Greenwood: Blueprints for Utopia

Forest Fusion

Blueprints for Greenwood, a low-cost, high value network of naturalist residential structures

By Anand Madhu

Brief: Greenwood, a network of Fukuokan dwellings for individuals• Type of work: Pilot project (one UNIT)• No. of residents: 90 (later expanded to 540)

• Area of work: 60516 m2 (15 acres)– Further area needed later for expansion = 1854405 m2

• Cost of building: 50 crores (.7 Million Euros) • Positioning, Urban or rural?

– Rural• Land requisitioned from:

– Farmland, as near to a river or lake as possible• Critical scientific principle applied to this type of

dwelling:– Dwellings are designed to prevent depression/dementia

Summing it up

• A different type of building/structure is proposed• A buildings + ecosystem (a systems approach) project• It can have many profitable applications:

– Residential– hotel/resort– school area– “rehab center” for people prone to depression and

dementia

Inspired by Namba Parks, Osaka, Japan

Fundamental question

Are extant dwelling designs best for mankind?

• “The Big Apple? More like the sad apple. According to a study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, New York is the saddest city in all of America”

• Why increased sadness in New York? Because in NY, distance between the dwellings of humans – is minimum!

• According to research inter-dwelling distance should be maximized to reduce depression and dementia.

• This reduction is brought about by a change in patterns of thinking induced by the spreading out of dwellings.

Are extant dwelling designs best for mankind?

Forest fusion in “Greenwood”

• Greenwood, the dwelling systems in which – Inter-dwelling distance is maximized – Qualitative aspects are artificial and Quantitative

aspects are natural

• in order to increase IQ, reduce depression and dementia

Initial construction area

Calculations

Area of circular matrix: 11876

Area of square agglomerate: 748764

Area of Pilot Project ABCD: 60516

K= 12 meters;ABCD = 15 acres

12 meters

12 meters

Basic Management Principles applied

Economy of scale principle:• 90 houses are built together, to minimize costs.

Economical, intelligent building practices• Lean building, intelligent lifestyle practices emphasize:

– Small houses (most of the “living” is done outside in various common rooms and outdoors, and not in “living rooms”)

– “Portacabin” type houses (houses are built inside all-weather shipping containers (which is an increasingly accepted practice), thus minimizing labor requirements and cost)

Houses are elevated to avoid nature’s highly entropic workings

Common functions are served by mechanisms in the central tower (the trunk)

Raw materials/equipment required• 90 Shipping containers • 90 Small Air Conditioners, computers etc.• 90x Solar panels• 90 beds, tables etc. (manufactured in-house, in UNIT workshop)• Workshop equipment (tools, lathes, shovels, saws, jackhammer, 3D printer etc.)• One crane• Instructing Experts (plumber, crane operator, carpenter, quality assurance guys,

silvology etc.) • Three river water pumps• Wires and Pipes, Pipe racks• Seeds, soil for planting

– Fast growing (bamboo etc.)– Green manure (i.e. plants useful as fertilizer)– Food seed (local varieties)– “Rocket” trees (giant sequoia etc.) for constituting central tower

• Animals, fish, insects• Coir rope• Grating• Weather-proof Iron alloy pillars and cantilevers• Life-support systems and provisions for use during initial phase of project

Sourcing Raw materials/equipment in the best way (Just-in-time sourcing, cheapest sources), is a significant managerial task

Modern “scientific”

farming

From MASANOBU

FUKUOKA’s THE NATURAL

WAY OF FARMING

The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy

The best way:

Fukuokan “do

nothing” farming

From MASANOBU

FUKUOKA’s THE NATURAL WAY

OF FARMING The Theory and

Practice of Green Philosophy

• Is it possible? Yes: “30 years ago, Jadav Payeng began burying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in Assam to grow a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavor, so he moved to the site so he could work full-time creating a lush new forest ecosystem. Incredibly, the spot today hosts a sprawling 1,360 acres of jungle that Jadav Payeng planted single-handedly”.