M-Arch Prospectus by Bill Hoey

CREATING THE 900 CITY

WILLIAM HOEY FALL 2013 M. ARCH CANDIDATE

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents. For without their love and support none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their added support and encouragement. Lastly, I would like to thank my professors Aylin Tschoepe and Ann Borst for their assistance in guiding me in the right direction.

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“NOBODY CAN INVENT BETTER THAN NATURE” - KEN YEANG

ABSTRACT Ecological Verticalism: Creating the 90 Degree City, represents an exploratory process into the problematic relationship between density and the urban fabric. In a densifying urban fabric, where space is rapidly diminishing, the need for a solution to the population influx becomes vital. We have become a society fixated on the city, with population in major urban areas increasing each year. Ecological Design acknowledges the notion that nature should be an apparent role in the built environment and thus should be taken into consideration regarding urban design. Such a notion caters towards the ideals of a Biophilic City. If public realms typically found at the ground plane can be extended vertically, they should also be integrated with ecology. Using a methodology that abstracts the formative forces of the urban fabric, sparks discoveries of architectural forms and strategies; such as Vertical Manhattan - an exploration discussed further on. The methodology is comprised of literature, images, and abstract physical models. Establishing public life-in-the-sky presents the opportunity to instill vertical communites. Combining these vertical communities with elements of nature allows for the decompartmentalization of the skyscraper, where the juxtaposition of built form and nature begins to be blurred. Ecological Verticalism establishes a new model of urban design, utilizing skyscrapers and vertical space as the site for architectural intervention to introduce necessary public functions and to begin forming a vertical community. It has been said that nature improves human life, and using this biophilic theory as the crux for verticalism, allows for the of design pleasurable spaces in the sky to be brought to fruiton.

KEY TERMS The terms below have become prominent in the development of my thesis. They are defined in order to express my understanding of them and how each plays an important role in my thesis.

VERTICALISM: Regarding space and the city in vertical terms ECOLOGICAL DESIGN: Applying ecology into the natural and built environment BIOPHILIA: The innate emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms, in this case, primarily nature BIOPHILIC CITY: The successful integration of nature into every element of the built environment URBAN DENSITY: Quantity of people in an urbanized area (Urban Population) URBAN FABRIC: is the physical form of towns and cities PUBLIC REALMS: Variety of social and urban activities that are found at street level LIFE-IN-THE-SKY: Urban life and activity that occurs in/throughout the skyscraper DECOMPARTMENTALIZATION: The break down of a skyscraper (sectionally) from its rigid, repeated components, such as floor plates, allowing for greater social interaction and spacial connectivity

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TABLE OF CONTENTS RESEARCH QUESTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 RESEARCH ESSAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 HYPOTHESIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

METHODOLOGY VISUALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 EVALUATION OF RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 FRAME I: SITE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 FRAME II: PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 DESIGN PROBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 DESIGN METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 OBJECTIVES AND TIMELINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 EVALUATION CRITERIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CONCLUSION REFLECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 GOING FORWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

BASIS FOR THE 900 CITY

ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE

URBAN DENSITY

VERTICALISM

QUESTION

How can verticalism, formed by the insertion of community and ecology, successfully create neighborhoods in the sky and vertically extend public realms found at the ground plane as a response to density in an urban fabric?

RESEARCH ESSAY

Ecology and Architecture; each a field of unique qualities, together, represent the definitive factors that form the urban environment. Throughout history, each field has been studied independently and through constantly shifting ideologies, has seen its role in the definition of the urban fabric change in degree of importance. Through this constant shift in prominence, those studying and designing each of these fields have, until recent times, done so with inward focus. Each field had been looked at as an individual, with the focus of designers being to increase the importance in which it was found within the urban fabric. The result of this inwardly focused design process was the formation of disconnected spaces from nature within the urban fabric. As these results became more prevalent, an awareness of a problematic urban design process began to be raised. With this newly established awareness, many designers, spanning multiple fields of design, found the problem not to be within the effectiveness of the design of each individual field, but as the result of a lack of integration of each, into the other, during the design process. For this reason, an approach to urban design, one of ecological integration, has been established. It is through an approach to the design process, focused upon verticalism, that the green deprived spaces within the urban fabric can become sites of urban activity, sustainability, and function. My research suggests three preconditions that result in a new urban solution. First, that there is a need for ecological integration into our heavily built environment. Second, that cities around the world are densifying at an accelerated rate. And lastly, that this densification of urban space leads to the formation of a vertical approach to design. Writings by a number of designers and planners discuss the formation of this new vertical urban design approach. Timothy Beatley, Peter Newman, and Anne Matan analyze ecology, primarily biophilia, and 3

