Site Selection

Currently, the city of Portland is focusing on five pilot eco-districts: the Lloyd District, the South Waterfront, the PSU District, the Gateway District and Lents. Through our site visits and discussions with professionals in the field, I saw a tremendous amount of learning/design opportunities in each district. While each of the five selected pilot eco-districts has its own unique challenges and opportunities, I am very interested in focusing on the Lloyd District as the primary site for my research/design process.

The waterfront area in the Lloyd District is mostly dominated by industrial buildings and facilities and is very much separated from the rest of the area by railroads and main streets. Some of the newer development in the area, while having unique and interesting design elements, do not integrate the natural and cultural characteristics of the site and the Lloyd District to the fullest.

Initial Thoughts about the program

My goal is to examine the idea of creating a more vibrant environment through a proposal that brings together people of diverse backgrounds by establishing “opportunities for cultural overlap.” I believe the close proximity of the Rose Garden and Oregon Convention Center and a new culturally focused facility would transform the Lloyd District into a cultural hub and bring this vision into life.

Learning from the Nature

Natural environments, ecosystems, and habitats usually consist of a large array of organisms that adapt to the specific conditions of an environment. Working as a system, they regulate the climate, balance the nutrients, and a create a self-sustaining cycle that supports the survival of each and every organism in the long run. Examining such natural environments and systems could inspire us to design and maintain a more environmentally responsible built environment.

Rainforest, a layer-based self-sustaining ecosystem

A rainforest is a self-sustaining natural ecosystems composed of multiple living layers that work together. Animal species and plants differ from layer to layer based on various natural conditions and need to be able to adapt to certain temperatures, rainfall, sunlight, etc.

The four prominent layers of a rainforest include:

The emergent layer which contains a series of very large trees that grow above the general canopy and are spaced wide apart. These tall trees need to be able to survive hot temperatures and withstand strong winds. As a result, the leaves of the these trees are small and pointed to minimize exposure to the wind. Certain species such as monkeys and eagles live in this layer.

The canopy layer houses a large number of tall trees that are slightly shorter than the trees in the emergent layer. The leaves of these trees are in the shape of “drip spouts” to allow the rain to fall quickly off and prevent mold. This dense area is the most biodiverse layer of the rainforest and forms a continues cover of foliage that covers the layers below.

The understory layer is the layer between the canopy and the forest floor. Species and plants that live in this layer need to adapt to the very small amount of sunlight that penetrates the canopy layer. As a result, there is no sense in growing branches below the canopy and instead the leaves are much larger at this level. because of the low air movement, humidity in the understory layer is very high.

The forest floor which is the bottom-most layer receives the smallest amount of sunlight. This layer contains a small amount of vegetation because the low sunlight penetrations. Most of the animal and plant wastes are processed in this layer and the high heat and humidity expedite the break down process.

Throughout the course of this academic term, I will study the subject in closer details and examine the idea of biomimicry in architectural design based on my findings. Next term, I will incorporate the lessons learned into the design of an ecodistrict for the City of Portland and its supporting buildings in more detail.