Earth Up; a green dormstel for St. Gallen

Earth Up a green dormstel for St. Gallen

Anna Jaimes Camargo University of Liechtenstein SS 2017

Master’s Thesis to obtain the degree “Master of‌ Science in Architecture” Earth Up; a green dormstel for St. Gallen

by Anna Jaimes Camargo Design Studio SS 2017 Supervisor: Dipl.-Ing. Arch. Hugo Dworzak, MArch Assistant: Dipl. Ing. Martin Mackowitz

Universität Liechtenstein Fürst-Franz-Josef-Strasse 9490 Vaduz Liechtenstein

Earth Up

a green dormstel for St. Gallen

Anna Jaimes Camargo University of Liechtenstein SS 2017

“The most interesting things happen at the borders, right along the edges.”

(Brown, 2013)

Abstract

The topic of the SS17 design studio of Hugo Dworzak was an All Star Hotel, which is a social utopia of bringing together, accommodating and satisfying the needs of all types of people from different socio-economical classes, nationalities, religions, levels of education, and more. The principal theme of the year was Cultural Identities, which embodies precisely all those variations forming any person’s perception of the world. The project is located at a plot of a former cargo train station in St. Gallen.

There have been sociological and political studies done on the variables of cultures and the effect that those have on their coexistence. This project aims to translate the available knowledge into an architectural project while taking into consideration another pressing issue that can be addressed by architecture — the current deficiency of food production for the widely expected development of increase in world population (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017; Ziegler & Steensland, 2016).

Therefore, the research question asks: How can a hotel in St. Gallen act through its architecture as a link between all different groups of people — encouraging communication and exchange of knowledge while tackling the food production challenge of tomorrow’s world?

The chosen research methods were a literature review, sketching, physical and digital model making, and development of architectural plans. Through a theoretical approach, productive gardening was identified as a unifying topic allowing for bonding of the all-star users and production of vegetables and fruits at once. For practical reasons and to ensure a basic social mixture a new typology of a “dormstel” was developed — it is a combination of a student dormitory and a hotel. The possibilities of vertical farming were explored in an urban context, creating public and private spaces and combining the elevated green areas with hotel and dormitory spaces in a tight, interconnected manner.

The research and design result in a statement that gardening, i.e. food production, can serve as a unifying topic among people with various cultural identities, creating thereby an internal all-star society. Moreover, food production can have its place within the city fabric, and vertical gardening can be in a symbiotic relationship with accommodation and urban public functions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract Introduction 01. Studio Topic 01.1 The Allstar Hotel 01.2 Project location 02. Research on the Social Aspect of an All Star Hotel 02.1 Samuel P. Huntington: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order 02.2 Ralf Dahrendorf: Auf der Suche nach einer neuen Ordnung: 02.3 Walter Laqueur: The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent 02.4 Saskia Sassen: The Global City: Introducing a Concept 02.5 Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities 02.6 Michael Foucault: Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias 03. Research on the City of St. Gallen 03.1 Geography 03.2 Population 03.3 Education 03.4 History of St. Gallen 04. Project Research 04.1 Concept 04.2 Outlook on the Future World Population Problematic 04.3 Vertical Farming 04.4 Further Research on the Project’s Potential Gardening and Plant Types Vertical Hydroponics Pots Part-sun plants Full-sun plants Mushrooms 04.5 Hotel Typology A history of building types Selected texts on the hotel typology, its functions and possible reinterpretations Hotel business statistic of St. Gallen for the year 2016 04.6 Site Analysis SWOT analysis Photos from the site 05. Project Design 05.1 Intentions Borderline Capacity Organization 05.2 Project Schemes – Spatial Solution 05.3 Situation 05.4 Earth Up in m2 05.7 Program 05.8 Temperature Control inside the Greenhouses 05.9 About the Dormstel The construction technique 05.10 About the 3D Gardening in Earth Up 05.11 About the Güterbahnhof 05.12 About the Spaces in-between 06. Plans and Drawings 06.1 Floor Plans 06.2 Sections 06.3 Visualizations 06.4 Models Final Considerations List of References List of Figures

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Introduction Earth Up, a green dormstel for St. Gallen

During the SS2017 the design studio of Hugo Dworzak was dealing with the subject of an All Star Hotel, a place combining one to six stars concepts of a hotel and accommodating correspondingly various visitors. The challenge was not just to attract people with different cultural identities, but also to ensure a stable and mutually enriching experience during their stay.

Cultural identity is not only a far-reaching term describing all kinds of factors shaping one’s character, expectations, and understanding of the world, but also the way one perceives others (Caamaño Parada, Jaimes Camargo, & Martínez Gonzáles, 2017).

Studies have been done on the differences between cultures, as in the book of Samuel Huntington (1998), where he recognizes eight main civilizations in the world and speaks about their differences. Other studies, such as “The last days of Europe” (Laqueur, 2006) or lectures of Ralf Dahrendorf (2003), are dealing with similar problematic, some of them proposing a possible solution for a successful coexistence of the different cultures.

Those and other studies are looking at that problematic from a sociological or political point of view. The research gap is therefore in the application of those theories on an architectural project.

Besides social issues that the design has to deal with, there are also other pressing challenges that contemporary architecture needs to address.

In addition to the nowadays frequently discussed threads related to global warming, there is also another fact that deserves attention; the world population is growing in a parabolic curve (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017), and the most apparent problem that is raising with that is about food security. Besides, already nowadays many of the developed countries of the world are dependent on import for feeding their nation (Ziegler & Steensland, 2016).

Out of those reasons mentioned above, the research question of this project is as follows: How can a hotel in St. Gallen act through its architecture as a link between all different groups of people — encouraging communication and exchange of knowledge while tackling the food production challenge of tomorrow’s world?

The research objective is to explore the possibility of a symbiotic combination of productive gardening and accommodation within an existing urban situation, while also further developing the typology of farming in vertical greenhouses.

The design process of the studio started right away with the spatial architectural design and continued according to the individual needs of each student’s project. Theoretical research consisting of a review of available literature and online published studies happened simultaneously.

This method allowed a fluid and flexible research/design work, binding this two parts closer together.

The book is organized into chapters, following the traditional research and design order. First part is dealing with the social aspect of an All Star Hotel, following chapters are focused on the plot-related analysis, i.e. St. Gallen, its history and the current situation in relation to the project’s intentions.

Coming next is the food-production and project-related research, followed by the architectural proposal and final considerations.

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How can a hotel in St. Gallen act through its architecture as a link between all different groups of people — encouraging communication and exchange of knowledge while tackling the food production challenge of tomorrow’s world?

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01. Studio Topic 01.1 The Allstar Hotel

01.2 Project location

Globalism, without doubt has connected the world economically and has created dependency amongst countries. On the contrary the social spectrum has drifted apart. The rich became richer and the poor poorer. As this gap widens the danger of conflict rises. To at least make a homeopathic effort against this tendency we design THE ALLSTAR HOTEL that ranges from zero to six stars. Refugees as well as millionaires, youth hostellers and seniors, illiterates and Nobel Prize winners, hetero and homosexuals, prostitutes and untouchables live under one roof. The wealthier pay tribute to the poor and the poorer contribute with skills (Dworzak & Mackowitz, 2016).

The assignment offered two location options. First of them was at the train station in Bregenz, Austria, the second was in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The latter did not have a fixed position and was therefore opened for more individual choice, although a plot near the train station was expected. This project is situated in St. Gallen, based on a short research on the two cities.

Because of the personal belief that the all-star topic has better chances for success in rather open, liberal society, and those tend to be rather the mixed ones (Taylor & Spencer, 2004), the main decisive aspects were as follows: firstly the size of the cities – 75,5 thousand permanent inhabitants in St. Gallen (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2015a) vs. 29 thousand citizens of Bregenz (Statistik Austria, 2016), secondly the mixture of religions, which suggests openness, and thirdly the age structure of population because younger generations generally tend to be less conservative (ChamorroPremuzic, 2014) — citizens aged 20–34 form 26,6% of the population of St. Gallen (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2015b), whereas just 19,8% of Bregenz (Statistik Austria, 2016).

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02. Research on the Social Aspect of an All Star Hotel The project of an all-star hotel, as its name suggests, is supposed to accommodate all kinds of individuals with all types of religions, professions, socioeconomic statuses, genders and age groups under one unifying roof. As such, it has to deal with the potential of a conflict based on inequalities, different lifestyles, beliefs and value systems. The chosen texts below are related to the topics of globalisation, multiculturalism, and coexistence of different social classes and were used as a base for the social part of the project.

02.1 Samuel P. Huntington: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (Huntington, 2001), (Huntington, 1998)

The original journal article (Huntington, 1993), as well as the following book, are an interpretation of the development of global politics after the end of the cold war. The study examines various options of world order such as a model of one global civilization and different bipolar models and concludes as the most probable outcome a model based on the existence of eight or nine civilizations in the world. One of the reasons for writing this extended book version was to explain, that the clash of civilizations is not an inevitable end of the current development, but just one of the possible scenarios that would bring catastrophic results.

According to Huntington, civilizations can live next to each other, if they can avoid the temptation of universalism and forcible imposing of their values and lifestyle. However, the model of coexistence of different civilizations assumes a certain basic universality of cultural principles in the sense of moral norms: the principle of free will, the ability to distinguish and choose between good and evil, unacceptability of killing, respect to the family and tolerance.

The unavoidable alternative of this model is the clash of civilizations. The reason for such a conclusion is that an ideology of thraldom of any kind cannot stand the existence of free, autonomous individuals not just among themselves, but also anywhere else on this planet. Those free individuals would always give an example to the unfree victims of the ideology, which would drive the system towards a failure. This conflict is not related to ethnic, faith, culture or race.

Combined with the theories of Walter Laqueur (2006), the best possible approach to achieving “the end of history,” a state when all ideological conflicts are exhausted (Fukuyama, 1989), is by setting basic moral foundations and then respecting each culture’s space on the planet.