discuss it’s affects on urban activity. Ricky Burdett, Justin McGuirk (both part of The Urban Age Project conducted by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society) and Christopher Abel describe the impact of density on urbanized areas and describe methods of design in the reaction to the densification. Ken Yeang, Robert Powell, and Inaki Abalos introduce the concept of verticalism and express ideas that utilize the overlooked urban vertical spaces as the primary tools to redefine urban design. Each of these focuses that lead to the solution of verticalism considers the others while defining the city. This establishes a taxonomy of vertical spaces based upon civicness, access, scale, and experience. Combining ecological design and verticalism creates the potential for an integrated design approach that transforms leftover, green deprived, spaces into new sites of urban activity; responding effectively to density. Newer forces established within the city over time have broken the urban fabric of cities across the world. The need for the incorporation of nature into the urban setting is described by Timothy Beatley, a professor of sustainable communities at the University of Virginia, in “Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature Into Urban Design and Planning”. The formation of dense industrial space that ignores nature has been problematic to the urban fabric, as it has marked the creation of ecological discontinuity in physical and social forms. Beatley, a long time advocate for need for nature in the built environment, builds on the detachment by exclaiming “a sustainable future will by necessity require an urban future, I believe, but this does not (indeed, cannot) mean that this future is one that is disconnected and detached from nature and natural systems.”1 Too frequently the urban agenda forgets the ‘green’ concentrating on energy efficiency, overlooking the dimensions of life and wonder that already exist in nature itself.2 The focus should be on characteristics of nature that enhance the lives of humans, as stated by Beatley: 1 2

Timothy Beatley. Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning. [Washington D.C.: Island Press, 2010]: 152 Beatley 2010:16

Nature in our lives is not optional but essential. We need it for our emotional health and well-being, and we need it for planetary health as well. It is not a thing or place that we periodically visit but a surrounding condition….3

The vertical garden at the Caixa Forum Museum expresses the use of an ecological integrated approach to the design of under-utilized spaces. The eighty foot vegetated wall incorporates around fifteen thousand plants and two hundred and fifty species and frames a prominent side of a large public square. Inserting a remarkable degree of greenness to urban buildings around the world, the ambitious French botanist Patrick Blanc focuses upon the idea of unexpectedness:“I like to reintegrate nature where

Vertical Garden at the Caixaforum Museum -Patrick Blanc (Madrid, Spain)

one leasts expects it”.4 At a large scale, nature is used to establish connectivity within the urban fabric. At a smaller scale, individual spaces utilize nature and its forms to define spaces of urban activity. Humanity is living more in cities and at odds with nature...the plant wall has a real future for the well-being of people living in cities.5 The success of this project is seen in the resulting attraction people have towards the unexpected vegetation. The wall also lends itself to multi-sensory human interaction. The utilization of the wall as a potential site of ecological integration is a approach that is beginning to become more mainstream. Cohesion amongst the public and nature is a necessity within the urban realm of the city. The degree of activity that takes place within a city is largely determined by the desirability of the urban spaces in which they take place; desirability that can be increased with the implementation of nature. Similarly, Peter Newman and Anne Matan, in the book Green Urbanism in Asia: The Emerging Green Tigers, describe the benefits of nature and its effect on a city such as Singapore: 3 4 5

Beatley 2010:16 Kristen Hohenadel, “All His Rooms Are Living Rooms,” New York Times, May 3, 2007, Section F, P. 1 Honhenadel: 1

One small step in greening the grey city progressively influences the surrounding areas creates more biodiversity, cools the environment, removes legacy carbon, increases food security, and enhances the healthy and productivity of the people.6

Singapore’s Green Plan is composed of a multitude of strategies aimed at heavily integrating nature and landscape throughout the island as a means to ensure a environmentally sustainable future. The

Continuous tree canopy above a major road (Singapore)

Streetscape Greenery Master Plan proposes creating a continuous tree canopy over all major roads. This proposal is the mainstay for the ‘City in a Garden’ vision, the prominent term used when regarding Singapore’s goal. The varying characteristics of Singapore’s roads were made possible by the design and planning guidelines indicated by the Streetscape Greenery Master Plan. The Park Connector Network also played in instrumental role in Singapore’s Green Plan. The network stretches the entire island; connecting major green areas and destinations. The plan is to make it possible to walk or bicycle around Singapore traveling through the parks.7 The new urban activity that is promoted establishes a new experience of underutilized spaces, such as drainage reserves and road reserves, that have been transformed into green corridors. Overall, the project exemplifies the importance of incorporating nature and the connection between works of architecture, infrastructure, and landscape. The Supertrees, located in the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, also represent the importance of establishing a connection with nature, within the urban fabric. The man-made forest consists of 18 supertrees that act as vertical gardens, Supertrees at the Gardens by the Bay (Singapore)

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generating solar power and collecting rainwater.

Peter Newman and Anne Matan “The Biophilic City” in Green Urbanism in Asia: The Emerging Green Tigers, Peter Newman and Anne Matan, (Hackensack, New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 2013): 134 Newman,Matan: 104

Varying in height, each supertree houses tropical flowers and various ferns climbing throughout its steel framework. To generate electricity, 11 of the trees are fitted with solar photo-voltaic systems converting sunlight into energy, which provides lighting and helps water technology within the nearby conservatories. Aside from sheltering visitors from Singapore’s hot temperatures, the large canopies also absorb and disperse heat, acting as temperature moderators. The success of this project is in the way it inhabits the site and becomes an integral part of the Gardens by the Bay ecosystem. The project showcases sustainable practices and becomes one of the primary destinations in this horticultural heaven. In many instances, seen in cities across the world, there is a disconnect caused by the lack of ‘green’ due to densification of urban centers. The disconnection can be literal or cognitive. To understand the cause of much disconnect, according to Timothy Beatley, it is important to study the history of that place. A deeper understanding of ecological and geological history helps answer the question of where we live and helps define a deeper, meaningful understanding of home.8 He gives the example of San Francisco and what can be understood through looking at its historical past: Much can be learned about current nature in the city by understanding the historic environment. Few residents appreciate that nearly half of the San Francisco peninsula, the northern and western portions, is comprised of ancient sand dunes....much of the city’s development past has been about battling those dunes.9

