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A Co-operative Architectural Response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Part 1 Project 2021
Domenica Freire
De Montfort University | UK
The Floating Biorefinery is driven by the pressures of finding new sources of energy to supply the forthcoming demand of the next Industrial Revolution. The project envisions a new self-sustaining architectural apparatus inserted into the abandoned post-industrial site of Corah in Leicester. The proposed structures exist symbiotically with their environment and with the commitment to harvest Corah’s quickly replenishing biofuel: Algae. This is then upgraded into valuable green products such as transport fuels, materials, pharmaceuticals, electricity and heat.

30 years from now, initiated by this pioneering small-scale algae biorefinery unit, Corah would be transformed through a sustainable process of incremental urbanism and extended through a smart grid strategy. With Corah as a model, this could inspire other self-sustaining communities around the world to live symbiotically alongside natural elements such as growing algae at The Grand Union Canal.

For this to happen, the architect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is no longer an individual but must operate as part of an entropic collective, employing empathy to create networks for innovation, and to develop a revolutionary architecture to solve global issues.

Domenica Freire

Tutor(s)

2021
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