“Forwarding Dallas” has been selected as the final winner of the Re: Vision Dallas competition.  The following resources and brief description of Forwarding Dallas has been organized for researchers, news media and community interests.

Press Release: http://www.revision-dallas.com/?p=757 

Mayor’s Welcome: http://www.revision-dallas.com/?p=380

Developing Firms: Atelier Data & MOOV (Lisbon, Portugal)

Authors: António Louro (MOOV), Filipe Vogt (Atelier Data), Marta Frazão (Atelier Data)

Collaborators: André Almeida (Atelier Data), Carolina Pombo (Atelier Data), Inês Vicente (Atelier Data), José Niza (MOOV), João Calhau (MOOV)

Landscape architecture: Susana Rodrigues

Energy efficiency and resources: Maria João Rodrigues, João Parente
Concept

Communication: João Rato

Forwarding Dallas Features:

• Heavy utilization of native vegetation
• Open ‘green’ spaces including wooded paths and interior courtyards as well as green roof prairies and orchards
• 100% prefabricated construction system, integrating building materials from local sources
• Housing options from studio apartments to three bedroom flats fit to accommodate approximately 854 residents
• Combination of photovoltaic (solar) and wind power which will providing 100% of the energy needed for each resident
• A Southwest façade set up for solar gain in a venetian-blind-like system which adjusts according to the season
• A Northeast façade made from prefabricated, thick, high thermal mass straw bales provides added insulation
• Rooftop water catchment system designed to recycle water collected from rooftops and store underground for later use
• Public green houses, including a sensorial greenhouse, swimming pool green house and meeting point green house
• Water permeable paved areas to prevent pooling and flooding

Images:

• Quick download (2 high res, 2 web res images + narrative brief): DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE (5MB)
• Large download (6 frames including art and process diagrams): DOWNLOAD PDF FILE (14MB)

Interviews:

Urban Re:Vision’s media team will gladly make introductions for interview (subject to availability) with the following:

• António Louro
  Lead Architect/MOOV
• Brent Brown
  Founder/bcWORKSHOP (Dallas)
• Eric Corey Freed
  Executive Director/Urban Re:Vision
• Filipe Vogt
  Lead Architect/Atelier Data
• John Greenan
  Executive Director/Central Dallas CDC
• Stacey Frost
  Founder/Urban Re:Vision

Common questions:

Q Is this a City project?
A No. While the City of Dallas supports and encourages Re:Vision Dallas, it is lead by three nonprofit organizations:

1.  
   1. Urban Re:Vision
   2. Central Dallas CDC
   3. bcWorkshop

Q Will it be built?
A Yes. The following links may help those following this project to understand the timing, financing and players behind this project:

1. Feature article from Dallas Observer, “Are the Plans To Build A Green, Sustainable Building of Tomorrow Smack in the Heart of Downtown Dallas Some Pipedream or A Reality?”
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2009-10-01/news/are-the-plans-to-build-a-green-sustainable-building-of-tomorrow-smack-in-the-heart-of-downtown-dallas-some-pipedream-or-a-reality/

2. Answer to article by John Greenan, Exec. Director of Central Dallas CDC:
http://citywalktalk.blogspot.com/2009/10/eat-this-building.html

Contact:

Ian Bryan, Media Relations Director: 828.242.1868 / ianbryan@sensiblecity.com

Imagine, if you will, a utopia smack in the heart of downtown Dallas. In this green, sustainable building of tomorrow, you might roll out of bed, take a shower and find your runoff water feeding vegetation growing on the roof and walls, upon which you’ll feast later that night. Or maybe you’ll move downtown and become a cattle rancher several stories above the concrete jungle. Or perhaps you’ll grab a bite in the slow-food café downstairs after knocking off your shift working the counter in the holistic pharmacy next door.

Solar panels heat and light your home, and the high-tech and the natural mesh seamlessly in aLogan’s-Run-to-a-kibbutz kind of way. It’s a place so inviting, so self-contained that there’s really not much reason to ever leave home.

The possibilities, say the three architectural firms competing to design this future world, are endless—so much so they can’t really pin down what life in their buildings would be like, which is precisely what makes it so hard to believe one will ever exist. But if local affordable housing advocates Brent Brown and John Greenan have their way—and they insist they will—this world of tomorrow might be a lot closer than you think.

Click here to read the entire article on the Dallas Observer’s website.

06.24.2009 – The world is watching as a neglected parking lot in downtown Dallas grows closer and closer to beginning its transformation into one of the world’s most sophisticated models for sustainable urban development. The winning entries of Urban Re:Vision’s international design competition, Re:Vision Dallas, have been chosen, but with hundreds of submitted designs from the world’s top architecture firms and city planners in 26 countries, there were more than three designs worthy of the limelight. Re:Vision judges named three honorable mentions:

CO-OP Canyon houses 1,000 people in terraced cliff dwellings. Residents can gain equity in the CO-OP through their contributions to the sustenance of the community. Food is the thread that knits the community together. Residencies feature front and backyard gardens and the facility boasts a community farm.

Seeds For Integration is a compact urban development, featuring a green roof, green house and vertical farming space. Residential units range from 400-1,000 square feet, making them affordable on a variety of income levels.

Commonwealth is founded on the promotion of natural diversity, social adaptability and shared resources. Commonwealth features affordable housing in addition to a variety of community spaces including a market, cafeteria, wellness center and an outdoor event space.

“I’d like to see Dallas be at the forefront of design, sustainability and vibrancy of cities,” says Dallas Mayor, Tom Leppert. Prior to the competition, Mayor Leppert hosted urban planners and leading design professionals from around the country for an intensive “design charette” put on by Re:Vision to examine the necessary framework and community impact of what will become the first fully sustainable, urban square block in the U.S. Mayor Leppert has offered up his full support to the Re:Vision Dallas project.

Van Jones is an eco-visionary, award-winning human rights attorney and powerhouse speaker. He is the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC), a strategy and action center, working for justice, peace, and opportunity in urban America.

He has served on the boards of numerous environmental and nonprofit organizations, including the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers, Julia Butterfly Hill’s “Circle of Life” organization and Free Press.

Van won his first major award in 1998 when he was given the Reebok Human Rights Award. Other significant awards include the international Ashoka Fellowship, selection as a World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader,” and the Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” Fellowship.

In the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Van helped to found ColorOfChange.org, an online advocacy organization. With more than 100,000 members, Color Of Change is now the nation’s biggest e-advocacy organization tackling Black issues.
[Read more]

Re:Vision Dallas, the competition which gives creative urban design and community development professionals around the world a solid chance at creating America’s first fully sustainable inner city block, is sweeping social media around the world.

Find out about it at www.revision-dallas.com. Enter the competition at www.urbanrevision.com.

In addition to Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia and Spain, here are a few examples from the American social media PR scene:

• Earth Friendly Magazine
• TreeHugger (Discovery Media) 
• WIRED Online
• Death By Architecture
• Sustainable City
• John Greenan
• Sustainability Digest
• Talk Contract
• World Architecture
• Jetson Green

And don’t forget the news media covering Urban Re:Vision…

• DWELL Magazine
• UTNE Reader
• KXAS (NBC) and KDFW (Fox) TV News
• Dallas Observer
• Dallas Examiner
• Dallas Morning News
• Dallas Public Radio
• Worldchanging
• NBC News (TV)
• The Stacey Frost Interview
• Greener Buildings
• Pegasus News
• Inhabitat