Through this acknowledgment, we can begin to see signs of this remnant nature everywhere we look. PLANT*SF (Permeable Landscape as Neighborhood Treasure) started by Jane Martin, a practicing architect, reclaims San Francisco’s sidewalks as areas for green insertion. A 8 9

Beatley 2010:39 Beatley 2010:42

Sidewalk Gardens transformed by Plant*SF (San Franciso)

bulk of Martin’s projects are in the Mission District, close by her office and her home. Here, there are relatively wide sidewalks, allowing Martin to reactivate the extended space, initially extended to provoke urban social activity. She was able to transform the barren sidewalks into a small neighborhood green. The sidewalk park includes a variety of plants, some donated from neighbors. PLANT*SF has also de-sealed portions of driveways to create planting strips, inserted features such as clinging plants and vines on walls and fences, and has also planted trees. The successful transformation of one neighborhood, provokes others to take similar action creating a domino affect throughout San Francisco. Altogether more than two thousand square feet of paved surface was replaced with flowers, grasses and trees....10 The popularity combined with Martin’s advocacy has actually made changes to city policy, allowing the creation of a “sidewalk landscaping” permit. Aside from the environmental benefits the green spaces produce, they also hold a social value. The transformation of sidewalk spaces has enabled neighborly interaction, through the space it creates and through creating the green spaces themselves. These types of projects expresses a successful integration of nature in establishing desirable and active urban spaces as well as establishing a new connectivity within the urban fabric. Martin and PLANT*SF have helped promote urban greening through demonstration projects and public education; and have set in motion a new way to look at dense urban neighborhoods in San Francisco.

Through a great deal of study, urbanization has been viewed as an element that is rapidly growing; however, density can be utilized as the form around which the urban fabric can be designed. Two per cent of the earth’s surface is occupied by cities, fifty-three per cent of the world’s population live in cities.11 Inaki Abalos, chair to the department architecture 10 11

Beatley: 93 Richard Burdett. Introduction to Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, ed. Richard Burdett, and Deyan Sudjic(London: Phaid on Press Ltd, 2011): 9

at Harvard Graduate School of Design, exclaims, “Without overdramatizing, we can say that all contemporary metropolis are doomed for densification.”12 It is through this understanding, that density can be utilized as a defining factor in the establishment of site. The Urban Age Project: Living in the Endless City is an investigation into the future of cities aiming to heighten awareness between

Taken from the cover of LIVING IN THE ENDLESS CITY

physical form and social characteristics. The culmination of hard facts and research have focused on cities such as New York City, Shanghai, London, Istanbul, Sao Paulo, Mumbai and Berlin. Cities are constantly growing, Seventy-five per cent of the world’s population is expected to be concentrated in cities by 2050 - a large portion in megacities and massively urbanized regions stretching across countries and continents 13 (See image of cover). Justin McGuirk, former editor of Icon Magazine in London, begins to breakdown and analyze all of this urban data in his chapter Understanding the Numbers. He suggests that if you chose only the advantageous statistics from each city being analyzed, you could perhaps model an urban utopia. City suffering from density (Mumbai)

When it comes to a city of extreme

statistics, density being a primary one, Mumbai is a leader. McGuirk however, contends that because Mumbai is so dense, it is a good model for a green city. It has the lowest energy consumption, lowest water consumption, the cheapest public transport, and the lowest carbon emissions rate. Unfortunately, all of those benefits are overshadowed by the statistic that has its population ranked over shanghai. Not only that, but Mumbai also turns out to be 12 13

Iñaki Abalos “Verticalism: The Future of the Skyscraper” in Ecological Urbanism, Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty, (Germany: Lars Mueller Publishers, 2010): 610 Burdett: 10

the poorest city in the world. In describing the population increase as a defining factor of the city, Justin McGuirk states: Mumbai also suffers the highest population densities in the world, with, at its peak, 121,312 people crammed into a square kilometer....with a projected population increase of 44 people per hour between now and 2025.”14 He then raises the question if there is such a thing as optimal density. The answer to that question relies heavily on the quality of life. At one scale, you have a dense Upper East Side of New York City, known for it’s wealth (which challenges the connotation that density is associated with poverty). Yet, any New Yorker who is from that dense neighborhood would feel completely different walking down a street in Kamathipura, Mumbai. Even London, with the lowest density out of all the cities analyzed, still finds it problematic. It may be one of the least dense cities but the West End can be so congested that there have been calls to introduce slow and fast pedestrian lanes just to keep the flow moving.15 Indeed, it requires an in-depth look at cultural factors when trying to answer a question of optimal density. Another question that McGuirk raises is if informal housing results in the highest densities or if it is planned housing?. He prefaces this question by giving two examples using Sao Paulo and Mexico City. While each of them have a similar level of density, Sao Paulo is made up of residential towers while Mexico City is comprised of low urban sprawl. McGuirk answers the question by stating Mumbai’s population (121,312) versus London’s Notting Hill (17,324)16. In the end, after all of the data has been probed, he comes to the conclusion that if in fact one took the advantageous numbers from the cities analyzed in the Urban Age Project, there would be a formulation of a Utopia. McGuirk concludes that if Mumbai and London were combined and Berlin’s murder rate and New York’s peak density were factored in as