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02.2 Ralf Dahrendorf: Auf der Suche nach einer neuen Ordnung: Vorlesungen zur Politik der Freiheit im 21. Jahrhundert (Dahrendorf, 2007), (Dahrendorf, 2003)

The book is divided into six chapters corresponding to the six lectures held by Ralf Dahrendorf in the years 2001 and 2002. The theme is a social and political analysis of the then present social conflict situation within European democratic society, and an outline of a possible solution.

The author is attempting to decode the determining changes (caused partially by globalisation) in the world, societies, work system, etc. to detect the reasons behind those violent actions. The possible solution for a peaceful global society, as outlined already in the subtitle of the book, is “the politics of liberty.”

The politics of liberty means the right for everyone to participate and contribute to the society. It has to offer “life chances” — activities and goods to choose from. According to Mr. Dahrendorf, a liberty or freedom does not equal an equality, for inequality is a driving power of liberty and an encouragement for improvement of “life chances.”

Liberties, a precondition for development, cover political liberties, social chances and a protective net of social securities. Such securities are “granted basic amenities for everyone” – rights, life conditions, basic income, and public services. Those would ensure that no one gets less “life chances” because of his or her dissimilarity and that no one can use his or her wealth to limit the chances of others to participate in a social life.

“Improvement” in the context of this analysis means more life chances for more people. Those chances were defined as options for choices — the right to choose and several alternatives to choose from.

This book was selected because it studies what conditions are building dangerous situations for the society and which steps could on the other side improve it. It speaks about democracy, rights, choices, and the importance of the free and active making of life choices.

02.3 Walter Laqueur: The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent (Laqueur, 2006)

The book of Walter Laqueur deals with the migration and economy problematic with a focus on Europe. Based on case studies of Great Britain, France, Germany and other European countries and their approach and results in the immigration politics, he defines what affects a successful coexistence and what on the other hand makes it worse.

Firstly, one of the main findings is that the achievements of the social state, which summarizes all European countries, encourages the society to parasitize. Migration has always existed, but never in the history, there has been so much help offered to the incomings as nowadays. The social workers taught the asylum seekers how to use state support, and they eventually accepted this firstly refused way of living. Secondly, according to Laqueur, the Muslim minority is in average doing worse than other minorities and is complaining about discrimination the most. Because Europe was accepting refugees without any requirements on education or willingness to comply with the European way of living, many of the poorest and therefore more religious asylum seekers came. The Islam does not openly emphasise education, and in the case of girls, it is found even undesirable. However, according to Laqueur, not time spent in Europe, but the level of education and income influence the religiosity. The

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juniors of European Muslims, often second or third generation, get into an identity crisis, not finding themselves belonging to neither the current nation nor the country of their parents. Consequently, ghettos and a culture of requirements and imposing of respect are formed.

Authorities cannot solve the identity crisis, but they could offer loans or grants to men and women, that would propose projects, whose realizing would make them earn a living. Walter Laqueur suggests that financial rewards should not be just for those, who excel in school, but also for those who at least show some effort. It would surely not be fair to the other religious groups, but if one has to choose between fairness and social peace, the purposeful wins. Lee Jasper, the adviser for racial politics of London’s mayor, says that to behave to people equally, one has to handle them differently (p. 148). It is evident that the key to success is education.

Although education and skills do not automatically build loyalty to the second homeland, it significantly increases chances for a socio-economical rise and therefore also possible integration (Laqueur, 2006).

This book was chosen because of the peace-searching approach and amount of statistical data that show which actions bring what results. If we are to build a hotel in Europe that would truly include everyone, some of the arising questions might be answered thanks to Mr. Laqueur’s observations.

If the lack of sense of belonging is the main reason for refusal of integration in the surrounding society, then the hotel has to offer an open, inclusive community, identified with a universal topic that could prevent segregation.

02.4 Saskia Sassen: The Global City: Introducing a Concept (Sassen, 2005)

According to the text written by Saskia Sassen (2005), alongside with the globalisation process that suppresses national borders with cross-border economic and flows of capital, labour, goods, and so forth, arise new spatial units, strategic territories, that correspond to the system. Those sub‑national units are in particular cities and regions. The idea is that all national and global markets and organisations need central places, headquarters, where the work of globalisation happens. A global city is specified by the amount of those central places. Because of the complexity of international organisations, many tasks are outsourced and not done in-house, which creates the network connections between more, transnational companies and therefore also cities. A global city is both “place-centred,” because of its strategic geographical location, and “trans-territorial”, because it connects cities that are “not geographically proximate yet are intensely connected to each other” (p. 39). As a side effect, the trans-nationalisation of labour occurs together with trans-local communities and identities opening a new form of citizenship. The “de-nationalising” of urban space raises a question, whose city is it.

Translocal households, transnational economy, new forms of citizenship — those concepts of the contemporary world are both caused by globalisation and causing globalisation. It is just natural that cross-border transactions between the immigrants and their communities of origin are happening, and the more it is happening, the more are the new settlers feeling welcomed.

Since the character of a city centre is also transforming, namely into a “grid of nodes with intense business activity,” the all-star hotel could apply to be one of those knots of “globalisation happening,” anchored in a place but integrated into a transnational economic and social network.

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02.5 Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities (Calvino, 1972)

Invisible Cities is a fictitious “novel” by Italo Calvino, in which a young Venetian traveller Marco Polo is describing cities to a legendary emperor of Tartars, Kublai Khan. Each chapter is just about one place, there are no names of the municipalities, instead, the chapters are called “cities and memory,” “cities and desire,” “cities and signs,” and similar, and even those chapter names are repeating throughout the book. Some of the towns are very unrealistic, contradicting even the laws of physics, and therefore clearly coming from the teller’s fantasy. At some point, the emperor expresses his doubts that Marco Polo is describing different cities and suggests that he is speaking only of his hometown, Venice, just of different aspects of it. The storyteller with charm refuses the theory and manages to keep the emperor’s attention. It is in fact not important if the stories are about one or many cities.

Being able to see one place from so many different points of view is a clear quality of it. If anyone could find, see and use what he or she finds relevant according to his/her cultural identity, it would mean, that anyone can “feel at home” there. The all-star hotel has to offer a “feeling at home” for any of its diverse visitors without limiting the same opportunity for anyone else. The cultural identity of each user, meaning background and understanding of the world, is important since it determines which parts of the cultural identity of the hotel would be seen and used by those.

02.6 Michael Foucault: Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias (Foucault, 1984)

As defined by Michel Foucault, heterotopias are places – non-places, a reflection of society, a site defined by “relations of proximity between points or elements” (p. 2). A place outside of the social normality and therefore “nowhere” (despite its real location) but connected to all the other real sites. They are privileged, sacred or forbidden places. Heterotopias are usually related to a slice of time; either a collection of time, such as museums (never ending accumulation of artefacts throughout time) and cemeteries (where eternity begins), or on contrary the very short fugacious periods of time such as festivals, fairgrounds, holiday villages, honeymoon locations, barracks and boarding schools. Such places are positioned outside of the normal social life; in some cases for “unclean” or unwanted things to happen or be. Those are places without geographical markers but with a system of opening and closing, because entering is an important act.

An extreme type of heterotopia is a boat, a cruise ship. It is a floating space, not anchored in a certain geographical location, but going from port to port.

It follows that people with different cultural identities get on one boat, and together they form a cultural identity of that floating place. This “city” or “hotel” is then visiting many different real spaces, real towns and ports, and the identities of that places crush or mix with the identity and reality of that floating heterotopia. A hotel is a place stable in one location, but somewhat hidden from the surroundings. People inside change and rotate, and they are usually not defining for the life of the context of the site.

Just as a heterotopia, a hotel “is capable of juxtaposing in a single real place several spaces, several sites that are in themselves incompatible” (Foucault, 1984, p. 6).

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03. Research on the City of St. Gallen 03.1 Geography

St. Gallen is a regional capital and a centre of eastern Switzerland. It is the entrance to Appenzell Alps and one of the highest situated cities in Switzerland (496–1074 m). The city itself has 75’538 inhabitants (2015) out of which just 53% have the Swiss nationality, but together with its agglomeration, the population counts around 160’000. The area of St. Gallen stretches over 39.3 km2, out of that 31 .1 % is agricultural land, 28.9% is forested, 38.4% of the land is settled i.e. covered with buildings and roads, and 1.7% is non-productive rivers and lakes (“St. Gallen,” 2017).

The shape of the city is long and narrow, defined by the glacial valley that it lies in. In the smallest part, the flat bottom is just about 400 m wide. The city is only about 9 km away from the Lake of Constance (Bodensee), 80 km from Zürich, and 70 km from Liechtenstein (for car connections). St. Gallen lies on the Swiss highway number 1, which is leading west-east through the whole Switzerland starting in Geneva and connecting all the bigger cities such as Bern and Zürich. The closest airport is in Friedrichshafen, Germany and Zürich, Switzerland (OpenStreetMap contributors, n.d.).

03.2 Population

The population of St. Gallen was growing according to the success of the local economy with peaks in 1910, and 1970, then the total count outnumbered the current situation by more than five thousand inhabitants (Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 2012). Nowadays, there are 75’538 permanent plus 893 non-permanent residents of the city St. Gallen.

Out of that 20’337 are within the age of 20–34 years, which is 26.6%.

The whole region, of which St. Gallen is the capital, has 503’451 permanent and non‑permanent inhabitants. The city is out of 20.2% Protestant, 36.6 % Roman Catholic, estimated 11% have other religion, and around 21.4% have no religious beliefs (Fachstelle für Statistik - Kanton St.Gallen, 2015).

The city’s economy is mainly concentrated in the tertiary sector, i.e. services (82.3%) (Fachstelle für Statistik - Kanton St.Gallen, 2015).

