ARBOREAL URBANISM: A future standard in urban-future symbiosis Design Journal by Sharne Sulaiman

ARBOREAL URBANISM A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS D E S I G N S S

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ARBOREAL URBANISM A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS D E S I G N

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Copyright ÂŠ 2020 by Sharne Sulaiman All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. Sulaiman, Sharne Arboreal Urbanism: A Future Standard in Urban-Nature Symbiosis Published in Singapore by the National University of Singapore Department of Architecture. Cover art Aislarse by Tomas Sanchez. Printed in the Republic of Singapore. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

for

my Family, who have so selflessly loved and looked after me.

CONTENTS Abstract ix Introduction 1 History of the Relationship Between Urbanism and Nature

Green Urbanism 12 Urban Forest 17 Evolution of Strategies 25 Vs Decorative Greenery 29 Arboreal Urbanism 32 Grade Separated Pedestrian Systems 36 Site: Marina Bay 39 Green Belt Infrastructure 44 New Ground Plane 48 Augmentation through Technology 85 Conclusion 89 APPENDICES I: The Industrial Revolution and its Embodiment of its Era

DESIGN EXPERIMENTS II: Collage Experiments 101 III: Sky Forest: An architectural proposal

105

IV: Sky Forest @ Greater Southern Waterfront

115

V: Monument Green 126 Bibliography 129

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

ABSTRACT Arboreal Urbanism imagines the next step in tropical high density urbanism. This thesis sees multiple issues arising from the rapid urbanisation of tropical cities, creating unpleasant urban experiences that are of complete artifice. A lack of natural spaces in these equatorial urban centres compounds the effects of archaic models of urbanisation and poor land use. Through historical analysis of green urbanism, the design proposal situates itself as the future standard by which tropical cities can follow. High density urbanism is evolved into a form where nature and urbanism is in a more perfect symbiosis. Situated in Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marina Bay as a prominent beacon of green urbanism, Arboreal Urbanism is planned as a green belt, a green infrastructure that is hoped to be linked by progressive development with its intended green patches. It aims to positively impact its urban and rural surroundings through ecosystem services, wildlife connectivity, and biodiversity support. Transportation paths and buildings are integrated together and lifted high above a tropical rainforest, allowing greenery to freely flow beneath. A new ground plane of vibrancy is formed. The design proposal employs carbon-fibre reinforced wood as a new material to augment its vision of a carbon negative development, creating long spans and column free spaces, allowing great flexibility in programme and use. It is hoped that the design proposal increases the significance of robust nature to be incorporated in urban environments, where tropical cities can be greener, healthier centres that benefit both wildlife and society. ix

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 1. Kuala Lumpurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Intense Urbanisation, Bernama

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

INTRODUCTION Urbanisation, the shift in human populations from rural to urban areas, will place more than two-thirds of the global population in urban areas by the mid-21st Century. This global trend demands massive urban development. As cities grow ever larger and denser, their existing problems compound almost uncontrollably. Urbanism is driven by several factors, namely: The increasing mechanization, automation, and innovation in agriculture. Unemployment and idleness in rural areas are significant. The increasing concentration of wealth and specialized work in cities. Opportunities and wealth creation via scale, network effects, productivity, and efficiency gains are a pull factor for isolated rural individuals. Lifestyle preferences and attitudes. Concentrated wealth attracts people, which increases wealth creation potential in a virtuous cycle that accelerates urban growth. With technology, the living experience is greatly improved in urban sites. The massive shift of populations from rural to urban centres is especially pronounced in the tropics, where tropical cities have begun to develop exponentially. In tropical Southeast Asia (SEA), the urban population will grow by another half to 373 million people. Most SEA cities prioritise economic growth, leaving environmental issues at the bottom of the list until its economy has developed. On the other hand, environmental problems are related to public health, poverty (water and sanitation), mass production (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions) and mass consumption 1

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 2. Deforestation in Malaysia, Rich Carey

