Introduction
”Ecotopia” is a vision of the sustainable city of the future based on the good life defined through a holistic approach towards sustainability. The project is developed with sustainable principles integrated throughout the creation process, rather than being just a sustainable design. This is manifested in our working process for creating a development strategy for the extension of Humlebæk Syd. A process which strives to realize the three main elements of sustainability, the social, environmental and economic.
Our success criteria for the proposal of Ecotopia are these; to minimize the impact on the environment, to do this in an economically responsible – and thereby realizable – way, and to enhance the quality of life and the social interaction between users of all ages. The main purpose of the projects is to create an area with high density of about 200% contained in 8 built areas of 100m x 100m. By doing so, 80 % of the landscape is released for recreational areas and visual qualities.
The buildings meet the landscape through a solidly defined square which is positioned powerfully in the landscape. This defines the nature and the buildings. As a consequence of understanding energy responsible architecture, Ecotopia is compact, functional, CO2-reducing, and above all satisfies the inhabitants, creating the base for the good and the healthy life.
Social
The vision for Ecotopia is to create a district that gives inhabitants the possibility to live healthily, bike through orchards and flowering fields, lie in the grass, move through energy harvesting fields, pet the free-range cows, experience land-art in the morning fog, explore the varied housing districts, enjoy the sunset over the undulating landscape, watch deer drinking from the lakes – which together shape the feeling of home, a place that you feel at rest.
Ecotopia is the manifestation of an urge to combine modern family life and careers with houses that adapt to a modern lifestyle with good health, local produce and an active family life as ingredients.