ecological spatial urbanism by benjie morillo

Ecological Spatial Urbanism Thesis by: Benjie Morillo

Accepted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Architecture at The Savannah College of Art and Design

_______________________________________________________________________________/__/__ Scott Dietz Date Committee Chair

_______________________________________________________________________________/__/__ Samuel Olin Date Committee Member 1

_______________________________________________________________________________/__/__ Jo Hickson Date Committee Member 2

Ecological Spatial Urbanism

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Building Arts in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture Savannah College of Art and Design

By Peter Benjamin Albert B Morillo Savannah, GA June, 2011

This book is dedicated to: my mother and brother, ducky, martha and terry, classmates and all my professors.

Table of Contents Part 1 - General Principles

Abstract Landscape Desire for Nature Destruction of Nature Place of Uniqueness Vertical Gardens Constructed Wetlands Vertical Farming Need for Evolution Ecological Spatial Urbanism

Part 2 - Context Analysis and Regional Description

Spatial City Case Studies Multiple Site Possibilities Downtown Chicago Economy Local Programs Commercial Demographics Streeterville

Part 3 - Site Analysis

Sun and Wind Chicago Land Use South Chicago Macro Analysis Micro Analysis

Part 4 - Program Analysis Evolving Programs Human Scale Street to City to Spatial City Frame and Landscape Vertical and Horizontal

Evolution Through Time City to Skyscraper Macro Zoning Program Analysis The Destination Public Buildings, Trails, and Parks Modulating Service Connections Lot Divisions Commercial Buid Lots Modular Farming Circulation and Transportation Ground Activation Program

Part 5 - Quantitative Program Development

No Development Maximum Development Support Programs

Part 6 - Schematic Building Design

101

Three Planes Build Plane Ecological Plane Digital Model Farming Module

Part 7 - Design Development Site Reclamation Plan Diagrams 3D Model Elevations Levels Details Renderings Conclusion

121

Ecological Spatial Urbanism

Peter Benjamin Albert B Morillo June, 2011

The goal is to explore the importance of landscape and ecology for people, urban community and individuality, and the combination of the best ideas of an ideal urban street and establish it in the format of a skyscraper. The mega structure will then reflect a landscape frame and modular spaces within this framework will be designed by its inhabitants. Technological and biological systems within the tower will provide a infrastructure to promote healthy living and ecological preservation.

General Principles part 1

Abstract People have occupied the landscape for two

which generally become the exact opposite of

hundred thousand years, from living inside caves to

nature. Nature has to step aside while farmlands

building skyscrapers. People have conquered and

spread across the landscape to feed people. As

expanded territory, claiming nature in the process.

population

During the industrial era, skyscrapers reached for the

resources are depleted, ideas for sustainable living

clouds, vehicles reached for the horizons, and drills

are increasing. One concept is to combine the best

reached for cheap energy. As population increases,

ideas of the ideal urban street and establish it in the

pressure on land development increases. We have

format of a skyscraper. The skyscraper will then

allowed ourselves to claim land and call it our own.

reflect a landscape frame and modular spaces within

We gathered precious non-renewable resources

this framework will be designed by its inhabitants.

and consumed them for the comfort of large spaces.

Technological and biological systems within the

We built cars that allow us to travel through the land

tower will provide a infrastructure to promote healthy

to function in our daily lives. We have moved away

living and ecological preservation.

from the supposedly “undesired” cities to the more quiet, peaceful and supposedly “natural” suburbs, Fig 1.1

Fig 1.2

numbers

rise

and

non-renewable

Landscape Landscape is essential for life. If the world was

clings to the face of the planet. Upon its delicate

covered in concrete, we will not have a place to farm

health we depend for every moment of our lives.”4

food. Land is where we set our feet on and feel

Developing cities usually means clearing land and

comfortably grounded to. Landscapes are determined

vegetations. Clearing land and vegetation means

by two axes that we use to identify our position in the

destroying natural wildlife habitat that may have

world.1 The unfortunate thing is that landscape is

been in existence for probably tens or thousands of

not infinite; although there is a lot of it, we can run

years. The impact of human colonization can be

out of it. Preserving landscape is something people

lessened by providing refuge for wildlife.

need to take in seriously. Landscape is defined in several ways. The dictionary defines it as a section

In the United States, it remains a challenge to

or expanse of rural scenery, usually extensive, that

overcome the polar distinction between what is

can be seen from a single point of view, a panoramic

“urban” and what is “natural”.

view of a scenery, or a vista; it may be a picture

of the expansiveness of our ecological resources

representing natural inland or coastal scenery or

and land base, we have tended to see the most

any category of aesthetic subject matter in which

significant forms of nature as occurring somewhere

natural scenery is represented.2

Michel Desvigne

else – often hundreds of miles away from where

describes landscape as always heavily marked by

most people actually live – in national parks, national

the practices and natural structures that exist or

seashores, and wilderness areas.5

Perhaps because

that existed and never a blank page from which the unexpected will spring.3

Henry David Thoreau,

an American author and poet, notes that almost all of man’s improvements such as the building of houses and the cutting down of the forest and large trees have deformed the landscape and made it more and more tame and cheap. “Earth provides a self-regulating bubble that sustains us indefinitely without any thought or contrivance on our own. This protective shield is the biosphere, the totality of life, creator of all air, cleaner of all water, manager of all soil, but itself a fragile membrane that barely 1 Anna Lambertini, Mario Ciampi, and Jacques Leenhardt, Vertical Gardens (London: Verba Volant, 2007), 9. 2 “Landscape | Define Landscape at Dictionary.com.” Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary. com. Web. 06 Nov. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ landscape>. 3 Gilles A. Tiberghien, Michel Desvigne, and James Corner, Intermediate Natures the Landscapes of Michel Desvigne (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2009), 63.

4 Wilson, Edward O.. The creation: an appeal to save life on earth (New York: Norton, 2006), 27. 5 Timothy Beatley, Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities (Washington, DC: Island, 2000).

Desire for Nature “Nature is that part of the original environment and

“The usual catastrophe of the city outskirts is

its life forms that remains after the human impact.

embodied in that terrible line separating the housing

Nature is all on planet Earth that has no need of us

environment from the vast swathes of land that were

and can stand alone.”1

created by the consolidation of lots and are used for modern-day extensive farming.”3 There is a lack of

“The destructive power of Homo sapiens has no

direct connection between the natural environment

limit, even though our biomass is almost invisibly

and the housing developments that are, in most

small. It is mathematically possible to log-stack all

cases, fenced in.

the people on Earth into a single block of one cubic mile and lower them out of sight in a remote part of the Grand Canyon.”

“At the dawn of the twenty-first-century, metropolitan America has sprawled far beyond the wildest imaginings.”4

People look at nature as a refuge from the concrete

country estate that people love to live in. It advertises

pavement that we drive on every day. From the

as a healthy, beautiful, protected, and far from the

beginning of time, we, as human beings, have

dense crowd and noise pollution of the city center.

strived to make life easier, better, and richer. In the

However, the suburbs are changing because of the

process, we have created countless things that are

growing diversity that has moved and permeated to

way beyond the comprehension of a single human

it. Some suburbs become unsafe and far different

being. One particular thing we have achieved is the

from the initial ideal place. Through time, suburbs

mass production of automobiles and cheap gasoline.

age and diversity sets in resulting in problems that

Combine this technology with almost infinite cheap

were once thought of as exclusively ‘urban’ such as

landscape and urban sprawl is achieved.

crime, vandalism, disinvestment, and blight.5

Even

though people try to live in the country, most often than not, there is a hard borderline between farmlands and buildings. Michel Desvigne explains, 1 Wilson, Edward O.. The creation: an appeal to save life on earth (New York: Norton, 2006), 15 2 Wilson, Edward O.. The creation: an appeal to save life on earth (New York: Norton, 2006), 29

Fig 1.3

Suburbia is an attempt to create a

3 Gilles A. Tiberghien, Michel Desvigne, and James Corner. Intermediate Natures the Landscapes of Michel Desvigne (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2009), 63. 4 Rutherford H. Platt, The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st-century City (Amherst: University of Massachusetts in Association with Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, 2006), 8. 5 Rutherford H. Platt, The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st-century City (Amherst: University of Massachusetts in Association with Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, 2006), 10-11.

Suburbs grew from 55 million residents in 1950 to

are located are called “edge cities” or “mushburbs”.

more than 141 million in 2000 and are now home

They are often found in major interstate exits for easy

to more than one-half of the entire U.S. population.

vehicular access. The edge cities would be composed

Most metropolitan areas today are expanding

of retail spaces, commercial, entertainment centers,

spatially much more quickly than they are adding

hotels and some residential spaces. It is estimated

population. Between 1982 and 1997, the total extent

that “edge cities in 1991 contained two-thirds of all

of urbanized areas, as delineated by the Bureau of the

U.S. office space, thus eclipsing conventional urban

Census, increased by 47 percent while the nation’s

downtowns.”2 One difference between edge cities

population grew by only 17 percent. Between 1950

and actual towns is that edge cities lack the public

and 2000, suburbs tripled in population while central

infrastructure that creates a community. Edge city

cities collectively gained only 73 percent. Even this

growth is based on private vehicular transportation

comparison understates the actual shift away from

and usually lacks pedestrian access.

older cities toward suburbs.

With the

commercial and residential spaces spreading thinly across the landscape, it is expensive to create a

Central cities have stopped growing due to the

sufficient public transportation system because of

relocation of jobs out of the downtown areas toward

the lack of users. People give up all the necessities

the suburban areas.

People living in downtown

of living in cities and prefer long commutes home.

areas with jobs in the suburbs create a daily reverse

It is also usually difficult to find a home in a dense

commute. The places where the commercial jobs

city environment, where most people see home as someplace unique and identity driven.

1 Rutherford H. Platt, The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st-century City (Amherst: University of Massachusetts in Association with Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, 2006), 8-9.

2 Rutherford H. Platt, The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st-century City (Amherst: University of Massachusetts in Association with Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, 2006), 12.

Fig 1.4

Destruction of Nature As we sprawl across the land, we kill a large number

science, and science has not yet discovered the key

of species that are home to these areas. “Now when

role undoubtedly played in the maintenance of that

you cut a forest, an Ancient Forest in particular, you

ecosystem, as in the case of fungi, microorganisms,

are not just removing a lot of big trees and a few birds

and many of the insects.”1

fluttering around in the canopy. You are removing or drastically imperiling a vast array of species even within a few square miles of you. The number of these species may go to tens of thousands. Many of them, the very smallest of them, are still unknown to

1 “SECOND PAGE: E.O. WILSON SLIDE SHOW, SAVE AMERICA’S FORESTS.” Save America’s Forests. http://www.saveamericasforests.org/wilson/second.htm (accessed April 20, 2011).

Place of Uniqueness The concept of uniqueness is often amorphous

they happen are essential topics to understand a

and very difficult to express when it concerns a

site.2 The cultural activities that are developed in the

specific place. Throughout the world, however, exist

town reflects people’s interaction with the landscape

places which people categorize as unique and the

during its evolution.

mention of them brings forth a mental image or an

town “as a living organism, subject to continuous

imagined character.”

Walter Gropius describes a

To create a place for people,

change but with a basic structure generated by

designers cannot impose a foreign character, but

the character of life of its populations, constituting

rather develop the character that is in existence.

its identity; its growth cannot be left to change but

When this concept is applied to small towns, it will

should be consciously developed and controlled

create a unique character and this enables the place

by act of will and that the final aim of successful

to grow and change.

The communities that are

planning is to raise the standard of town life, thereby

growing and changing in today’s commercial world

expressing practically and aesthetically the pride of

have introduced sameness that can erode individual

its inhabitants.”3

qualities of a place and destroy its unique spirit. A designer must comprehend function and how people use the space. What activities happen and when

1 Harry Launce Garnham, Maintaining the Spirit of Place: a Guidebook for Citizen/professional Participation in the Preservation and Enhancement of Small Texas Towns (College Station, Tx.: Texas A & M University Printing Center, 1976), 6.

2 Harry Launce Garnham, Maintaining the Spirit of Place: a Guidebook for Citizen/professional Participation in the Preservation and Enhancement of Small Texas Towns (College Station, Tx.: Texas A & M University Printing Center, 1976), 21. 3 Harry Launce Garnham, Maintaining the Spirit of Place: a Guidebook for Citizen/professional Participation in the Preservation and Enhancement of Small Texas Towns (College Station, Tx.: Texas A & M University Printing Center, 1976), 21.

Fig 1.5

Vertical Gardens Vertical gardens technology is similar to vertical

reduce the carbon dioxide from dense traffic and

farm technologies. The only difference is getting an

also reduce the heat island effect.

aesthetically pleasing psychological response being

can be incorporated into architectural elements in

in a garden, instead of harvesting food to provide

several different ways. It can be planted directly

for a physical or physiological need. Gardens and

onto the walls that have pockets with soil for roots

farming is almost a great combination because

to grow, or it can be a vine that crawls up to form a

it becomes a place of connection with nature.

natural mesh. However, incorporating these vertical

Plants are vertical by nature.

