Galapagos2009 FullProject

Biological gateway for the Galapagos Archipelago
FOREWORD
The following project was produced as a part of Inter 7 - Unknown Fields Division during the 2nd year of
architecture at the Architectural Association, London. Kate Davies and Liam Young led the group through
various experiments between the realms of nature and culture, between science and ction to nally let
us wander off the map, through our own speculative landscapes of science ction.
The journey to the Galapagos Archipelago through the Ecuadorian rainforest plunged us navigators
into the pristine land that Darwin explored and explained, while including the wilds of genetic
modication, of relentless globalisation and agressive capitalism. The project is fashioned through
speculation and projection based of the eld observations.
This Unit brought projects about as critical instruments that would instigate debate and raise questions
about architecture practice in relation to the social and political consequences of various environmental
and technological futures.
S u p e r v i s e d by Ka t e D a v i e s a n d L i a m Yo u n g
Fo r a 2 n d ye a r BA a t t h e A rc h i t e c t u ra l A s s o c i a t i o n , L o n d o n
Fro m O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8 t o J u n e 2 0 0 9
GALAPAGOS : A MICROCOSM SIMILAR TO THE EARTH
The islands were born in the middle of nowhere from an intense volcanic activity. Slowly,
water allowed life to happen on the isolated rocks. It took a long time for the land-based
life to settle on the islands. Only few species managed to survive in this hostile environment
thanks to very specic adaptation. A very diverse fauna and ora developed its own
specicities and specialities perfectly adapted to the particular environment. A while later,
the humans settled on this wild land. Although the survival was hard in the early years,
they lately colonised the whole archipelago and their expansion is now extremely fast.
The abundance of resources makes the place an ideal for their developement. The rst
inhabitants of the archipelago lived a life based on shing and harvesting, and, recently,
some individuals managed to achieve a wealthy and sophisticated life but remained
totally detached from the rest of the people. They use the ressources and the locals for
instant prots. The richest got richer and the poorest remained in their situation frustrated
by the proximity and opportunism of the others. As the social gap was enlarging, the
whole ecosystem was intensively exploited. Some people realised the danger and set up
organisations to take care of the archipelago. Despite their efforts, humans kept expanding in
a system blindly driven by money and which is now a threat for itself. The impact of humans is
surely irreparable and at the moment no alternative to the viral evolution characterised by its
destruction and autodetruction is foreseen.
This story echoes with the one that humans went thourgh at the scale of the earth and at a
slower timescale. If the lesson was integrated, the Galapagos could be used to forecast the
future of the planet.
PUERTO AYORA : THE HUB OF THE ARCHIPELAGO
Puerto Ayora is the largest city of the archipelago. Located on the south shore of
Santa Cruz Island, it shelters most of the archipelago ecomonic, social, political and
environmental powers. It is the main hub for goods and people between the continent
and the rest of the archipelago - planes arrive on the north shore of the island and
cargos and ferries moor in the bay of Puerto Ayora, then people and goods are
redistributed to the rest of the archipelago.
The high transit going through turned the city into the wealthiest area of Ecuador. The
immigration has been going out of control and the arbitrary limits supposed to prevent
infringements on the nature reserve are now fading away. Surprisingly, Puerto Ayora
has all the issues of a usual developing country.
Displacements patterns on the archipelago during 24 hours
Number of passengers :
<5
10
20
50
> 250
Displacement represented :
Planes
Buses
Watertaxis
Large tourist vessels
Vessel shuttles
Fishing boats
Interislands shuttles
THE COMPULSORY PASSAGE THROUGH THE BAY OF PUERTO AYORA
The bay of Puerto Ayora sees a constant ow of boats approaching, docking and
loading people and goods. Locals, tourists and scientists merge in that point more than
anywhere else on the island and anybody going through the island passes this point.
The cliff facing the docks marks the limit between the human area of the harbour and
the natural reserve. This vertical surface appears as a line on maps, yet represents a
large imposing surface constantly overlooking the most active part of this island.
Displacement patterns in Puerto Ayora Bay during 24h

