Dissolving Ground by Greg Dalfonzo

DISSOLVING GROUND Gregory Dalfonzo

Contents Final Work �� 7 Site Information ��35 Process Work ��41 Precedent work and Inspiration ��59 Bibliography........................................................................69

DISSOLVING GROUND

Exploring the three-dimensional city through architecture

Gregory Dalfonzo Advised by Elizabeth Grant At the Virgina Tech School of Architecture and Design

TYPICAL CITY TODAY.

A singular ground plain connects all buildings and contains all traffic.

A THREE DIMENSIONAL CITY.

The ground plain dissolves to the point where there is no zero. Ground is where the user happens to be at the time. Transportation infrastructure is spread over multiple levels.

The goal of the three dimensional city is the complete dissolution of the ground plane. This is not to say that everything should simply be moved up and into skyscrapers, but that the public realm should be so evenly distributed in space that ascertaining the original ground level is impossible. In a sense, ground level becomes nowhere and everywhere at once. It becomes relative to the observer. My thesis examines this new typology through the program of a civic tower in Cape Town, South Africa, set in the year 2076. The site was chosen due to the juxtaposition of mountain and sea, creating a upper and lower reference point for a city that has none. Additionally, Cape Town was chosen due to its low to mid-rise buildings, which create the possibility, that as the city grows taller and more dense, the idea of connecting all the buildings at multiple levels, and with public transit, could be realized. The major goals were to create this three dimensional city construct, and use it to create a commercial and civic building that would act as a hub for this portion of the city. The building would use the new typology to create publicly accessible space, especially greenspace, green space,at atall alllevels levelsof ofthe thecity. city.ItItwould wouldinterweave interweavepublic, public,private, private,commercial, commercial,and and transportation into a single unified building. The programs chosen were public transit, theater, library, gym, school, offices, museum, restaurant, shops, apartments, and public green space. These programs combine the services of a whole block into one building, enabling this building to act as a hub. However, the needs of each of these programs is different, so the floor slabs are adaptable. For example, the library stacks take up a central plate with large atria on the exterior, as they need much less natural light. Conversely the offices need a lot of light, and take up only the perimeter of the building, leaving a large central core. The structure of the building rejects the Corbusian ideal that the facade should not be be structural. Instead, loads distributed by the elevator cores, columns, andand a a structural. Instead, thethe loads areare distributed by the elevator cores, some columns, hexagonal external structure. The external structure would also carry the load of the public transit and the pedestrian bridges. The internal structure is composed of concrete deck over steel girders with load-bearing concrete elevator walls. The structural columns are steel. 6

steel. Steel was chosen as the primary structural system to allow for greater adaptability, longer spans, and better articulation of complex joints. Additionally, as there are places where columns are not in contact with the floor slabs, in these places, they are braced with a hexagonal structural stiffener system. This is primarily on the office levels. The building itself would be braced against wind loads by the bridges connecting it to other buildings. They would act as a single entity in resisting these loads. One of the overarching goal was the creation of public space within the three dimensional nature if the city, especially in the form of public greenspace. The primary method of achieving this was through the transit infrastructure. The transit levels are publicly accessible through the elevators and stairwells, and contain public restrooms, shopping, and waiting areas, as well as the bridge connections to the adjacent buildings. These bridges are 60 feet wide, large enough to accommodate programs like coffee kiosks, seating, and performance stages. They will be attractions in their own right, rather than a path from point A to point B. The roof level of these bridges will be grassy and will act as private space for the programs above the transit. For example, the main level of the school is just above the first transit, so the bridge roofs would act as the playground area for the school. Finally, more public greenspaces were created through the stepping back of the tower. At the first setback, level 47, a restaurant occupies the enclosed space, while the exterior space is publicly accessible from the elevator cores. There are also green roof bridges connecting this park area to the adjacent buildings. The step back is on level 54, where the roof is partially public park space, and partially a glass covering for an atrium. Finally, the roof of the penthouses is a small public park. Finally, the transit system is designed to link the buildings of the city together into a network that exists in 3 dimensions. Unlike other elevated rail systems extant today, which are freestanding, the structure is supported by the buildings themselves. Single train lines would pass through the building at floors 17, 24, 34, and 51, with 17 and 34 running parallel but in opposite directions, and 24 and 51 running perpendicular to those. This allows for a relatively small penetration of the building that does not interfere with structural columns. Thus the system will allow coverage of the city with minimal intrusion into the design of the buildings themselves.