Vertical Gardens

plants onto a wall has little natural context especially

describes “the roots of verticality to be found in

when done as a garden art. “A green or plant wall

the principles of life itself; through its relationship

constitutes a particular facet of verticality in garden

involving photosynthesis, the growth of vegetation

art.

is essentially determined by the search for light.”1

developed separately from a garden in areas that

Vegetations

It has the unusual characteristics of being

have no natural green context. It is an urban and The cities today are always trying to bring back

architectural element.”2

areas for nature to grow, such as parks, to help 1 Anna Lambertini, Mario Ciampi, and Jacques Leenhardt, Vertical Gardens (London: Verba Volant, 2007), 11.

Fig 1.6 Vertical Garden

2 Anna Lambertini, Mario Ciampi, and Jacques Leenhardt, Vertical Gardens (London: Verba Volant, 2007), 13.

Constructed Wetland System Constructed Wetland System, also called Greywater Biofiltration system removes pollutants

of surface waters.

from

greywater that comes from sinks, baths, or clothes

Maintenance

greywater

wetlands

very

washing. Wastewater is treated by the processes

limited. The depth of the water must be adjusted

of sedimentation, filtration, digestion, oxidation,

to encourage the roots of the plants to grow.

reduction, adsorption and precipitation. The system

Vegetation must be properly removed when wilted

will have wetland plants as well as micro organisms

and replaced. The mesh in the inlet and outlet must

that thrive in wetland environments which break

be cleaned periodically to prevent clogging. Water

down pathogens, bacteria, and non-biodegradable

must be monitored for nutrient and BOD levels.

toxins that could potentially reach surface waters causing pollutions.

“Typically greywater does

Common problems of this system include clogging

contain nitrate, phosphate, soaps, salt, bacteria,

and overflowing. There are typically sediments in

bleach, foam, food particles, organic matter,

the water that accumulate over time and potentially

suspended solids, perfumes and dye.”1 Greywater

clogs the pipes and prevents the water to flow. This

filtration systems can also prevent bad odors from

can be prevented by installing screens at the pipe

pooling stagnant water. It prevents nutrient overload

inlet. The wetlands may also overflow during a

1 Yocum, Dayna. “Design Manual: Greywater Biofiltration Constructed Wetland System.” Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. University of California, Santa Barbara, n.d. Web. 24 May 2011. <fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/~chiapas2/Water%20Management_files/Greywater%20Wetlands-1.pdf>

storm, but can be regulated through proper drainage through the outlet pipes.

Fig 1.7 Greywater System

Vertical Farming According to The Vertical Farm, nearly 80% of the

•Significantly reduces use of fossil fuels (farm

earth’s population will be concentrated in urban

machines and transport of crops)

centers by the year 2050 and the most conservative

•Makes use of abandoned or unused properties

estimates of the human population show an increase

•No weather related crop failures

of about 3 billion people in less than 50 years.

This

•Offers the possibility of sustainability for urban

means that we will need to find more land for people

centers

to grow food in. With nature diminishing because of

•Converts black and gray water to drinking water

the farmlands that carpet the landscape as shown

•Adds energy back to the grid via methane

in (fig ?), a solution then is to plan vertically (fig ?):

generation

the vertical farm. Although it is not a new idea to

•Creates new urban employment opportunities

grow produce indoors in a controlled environment,

•Reduces the risk of infection from agents

the challenge is how to be able to do it on a large

transmitted at the agricultural interface

scale to accommodate the rising population.

•Returns farmland to nature, helping to restore ecosystem functions and services

An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be

•Controls vermin by using restaurant waste for

invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The

methane generation

Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories

When farming becomes vertical in a highrise

high, will be situated in the heart of the world’s urban

environment, this will impact the way surrounding

centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the

context is developed to ensure the agricultural

promise of urban renewal, sustainable production

spaces are well lit from the sun. Guidelines must be

of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop

set on these such as how tall surrounding buildings

production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems

are depending on its orientation to the sun and

that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.2

other considerations to ensure productivity and desirability of the area. Farming, and especially

There are several great advantages from this

community farming, typically brings community and

concept. The following are listed from The Vertical

social value up in the area, not just because of fresh

Farming website:

local produce, but also the experience of increasing bond by sharing a public garden with a neighbor.

•Year-round crop production •Eliminates agricultural runoff

1 The Vertical Farm Project - Agriculture for the 21st Century and Beyond | Www.verticalfarm.com. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. <http://www. verticalfarm.com/more>. 2 The Vertical Farm Project - Agriculture for the 21st Century and Beyond | Www.verticalfarm.com. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. <http://www. verticalfarm.com/more>.

Fig 1.8 Farming

Need for Evolution From birth, the skyscraper has evolved significantly

inhabitants and urbanism more humanized in scale.

into different forms and styles. Skyscrapers, just

“Ground based structures would not necessarily

like living organisms, have even tried to evolve into

shift, but new labyrinths of circulation could develop,

fantastic futuristic ideas with the help of futurists,

change, and disappear in response to social

avant-garde architects and artists.

But nature –

demands. Floors would become obsolete. Rather,

or rather technology, feasibility, human culture

we would have to make distinctions based on

and taste – prevented them to evolve. Today, the

contiguous spaces, or devise a sub neighborhood

big issue is the climate change due to the over

category equivalent to the street.”2

consumption of natural materials, particularly the thirst of human infrastructures for energy that we

“Historically, the skyscraper has been a vertical

acquire through non-renewable resources. “Broadly

extrusion of similarly inhabited floors. Implicit in the

speaking, the industrial application of fossil fuels in

concept of tall is the omnipresence of gravity as both

the nineteenth century set the developing world on a

a structural force as well as a force to be overcome

path of seeing nature as a resource for consumption

to achieve accessibility. While the horizontal space

rather than conservation and restoration. Rapidly

symbolizes a kind of sociable and barrier free

urbanizing cities established parks and limited

access, vertically organized space typically presents

natural systems within their borders as symbols of

obstacles to movement and visibility, separating

nature while broadly exploiting nature elsewhere as

activity on one floor from the next. Horizontal space

a source of energy.” .

is epitomized as flexibility, organizable into shade of public, semi-private and private, while a vertical

Tall structures can eventually become a landscape

extrusion of similar floor plates implies privacy and

of spaces/cities. Skyscrapers will not just be another

separation.”3

building in an urban context, but rather an urban context within an urban context. Buildings will merge with one another or merge with the landscape to create a more functional environment for the 1 Scott Johnson, Tall Building: Imagining of the Skyscraper (Glendale, Calif: Balcony, 2008), 108.

2 ”Parametric Architectural Concept Development | The Archi Studio.” Koh Samui, Architect Design Service, 3d Interior Design, Construction, Renovation, Animation. 4 Aug. 2010. Web. 18 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thearchistudio.com/3d‐showcase/3d‐render‐3d‐visualization/parametric‐skyscraper‐conceptdevelopment. html>. 3 Scott Johnson, Tall Building: Imagining of the Skyscraper (Glendale, Calif: Balcony, 2008), 58.

Fig 1.9 Evolution of a City

Ecological Spatial Urbanism There is a common idea of trying to put urbanism into

and buildable spaces for businesses and residents

the vertical skyscraper. The concept of hybridizing

to occupy and inhabit the spaces. The spaces and

skyscrapers and urbanism is one of the evolving

architectural style are not defined by the frame, but

types of skyscrapers today. However, these design

rather from local architects, urban designers, and

seems to still be creating private and cul-de-sac

landscape architects working for the clients and for

scenarios once you read the top floors. There is

the community. As the years pass, the skyscraper

also little emphasis on Ecological Issues that urban

will evolve more, creating a community and culture

sprawl is creating and other issues such as food

within itself. Culture is defined as the sum total of

sources being far away from central cities. Systems

ways of living built up by a group of human beings

such as wetland biofiltration, ecological trails, travel

and transmitted from one generation to another.1

distances, street experience, community farming, and healthy community connections interactions,

“Certain changes in agricultural practices can be

connections to existing context and/or other

studied to support other types of solutions.

skyscrapers must be addressed and incorporated

above all we must create a place to develop, and we

into the design.

must set up a structural frame for this city.”2 In the

But

future, we cannot bind our cities to the ground and The framework of the ecological spatial vertical

there is no important reason why we have to. The

landscape is a key element and must be invented

higher spaces is our a new areas for urbanization

from the combination of skyscraper technology

ans must be planned well. The idea is that cities will

and landscape relationship to people, adapting

not be developed building by building in the ground,

and creating culture through community and self-

but rather in a spatial frame. As earth’s species,

individuality.

The project must evolve through

we have evolved and must evolve to survive in

phases in time, able to change its environmental

the changing time, and as we notice a change in

character during seasons, and changing its physical

the landscapes horizon, evolution seen though

and cultural character throughout the years. Farming

theoretical visions are schemed.

shall be the initial use of the framework to provide for the surrounding communities. The spaces will initially provide food for the surrounding neighborhood then eventually provide for the skyscrapers’ inhabitants. Spaces are divided three-dimensionally in the skyscraper allowing for designated public spaces

1 “Culture | Define Culture at Dictionary.com.” Dictionary. com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture>. 2 Gilles A. Tiberghien, Michel Desvigne, and James Corner, Intermediate Natures the Landscapes of Michel Desvigne (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2009), 38.

Fig 1.10 Spatial Urbanism

Images Fig 1.1 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0710/MilkyWayRoad_landolfi.jpg Fig 1.2 http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/images/sts-097_kidstation_project2000_earth_night.jpg Fig 1.3 http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/myth/erik-johansson Fig 1.4 http://www.lasmogtown.com/?cat=108 Fig 1.5 http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=section=&q=self+identity#/d1724qc http://www.flickr.com/photos/suephi /3064021001/in/photostream/ http://www.positivenation.co.uk/is sue117/features/feature1/feature1.htm http://www.cooltownstudios.com/2007/ 11 /08/self-expression-at - -its-residential-best Fig 1.6 http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Home/10-Magnificent-Urban-Gardens.html Fig 1.7 Yocum, Dayna. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Design Manual: Greywater Biofiltration Constructed Wetland System.â&#x20AC;? Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. University of California, Santa Barbara, n.d. Web. 24 May 2011. <fiestabrenucsb.edu/~chiapas2/Water%20Management_files/Greywater%20Wetlands-1.pdf> Fig 1.8 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Crops_Kansas_AST_20010624.jpg http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/12/vertical_farming.html

Context Analysis part 2

Fig 2.1 Topologies

Spatial City During the 1960’s, a group of avant-garde

attended to, transportation will be flawless, and

visionaries comprised of architects, artists, writers,

there will be a great variety of social and leisure

theorists, and critics imagined a series of urban

spaces for the citizens. Rectilinear and polyhedral

utopias.

They drew out phantom cities of the

structures and towers would support biomorphic

future. They called themselves “spatial urbanists”,

living cells, and themselves would constitute a great

which reflected their conceptual idea of the utopian

wide network of plastic art. Color, light, and sound

“spatial” city. The city is suspended in the space

would all be harmonized in this urban space into a

on an industrialized three- dimensional mesh over

unified, constantly changing spectacle. 1

existing urban centers.

From this diverse group

of images, illustrations of the ideal, “spatial” city,

The spatial city in France tells a two-part story. “One of

shows an almost endless number of possibilities.

these parts recounts the formation and development

Sometimes we find dreamlike descriptions of the

of a particular avant-garde, or neo-avant-garde: the

images from the writing of critics like Raagon, Pierre

French tendency toward “spatial urbanism,” which

Restany, Henry Van Lier, Abraham Moles, Nicolas

comprised architectural design, artistic production,

Schoffer, and Victor Vasarely. The most observable

and engineering experimentation. The second part

evidence that back up the phantom city is the big

described the external or contextual vicissitudes of

collection of architectural drawings, models, and

the society in which this avant-garde practiced.”2

artworks by various architects and artists. With all

The spatial city is developed from post-industrial

these sketches and drawings combined, they begin

ideology and developed not for a single

to outline the image and idea of a luminous city that was to float above the earth, with all its habitable parts circulating in rhythm. Technology would make sure that the inhabitants’ needs were going to be

1 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 3. 2 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 4.

country but with a global language. The raw material

and theoretical programs alike.3

from the industrial age is used for the construction

and drawings did not provide enough realism to

of the framework for the urban utopia. The sixties

demonstrate the ideal city of the future. As soon as

is seen as an international time for experimental

the artists and writers describe a resolution above

architecture.

the spatial city concern, their scientific approach

Van Lier envisioned the city with

great light and flexible structure that could be

The sketches

turned into an avant-garde manifesto.4

mobile. There will be efficient circulation systems that transport people into a flawless communication

“Within the new urban labyrinth described by Moles

of spaces. In Mole’s and Van Lier’s visions of the

and Rohmer the city-dweller would experience

urban environment, the realistic and the futuristic

a complex aesthetic existence.

mix, networks would multiply, structures transform

physical needs would be taken care of and he

and reconfigure in time, and the city would change,

would be left with a surplus of time, during which he

grow, and expand upward and into sky.

could wander a vast network of parcours, each of

His immediate

which would present varying sequences of ‘spatial “The science of space embodies at best a

acts’ –passively perceived aesthetic moments,

technological utopia, a sort of computer simulation

or particular events.

of the future, or of the possible, within the framework

include changing views of the urban landscape, art

of the real, the framework of the existing mode of

‘happenings,’ and even the viewing of aesthetically

production. The starting-point here is a knowledge

enhanced

that is at once integrated into, and integrative with

Orchestrating these various experiences would

respect to, the mode of production. The technological

become the main occupation of the artist of the

utopia in question is a common feature not just of

future, an aesthetician cum development engineer

many science-fiction novels, but also of all kinds

who would design ‘an aesthetic structuralism of

of projects concerned with space, be they those of

fragments of the environment.’ Thus the logic of the

architecture, urbanism, or social planning.”

spatial combinatoire was being applied to the urban

publicity

These spatial acts could

materials,

affichage.

environment itself, and the experience of it by the The actual nature of the design made it clear that the

individual inhabitant.”5

“spatial” city will be almost impossible to make into a realistic product. The way the spaces were drawn and designed were very symptomatic and highly problematic, which shows programmatic failings and internal ideological contradictions in urban design

1 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 27. 2 Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Oxford [u.a.: Blackwell, 2003), 9.

