Hi All. I just wanted to share with you something I came across that gives me no end to joy in the seeing of it.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/egan-one-tall-tale-plan-calls-for-54-storey-tower-to-find-home-in-tiny-quebec-village
Essentially, a Montreal firefighter who owns 320 acres of land near the small village of Namur, Quebec, was looking at land development for cottages or something like that, but hated how the land would be eaten up and destroyed by roads. So he decided a mixed-use condo tower of 54-storeys will be the answer, geared towards people specifically looking to do their living and recreating out in the bush.
Anyone familiar with my previous posts on the future of urbanism in a permacultural context will know just how brilliant I think this development is to see in the news, as I predicted about half a decade ago that this would be the coming trend as soon as all that glass could be turned into passive photovoltaic energy production. This is a foetal arcology! I hope I am not the only one excited about this.
As it's proposed location lacks municipal sewer or water, the tower would be on its own there, too, but that presents an opportunity for the structure to essentially act as a self-contained eco-village that accepts external inputs in the form of guests, renters, condo dwellers, and commerce. The plan involves the creation of 150 jobs just to service the needs of the tower itself, not to mention the service boom to the surrounding village.
I want to see this model succeed and grow, mainly so it can be adopted as a standard for retrofit for existing structures in urban areas that are now dropping in value due to people rethinking work-from-home, both condo buildings and office towers. Both could be retrofitted with internal and external green walls that provided some food, the same photovoltaic glass panelling, and could likewise be adapted for rainwater capture and storage, and superior air and water filtration systems for air, water, and whatever solids leave the building systems.
This is right out out SimCity 2000! Arcologies, I love it!
-CK
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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