We have been featuring several Re:Vision Dallas entries because the competition has attracted forward thinking designers with solutions we’d like to share. The newest submission from PIKL Studio won an honorable mention for their proposal Commonwealth. PIKL Studio’s proposal envisions the urban block as gradually moving toward becoming a natural community built on effective relationships and connections.
More images, diagrams and information about Commonwealth after the break.
The development includes 300,000 sf living space with an additional 75,000 sf of commercial, education and social programs. The complex allows living environments to become fully integrated with work and public spaces. Large outdoor spaces will provide proper microclimate for the building and provide opportunities for food production; sustainable energy methods will also be implemented.
The proposal emphasizes the need for the complex to become a self-generative environment and develop a socioeconomic sustainability. In order to reach that, the natural environment must be properly handled and the local social capital must be utilized. PIKL Studio outlines steps that begin with restoring the natural environment to reconnect with the sources that will provide for the whole community. These series of steps create a formula that will transform the site into a developed area that can successfully adapt to the changing needs of the community.
“The following introduction of basic sustaining programs lay the foundation for further growth: a building material reclamation/reuse shop starts to prepare materials and educate local labor for the upcoming stages of construction; community farm with co-op starts to provide local food and services to the increasing number of people involved in the building of community, water treatment systems and solar energy harvesting generate immediate revenue from the very early stages of development,” explained PIKL.
The proposal sets up a cycle that instills an inter-dependence within the complex that will lead to the prosperity of the urban block. An underlying structure of education, training and direct exchange of services and ideas will be implemented to ensure the community will operate smoothly and successfully.
Design Team: Pavlina Ilieva and KuoPao Lian of PIKL
