Francesca Guarnieri

CRADLE

Completion: December, 2020

Site: Hamburg, Germany

Context: TU Delft, The Netherlands. Individual Academic Project, MSc1 City of Flows - Architectural Design Crossovers design studio

Supervisors: A. S. Alkan, J. van Lierop

Tools: AutoCad, Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign

The Cradle is a creative hub for bio-engineering start-ups, where new materialises are explored in relation to the question of the biological circle of circular design. The Cradle is a collaborative playground for circular biodesigners, to explore and exhibit how to disrupt the linear system in bio-products where waste does not exist. A place for circular ideas to feed into each other accelerating the process of change with entrepreneurship. Where old-fashioned consultancy is largely replaced by collaboration and by setting an example for the visitor. The latter is exposed to the process of biotransformation when approaching and circulating through the heart of the building: an open atrium where raw materials grow and are processed from the top to the bottom floor, following the order of the biomaterial processing flow and making the building a biomaterial warehouse. Furthermore, the external cladding is made of ever-growing mycelium louvers, regularly harvested to collect and store the mycelium which becomes available to the biodesigners, in constant seasonal regeneration and fully available to the Cradle users. Other materials grown in the building and typically implemented by biodesigners, include algae and vegetables from which to derive textiles. The project load-bearing structure is made of CLT, with connections designed according to Design for Disassembly (DfD) principles and to avoid adhesive, silicone joints, paints or other infiltrating products. All materials, after dismantling, are separable and reusable making circularity a fundamental material quality of the project.

The Cradle rises in place of the former underground car park in the Deichtorallen square, which is a derelict open urban space in south-central Hamburg offering large potential for improvement of its pedestrian-friendly qualities. Prominent flows of active transport cross the site daily but find impediment in the difficult access to the split levels that characterise the site. Separating it, rather unifying it, from the scenic waterscapes of the Oberhafen quays. For this reason, this project largely focuses on resolving complexities at the urban level by opening the building to the site, making it a tool of connection of the different levels. Even more importantly, the strong presence of creative business and educational facilities in the area constitutes a programmatic and strategic link between the project site and the creative industries in the area. Challenging is in this context the fact that such industries are showing a delay in embracing the transition to circular economy, despite the efforts in recent years made by the city of Hamburg towards promoting the transition of local business towards circularity via a series of initiatives.

At the heart of every profession should lie its own version of medicine's Hippocratic oath to do no harm. (…) Dramatically reducing the amount of space, materials, and energy we consume (…) must stand as the best step we can take to sustain ourselves not just environmentally but also personally (...).

Thomas Fisher, 2010, 'Ethics for Architects: 50 Dilemmas of Professional Practice', Princeton Architectural Press