Number of passengers :
<5
10
20
50
> 250
Displacement represented :
Planes
Buses
Watertaxis
Large tourist vessels
Vessel shuttles
Fishing boats
Interislands shuttles
The hanging presence of the cliff over Puerto Ayora - Visibility diagram
THE SITE : THE CLIFF FACING THE GATEWAY DOCKS
The site selected for the project is the cliff overhanging the harbor
of Puerto
Ayora.
The
meters"ZPSB
high vertical
surface
draws
the
5IF
EPDLT
PG10
1VFSUP
BSF WFSZ
CVTZ
5PVSJTUTBOEMPDBMTTIBSFUIFTQBDFTPNFIPXPSPUIFS0OF
border
between the intense human acitivity of the town and the
QJFSTFFNTUPXFMDPNFUIFUPVSJTUTXIPTUBZPOBTIJQ
natural
reserve.
It CBZ
is the 5IFTF
only undebatable
town limit,
as
theUP
others
EPDLFE
JO UIF
GFSSJFT DPOUBJO
GSPN
get
pushed further every days. This natural facade is already in
QBTTFOHFSTXIPMBOEXJUISVCCFSEJOHIJFT5IFSFXIFO TVDI
TIJQ
PS
XIPMF
theGPSF
unconscious
as aB
line
thatBSSJWFT
shouldnt
beMFBWFT
passed UIF
for the
sake of
QJFSHFUTDSPXEFECZUPVSJTUTXBJUJOH
nature.
Seen by
all person
passing
through
the archipelago,
it is
5IF PUIFS
QJFS
JT VTFE
CZ UIF
MPDBMT
.PTU PG UIF
HPPETDPNJOHUPUIFBSDIJQFMBHPBSFTIJQQFEXJUIDBSalso
ideal to expose them in a more explicit way the why.
Darwin
Station
Airport
Fish Market
PUERTO AYORA
Puerto Ayora
Square
HPTGJSTUUP1VFSUPBZPSBBOEUIFOUPUIFPUIFSJTMBOE
UIBOLTUPUIFCPBUTBTTVSJOHUIFMJOLUPSFTUPGUIF
BSDIJQFMBHP
PLAZA
FINCH
PLAZA
Plaza
del
Albatros
Plaza
Cvica
FINCH
Main
Supermarket
Pier under
construction
Customs
CL
IFF
Goods Pier
Docks for the

locals boats
Tourist Pier
TheThe
beach
beachbehind
behind the
the island
island is
isused
used by
by
thelocals
localsto
todock
dock their
their boats
boats
the
Anchor area for

large ships
BAY OF PUERTO AYORA

Island
CLIFF
Beach
SITE
CLIF
GALAPAGOS NATIONAL PARK
Other Islands
CLIFF
The 100m long pier in construction
The new 100m long pier in construction

Tourists waiting for boarding on their ferry
Tourists waiting for boarding of their ferry
The tourist pier on the left, the locals

the pier
main on
supermarket
on the
right
The pier,
tourist
the left, the
locals
pier, the main supermarket on the right
Sunset over the cliff on Puerto Ayora bay
Sunset over the cliff of Puerto Ayora Bay
MODEL STUDY FOR THE FACADE OF THE BILLBOARD
The architectural intervention is an extension of the

cliff. Bulging out the natural wall, the facade creates
an enclosed yet outdoor space. It faces the bay of
Puerto Ayora exposing itself like a billboard to the
people on the island.
BIOLOGICAL BILLBOARD : THE BACTERIA AS INDICATOR
The facade is form of a series of panels lled with bacterias

which are grown according to social, economical and
environmental indicators. Therefore, the transluscency and
color of the panels evolves providing an outline of the actual
situation of the Archipelago. This billboard shows to the
tourists as well as the locals a summary of the complex factors
inuencing the equilibrum of this fragile microcosm.
BIOLOGICAL PANELS OF THE BILLBOARD HANGING FROM THE CLIFF
The hundred bacteria lled panels forming the billboard are

hanging from a light metal structure attached to the cliff. Their
density, color and phosphorenscence changes according to the
data collected across the archipelago. People going through the
galapagos see this building and can get a rough picture of the
situation at a certain point in time. Also, the building sheds a
modern and pedagogical customs and boat terminal that every one
has to go through.
FROM DATA TO A REPRESENTATION, BACTERIA DENSITIES AS A LANGUAGE
MONITORING
PROCESSING
DISPLAYING
INFORMATIVE FACADE
LABORATORY
INDICATORS
Official United Nations Indicators

of Sustainable Development
New York 2007
Bad
Good
Bad
USUAL REPRESENTATION
Good
ADAPTED REPRESENTATION
Day
Night
Opaque Dark
Day
Transluscent
Phosphorescent
Night
Excellent
Excellent
Very Good
Very Good
Good
Good
Acceptable
Acceptable
Average
Average
Bad
Bad
Very Bad
Very Bad
Serious
Serious
Crisis
Crisis
The color coding is based on the official Dashboard of

Sustainability. The statistical data from each indicator is represented by one color. The information from
i i
i
i
The representation is adapted to bacteria densities.