FINAL WORK

UP UP

Entry Level and Theatre 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Library 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Transit 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Office 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Museum 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Restaurant and Park 1" = 30'-0"

DN UP

Penthouse 1" = 30'-0"

Restaurant and Park 1" = 30'-0"

Structural Plan Floor 20 1" = 30'-0"

Section 1 1" = 50'-0"

South 1" = 50'-0"

A201

Steel Prefabricated Custom Cladding System

Aluminium Window Mullion

5" CompositeConcrete Slab

W18x192 Steel Girder

Round Column Structural System

Perspective Section

B B

1/2" x 2'-0" Round Steel Column (at angle)

1/2" Welded Flange Connections

1/2" x 2'-0" Round Steel Column

Welded Connection Between Plate and W-Section 1 1/2" InsulativeJoint 5" Composite Concrete Slab

2" Horizontal Steel Plate For Stiffening and Connection to W-Section

W8x40 Steel Beam System 3'-6" O.C.

2" Vertical Steel Plate For Stiffening and Connection to W-Section

3" ISO Foam Insulation

1 1/2" Insulative Joint

W18x192 Steel Girder 1/2" Welded Flange Connections

Steel Prefabricated Custom Cladding System

5" Composite Concrete Slab W8x40 Steel Beam System 3'-6" O.C.

W18x192 Steel Girder

Perpendicular Section 3/8" = 1'-0"

A A 1/2" Welded Steel Flange Connections

2" Vertical Steel Plate For Stiffening and Connection to W-Section

2" Horizontal Steel Plate For stiffening and connection to W-Section

1/2" x 2'-0" Round Steel Column

Light Gauge Z Section with Neoprene Gasket

3" ISO Insulation

Steel Prefabricated Custom Cladding System

Aluminum Window Mullion with Thermal Break

Transverse Section 3/16" = 1'-0"

Exterior Render

Library Render Level 7

Office Render Level 28

Penthouse Render Level 28

Park Render Level 46

Site Render

Adderley St. Looking South

Adderley St. Looking North

Site from Adderley St.

Adderley St. Looking Southwest

In considering a site, I thought about the constructional methods that would be used to create a network of interconnected buildings. In doing so, I decided that this type of system could not be retrofitted to an existing series of buildings. The structural loads would be more than the buildings could support. Instead, I decided that the site for this project would be a city set in 2076, so that the infrastructure could grow with the city. My main criteria for choosing a city was one in which the center of the city was short enough that conceivably the buildings could be demolished and replaced with skyscrapers. I chose Cape Town because it has these characteristics , and because of its physical geography. For a thesis with the goal of dissolving the ground plane entirely, I felt that the dual reference points of Table Mountain and Cape Town Harbor would create a counterpoint, defining bounds that exist outside of the system. The majority of the population of Cape Town lives outside the city bowl, many in what could be considered slums (the Cape Flats area). I think it likely that as the city prospers and creates the infrastructure to support them, people would migrate back to the center, creating the demand for the interconnected city.

SITE INFORMATION

Cape Town City Limits

Cape Town City Bowl

Central Building District and Site

Cape Town Population Density

Cape Town, South Africa Population Density People/KM^2

0-20.92 20.93-69.39 69.40-169.34 169.34-341.15 341.15-918.74 918.74-1334.75 1334.75-2010.18 2010.18-2072.66 2072.66-5476.27 5476.27-11195.40

After choosing my site and seeking to understand it in an urban context, and after considering how it would grow and change in the future, I began to examine how the site and program would affect the form of the building. I started with a series of massing studies based off of a project completed in third year, in which three twisting towers interconnected and reinforced each other. After exploring these forms, I began to work towards a more Cartesian form, with three towers connected by three disks. At the same time, I was developing the programmatic concepts, considering what programs would allow for a greater exploration of how a city would change from a horizontally defined space to one that is truly three dimensional. I chose programs of a school, library, theatre, gym, museum, and mass transit. Having been intrigued by the form of hexagons, I arranged these programs into three tapering hexagonal towers, with three hexagonal connectors, all supported by a hexagonal concrete exoskeleton. This became iteration one, two and three, each with minor variations. I quickly realized that there were major problems with the building. To start, the taper of the building, combined with the regularity of the hexagonal exoskeleton and the spacing of the floor slabs made the skin impractical, as each course was different. Furthermore, because the towers had a very small floor slab, and an even smaller continuous core due to the taper, there was not enough room in each for the necessary elevators, stairs, mechanical chases, toilet rooms; not without leaving very little room for actual program space. Iteration four approached the same problem from a practical standpoint. The three towers became the movement and structural cores, with the program filling the space between them. The taper was eliminated to make the structure more regular and was replaced with a series of setbacks to allow for smaller programs near the top. The transit was interspersed more vertically through the tower, and the pedestrian bridges were placed at these levels to avoid interfering with the more secure programs. Additionally programs were added to make the building both public and private, and to allow possibly generating revenue for the upkeep of the civic programs. Finally, the floor slabs were allowed to vary to meet the differing needs of the programs.