Fig. 01 First analysis of St. Gallen by sketching

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03.3 Education

03.4 History of St. Gallen

St. Gallen is well known for its business schools. The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is one of the top ranked business schools in Europe. If offers studies in business law, business and management, political science, economics, and international relations. There are currently over 8’300 students enrolled in the different programs (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2017).

Another local college is FSH St. Gallen (University of Applied Sciences) that has over 1’700 students registered in the full-time study program (FHS St. Gallen, 2017). In summary, two thousand students are living in the city.

Nevertheless, one of the conclusions of a “Reflection talk with stakeholders” held at the city hall on 21. November 2016 states that there is a lack of the students’ liveliness in the outer spaces of the FSH (Stadt St. Gallen, 2016a).

The beginning of the city reaches back to the 7th century. The unintentional foundation happened probably in the year 612 when an Irish monk Gallus could not continue to travel because of his fever and found himself a hermitage in the valley of river Steinach. After his decease around 650 C.E., his grave became a pilgrim point for the local population. Later on, a church (first documentation comes from 700 C.E.) dedicated to St. Gallus and consequently a monastery (719 C.E.) and abbey were built on top of his tomb. The first abbot was an Allemannian priest Otomar (“Geschichte der Abtei St.Gallen,” n.d., “Zeittafel zur Geschichte der Abtei St . Gallen,” n.d.).

The abbey is now listed in the UNESCO list of world heritage and possesses many precious books in its library, the oldest dating back to 9th century.

Since the second half of the 10th century, one can speak about a town of St. Gall that grew around the abbey. The city was ruled by the abbot until it gained an Imperial immediacy, i.e. freedom from any local authority, but instead a position directly under the emperor’s power (“St. Gallen,” 2017).

Since the 14th century, the strongest guild in the city was one of the cloth‑weavers. The first zenith of the textile production was reached in 1714, then after the first depression in the middle of the 18th century caused by market competition. The first embroidery machines were developed at the beginning of 19th century in St. Gallen and opened even more prosperous era lasting till the First World War. In 1910 more than a half of the world embroidery production was coming from St. Gallen. Nowadays, just a limited textile industry operates (e.g. Benninger AG), but the embroidered textiles are still popular among designers (“St. Gallen,” 2017).

Embroidery used to run in two economic models, either in factories or more commonly on a freelancer base as homework. In that case, workers could schedule their time and also use child labour, which was prohibited by the factory labour law since 1877 (“St. Gallen embroidery,” 2016). “The traditional historiography always emphasized the interaction between the textile industry and agriculture. The farmers, ideally would use their free time productively, have job variation, and a supplement to their poor income” (“St. Gallen embroidery,” 2016).

The city expanded to its current size of 39.3 km2 in 1918 by the integration of nearly 4 km2 of the city’s perimeter areas including the neighbouring communities Straubenzell and Tablat. The University of St. Gallen opened in 1995, and since 2012 the city has a seat at the federal administrative court of Switzerland (Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, 2012).

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04. Project Research 04.1 Concept

An all-star hotel is a social utopia bringing together all types of different people with different cultural identities, meaning different life experiences, personalities, social classes, nationalities, and so forth. There are minimum eight civilizations in the world (Huntington, 1998), there are different religions, social classes, and there are people with various levels of education. All of them have to be able to find their place in the all-star hotel and feel integrated. If the cultures are as different, as Rafl Dahrendorf (2003) explains in his lectures, and solution for a successful coexistence is not just the politics of liberty but also a high level of “life chances” for everyone, then the hotel has to explore that idea.

To catch everyone’s attention and be able to enrich individuals from all different cultures, it is necessary to focus on similarities rather than differences and find an important unifying topic in common that would shape the concept of the project. Based on scientific facts of global warming, population growth and the evident challenges of tomorrow’s world such as lack of crops land (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009), food production was chosen as the unifying topic; it is a primary life sustaining need and therefore a global concern.

Moreover, gardening in a community atmosphere has multiple benefits on the coexistence of the individuals. Cooperative gardening raises community identity, provides inter-generational experience, and opportunities to meet neighbours. It also acts as a mediator for people from different backgrounds to work side-by-side on mutual goals without even the need to speak the same language (E. Peters & Kirby, 2008).

Therefore the aim of the project is to create a symbiotic synthesis between accommodation and plant food production. The Earth Up project is addressing the current global challenge and attracting various users by introducing high-yield three-dimensional farming structure in combination with hotel and dormitory facilities.

The typology is named a “dormstel” because it combines student dormitory with hotel accommodation, which ensures basic social mixture, a minimal variety of “stars.” Any person staying in there would have to spend more or less time working on the gardening, which guarantees communication among the inhabitants, learning new skills, sharing of knowledge and also affordability for anyone. The project is offering more “life chances” by giving the possibility to “earn” for the stay by working at the farming.

The yield would be sold directly at the plot in a restaurant and on a food market opened for broad public, engaging an even more diverse audience, which could then in a case of interest learn and work at the site as well.

Hence, the project is a catalyst for further engagement of the public not just with the source of their diet but also with the environmental issues such as climate change, overconsumption, and waste production, which are all related topics. The area works as a community itself and broadens the understanding of the term to the city, country, and the world.

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-EARTH UP-

A Dormstel for St. Gallen

If the cultures are as different, as Ralf Dahrendorf (2003) explains in his lectures, and solution for a successful coexistance is not just the politics of liberty but also a high level of life chances for everyone, then the hotel has to explore that idea.

Food production – nowadays widely forgotten in educational systems – is the unifying topic of the project, as the catalyst for fostering community, fighting climate change, and increasing our knowledge about this primary life-sustaining need.

Fig. 02 All-star Concept Poster

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A short inspirational spot made in 2010 by Danish tv2 named “All that we share” supports the all-star idea. It shows that it is not so hard to find similar characteristics among seemingly very unalike people and that the recipe for good communication and community feeling is to show the people, what they have in common (Leth, 2016).

Earth Up dormstel is a place, where one gets the life-important self‑sufficiency skills that are not taught in many educational systems.

Students are dealing mainly with the intangible, abstract things. Life itself, on the contrary, is sustained by material sources. This project aims to complete the knowledge gap and bring people to the source. It cares not just about production, but also about its complete sustainability, which is an overlooked aspect in common massive agriculture. The building itself is highly self-sufficient and earth-friendly, and in addition to that, it is fostering self‑sufficient and (eco‑)aware people.

Moreover, St. Gallen was founded as a monastery, which in essence is a community sharing the same beliefs, and working for common higher goals. The same could be said about this dormstel project, except the higher goals are not religious, but rather personal, social and environmental (modest earth usage, restoration, preservation, and self-sufficiency).

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Fig. 03-04 Captions from a short film “All that we share” (Leth, 2016)

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04.2 Outlook on the Future World Population Problematic

According to the World Population Prospects compiled by the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017), the world population is expected to grow in the following years, surpassing the current 7.5 billion people by 1 billion in 2030 and reaching over 11 billion in 2100.

One of the following questions that rises is about the food security.

According to the Global Harvest Initiative (Ziegler & Steensland, 2016), the world might suffer from food deficiency even earlier than in 2050, if the food productivity would not grow. The report states that the agricultural output will have to nearly double between 2010 and 2050, in order to meet the foreseen growing demand caused not only by the population growth but also by the economic rise of the developing countries. An article from March 2017 (M. M. Ziegler) argues that “a focus on improving agricultural productivity, not just total agricultural output, is the key to meeting global food demand while conserving natural resources.” Ms. Ziegler, executive director of Global Harvest Initiative, points out that “by focusing on productivity, we take a vital first step towards more sustainable food and agriculture systems while still keeping food available and affordable” and continues by clarifying that “productivity is not simply producing more food, or even achieving higher yields of crops. In agriculture, total factor productivity (TFP) is the ratio of agricultural outputs (gross crop and livestock output) to inputs (land, labor, fertilizer, feed, machinery and livestock).”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2009) published corresponding thoughts in an own report. One of the three leading pre-requisites for global food security states that “greater priority has to be given to agricultural research, development and extension services in order to achieve the yield and productivity gains that are needed to feed the world in 2050,” (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009, p. 15).

04.3 Vertical Farming

Vertical farming was specifically designed as a solution for the expected food crisis. The concept was for the first time introduced in 1999 at Columbia University. Already in 2015 80% of the land suitable for plant food production was in use, and therefore the plain Earth surface is expected not to be able to offer enough fertile land for feeding the humanity. That is where the vertical farming comes since the basic definition is an indoor planting in more than one storeys above each other. Besides, it is a food growing method minimizing the need for transportation and therefore also emissions of carbon dioxide, and it is less or not at all sensitive to the climatic changes. As an example, an “A-Go-Gro” system used in Singapore is an “A” shaped structure with rotating rows of lettuce. It uses water according to the first three “Rs” of a zero waste lifestyle — reduce, reuse and recycle. Each tower needs just one litre of water, and as a whole, the “factory” produces ten times more per unit land area than a traditional farm (Krishnamurthy, 2015).

The available types of agriculture systems could be divided into two categories – conventional field soil-based and soil-less farming. There are different soil-less systems such as aquaponics, hydroponics, aeroponics or even fogponics. Those solutions consume up to 95% less water and have lower, if some, use of pesticides compared to field cultivation, because they are closed in an indoor environment and usually highly controlled.

Aquaponics and hydroponics work both at the base of delivering nutrition to the plant’s roots just by water. In the case of aquaponics, there is a

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closed loop of water circulating between plants and tank with fish which are working in symbiosis, one fertilizing and the other cleaning the water.

Hydroponics use a liquid in/organic fertilizer dissolved in the irrigation water. Aeroponics do not have any growing medium, but also use water to transmit the nutrients, in this case, the roots are sprayed with a high pressure and should be closed from the outside to prevent the need for pesticides. Fogponics work as the same principle as the previous system, but use less pressure (Sengupta & Banerjee, 2012).

