What is an archibiotic? | Vincent Callebaut | TEDxNantes

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

Architecture + Biotechnologies + New Information and Communication + Technologies = ARCHIBIOTIC.

Hello everyone.

I am here today to introduce you
to our architectural concept

called Archibiotic.

Indeed, biotic art is a new kind
of transdiciplinary Eco-concept

aiming to create new cities
and intelligent buildings,

that is, zero carbon emission buildings.

They are self-sufficient in energy
or even energy-positive

that is, they produce
more energy than they consume.

These buildings also recycle
all their waste

following nature's cycles.

Archibiotic wants to reinvent tomorrow's
lifestyle in a transdisciplinary way

by partly rejecting the anxiety-inducing
situation in which we live today

at the crossroads of major
ecological and economic crises.

Indeed, since childhood, I have always
been inspired by the forms of nature,

by ecosystems, when I walked
through my grandparents' gardens,

in agricultural fields or in forests,

analyzing the different life forms.

I incorporated this passion into my job,

developing new organic architectures

inspired particularly by biomorphism,
bionics, and biomimicry.

Indeed, thanks to biomorphism,

today we are able to analyze
life forms very accurately

and incorporate them
into our architecture.

For example, analyzing
the spiral shape of the nautilus,

in a project in Morocco, allows us

to build an aerodynamic architecture
that has natural ventilation.

In bionics, we no longer study the form,

but we study the structures
and materials of living things

to incorporate them into our architecture.

For example, we are inspired
by dragonfly wings or water lily leaves

that have significant
structural capacities

which can be transferred,
thanks to our engineers,

to some of our projects.

Then we study biomimicry,
which goes even further,

studying large scale ecosystems,
mature ecosystems,

that is, those organisms in our biosphere

that have learned to create
interactions between themselves

to transform waste and constraints
into natural resources and opportunities.

The city of tomorrow will be dense,
green, and connected.

Indeed, for a decade, I have been
in favour of building green cities,

fertile, sustaining cities,
which can bring back to the city

not only ecosystems and biodiversity
following nature's cycles

but also agriculture to reintegrate
modes of food production

in places of consumption.

I am also in favour of a dense city
because, as you know,

the denser a city is,
the less energy-intensive it is.

We are therefore campaigning to limit
horizontal sprawl as much as possible,

which can currently be seen
in most of our European cities.

I am also in favour
of ultra-connected cities,

using the efficiency of information
and communication technologies

to completely streamline
our modes of consumption,

by dematerialization,
and also by reducing land use,

reducing systematic recourse
to our means of transport,

public or private.

The first archibiotic I will present
to you is our Lilypad project,

which was initiated in 2008
due to the climate crisis,

which has been highlighted
by many international observers.

We wanted to create
a floating, mobile platform,

an amphibious city, in total harmony
with the marine environment.

The city moves on the oceans,
from the equator to the poles,

and offers a new way of housing
future climate refugees

who will appear during the 21st century.

Indeed, according to the scientific scene,

we now know that an increase
in global temperatures of one degree

will increase the level
of the oceans by one meter.

This increase in the level of the oceans
will make some areas disappear,

such as 1% of Egypt,
7% of the Netherlands, 17% of Bangladesh,

and up to 80% of the Maldives archipelago.

So we wanted to create
a possible alternative in advance

for the 50 million climate refugees
predicted for 2030.

This figure will increase
to 250 million by 2100.

We therefore wanted to suggest
to the municipality of Kiribati

the creation of a city
that is self-sufficient in energy,

which is submerged
as much above the water level

as below the water level.

We therefore suggested
an amphibious model,

integrating all renewable energies.

This city is inspired
by biomimicry of the structure

of the Amazon waterlily's
giant leaves Victoria regia,

which has exceptional plasticity with
its radial and concentric pattern of veins

and makes for the most stable platform
possible floating on the oceans.

Our engineers transcribed this structure
on to architectural and engineering plans

to explore how a structure can
withstand being driven by marine currents

stabilized by a central
ballast of fresh water,

which is actually the rainwater recovered
and phyto-purified by hanging gardens.

The town is organized around
three multi-functional mountains

given over to trade, leisure and work,

covered with hanging gardens

and a network of streets,
lanes, and passageways

leading to housing that is
completely covered with plants.

Each apartment's balcony
is a hanging orchard or kitchen garden

which makes each inhabitant
into an organic food farmer.

This city is completely amphibious.

We presented it especially
in many nursery and primary schools,

to educate the younger generation
and our children,

to increase awareness of urban ecology

and thus we present positive answers

saying that today it is possible
to build sustainable cities.

This project has also been suggested
to the European Community

to raise geopolitical and social awareness

about how future environmental
migrants can be housed

whilst also granting them
rights and obligations.