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Justin McGuirk “Understanding the Numbers” in Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, ed. Richard Burdett, and Deyan Sudjic (London:Phaidon Press Ltd, 2011): 292 McGuirk: 294 McGuirk: 295

well, you have a wealthy, fair, safe, green, efficient and compact city. 17 In his article, The Vertical Garden City: Towards a New Urban Typology, Chris Abel, professor and chair of the Vertical Architecture STudio (VAST), touches on how the environment and it’s impact on the city’s surrounding socioeconomic context has contributed to the emergence of density in the urban fabric. Abel acknowledges the population pressures and current environmental situations in Australia, such as extended droughts, shrinking farmland, brushfires and fragile coastlines; issues that have steered Australia into densification. “Motivated by population pressures and environmental concerns, most local planning authorities are now implementing strategies of urban consolidation and densification”18 These actions led Abel to establishment of several propositions. Through the creation of these propositions, Abel looks at density not as a plague within the urban fabric, but instead as a tool, around which architecture can be designed. Through this lens, verticality is viewed as a starting point for architectural design within the urban fabric. The characteristics of density discovered through this analysis establish the opportunity for the design of vertical architecture, transforming it from a preconceived standard system, into a site of experience and activity. Much of the space that surrounds elements of the urban fabric is left undersigned and over-utilized; resulting in space that is prohibitive of use. Ken Yeang is the primary name when it comes to ecological verticalism. He is an architect at the forefront of thinking about ecological imperative and an experimental designer of the Bioclimatic Skyscraper. Through the book Rethinking the Skyscraper: The complete architecture of Ken Yeang, Robert Powell analyzes Yeang’s proposal for a new approach to the design process with regards to the lack of space. Today, the process of designing vertically leads to a standardized product, built to perform a specific function. This standardization contributes to the creation of 17 18

McGuirk: 306 Chris Abel “The Vertical Garden City: Towards a New Urban Typology,” Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, no. 2 (2010): 23 11

spaces that do not consider the human experience. By understanding the spatial qualities that can be created vertically, a new approach can be taken in designing it, taking into consideration that man-made ecological systems can never sufficiently duplicate the complexity of natural ecological systems.19 This integrated approach to design promotes the creation, not of empty, neglected spaces, but of spaces and forms that are usable and beneficial to the urban fabric. Yeang states that: “Tower’s should be imagined as ‘cities in the sky’ with good pedestrian linkages, public realms, civic zones, vistas, and a sense of place extended upwards.”20 When it comes to creating public realms in the sky, one project stands out. The worlds first ecological office tower, The Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany by

COMMERZBANK HEADQUARTERS - NORMAN FOSTER (FRANKFURT, GERMANY)

Norman Foster. Foster introduces sky gardens that touch along Ken Yeangs intentions. The plan of the building is triangular, comprising three ‘petals’ -the office floors - and a ‘stem’ formed by a full-height central atrium. Winter gardens spiral up around the atrium becoming the social focus for four-story office clusters. From the outside these gardens in the sky give the building a sense of transparency. Socially, they form focal points, providing places for workers to meet colleagues or relax during breaks. The relationship between elements of architecture and landscape created in this project expresses the intent to emphasize the important of ecology and how it can be integrated vertically to develop social space.

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Ken Yeang. The Green Skyscraper: The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings. (Munich, Germany: Prestel Verlag, 1999): 39 Merkel: 1997

Also contributing to theory of verticalism as a method of dealing with the lack of space is Inaki Abalos. “Today, ‘Verticalism’, is the conceptualization of space and the contemporary city in vertical terms.”21 Politicians and architects need to focus their attention on the growth of skyscrapers because of the qualities and vast degrees of liberty that they add to the urban environment when used in support of public objectives.22 While prototypical towers tend to be viewed as organized towards private business (offices), it can through an integrated approach to design, become the site of vital urban/public activity. The public space that makes contemporary verticalism more strategically possible, its small footprint on places, and the obvious sustainability it offers by synergistically utilizing the various activities of it’s section....23 This shift in thought led to an MVRDV design of a Pavilion at the 2000 Expo in the Netherlands; which began to address the greater topic of gaining space in a densely populated environment. Nature arranged on many levels provides both an extension to existing nature and an outstanding symbol of its ephemerality. The Pavilion provides multi-level public space “HOLLAND CREATES SPACE” - NETHERLANDS PAVILION

as an extension to existing public spaces also. And even by

2000 WORLD EXPO - MVRDV

arranging existing programs on many levels it provides yet more extra space, at ground level, for visibility and accessibility and for nature. The project however was deemed unsuccessful. In the end, regardless of how sustainable a “Vertical City” might be, the model may ultimately be contingent on a substantial development of the public urban realm above ground into previously solely private territory.24 The Singapore National Library by Ken Yeang is also a project that successfully integrates 21 22 23 24

Abalos: 610 Abalos: 614 Abalos: 614 Abel: 29

ecology as a means to stimulate social activity (public realms) and enhance peoples lives (biophilia). The building consists of two blocks that are separated by a naturally lit internal street with connecting bridges at the upper levels. Over 6,300 square meters is designated a green space throughout the library, creating a series of sky courts. The two main gardens contain 12 meter high trees that increases biodiversity and improves the work environment. This projects success is in the integration of ecology, benefiting not only from the environmental aspects but from bringing public realms into vertical space. Similar to conditions at the ground, the shape of public spaces in the high-rise and the way they link together are essential to the cohesion of urban neighborhoods and the communities.25 “The development of vertical urbanism demands the creation of a richness in the public and private realms[…] In this way, the behavioral activities of those who live and work in the towers would influence the form.”26 By approaching the design of the elements that make up verticalism in a way that is integrated with public components and the overall urban fabric, a new experience can be created.

