GG-loop Launches MITOSIS Biophilic Regenerative Ecosystem

On November 10, 2020, Amsterdam architecture practice GG-loop, sharing the vision with Arup, has launched a biophilic regenerative architecture for large-scale urban developments. Mitosis: a modular building system created by a parametric design tool following biophilic and user-centric design principles, serves as a new solution to reduce the negative impacts of buildings while the need for healthy homes has hardly ever been more apparent than during the current global condition.

MITOSIS XL - overview

Mitosis is the follow-up of a multi-awarded pilot project completed by GG-loop in 2019: Freebooter, a pair of prefabricated CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) apartments in Amsterdam, wrapped in a parametric timber louvered facade. The building was created using biophilic principles, connecting architecture with nature in order to improve the life quality of the people who use the building.  GG-loop’s ambition to bring these qualities to multiple scales has resulted in Mitosis. The name Mitosis refers to the biological process of a single cell dividing itself into two identical daughter cells. It represents the modularity and the long-term adaptation of the system and serves as a metaphor for a flexible co-living organism where each residential unit coexist in symbiosis with all the others.

MITOSIS XL - view from pedestrian area

Positive footprint ecosystems

Mitosis creates regenerative ecosystems which balances the technical benefits of an environmentally conscious construction with the qualities of an organic and healthy environment in which its residents coexist harmoniously. Mitosis generates urban clusters using prefabricated timber and bio-based modules that are cost-efficient and flexible in its construction. By consciously choosing materials that capture carbon and using resources more efficiently, Mitosis constructs a net-positive built environment that produces more energy than it consumes and uses resources in a circular way.

MITOSIS XL - view from a shared terrace

MITOSIS XL - open space of apartment 5-45

Social cohesion

The distinct rhomboid shape of the individual design modules is integral to the functionality of Mitosis. Stacking these modules creates large areas for shared outdoor living, with each unit having at least one terrace. Mitosis’ vertical connections are placed externally to connect the units and terraces, creating a continuous ribbon of outdoor ‘cloister-like’ spaces, fostering a sense of openness, belonging, protection, and privacy for residents. Mitosis’ construction is organic and flexible, providing large areas of urban and vertical farming, greenhouses, wildlife corridors, and integration of habitat creation, that encourage shared outdoor activities among residents.

MITOSIS XL - drone view

MITOSIS XL - kitchen-dining of duplex 16-27

Project development

Mitosis is developed by parametric and BIM 3D modeling software. It generates dwelling clusters composed of prefabricated CLT modules through a complex iterative process. The volumes and internal layouts derive from the calculation and simulation of parameters related to specific conditions of the site: solar radiation, wind impact, privacy, population density, common spaces index, and vertical connections. With the parametric design tool, Mitosis explores how buildings can grow, evolve, heal and self-sustain, similar to human bodies, as well as use biological metaphors to design buildings capable of regeneration, resilience, and self-sufficiency.

MITOSIS XS - view from the path

MITOSIS XS - terrace on the 1st floor

MITOSIS XS - view of the open space at the ground floor from the stairs

About GG-loop

GG-loop is an architectural practice established 2014 in Amsterdam by architect Giacomo Garziano. The office works within an international network, deriving its strength from an interdisciplinary approach. It works on different scales, ranging from urban planning to industrial design.