE AGRICULTURE Build underground. Instead of building up-
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TR A N S P O R TT R A N S P O R T
wards, we can take the building extrusion in the
PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE
other direction. 1. This takes advantage of the
AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE
earth’s geothermal properties for natural insula-
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tion to maintain constant temperature throughout
the year. 2. Higher urban density is achieved
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PUBLIC SPACE PUBLIC SPACE
without much necessary expanding infrastruc-
ture laterally as in the case of building upwards.
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Existing infrastructure such as transport can
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remain on the ground plain as voids created from
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the downward extrusion opens up new architec-
tural typologies. Energy production facilities can
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then take advantages of freed up space above
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the ground plane.
TR A N SPO RT

19. 18
Performative architecture. Morpho-ecologies
deals with the differentiation of material systems,
integrating ecological, topological and structural
performance to determine the composition of a
building. Methods of assessment and production
include parametrics, generative components,
scripting, etc.
Shading Structure, Michael Hensel with AA, 2008

20. 19
‘100 Mile’ Building. Materials sourced from
the building should not be from distances over
100 miles from the site. This limits distances
travelled as well as encourages material pro-
duction within a given radii of the site.

21. Farms as nodal points that influence
20 development.
Reconsidering agriculture centres as determi-
nants of a sustainable city instead of agriculture
sectors as supportive components of a business
financial centre can improve the self-sufficiency
of the city. If we rethink our ideas of a farm from
a laterally spread out, high land area component,
to an integrated facility that takes up smaller
building footprints and incorporated in the city
centre, we might achieve a more self-sufficient
and sustainable urban fabric.

22. 21 Farms located on main transport intersections.
New ‘urban farms’ should be located on main
intersections of transport networks to facilitate
efficient distribution of crops. The distribution of
crops should be mainly via rail instead of via road,
where trains have larger load capacity and are not
affected by traffic congestions. With farms located
within cities, distribution could be via more envi-
ronmentally friendly light rail systems.

23. 22 Urban Farm Belt. Ignoring site boundaries and
the site as specific, an ‘infrastructural belt’ of
farms could weave through the city as attach-
ments complementing the existing buildings in
the city. In this way, a new zone is introduced
into the city. It starts first as individual pro-
grammes inserted alongside existing buildings,
depending initially their infrastructure for circu-
lation and servicing, but eventually joining up
with other similar units to form a self-supporting
network infrastructure of farms in the city.

24. 23 Centralised Amenities.
Centralised amenities around transport intersec-
tions. Encourages use of public transport where
the building housing these amenities becomes
an interchange serving different needs of users
under one roof.

25. 24 Permaculture.
Permaculture - an approach to designing
human settlements and perenial agricul-
tural systems that mimic the relationships
found in natural ecologies. Proposal to
introduce urban ‘Huertas’ featured like
sky gardens in high rise balconies, or as a
building programme - ‘Organoponicas’.

26. 25 Extensive roof gardens & green walls.
Reduces rate and volume of storm-water runoff.
Acts as a protective membrane from extreme tem-
perature fluctuations and UV rays.
Acts as an air filter as well as an insulating skin,
improving air quality and reducing energy required
for air conditioning.
1 Storey Building grass roof with 100mm of me-
dium = 25% reduction in cooling needs. (Canadian
Govt. Environment Regulatory and Research Arm)
1sqm of Green Roof = 0.2kg of airborne particles/
year.

27. 26
Vertical Greening. Greater proportion of
green spaces within a building to act as green
lungs. Could crop production start to occur on
vertical planes. if not stepped planes to save
space?

28. 27 Ventiform.
The shape of a post-oil building that depends
on wind power as its main source of energy
will have to be able to channel maximum air
flow through the building as well as be aerody-
namically adapting to changes in wind direc-
tion. Foster and partner’s project attempting to
integrate an electricity generating wind turbine
into a mixed-use, high-rise building. Venti-
facts - rocks carved into aerodynamic forms
by windblown sand. (eg. Enercon E66 wind
turbine to power 1500 suburban homes.)

29. 28 Photovoltaic facade.
Exisitng skin of building could be utilised to
generate electricity for consumption within. Large
surface area of facade sufficient to achieve an
off-the-grid building.

30. 29 Ventilation.
Emphasis on stack and cross ventilation as
passive cooling measures to reduce electricity
consumption for air conditioning.

31. 30 Integrating recycling chutes alongside
existing rubbish chutes.
With dedicated chutes for rubbish and re-
cyclable materials in high rise buildings,
users will find an increased convenience
accessing and depositing unwanted
household material. Currently, only rub-
bish chutes are a standard feature in high
rise residential developments, while recy-
clable materials can be brought to central
areas for collection. Perhaps this feature
can further promote habits of reusing,
reducing, and recycling.