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Ken Yeang Reinventing the Skyscraper: a Vertical Theory of Urban Design (Wiley-Academy New York, NY 2002): 142 Robert Cowell, Rethinking the Skyscraper: The Complete Architecture of Ken Yeang (Watson-Guptill Publications: New York, NY 1999): 161

CONCLUSION Through the frames of ecological basis, urban density, and verticalism comes the beginning of one of the many answers to our social, economic and environmental challenges of the future. Several names such as Lord Norman Foster and Renzo Piano have joined Ken Yeang in the conversation about tall buildings being an answer to population growth and reintroduction of ecological components into the urban fabric. While this notion isn’t entirely new (Le Corbusier’s Vertical Neighborhood), a built application that successfully applies the concept of a ‘vertical habitat’ reinforced by nature has yet to be truly seen. A study of the behavioral settings in high-rise buildings as well as behavior in public space appears worthwhile. Such research is conducted by those such as Jon Lang, a significant name in urban design, with his co-edited book Designing for Human Behavior: Architecture and the Behavioral Sciences. An exploration into Kevin Lynch’s “Vertical City” terminology offers yet another place to begin finding answers. There are plenty of conceptual ideas dealing with throwing trees onto tall buildings, none that build on the vertical extension of public space normally found on the ground plane. It is with this in mind that an exploration begins to uncover just to how to successfully create a vertical city.

HYPOTHESIS

By utilizing vertical spaces in the urban fabric as new sites of community, urban activity will be stimulated to the extent that the public realms and functions that typically exist on the ground plane will expand vertically; becoming a viable solution towards urban density.

TACTIC TOWARDS A 900 CITY

SITE PROGRAM ECOLOGICAL TECTONIC

VISUALS hoeyw.wordpress.com/ My blog was an ongoing process throughout Thesis Prep I and Thesis Prep II. It signifies the progression of my thesis from its origin through its current state. The blog consists of original images, analysis, abstract model images, and writings based upon the research that I have completed thus far. My blog expresses my own understanding of my thesis and the ways in which it and I have developed throughout this semester.

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH • I have developed an understanding of the under-utilized spaces within the urban fabric and have come to define them as “leftover spaces”.

• I have developed an understanding of the field of landscape urbanism, Biophilic approach and Vertical Urbanism and have been able to apply some of its aspects to the development of my thesis.

• After developing an understanding of the field of verticalism, I have been able to identify aspects of highrise projects that can be utilized in the development of an architectural design.

• My research has led to an understanding that vertical spaces have an opportunity to promote urban activity and interaction found at the ground plane. The understanding will be applicable to the program and design of my design proposal.

• The body of research as a whole has promoted a different look at the design process that is focused upon vertical ecological integration. The realization of this design process will allow me to design a project that answers the proposed question regarding verticality as a urban solution towards density.

FRAME I: SITE The site analysis process began by determing potential sites in Boston that met the following criteria: Dense Built Environment, Absense of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;greenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Nature/Landscape), and a General lack of space in surrounding urban fabric. The site that resulted was Chinatown. Its dense urban fabric provides the opportunity for a vertical ecologically integrated approach to be taken.

CHINATOWN, BOSTON

The next step of my analysis of site came through the production of abstract site models. The abstraction allowed for the definition of spatial characteristics based upon the existing physical form of the built environment. The model (left) represents a vertical insertion of ecology in a dense urban fabric. The juxtaposition of green from the rest of the model signifies the importance nature posesses while also signifying the detachment from nature that currently exists in Chinatown

I continued my process by familiarizing myself with the site, photographing the various moments found on the site, expressing their spatial characteristics. Walking around Chinatown, I began to notice the detachment from the nearby Boston Common, a prominent green space in the city. This disconnect compounded the lack of nature that already exists within the fabric.

The second abstract model (left) represents the notion that an urban area should be thought of, and designed as, a 3-D Matrix and not only in the X and Y axis as it is typically. The blue portion highlights the potential vertical spaces. The documentation of air space above a dense built environment begins to provide a solution towards urban density and leads towards the proposal of a vertical city. The diagram on the bottom left conveys the idea of utilizing the vertical space in a dense fabric and how this could free up space at the ground plane (an allusion towards Le Corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Plan Voisin [minus the demolition aspect]). An example of potential vertical space in Chinatown is pictured below.

VERTICAL UTILIZATION

FRAME II: PROGRAM My second stage of analysis focused on progam. How does one begin to think of spaces vertically? What spaces occur on the horizontal plane that should be carried up through the z-axis? These are some of the necessary questions to consider when proposing a vertical city. Throughout this exploration, I began to decompartmentalize the skyscraper using public functions and ecology.

