NEW ERA DESTINATION: Arcology Evacuation Center for Transitional Living
Statement: The proposed Evacuation Hub in Grand Junction, Colorado, will be composed of modular closed-loop systems. The modular approach has multi-fold benefits. It enables the prototype to be quickly deployed in any suitable location, makes it easier to cater the user needs, and accommodates future expansions for hosting a large amount of flood refugees impacted by solar storms or solar reversal. By 2100, the New Era Evacuation Hub will house around 600,000 people at a time in hotel style rooms sized for families. The evacuation hub is a triage-like transitional housing facility for hosting evacuees before they are relocated to another more permanent destination within three months of arrival. During the three months, the evacuees will benefit from job training that prepares them for employment opportunities in the arcological industries that integrate architecture and ecology.
To promote inclusion and wellbeing, the center is designed with repetitive forms to promote a sense of familiarity, ample green space for attentional restoration, walkways for recreational activities, equal access to all facilities, a centrally-located medical hub to facilitate wayfinding. The medical center will have rooftop helicopter landing pads to facilitate quick patient intake.
People at the socioeconomic bottoms without the financial resources to evacuate or relocate are likely to be hit the hardest during large-scale flooding. This proposal strives to mitigate the environmental injustice by prioritizing the use of a comprehensive emergency transportation and transitional housing network to efficiently serve those who cannot evacuate or relocate on their own.