32. 31 Hydroponics + Aquaculture.
Aquaponic modules featuring tanks that veg-
etables grow by fertilising them with nutrient-
rich water from fish tanks underneath. Fish
+
tanks can consist of cultivated native fish to
be sold in markets eventually. Such a system
would need to be carried out in a large scale in
order for it to be commercially profitable.

33. 32
Skybridges. Link buildings to one another. Activates new
planes for circulation, thus creating a more porous urban
space. Skybridges act like spatial layers creating loops so
that users do not not need to proceed to the ground floor
to get to another building. This way, human density and
traffic flow can be managed in zones.
Example shown is the Linked Hybrid project by Steven
Holl, 2003-09.

34. 33 Lighting.
Abundant use of natural lighting in buildings.
Reduction in energy used to illuminate interiors
of buildings.

35. 34 Parking.
FULL
Parking provisions for vehicles should be
reduced to a minimum as people are encour-
aged to take public transport. Less parking
spaces required frees up space for more
programmatic functions in a building, such as
to make provisions for public transport infra-
structure.

36. 35 Replacing Vehicles.
Additional parking facilities for bicycles.
Light Rail System stopping at every building.
Capsule hotels in case you need to spend the
night without heading home. (If your home is
not within the building)
High capacity lifts will replace the need for
cars as they connect people to diffrent floors
tens of storeys apart.

37. 36
Education.
Gallery space that encourages ideas of sus-
tainability. These could be ideas-in-progress
spaces can increase public awareness of the
changing city, showing examples from new
farming techniques to a city without cars.

38. 37 Colour of buildings.
The albedo of building facades could lead to
substantial energy losses or gains required in
maintaining internal air conditions within the
building. The colour of the building in relation
to sun orientation should be taken into serious
consideration.

39. 38
Interior lighting. Energy saving measures might
also include light-emitting diodes (LED) technol-
ogy as they save on unit space, have longer
lifespan and provide a higher luminance to en-
ergy ratio.

40. 39
Manpower.
Gym equipment such as treadmills, elliptical
runners and rowing machines could be sourc-
es of dynamic energy transformations that
could contribute to the building’s energy grid.

41. 40
Sun orientation.
Emphasis on sun orientation -
determines the amount of radiation it re-
ceives. This influences the programmatic
layout of buildings.

42. 41 Brise Soleil. Sun shading systems are
integral in complementing a building’s ori-
entation to the sun’s path. They allow for
low incidence of sunlight to penetrate the
interior during winter and provide shade
from the sun during summer.

43. 42 Insulation.
Appropriate application of glazing, double/triple
glazing as well as thermal massing to miti-
gate heat loss/gain. New technologies include
a Panelite IGU which has the adaptibility of
tubular polycarbonate honeycomb core for use
in glazing and curtain walls. These panels can
also be used for sliding, pivoting and partition
walls and ceilings.

44. 43 Commuter-focused corridor as a building.
Park and ride schemes encourage people to
take public transport. If the ride component of
this scheme can be further expanded to incor-
porate other modes of commuting such as jog-
ging tracks, cycling paths or even swimming
lanes, the buildings on either end would need
to provide facilities for showering and chang-
ing. Commuting to work can also be a healthy
lifestyle experience.

45. 44
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Community Urban Farms or ‘Safeway’ farm/
market. Minimizes distance crops are sourced
from and delivered to, reducing cost of
logistics.
AGRICULTURE

46. Shared crop production
45
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Community Barter Trade Markets. If urban
‘huertas’ are small in scale in residential de-
velopments, community barter trade markets
allow exchange of crops grown by households.
This creates a community supported network
of crop production, where a household ‘huerta’
can choose to focus on cultivating a particular
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type of crop.
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47. 46 TIilapia
Inland fish farms. Do fish necessarily have to
be harvested from open seas or fish farms just
Murray Cod
off the coast? If fish can be cultivated inland,
Blue Grenadier then the carbon trail can be reduced through
less dependence on ships and overland trans-
Trouts port.
Salmon
DISTRIBUTION

48. 47 Institute/Museum of Urban Agriculture.
Along introduction of new building types, an
institute/museum of urban agriculture acts
as a research and development facility that
builds upon the examples seen in the ‘huertas’
of Cuba. This building will promote a culture
of sustainable living and educate the public
through a detailed documentation of the evolu-
tion of agriculture.

49. 48 Energy Stations I.
Stations generating their own power (eg so-
lar energy) will provide energy for vehicles to
‘plug-in’ and charge their battery cells.

50. 49
Energy Stations II. Stations generating their
own power (eg solar energy) featured at each
train station to recharge the electric trains
sufficiently for it to arrive at the next station.

51. 50
Energy Stations III.
Offshore Stations generating their own power
from hydroelectricity act as new ‘fuel’ stations,
recharging sea vessels that don’t need to rely
on oil for fuel.