Colbert, Z. (2019). Urban Energy Shift. In A. Weder (Ed.), Shift 2019 Infrastructure Architecture Challenge (pp. 36–41). Canadian Architect.
The Urban Energy Shift proposal, which won the Ontario Association of Architects SHIFT Architecture Challenge, reimagines the city as a network of self-sufficient, decentralized power stations where individual buildings function as sites of energy storage, capture, and generation. Developed through a collaboration among Carleton University, the Condominium Homeowners Association of British Columbia, and B.C. Housing in Vancouver, this project offers a speculative yet grounded vision for addressing core societal and environmental challenges.
At the heart of the concept is the transformation of urban wastewater infrastructure into a network of interconnected, distributed energy systems. By harnessing the kinetic energy of wastewater flowing through buildings and urban areas, this approach mirrors hydroelectric dams on a micro scale, adapted for individual buildings and integrated into urban systems. This speculative reorientation emphasizes the potential for architecture to challenge fossil-capitalist paradigms, generating energy locally to reduce dependence on centralized, extractivist power grids.
The Urban Energy Shift project critiques the inefficiencies and environmental costs of current power distribution networks, proposing a shift toward a renewable “energy internet” where buildings dynamically share and respond to energy demands. This vision positions architects as key players in designing buildings that accommodate new infrastructures for energy capture and storage, interlinking with existing grids to create resilient, adaptive energy systems.
The proposal also holds promise for application in developing countries lacking centralized infrastructure, suggesting that decentralized, building-integrated energy systems could address broader global issues like climate resilience, equitable access to resources, and geopolitical stability. By reframing energy efficiency through an architectural lens, Urban Energy Shift underscores the capacity of design to respond to and reshape the pressing demands of a changing world, offering a pathway toward a regenerative, just urban future.
Drawings by Zachary Colbert, Shelby Hagerman, James Nguyen, Connor Tamborro, and Jasmine Sykes