3 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 7. 4 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 23. 5 Larry Busbea, Topologies: the Urban Utopia in France, 1960-1970 (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2007), 25.

Topologies Yona Friedmans Spatial City Reviewed by Jonas Komka His space frame/city/agglomeration: -holds several layers -horizontal and vertical movement • -50-60% of structure occupied my modules (25-30 sq.m.) can provide air and light circulation for lower level • -prefabricated modules for modular voids • -mobility and adaptation: multiple and changeable configurations for social needs. • -accomodates increasing population, provides second layer for urban pedestrian flow, preserves heritage in lower level • -architect acts as a from giver (a similarity to situationism) • -ground occupying foundation is outdated • -space as structured substance, technical formulation of ideal infrastructure. The proposal may span over • -certain unavailable sites, • -areas where building is not possible or permitted (expanses of water, marshland), • -areas that have already been built upon (an existing city), • -farmland. In 1958, Yona Friedman published his first manifesto : “Mobile architecture”. It described a new kind of mobility not of the buildings, but for the inhabitants, who are given a new freedom. The spatial city, which is a materialization of this theory, makes it possible for everyone to develop his or her own hypothesis. This is why, in the mobile city, buildings should : 1. touch the ground over a minimum area 2. be capable of being dismantled and moved 3. and be alterable as required by the individual occupant. 1

1 Komka, Jonas. “ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM: Larry Busbea: Topologies - The Urban Utopia in France 1960-1970 (2007).” ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM. 23

Skyscraper Case Studies

Vertical Campus: A New Skyscraper for an Ever-evolving LA The tower is located over Los Angeles River, Using the buildings base to generate hydroelectric power. There is a mix of residential, commercil, garden and civic spaces. “Wind turbines join the hydroelectric to provide energy, as does photovoltaic film; horizontal farms breed algae for energy use while hanging gardens grow vegetables and flowers for residents; rainwater is collected and purified; and all of the city’s transportation paths – bike, pedestrian, car, subway, train – run across the building’s base, unifying the building in another way with its landscape.”1 The features of the tower is very close to a functioning spatial community. There is a combination of mixed use spaces and the ability for modular spaces to be attached. However, the circulation is very dependent on vertical lifts and a pure vertical tower suggests privacy so it is hard for a natural community core to evolve. 1

http://www.evolo.us/architecture/vertical-campus-a-new-skyscraper-

for-an-ever-evolving-l-a/

Fig 2.2

Vertical Street/City

Fig 2.3

The design of this skyscraper is to provide a structure for a vertical street where developments gradually occur and change attaching to the structural cores. This allows the skyscraper to have its own character depending on multiple architectural designers for multiple inhabitants. “A great number of architects, designers and landscape architects will have an opportunity to participate in erection of this skyscraper. The tenants may choose the look, planning, style, characteristics of their house. The bounds of the ground on each separate level will be formed in such way that will prevent their interference. This will give a general skyscraper look complex and unpredictable shape. The uniqueness of building’s volume will contain in that, like a coral lying on the ocean’s bottom and accumulating mollusks, it will be filling itself with life. This will form natural and inimitable environment.”1 This is design however creates a vertical cul de sac. The tower is mainly a linear design instead of planar design like the vertical campus. This case study is definitely a good example of how to turn the horizontal street into a vertical element.

http://www.evolo.us/competition/vertical-street-city-2/

Vertical City in Mexico The tower is in designed by a mock firm of 10 undergraduate architecture students. The concept is similar to the “Vertical Street”, but the street is designed to be diagonal which almost for a more public environment. “The Architecture within the tower is built over time, creating a dynamic composition of Mexico’s cultures. Furthermore, the proposed tower allows sub-public and private spaces to evolve naturally, creating complex urban spaces similar to those of historic Mexico.”1 The diagonal street is definitely the strong characteristic of this tower. It functions more as a community rather than private spaces, compared to the vertical street and vertical campus. 1 http://www.architecturepost.org/2010/06/student-competition-verticalcity-in-mexico-city/

Fig 2.4

Multiple Site Possibilities The spatial town or skyscraper cannot support itself

Spatial Urbanism in Rural Areas. If a rural site is

like a biosphere but it certainly can be developed

chosen for development, the programs may be

anywhere in the world as long as the region has

more mixed use to provide the essential needs of

the right climate to farm and other resources

a community. Farming may be the main use of the

for its inhabitants to thrive. Spatial Urbanism in

surrounding landscape thus there might not be any

Urban Areas. The spaces in the spatial skyscraper

priority to develop vertical farming.

should not destroy the existing social and spacial context of a place bur rather provide additions to the neighborhood that helps promote community, self-individuality, and culture. For example, in commercial rich areas, more residential spaces and even farming programs can be developed within the skyscrapers context.

Fig 2.5

Downtown Chicago Downtown Chicago sits at the edge of Lake Michigan

shopping district are its popular destinations. Navy

and its lake front invites a lot of nightlife and tourists

Pier consists of 50 acres of parks, gardens, shops,

alike. Around one-third of Chicago is concentrated

eateries and attractions to mainly tourists. Visitors

in the lake front neighborhoods. The majority of the

can ride a 150 ft. tall Ferris wheel, take boat rides,

skyscrapers is located in Central Chicago. Central

or go in the IMAX Theatre. Near Navy Pier closer

Chicago is divided into three community areas; Near

to my site is an old warehouse that became River

North, Near South, and the Loop. In Near North

East Art Center, where visitors can observe work

Side, there are 11 neighborhoods.

and take art classes or go to lectures. Streeterville is also known for the Museum of Contemporary Art,

Streeterville is one of the neighborhoods in Near

one of the best museums in Chicago1

North. It is bordered with the river on the south, Lake Michigan in the North and East, and Michigan Ave on the west. There is a large collection of luxurious high-rise apartment buildings and restaurants. Navy Pier, John Hancock, and the Magnificent Mile

1 Solomon, Alan. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Streeterville | Chicago Neighborhoods | Explore Chicago.â&#x20AC;? Explore Chicago | The Official Chicago Tourism Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/ neighborhoods/streeterville.html>.

Fig 2.6

Economy Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

diverse

economy

based

manufacturing, printing and publishing, finance and

to the Federal Reserve Bank, the Chicago Board of Trade, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

insurance, and food processing as primary sectors. A big part of the economy comes from a substantial

Items and goods produced: telephone equipment,

industry and its location as a major inland port. This

musical instruments, surgical appliances, machinery,

gives the city a big role in the nations transportation

earthmoving and agricultural equipment, steel,

and distribution center. The source of nationally

metal products, diesel engines, printing presses,

distributed

magazines,

educational

office machines, radios and television sets, auto

materials,

encyclopedias,

specialized

accessories, chemicals, soap, paint, food products

catalogs, and

publications, Chicago ranks second only to New

and confections

York in the publishing industry. The city is also home

Local Programs The City of Chicago Department of Planning and

attraction of new companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;by providing a menu

Development (DPD) takes big part in promoting the

of financial resources, neighborhood improvements,

diversity of the city as well as growth and economy.

site location assistance, and the expediting of

They work with the existing business and try to

permits and licenses. DPD also has the primary

attract new ones. Community based planning is also

responsibility for preserving city landmarks and

practiced to coordinate activities with residents and

protecting the Chicago River and the Lake Michigan

community organization.

shoreline.

DPD promotes effective neighborhood planning by coordinating the strategic allocation of public funds to maximize private investmentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and the

Commercial Since its founding, Chicago has been an important

highways in the country. Approximately 750 motor

transportation and distribution point; at one time

freight carriers serve the metropolitan area, and

it was a crucial link between the Great Lakes and

trucking companies ship more than 50 million tons

Mississippi River waterways and today the city

of freight each year; railroads average more than 40

ranks among the world’s busiest shipping hubs. The

million tons. Chicago’s airports handle more than

city became a world port in 1959 with the opening of

one million metric tons of cargo annually

the St. Lawrence Seaway, which provides a direct link from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The Port of Chicago handles marine, rail, and overland freight. The state of Illinois maintains the thirdhighest combined mileage of railroads and paved

Demographics Chicago has one of the fastest growing population in history. There are about 2,695, 598 people with

Census Population in Chicago

1,045,560 households residing within Chicago. Half

1840 4,470 1850 29,963 1860 112,172 1870 298,977 1880 503,185 1890 1,099,850 1900 1,698,575 1910 2,185,283 1920 2,701,705 1930 3,376,438 1940 3,396,808 1950 3,620,962 (the beginning of suburbia) 1960 3,550,404 1970 3,366,957 1980 3,005,072 1990 2,783,726 2000 2,896,016 2010 2,695,598

of the population lives in the metropolitan area. The median Income for a household is $38,652, and the median income for a family is about $42,724. Racial Composition 45.0% White (31.7% non-Hispanic whites) 32.9% Black or African American 0.5% American Indian 5.5% Asian 13.4% from some other race 2.7% from two or more races Hispanics or Latinos (of any race) make up 28.9% of

570.3% 274.4% 166.5% 68.3% 118.6% 54.4% 28.7% 23.6% 25.0% 0.6% 6.6% −1.9% −5.2% −10.7% −7.4% 4.0% −6.9%

the total population.

http://www.census.gov/ 31

Fig 2.7 Racial / Ethnic Self-identification

Fig 2.8 Historic Zoning Map

Fig 2.9 Streeterville Visitors Map

Fig 2.10 Chicago Visitors Map

www.explorechicago.org

ASTOR 14TH

23RD

Chinatown 23RD PL

LL WA

24TH

Chinatown Branch Library

AC E

24TH PL

CO RB

McCLURG

U.S. Cellular F i e l d / C hi ca g o Whi te So x 1 mile v ia CTA R e d Line

NEW

S TA

BUS COLUM

MICHIGAN

M I C H I G A N

PARK

HARBOR

NORTH CITY FRONT PLAZA DRIVE

COLUMBUS

Hutchinson Field

12th Street Beach House

Charter One Pavilion

Wheeler Mansion

Northerly Island

18TH

McCormick Place Lakeside Center

Hyatt Regency McCormick Place

Motor Row Landmark District

Arie Crown Theater

24TH

L A K E

FAIRBANKS

DE WITT

Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum

Burnham Park

CALUMET

MICHIGAN

WABASH

STATE

Exelon Pavilions

23RD

to Ashland/63 or East 63rd

ALEXANDER

Chicago Women’s Park and Gardens

Chase Promenade

SOLIDARITY

Burnham Harbor

Gold Star Families Memorial and Park

Prairie Avenue Historic District McCormick Place North

McCormick Willie Dixon’s Place West Blues Heaven CERMAK Foundation

CERMAKCHINATOWN

CTA Green Line

PRINCETON

Or A

22ND PL

WENTWORTH

to e

Lin

E OV GR

NORMAL

BER

CULLERTON

INDIANA

FEDERAL PL

Clarke House

19TH

CLARK

RUBLE

CULLERTON

to 95th/Dan Ryan

CTA Red Line

t or

T OR

Ping Tom Park

CANAL

ALP

CLINTON NORMAL

19TH PL

HALSTED

DEARBORN

CLINTON

JEFFERSON

N CA

CERMAK

LUM

National Vietnam Veterans Art Glessner Museum House

18TH

19TH

PEORIA

SANGAMON

DESPLAINES

NEWBERRY

PEORIA

MILLER

SHELBY

MORGAN

National Museum of Mexican Art Chicago Arts District 18TH 1 8 5 2 W. 1 9 t h S t r e e t 1 m i l e vi a C TA b u s 18 o r C TA B lu e Lin e t o 18t h

16TH

17TH

RIVE RE D

17TH PL

The Lurie Garden

SHO

17TH

AT&T Plaza and Cloud Gate

America's Courtyard

Soldier Field/ Chicago Bears

LAKE

16TH

14TH PL

Jay Pritzker Pavilion BP Bridge

CTA B us 146 f r o m T he Ma gnif ice nt Mile o r Sta te Str e e t

Museum Campus

McFETRIDGE

ce ) mick Pla

15TH PL

S I D E

Dan Ryan Expwy

14TH PL

MIES VAN DER ROHE

MICHIGAN

THE

Central Station

Stevenson Expwy

ET T

Bronzeville 1/2 mile

KING DR

13TH

The Field Shedd Museum Aquarium

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance Exelon McDonald’s Pavilions Cycle Center

