An abridged and developed version of the Camdeboo Solar Estate project for entry into the 2015 Presidents Medals Silver Award
01 - A Hybrid CSP Solar Array, Vineyard Estate and Celestial Instrument
02 - Brief and Context
The brief addresses pertinent issues for South Africa and the Camdeboo: the agricultural difficulties faced in the Karoo’s semi-arid environment, the high unemployment levels and low economic output of the local region, and the importance of the tourist industry to the Camdeboo Municipality. The Adam’s Calender landscape of Mpumalanga provides a precedent to entwine the ancient practices of terrace agriculture, astronomy and solar observance with modern day technologies of solar energy harvesting, and to embed a more transcendent celestial relationship within the substantial and long lasting masterplan proposal.
03 - South Africa’s Cosmic Context and Solar Calendar (2016 – 2099)
Thorough modelling and analysis was conducted into the celestial constellations of South Africa’s night sky, their scale and orbits, and the cyclic timings of significant solar events at the site’s precise location.
04 - Celestial Alignment of the Masterplan
The constellations, their scale and orbits, and the cyclic timings of significant solar events at the site’s precise location were used to determine and were embedded throughout the proposal - from the major axis and arrangement of the masterplan, to the micro alignments of the walkways and buildings.
05 - Tourist Guide
The proposal embeds a new economy of solar tourism within the region, allowing agriculture, energy production and celestial movements to be viewed and experienced whilst enhancing Camdeboo’s existing tourist economy.
06 - Core Building [2050-2110]
Opening in 2050, the Camdeboo Solar Estate begins operation as an array of CSP plants, harvesting the high levels of received solar irradiance to alleviate South Africa’s rising energy demands and waning coal reserves. At the same time, the installed energy and water infrastructure initiates a viable and fruitful wine estate and revives the once near extinct wine making industry of the Karoo. Energy processing and wine processing occurs simultaneously within the core building at the base of the CSP tower.
07 - Core Building : Program Components and Materials
The design and material choice of each of the programs responds to its predicted operational lifetime. After the 60 year life expectancy of CSP apparatus expires, the energy infrastructure is de-constructed, and the estate remains operating as a series of vineyards. The astrological instruments, concealed within the plants core, are only calibrated and unveiled once the winery is no longer functioning and begins to degrade. The architecture is embedded with a process of ‘choreographed decomposition’.
08 - CSP Plant Jupiter : Operation [2050]
View of the solar array and wine estate in operation during the year of opening, 2050.
09 - CSP Plant Jupiter : Alignment [2050]
Aerial view of the CSP Plant ‘Jupiter’, aligned with the corresponding celestial body’s position at the summer solstice on December 21,, 2050.
10 - CSP Plant Jupiter : Overview [3000]
By 2200, the plants building materials and functions have deteriorated, and the process of decomposition commences. The harsh environment and climatic elements of the Karoo begin to take their toll, as stonework and structure starts to fail. By 2500 the progressive sinking of the inner core walls begin to reveal the astronomical instruments concealed within. As the building’s ruins reconfigure and settle, the alignments of the Adam’s Calender are finally unveiled.
In the long distant future, this now ancient ruinous landscape is rediscovered. The mysterious constellations and orientations of its arrangement are again reinterpreted, to reveal the intricate relationships between its lost functions of energy, agriculture, and our place within the cosmos.