Hydroponics, which are the most suitable for the Earth Up project because of its simple, almost passive maintenance, are keeping the plant either entirely just in nutrient rich water or, if needed, contain support for the roots. That can be clay pellets, coconut husk chips, perlite, vermiculite, diatomite, charcoal, rock wool or as simple materials as sand or shredded newspaper (Sengupta & Banerjee, 2012).

Vertical farming, as any new, not yet time-tested proposal, has its opponents. Most of the critique is related to the fact that many of the farms use a CEA (controlled environment agriculture) technology. That means having a full control of the microenvironment, defining the perfect light, humidity, temperature and other conditions artificially (Association for Vertical Farming, 2016). That opens the possibility to question the economic profitability and environmental responsibility of vertical farms because the extra costs of lighting, heating, and similar could hardly be balanced by just reduction of transportation costs. Therefore, according to the opponents, it would be hard to justify using an economically valuable urban area for the location of the facility (Seven, 2015).

The Earth Up proposal aims to take the good of vertical farming while keeping the simplicity and low energy demands of a greenhouse by providing enough natural sunlight for all the plants to grow. The structure aims to minimize energy consumption and pesticides pollution and deliver fruits and vegetables in a closed loop system.

Fig. 05 A-Go-Gro vertical farming structures in Singapore (MND Singapore, n.d.)

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04.4 Further Research on the Project’s Potential Gardening and Plant Types

As A. Peters states in the description of the ReGen Village, developed by a California-based company of James Ehrlich and a Danish architecture studio Effekt, combination of systems often brings higher productivity and lowers the resources demand of the projects (A. Peters, 2016).

There are many strategies to optimize the growth of vegetables. To maximize the production some of the solutions include the use of the space in a vertical way, while some others rely on more conventional systems that are used for certain types of fruits. Due to space and light conditions, an urban project would rely on more than one strategy.

Potential garden types are:

VERTICAL

According to Abby Quillen (2015), one of the best ways for maximizing productivity in gardening is to go up. It is a strategy to grow plants vertically with the help of supports or surfaces, promoting thereby better yields. The benefits of this system compared to low, horizontal planting include fewer diseases of the plants while there are also fewer pesticides needed, weed becoming rarer, the diversity of plants contained in same space, better circulation of air through the plants, easier access for pollinators, and easier harvesting. Moreover, vertical plants can be also used to hide unwanted views (Quillen, 2015).

Plants that fit this gardening type: Peas, Hops, Pole Beans, Cucumbers, Watercress, Grapes, Vining, Summer squash or Gourds, Tomatoes, and small Melons (Quillen, 2015).

HYDROPONICS

According to Lucky Roots (“Benefits of Hydroponics,” n.d.), a company specialized in hydroponic services, hydroponics is a growing industry that makes it possible to garden where space is limited and where adequate land is not available.

With time, and now that the arable land is becoming harder to get, farmers are recognizing its potential. Besides this, plants use a considerable amount of energy for growing roots through the soil, therefore when being in water (and provided enough nutrients), the hydroponics promote 50% faster growth than the conventional soil‑based systems.

According to (Nichols, 2015), those are the plants that fit this gardening type: Strawberries, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Mint, Basil, Cabbage, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Basil, Carrots, Chives Cabbage, Mint, Corn, Beans, Squash, Legumes, Garlic, Onion.

POTS

Growing in pots is a versatile option because they can be moved wherever is needed. In case the plant would require more light, they could simply be pushed to a spot with more sunlight. Also, more variety can be grown because the plants can be placed next to each other even if they would have different soil needs. It is accessible to everyone, including children and people with reduced mobility, and no heavy equipment is required for maintenance (Gibson, n.d.).

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Plants that fit this gardening type: 10–15 cm: chives, lettuce, radishes, other salad greens, basil, coriander 15–20 cm: bush beans, garlic, kohlrabi, onions, Asian greens, peas, mint, thyme 20–25 cm: pole beans, carrots, chard, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, leeks, peppers, spinach, parsley, rosemary 25–30 cm: beets, broccoli, okra, potatoes, sweet corn, summer squash, dill, lemongrass (LaLiberte, 2017).

What can be grown as per Sunlight needs:

PART-SUN PLANTS

Any plant, which is grown for its leaves, has no problems to grow in partial shade (“Vegetables You Can Grow in The shade,” n.d.).

The types of plants that fit into this category are: Salad Greens, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Beets, Peas, Brussels Sprouts, Radishes, Swiss Chard, Collards, and Spinach (“Vegetables You Can Grow in The shade,” n.d.).

FULL-SUN PLANTS

Some plants require sun without blockage every day (6–8 hrs). To create a fruit after the flower blooms, some fruiting vegetables like, for example, the tomatoes, require a significant amount of sun. One of the best strategies to get to know which the best places with sunlight are during the day is to map the garden area during the day. Sun is required the most by the fastest growing vegetables because it is needed to generate starch and sugar in the structure of the plant (Norton, n.d.).

The types of plants that fit into this category are: Peppers, Peas, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Beans, Corn and Squash (Norton, n.d.).

MUSHROOMS

Growing mushrooms is a smart way of using spaces that are dark and cool. Although the spaces do not need to be completely dark, it is important that they are not too exposed to sunlight (Wiley, n.d.-a). An efficient and practical way to grow mushrooms is by reusing coffee grounds. It is placed in bags with small holes from which the mushrooms soon start to appear (Cairns, 2014).

The possible types of mushrooms that could be grown are: Crimini, Maitake, Portobello, Shiitake, White button, Oyster, Enoki (Wiley, n.d.-b).

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04.5 Hotel Typology

A HISTORY OF BUILDING TYPES (Pevsner, 1976)

Hotels in Europe developed out of the inns. Therefore there is no space given to the xenodochium of Classical Antiquity or eastern caravanserai in the typology book of Nikolaus Pevsner (1976). The publication is almost merely listing the first and prominent hotels without further typological analysis. The noble hotels were soon (in the 19th century) offering comfortable accommodation and social interaction in shared dining, breakfast, sitting, billiard, smoking, ladies’, tea and coffee rooms as well as a bar and a commerce areas of the hotel. The locations were mainly in important cities (London, Paris, Vienna), natural spring spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázní, St. Moritz) and sea/lake resorts. European hotels are in general smaller than American ones as they rarely have more than 300 bedrooms. Earlier hotels used to offer large family suites and rooms for single gentlemen.

The variations in hotel typology appeared after the WWII caused by increased mobility by car and also cheaper options such as camping sites, holiday camps, and motels, threatening the continuity of the first hotels (Pevsner, 1976).

SELECTED TEXTS ON THE HOTEL TYPOLOGY, ITS FUNCTIONS AND POSSIBLE REINTERPRETATIONS Bert Bielefeld (Ed.): Architektur planen: Dimensionen, Räume, Typologien (Bielefeld et al., 2016) The book “Architektur plannen” is divided into four chapters with a series of subchapters. The main parts (freely translated) are “Human Scale,” “Spaces,” “Typologies” and a “Reference Book.” The authors attempted to summarize all the relevant information about the different typologies, among others also a hotel. It starts with the basic proportions, functionality, planning parameters and functional schemes, and ends with recommendations on the size, equipment and floorplan distribution of single hotel rooms, kitchens, restrooms, lobbies, and so forth. All those references are based on the building norms referenced in the last chapter of the book.

It is reminded, that hotels and other lodgings are depending on living on the satisfaction of its guests and therefore have to be target-group oriented. Hence, the services and quality requirements have to be thought through in the first place, already during the conceptual planning stage. In Europe, hotels are united in a Hotrec organisation that provides a criteria catalogue for the classification within the five categories of one to five stars (Bielefeld et al., 2016).

Those data are meant for a traditional type of a hotel, but they are not intended to replace the creative process of architectural design.

Nevertheless, however innovative the design attempts to be, rational functionality has to remain as the principal interest. Any space has to be first able to fulfil its purpose before even trying to bring any added value.

The topic of an all-star hotel has many additional tasks to deal with, and therefore the functional part has to be solved simply and efficiently.

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Bernhard Seiter: Home Hotels or: Be your own guest!

(Seiter, 2016) Bernhard Seiter discusses in his text the advantages of living in a hotel and how would it be like to live in a hotel-like style, but being “your own guest”. He presents a concept of a “home hotel”, which would combine the advantages of a hotel arrangement with a lobby, bar and other facilities over a classical apartment house with anonymous separated flats. He points out the wasteful character of every single household having its own kitchen, dishwasher, and washing machine that are most of the time standing inactive. He expresses the idea that having some facilities shared and some, such as cleaning, prepaid, is actually beneficial not just for the users but also for the environment.

He advertises that this new way of living would offer the opportunity for the inhabitants to “brew their own mix of individuality and communality”.

Moreover, the shared/private and opened society, that would be created, “leads to more mutual understanding, more solidarity, more respect and fewer family neuroses” (Seiter, 2016, p. 33).

HOTEL BUSINESS STATISTIC OF ST. GALLEN FOR THE YEAR 2016 Total Arrivals (Nr.) 113’920 out of that: arrivals of foreign guests 43.2%

number of overnight stays 217‘180

overnight stays of foreign guests 43.6% hotel rooms 162‘852 (Fachstelle für Statistik – Kanton St.Gallen, 2015)

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04.6 Site Analysis

The project is located in St. Gallen, which lies at a central point between Bregenz, Konstanz, Zürich, and Appenzellerland. The city grew in glacier valley, which is in its narrowest just 400 m wide.

The shape of the city centre was largely defined by the topography and resulted in a wedge-like footprint pointing towards the Güterbahnhof site.

The plot is owned by SBB, and it is one of the last locations in the centre of St. Gallen that are still free for future development (Stadt St. Gallen, 2016b), in this case, an extension of the city’s heart.

