Building Ecologies is the result of collaborative and interdisciplinary research led by architect Juan José Castellón at Rice University, featuring the participation of the School of Architecture, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Shepherd School of Music, along with support from the Carbon Hub initiative.
Exhibited at POST Houston in Texas, this model proposes innovative approaches to urban infrastructure and social spaces, aiming to promote the integration of architectural, technological, and ecological systems.
Text description provided by the authors. In recent years, our social, natural, and built environments have been subject to numerous transformations and pressures that challenge the future of a complex world with limited natural resources. Climate change is no longer a theory anticipated by visionaries or experts across disciplines, but an obvious reality. Compounding this is the extreme difficulty in providing equitable access to green areas, collective spaces for social interaction, and healthy food for all. This critical situation reflects the failure of public policies and institutions to respond to a challenge of colossal dimensions and unpredictable consequences. Paradoxically, however, we find ourselves at a peak of scientific and technological development. These advancements undoubtedly allow us to face the challenges we face with reasonable optimism.
Houston has recently experienced hurricanes, winter storms, and pandemics. Furthermore, its population faces significant challenges in securing equitable access to healthy food and sustainable energy and resource consumption. However, beyond oil and gas, both solar energy and stormwater are abundant resources in Houston, making them vital energy sources for developing sustainable strategies to build a healthy and balanced built environment for everyone. Additionally, as a diverse city and a leader in multiple areas of innovation, Houston possesses the material and intellectual capacity to spearhead a new paradigm of urban growth on both local and global scales.
The purpose of the “Building Ecologies” installation at POST Houston is to propose new models for urban infrastructure and collective spaces for social interaction, based on the integration of architectural, technological, and ecological systems. As such, this intervention is the result of a collaborative and interdisciplinary research model at Rice University involving the School of Architecture, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Shepherd School of Music, with additional support from the Carbon Hub initiative.
The exhibited modular installation serves as a flexible, prototypical unit that can be deployed on any existing urban rooftop or public area. The modular system is primarily composed of post-tensioned hollow ceramic components that act as structural columns and water collectors, a modular ceramic floor system raised on pedestals, and a water-harvesting membrane system—a lightweight tensile membrane structure—that captures and filters rainwater across its wide surface, channeling it through the hollow ceramic columns, where it is then diverted to piping beneath the ceramic flooring for irrigation purposes.
The water management system generated by this proposal helps mitigate the effects of floods and droughts through storage, while reducing and managing runoff by capturing water and redirecting it to irrigation tanks. The material properties of the modular columns, with their high thermal mass, also provide energy-saving cooling benefits. Finally, the system incorporates soil as an essential material, which serves to absorb water and grow food for the community. The resulting hybrid prototype integrates food, energy, and water infrastructures into a circular system with minimal waste and loss, while helping to foster a sense of community and social interaction.
Credits:
Lead Architect and Principal Investigator: Dr. Juan José Castellón, Assistant Professor at the Rice School of Architecture, Rice University, Houston, USA
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Qilin Li, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
Research Team: Michael Xu, Candela Cicinelli, Van Pham, Rae Atkinson, Christian Ayala-López
Collaborators
Sound: Kurt Stallmann, Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University
Structural Engineering: Ricardo Pittella, Director of Arup Houston
Fabrication
Steel Structure and Membrane: Industrias BEC S.A.
Ceramic Columns: Ceràmica Cumella
Building Envelope: xmade
Ceramic Flooring: Cosentino
Media
Video Production: FRAU Recerques Visuals, Brenda Cruz-Wolf
Photography: Divya Pande
Sponsors: Carbon Hub, Arup, Rice University, Rice Design Alliance, Cosentino, POST Houston
This article was written by Magdalena Casamitjana. The translation is powered by AI.