The Park Grill Restaurant

MONROE

WATER TAXI PORT

ROOSEVELT

Welcome Garden Terrace Center Boeing Gallery North

The Crown Fountain Boeing Gallery South Garden Terrace

Best Western Grant Park

PRAIRIE

LIBERTY

MAXWELL

LAKE SHORE DRIVE

STATE

MICHIGAN

COLUMBUS

CLARK

LA SALLE

FINANCIAL

WELLS

FEDERAL DEARBORN PLYMOUTH

11TH

PRAIRIE

13TH MAXWELL

Queen's Landing

Ice Rink at McCormick Tribune Plaza

Chicago’s Essex Inn

ROOSEVELT

90 FEDERAL

NEWBERRY

9TH

12TH PL O’BRIEN

Millennium Monument in Wrigley Square

The Blackstone – A Renaissance Hotel BALBO

Cor To M c ay (

MORGAN

Travelodge Hotel Downtown

14TH

W E S T

MILLER

University Center of Chicago

DePaul’s Merle Reskin Theatre

Origin of the Great Chicago Fire

ISO

RANDOLPH

Busw

N E A R

14TH

CARPENTER

S o u th Loop

TAYLOR

ROOSEVELT

MAXWELL

CABRINI

CLARK

Littl e Ital y National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame 1431 W. Taylor Street

CABRINI

LINE

Buckingham Fountain The Museum of Spirit of Music Contemporary Garden Photograpy Spertus Museum

Hilton Chicago 8TH

PARK TERR

JEFFERSON

MILLER

Ja ne A d d a m s Hu l l -Ho u se M u seu m

CONGRESS Congress Plaza Hotel and Convention Center

POLK

P A R K

Auditorium Theatre

Hostelling International Chicago

Exhibition In-line seeing line Shake- Museum Halls Skate boats Stage speare of Stained Rentals Theater Glass Windows

M ille n n iu m P a r k

Station

HARRISON

Harold Washington Library Center

BASE

Petrillo Bandshell Chicago Architecture Foundation Van Buren G R A N T

Pritzker Park

Hotel Blake

The Maxwell Street Market

MORGAN

CARPENTER

ABERDEEN

STATE

CLARK

Chicago Stock Exchange Chicago Board Options Exchange LaSalle Station

HARRISON

VERNON PARK

DEARBORN

LA SALLE

VAN BUREN

Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown

Greyhound Bus Station

CLARK

Chicago Board of Trade

Navy Pier

WATER TAXI PORT Bike & Sight- Sky- Chicago The Smith

Base line zero signifies the city of Chicago street grid numbering system. Street address numbers increase as one moves progressively North or South of Madison Ave., and East or West of State St.

TE A

ZERO

The Art Butler Field Institute of Chicago

Symphony Center

Palmer House Hilton

MICHIGAN

VAN BUREN

to Cermak or Forest Park

JACKSON

Sears Tower

Hampton Majestic Chicago Theatre District

WABASH

Union Station

W City Center

LA SALLE

WACKER

JACKSON

LOOP

MONROE

WELLS

CANAL

CLINTON

Chicago Mercantile Exchange

CLINTON

DESPLAINES

MADISON

DALEY BICENTENNIAL PLAZA

UIC/HALSTED

Civic Opera House

ADAMS

C TA Blue Lin e

Eisenhowe r Expwy

WASHINGTON

Ferris CTA b use s M-F, Ce r ta in ho ur s Wheel 2, 29, 65, 66, 120, 121 o r 124

Riverwalk Gateway

MONROE

ADAMS

Millennium Station

Gallery 37 Center for the Arts Chicago Cultural Center Macy’s MILLENNIUM A Kimpton Hotel Sears on State PARK Sullivan Center The Silversmith Hotel & Suites Bank of America Theatre Ford Center Oriental Daley Theatre City Center Hotel Hall Burnham

Cadillac Palace Theatre

WATER TAXI PORT

Milton Lee Olive Chicago Park Children’s Museum WATER TAXI PORT

West Lo o p Ga te Greekto wn

MADISON

Chicago Theatre

Hotel Allegro Chicago, A Kimpton Hotel

FRANKLIN

WASHINGTON

Goodman Gene Siskel Theatre Film Center

James R. Thompson Center RANDOLPH

(formerly North Western Station)

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Lakefront

Streeterville

McCormick Place South

Hyde Park (via CTA Bus 2, 6, 28 or55) Harold Washington Cultural Center (via CTA Bus 1, 3 or 47) Museum of Science and Industry Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House (via CTA Bus 6) DuSable Museum of African American History (via 2, 4 or 55) 4 mile s v ia CTA B us 6 o r 10

All information was correct at press time. Sponsored by the Chicago Office of Tourism

WELLS WELLS

Merchandise Mart

DEARBORN

CLINTON

Ogilvie Transportation Center

RANDOLPH

JEFFERSON

HALSTED

GREEN

PEORIA

MORGAN

SANGAMON

CARPENTER

Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza

LAKE

United Center/Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro 1 mile via CTA b u s 2 0

ABERDEEN

Apparel Center

Ohio Street Beach

Tribune ILLINOIS Hampton Inn & Suites Courtyard Wrigley Tower NBC Tower Chicago Downtown Chicago Downtown/ Building HUBBARD McCormick River North Residence Inn/Springhill Suites Amalfi Chicago River North Hotel Tribune Freedom NORTH WATER Trump International Westin KINZIE Museum Hotel & Tower Centennial Chicago Hotel Sax Chicago Sheraton Chicago Sightseeing North Fountain Hyatt Hotel & Towers House of Blues Boats MERCHANDISE River Chicago and Arc Regency WACKER Chicago MART Vietnam Veteran's Swissotel Memorial Riverwalk McCormick Tribune Hotel 71 River Walk Bridgehouse & Hard Rock Hotel Chicago River SOUTH WATER WACKER Renaissance Museum Hotel Monaco, LAKE a Kimpton Hotel Fairmont

World Trade Center

O’

ST. CLAIR

NORTH PARK

ORLEANS

CT A

FRANKLIN

KINZIE

C TA Green Line to Harlem/Lak e CTA Pink Line to 54th/Cermak

Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center

WABASH

KINGSBURY

HALSTED

Ra n d o l p h S t r e e t Re s t a u r a n t C o r r i d o r

RACINE

SEDGWICK

HUDSON

LARRABEE

LESSING

GREEN

CARPENTER

MORGAN

SANGAMON

PEORIA

HUBBARD

Shops at North Bridge

Jane Addams Memorial Park

IVE

Hilton Garden Inn Comfort Inn & Suites OHIO Best Western Chicago Downtown Downtown Chicago Marriott Chicago Downtown River North Magnificent Mile Magnificent Mile Homewood Suites GRAND Chicago Downtown Conrad InterContinental

GRAND

Red Roof Inn Chicago Wyndham W Lakeshore DownFairfield Inn & Suites town by Marriott Chicago Downtown Courtyard by Marriott Magnificent Mile Downtown Chicago Doubletree Hotel Inn of Chicago Chicago Magnificent Mile Magnificent Mile

R ED

OHIO

D AN

The James

River West

Ohio House ONTARIO Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown Motel

Bl u Ha e L re ine Ai rp or t Frank Lloyd Wright FULTON Historic District/Oak Park/Garfield Park Conservatory 9 miles vi a CTA G r ee n Li ne to H a r l em

Pilsen

Hotel Cass Omni Chicago Mag Mile Four Points by Chicago, Sheraton Chicago A Holiday Inn Downtown Express Magnificent Mile

HURON Dana Hotel & Spa

Erie Landing Park

Howard Johnson Inn Downtown Chicago

DELAWARE

300 METERS

The Drake Millennium KnickerHilton Suites Chicago/Magnificent Mile bocker Residence Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile

Westin Michigan Avenue

Raffaello Hotel Whitehall John Sofitel Chicago Seneca Hotel and Suites Tremont Hancock Water Tower CHESTNUT Center RitzWater Tower Place Carlton, Drury Lane Theatre–Water Tower Place PEARSONLookingglass Theatre A Four Museum of Seasons Historic Water Tower/City Gallery i Hotel Contemporary Art Park Hyatt Chicago Water CHICAGO Works Visitor Center CHICAGO The Peninsula Northwestern Affinia SUPERIOR Memorial Hospital Allerton Chicago Place The Avenue Hotel

ERIE ERIE

CHICAGO

River North

The 900

Four Shops Seasons

PEORIA

GO ICA

MAY

Chicago Performing Arts Center

OAK

WABASH

CHICAGO

SUPERIOR

Ukrainian Village

Roosevelt Branch Library

RUSH

HIC

LOCUST

INSTITUTE PL.

Subway

1000 FEET

The Talbott

WALTON Washington Square Park

CHESTNUT

Elevated

BELLEVUE Sutton Place

STATE

OAK

Flemish House B&B

CEDAR

Newberry Library

PLYMOUTH

WENDELL

WALTON

HURON

Hotel C TA RAPID TRANSI T

Oak Street Beach

MAGNIFICENT MILE

Gold Coast Guest House Bed & Breakfast

MAPLE

S I D E

Landmark

ELM

HILL HOBBIE

OAK

FRY

SCOTT

The Elms

ELM

IN HA

Visitor Information

Maxim's The Nancy Goldberg International Center

DIVISION

Kendall College RiverWorks Campus

Ukrainian National Museum 2 2 4 9 W. Supe r i o r S t. K en ne dy Ex p

290

WIELAND

ORLEANS

P o olis 98 f Am h M 4 er us N. ic e Mi a um lw au ke e

GOETHE

Hotel Indigo Chicago Downtown Gold Coast

N O R T H

STETSON

O SS

Ambassador East Hotel

DIVISION

Goose Island BLI

Harpo Studios

Near North Branch Library

BANKS

BEAUBIEN

SCOTT

Three Arts Club

Legend

RITCHIE

N E A R

Go ld C o a st

STONE

SCHILLER

OTT

Lincoln Park Zoo T he Li nco l n P a rk C o ns e r v a to r y P e g g y No te b a e rt Na ture Mus e um 1/2 mile v ia CTA B us 151 She r id a n

RUSH

North Avenue Beach

International Museum of Surgical Science CharnleyPersky House

Old Town Bed and Breakfast

EVERGREEN

DIVISION

BURTON

CLARK/DIVISION

P A R K

LLE

Chicago History Museum

NORTH

EVERGREEN

GR Bucktown ER EV Wicker Park

LA SA

The Second City

SEDGWICK

MOHAWK

CLEVELAND

EASTMAN

L I N C O L N

CONCORD

HUDSON

BLACKHAWK

Old To wn

NORTH

C TA Brown Line to Kimbal l

BLACKHAWK

NORTH BRANCH

SEDGWICK

C TA Purple Line to Evanston/Wilmett e weekday rush hour se r vice to/from Loo p

DAYTON

FREMONT

WEED

VINE

CONCORD

Royal George Theatre

NORTH/ CLYBOURN

EUGENIE

CONCORD NORTH

P A R K

Steppenwolf Theatre

CLA

Wrigley W i l Fi Field/Chicago i ld/Chi Ch Cubs 2 m i l es v i a CTA Red Li ne to A d d i so n

WILLOW

L I N C O L N

Streeterville The inhabitants of Streeterville are business people as well as families, professionals as well as the

Fig 2.11 Chicago Neighborhoods

working class. There are several hospitals in the area, as part of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and thus there are several members of the medical community living in and near Streeterville as well. Potential Impacts of a spatial skyscraper Increase diversity of jobs and programs that surround the area. Create a more self dependent sustainable community. Provide the neighborhood new venues for public recreation. Promote densification on empty lots and spaces.1 1 Solomon, Alan. “Streeterville | Chicago Neighborhoods | Explore Chicago.” Explore Chicago | The Official Chicago Tourism Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2011. <http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/ neighborhoods/streeterville.html>.