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

(waste). A large population often puts pressure on the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s socio-economic systems, urban resilience, living environment, and natural resources. A clear nexus exists between population growth, land use change, and environmental health in tropical urban areas. While good management of such issues can ensure sustainable urban development, this is challenging due to huge deficit in infrastructure, especially environmental infrastructure, investment in Asian cities; the urbanization process in SEA is mostly unplanned and haphazard in manner. Poor land use practices have threatened the essential biotope of forests with demise by the built environment. Immense deforestation that follows urban sprawl characterises land use changes. Bruce Babbitt most concisely links destruction of natural landscapes to scattered development brought on and facilitated by freeways and highways. The unabated spatial growth of tropical high-density urbanism has little concern for economically significant and vital ecological systems. Research has deemed this current Southeast Asian style of urbanization unsustainable. It is unfortunate that polities perpetuate the same, degradational models of urbanism in new urban centres. As tropical cities grow too large and too problematic to manage, new ones are created with almost exactly the same mindset, skirting around problems and further spreading similar issues in other urban centres. An example is Indonesiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new capital on Bukit Soeharto in East Kalimantan, which is an escape from the crowded and polluted capital of Jakarta on Java island. Due to excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and commercial use, Jakarta has been sinking as fast as 10 cm a year, leading to the city being notoriously flood-prone. Instead of investing in efforts to build

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 3. Indonesian President Joko Widodo inspecting the area planned to be the location of Indonesiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new capital, Reuters

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

sea walls or polders to keep out floods, or control ground water usage, or manage land use, Indonesia has decided to abandon its most populous city for a quiet spot within a national park. It has levelled most of the forest and hill undulations to make way for the new city (Figure 3). The perpetuation of unbridled urban development has resulted in a landscape of entirely man-made materials. Hulking masses of concrete, steel and glass leave no space for nature. The urban experience has been relegated to one of artificiality, removing humans from their innate ecological identity. From this springs a state of stress, unhealthiness, and unwellness. Multiple tropical cities, if not constrained by topography or coastlines, would continue to grow and expand, further covering fertile land with concrete, leaving no space for nature or human respite. It is undoubted that our species is making an unprecedented evolutionary leap - within a single lifespan - from a predominantly rural population to one that is overwhelmingly urban. The existence of this global crisis with severe social and environmental consequences

requires

ecologically

responsible

urban

development. In the hopes of securing a sustainable solution to this situation, this thesis hopes to discover a future standard by which cities can use as a model for development, employing new technologies as an augmentation towards this goal. In order to be successful in implementation, the design solution needs to be: 1.

Historically informed; by being enlightened by past

attempts of similar nature in order to be at the forefront of the contemporary architectural movement, 5

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 4. High density Hong Kong from above, Andy Yeung

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Prospective; by setting a future standard from which

society can springboard. It should reveal new spatial experiences, 3.

Involving the public; by generating significant buy-in to

the design and meaning of the project through public engagement and visibility as well as a public nature of the architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programme, 4.

Transformational; by being a prototypical example (being

the first) of the future standard. It should inspire further exploration, redirecting the course of architecture and engineering.

HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN URBANISM AND NATURE This thesis hopes to uncover a sustainable solution to the tropical situation. In order to do so, historical analysis will glean useful learning points for projecting into the future. This thesis builds on Lehmannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resource in The Principles of Green Urbanism (Figure 5) to study the architectural, political and socioeconomic circumstances that shaped the relationship between urbanism and nature. The origin stories of many cultures suggest man emerged from nature in paranormal circumstances. Nature was a formidable force that could not be tamed. Man was consistently hiding from the forces of nature with no technology to overcome it. Much natural phenomenon was explained away with the supernatural. As civilisation advanced from prehistory to ancient, man had tamed nature through agriculture, but preferred to separate himself from it, keeping it outside by employing barriers such

Pre-automobile cities: strong centres, compact typologies Ancient Cities

Medieval-Renaissance

19th Century

20th Century

- Egypt - Greece

Fortress City - Carcassonne - Frankfurt am Main - Palmanova

The 19th Century European model of - Mixed use - Compact City

Linear Promenades - Antwerp - Lucca

- Vienna- Otto Wagner - Paris- Baron Haussmann - Barcelona- Ildefons Cerda

Garden City Theory (Early Idea of suburbia) - Garden City, 1899 - Garden Cities of Tomorrow, 1902 - Three Magnets Theory

