Frog's Dream - McMansions Turned Water Treatment Plants

Daring renovation and redesign for the future - McMansions Turned into Biofilter Water Treatment Plants - 1st Prize Winner for Re-Burbia Competition ~ What to do about all those older and not so liveable McMansions? Rip them down and build something newer and bigger? Or buy  them up and turn them into wetlands and natural water filtration systems in the middle of urban centers.

According to many scientists and climatologists, we are fighting a battle against climate change, loss of rain forests and wetlands. Many real estate analysts have also predicted that a change of lifestyle, shrinkage of household size and a rise of energy prices could seal the final downfall of suburbia.

In response to the anticipated future, the Frog’s Dream project attempts to re-establish a sustainable relationship between city and suburbia. It proposes to transform mansions into eco-water treatment machines, commercially known as Living Machines, in which a micro-ecosystem of plants, algae, bacteria, fish and clams are present to purify the water. A micro-wetland ecosystem will be formed around these mansions to sustain larger wetland animals and plants. The project also involves transforming the highway system into a multi-functional infrastructure. The Frog Dream presents the idea of a highly concentrated city and its ring of suburban wetlands will hold the key to a green future.

See Calvin Chiu's winning design schematics at http://www.re-burbia.com/2009/08/05/the-frogs-dream-suburban-eco-water-m...

More winners at http://www.re-burbia.com/