The diagram becomes density-coded, from transparent
to opaque during the day, from phosphorescent to dark
i
The facade displays the information to the people of

the island. They get an evorview of the social, economic and environmental situation of the Archipelago.
THE BACTERIA DENSITY TO ILLUSTRATE THE SITUATION OF EACH INDICATOR
Proportion of terrestrial area protected, total

and by ecological region
Management effectiveness of protected areas
Area of selected key ecosystems
Fragmentation of habitats
Change in threat status of species
Abundance of selected key species
Abundance of invasive alien species
Carbon dioxide emissions
Emissions of greenhouse gases
Consumption of ozone depleting substances
Ambient concentration of air pollutants in ur
ban areas
Land use change and degradation
Mining reglementation
Arable and permanent cropland area
Area under organic and sustainable farming
Respect of the park borders
Quality of the accessible part of the reserve
Qualification of the guides
Use of agricultural pesticides
Respect of the marine reserve rules
Quantity of boats in activity
Bathing water quality

limits
Illegal fishing proportion
Marine trophic index
Ambient concentration of air pollutants in ur
ban areas
Area of coral reef ecosystems and percentage
live cover
Water use intensity by economic activity
Presence of faecal coliforms in freshwater
of the park borders
Biochemical oxygen demand in waterRespect
bodies
Wastewater treatment
Activity of volcanos
Intensity of El Nino
Human and economic consequences Bathing
due towater quality
limits
natural disasters
Material intensity of the economy
Domestic material consumption
Annual energy consumption, total andlive
bycover
main
user category
Share of renewable energy sources inBiochemical
total oxygen demand in water bodies
PANEL LABORATORY
energy use
Intensity of energy use, total and byIntensity
economic
of El Nino
Human and economic consequences due to
activity
natural disasters

Generation of hazardous waste
Annual energy consumption, total and by main
Generation of waste
user category
of renewable energy sources in total
Waste treatment and disposalShare
energy use
Intensity of energy use, total and by economic
Modal split of passenger transportation
activity

Modal split of freight
transport
Generation of waste
Energy intensity of transport

Waste treatment and disposal
Modal split of freight transport
Energy
intensity of transport
Population
growth
rate
Population growth rate
Immigration rate
rate
Immigration
Total fertility rate
Data
Unit
Time
Scale

Dependency ratio
Ratio of local residents to tourists

Dependency ratio
Proportion of sea or land-based tourism
Wealth of the tourists

Ratio of local residents
to tourists
Life expectancy at birth
Proportion of sea or land-based

tourism
Healthy life expectancy at birth
Percent of population with access to pri
14
Persons / Day
mary health care facilities

Contraceptive prevalence rate
Immunization against infectious childhood
diseases
Nutritional status of children
Morbidity of major diseases such as HIV/
AIDS, malaria,
tuberculosis
Percent of population with access
to pri
Prevalence of tobacco use
Bacteria Mixture
Bacteria Strains
Nutrients
Water
(Day + Night)
mary health care facilities

Suicide rate
Gross intake ratio to last grade of primary
education
Life long learning
Net enrolment rate in primary education

diseases
Adult secondary (tertiary) schooling attainment
level
Immigration and emmigration rates due to education
AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis
Adult literacy rate
Percentage of population having paid bribes
Number of intentional homicides per 100,000
Suicide rate
population
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
Gross saving
education
Investment share in GDP
Life long learning
Adjusted net savings as percentage of gross
national income (GNI)
Debt to GNI ratio
Employment-population ratio
level
Vulnerable employment
Labor
Immigration and emmigration rates due
toproductivity
edu- and unit labor costs
Share of women in wage employment in the
cation
non-agricultural sector
Internet users per 100 population
Adult literacy rate
Fixed telephone lines per 100 population
Percentage of population having paidMobile
bribes
cellular telephone subscribers
per 100 population
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D as a
population
percent of GDP
Tourism contribution to GDP
Gross saving
Share of imports from the continent
Average price difference with the continent
given or received as a percentage of GNI
Remittances as percentage of GNI
Debt to GNI ratio

Labor productivity and unit labor costs
Mobile cellular telephone subscribers
per 100 population
percent of GDP
Waste Material
Immigration Rate
Person / Day
Immigration Rate
Person / Day

Variations of bacteria density at the

scale of the panel
The panels are made of two sheets of casted transparent plastic

that come together to form the hermetic volume containing the
bacterias. The bacterias receive the precise amount of nutrients
corresponding to the indicator they are referring to through a pipe.
The bacteria mixture are automatically prepared specically to
each factor and the waste is treated as well.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PANELS AND THEIR MEANING