Fig 2.12 Landmarks

Navy Pier

John Hancock Center

Magnificent Mile

Museum of Contemporary Art 35

Fig 2.13 Streeterville

Fig 2.14 Surrounding Buildings North Columbus Drive Bridge

Childrens Learning Place

AMC Theatres

NBC Tower River East Center

Ogden Plaza

Parkview West

River East Art Center

Chicago River North Lake Shore Drive Bridge

Fig 2.15 Landmarks

River East Art Center

AMC Theatre

NBC Tower

Fig 2.16 South Streeterville

Images Fig 2.1 http://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/konrad-wachsmann/ http://www.htvdeijsberg.nl/79-mental-architecture-former--u t o -pian-building/thomas-hirschhorn-2/ http://www.mocadetroit.org/pastexhibitions.html Fig 2.2 http://www.evolo.us/architecture/vertical-campus-a-new-skyscraper-for-an-ever-evolving-l-a/ Fig 2.3 http://www.evolo.us/competition/vertical-street-city-2/ Fig 2.4 http://www.architecturepost.org/2010/06/student-competition-vertical-city-in-mexico-city/ Fig 2.6 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Chicago_Downtown_Aerial_View.jpg Fig 2.7 http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?chicagodots Fig 2.8 http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/maps/mapweb.html Fig 2.9 explorechicago.org Fig 2.10 explorechicago.org Fig 2.11 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Chicago_community_areas_map.svg Fig 2.12 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Navy_Pier.jpg http://www.gothereguide.com/Images/USA/Chicago/JohnHancockCenter_chicago1.jpg http://www.redroof-chicago-downtown.com/Portals/281/images/Red_Roof_Chicago_Downtown_Magnificent.jpg http://contemporaryartphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Chicago-Museum-Of-Contemporary-Art.jpg Fig 2.15 http://www.chicagodossier.us/ResV/destination_img/usa/il/chicago/Chicago-River-East-Art-Center-685.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/NBC_Building_060912.jpg/450px-NBC_Building_060912.jpg http://www.activistangler.com/storage/chicago%20river.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1299878817913

Site Analysis part 3

Chicago Sun and Wind Winter Wind

Summer Wind

Spring Wind

Fall Wind

Solar Elevation

Sun Path Diagram

East <--- Solar Azimuth ---> West

Chicago Land Use

Acres

Fig 3.1 Regional Change in Land use, 1990 - 2001

Land Use

“Between 1990 and 2001, a total of nearly

approximately 140 square miles of new Open Space,

178,000 acres in the region converted from an

as opposed to nearly 134 miles of Urban/Built-Up

‘undeveloped’ (Agriculture or Vacant/Wetland) state

land. This shows that the Agriculture spaces are

into another use. This amounts to 278 square miles,

decreasing, perhaps being pushed farther from the

or 7.4% of the region.” Shown in the chart above,

city to accommodate more Urban space.

most of the land use is changed into Open Space as well as the Urban and Buit-Up space. There is Part II: Analysis of Land Use Change, 1990 – 2001

Fig 3.2 Percent New Urbanization and Distance From Downtown Chicago Percent of Total New Urbanization

Distance in Miles from City Center

The graph above shows where most of the

than the corresponding density as it would be in

urbanization happens between 30 to 40 miles from

downtown Chicago. The map also illustrates how

Downtown Chicago. The growth is not concentrated

the Agricultural areas are pushed further away from

in one area but spread out in a ring as shown in

the densest areas of the city.

the next image. This shows how urbanization is spreading faster in the far suburban regions. The footprint of the developing areas is also greater

Fig 3.3 “Urbanized” Lands (2001) Classified as “Agriculture” or “Vacant” in 1990

Fig 3.4 NIPC’s 2001 Land Use Inventory

Fig 3.5 Municipalities in North Illinois (2000)

Fig 3.6 Sub-Regional Land Use Share Gain

Residential

Industrial

Commercial

Open Space

Tha maps above shows how the land use

very little land gain in suburban Cook. There is a

has a parallel relationship with the expressways.

lot of Agriculture land turned into Industrial land in

While most of the commercial (red) areas are

suburban Dupage and Residential, Commercial,

concentrated in city center, there are clear indications

and Open Space developments in Will and Lake

of larger areas of commercial zones spread along

County. “The dramatic increase in Open Space

the expressways. These are the edge cities based

acreage during this period is due in no small part to

primarily from vehicular access.

the conversion of a large portion the former Joiliet Arsenal in Will County into the Midewin National

The for pie charts above shows the land

Tallgrass Prairie.”1 There has also been an active

use percentage per region. The yellow represents

adding of more forest preserve in the other Counties

Chicago, while the red is suburban Cook and the

since 1990’s.

blue is suburban Dupage. Throughout the Chart, there is not much land use gain in Chicago, and

45 1

Part II: Analysis of Land Use Change, 1990 – 2001

South Chicago This area is an interest for a reclamation plan. This area is

connected to the city center through highways, but

mainly industrial zoning. This

there are also metra lines and well established bike

is also the region where there is the most wildlife

routes for commute or recreation.

ecology nearest to Chicago because of the national parks and small lakes in the area. There is also a large concentration of food deserts in the area from the lack of nearby grocery stores and a large amount of fast-food restaurants. The south side is

Fig 3.7 South Chicago

wildlife population food desert parks bike route metra

Macro Site Analysis Fig 3.8 Satellite

Fig 3.9 Street, Highways and Parks

S ke

La re

Streeterville

. Dr Navy Pier Site

I-94

Lake Michigan Loop Millennium Park I-290 47

Fig 3.10 Nodes and Edges

orange - main roads blue - main nodes green - parks black - streets red - edges

Fig 3.11 Train and Metro

blue - local metro red - trains

Fig 3.12 Density and Voids

Streeterville

Loop

red - density white - voids green - parks Shown in fig 3.12 in the previous page, the nodes and edges which is important to know if there are important impacts these urban features might be a part of the schematic design. Also knowing the main streets and public transportations is important to understand how vehicles and pedestrian might access the site.

highrises that surrounds the areas. These voids serve as a possible footprint for the spatial mega structure to densify the city through creating the spatial landscape.

The map above shows a cluster concentration of voids in south part Streeterville as well as a few south of the Loop, while there are 49

Micro Site Analysis Fig 3.13 Satellite

Fig 3.14 Site

E Grand Ave.

N McClurg ct.

N New st.

N Park dr.

Ogden Plaza

North Columbu s dr.

North Cityfron Plaza dr.

North Lakeshore dr.

E Illinois st.

P2 E North Water st.

ark

ade P

Lakefront Trail

splan

E River

Chicago River Chicago

Riverwa

Wacker dr.

Fig 3.15 Main Building Use

Orange - Site (Parking) Red - Parking Brown - Apartments and Condos Blue - Commercial Light Brown - Hotel Green - Parks

Fig 3.16 Vehicular Circulation River East Center

Parkview West

River East Art Center

NBC

Sheraton Hotel

Fig 3.17 Figure Ground 7

Highrise Data

1 River East Center Height: 196.29 m Floors: 58 Structural material: concrete Facade system: curtain wall Facade color: light gray, dark blue, light brown Architectural style: postmodern Main usages: residential condominium Side usages: cinema, fitness, parking 2 Parkview West Height: 151.64m Floors: 49 Structural material: concrete Facade system: curtain wall Facade color: dark orange, dark green Architectural style: modernism Main usages: residential condominium Side usages: parking 3 Riverview II Height: 121.62m Floors: 32 Structural material: concrete Facade system: applied masonry, curtain wall Facade color: white, dark red, green Architectural style: postmodern Main usages: residential condominium 4 Cityfront Place Height: 120.70m Floors: 40 Structural material: concrete Facade system: brick Facade color: dark red, light green Architectural style: modernism Main usages: rental apartments 52

5 Sheraton Hotel Height: 100.76 m

Floors: 31

Structural material: concrete Facade system: curtain wall Facade color: light brown Architectural style: postmodern Main usages: hotel 6 Riverview I Height: 97.99m Floors: 27 Structural material: concrete Facade system: applied masonry, curtain wall Facade color: white, dark red, green Architectural style: postmodern Main usages: residential condominium 7 Embassy Suites Lakefront Hotel Height: 86.59m Floors: 19 Facade system: curtain wall Facade color: gray, light gray Architectural style: modernism Main usages: hotel 8 City View Condominiums Floors: 12 Structural Material: concrete Facade system: applied masonry Facade color: dark green, dark red Architectural style: post modern Main usages: residential condominium 9 NBC Tower Height: 191.11 m Floors: 37 Structural material: limeston Facade system: curtain wall Facade color: light brown Architectural style: postmodern Main usages: commercial office Side usages: tv studio

Shown in fig 3.15 in the previous page shows the diversity of building usage in the area. There are a good mix of residential and commercial buildings. This will help determine possible connections to the existing uses. Fig 3.16 shows vehicular circulation, showing the two dead ends near the site as a possible entrance to the spatial city. The figure ground map shows the amount of voids in the area where the footprints for the spatial city will grow from.

Fig 3.18 Panorama 1

Fig 3.19 Panorama 2

Images Fig 3.1 Part II: Analysis of Land Use Change, 1990 – 2001 Fig 3.2 Part II: Analysis of Land Use Change, 1990 – 2001 Fig 3.3 Part II: Analysis of Land Use Change, 1990 – 2001 Fig 3.4 NIPC’s 2001 Land Use Inventory (V. 1.2, 2006) Fig 3.5 NIPC’s Digital Map of the Region (1999)

Program Analysis part 4

Evolving Program Like a new developing town, there is no definite

houses, and recreation areas such as parks. For a

residential, commercial, or industrial program that

vertical or three-dimensional city, the infrastructure

will be addressed in the skyscraper. The program

is not very different. The main challenge however

will change and evolve as needed. However there

is how will roads and highways translate vertically.

will set zones in respect to the human scale. There

How will the relationship of public infrastructure

also will be set rules for programs that might be

relate to the private developments to simulate or

eventually designed. The only set programs in

recreate what it is in the ground. In this chapter, I

the skyscraper is the support systems and the

will diagram horizontal and vertical experiences,

public systems. What infrastructure is needed to

connections, integrated systems, three-dimensional

support the evolving city? For a flat city to function

zoning, transportation, circulation, public buildings

you need the basic infrastructure of transportation

and parks, and relationships with existing conditions.

systems such as roads, bridges and highways.

From this, there will be a set of rules and guidelines

Sewage systems, water, gas, and electric. As well

for the development of the three-dimensional city.

as the buildings in it such as schools, libraries, court

EVOLVING by zoning/building guidline

FIXED connections

residential development

integrated systems three-dimentional zoning transportation circulation public buildings and parks agricultural development open spaces

commercial development

spatial city experience

industrial development relationship with existing conditions

Human Scale Being a city is typically overwhelming scale wise

social activity is important at the time.” 2

because of the tall skyscrapers that is only used by the people who work or live in it. The experience of

In response:

the city dweller becomes limited to the ground in the

Posted by JWmHarmon on April 23, 2002

streets. The skyscraper becomes a fixed destination,

“Yes, we speak of “activating” a space--which means

meaning that once you enter the building, you know

providing a human use for it or, conversely, NOT

exactly where you want to go, what floor, and which

creating spaces for which there is not activity. Most

room. “Humans interact with their environments

of us have experienced grandiouse lobbies of office

based on their physical dimensions, capabilities and

buildings where a lonely security attendant sits at

limits.”1 With the skyscraper being extremely limiting

a desk benearh lofty ceilings. Chilling. People are

and the streets being a place for human interaction.

alientaed by grand, empty spaces. Vast, windswept plazas likewise are modern architectural conceits

By re conceptualizing the typical skyscraper and

that people really dislike. There is such a thing as

making it more diverse and more like a experience,

“human scale” and there are approriate sizes for

the spaces will be more humanized. If its just taking

areas related to the uses they serve. No use, no

a walk, without having to ride an elevator to the

space. Sometimes small is better.”3

ground, or riding an elevator without knowing the destination right away.

By dividing a large scale building with similar spaces, and changing these spaces into different uses,

Posted by Paul Malo on April 22, 2002

and at the same time allow it to evolve and grow

“Cities grow around human needs. As Paul Malo

depending on the users needs, makes a skyscraper

points out, architects sometimes think in terms

become more humanized.

of buildings (objects) rather than in the spatial requirements of the humans who are to occupy and use the space. Many poorly designed urban spaces are hostile to humans. The spaces or buildings leave one cold and alienated, causing us to rush past such spaces or buildings. Good urban design of spaces and buildings should be inviting, encouraging us to stay for a while, as we go about our human activities. The best urban spaces and buildings are gathering places for people to conduct whatever business or 1 “Human scale: Encyclopedia II - Human scale - Human scale in architecture.” Enlightenment - The Experience Festival. http:// www.experiencefestival.com/a/Human_scale_-_Human_scale_in_architecture/id/5145332 (accessed May 29, 2011).

2 “Re: urban design - spaces and human scale - Architecture Forum.” ArchitectureWeek DesignCommunity Home. http://www. designcommunity.com/discussion/18111.html (accessed May 29, 2011). 3 “Re: urban design - spaces and human scale - Architecture Forum.” ArchitectureWeek DesignCommunity Home. http://www. designcommunity.com/discussion/18178.html (accessed May 29, 2011).

Fig 4.1 Large City

home

commute

work

Fig 4.2 Small City

home 62

commute

work

Street to City to Spatial City To create a spatial city, you have to understand

which interconnects all spaces in the plane. This

how flat city works and what are the main elements

is the limitation of the traditional urban design, a

that forms the spaces and buildings. We take the

single plane where you cannot build on top or under

basic infrastructure and reformulate the equation in

buildings, but only on the single plane.

a simple vertical representation of its network and converting it into a framework.

If we put planes parallel and perpendicular to each other, this creates a three dimensional mass where it

In the diagram below, the street is a representation

becomes a spatial city. There are vertical, horizontal,

of a line, which goes only two directions. When you

and diagonal circulation and spatial relationships

multiply and intersect these lines (or streets) you

are less limited than â&#x20AC;&#x153;planarâ&#x20AC;? relationship.

create a plane which is a representation of a city grid

Fig 4.3 Line, Plane, and Volume

street

plane

commercial street

open space

The model below is a study of how a street may be turned into a vertical street with horizontal elements and connections for different uses.

