Supposedly coined by Aristotle, the “Wisdom of the Crowd” dictates that the collective judgment of a large group can provide you with the answer to almost any problem (from guessing the weight of a cow to predicting the lottery numbers, no less). The question is: can the same principle be applied to the perceived necessity — and quality — of architectural design?
Bjarke Ingels Group is now testing the theory, launching a Kickstarter project to fund a $15,000 prototype for the steam ring generator that will top the radical Amagerforbraendingen Waste to Energy Plant in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to the architects, the project aims to change the way we think about pollution by thrusting into the public consciousness a hybrid of industrial architecture and contemporary art:
“By 2017 the citizens of Copenhagen will not only be able to ski down the cleanest power plant in the world – their perceptions of what a power plant can be will be challenged by an art piece that raises awareness of our carbon emissions. The world’s first steam ring generator will puff out a steam ring for every ton of CO2 burned in the plant. Help us turn fiction into fact!
“By sweeping nothing under the carpet, but rather projecting our carbon footprint onto the Copenhagen sky, we provide every single citizen intuitive information to help them inform the decisions they make for their lives and for the city that they want to live in.”
Left: BIG’s Waste to Energy Plant; Right: An early steam ring test.
It is a convincing call to action, though not everyone is buying it; Dezeen commenters flocked to debate BIG’s move with conflicting opinions about both the motive and necessity of the campaign. “Why are they crowdfunding this? Is it mainly for free publicity?” asked one reader, but another was markedly less cynical: “It’s economic democracy in action. Yes it serves to generate publicity, but also indicates whether people actually want it in the first place.”
Whichever side of the divide you fall on, there is no denying that crowdfunding is beginning to alter the architectural landscape, and BIG’s involvement will only serve to catalyze the revolution. Here are four more projects being Kickstarted by online crowdfunding, from the small to the downright gargantuan:
The Luchtsingel by Zones Urbaines Sensibles, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
A full two and a half years before Bjarke’s crowdsourced project, ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles) showed the profession how it could be done: their Luchtsingel bridge was funded by the general public, who purchased each one of the 17,000 planks for €25 ($33) a piece. Rotterdam’s “High Line” should last 15 years and paved the way for a number of other projects, including …
+ POOL by Family New York and PlayLab, Inc., New York City
Possibly the most well-publicized example of crowdfunded architecture to date, the +Pool has been paid for “tile by tile” by people around the world over the past two years. Each donator gets their name engraved on one of the 70,000 tiles that make up the floor and walls of the pool, which is set for construction in 2016.
Via All City 7
Save Nagakin Tower Project by Masato Abe / Kisho Kurokawa, Tokyo, Japan
The crowdfunding phenomenon has also been tapped for architectural preservation: a campaign was launched last year to save the Nagakin Capsule Tower from demolition. The modular capsules of Kisho Kurokawa’s Metabolist icon were always designed to be replaced, but many architects have lobbied for the structure’s conservation given its historic significance to the profession.
Via Indiegogo
Bonus: Minas Tirith by Unknown, Southern England/Middle-earth
If you thought the headline of this article was gimmicky, you’d be absolutely right, but it has a little more relevance than you might expect. A group of Tolkien enthusiasts has set about crowdsourcing a real-life version of Minas Tirith, the epic city from The Lord of the Rings, which they aim to build somewhere in the south of England. For a mere £1.85 billion ($2.9 billion), the Indiegogo campaign hopes to realize “the most remarkable tourist attraction on the planet.” They certainly don’t lack ambition!