Land Reserve
Global Economic Partnership
Poverty
Comsumption and Production Patterns
Biodiversity
Economic Development
Demographics
Atmosphere
Freshwater
Education
Governance
Marine Reserve
Natural Hazards
Biodiversity
Atmosphere
Land
Oceans, seas and coasts
Freshwater
Natural Hazards
Ecosystem
Climate change
Land use and status
Coastal zone
Water quantity
Frequency of natural hazards



Intensity of El Nino
Ozone layer depletion
Agriculture

Bathing water quality
Species
Ambient concentration of air pollutants in urban areas
Fisheries
Air quality

limits
National Park
Respect of the park borders
Marine environment
live cover
Water quality
Biochemical oxygen demand in water bodies
Intrication with the population

Human and economic consequences due to
natural disasters
Comsumption and produc

tion patterns
Material consumption
Energy use
Annual energy consumption, total and by main
user category
Share of renewable energy sources in total
energy use
Intensity of energy use, total and by economic
activity
Waste generation
and management
Generation of waste
Waste treatment and disposal
Transportation
Modal split of freight transport
Energy intensity of transport
Health
Demographics
Health
Education
Poverty
Governance
Economic development
Population
Mortality
Education level
Income poverty
Corruption
Macroeconomic performance
Population growth rate

Immigration rate
Dependency ratio

education
Life long learning
level
Immigration and emmigration rates due to education
Proportion of population living below national

poverty line
Proportion of population below $1 a day
Percentage of population having paid bribes


Gross saving
Health care delivery

Tourism
Ratio of local residents to tourists
Proportion of sea or land-based tourism
Percent of population with access to primary health care facilities

diseases
Literacy
Adult literacy rate
Income inequality

population
Ratio of share in national income of highest to

lowest quintile
Trade
External financing
Sustainable public finance

Sanitation
Debt to GNI ratio
Proportion of population using an improved

sanitation facility
Employment
Nutritional status
Drinking water
Health status and risks
Proportion of population using an improved

water source

AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis
Suicide rate
Crime
Global economic partnership
Access to energy
Share of households without electricity or
other modern energy services
Percentage of population using solid fuels for
cooking
Living conditions
Proportion of urban population living in slums
Labor productivity and unit labor costs
Information and communication

technologies
Mobile cellular telephone subscribers
per 100 population
Research and development

percent of GDP
Tourism
NEW LANGUAGE - TWO SNAPSHOTS OF THE FACADE AT DIFFERENT TIMES
This pattern shows that education, demographics and health are getting
better as they are more transluscent. Though, the governance is having
a bad time, while there may have been a natural disaster ruining water
and atmosphere quality.
A precise explanation is visible inside the building.
This pattern shows that some aspects of the biodiversity, marine and
land reserve are struggling while the overall state of the people is
doing well. Yet, the economic and governing forces are not doing best.
A precise explanation is visible inside the building.
IMPROVED CUSTOMS FOR THE GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO
As every one coming on the island has to

pass through the harbour of Puerto Ayora, the
protected space created by the hanging panels
is ideal for a mordernised and pedagogical
custom checkpoint. Indeed, there are already
ongoing customs that verify immigration and
goods but it mainly focuses on preventing the
import of biological threats to the island or the
theft of protected species. The customs processes
any one arriving and leaving on the archipelago
and provides a quarantine if necessary. Besides
the legal and protection aspects of the program,
the mass of panels that you have to go through
when passing the customs acts as a pedagogical
media that stimulates people awareness about
the fragile ecosystem they are entering, and also
about the one they are going back to: the planet
Earth.
WAIT
PIER
CUSTOMS
Else
Where
Santa
Cruz
Quarantine
WAIT
PIER
CUSTOMS
Cliff
Arrive
Wait
Customs IN
Depart
Customs OUT
Beach
Informative Facade
Town
Ellis Island customs and quarantine to get to the American land
| Space exploration quarantine |
Current existing customs
Modern custom practices
A FILTERING GATEWAY BENEATH A CANOPY OF BACTERIA
INFORMATIVE FACADE
Facade
Maintenance
Waiting IN
Quarantine
Pier IN
Boat
maintenance
Pier OUT
CUSTOMS
BEACH
Docks For the Locals
Bridge
PUERTO AYORA
The building ts onto and along the cliff without interupting any of the current
activity of the harbour, it even improves some.
The locals still benet from the natural protection of the island and the access
of the beach, but they have now a bridge to access it. Their boats still t
underneath.
The boats containing any people coming from the continent through planes and
ships moor on the arrival pier, wait to go through the test cabins. If they pass,
they can comme the other side, otherwise the cabin goes up to the quarantine
level where further test may be done resulting in passage or explusion.
People who leave the island have to go through the same tests as on the way in
and then board on the ships to the continent.
The whole process is contained within the space dened by the hanging
bacteria panels which somehow acts as a justication for the heavy customs
procedure.
STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF THE PANELS
Waiting and circulation
Customs
Latitude:
Longitude:
Pier
0 45 0 South
90 19 0 West
Facade
The size and density of the panels in relation with the program
The panels are on the East-West axis
in order to get a minimum shadow
and direct the viewpoints from
the building towards the ocean
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Original site: the

