up your architecture.

For those of you who don't know, John Dwyer and Tom Westbrook have been running a studio based on John's design of the Clean Hub which was one of the inspirations for the infrastructure portion of my thesis. John and I discussed the two projects as a great way to move the design forward in different directions to test the limitations and possibilities of the project. Due to delays in funding I will most likely be building a similar prototype in Biloxi funded by Catholic Charities of East Biloxi this summer. Anyhow, here is a brief on the original idea, which John has retooled to be housed in a shipping container (nice idea!).

The Clean Hub is a sustainable housing design for areas with insufficient infrastructure. The name fits its multipurpose sanitation and energy functions: the 10 x 20-foot unit includes a V-shaped roof that collects rainwater, an underground reverse-osmosis filtration system to recycle and store gray water from showers and laundry facilities, and 16 rooftop adjustable photovoltaic panels that can generate up to 2,600 watts of energy.

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Anyhow, John realized that the Clean Hub needed to be more multi-faceted and had the opportunity to team with a community which they have been working with through CityBuild in New Orleans and design a Clean Hub which would not only facilitate all of the old design criteria, but also act as a farmer's market and gathering area. I had a chance to sit in on the mid-term reviews for the studio as they were still in the design development stages and we all shared our ideas from the two projects which was really interesting and invaluable when thinking about my thesis.

My prototype now has the ability to be reactionary to this design and improve and adapt some of the aspects of this first prototype which will hopefully be able to add to the common Clean Hub type project knowledge so these can be more readily produced for disaster relief.

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Press Release:

I am happy to announce that the first version of a Clean Hub, designed and
constructed by students from the College of Design at the University of
Minnesota, will be unveiled on Monday, April 30th.

Schedule of Events:

7:50am: MPR’s Cathy Wurzer, who has been tracking the progress for the last
month, will air an 8 minute feature on The Morning Edition. You can stream
it online at www.mpr.org or tune in locally at 91.1
KNOW

1:30pm: All sixteen students will unveil the prototype for Greta Gladney, a
New Orleans community leader and the end user of the prototype, in the sand
lot at the College of Design. The address is 89 Church Street, Minneapolis,
MN.

2:30pm-6:00pm: To the sounds of Kermit Ruffins and the smell of crawfish,
the prototype’s doors will be open to the public. Its first function will
be a gallery of the student’s work throughout the semester.

For those near by, you are all welcome to attend. To those who can’t make
it, check it out on MPR. Stay tuned as the Clean Hub will be heading to New Orleans some time in
June.