Fig 4.4 Street to Vertical Street

The model below is a study of how a structural frame

as well as the upper levels of the surrounding

may twist and bend into existing buildings around

skyscrapers.

the site. The main connections exist in the ground

Fig 4.5 Space Frame and Connection Diagram

Frame and Landscape Below is a diagram of a comparison between what the landscape is and how the frame might be. The space frame will be composed of a structural mesh rigid enough for space building attachments. While the landscape is more horizontal in quality, the primary quality of the frame is vertical because of structural issues with horizontal elements. The frame just like the landscape must somehow be dynamic in nature, and vegetation and farming must be able to thrive

Fig 4.6 Frame and Landscape

Vertical and Horizontal Because of the dynamics of building in a spatial

Fig 4.7 Residential and Commercial

city, types of spaces can be can function better and more compact compared to the limiting ground. For example, Homes can actually feel more private when you stack them vertically because you cannot see you cannot see the neighbors until you move up or down. Commercial and public can feel more like a community node because once you designate a horizontal element in a vastly vertical surrounding, it automatically becomes a gathering space.

Fig 4.8 Private and Public

Evolution Through Time The ability for the spaces to grow, expand, and

The ability to expand means that structural members

connect with each other is essential for the cities

must be pre-fabricated and able to connect with

growth and cultural enrichment. As years progress,

each other in almost any orientation. Structural

the spaces dandifies and built into. Farms may

issues must be calculated to the highest possible

be tempted to move higher but must remain fixed

load factors.

into designated areas. Public spaces become the connections between each vertical planes. The

Guidelines of zoning must also be set to insure a

most density happens at the lower levels and in

balance between open spaces and closed spaces,

commercial levels and gradually decreases the

farming and built in, and also keeping a human

further high it gets.

scale factor.

Fig 4.9 Evolving

City to Skyscraper The diagrams below demonstrate how the Savannah

a highway. Open spaces or parks happen around the

plan can be reflected into a vertical situation and

densest part of the residential zone or closer to the

take the vertical situations into a more private group

commercial zones, without disrupting the distances

of spaces while the perpendicular main horizontal

between the main commercial areas. The open

circulations become more public centers which

farming areas are typically in the outskirts of the

connects the vertical elements together. The ground

city, as it requires vast expanses of cheap land for

level (the river street in the savannah plan) acts as

profitability. The Agriculture is typically disconnected

a more commercial market type environment as it

with the main commercial areas of a city.

connects to other communities or cities and acts as

Fig 4.10 City Spatial Relationships

open space and farming

residential

open space

commercial

open space

residential

open space

residential

commercial

primary secondary

When you turn a city section into a urban plan, the

skyscraper, you can create bridges and connection

skyscrapers become dead end streets or cul-de-

allowing the cul-de-sacs to meet into another street

sacs. This limits the program of a typical skyscraper

and actually create a community connection in the

to stay into a private residential development or

surrounding context. These connections typically

a series of corporate office spaces. There are no

happen in the horizontal commercial planes or web.

community-like environments and no possibilities for new types of public programs because of its fixed core structure. However, when you add the urban plan into skyscraper in between the existing

Fig 4.11 Connecting Cul-de-sac

highest plane 5 min travel from base

connecting the cul-de-sac commercial plane minimum hight of surrounding highrise

cul-de-sac vertical street

vertical street

ground plane divided into smaller lots and activates street level

vertical street

cul-de-sac

square/park/gathering/recreation middle/easiest access

Macro Zoning/Program Analysis Zoning is important to the spatial city as it is important

There are two initial macro attempts, the first one is

to a flat city. There are several factors that affect

with the main faces facing north and south, which

how the zoning will occur in a spatial environment.

concentrates direct sunlight to the south facing

One of which is the existing zoning/programming

planes creating shadow into more than half of the

that is around the site. How much of what building

other residential zones. The second mass model

type or zone is need. How will the spatial circulation

shows the same concept but rotated 90 degrees

connect to existing streets.

which allow the sun to touch all residential zone planes, this also maximizes sunlight into the major

Zoning the spatial city does not provide the floor

park area.

plans of what is to be built, but rather will provide the spatial boundaries of what can be built where. In the next few pages are diagrams of how these zones will connect and relate to each other. Fig 4.13 Existing Site Program

red = commercial blue = residential orange = hotels green = open/parks

Fig 4.14 Zoning Mass

Mass 1 - North South Configuration

Fig 4.15 Top, South, East Elevation

Mass 1

Mass 2

red = commercial blue = residential orange = hotels green = open/parks

Mass 2 - East West Configuration

This third model is the combination of the previous

The park spaces are aligned with the with the

two zoning masses which is ideal for the site. This

highrise buildings connecting them to each other.

takes advantage of the other empty void space. By

There are two main park levels. The lower level

extending residential zones over it and providing

park is leveled high enough to connect with all the

a more open public space. This also give several

highrise buildings through trail systems. The upper

other possible orientations for living spaces.

park level is connected to the NBC tower and the River East Center Condominiums.

The ground level is zoned as mixed use with commercial occupying the ground floors and

Also in the upper park system is the commercial

residential up to 5 stories high. The ground levels,

spaces connecting the residential planes.

just like the spatial levels are divided and allowed for smaller scale development.

Fig 4.16 Mass 3

red = commercial blue = residential green = open/parks

The diagram below shows the green as different

systems as well as exiting trails and sidewalks

parks that may be placed throughout ideal locations

around the site.

within the live and work zones. Trails would interweave with each other connecting these park

Fig 4.17 Parks and Highways

Fig 4.18 Top, South, East Elevation

red = commercial blue = residential orange = primary circulation green = open/parks

Fig 4.19 Major Commercial Web The major commercial areas are to be zoned along the major traffic circulations for easiest access. There are commercial zones at ground level, along the major vertical levels, and also at the highest level plane that connect the highrises. Local Civic buildings are also going to be at the top plane at the major intersections to act as a defined node point and increase public activation at this level.

Fig 4.20 Major Living Planes

The residential areas are arranges into pairs of vertical planes. This allows efficiency in vertical, horizontal, and diagonal circulation, with the space between the planes used for transportation. The vertical plane will also allow for easy insertion of the homes into the structural plane. These spaces might also be service commercial or light industrial. While this planes are zoned for residential use, its primary use is for module farming until they are sold and moved into.

Fig 4.21 Major Park Planes The park and wetland spaces are what makes up the majority of the horizontal planes, connecting all or most vertical elements in and around the site. The area will initially and permanently be a public park connected with trails, while the commercial and residential zones are developed.

The Destination Because the spatial city is practically empty of

spaces and market programs at the lower level.

inhabitants from start, a program that will draw

Systems such as greywater treatment will already

people into the structure is important. One is park

be running to purify water from the surrounding

and trail system that would serve as a open space

buildings. There will also be wind farming turbines

recreation. Another is program is integrating its

that help power the building and give the unused

main use as a Vertical Farming facility on the upper

power back to the grid.

Fig 4.22 Primary Uses

Public Buildings, Trails, and Parks Public buildings or Civic buildings and Parks are

exercise, play, and other recreational activities. To

public infrastructure and must be considered in the

create a vertical park is like going against what its

initial program analysis as it will help define the form

best function. The task of creating a trail based park

of the mega structure. It will be the main focal points

system in the spatial city will be like designing a

and nodes of the spatial city as it usually is in a flat

trail that weaves upward. This would mean that the

setting. The public buildings needs to lay within easy

trail system will be primarily diagonal and the parks

access of the community and neighborhood. The

will be horizontal. If there are existing trails in the

civic buildings will be permanent but also evolvable

surrounding site, the spatial trail must connect with

in case the use of the area changes.

it as well. A prime example of an elevated city park is the NY High Line.

Unlike the public buildings, the public parks will be more defined in the structure. Parks have to be

The parks will have trees and grass and will be

easily accessible by everyone and able to provide a

irrigated through a irrigation system that recycles

recreational trail that weaves throughout the spatial

water from collected rain and grey water. There will

city. Parks in the landscape are of course very

also be wetlands within the structure to help purify

typically flat and horizontal in nature. This creates

grey water and re-use it for flushing water.

a very public environment for people to mingle, Fig 4.23 The High Line, New York

Fig 4.24 Integrating Biofiltration with Trails wetland plants washed pea gravel washed stones

trail

rest/sitting/ viewing area

The diagrams above shows a conceptual section

deeper than it would naturally travel. Natural wetland

and plan how wetlands can be integrated into the

plants and micro-organism are the best at using the

horizontal trail systems. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A greywater biofiltration

nutrients from the wastewater. It is better to use the

system is a constructed wetland that removes a

type of wetland plants near the site because these

significant amount of pollutants from greywater

plants are used to the climate. However, any wetland

before it flows into the groundwater, river, or natural

plants that grow well can be used, such as Cattails,

wetland. Addition of pathogens, bacteria, and non-

Bulrushes, and Reed Grasses. Cattails are great for

biodegradable toxins to the surface water can be

removing large amounts of nitrate and phosphate.

avoided with this biological treatment, to promote a

Brushes are good with high pollutant removal. Reed

healthier ecosystem and more sanitary conditions.â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Grasses allow more oxygen to reach the root zone.

Most plants clean water pollutants by penetrating the soil and transporting oxygen where it reaches Fig 4.25 Cattails, Bulrushes, Reed Grass

Plants and Animals

Common Loon

Kirtland’s Snake

Sandhill Crane

of Wetlands

Cotton Grass

Lichen Liverwort

Smartweed, Knotweed

Damselfly

Marsh Wren

Snail

Arrowhead

Dragonflies

Marsh-Marigold

Sphagum Moss

Bald Eagle

Dragon’s Mouth, Wild

Michigan Holly

Spotted Turtle

Baltimore Butterfly

Pink

Minnow

Sundew

Black Spruce

Dwarf Mistletoe

Northern Harrier

Tamarack

Black Tern

Eastern Newt

Osprey

Trumpeter Swan

Bowfin

Great Blue Heron

Pitcher Plant

Water Milfoil

Brook Stickleback

Green Frog

Poison Sumac

Water Shrew

Bulrush

Green-backed Heron

Red Maple

Water-lily

Cardinal-Flower

Iris

Red-bellied Dace

Waterweed, Elodea

Common Cattail

Kingfisher

Red-winged Blackbird

Table 2. Size Matrix for Greywater Wetlands, varying depth of medium, size of contributing discharge, and reaction rate. Calculations based on equations presented in Crites and Tchobanoglous (1998) Description p Medium community system: assumes a contribution of 240L/family/week for 200 families, with a conservative reaction rate of 1.1 and average lowest temperature of 3° Large community system: assumes a contribution of 240L/family/week for 400 families, with a conservative reaction rate of 1.1 and average lowest temperature of 3° Medium community system: assumes a contribution of 240L/family/week for 200 families, with a semiconservative reaction rate of 2.0 and average lowest temperature of 3°C Large community system: assumes a contribution of 240L/family/week for 400 families, with a semiconservative reaction rate of 2.0 and average lowest temperature of 3°

Influent into wetland 3 (m /day = 1000L/day)

BOD level of influent (mg/L)

Desired BOD of effluent (mg/L)

Days in Construc ted Wetland

Depth of Medium (m)

Width (m)

Lengt h (m)

Total Area 2 (m )

6.86

4.62

0.70

5.32

21.27

113.1 4

13.72

4.62

0.70

7.52

30.09

226.2 8

6.86

2.54

0.50

4.67

18.67

87.12

13.72

2.54

0.50

6.60

26.40

174.2 3

Fig 4.26 Elevating the Trail

level trail wetland

very small slope for drainage

g r as

ir rig

atio n

sloped trail typical slope < or = 1:12

gr ir r

at io

steep trail

sitting resting playing etc

elevator

multiple paths and accessibility

Modulating Service Connections To connect the systems in a skyscraper, the buildings

biomass plant which converts waste into energy

could be equipped with some sort of service module.

and some greywater which is fed into the biofiltration

This module is to be built in the building and attached

system and comes back as treated water primarily

at a specific point to where it can be easily attached

used for flushing and irrigation. The process is

to the service infrastructure. These shall include

recycled repeatedly reducing the amount of water

clean water, greywater, treated water, black, water,

coming from outside the system.

power, and waste. If the attached building has its own system, this can also be connected to the grid

Fig ? and ? shows diagrams of how this connection

through the service module.

relationship for the systems might work between the buildable frame, the service module, and the

There is no black water that come out of the building,

modular spaces attached.

except if there is an emergency, and goes into a Fig 4.27 Systems

wetlands

modules

wind turbines modules

clean water greywater treated water blackwater power waste

biomass plant

anaerobic reactors

settler

Fig 4.28 Module Connections

attach module

primary module

attach module

primary module

attach primary module

vertical street

empty lot vegetation

Fig 4.29 Service Module

service module toilet

fixtures

shower sink

water heater hvac

pre-fabricated wall structure

pre-fabricated door/opening structure

The image below shows service connection moving horizontal along the diagonal trails connecting each modular house into the grid.

Fig 4.30 Horizontal Service

Lot Divisions For the vertical planes are zoned primarily for

main circulation area. This is similar in concept if

residential use, the build zones are divided into a

compared to old townhouse urban planning.

Grid Volumes with three Volume Lots which can

Fig 4.31 Townhouse

then can be combined into up four volume lots horizontally or vertically, creating a Spatial Unit. One grid volume is determined by the structural plane grid. One volume lot is dimensioned large enough for a single bedroom home.

