Abu Dhabi Financial Centre

David Lee & Noel Ortega

Architects Gensler Location Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Client Mubadala Development Company Program Business district master plan Building Site 122 hectares Area 300.000 m²

Project Description

Gensler created a master pan and comprehensive design guidelines for this healthcare center, Abu Dhabi sought new standards in the project’s planning and architectural design. The master plan aimed to create a human-scale environment that would maximize connectivity for workers and visitors, while enhancing the opportunity to enjoy a work-life balance.

Source: www.gensler.com

Brasilia Master Plan By Costa

Pilot Plan of Brasilia, Lucio Costa

The plan uses a cross-axial design indicating the possession and conquest of this new place with a cross . The two principal components are the Monumental Axis (east to west) and the Residential Axis (north to south). The Monumental Axis was designated for political and administrative activities. It includes ministries, the national congress, and the television and radio tower. The Residential Axis was intended to contain areas with intimate character and is considered the most important achievment of the plan. It was designed for housing and associated functions such as local commerce, schooling, recreations and churches, constituted of 96 Superblocks (Superquadras) limited to six stories buildings and 12 additional superblocks limited to three stories buildings.

Source: David Epstein, Brasilia - Plan and Reality

Superquadras, Lucio Costa

The Superquadra (Superblock) received its name by the larger size of the city block. Usually city blocks are 100 x 100 metres; in Brasilia, they are approximately 300 x 300 meters. The spaces between them were intended for collective use and commercial buildings, with strip malls located at the entrances of neighborhood units and movie theaters, community centers, churches, and secondary schools sited in what came to be known as “interquadras”.

Source: Fares El-Dahdah, Lucio Costa - Brasilia’s Superquadra

Eixample Barcelona, Ildefons Cerda

The plan is characterized by long straight streets, a strict grid pattern crossed by wide avenues, and square blocks with chamfered corners. The streets broaden at every intersection making for greater visibilty, better ventilation and short-stay parking space. The important needs for inhabitants were incorporated into his plan, which called for markets, schools, hospitals every so many blocks.

in homes, the need for greenery in people’s surroundings, the need for effective waste disposal including good sewerage, and the need for seamless movement of people, goods, energy, and information. Even though the plan faced strong criticism from other architects and conservative parties, those later on participated in the construction process.

Source: Aibar & Bijker, Constructing a City: The Cerda Plan for the Extension Barcelona

Alphabetical City by Steven

“X” Type - Alphabetical City, Steven Holl

Alphabetical City by Steven Holl

Steven Holl studies the twentieth-century urban fabric, particularly the evolution and recurrence of letter-like building forms that sprang from the gridiron plans of American cities at the turn of the century. The collection of buildings catalogued by Holl is ordered according to a three-staged evolution: early contigous walk-up types, plan extrusions and tower types. These letter-like extrusions increased in height to such an extent that sections and elevations predominated over plans.

Source: Steven Holl, Pamphlet Architecture 5, Alphabetical City

Morphology

Plan transformation study from the Edgewater Beach Apartments into Lucio Costas Superquadra.

Plan transformation study from the Edgewater Beach Apartments into the Eixample block of Ildefons Cerda.

#1

Geometrical studies based on the section- and plan transformations of selected precedents.