RESIDENTIAL

EDUCATION

WORK

The image above was created to convey the idea of compartmentalization. Vertical spaces (mainly high-rise buildings) are the leaders when it comes to compartmentalization, isolating their inhabitants from the public functions of the ground plane and the urban fabric as a whole. The image to the left suggests that public functions, such as grocery stores, education, living and working should all be primary parts of the program formed around spaces of ecology. [There are some instances of multiple types of the same program, i.e. living]

EDUCATION

LIVING

The image above diagrams spaces that begin to be formed by ecology. Ecology can be used as the primary tool to decompartmentalize the skyscraper, creating greater opportunities for social interaction as well as break up the rigidity of the vertical form. The image flowing vertically, furthest to the right, playfully stacks important programmatic elements that can lead to the success of vertial public realms

WORKING

RETAIL/ENTERTAINMENT

PUBLIC REALMS

DESIGN PROBE The Design Probe analysis begins with a progression of the programmatic focus. Having established a basis for the typologies of the vertical spaces leads to the exploration of planning. To start thinking of traditional urban design in vertical terms, I explored what would result from taking an existing urban fabric and rotating it 90 degrees. I used this method as a tool to discover potential locations of vertical spaces, primary green spaces included. I took the very strict urban plan of manhattan and applied it vertically. Immediately, the prominent feature was Central Park, the primary green space for the city, Also the realization that smaller parks were dispersed as well, which begins to speak towards an Ecological Tectonic, an exploration discussed later in the Design Probe. Seeing such prominent features from applying the cities plan vertically, lead to the idea of going through a similar excercise, but with the neighborhoods of Manhattan.

The same method was also used for the urban plan of Boston as well. The juxtaposition of the two cities does well to inform the various ways ecology is shaped in the urban fabric. Similarly, how both begin to talk about the formation of different neighborhoods.

Applying the vertical notion to the neighborhoods of Manhattan and formulating massing uncovered the spatial relationships that exist within the cities urban fabric. While this discovery doesn’t need the vertical theory to be uncovered, it’s importance lies in the relationships that, when turned vertically, begin to speak about how one might organize public space. The neighborhoods themselves begin to get organized into a heirarchy where more public or social interaction may take place, for instance, the Theater District (Times Square) or Midtown (Grand Central Terminal) and also based on their general typology.

The second stage in the process of “verticalizing” the neighborhoods of Manhattan was overlay the main public transportation grid, seen in the model to the left. As stated before, the primary connections between spaces becomes clear.

While Boston’s nieghborhoods do not follow the same structured grid as Manhattan’s, the “verticalization” of Boston’s neighborhoods result in the discovery that despite the unorganized layout, they do tend to revolve around the Boston Common. Each of these studies begins to take about the way ecological space has impacted the formation of the space surrounding.

ECOLOGICAL TECTONIC The Ecological Tectonic study explores the way one might organize landscape vertically. Based on the previous studies, the organization will have an impact on the various vertical spaces that are also inserted. The models on either side each represent one of the organizations of ecology. HORIZONTAL

CENTRALIZED

DISPURSED

CONTINUOUS

MERGED

CONCLUSIONS SITE: The analysis of my site represents the characteristics which make ecological verticalism a appropriate solution. It also expresses the spatial qualities that can created by utilizing the arial space in a dense urban fabric. It also presents the opportunity to insert the relationship that should occur between nature/landscape and the built form.

PROGRAM: My analysis of the progrommatic elements that could potentially make up the vertical site focuses upon public realms integrated with ecology. By abstracting the programmatic qualities on the site through a variety of scales, I have been able to propose a series of urban spaces creating strategies based upon existing characteristics that occur at the ground plane. This is crucial in beginning to develop and utilize an integrated approach to the design process that has been called for through my research.

CONCLUSIONS DESIGN PROBE: Through the analysis of the design probe, a thought-provoking way of how to begin planning a vertical city has been established. After a successful exploration of the 90 degree rotation of both Manhattan and Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban plans and neighborhoods, I have been able to see how green spaces influence their surroundings. The overlay of transportation also proved to be extremely helpful in see potential connections of vertical spaces to one another., whether they be primary, secondary, or even tertiary routes. The Ecological Tectonic could benefit from further exploration at a more in depth scale, however the exploration is certainly possible with regards to the timeline [see pg. 35]

DESIGN METHODS The work that I have done on my thesis project has led me to a new understanding for the potential of a new vertical urban environment. The use of graphical analysis has allowed me to develop an understanding of the ways in which one might think about life in the sky. The analysis has also shown that density is a prominent force, compounding with the lack of green in Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban fabric, specifically Chinatown.

I have also learned about the importance of drawing from existing characteristics that are used in traditional urban design. Understanding this importance led me to the process of abstracting the formative forces of the urban fabric. This abstraction sparked discoveries of architectural forms and strategies (implemented in my initial design probe i.e: vertical manhattan) that will be brought into the design my project.

