Designing net installations that perform ecosystem services: capture water, filter light, and evaporate water to keep cities cool
Service Design and Development (MIT Climate Co-Lab Winner)
Fighting Urban Heat Island Effect like a Forest
CHALLENGE: How can we effectively mitigate the urban heat island effect in Cambridge, Massachusetts? UHI is a phenomenon created by the architecture and infrastructure of built environments where summer temperatures in dense urban areas become significantly warmer (10’-30’F) than nearby parks and forested neighborhoods.
BACKGROUND: The Climate Protection Action Committee has developed a series of goals for 2020, one of which is to minimize the urban heat island effect by developing UHI reduction programs, policies, and design solutions. To support this goal The City of Cambridge engaged with innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists, and inventors from around the world to create localized solutions that mitigate UHI. Our team of designers and biologists at LikoLab joined forces with Biomimicry New England to bring our idea to life: beautiful net installations that cool cities on hot days by recreating the cooling effects of forests. The concept was one of 6 winners chosen to pitch to the City of Cambridge and present at MIT’s international conference, Crowds and Climate in 2015.
RESULTS: The design of the service providing nets mimics several cooling forest functions: the nets provide shade and shelter for life beneath to thrive; they capture and disperse falling rain water, decreasing runoff and evaporation; and the organic shapes recreate wind generating effects of forests (varied texture, form, and light refraction). We’ll leverage the visibility of these installations to incite conversations about climate change and pose the question, "How can a city function like a forest?”