cliff falling into the
sea.
Concrete foundations
are put in the sea and
on the top of the
cliff.
130 pre-stressed beams are attached to the concrete on the

top of the cliff and span over
the sea with a maximum length
of 20 meters. Cables tigh the
beams down to the foundation
in the sea.
The cables a tightened between

the beams and the concrete
blocks in the sea in such a
way that the beams are horizontal. The structure is entirely stiff and pre-stressed,
ready to welcome the other elements.
The panels containing

the bacteria are suspended to the structure.
The floor plates and

the spaces are then
suspended over the
water.
PLAN AND SECTION OF THE BUILDING
Cliff level
4
Sea level
NORTH
8
Arrival pier
Waiting area
Boat maintenance
Facade maintenance
Brigde to Puerto Ayora
Departure pier
Quarantine
Access to the locals beach
Custom pod
10 meters
UNFOLDING SECTION THROUGH THE BUILDING
South - East
North - West
1 meter
5 meters
10 meters
AN INFORMATIVE LANDMARK FOR A CONSCIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE GALAPAGOS
Thanks to its intricate and ostentious presence, the building

would hopefully become a landmark acting for a conscious
evolution of the Galapagos Archipelago. Constantly yet subtly
and objectively exposing the issues that a place encounters in a
simple visual form may be one of the solutions for a more aware
development.
Arriving to the Galapagos on the full moon night

Galapagos2009 FullProject

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Biological gateway for the Galapagos Archipelago

GALAPAGOS : A MICROCOSM SIMILAR TO THE EARTH

PUERTO AYORA : THE HUB OF THE ARCHIPELAGO

Displacements patterns on the archipelago during 24 hours

THE COMPULSORY PASSAGE THROUGH THE BAY OF PUERTO AYORA

Displacement patterns in Puerto Ayora Bay during 24h

THE SITE : THE CLIFF FACING THE GATEWAY DOCKS

Docks for the

Anchor area for

BAY OF PUERTO AYORA

GALAPAGOS NATIONAL PARK

The 100m long pier in construction

The new 100m long pier in construction

Tourists waiting for boarding of their ferry

The tourist pier on the left, the locals

Sunset over the cliff on Puerto Ayora bay

Sunset over the cliff of Puerto Ayora Bay

MODEL STUDY FOR THE FACADE OF THE BILLBOARD

The architectural intervention is an extension of the

BIOLOGICAL BILLBOARD : THE BACTERIA AS INDICATOR

The facade is form of a series of panels lled with bacterias

BIOLOGICAL PANELS OF THE BILLBOARD HANGING FROM THE CLIFF

The hundred bacteria lled panels forming the billboard are

FROM DATA TO A REPRESENTATION, BACTERIA DENSITIES AS A LANGUAGE

Official United Nations Indicators

The color coding is based on the official Dashboard of

The representation is adapted to bacteria densities.

The facade displays the information to the people of

THE BACTERIA DENSITY TO ILLUSTRATE THE SITUATION OF EACH INDICATOR

Proportion of terrestrial area protected, total

Bathing water quality

Abundance of invasive alien species

Material intensity of the economy

Generation of hazardous waste

Energy intensity of transport

Modal split of freight transport

Population growth rate

Total fertility rate

Ratio of local residents to tourists

Wealth of the tourists

Proportion of sea or land-based

mary health care facilities

mary health care facilities

Net enrolment rate in primary education

Debt to GNI ratio

Share of imports from the continent

Remittances as percentage of GNI

Variations of bacteria density at the

The panels are made of two sheets of casted transparent plastic

DISTRIBUTION OF THE PANELS AND THEIR MEANING

Oceans, seas and coasts

Land use and status

Frequency of natural hazards

Proportion of terrestrial area protected, total

Carbon dioxide emissions

Land use change and degradation

Water use intensity by economic activity

Ozone layer depletion

Respect of the marine reserve rules

Ambient concentration of air pollutants in urban areas

Consumption of ozone depleting substances

Arable and permanent cropland area

Use of agricultural pesticides