PROCESS WORK

PROGRAM

PUBLIC SPACE GYM

The program is to investigate civic spaces in the context of the three dimensional mega-city. Currently, the majority of civic space is expressed horizontally, taking up large plots of land in order to create a grand building. Transit is relegated to the ground, or underneath it.

TRANSIT

My thesis will investigate the idea of stacking these programs to express them vertically. Transit will be interwoven on multiple levels, connecting the existing commuter rail to a new elevated metro system. The building will also express usable public space at multiple levels, indoors and outdoors. Finally, the building will connect with surrounding (projected) buildings at multiple elevated levels, again creating usable public space.

MUSEUM

SCHOOL

LIBRARY TRANSIT

THEATRE

SCHOOL LIBRARY MUSEUM

GYM

PUBLIC SPACE

THEATRE

DENSITY COMPARISON

The plot of land on the right represents a typical slum condition, while the plot on the left represents high rise towers, such as are seen in Hong Kong. If the red represents a family of fourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dwelling space, the left plot would have a density of 4 per unit area (4 people for 1 unit area), while the right would have a density of 6.6 per unit area (60 people for 9 units of area). However, if we consider the cubic area density, the left area would still have a density of 4 people per unit volume, while the right area would have a density of .44 people per unit volume, a much more agreeable ratio. The example on the right fits more people in a given ground area (240 vs. 49), but with 9 times as much space for each family (9 units vs. 1 unit).

SCHOOL

MUSEUM

THEATRE GYM TRANSIT

GYM

TRANSIT

LIBRARY

SCHOOL

LIBRARY

MUSEUM

EXISTING CITY TYPOLOGY MUSEUM

SCHOOL

LIBRARY T TRANSIT

THEATRE

GYM

THEATRE PROPOSED CITY TYPOLOGY

Wind Force

Overturning Moment Arm

Center of Mass Resisting Moment Arm

Resisting Moment Arm

Massing Studies 1-12 in Chronological Order

Iteration II Theatre and Lobby

Iteration II School, Transit, and Library

Iteration II Museum

Iteration II Fitness Center

Iteration II Section/Elevation

Iteration IV Exterior Render

Iteration IV Site Render

Iteration IV Elevation Render

Iteration IV Structural Screen Render

Penthouse Shops

Restaurant

Museum

Office

Iteration IV Transit

School

Fitness Center

Library

Theatre 56

Iteration IV Offices

Iteration IV School

Iteration IV Shops

I drew precedents and inspiration from built, proposed, and science-fiction projects. I drew from both negative and positive examples. There are many skyway and underground systems that exist, particularly in North America. However, these are only partially successful. They fail to act as anything more than a way to get from Point A to Point B. There is no program, nothing to attract people to the systems. These systems also only deviate from the ground plane by one level. I also reacted strongly against the city plans of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. These plans ignore the pedestrian in favor of the car, ignore mass transit, and deny the relationship between buildings. Instead, the city should embrace the pedestrian and mass transit, and separate them from vehicular traffic. In doing so, it will make all forms of transport safer, more efficient, and better able to interact with the built environment. Finally, I was inspired by science-fiction cities, and the ways in which buildings are linked together to create a greater whole.

PRECEDENT WORK AND INSPIRATION

CALGARY +15

+15 is the world’s largest skyway system, with 59 bridges hanging 15 feet above th street. Encouraged by the city government via tax breaks and additional floor building area, it has come under scrutiny for stifling daytime streetlife. Taken from a 1999 study of the system: “Respondents to the survey do not use, nor value , the +15 as a comprehensive system,

Calgary, Canada 1970-

but rather use it for short trips, when it is more convenient and comfortable than the street” “It appears the system may divide the downtown based on socio-economic class” “The homogeneous survey population was primarily office workers, far from a microcosm of the downtown population” The +15 system does successfully create a pedestrian realm, free from vehicular conflict and separated from the harsh winter

conditions. However, it fails to create public spaces that people would want to inhabit. The bridges themselves might as well be teleporter between buildings, because they serve a singular purpose: to connect two points. They miss the greater possibility of creating multiuse spaces overlooking the street, which could take any form from retail to indoor seating to performance spaces.

RĂ&#x2030;SO

Montreal, Canada 1962-

The largest underground city in the world, RĂŠso uses 20 miles of tunnels to connect 80% of all residential space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal. Well designed, it tends to blend in for residents, who may think of it a mall complex connecting metro stations, without realizing that there is a system behind it. Truly vast, it contains 2000 shops, 200 restaurants, 7 hotels, and connects to 10 metro stops.

RĂŠso is an excellent example of a secondary pedestrian network. It is big enough to cover the vast majority of the urban core, and it creates a variety of public space. It has a surprising amount of natural light for an underground city, due to skylights. And it is conditioned throughout, a boon in the hard Montreal winters. The underground nature probably also helps reduce heat loss (relative to an elevated system).