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CITY CENTRE WEDGE Fig. 06

100m

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Rails played a major role in the city’s development. Particularly during the industrial era when St. Gallen became famous for its textiles and embroidery and even a direct connection from St. Gallen to Paris was built (“St. Gallen,” 2017). Towards the south-west go rails in direction Zürich, to the opposite side towards Bregenz, and the third line that is detaching from the main stream in Güterbahnhof goes to Appenzellerland. Nowadays the cargo station does not serve its purpose.

Rails are connecting the city with the world, but dividing it within as a strong barrier between neighbourhoods.

direction Zürich

CITY CENTRE WEDGE 26

direction Bregenz

direction Appenzell

CONNECTION TO THE WORLD Fig. 07

100m

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The topography of the valley naturally creates one sunny south-facing hillside and one shady side facing the opposite direction. During the industrial era, the city’s housing divided according to social classes with the wealthy manufacturers’ villas on the north and smaller labour houses on the south. This poor and rich areas meet in the middle of the valley, with Güterbahnhof right in between them. Hence, the cargo station plot is at an ideal position for the all-star topic.

CONNECTION TO THE WORLD 28

HISTORICAL DIVISION OF CLASSES Fig. 08

100m

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The plot itself is flat. From one side it is cut off with multi-line railways and a level difference, and the other side is defined by the beginning of the historically-labour hillside.

SWOT

30

CITY CENTRE WEDGE

Fig. 09

TERRAIN BORDER

SW

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GE

CONNECTION TO THE WORLD

The street system on the plot is simple; there is just one road going longitudinally through the plot. There are parallel rails on a lower level and parallel street on six meters higher level.

TERRAIN BORDER

SWOT

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HISTORICAL DIVISION OF CLASSES

Fig. 10

CONNECTING STREET SYSTEM

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SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS — CONNECTIVITY Among the strengths of the location can be counted the outstanding railway connectivity and the area’s position as a part of the city centre, at the same axis as the main train station.

SWOT

Fig. 11 Strengths

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- CONNECTIVITY -Existing railtracks as a connection to other towns -The plot is located in same axis as HBF and it is part of the City Center

WEAKNESSES — ISOLATION Weaknesses are partially derived from the same aspects as strengths.

The plot is disconnected from its surroundings, isolated by rails and Güterbahnhof building from one side, large houses from another side and by hillside from the last side of the triangular plot. Physical and visual barriers are keeping the plot as an island of only two possible entrances, where people rarely pass through or even can see it.

Fig. 12 Weaknesses

- DISCONNECTIVITY -Large houses and the train station create a physical and visual barrier to the plot. Only two entrance points are possible.

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OPPORTUNITIES — M2, CARGO AND HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE The size of the plot offers the possibility to do a meaningful project in urban scale. Moreover, Güterbahnhof building has the historical relevance due to its role in the export and import of products that can give it significance even nowadays. Besides, the cargo infrastructure is ready to be used again.

WOT

m2

Fig. 13 Opportunities

- M2, CARGO AND HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE -The free m2 of this plot are very valuable due to the fact that this is the last empty plot that belongs to the City Center.

-The cargo insfrastructure is ready to be used.

-The train station building has had an iconic importance for the city through time due its role in the export and import of products.

n

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THREATS — NOISE, HIGHWAY AND LEVEL DIFFERENCE One of the threats is a planned exit of underground highway that can block the entrance to the site (Kanton St. Gallen, 2014) when the level difference separates the plot from the city grid already nowadays.

Also, higher frequency of passing cars together with the rails would build a noise pollution.

Fig. 14 Threats

- NOISE, HIGHWAY AND LEVEL DIFFERENCE -The passing trains create noise pollution.

-The future highway increases the disconnection of the plot with the surroundings.

-The difference of level to the neighbour street separates the plot from the city grid.

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PHOTOS FROM THE SITE Fig. 15-18

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39

Fig. 19-22

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41

Fig. 23-26

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43

Fig. 27-30

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05. Project Design 05.1 Intentions

BORDERLINE

Based on the site analysis, it is clear that the plot is dealing with physical and abstract borders on different levels. Nevertheless, a line is not just a line, and a border is also a transition. It is not a coincidence that the most interesting things in nature happen right along the edges, at the borderlines of different ecosystems. This effect occurs not just in nature (the theory of edge effect in permaculture (Permaculture Food Forest, 2016; The Permaculture Research Institute, 2017)) but also in society (Brown, 2013).

Maximizing edges of the borderlines creates more life environment for more different opportunities. In architecture and a levelled situation, the edges do not have to happen just in a 2D floor-plan level, but also in a 3D section area. By overlapping and diversifying, both areas get enlarged and profit.

CAPACITY

The optimal capacity of the project was defined by the so-called Dunbar’s number, which is a “suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships” (Dunbar, 1992).

Further studies on that theory indicate that an optimal size of an enterprise group called the “non-exclusive Dunbar’s number” consists of maximum 75 people. Such a group contains the diversity and wisdom of the crowd while still being self-manageable (Allen, 2008). Therefore, there is a maximum of 75 students managing the Earth Up and a corresponding number of hotel guests.

Fig. 31 Border as a transition

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ORGANIZATION

There are three categories of users in the project: Students — semi-permanent living Hotel guests — travellers, tourists, refugees (temporal living), source of finance for the community (besides profit from the harvest) St. Gallen citizens — short term visitors that come to learn, share, consume and shop.

Redistribution or uneven reward for work does not motivate people (Laqueur, 2006). Therefore, there is no one staying for free in the Earth Up dormstel. Nevertheless, there are different forms of capital, contribution, and levels of responsibilities that would affect the “cost” of the stay.

Students get their place in the dormstel based on their motivation. They do not pay for their stay but become part of the community, which requires contributing to the operation of the area. The building is run by the students; they are the spine of the project. Each of them has to give their time — as in 35% job, each of them has his/her tasks that have to be done, the positions are rotating, so that everyone gets to know everything. There is the building administration, dormitory and hotel administration, planting, harvesting and storing, café and hotel buffet responsibles and hotel cleaning crew. Therefore, students are getting skills not just in planting, using, and storing of the harvest, but also getting their experience in having a responsibility, learning from each other, organizing a community, running a business, and more.

Short term guests come to the hotel to learn about food production, because of their sustainable awareness, to share their ideas and knowledge with the dormstel community, and possibly also because of the chance of cheaper accommodation costs.

Tutors are regularly invited by the student community to ensure that the level of knowledge and organisation does not drop as it is passed from elder students to the newer ones.

Fig. 32 A cycle held together by the students

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05.2 Project Schemes – Spatial Solution

05.2.1 The project is composed as multi-storey greenhouses with hotel and dormitory rooms loosely distributed inside. The design follows the rules of sun and shadow conditions, to ensure enough sunlight for planting. The bars are oriented in a south-north direction to ensure even distribution of sunlight on the main façades and minimize shadows in between the structures. Separation from the Güterbahnhof at the south-west allows the use of cargo loading area, separation at the south-east from the neighbouring building is avoiding the shady area while moving there the only street of the plot. Building height respects height of surrounding buildings.

1:2000 21 March 10:30

- GLASSHOUSES LOCATION -The Glasshouses' spacing and separation from the edges reduces shadows from neighbour buildings.

-The West separation to the train station allows the use of the cargo loading area.

-Building height respects height of surrounding buildings.

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Fig. 33 Scheme for 05.2.1 Shadows of 21st March, 10:30

05.2.2 The rail station is reactivated through a creation of new program — cargo and passenger train station, food market/event space, exhibition space and library focused on food production, climate change, and other sustainability topics.

1:2000

Fig. 34 Scheme for 05.2.2

- RAIL STATION REACTIVATON -The RS is reactivated through the creation of new program; Library, Exhibition/Gallery, Food Market/Mutifunctional space, Passenger/Cargo Train Station.

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05.3.3 The greenhouses stretch to reach the GĂźterbahnhof building, connecting this way not only in a programmatic way but also physically. Two of the northern bars have even a vertical connection to the old building through a spiral staircase.

1:2000

- NEW CONNECTIONS -The Greehouses stretch to reach the RS building, merging this way not only in a programmatic way, but also physically.

-The extension creates a visual connection with the city.

-At the upper street level, the Greenhouses operate as an extension of the existing home gardens.

-The Greenhouses break in GF to allow the circulations of pedestrians, bicycles and cars.

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Fig. 35 Scheme for 05.3.3

05.3.4 Planting is present in all the bars, the dormitory, hotel and some of the indoor public program is loosely distributed in the above-ground floors of the central bars, hotel rooms red, dormitory dark green. The heart of the plot opens in a plaza linked to the Main train station of St. Gallen by newly proposed bicycle path reusing the old Appenzeller train rail tracks.

1:2000, 1:5000

Fig. 36 Scheme for 05.3.4

- DORMSTEL AND HBF CONNECTION -The Hotel (red) and Dormitory (Green) are located at the central Greenhouses, spread along the upper floors.

-The Heart of the plot gives place to an open-air plaza linked to the Main Rail Station (HBF) through a path that reuses the old rail tracks.

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%

05.3.5 Horizontal and vertical circulations integrate the project with the surrounding as much as possible. On the ground floor, the main axis meet at the central plaza. All spaces are accessible also for handicapped.

T01 T11 T21 T31

1:2000

- CIRCULATIONS -The program on the Greenhouses is linked with horizontal circulations, and on upper levels with bridges.

-On ground floor, the main axes meet at the central plaza.

-Vertical connections link all levels and the Rail Station building.

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Fig. 37 Scheme for 05.3.5

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05.3.6 The concept of the outdoor green areas is to create a second layer with an organic pattern. They operate together with the circulations and allow the users to move instinctively through the project area.

T01 T11 T21 T31

1:2000

Fig. 38 Scheme for 05.3.6

- GREEN AREAS -The concept of the Green areas is to create a secondary layer with an organic pattern. They operate together with the circulations and allow the user to move in an instinctive way through the project area.

