- Site-specific cases
Digitalization is changing society. Access to Internet and e-commerce has created new buying behaviors and it affects how our cities and transport systems are built.
Today, you usually pick up your online packages from your local food store or kiosk. This project deals with the notion that in a near future it may not be sustainable for these venues to handle the ever-growing volumes of goods.
I imagine big boxes in the city but where 90% of its logistical systems of warehouse robots, loading bays and adequate turning radii for delivery trucks are hidden in the grounds beneath, leaving instead voids above ground — urban plazas or green parks; public spaces for all citizens. These could be the market squares of the 21st century, where global consumption meets local traditional trade of i.e produce and flowers.
The pick-up pavilion stands a bit to the side on the square, leaving room for other activities to take place and it becomes just one element in the ensemble. Its shape resembles a traditional barn or silo, a container of things.
Imaginary site plan
Inside the pick-up pavilion you will understand that this is part of a larger structure as you notice that you are standing above a buzzing machine working below and then, suddenly, your package is there.
Reference images from left to right: Automatic storage robot, photo by Euro-Friwa/CC BY-SA 4.0 / Archaic Swedish dry barn, photo by Bengt Lindroos / Piazza Trento in front of the Cathedral of Ferrara, unknown photo