The possible downsides are the lack of greenspace, the general inability to easily navigate it, and the question of how it would deal with a far more dense urban environment.

KWOLOON WALLED CITY

Hong Kong, China 1898-1994

Kwoloon walled city existed in Hong Kong, outside the rule of law. Due to jurisdictional issues, neither the British government nor the Chinese administrated Kwoloon, and by the time jurisdiction was ceded to the British, the walled city was a lawless place, controlled by the Triad gang.

And yet, it raises questions about density of urbanism. Can cities built out in three dimensions allow for extremely high densities in terms of land area? Should population density in highly urban areas even be measured in terms of people per square mile, or should it be measured in terms of cubic volume? Can people have a high quality of life in crowded conditions?

Kwoloon reached a density of around 1 person for every 10 square feet (around 33,000 for a .01 square mile footprint). Because of the lack of law enforcement, it was built entirely without

architects. It was an internal maze, constantly dripping. It became a haven for unlawful activity, such as drug dens, prostitution, and unethical medical practices. It was demolished in 1994, but it still captivates attention today. On the one hand, it serves as a harbinger of what could happen in cities without proper government. It is a cautionary tale for the importance of proper urban planning and design.

Frank Lloyd Wright 1932

BROADACRE CITY

Broadacre City was Frank Lloyd Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s utopian vision of a city. In his plan, American families would each be given a one acre parcel of land from the Federal Land Reserves in order to build a house. Cities would fade out, to be replaced by a lukewarm, evenly distributed density of people across the land. The car would reign supreme, and gas stations, as a provider of an essential service, would grow into the center of communities. Today, the suburban sprawl that has propagated across America eerily resembles Broadacre City, minus the utopia. Suburban sprawl has created a places that are toxic, not only to the people who live there, but to the very earth it takes up. Suburbia isolates people from each other, increases the amount of wasted time in transit, and attempts to patch our broken urbanism with a pale facsimile of nature. Broadacre City might preset an idyllic setting, but it fails to take into account reality. Population growth across the world quickly rendered the space requirements too high to sustain such a system, while the automobile increased the time spent in transit, and the cost associated with said transit. Furthermore, suburbia is poisoning the planet with greenhouse gases, fertilizers, and pesticides, all while draining groundwater at an unsustainable rate.

VILLA RADIEUSE

Le Corbusier 1943

The Ville Radieuse was Le Corbuisier’s attempt at a Utopian city. Very different from Wright’s Broadacre city, the Ville Radieuse was intended to be created from a tabula rasa cleared in the center of major European cities. The city would be very strictly zoned, separating different programmatic elements utterly. The residential section would be composed of a series of identical prefabricated high rise towers, set along a Cartesian grid, and separated by parks. As with Broadacre, the Ville Radieuse was falsely utopian. Where the ideals were constructed, they failed for various reasons. The Pruitt-Igoe housing development in St. Louis was a real world example of a failure of this system. Due in part to the complete lack of infrastructure other than housing, the area was not in demand. Additionally, with this and all other Unité style developments, the buildings were set far enough apart on essentially blank unusable land to create an urban desert effect, creating spaces where no pedestrian wanted to spend time. Finally, the Unités, set on pilotis, did not effectively engage with the street at ground level. Another example of the failure of this system is Brasilia. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer in strict accordance to the Ville Radieuse system, it is frequently criticized for its inhuman scale that requires using cars to get anywhere, and for the zoning separation that removes living from working and social pursuits.

EDGE CONDITIONS IN CITES

NYC, London, Houston

New York City

NYC, especially Manhattan, demonstrates that urban areas with strong edge conditions tend to create higher densities. In this image, the density is highest around the rivers and bay, where there is a hard edge due to the water.

London

London is an example of a man made edge condition, combined with a natural edge. The Thames River creates an internal edge for the city, causing increased density around the city center there, while the London green belt instituted in the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creates an external edge for the city, somewhat mitigating the suburban sprawl.

Houston

Houston is an inverse relationship. With no edge to speak of, natural or man made, the city slowly dissolves into the surrounding suburbs, with very few areas of high density. Comparing the legend of Houston to NYC shows that the numerical separation is considerably higher between colors in NYC vs. Houston, indicative of a much larger range of density. Houston is, by comparison, not dense at all.

FICTIONAL CITIES

THE AGE OF THE MEGA CITY

It is estimated that by 2025, the population of Earth will have grown to 8.2 billion, with the majority of that growth being in cities. Already, more than half the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population lives in cities, and another billion more are predicted to live in cities by 2025. This means that there are going to be 37 cities with more than 10 million people. Designing for this future is essential.

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