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§ teaching · No. 038 · 2023–2026
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§ teaching · No. 038

Circular Market Hubs

2023–2026 · teaching

Marketplaces as ecosystem hubs for alpine Innsbruck

year
2023–2026
type
teaching
status
exhibited in Architecture after AI II, University of Colorado Boulder, 2024
credit
Rasa Navasaityte, Advanced Design Studio, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, 2023 to 2026, in collaboration with Lab-eds.
program
Between the Parts
where
The University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture · Circular Market Hubs, Advanced Design Studio · Fall 2024 · Austin / Innsbruck
no.
038
Hero
Circular drawing by Huang Rachel.

Circular Market Hubs is an advanced design studio that I teach at the School of Architecture of The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with Lab-eds; the work shown here is from Fall 2024. Student projects from the studio were exhibited in Architecture after AI II at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2024.

The studio positions Innsbruck, Austria, as a testing ground for circular design strategies that reimagine the relationship between the built environment and natural systems. Innsbruck’s alpine geography and historic urban fabric make it a living laboratory where the rhythms of mountain life meet the demands of planetary regeneration. Students design marketplaces as building typologies that function as dynamic ecosystem hubs, integrating food production, energy generation, water management and community resilience within the constraints and opportunities of alpine urbanism.

The projects transcend conventional programmatic boundaries. Market halls are combined with microclimatic zones, vertical farming with aquaponics and aeroponics, artisan workshops, community kitchens, co-working spaces, live-work units, waste-to-energy systems and educational spaces that make circular processes visible to the public.

Farms, interior: a generated walk through the market halls and their farms, 1 min 29 s · studio work
Studio chunks: axonometric chunks of the hubs, generated drawings, 4 min 7 s · studio work
plates

Gallery

2 plates · click to enlarge
  • Circular hab diagrams
    Circular hub diagrams
1 / 2 · Circular hub diagrams
adjoining sheets

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