Mohsen Aboulnaga

Cities worldwide face many challenges, primarily climate change risks, urban population increase, and high resources use. The objective of this work is centered on revitalizing the abandoned factory of ex-Zanussi factory in the city of Conegliano, north of Venice Italy to be a city hub of sustainability. This paper present the attempt that was carried out to regenerate the old building to be green and sustainable site by utilizing urban farm technologies based on soilless solutions. Also, the retrofitted building and site aim at strengthening the capacity of the city of Conegliano economically, socially, and environmentally. The philosophy of planning and redesigning the site was centered on architectural and urban farming innovation. Many smart solutions were exploited onto the facades to turn this building and site into a live hub. The retrofitted building includes inspiring domes with revolving light wells to allow natural lighting of Conegliano and to reduce energy consumption, hence, mitigate CO2. Also, LED facades, ETFE cushions and rainwater harvesting as well as ZIP grow and recycled bricks. In addition, mobile application was used to enhance the learning experience, self-learning of urban farming, and what could be possibly done through the education facility. A business model, including the strategy, SWOT, operation cost, and a feasibility study were developed to best inform on the revenues from the project to reduce employment. Results indicate that by integrating agriculture with architecture using smart technologies could lead to economic growth, society integration, and achieve livability. Moreover, the diversity of users and mixed activities with nature are materialized. Finally, the project supports the city of Conegliano’s efforts in achieving successful interaction between technological and social innovation, and assists local governments in meeting Paris Agreement targets in Italy, yet attains SDGs, mainly SDG 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13.

Cities face many challenges to meet sustainability. This chapter presents a conceptual vision for creating a livable centre for the communities in the city of Conegliano with a special focus on sustainability, not only from an urban farm viewpoint but also as a new social aspect to achieve social sustainability. The design strategy integrates new smart architectural and urban agricultural solutions. Various technologies are incorporated in the building including aquaponic tray farming system, vertical axis wind turbine modules and cable trellis ivy facades as well as multi-spectrum LED-censored lights and double-glazed glass to reduce energy consumption. Such technologies create a self-sustained building with minimal waste and CO2 emissions and livable environments. The social innovation also includes various social spaces (local gym, Treviso cafeteria, educational farm and a research lab), all of which were redesigned to maintain the current existing structure, minimize embodied energy and maximize the social interaction with the users yet encourage communal interaction between the citizens and enhance connectivity. For economic sustainability, a business model including strategy, marketing, operations and SWOT analysis was carried out to predict the project’s operation cost and labour management. Results show that retrofitting this factory will turn such vacant site into a vibrant and multifunctional spot. Also, results indicate that enhancing the site would make the city a livable and an economic hub that serves people, raises awareness and is self-sustained for years to come by addressing sustainable development and SGDs, mainly SDG 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13.