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05.3 Situation

Today, the plot is mostly an unused space partially perceived as a barrier.

It not only has the rails from one side, but also a small hill and buildings that disconnect it from the urban grid of the rest of the city on the other side.

With the dormstel, this space becomes a continuation of the grid of houses, an extension of the small cultivation areas that the houses of the hill have, and also a connection to the city centre. The dormstel offers the opportunity to surprise and give a new perspective to the daily walking through the city.

Because the proposed highway is going to occupy the main entrance of the plot, there are new connections created. The most visible one, the new pedestrian and bicycle path, goes from HBf to Güterbahnhof in place of the current rails of the Appenzeller train that will be repositioned due to the proposed highway exit.

Fig. 39 Situation

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% Library

E-17

LUIS2

Exhibition / Education

Food market / Flexible space

A

Bakery / CafĂŠ

B

Train station

E-03

Hotel lobby

Train - truck cargo transfer

outside eating (dormitory) space

D 112 Bikes garage

8

E-03

Outside gym

E

F

Compost

G

Vegetable cellar

N

H

SITUATION 1:1000

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05.4 Earth Up in m2 m2 Overview Area

m2

GĂźterbahnhof building

5575

Platform

2513

Plot (without GĂźterbahnhof Area)

15463

Productive Area (plot surface with sunlight)

14903

Plot Built Area (Dormstel+Greenhouse GF)

2701

Dormstel Shared Spaces and Amenities

898

Hotel Area (35 Rooms)

770

Dorms Area (25 double + 25 single rooms)

875

Gross Floor Area (Dormstel+Greenhouse)

16491

Total Earth Up Greenhouse Productive Area

34289.8

Equivalent Productive Area in Conventional Gardening

102869.4

Productivity Comparison - Conventional Garden vs. Earth Up Greenhouse Conventional Garden Area of Conventional Garden to feed 1 person during a year under a vegetarian diet

370

Circulations (100%)

370

Total/Person

740

Productive Area (Plot) Sustained Persons/Year

14903 20

Earth Up Greenhouse Area of Conventional Garden to feed 1 person during a year under a vegetarian diet Circulations(64%) Total/Person Productive Area Sustained Persons/Year

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370 237 607 102869 170

Fig. 40 Shadow study

A shadow study shows the shadiest and most sunny areas during the whole year, at all times of the day.

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One of the main challenges at the start of the project was to determine whether the plot could host living spaces and gardening and the same time, while still being able to have a reasonable productivity. Besides this, the plot is surrounded by tall buildings which could be a potential threat regarding shadows on the project.

Considering the shadows that are affecting the plot during the year, the area in which plants could be grown is 14,903 m2. This area is also based on the assumption that the whole plot would be used for gardening, and that no main circulation or living spaces/constructions would be created. The challenge then was to bring a solution that could allow to maintain or increase the production in the plot, while having the possibility of establishing living spaces, meeting areas and efficient distribution of the main circulations through the plot. The new buildings, which host the greenhouses, the living areas, amenities and other shared spaces represent a footprint of 2,701 m2. The hotel rooms (which are composed of 35 units), the dormitory rooms (which consist of 50 rooms) and the shared spaces and amenities represent 2,543 m2 and are distributed throughout the different buildings. Altogether, the dormstel spaces and the gardening areas represent 16,491m2.

According to Wayne (2014), from GrowVeg (a company based in the UK specialized in creating applications for the planning of gardens), one of the most frequent questions from people regarding gardening is the amount of vegetables that needs to be grown to sustain our diet. As an answer to this, he explains that many factors determine the amount of vegetables that should be cultivated; the vegetables that are mostly consumed by someone are not the same as for another person. That means that the type of vegetables that one likes is one of the first considerations. Also, the available farming space is another condition, but it can always be made more efficient by using different strategies.

Equivalent Productive Area in Conventional Gardening (can sustain 170 Persons with a Vegetarian Diet 607 m2/person) 102,869 m2

Plot 15,463 m2

Productive Area 14,903 m2

Plot Area without existing train station building

Potential Green Productive Area with sunlight

Built 2,701 m2 Plot Built Area

Gross Floor Area 16,491 m2

Total Earth Up Built Area

Total Greenhouse Productive Area 34,289 m2 HDSA 2,543 m2 Hotel, Dorms, Shared Spaces and Amenities Areas

-EARTH UP IN M2-

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Fig. 41 Comparison of areas

In the case of the Earth Up greenhouses, one of the first strategies to make the best out of the space was to do an analysis of the shadows that would be affecting the built structures. Once these shadows were measured, a selection of different types of plants took place. They were distributed per amount of required sunlight, thus making considerable feasibility conclusions regarding the productivity of the system. This arrangement was then combined with innovative ways in which the plants can be distributed through the space. Since the beginning, the project was formulated as a 3D gardening grid, which means that the potential of the space is not only used in m2 but also in m3. The plants are distributed in not only more levels on top of each other, but also in cables and high hydroponic structures that improve the space usage. This innovative way of gardening maximizes the productivity, allowing a total of 34,289 m2.

The last aspect to be considered to evaluate the farming performance of the project was the capability of the greenhouses to allow multiple harvests during the year. Because of the more stable temperature inside the structure, the proposal is comparable to a 102,869 m2 of a productive area in a conventional gardening.

According to Wayne (2014), in a conventional garden, the space that a person needs to grow enough vegetables for a year (with a vegetarian diet) is 370 m2 plus another 370 m2 of space dedicated to circulations. In the case of the productive area of our plot (14,903 m2), that would represent a total production capable of sustaining 20 persons per year. In Earth Up, besides the maximization of the yields through better temperature control, usage of permaculture principles and innovative distribution, the greenhouses of the proposal allow a reduction in the circulations and therefore a total production capable to sustain 170 persons per year.

This means that even if the hotel and dormitory would be operating at their full capacity, and all the guests and students would live only on a vegetarian diet, there would be enough production to sustain them and even have extra for selling at the food market.

The benefits of being able to produce food right at the place of consumption are considerable; the transportation costs are cut, the ecological footprint is minimized, the production is transparent, and knowledge about this primary topic is increased. Fields nowadays are mostly found far away from the city, and in any other cases, the vegetables and fruits that cannot be produced in situ come from the other side of the world. In other cases, the production is simply not enough and therefore it needs to be bought from external providers. This type of problems could be considerably minimized or even solved if projects like Earth up would be distributed through different points in the city. People from the neighbourhood would then be able to buy the vegetables from them or even rent a space to grow their own.

Earth up offers a symbiotic solution for a challenge that we need to face ahead, which is the lack of food throughout the whole world. Population is constantly increasing, and it is forecasted that in the future there will not be enough food to sustain the huge amount of people living on Earth, due to the fact that most of the land is already being farmed (“UN: farmers must produce 70% more food by 2050 to feed population,” 2011). Symbiotic relationships have proved to be one of the most efficient ways of achieving

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results since both parts benefit from their interaction. In Earth Up, the people take care of the plants that surround them, and in exchange, they get better air conditions and fruits and vegetables without the need of traveling far to get them.

Industrialization made long distance traveling possible, and people have been getting used to this type of lifestyle, where one can get mangos or bananas even if not living in a warm climate. The consequences of this lifestyle are significant for the environment, and the quality of the fruits is lower because many times they finish the growing process inside a container in a boat or truck on their way to the point of consumption, without any contact with natural sunlight. Technology that is provided by greenhouses is a significant advantage because the production is not only bigger but also the vegetables and fruits are of great quality and some them, which normally grow just in warmer places, can also be planted. The interconnected world in which we live nowadays might not be able to change this long distance traveling entirely, but projects like this can make a significant reduction.

For this reasons, Earth up is not only a project that makes a specific design proposal for St. Gallen, but also a project that promotes the integration of the gardening to the city. Not as a separate growing space, but rather as an integrated one. Nowadays having food so easily reachable makes it seem like something that is not so important, but it is indeed one of the most basic needs for humans. Growing our own food and being more aware of it not only allows us to make better use of it, but also reminds us of our human nature; about how necessary it is, and that we are all the same under this aspect. Therefore, it would be helpful to have it reachable and know more about it. In many educational systems, food production and simply food itself are greatly forgotten. Earth up reminds us of the potential of it, and therefore the educational aspect of the project could also help to inspire governments to explore this topic in the classrooms.

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05.7 Program

FOOD PRODUCTION productive garden – soil based pots, climbers, soil less hydroponics powered by liquid compost fertilizer, oyster mushrooms (hanging “boxing” sacks) – minimizes energy consumption and pollution and delivers fruits and vegetables in a closed loop. rentable soil based pots for public orchards “show crop” in front of plaza underground yield storage (cellar) city compost tools shed DORMITORY single and double rooms shared bathrooms shared kitchen with dining and terrace screening/dining common space shared with the hotel bike garage HOTEL lobby double hotel rooms roof kitchen overlooking the movement of trains roof terrace screening/dining common space shared with dormitory bike rent breakfast bar beside “show crop” backstage: administration, cleaning, washing, storage GÜTERBAHNHOF BUILDING train station with bakery/café food market (glass house yield + local farmer’s) / flexible events space gallery with seminar rooms library with double height study space + reading lounge and caffeine bar with open roof terrace in a connected new building OTHER PUBLIC restaurants + bulk shops with “ultra-local food” sky bar outdoor gym

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05.8 Temperature Control inside the Greenhouses

05.9 About the Dormstel

One of the main features of the greenhouses is that they regulate the temperature inside the place to provide an optimal environment for the plants and at the same time an improved comfort for the people living within.

The windows are designed in a way that enables them to be partially or completely opened to allow a faster temperature exchange with the exterior.