Private Gardens

City Beautiful Movement- 1890s1900s, Highrise

Idealised Lanscapes - Geometric: European - Naturalised: Chinese

Squares - Britain

Le Co - Ville - Ville

- Letchworth Garden - Welwyn Garden City - Hampstead

Chicago Washington, DC Denver Canberra

- Berlin- Bruno Taut - Chicago- Dankmar Adler & Louis Sullivan -Daniel Burnham

19th Century Industrial Revolution

Abstracted Landscapes - Japan Enlightenment: 1798 French Revolution

Funct

Garden City - Ebenezer Howard - Raymond Unwin

- F. Olmstead - Camillo Sitte

Agricultural Pre-industrialisation

Bauh - Grop - Taut - Hilb - May

Marxist theory - Karl Marx & F. Engels

Early Modernism

- Cha 1956 - Bras - 195

Mobility: Automobile Changes the Traditional City

Walled City - Rome

1920s

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

1950 - Sub - Spra - Sho

Funct - Cite Tony

- CIA - Bau

Lewis Critiq Spraw

Great P. Ab

Broad FL W

1980s

1960s

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

tional City Theory

orbusier e Contemporaine, 1922 e Radieuse, 1933

Aldo Rossi Leon Krier/Rob Krier Heinrich Klotz Christopher Alexander Collage City- C. Rowe 1978

andigarh, Punjab- Le Corb 6 silia- Lucio Costa 1958 50s IBA Berlin

1980S REDISCOVERY OF EUROPEAN MODEL OF COMPACT MIXED-USE CITY

Structuralism Townscape - Gideon Cullens - Kevin Lynch

ter London Plan bercrombie 1944

- Jane Jacob 1961

odernism

Globalisation: IT + Digital Revolution

Metabolism - Kisho Kurokawa

s Mumford que of Urban wl

dacre City Wright 1958

- Francois Lyontard - Charles Jencks Megacity - Fall of the Wall 1989 Reconstruction “revision of modernism” Mixed-use recompacting of city Compact City Theory

New Towns - Milton Keynes

IBA-Berlin 1986 - Critcal reconstruction - Careful urban renewal Critical Regionalism - K. Frampton - A. Tzonis 1973 Oil Crisis

From Fragmentation to Compaction

Rem Koolhaas Bernard Tschumi Fragmentation Deconstruction Parc de la Villette

Post Modernism

0s-today burbanisation awl opping malls

AM uhaus

Peter Newman Jeff Kenworthy Bill Rees Mike Jenks

Melbourne Hong Kong Singapore Paris: La Defense London: Docklands Berlin: Postdamer Platz

Eco-city theory - Ulrich Beck - Richard Sennett - Mauel Castells - Anthony Giddens - Herbert Girardet - Jan Gehl - “Renewable city” theory -Zero carbon - Fossil fuel free -

No CO2 No waste No cars Ecological footprint

- Dongtan - Masdar - Solar City: Linz/Vauban

Walkable Urban Village Networks - Vancouver - Curitiba - Copenhagen - Shanghai waterfront - Beijing Olympics

1995-2010 Rapid Urbanisation of Asian and Middle-east Cities: Instant Cities

Critique of Functionalism

1990s: Climate Change/Sustainability Revolution, Identity crisis in Globalisation

haus School pius t bersheimer y

tional Zoning e IndustrielleGarnier 1917

21st Century

Green Urbanism

Figure 5. Timeline of the relationship between nature and urbanism, adapted from Steffen Lehmann

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

as fences and walls. Nature was still a force to be tempered as man was inexperienced in dealing with it. Torrents, droughts, and floods could not be managed. Medieval arrangements decidedly placed nature beyond city walls, demarcating strong delineations between urbanism and nature. Nature had been relegated to the “great wilderness”, and civility was kept within city walls. Nature had no place in urban life.