In the image shown below is one grid volume divided into three volume lots. The light brown area is the main build zone, while the dark brown is the extension zone which overhangs from the structure. The extension zones will allow for different exterior interaction with neighboring buildings. The blue dashed line is a build-to line for an edge in the

Fig 4.32 Grid Volume me

lot

u vol lot me ine u l l vo to ildbu t

e lo

um vol

main build zone

extension zone

’

’ 25

’

Fig 4.33 Spatial Units

4 x 1 Grid Volume

Above is an example of a occupied 4 x 1 Grid volume with several type of Spatial Units. The main build zone will allow street stability and the extension zone should allow spatial diversity.

Fig 4.34 Vertical Spatial Unit Types

1 spatial unit

4 spatial units

3 spatial units

Fig 4.35 One Spatial Unit This is the smallest spatial unit type. This unit type is type is has 700 sq ft in the main build zone and 500 sq ft in the extension zone, totalling of up to 1200 sq ft by 10 ft high, or 12000 cubic ft buildable space. These spaces are typically going to be the small one bedroom one bath studio type homes, for single individuals or low income couples.

Fig 4.36 Two Spatial Unit This unit type is type is has 1400 sq ft in the main build zone and 1000 sq ft in the extension zone, totalling of up to 2400 sq ft by 10 ft high, or 24000 cubic ft buildable space. These spaces are typically going to be the medium sized one to two bedroom one bath type homes, for couples or small families.

Fig 4.37 Three Spatial Unit This unit type is type is has 2100 sq ft in the main build zone and 1500 sq ft in the extension zone, totalling of up to 3600 sq ft by 10 ft high, or 36000 cubic ft buildable space. These spaces are typically going to be the large sized two to three bedroom one to two bath type homes, for high income small families to medium income large families.

Fig 4.38 Four Spatial Unit

This is the largest spatial unit type. This unit type is type is has 2800 sq ft in the main build zone and 2000 sq ft in the extension zone, totalling of up to 4800 sq ft by 10 ft high, or 48000 cubic ft buildable space. These spaces are typically going to be the duplex homes for families, or studio apartment type living for single individuals or low income couples. This unit type cannot be for one family.

Fig 4.39 Some Spatial Unit Configurations

The ideal configurations preferred for my project would be the ones with single units on the floor level to maximize variety of uses in the street.

Commercial Build Lot Divisions The commercial build lots is similar to the residential, however commercial spaces, usually mixed use spaces can take up two to six spatial units and can be built horizontally as long the vertical and top lots are already built into.

Fig 4.40 Commercial 2 - 6 Spatial Units

Modular Farming Vertical farming will function through module.

striped bass in the fish tanks and a variety of green

By modulating the agriculture it will be able to

vegetables in the growing beds.

fit into any area of the structure and also be able to move to a different location. Each module will

The farming areas could also be built into the frame

contain a self functioning aquaponics tapping into

as a separate structure from the modular structure. It

the already existing grey water wetland treatment

can be built as part of the ecological trail system so it

system to recycle water. The modules will be mini

can be a more permanent infrastructure rather than a

greenhouses, taking in as much sunlight as possible

temporary and replaceable one. It may be important

for photosynthesis and keeping the temperature

to create permanent farming areas in urban centers

warm for all year growth production. LED lighting will

from the threat of higher profit businesses.

make up for the absence of sunlight. The system will be fully automated growing catfish, tilapia,

Fig 4.41 Aquaponics

artificial light from rainwater and grey water treatment system

planting bed artificial light

settling tank

planting bed

to grey water treatment system

fish tank

pump

Circulation and Transportation When you look into a typical highrise, the vertical

and diagonally for passing. The varying speeds and

transportation method usually consists several

differing directions allow each elevator to find its

express elevators which takes you to a sky lobby

own path to a requested address. This creates a

then you take local elevators which would bring you

vertical highway and a dedicated logistical matrix.

to your final floor destination. This same concept can

Each elevator moves individually.”

be parallel into a street scenario. When you get out of the house you walk (local elevator) to the bus stop

Experiencing an elevator however is nothing

(sky lobby) then you take the bus (express elevator)

compared to walking or riding down the street.

to another bus stop then walk to work.

Usually in a typical elevator you are enclosed in a box with no view of what is outside. There are

Elevators typically go straight up or straight down.

exterior elevators which give you a view but does

However is street level people and vehicles pass

not give a sense of where you are in the building.

each other as they go about on their own speed. In

Several ideas such as placing a mirror can reflect

the image below showing pictures of Monolab’s High

your location vertically or having a monitor project

Rise Tower where the idea of being able to pass

an image from the outside to whatever direction your

people and break from a straight line dimension is

going to. This is further explored in the diagrams in

addressed, “The elevators... are moving up, down

the next page.

Fig 4.42 Monolab’s High Rise Tower

Fig 4.43 Street and Exterior Elevators

Fig 4.44 View Perspectives sky

sky

open view

buildings

buildings buildings

ian strtors

vehicular

express elevators

de eva

pe al el loc

buildings

le tr va ia to rs n

vertical perspective

street perspective vanishing point

Fig 4.45 Verti-Street Perspective

camera

elevator

sky

open view

mirror

monitor

mirror

verti-street perspective

Ground Activation Program The diagram below shows a conceptual diagram of how the spatial city will connect and activate

Before the spatial skyscraper is populated with

the ground level. There will be two main entrances

residents, the ground level will act as a market

where the main primary elevators will be located

for the agriculture goods produced in the farming

for quick transportation to the main commercial

modules. The number of elevators are going to be

zones, or one can walk down into a series of other

limited because it wont be needed as much.

secondary elevators which goes to the residential spaces.

The rest of the ground level will become divided into smaller lots with three to five story retail commercial and residential spaces on the floors above it. Fig 4.46 Site

Images Fig 4.1 http://www.davidmacd.com/web_pages/scenic_photos_canada_usa.htm http://thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorge/elevator-music-16-review-at-the-tang-who-said-elevators-couldnt-be-fun/ http://www.werkkrew.com/2008/06/12/whats-so-bad-about-cubicles/ http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p226150 Fig 4.2 http://www.lifeinitaly.com/decor/bedrooms.asp http://thinkorthwim.com/index.php?tag=new-urbanism https://www.castleintheair.biz/shoppe/?b=10&k=10&c=125 Fig 4.3 http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_STREET/0_street_views_-_arden_street_2006_barry_nelson.jpg http://photoshoptutorials.ws/creative-inspirations/photography/18-spectacular-aerial-city-photos.html http://www.nycvp.com/frames/theater/central_park.htm Fig 4.22 http://www.17thwardstl.com/wordpress.com/?p=1116 http://www.flickr.com/photos/flydime/384397661/ http://ecoble.com/2009/09/08/the-worlds-most-amazing-wind-farms/ http://allaboutroswell.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/mountain-biking.jpg Fig 4.23 http://www.thehighline.org/ Fig 4.31 http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/74320.html Fig 4.42 http://www.archdaily.com/25317/monolabs-high-rise-tower/ Fig 4.43 http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_STREET/0_street_views_-_arden_street_2006_barry_nelson.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisimages/2867753742/

Quantitative Program Development part 5

No Development Before the tower might be developed and populated

will have functioning as a biofiltration system for the

with residents and businesses, the use would be

surrounding context as well.

primarily farming and recreation for the existing population surrounding the site. Ecological wetlands

Vertical Planes Farming = 65% Circulation = 10% Ecological Trail (Wetland)= 25% Horizontal Planes Farming/Open = 40% Circulation = 10% Ecological Parks (Wetland)= 50% Developed and Open Area Developed = 0% Farming/Open = 100%

Maximum Development When the tower is fully developed, there is a balance

There should have a collection of civic buildings,

between the built on spaces and agriculture spaces.

such as city hall, community center, courthouse,

The built area is zoned civic, commercial, and

clinics, libraries, post office, and public schools.

residential, based on New Urbanism Development.

Vertical Planes Developed = 30% Farming = 30% Circulation = 20% Ecological Trail= 20% Horizontal Planes Developed = 40% Circulation = 10% Ecological Parks = 50% Developed and Open Area Developed = 50% Farming/Open = 50% Built Area Referenced on New Urbanism Development Public/Civic = 10-15% Commercial = 10-40% Residential = 50-80% Civic Buildings City Hall Community Center Courthouse Clinic Library Post Office School

Support Programs Other support programs such as a Welcome

just like any other urban environment for proper

Center for guests who are new to the idea of spatial

disposal of waste. There will also be a place for

urbanism. Water collection and water storage is also

maintenance and storage for maintenance workers

important for the recycling of water. Waste disposal

who work on tower.

Welcome Center Cistern Waste Disposal Maintenance and Storage

100

Schematic Site and Building Design part 6

101

Three Planes The spatial city has three skyscrapers connected to

plane. This will allow for a street like space between

each other, and each skyscraper is divided into three

the build and eco plane.

planes. The build and farming plane, the vertical transportation plane, and the ecological plane. The

The two top images on Fig 6.2 shows what if the built

vertical transportation plane is not as noticeable in

plane is used for modular farming, and as people

the exterior because it is sandwiched between the

move in will be replaced with modular units. The

build plane and the eco plane.

four images below it also shows the openness and also private, semi-private, semi-public and public

The relationship of these places are arranged this was to create an enclosed private space on the build plane, and a semi public place on the ecological Fig 6.1 Three Plane System

build and farming plane vertical transportation plane ecological plane 102

experience.

Fig 6.2 plane diagrams

103

Build Plane The build plane structure will have a pre-fabricated frame which attaches to the main structural columns. Fig 6.3 shows how modular beams can attach to the frame structure. The structure of the

Fig 6.3 Pre-fab Frame

unit modules connect to the modular beams. The structure of the may differ, but the common design will be a cantilever truss structure as most modules will cantilever. Below is a collection of case study images of existing cantilever structures as well as diagrams of how a enveloped space is attached to a cantilever truss.

Fig 6.4 Frame and Buildings Structure Emilio Caraffa Fine Arts Provincial Museum, cordoba

Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea

104

Lamar Construction Headquarters, Grand Rapids

Cantilever House / Anderson Anderson Architecture

Below is images that show the density of the

areas are the busiest zones, placing the residential

buildings present in the vertical plane. There are

zoning around it will let it be a natural center for the

two concentrations of densities. One concentration

community. This also helps minimize travel distance

is in the bottom, centered on the commercial

from live spaces to work spaces. The agricultural

zone. The other concentration is above, which is

spaces are also between residential spaces for

a separate community or neighborhood. This is to

short distance access as well.

show that communities can be created at different elevations on a spatial city. Because the commercial

Fig 6.5 Vertical Build Density and Primary Use clean industrial (agriculture and wind farming)

residential

commercial

residential

clean industrial (agriculture and wind farming)

residential

commercial

residential

105

The image below is a early study of how the build

only one direction. The main structure also holds

frame which look like a mesh or space frame like

the ecological plane which includes the trail and

structure attaches to the main structural columns.

adaptive skin.

The structural columns needs to be able to carry lateral loads as most of the modules cantilever into Fig 6.6 Build Frame

106

Fig 6.7 shows isolated views of the unit modules.

of the another tower which could create a nice view

The flat side of the masses is the front of the

of the eco plane.

buildings, which faces the “street”, while the other side is like the “backyard” which faces into different view of the city. Some of them facing the other side Fig 6.7 Buildings

107

Ecological Plane The ecological plane includes accessible to steep

also provides a sense of choosing your own path

trails, small garden and park areas, as well as the

just like in typical large park trail system.

wetland systems. The diagrams below show how this plane might look like because it needs to have

Because my site is in a cold climate, this plane would

a natural and or random form which contrast the

need to be enclosed to create a greenhouse effect.

build plane. This will provide a sense of organic

The image shown in fig 6.10 is a mass model of

nature when your looking at or when your in the

this surface and how it could adapt to the seasonal

skyscraper trails. The wide variety of travel choices

climate.

Fig 6.8 Deforming the Trail

Fig 6.9 Trail Types

green = wetland blue = accessible trails black = random trails

108

The eco plane mass was created by overlapping

residential level, followed by the commercial level,

several flat planes on top of each other and extruding

then the largest width for the farming for agriculture.

a linear center which then creates a series of curved

The height is also larger in the farming level for a

intersecting planes creating dynamic surfaces.

more open space and more sun light penetration.

The curves varies in length and height and width depending on its location in relation with the zoning use. The length extends farthest the most in the commercial level. The width is the shortest in the Fig 6.10 Adaptive Skin

109

The measurement of the distanced for the zoning

within this distance is ideal to travel by foot or by

is based on the 20 minute walk, or 10 minute bike

bike to the main commercial levels without having to

ride radius, translated into a line. The distance from

use the vertical lifts.

the end of a residential zone is approximately 200’ high or 1 mile of trail distance if it sloped on ADA standards of 1:12. This means that anybody living

Fig 6.11 Vertical Distances

tr ail ADA

slop

2 e 1:1

20 minute walk or 10 minute bike approx 200’ 1 mile trail distance

farming zone approx 400’

buildable zone approx 400’

110

Fig 6.12 shows an early model of the ecological

can be then used to model the mass the final eco

plane which is basically the interweaving different

plane. There is a combination of 1:12 slopes, almost

types of slopes. The early study helped determine

horizontal slopes, and steep slopes for variation of

how the width of the trails might differ in different

trail and landscapes.

levels by relating them with the zone type, which

Fig 6.12 Ecological Plane

111

Digital Model The ground level of the site has two dead end

development

along one side of it of the road.

streets. Shown in fig 6.13 these can serve as major

Services can be placed on the basement spaces of

connections to the towers. The existing plaza can be

the tower or the end of west tower far from the plaza.

untouched by elevating the tower over it. This plaza

A park can be developed near the major connection

can act as a community area with a marketplace

on the west tower.