This project has also been
suggested to certain cities,

such as Monaco or Hong Kong

so they can extend
their limited territory offshore.

The second project
is the Dragonfly project,

a pioneering project focusing
on the agriculture of the future.

Indeed, in the near future,
there will be 9 billion of us on Earth,

and of these 9 billion human beings
more than two thirds will live in cities.

So today, it is essential to invent

a new way of thinking about
our modes of food production.

While the intention is for rural
agriculture to produce grain for food

in developing
and under-developed countries,

it will also aim to create
second generation bio-fuels,

that is bio-fuels that are not made
from the edible part of the plant,

but from the waste.

So local agriculture can be reinstated

directly in the heart of cities
in places of consumption:

vertical farms that would create
layers of agricultural fields.

This vertical farms project
is inspired by dragonflies' wings,

which are finely veined, mimicking nature,

because, in fact, nature always uses
the minimum amount of materials to build

the strongest possible structures.

We have also retransposed
this structure into our project,

our plans, and our sections,

to study bioclimatic organic
architecture with our engineers.

Actually, in summer we can naturally
ventilate and cool this vertical farm

and we can build up hot air from
the winter sun so there is a buffer

meaning the temperature is kept constant.

The city of New York has
large differences in temperature:

between minus 25° in winter
and 40° in summer.

This city is completely organic,

and so allows layering
of agricultural fields

with vertical farms

where dairy products, meat,
and eggs can be produced

for a closed-loop city.

Today's Western city is based on a loop
that always imports raw materials

and wealth, and which exports
pollution and waste.

We want to break this loop
by using intelligent buildings

that work in a closed environment
managing to be self-sufficient in energy

through the integration
of renewable energies.

This is the chance we have today:
having self-sufficient buildings

where, here, you see a vertical farm
that has a photovoltaic shield

producing 50% of the electrical energy
needed for running this urban farm.

The rest of the electricity is supplied
by axial and vertical wind turbines

integrated directly into the hull
in line with the prevailing winds.

With its architectural
and mixed composition,

we have suggested to investors building

an office tower and a housing tower

very close to large
bioclimatic greenhouses.

Using this multifunctional design,

energy production can be reduced by 50%

because in fact, for example, the heat
emitted in offices in the daytime

is retransmitted
in the evening into homes.

This greatly reduces energy consumption.

What we wanted to do
is create a veritable Central Park,

turned vertically,

which feeds the city's inhabitants.

Here are a few views
of the central marina,

which accommodates
bio-taxi moorings or floating markets,

or floating markets, the surplus food
produced by the vertical farm

in the city of Manhattan.

A few views of hanging
greenhouses, and of bio-lofts,

where, eventually, agriculture
has spread across different floors:

agricultural fields, community orchards,

or individual hydroponic balconies.

After considering floating cities
and vertical farms,

we wanted to explore a project
in partnership with a U.S. oil group

to produce third generation
clean transport,

which works in the same way
as nature recycles its wastes,

and transforms them
into natural resources,

we wanted to work using green algae
produced by our intensive agriculture,

which produces too many nitrates,

found especially in our groundwater
and near to beaches.

By putting these green algae
into cells in vitro,

we use biochemistry
to create accelerated photosynthesis,

which is capable of degrading

plastics found in the oceans
and in all petroleum derivatives.

So we wanted to create a marine farm

that is a great purifier of the seas

retrieving these plastics
and breaking them down to form biogas.

This biogas could be injected
into vertical zeppelins

that could serve areas

affected by natural disasters
or by health emergencies.

These vertical zeppelins
could also be used

to send food and agricultural produce

from Western countries
to developing countries.

We always wanted to create buildings

that are actually living ecosystems,

which interact with nature

and recycle waste
by transforming it into opportunities.

The fourth project
that I will present to you,

the Coral Reef project,
is a vertical ecovillage,

which is currently in the city
of Haiti's planning system.

It is based on the standardization
of a prefabricated module

brought on a cargo ship,
allowing construction within 6 months

of 1,000 passive houses

that do not need to be heated
in winter or cooled in summer.

It is a steel and wood construction

covered with hanging gardens,

in order to enhance
the lives of its inhabitants,

which is self-sufficient in energy.

Most of these projects
could seem utopian to you,

but they are currently
being explored in my agency,

and now we are succeeding in obtaining
international calls for tenders

from China and the United Arab Emirates,
and in South America,

to construct these intelligent buildings
that emit zero carbon,

are self-sufficient in energy,
and recycle their own waste.

I invite you to visit our website
www.Vincent.callebaut.org

where we present a new project
called Agora Garden,

a residential towers contest
we won in 2010,

which is currently under construction.

It has the peculiarity
of being a residential building

completely covered with hanging gardens,
orchards and vegetable gardens

in the heart of Taipei City
at the foot of the 101 Tower.

I thank you.

(Applause)