CASE STUDY: VERSAILLES Expanded in multiple stages since 1661, the Palace of Versailles and its formal gardens were the epitome of Renaissance geometric principles of shapes and symmetry (Figure 6). It signified man triumphing over nature, bending it to his whim and fancy. The gardens, designed by André Le Nôtre, were embellished with fountains, statues, basins, canals, flower beds, and tree groves. The

Figure 6. An engraving of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, Abbe Delagrive

functioning of these landscape implements were by expensively assured by an orchestra of components that kept water running and pressures sufficiently high for fountains to spout. In 1681 the Machine de Marly (Figure 7) was commissioned to raise water from the Seine 7km north of the palace to a height of 162m in order to meet the water demands of the gardens. This waterwheel-powered machine was described as the most complicated machine ever built, with nothing ever making a sound as loud as it did. Yet the palace gardens had large areas of monoculture with low biodiversity, serving far less benefit to the environment than the temperate forest it had replaced.

CASE STUDY: CENTRAL PARK

Figure 7. An engraving of the Machine de Marly

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

59th Street (South), 5th Avenue (East), 110th Street (North), and 8th Avenue (West) bind the rectangular park and delineate the divide between urban and natural (Figure 8). As New York City quadrupled in population, people made full use of any existing open space for recreation, escaping from the noise and chaos of the growing city. The picturesque landscaping emulates British meadows and pastures, an entirely false or rather curated greenery that is in no way representative of the temperate deciduous biome of New York. Despite this, Central Park has become culturally significant, becoming a model for urban parks worldwide due to its naturalistic plan. In addition to being centrally located, it is a communal node of New York urban life as one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s few green spaces. Half a million people live within a ten-minute walk. Beyond recreation, the park has humongous additional benefits to the economy. From the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s construction in 1858 to its completion in 1870, real estate values increased almost sevenfold. Contemporaneously in 2009, visitors spent over $395 Figure 8. Central Park viewed from above

million due to the park, and the various activities related to the park generated $135.5 million.

CASE STUDY: CHANDIGARH Master-planned by Albert Mayer and later Le Corbusier to be the capital of the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, this planned city was designed around superblocks interspersed with green spaces with an emphasis on cellular neighbourhoods and traffic segregation. The site plan engaged long ribbons of greenery running through superblocks, in order to provide residents with the necessary ecological support. 11

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

sustainable adj. causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time – Cambridge meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – UN Brundtland Commission

While Chandigarh has grown to be India’s cleanest city and the one with highest per capita incomes in the country, its aspirations of being as green a city as was designed is lost. Much of the green spaces have been encroached by sprawling urbanism, pushing nature to transportation paths and beyond city boundaries. Nevertheless, the progression of time has seen the beneficial evolution of resource hungry cities into resource-friendly cities.

GREEN URBANISM As evaluated from the previous case studies, there has been a slow shift towards a more integrated relationship between urbanism and nature. This thesis seeks to propose the next step of this relationship, of which a future standard can be developed in order to tackle the issues of tropical high density. The extant narrative of “sustainability” and green urbanism can be further developed. This narrative has been a call to action against global political and socioeconomic problems: dwindling natural resources, environmental degradation, burgeoning human population, waste. The effects of capitalism and materialism have now become clearly visible and tangible. Lewis Mumford has also described a possible model of urbanism in harmony with nature, which emerges from the scale of the region, allowing a well-conceived plan of green spaces. Such a model “re-establishes and maintains the proper connection between city and nature” by: 1. Balancing the relationship between built-up areas and green spaces,

Figure 9. The conceptual master plan for Chandigarh by Le Corbusier

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

2. Connecting the city and countryside, 3. Ensuring public access and use, 4. Creating high-quality natural environments, 5. Systemic integration into comprehensive plans, and 6. Integrating ecosystem services.

SINGAPORE’S MODEL In a controversial White Paper written in 2013, the Singaporean government aimed to bring the country’s population to 6.5-6.9 million in 2030. This brings the island nation’s population density to a little over 9,500 persons per square kilometre. This future is barely a decade away, and the consequences of the needs of urbanisation are beginning to show. In 2014, increased clearing of forests made Singapore land emit more carbon that it produces. Land use is linked to climate change. However, Singapore’s urban sprawl and building activities to reach a population of 6.9 million is insatiable. Forested areas are not spared. Forested areas were majorly depleted during the development of Figure 10. The depletion of forested areas in Singapore from 1819 to 2006, Shirleen Tong

Singapore, both in colonial and contemporary times (Figure 10). While there exist efforts to maintain vegetation cover in Singapore, this is mostly aesthetic and non-functional in the greater tropical ecosystem. In fact, primary and secondary forest cover of the tropical city was 21.17% in 2010, a percentage that has certainly declined in the decade that has since proceeded. Patches of primary and secondary forests are only recently connected with corridors to create Functional to Structural Connectivity.