Moving forward, I will continue the analysis of my site using these multiple strategies. I will also begin a new documentation process focusing on urban activity and ecology. This will be a critical step as I begin to expand the idea of my thesis project. This analysis will begin formulating my project. As the idea sparked from the idea of inhabiting vertical space as a site of architecture it will now grow into transforming the area of Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban fabric defined by density (Chinatown). The new form developed will be defined by a vertical sequence of spaces that promote urban activity

TIMELINE DECEMBER TO JANUARY - research human behaviour in high-rise settings and public spaces - analyze site conditions

JANUARY TO FEBRUARY -Complete analysis of area -Develop concept towards potential sites in area -Propose vertical urban plan -Build Site Model

FEBRUARY -Select individual area for further design -Continue development of vertical plan -research of plants and ecology specific for implementation into area

MARCH TO END OF APRIL -Develop vertical proposal -Develop design of implemented ecology -Continue developing form (inherent on interior spaces) -Complete Design and final representational components

EVALUATION CRITERIA When reviewing my completed thesis project, I believe that the critics reviewing my project should consider some evaluation criteria: • Does my design successfully express the ideas promoted by my thesis question? • Has my project been successful in creating a new site of urban activity? • Does my project exhibit the successful utilization of an integrated ecological design strategy? • Does the language of my architectural design express an understanding of urban communities and public realms? • Does the overall project reflect a more connected urban fabric, a connected vertical extension of public space primarily found on the horizontal ground plane?

RECAPITULATING THE PROCESS TOWARDS THE 900 CITY

REFLECTION

PATH FORWARD

REFLECTIONS The development of my thesis taught me the rigor of the research process that is involved with the development of this type of work. The main constant in the process: revision. With the passing of each week, my thesis modified, focusing in from my broader initial ideas.

This process proved to be a very valuable experience to me, both as a student of architecture and as an individual. The formation of my thesis, guided by the insight of my professors provoked new areas of research and experimentation.

This development taught me the value in each tool of the design process and led to the formation of a new understanding of urban form. I am more aware of existing problems in the urban fabric, while at the same time, this process leads me to believe that these problems can be resolved with components that already exist within the fabric, especially when combined with ecology.

As my understanding of the urban problem grows, I am becoming more confident that a solution can be formulated. I believe that the beauty of the high-rise and vertical space is the potential that they have to become the site of rich, successful urban communal activity.

GOING FORWARD My thesis suggests a new approach to the design process that challenges the way that urban design and planning are currently viewed and composed. As the project seeks to establish a new urban fabric within Chinatown (Boston), it appears that the next step of the process would be expanding the project into a model that can be implemented in cities spanning the world. If successful, the project can serve as a base upon which a new model for urban development can be placed. Research into the forms of these other urban fabrics would be required, as would an understanding of the cultures in other cities. This comprehension would prove crucial in designing a model that promotes the various urban activities that acknowledge the number of different cultures that could inhabit the spaces. I believe that this recognition can lead to the design of an adaptable model that considers the human element of the city and therefore, if successful, could become applicable globally.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Opening Quote: Ken Yeang. An interview with architect Ken Yeang, on CNN’s ‘Just Imagine’ programme, online video (youtube), running time 3:15, uploaded Dec. 18, 2007. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=H1P1kkcEzWM * = either Secondary source, or previous citing. Timothy Beatley. Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning. Washington D.C.: Island Press, 2010. Print. Timothy Beatley’s Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning (2010) asserts that nature is an essential component to the urban fabric of a city; satisfying humans innate need to connect with the natural world. Beatley, being a long time advocator for “green cities”, supports his notion by not only outlining the essential elements of a biophilic city but provides examples (such as Zaha Hadid’s design for a performing arts center in Abu Dhabi) and stories about cities that have successfully incorporated biophilic elements. The purpose of Timothy Beatley’s claim is to establish an understanding of the necessity of nature in order to propose strategies and a way of thinking, which urban planners and designers can use to further enrich cities, and the lives of humans that inhabit them. Beatley writes to a knowledgeable audience that has experience in the fields of landscape and architecture with a desire to learn methods to enhance the way we live. The content of Beatley’s work helps understand the purpose for incorporating green into the urban fabric. Peter Newman and Anne Matan “The Biophilic City” in Green Urbanism in Asia: The Emerging Green Tigers, Peter Newman and Anne Matan, (Hackensack, New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 2013) In the chapter “The Biophilic City”, Newman and Matan discuss the importance of biophilic urbanism, and the impact it can have on urban density. Their avocation for biophilic urbanism into the urban fabric stems from the observation of the densification of megalopolises around the world. Newman and Matan present cases from Singapore and other various Asian Cities to demonstrate the concept of the biophilic city, while also quoting Tim Beatley (A major advocator for Biophilia and it’s integration into the built environment). The cases from Singapore are strong examples of creating a Biophilic city, however could be improved by making the ‘green’ more functional. Nonetheless, “The Biophilic City” in Green Urbanism in Asia: The Emerging Green Tigers is a beneficial tool in recognizing where the Biophilic City concept has been successful. *Kristin Hohenadel “AT HOME WITH: PATRICK BLANC: All His Rooms Are Living Rooms.” The New York Times. May 3, 2007 (accessed November 28, 2013). http://www.nytimes. com/2007/05/03/garden/03blanc.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 42