Also, the air space through the centre of the structures allows a stack effect that efficiently moves fresh air through the buildings while at the same time enables the exit of old air. As commented in an article published by The state University of North Carolina (NCSU, n.d.), the stack effect happens both in Winter and in Summer, because the warm air has lower density and is, therefore, lighter than the cold one. When needed, a bigger air exchange can happen through the windows of all floors, which can be fully opened when needed.

Green plants such as trees use the CO2 from the air and convert it into sugars that represent a source of energy. As a consequence of this process, oxygen is released. This is very important because trees represent the 90% of the land-based biomass. A fungus called Laccaria bicolor grows on the roots of trees and allows them to grow better and faster. This situation brings benefits for both parts because the presence of the fungus keeps away parasites in the dirt and makes it easier for the tree to absorb some rare nutrients like nitrogen or phosphates. In exchange, the fungus lives on the sugars found in the roots. These symbiotic procedures are essential for plants and trees because 85% of all of them rely on this kind of techniques to grow (Staff Writers, 2008).

This example of symbiosis illustrates what happens in the dormstel between the plants themselves and also plants and the residents. The plants are located at both sides of the rooms and are used as a natural insulation, as privacy, as shades, and for the calming atmosphere that they provide. In the other direction, the plants benefit from the heat that is generated in winter by the persons that live in the spaces, while also providing the possibility to have a more direct care in the gardening areas.

The concept of the dormstel revolves around the idea of creating living spaces bounded with the life at the greenhouses, which brings a wide number of benefits to both areas. Most of the rooms are located at the central bars; on the east side, close to the main plaza where the hotel lobby is located, are the double rooms of the hotel, and at the west part of the project are the single and double rooms that belong to the dormitory. The bar located in the middle is a mixed one and allows a closer interaction between the students and the people that come as guests to the hotel. The bars located at the east and west entrances operate as buffer areas that provide some privacy to the living spaces within the project.

The Ground floor in all the bars is mostly conceived as retail and common areas, storage areas, and a bicycle garage. The first level in all the bars is given to the exclusive purpose of the gardening, this way, the upper levels are dedicated to the rooms, achieving, therefore, additional privacy.

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The uppermost floor of the bars is designated to common shared areas and other amenities of the dormstel. The kitchens for the hotel and the dormitory are at this level, and at the East side (Building B) an appendix to the library of the GĂźterbahnhof is located. This addition to the library is open to residents of the dormstel and the visitors. It has a reading lounge, magazines section, cafĂŠ, teamworking area, and a terrace, as well as connecting corridors that allow the users to have a closer look to the greenhouse double height gardening spaces.

THE CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE

The construction technique is based on a prefabricated module system.

Each module has the potential to be a bedroom, a living room, a restaurant or a gardening space. The modularity enables to produce the parts in a cost effective way. The material used for the main structure is steel because this way the disassembling or recycling is possible.

The buildings have primary and secondary structures consisting of standardized columns and beams. Cantilevered parts or longer spans are constructed with a Vierendeel construction system. The façade windows are fixed with a frame to the construction. Insulated hotel and dormitory rooms follow the modular system and rely on only a few partitions to define the space.

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05.10 About the 3D Gardening in Earth Up

If food production is to be introduced within the area of a city, how to do it without using too much space and creating a grid that would resemble “urban sprawl”? Urban sprawl has been diagnosed as one of the main reasons for inefficiency in the cities (Green, 2011). Today, for example, places like Manhattan managed to optimize the land resources thanks to the compact format. If we compare for instance the land that is used by built areas in Manhattan, and then we compare it to the amount of greenery (Central Park), we can understand why this makes sense.

On the other hand, places like Ciudad Neza in Mexico City have developed in such a way that the houses have insignificant green spaces, which in some cases have no direct sunlight at all and cannot be used for recreation nor food production. The area that Ciudad Neza uses is equivalent to the one of Manhattan, with the only difference regarding green spaces that Manhattan has a central green park and Ciudad Neza has no central space and therefore basically no greenery at all.

The gardening in the dormstel operates on a 3D grid. It has a similar distribution to the one used in ordinary crop lands but with the difference that the grid is distributed vertically as well. There is almost the same type of corridor that is found in the conventional field grid, but this is located on up to 5 different levels. The corridors are also made more efficient thanks to the principles of permaculture that allow having a much more successful collection of the fruits and vegetables and the density is higher thanks to the symbiotic accommodation of the plants. Moreover, the order of the plants and how accessible they are is done according to permaculture principles.

The vegetables that are picked up more often are located in the most accessible areas, and the ones that require less work or that produce fewer fruits are located in more distant spaces (“Permaculture - Plants,” n.d., “Permaculture Design Principles,” n.d.).

The project explores the potential of green spaces as not only the main provider of such a basic need like food, but also different ways in which they can produce more efficiently and be used for other functions like shading, privacy, and lungs within the city. After the detailed analysis of shadows took place, and the buildings were optimized to get the required amount of sunlight, a strategy for the location of the different plant species took place.

Regarding solar irradiance, the distribution and orientation of the gardening structures are set to maximize the amount of sun that they receive. Since the structures are designed with gardening on both sides of the façade, the sun from the morning shines directly on one side and the evening one to the other side. The air can flow freely between the levels so that during hot days, the occupants can control the micro-climate conditions by opening of the upper or bottom windows as needed.

In the sunniest part, which is located at the top of the buildings, are located large hydroponic structures. The area with more incidence of sun rays is dedicated to these types of plants because this way enough light reaches even the lowest part of the shelves. This structures occupy a double height space and have an “A” Shape which guarantees a more even distribution of the sunlight. Also, a small engine rotates the shelves constantly to ensure

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Fig. 42 Ciudad Neza, Mexico City, (Cruz, 2015)

Fig. 43 Central Park, New York, (“Central Park,” n.d.)

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equal conditions for all the shelves. The hydroponic plants are supplied with a water enriched with an organic fertilizer that is made from the compost. Moreover, in these floors, three of the structures end up above the roof of the old train station. From this high strategic point, one can look at St. Gallen all around and also can be seen from many points of the city. This way the structures will become a reference of the contemporary thinking; of societies that start to look for new solutions to the challenges that humanity and the world are facing.

Located in some cases on the same level, the next type of gardens are the “climbers.” The climbers are vertical gardens that grow around cables, like peas or beans. They are located on this floor because some of this plants can grow up to the ceiling, which significantly reduces the amount of light that goes through. The rows of plants are spaced enough so that the harvesting is easy and all the plants are reachable.

Under this level, the raised beds (pots) containing “full sun” plants are found.

These pots are in three positions, all of them reachable for collection and maintenance. Their position was given by drawing a line from the sunlight that comes in through the windows. The pots are also movable, that means that in such a case that the distribution would have to be changed they can be pushed to a new location. Enough sunlight for the raised beds is provided in the interior of the building through an additional percentage of light that enters through the glass roof.

The next level of sunlight is where the “partial sun” plants are found. These are plants that will find themselves partially with shadow during the year.

They are located on the floor and in higher secondary levels, same as the full-sun pots.

The last level of sunlight are the full-shade-loving mushrooms. Mushrooms, although they do not like complete darkness, require very little sunlight and therefore they are in the parts of the project which are inside the terrain in the back of the buildings close to the neighbouring family houses, above food cellar storages. This arrangement allows the space to have a good level of humidity and provide just the right amount of sunlight that needed to grow.

The D, G and H buildings adjacent to the family houses offer rentable gardening spaces for anyone interested. Those are kept as traditional raised beds for soil-based gardening, which people are familiar with and can, therefore, make better use of.

This plants distribution allows the greenhouse to keep a maximum production, while also having a balanced diversity of plants. Although the greenhouse provides with a much more stable weather for the plants to grow, the diversity allows the system to keep operating successfully even if the temperature conditions would change beyond expected.

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CLIM

2x HEIGH

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Fig. 45 Garden typologies and location criteria

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05.11 About the Güterbahnhof

One of the main reasons for keeping the old building of the cargo train station was because although it is to some extent abandoned, it is still in good conditions and it can be reactivated by the creation of a new program, partial reconstruction and renovation of the finishes. Nowadays many buildings are demolished and rebuilt due to profit purposes; nonetheless, the sustainability objectives of this proposal starts with the very first point of reusing this building innovatively. This approach would not only mean that the iconic value of the building is kept, but also its interior height makes it a perfect space to be used for different program activities.

The reactivated passengers and cargo train station connects the project to the rail tracks and therefore with the exterior; it makes the Earth Up concept shareable and accessible by anyone that would like to take part, reinforcing this way the idea of an all-star accommodation. It would also allow a reconnection to the potential of the rail tracks as a point in which goods are exchanged and where people could have the opportunity to buy directly from the source. This actions would reduce the footprint of the products that normally would have to continue traveling to a second or third destination.

In the other hand, the train station building does not operate as an addition to the project, but rather as a vital part of it. It is the place where many of the community activities would take place. For instance, the food market would be used as a space where to sell the harvested fruits and vegetables, and this area is also a multifunctional space that allows all kinds of performances to happen. At the northeast side, a new library with a double height study space would be the location where the knowledge generated at Earth Up would be stored and shared, promoting topics related to sustainability, diversity, inclusivity, gardening, community, and similar. The dormstel is also a place where all type of people come to share and experience the community living and learn to live responsibly by understanding the outputs of their actions and choices. Every insight is different from each other, and it is worth sharing. Furthermore, the dormstel is a place where continuous research on environmental issues and food production practice will be developed, and therefore the production of content to share will be constant.

Between the food market and the library is located a gallery with exhibition spaces and seminar rooms, which would be used by guests, students and any person that would like to learn more, not just about the Earth Up all-star concept. Between the food market hall and the gallery a street is opened and goes through the building, connecting the pedestrian and bicycle path coming from the main train station directly to the central plaza. Besides the communications at the ground floor, the bars are attached to the train station building by spiral staircases that bind the old and new together.

