Exploration Architecture using ‘Absurd Idealism’ to Create Sustainable Designs

Exploration Architecture director Michael Pawlyn credits his company’s philosophy of “absurd idealism” for creating innovative, sustainable architecture.
 
The London-based firm begins with an ambitious goal that will solve environmental and social problems, and then sets about achieving the desired project using the best of current technology and biomimicry, a design methodology which emulates nature’s models, systems and processes.

Once the project has proved feasible, Pawlyn says the company publicizes the creation to find interested clients. 

While this approach is more difficult than the typical architectural design process, in which a client solicits work from the architect who creates the client’s preferred project, Pawlyn says it also can lead to more positive outcomes by eliminating outside influences that could prevent the right solutions from being achieved.
 
“I used to find it a little frustrating working on sustainable schemes, when often the client might have made some of the big, bad decisions already,” he explains.
 
“I think you can say there are two ways of bringing about change. One is to start with reality and compromise to try and make it better. The other is to start with absurd idealism and compromise it as little as possible and that’s what we are pursuing.”
 
With this principle front and centre, Pawlyn says the company is working on the Sahara Forest Project, which aims to solve “a cluster of intertwined problems” in one of the world’s hottest regions.
 
The project’s goal is to make use of abundant resources, like arid land, sunlight and seawater, to produce in-demand resources such as fresh water, food and renewable energy.
 
Two established technologies, the Seawater Greenhouse and concentrated solar power, will make the process possible according to Pawlyn, who has partnered with Seawater Greenhouse creator Charlie Paton, Bill Watts of Max Fordham Consulting Engineers and the Bellona Foundation for the project.
 
Seawater Greenhouses are able to transform seawater into fresh water while providing cooler and more humid growing conditions that would enable the cultivation of crops year-round.
 
Concentrated solar power, which is increasingly seen as one of the most promising forms of renewable energy, uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and create heat used to drive conventional steam turbines, allowing the building to generate and store electricity.

According to Pawlyn, the group is excited for the project’s potential after conducting a full feasibility study last year that confirmed the conceptual aspirations are sound.

The first stage of the project will be to build a demonstration centre that will serve as a platform for international co-operation on innovation and development, and pave the way for a large-scale roll-out, states an executive summary on the project.

-- More to Come
 
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