Iñaki Abalos “Verticalism: The Future of the Skyscraper” in Ecological Urbanism, Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty, (Germany: Lars Mueller Publishers, 2010) In “Verticalism (The Future of the Skyscraper” (2010), Inaki Abalos, chair to the department architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, describes the emergence of the concept “Verticalism” and it’s role in transforming the urban fabric. Through his studies, he uses examples such as “Pig City” by MRVDV to support his claim. Abalos aims, in the chapter, to express the ways in which verticalism can impact cities both new and historical, the primary characteristic being it’s small footprint. This chapter describes an urban ecological design theory that helps to provide a solution for the future influx of people who will inhabit cities. “Verticalism (The future skyscraper)” is helpful in understanding theories regarding successful ecological design of urban spaces. Richard Burdett. Introduction to Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, ed. Richard Burdett, and Deyan Sudjic(London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 2011) Richard Burdett, professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, is one of the main editors for Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. The Urban Age Project looks closely at the problems that face contemporary cities, such as Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Istanbul, and examines a variety of solutions. Burdett supports this exploration by with a mix of compelling photographs, in-depth and wonderfully presented data, and the smart writing by global thinkers. The purpose of Burdett’s Urban Age exploration is to give the reader access to a wealth of ideas and data about Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Istanbul and, by extension, urban life across the globe. Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project is a crucial aid in gathering information about density in megacities and major urban areas across the globe and what impact it has on them. *Justin McGuirk “Understanding the Numbers” in Living In The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, ed. Richard Burdett, and Deyan Sudjic(London: Phaidon Press Ltd, 2011). Chris Abel “The Vertical Garden City: Towards a New Urban Typology,” Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, no. 2 (2010) In The Vertical Garden City: Towards a New Urban Typology (2010) Christopher Abel, a professor at the University of Sydney, asserts that there is a need to rethink vertical architecture and make it more ecologically responsive. Abel, leader of the Vertical Architecture STudio, supports his notion by not only outlining the essential elements that should be regarded in vertical architecture, but also gives precedents such as Le Corbusier’s Vertical City. The purpose of Abel’s claim is to establish an understanding of the necessity of vertical architecture in order to propose strategies and a way of thinking, which urban planners and designers can use to further enrich cities, and the lives of humans that inhabit them. He uses Australia’s climate difficulties as justification for vertical architecture in a densifying urban fabric. Abel writes to a knowledgeable audience that has experience in the fields of urban design and planning with a desire to learn methods to enhance the way we live. 43

Ken Yeang. The Green Skyscraper: The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings. (Munich, Germany: Prestel Verlag, 1999) Print. The Green Skyscraper: The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings addresses the task of making the skyscraper an “intensive” large building type, sustainable -- that is a structure that has a beneficial impact on the natural environment and boosts energy efficiency. Yeang, supports his concept by discussing the use of energy and materials and their physical impact on the ecosystem; which he illustrates with case studies from his own projects and experiments. The purpose of Ken Yeang’s claim is to present a general outline for looking at ecological design, a guide to examining the fundamental premises of such an approach as well as its practical applications to the contemporary skyscraper. The Green Skyscraper: The Basis for Designing Sustainable Intensive Buildings is a powerful aid in understanding the ecological design strategies applied to a skyscraper, and a primary source. *Merkel J., ‘Review of Ken Yeang’s lecture “The Skyscraper Bioclimatically Considered” at AIA, New York Chapter, 1997’. The lecture was accompanied by an exhibition of the work of T.R. Hamzah and Yeang at the Architecture League, New York City. Robert Cowell, Rethinking the Skyscraper: The Complete Architecture of Ken Yeang (Watson-Guptill Publications: New York, NY 1999) In Rethinking the Skyscraper: The Complete Architecture of Ken Yeang (1999), Robert Cowell, an architecture and urban planner, examines the design elements that characterize Yeang’s famous “green skyscrapers”: low-energy, passive techniques for lighting and heating, environmentally friendly materials for facades and interiors, well-planned pedestrian linkages, public zones, and innovative multiple-use areas. Cowell backs his examination through a series of case studies as well as illustrations that help understand Ken Yeang’s thought process. The purpose of Cowell’s examination is to emphasize that the various design strategies that should be thought of when building a high-rise. Rethinking the Skyscraper: The Complete Architecture of Ken Yeang (1999) provides necessary insight into the ‘green’ strategies that could be applied to skyscrapers of the future. Ken Yeang. Reinventing the Skyscraper: a Vertical Theory of Urban Design (Wiley-Academy New York, NY 2002) Ken Yeang’s book, Reinventing the Skyscraper: a Vertical Theory of Urban Design (2002) proposes ideas for the skyscraper as a city-in-the-sky, in a innovative design approach that resembles urban design and planning and applying it to the design of a conventional building in a high-rise structure. Yeang supports his claim by cleverly creating numerous diagrams and illustrations, which help visualize the profound concept. Yeang also describes ideas for the diversification of vertical land uses, vertical landscaping, vertical townscape, and the skyscraper as an urban ecosystem. The purpose of Yeang’s claim radically changes the current design approach to tall buildings to makes them into more humane environments and be more satisfying to its inhabitants. Yeang writes to an educated audience interested in tall buildings, to architects and engineers seeking a new approach for their design and to developers seeking to create more marketable and habitable high-rise dwellings and skyscraper commercial spaces. 44

RESEARCH ESSAY IMAGE CITATIONS: IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE IN ESSAY. http://www.growupgardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Patrick-Blanc-El-Jardin-Vertical-CaixaForum-Madrid.jpg http://www2.openphoto.net/volumes/TALUDA/20080608/openphotonet_on%20the%20 road2.JPG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Supertree_Grove,_Gardens_by_the_ Bay,_Singapore_-_20120712-02.jpg http://www.plantsf.org/FeaturedProjects.html http://files.lsecities.net/files/2011/10/living-in-the-endless-city_front-cover.gif https://www.db.com/cr/img/Gallery-Mumbai-L.jpg http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/commerzbank-headquarters/ http://www.morfae.com/data/0195/06.jpg

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B