One staircase arrives into the gallery, creating that way an extended exhibition area, other arrives into the library and offers the additional spaces previously described in the dormstel chapter.

Fig. 46 Combined floorplan, Güterbahnhof

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05.12 About the Spaces in-between

The meeting points that are created inside of the project are also essential for the operation of the whole project. At the centre, the main square is the point where the main circulations of the train station and the Dormstel meet. It is a plaza which is connected to the main path that connects with St. Gallen’s main train station through the path that was created by reusing the existing space that occupies the rail tracks of the train to Appenzell. Other parts of the program that merge at this point are the hotel lobby, the restaurant, the shops, the motor lobby, the market and the multifunctional area.

Reading lounge

Secondary meeting spaces are created in the section of the dorms, where a small restaurant and an outside gym are provided, and at the north-east entrance, where the green areas guide the pedestrians through open spaces around the buildings’ ground floor open and retail areas.

Magazines

+16.500

Along the south-east side of the plot remains the former rail of Appenzeller train. It is reused for on-site transportation of e.g. yield and compost soil by a rail bike.

Double height hydroponics

Teamworking space

Library

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06. Plans and Drawings 06.1 Floor Plans

This plan is a combined floor plan showing different selected floors of the buildings. For better orientation, there are not just the floor levels written, but there is a section line drawn in the transversal section below, showing in which floor is which building cut.

Fig. 47 Combined floor plan

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% Reading lounge

Magazines

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Double height hydroponics

Teamworking space

Library

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outside eating (dormitory) space

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±0.0008

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Compost

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Vegetable cellar

Ground Floor

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Food market / Flexible space

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Fig. 48

Cut-out of Combined Floor plan 1/2

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Magazines

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Compost

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Cut-out of Combined Floor plan 2/2

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06.2 Sections

The project does not separate the accommodation from the food production, not only the corridors are shared, but also vertical connections, e.g. lifts are big enough to be used for both purposes. As a whole, it is a transparent hotel with transparent food production and preparation.

Spiral staircases as vertical connections are placed where the new structures hang above the rail station building, binding the old and new buildings together. It connects the library with reading lounge and caffeine bar, and exhibition/education space with greenhouse and hotel areas.

There are rainwater containers in the upper floors, to ensure sufficient pressure for irrigation inside the building. Electricity supply for the area comes from transparent Photo Voltaic cells embedded in the inclined glass roofs. Rooms operate as insulated modules inserted inside the planting area, with their own heat and light regulation through fluid glass windows.

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Fig. 50 Cut-out of D-Axis, Elevation

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+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +19.500 +4.500 6th floor 1st Floor +16.500 5th Floor ±0.000 +13.500Floor Groud 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

D-Axis, West Elevation 1

±0.000 Groud Floor

D-Axis, West Elevation 1

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±0.000 Groud Floor +19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor

Güterbahnhof Elevation 1

+10.500 3rd Floor

Fig. 51 Güterbahnhof, Elevation

+7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

±0.000 Groud Floor

Güterbahnhof Elevation 1

+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +19.500 +4.500 6th floor 1st Floor +16.500 5th Floor ±0.000 +13.500 Groud Floor 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

F-Axis, Section 1:200

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Fig. 52 F-Axis, Section

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+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +19.500 +4.500 6th floor 1st Floor +16.500 5th Floor ±0.000 +13.500 Groud Floor 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

vation 1:200

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evation 1:300

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on 1:200

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+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

±0.000 Groud Floor

Fig. 53 D-Axis, West Elevation

+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

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±0.000 Groud Floor

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+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

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st Elevation 1:200

+19.500 6th floor +16.500 5th Floor +13.500 4th Floor +10.500 3rd Floor +7.500 2nd Floor +4.500 1st Floor

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±0.000 Groud Floor

06.3 Visualizations

Fig. 54 View from the bridge crossing the rails

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The project can be seen from every person that uses the trains thanks to the Earth Up greenhouses peaking over the Güterbahnhof building. That way it is creating an advertising node and curiosity in the observer and an identity of St. Gallen on arrival by train.

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Fig. 55 View on arrival to the central plaza from the south

Façade windows are fully openable for the summer. In colder season or the case of rain, the old air goes out through windows in the vertical parts of the roof.

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Fig. 56 View from the upper street with family houses

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Fig. 57 Upper street with family houses

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Fig. 58 Inside the Earth Up, gardening and rooms next to each other

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06.4 Models Fig. 59-62 1:500 Site model

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Fig. 63-64 1:500 Site model zoom-in

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Fig. 65 1:50 Section model

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Fig. 66-69 1:50 Section model

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Final Considerations The research question asked in the beginning embedded two aspects that needed to be addressed by the project. The first was about the social dimension of an all-star concept, while the second asked to contribute to the food security of growing world population. Both of those elements were answered with Earth Up, an open and transparent proposal that operates as a symbiotic combination of student dormitory, hotel, and greenhouses.

The question of successful coexistence of people with different cultural identities was approached by a review of sociological and political literature written on these topics. Based on those theories, it was concluded that the key for a peaceful and mutually enriching cooperation is in finding and promoting a unifying topic in common. It is evident that social interaction between people from different groups is one of the today’s challenges.

Nevertheless, it is also clear that we are all related through common topics that define humanity, such as the primary needs including food, security, shelter, and similar (“primary needs,” 2017).

Research suggests that contemporary food supply challenges require a shift in the food production process towards one that consumes less space and is more efficient. Future food shortage is everyone’s concern, and therefore it was identified in this project as the optimal unifying goal capable of making communities stronger and making them more resilient. The project will not be able to sustain the food production of the everyday food of every person in town, but certainly, it is committed to make a difference and inspire others.

The concept of Earth up trespasses the borders of the city, and therefore in a different form, it could also be applied at other locations. Nevertheless, it fits especially St. Gallen because of the intangible character of its economy.

Besides that, due to a higher altitude, the glass house is a beneficial technique to maximize production and extend the growing season. In this way, food production can have its place within the city fabric, and vertical gardening can be in symbiotic relationship with accommodation and urban functions.

Today even the world’s most educated countries still face integration issues among their citizens and with other nationalities. To tackle the problematic, it is important to acknowledge and be aware of these difficulties. Although Earth Up is based on real evidence and studies regarding integration and food production, it leaves the doors open for similar built proposals to happen and provide a wider perspective of the aspects that could be changed or reinforced. World societies will continue evolving, and therefore the search for better ways to deal with our individual and collective challenges should remain open, ambitious, and constant.

Further research would deal with the optimization of the construction as a finished element and its process. The life cycle analysis of the materials is an essential part when it comes to the assessment of the sustainability of the construction. It is not only important that the material performs well after the construction is finished but that rather the origin and destination of it is coherent with the proposal.

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LIST OF FIGURES

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Fig. 1

First analysis of St. Gallen by sketching, by author

Fig. 2

All-star Concept Poster, by author

Fig. 3-4

Captions from a short film “All that we share” (Leth, 2016)

Fig. 5

A-Go-Gro vertical farming structures in Singapore (MND Singapore, n.d.)

Fig. 6

City centre wedge, by author

Fig. 7

Connection to the world, by author

Fig. 8

Historical division of classes, by author

Fig. 9

Terrain border, by author

Fig. 10

Connecting street system, by author

Fig. 11

Strengths, by author

Fig. 12

Weaknesses, by author

Fig. 13

Opportunities, by author

Fig. 14

Threats, by author

Fig. 15-30

Photos from the site, by author

Fig. 31

Border as a transition, by author

Fig. 32

A cycle held together by the students, by author

Fig. 33

Scheme for 05.2.1, Shadows of 21st March, 10:30, by author

Fig. 34

Scheme for 05.2.2, by author

Fig. 35

Scheme for 05.3.3, by author

Fig. 36

Scheme for 05.3.4, by author

Fig. 37

Scheme for 05.3.5, by author

Fig. 38

Scheme for 05.3.6, by author

Fig. 39

Situation, by author

Fig. 40

Shadow study, by author

Fig. 41

Comparison of areas, by author

Fig. 42

Ciudad Neza, Mexico City, (Cruz, 2015)

Fig. 43

Central Park, New York, (“Central Park,” n.d.)

Fig. 44

Garden typologies, by author

Fig. 45

Garden typologies and location criteria, by author

Fig. 46

Combined floorplan, GĂźterbahnhof, by author

Fig. 47

Combined floor plan, by author

Fig. 48

Cut-out of Combined Floor plan 1/2, by author

Fig. 49

Cut-out of Combined Floor plan 2/2, by author

Fig. 50

Cut-out of D-Axis, Elevation, by author

Fig. 51

GĂźterbahnhof, Elevation, by author

Fig. 52

F-Axis, Section, by author

Fig. 53

D-Axis, West Elevation, by author

Fig. 54

View from the bridge crossing the rails, by author

Fig. 55

View on arrival to the central plaza from the south, by author

Fig. 56

View from the upper street with family houses, by author

Fig. 57

Upper street with family houses, by author

Fig. 58

Inside the Earth Up, gardening and rooms next to each other, by author

Fig. 59-62

1:500 Site model, by author

Fig. 63-64

1:500 Site model zoom-in, by author

Fig. 65-69

1:50 Section model, by author

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Affidavit Earth Up - a green dormstel for St. Gallen I hereby declare under penalty of perjury that the present paper has been prepared independently by myself and without unpermitted aid. Anything that has been taken verbatim or paraphrased from other writings has been identified as such. This paper has hitherto been neither submitted to an examining body in the same or similar form, nor published.

Vaduz, 7.7.2017

Anna Jaimes Camargo

111

I would like to express my appreciation to all those that support me; my husband, family, and friends that have always been there for me.

Without you, I would not get to where I am.

Special thanks to my tutor Hugo Dworzak and Martin Mackowitz for leading me through this work.

Last but not least I would like to thank the University of Liechtenstein for the warm atmosphere during my studies.