Streets accomplish different functions and communicate a strong, unwritten and universal message to users. They guide us during the inspiring discovery of a new city and are often the first point of contact, the first sensorial interaction with a new place. Streets evoke not only visual stimuli but also acoustic and tactile ones, and help create a holistic experience and identity of a place.
Most of Rome’s historic centre is paved with a unique type of cobblestone called Sampietrini. I have been fascinated by these 12-centimetre cubes of black basalt, trimmed and set in straight rows or intersecting arches. The material, patterns and emotions that they are able to evoke are very unique indeed. A similar tile — common in many other celebrated cities in Europe — creates unique forms of art like at La Rambla in Barcelona or on Lisbon’s pavements, Calçada Portuguesa.
Recently, Sampietrini have been in the news for causing several accidents and problems. Uneven cobblestones with potholes are far from ideal for wheels on suitcases, buggies, wheelchairs and so on. Larger vehicles passing over them cause noise and vibrations that can potentially damage surrounding buildings.
While the problem may be the lack of adequate maintenance, it is also true that streets and walkways need to respond to the needs of the 21st century and be accessible to a broader range of users and vehicles. As cities evolve, products that inhabit our cities also need to respond to emerging challenges holistically.
How might we rethink street pavements to be more responsive to change and to help face emerging environmental challenges? Could we create smarter product systems that not only address basic functionalities of a floor covering but also embrace a more meaningful and aspirational mission? Ancient Romans may have thought through the urgent issues of their time, but now we have the knowledge, technology and responsibility to make a bigger impact on the planet.
Addressing escalating city density while looking for a reliable way to decrease carbon emissions, the Tredje Natur studio has developed a scalable climate adaption solution for future cities’ sidewalks and urban spaces. Their Climate Tile reinforces the natural water circuit by collecting rainwater from roofs and sidewalks. It helps make water a resource while reducing damage caused by the rainwater.
Products that inhabit our cities also need to respond to emerging challenges holistically
Similarly, the De Urbanisten studio in collaboration with the Rain(a)Way tile has created an innovative solution to direct, capture and return rainwater runoff slowly back into the ground. This reduces stress on the city’s street sewer system, particularly during storm events.
While these two examples demonstrate our reaction to climate change and have a big impact on water management in high flooding risk areas, what about generating energy from the act of walking? Sounds like science fiction? Pavegen made it real. This team has created a well-engineered tile that converts footsteps into energy, data and rewards, creating a playful interaction with the environment.
It is encouraging to see the recent and noble focus of designers in rethinking tiles from singular elements to a part of the larger system that can mitigate emerging challenges, create more sustainable solutions and promote new behaviours. The examples cited above show the true potential of tile design at a systemic level and the progressive impact small actions can have over time.
The challenge now is to integrate and adopt these new solutions widely while maintaining a poetic essence that ancient tiles were able to generate. This is a field that needs lots of attention. We have to find a way to infuse the magic that would be able to elevate tile design to characterise our cities once again.
Flood Permeable>Rain(a)Way>Eindhoven, the Netherlands>2014
This award-winning permeable tile stores rainwater in a visible manner and slowly infiltrates the water into the ground. Instead of looking at rainwater as an issue, the flood tile brings out its amiable quality. When the tiles fill up with rainwater, they reframe rainwater as a beautiful thing instead of something problematic.
The tiles are designed to enrich detailing of a public space. They are not meant to be walked on but are designed to be an eyecatcher in the public space. They can be expanded for walkable use by filling the open spaces with gravel and other materials that strengthen the surface.
Additional info: http://rainaway.nl/english/
Rain(a)Way Flood tiles contribute to solving the issue of urban flooding.
Pavegen V3>Pavegen>London, UK>2016
Pavegen is a versatile custom-built flooring system and the global leader in harvesting energy and data from footfall. As pedestrians walk across the Pavegen system, the weight from their footsteps creates a small vertical movement of 5 to 10 mm in the top surface. This compresses the electro- magnetic generators below, producing 2 to 4 joules of off-grid electrical energy per step.
Footsteps can power local applications such as LED lighting, data capture and transmission and environmental sensors. The combination of physical interactivity with a digital ecosystem creates high engagement both during and after someone has stepped on the floor. With Bluetooth beacons, the floor communicates with users’ smartphones, providing rich customer analytics data via a permission-based rewards system.
Additional info: http://www.pavegen.com/product
Our goal is to be the physical connection between people and smart cities.
Climate Tile>Tredje Natur> Copenhagen>2018
The main component is essentially a hybrid between a concrete tile, an intelligent water pipe system and a permeable surface. The tile’s purpose is to positively answer the climate change challenges, whilst creating new adventures and green, urban spaces in our cities.
Technically, the Climate Tile can catch and redirect 30% of the projected extra rainwater due to climate change and thereby prevent overloads within the existing drainage infrastructure. By being a positive addition to a city’s drainage system. The damage caused by heavy rain is highly reduced, while the need for rainwater filtering decreases.
Additional info: www.tredjenatur.dk/en/portfolio/climatetile/
The Climate Tile is a scalable climate adaptation tool that rethinks sidewalks as water management systems.
(The project is designed and owned by THIRD NATURE and developed in collaboration with IBF and ACO Nordic. Realdania and The Market Development Fund have supported the Climate Tile’s development process financially.)
Comments (0)