Fig 6.13 Ground

major connection market plaza services major connection

Fig 6.14 Top View

112

Shown on fig 6.15 is a section through the site.

is where the concentration of density will be. The

It shows how all the towers are connected in two

ecological trails and parks are colored green and

areas, primarily in the most dense areas of the tower

found throughout the tower. The ideal agricultural

through horizontal street bridges. The west tower

area is also found on the west tower which faces

and the central tower are connected through the

south. The central tower and the east tower catches

ecological trails for more possibilities of connection

the most wind from its orientation to the lake and

to the central tower which is not connected through

also from the spring and winter winds.

vertical circulations with the ground. The diagonals you see are how the ecological trails might slope. The trail at the end should look more unpredictable and enclosed.

Fig 6.16 shows the different main use zones. The orange represent where the residential unit modules would be, and the red represents where most of the commercial unit modules would be. This area

Fig 6.15 Section B

---

113

Fig 6.16 Building Use

l are

tura

ul gric

idea

114

red = commercial orange= residential green = trails/parks/open spaces

The section boxes below shows the different typical section boxes of the early designs. It shows the relationship of the built density and open spaces, as the density increases, the open spaces increases, and the density of the trails increases.

Fig 6.17 Section Boxes

115

Fig 6.18 Typical Section

116

Fig 6.19 South View

117

Farming Module There are two types of farming module. One is a

biofiltration systems. There is also an auditorium

community farm where the locals can grow their own

where locals are invited to learn and or contribute

vegetables and fish. The other is a production farm,

knowledge and ideas about systems as they

which is run by local farmers who profit by selling the

become part of maintaining the ecology.

produce to local groceries or restaurants.

There will also be a farming and wetland laboratory which regulates and inspects the production of food as well as the maintenance of a balanced wetland ecology. This laboratory is for the farmer to work right next to researchers and scientists to find improvements of aquaponics farming and Fig 6.20 Community Farm (1 spatial unit) pump and tank growing beds

office

fish tank restroom

rest area storage work area

growing beds

pump and tank

wash area

storage shelf fish tank

work area

office

work area

rest area growing beds

118

work and wash area restroom

mech

Fig 6.21 Production Farm (1 spatial unit) pump and tank growing beds

fish tank

storage work area

growing beds

pump and tank

wash area

carts

fish tank

growing beds storage shelf

work area

mech

growing beds

Fig 6.22 Farming and Wetland Lab

vegerables storage

labs work area for farmers and landscapers

dining room

offices for scientists

fish

packaging and distribution

wetland others

auditorium

community

119

120

Design Development part 7

121

Site Below, Fig 7.1, is the site plan showing the street level as a public plaza for the community which can be turned into a gathering place and a market place. To activate the ground level further, there will be buildable lots for mixed use buildings. The lots are going to be smaller than the typical lots surrounding the site for a more diverse use in a small space. You can also see the dead ends of the existing site which now meets at the same area with the vertical bus transportation system. Only the West V Plane and the East V Plane vertical circulations meet the ground through the Vertical Bus and also the Vertical Taxis.

Fig 7.1 Site Plan

n mcclurg ct

e grand ave

n columbus

e north water

chicago river

wacker dr

122

new ground lots

north lakesh ore dr

n new st

north cityfront plaza dr

e illinois st

Reclamation Plan The footprint of the site I am using is about 280,000 sq ft. If there was a spatial city a hundred times bigger (643 acres) over the Chicago skyline , a total of about 800,000,000 sq ft (18300 acres) of land can be reclaimed on the south end of Chicago. The reclaimed site is a 15 mile, 1 hour bike ride through an already present bike trail. The result would be a wildlife ecosystem flourishing in the reclaimed land as well as ecosystems in the spatial city downtown.

Fig 7.2 Site Plan build

chicago

280,000 sqft x100 28,000,000 sqft (643 acres)

15 miles 1 hour bike ride

8,000,000 sqft x100 800,000,000 sqft (18365 acres)

wildlife population food desert parks bike route metra reclaim build up

reclaim

whitetail deer

lang elliot

warbler

123

Diagrams The next few diagrams shows a summary of how the

which is slower but more efficient as it connects to all

spatial towers work. Fig 7.3 shows the how the tower

levels without having to stop very often. The winter

is divided into the different main uses ranging from

and summer diagrams shows how the building can

commercial, to dense and light residential, farms,

adapt with seasonal weather change.

parks and civic areas.. Fig 7.4 shows diagrams of some of the different studied concepts that was

Fig 7.5 shows a summary of the 3 layer plane

mentioned in the previous chapters. The static

system which makes up the towers. There is the

and dynamic diagram shows where the modular,

build plane using a 3D grid, the circulation plane

developing, and ever changing spaces are. The live

which are the vertical and horizontal streets, and

work plan diagram shows how human activity works

also the ecological plane which holds the natural

in the tower. The biofiltration diagram shows how

ecosystems, wetland water filtration, and parks. Fig

the rainwater is collected, distributed throughout

7.6 shows a more detail explosion of the different

the tower, bio filtered through the wetland trail, then

planes and how they attach to each other.

recycled. The circulation diagram shows the different typed of vertical transportations, with the vertical but that connects all major levels, mainly commercial, and the vertical taxi as the switch able lane lifts

Fig 7.3 Uses farms light residential units

light residential units

farms

dense residential units mixed use commercial connections and night life dense residential units

major park

light residential units ground buildings ground connections

ground center Level 2 10' - 0" Level 1 0' - 0"

124

modules

light residential units

ecological facade

mixed use commercial civic buildings dense residential units

major park

modules

dense residential units

Fig 7.4 Diagrams

125

Fig 7.5 3 Layer Plane build plane one volume unit grid

volume lot

modular building

two volume units

system connections three volume units

circulation plane horizontal

connection to existing context or other spatial urban towers

primary

connects ground and other main horizontals. fast. vertical

secondary

two lane lifts. passing and stopping. connects to all levels. slow.

ecological plane density

irregular

width

agriculture

residential

commercial

Fig 7.6 Exploded

126

buildings

buildable frame

vertical circulation

main structure

eco plane

modular, adapting residential, commercial

fixed, pre-fabricated connections for buidlings

fixed, additive dependent on population

fixed, supports buildable frame, circulation, and eco plane

fixed, site for wetlands, parks, and agriculture

3D model The next couple of

images shows different

Fig 7.8 shows the north west view where you can

perspectives on how the three towers interact with

see how these three towers are connected in the

each other. Fig 7.7 shows the south west view which

commercial level. The ecological plane also extends

is where you can see most of the modular units.

where trails bridge two of the towers.

Fig 7.7 SW View

127

Fig 7.8 NW View

128

Elevations

Fig 7.9 East

Fig 7.10 South

[west v plane]

[central v plane]

[east v plane]

1600 ft

ada 1:12 slope/200 ft:1 mile 20 min walk 10 min bike

[b]

[a]

[com 02]

[c]

nbc tower 626 ft

river east center 643 ft

[com 01]

129

Fig 7.11 West

Fig 7.12 North

130

Levels Fig 7.13 shows a plan of the commercial level .The

system just in front of the modules. You can also

intersecting streets in the level creates a natural

see that the modules with different exterior facades

community gathering area at its intersections.

create different individual identity for each module.

In the commercial 1 level also, there is the main

The different units create a strong community while

stops from the high water street and high illinois

being strong in individuality.

street vertical buses. Wetlands make up some of the ecological trail, but there are spaces for small

Fig 7.14 shows the circulation and the main building

parks and recreational areas at each end of each

use, with red as commercial use, blue as residential,

tower. The ecological plane creates a diverse eco

and purple as civic.

Fig 7.13 Commercial 1 west v plane

wetland verti taxi

[high illinois street] three lane verti bus

modules

main structure

community center [fi

[nbc tower]

t h

public community core st

]

[h bridge street] connecting street

existing commercial

[river east center] existing residential wetland

central v plane

] et

adapting skin

verti taxi

[high water street] three lane verti bus main structure

east v plane

Fig 7.14 Com Circulation and Use

131

Fig 7.15 Commercial 2 Similar to commercial one but higher in elevation. No horizontal connection to existing skyscrapers.

Fig 7.16 Typical Residential Smaller modular units and limited connection because the spaces are more private. Ecological trail is less wider compared to commercial levels.

Fig 7.17 Agriculture Very open fixed spaces to collect light for growing plants and vegetables. No modular units and no build planes. The systems for agriculture are built into the structure for a more permanent function.

132

Details Fig 7.18 Section Box

The detail below shows how the unit module sample

surface for plants, and wetland surface for the

[b] is attached to the buildable frame through

wetland system. The adaptive panels are attached

modular beams and also attached to a service

with a space frame. Under each floor is a roof of

module. It also shows how vegetated surfaces can

transparent panels able to illuminate the lower level

attach to a service module. The ecological planes

with LED lights built into it.

section has three types of surfaces, which is solid reinforced concrete slab for street, vegetated Fig 7.19 Detail modular beams

verti taxi

service module

adaptive panels space frame

pre-fab girder

vegetated surface

transparent panels buildable frame

drainage reinforced concrete slab

[b] vegetated surface wetland barrier wetland surface

133

The panels for the adaptive skin are flexible

structure has little effect on the possibilities of floor

polycarbonate

plans, however, considerations of neighboring

mechanism able to flex them open or closed by

modular units and the site (the eco plane) must be

lifting two corners up or down. The adaptive skin

part of the design process.

panels

which

attaches

is essential in Chicago climate because of its cold winters. Fig 7.21 shows different sample modules that I have designed to see how the structure of the modular units may look as different sized. The Fig 7.20 Adaptive Skin

134

Fig 7.21 Sample Module Units [a]

[2] [3]

[1]

4 volume lots, mixed use commercial modules

[b]

[2]

[1]

2 volume lots, medium family residential

[c]

[1]

1 volume lot, single or small family residential

135

Renderings Bridge

136

Day Market

137

Night Life

138

139

140

141

Thesis Conclusion Most of the process of my thesis is exploring how

where it can be moved to or recycled properly. This

urbanism can evolve into being designed in a three

idea is open to either option, but I chose for it to be

dimensional space instead of a two dimensional

permanent mostly so that it cannot be threatened to

map. The direction from the research went to the

be replaced by higher profit uses.

studies of lines, connections, and planes and how that relates to public and private spaces, streets and

Because of the variety of experiences I was trying

landscapes, which became the basis of developing

to design from all the programs, I found out that

the form and function of the building. As I developed

there was a need for a variety of forms. There is

how the residential and commercial zoning relate

the rigid build plane, the linear interweaving vertical

to each other in three dimensional form, the

lifts, the dynamic agriculture and ecological plane,

ecological aspect of trying to create greenspaces,

and of course the ever developing modular units.

agricultural spaces, and wetland areas developed

I found these components to have mostly a planar

from being horizontal spaces to have a diagonal

relationship with each other. From the design

importance. It became what would be the bike and

process, urbanism, vertical planes can provide

pedestrian streets. Wetland biofiltration systems

more freedom of layered infrastructure and ecology

also is important to purify water to be recycled and

compared to trying to build horizontally.

help create or preserve a biodiversity in the towers. The modular units which are the buildings of the

The addition of a reclamation plan in my project

spatial city are also explored up to the level of the

helps reverse urban sprawl and give back land

type of structure and how much units one module

to species a natural ecology for them to thrive in.

may take and it what form. I believe that the ability

In the city context, the one spatial community will

to decide the size of the modules and the ability to

take on skyscraper form but eventually as more

create unique floor plans and facades promotes

communities are built suspended in their own three

individual identity in a community. Agriculture

dimensional space, connections can be made in

spaces is important to bring food close to people. It

different strategic levels and the tower will not be

is a program that could either be fixed permanently

seen as a tower but rather a single piece of a larger

into the structure or modularized and able to move if

urban ecology.

the space will be replaced with a building. However, if it is modularized, there needs to be a location

142

Spatial Urbanism

urban

d i v e r s e i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y, s t r e e t , u n - d e f i n e d s p a c e s , adaptable, humanized. large footprint, scattered, vehicular disrupts landscape and natural ecology

d e p e n d e n c y,

archetypal skyscraper small footprint, dense

s i m i l a r i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y, s t a t i c f l o o r s , p r e - d e f i n e d spaces, unadaptable, “vertical cul-de-sac”, limited experience.

spatial urbanism s m a l l f o o t p r i n t , d e n s e , d i v e r s e i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y, dynamic floors, un-defined spaces, adaptable, “vertical s t r e e t ” , u n l i m i t e d e x p e r i e n c e , m o d u l a r, h u m a n i z e d . ...

buildings infrastructure ecology

spread: destroys ecology stacked:

promotes ecology

Ecology and Infrastructure

biofiltration / water purification waste to energy food / aquaponic farming

Ecological Spatial Urbanism vertical frame connections irrigation systems 3D zoning circulation transportation public buildings and parks agricultural development open spaces

evolving residential development commercial development clean industrial relationship with existing conditions

ecological spatial urbanism

143