Filene development in downtown Boston
As the economy took a beating, a number of construction projects were stalled and abandoned. The Boston Globe asked architects to have a look at such sites and come up with new projects that would be feasible, and also help improve the city. One of such buildings is the Filene development in downtown Boston. The structure of the building is up, but it is just a shell full of holes.
Architects Höweler + Yoon have an interesting proposal for the Filene development. The idea is to cover it in “Eco Pods” that are full of biofuel producing algae. The center could be used for research in creating new algae species and having a go at different growing methods. Another cool element of the building would be giant robotic arms. These arms will be used to move the prefab Eco Pods to locations on the building that would be favorable for their growth.
The architects say these arms will get the requisite power from the biofuel produced by the algae, while any surplus can be put to other uses. Once the construction is complete, the pods and robotic arms can be removed from the said building and moved to a new location.