Figure 11. Wildlife Connectivity

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Singapore continually drives a “Garden City” or “City in a Garden” rhetoric, yet it consumes forested areas to build new districts and neighbourhoods. What really is Singapore’s high-density narrative?

THE COMPACT CITY While Singapore as a city nation had planned itself around a Ring master plan, formulated in 1970 with foreign experts and akin to Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City diagram (Figure 12), it had strived to follow a Compact City model. Public amenities would be within close proximity to residences, and work would not be too far from the home. This sits opposite the sprawl model (Figure 13), where Live, Work, and Play are zoned and located apart from each other. Time, energy, and resources spent on transportation and its related infrastructure is significant. The Compact City optimises accessibility to services and facilities. Its benefits include reduced pollution from shortened transportation distances and reduced vehicle dependency, improved social interactions from close proximity, and improved

Figure 12. Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City diagram and Singapore’s Ring 1971 master plan, UN

energy efficiencies from high density and integration. Compact city and high densities result in severe urban heat island (UHI) effects especially in tropical climates. Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD) is severely affected by UHI due to high amounts of artificial surfaces and lack of greenery (Figure 14). This thesis believes that the Compact City is a viable model for high density urbanism. While it agrees on the closeness and integration of “Live-Work-Play”, it finds something lacking in the context of tropicality. The Singapore Green Building Council has most aptly included the fourth essential part of the Compact

Figure 13. Diagram describing sprawl and compact city models of Live-Work-Play

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

City: “Live-Work-Play-Green”. While the first three aspects are traditional drivers of urbanity, domesticity, economy, and society, “Green” defines wellness, healing, and relaxation, where the physiological and psychosomatic needs are fulfilled, holistically tied, and contributing, to the former three aspects.

SYMBIOSIS This thesis proposes an additional aspect of sustainability and green urbanism: symbiosis. Whereas the sustainable narrative suggests that existing systems can become more long-lasting (i.e. sustainable) in themselves, symbiosis suggests that strong interdependences and relationships encapsulate a system that is ultimately profitable to all parts of Figure 14. The UHI effects in Singapore, Wong Nyuk Hien

the system. This thesis posits a way for urbanism to work handin-hand with nature, emboldened by new technologies, to create a future that is carbon negative. Unlike previous ages before, where man fought against nature to control it, man now lives symbiotically with nature. Is it possible to achieve a model where as opposed to conventional models of urbanism in which wildlife is inversely proportional to human density, that the increase of human density does not affect the quantum of wildlife? By understanding what nature can furnish to society, conflicts between nature and man can be minimised to develop integrated forest landscapes that provide multiple benefits. In line with Bruno Taut’s ideals of an urbanism which the background of community life is the natural environment, bringing fresh air, greenery and sunlight into urbanism can create a harmonious future with nature.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

WILDLIFE

PEOPLE

WILDLIFE Urbanity

Urbanity

Conventional Model The conventional model of urbanism is where urban development is at the expense of nature. Where there are more humans, there are fewer animals and plants.

PROPOSED MODEL As cities increasingly need to be more sustainable, resourcefriendly, and green, a model where humans, animals and plants can coexist harmoniously in high densities and large populations in a symbiotic relationship must be implemented.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Could it be done by reproducing the original living environment, the Nature of the First Kind, pristine ecosystems of old-growth forests and/or wetlands?

URBAN FOREST An urban forest is one where people live in a communal social structure with its natural resource dominated by a dense collection of trees. Trees are ecological organisms that subject to and subject their surrounding environmental conditions. Their very presence attracts/deters other floral and faunal species in their surroundings. Ecosystems develop around trees, and a robust urban forest ecosystem is formed with a dense collection. In green urbanism that incorporates urban forests it is important to focus on the forest landscape and its position in the larger environment in order to integrate the human, ecological, and physical dimensions of physical resource management. Urban development and urban forests cannot be viewed separately, but instead must be approached at multiple scales. Numerous landscape design issues such as patch size, patch composition, connectivity, and human perceptions must be comprehensively dealt with. In addition to the aforementioned aspects of natural forest landscapes, there is also scenic value. Forests and trees are symbols of nature in the abstract which add value, be it social or economic to the region. Vegetation gives structure to landscape, making it easier to form cognitive maps, where their ephemeral obscuration of space creates a sense of mystery, playing upon the human curiosity as cognitive stimulation. Alexander in A Pattern

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

â&#x20AC;&#x153;inserting the for

rest into the city”

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Language affirms that natural landscapes must be sufficiently wild and cannot be “huge abstract sculptured play-lands” that “are not just sterile but useless”. At the interface of urban development and nature, beauty can be derived from the interplay between the hard geometry of buildings and soft forms of foliage, and the spaces they create beneath or around them.

TROPICAL RAINFOREST While no internationally agreed definition on tropical rainforests exists, such biotopes are characterised by hot and humid weather owing to their location on the equator, high precipitation, high levels of biodiversity, clear forest structures and broad-leaf trees. The clear structure of the tropical rainforest comprises four stratifications (Figure 15). The uppermost layer, the Emergent Layer (45-55m), is reached by very large trees and is home to unique fauna that have adapted to those heights. The primary layer of the tropical rainforest, the Canopy (30-45m), has the densest amount of biodiversity. The broad-leaf evergreen trees shelter small mammals, birds, reptiles, and multitudes of insects. Beneath this layer is the Understory (<3m). Due to blockage by the Canopy, 5% of sunlight reaches this strata. Moderate biodiversity of small animals, shade-tolerant shrubs, trees, and woody vines can be found here. Low light levels of 3% reach the Forest Floor. Hence it is mostly clear, allowing large animals to pass freely through. Forest soils are generally weathered, acidic, and deficient in major minerals. The two types of soils- ultisols (high clay content, difficult for water penetration) and oxisols (well drained). Main nutrients of the forest come from

Figure 15. The structure of a tropical rainforest, Geocities

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

the accelerated organic decomposition of leaf litter fall and animal carcasses due to tropical heat and humidity. Effective depths of tropical rainforest soils do not typically exceed 2 metres. Edges of forests are affected by edge effects (Figure 16). Inward pressures can range from 10m to 100m. Outward pressures, on the other hand, always exist due to forest influence, owing Figure 16. Edge effects of a forest

to the incredible resilience of the tropical rainforest to colonise clearings. Edge effects are highly dependent on how sparsely or densely vegetated edge conditions are.

CASE STUDY: FOREST IN A CITY II This master plan proposal by Sho Okuno was an attempt to improve existing urban fabrics to increase greenery to a point close to a forest. Greenery is ingrained into the city grid, bringing nature and humans closer together. Mobility is separated into fast and slow, where pedestrian access is co-located with slow-moving and clean (e.g. electric/personal vehicular) traffic. The resulting space is a vibrant green one where ecological and social activities of all sorts can happen. The proposal has an interscalar approach. Swinging between the grand master plan at city scale, the city block (Figure 17), and the streetscape at personal scale, it aims to blend the benefits of all scales into a comprehensive scheme. Figure 17. The city and superblock scale of Sho Okunoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master plan

Much of the inspiration of this proposal can be seen from the historical example of Chandigarh.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

CASE STUDY: VILLE RADIEUSE Le Corbusierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seminal work of Ville Radieuse radically changed the mindset of city planning. It did away with the commonplace low rise high density European city grain, and instead used large cruciform towers to free up land by concentrating human populations vertically. The large amounts of landscape are publicly accessible and for all to enjoy, improving physical and mental wellness for residents.

Figure 18. A pedestrian and slow mobility street in Sho Okunoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master plan

Complimentary to these tall monoliths were long slab blocks that wound across the city (Figure 20). Courtyards with large amounts of communal activity and greenery can be created. The sprawling greenery in Ville Radieuse/Plan Voisin was vast and continuous. Towers and slab blocks were only point or linear interventions to an otherwise natural landscape.

Figure 19. Axonometric view of Ville Radieuse

Figure 20. The slab blocks of Ville Radieuse

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 21. A view of the unending landscape of Ville Radieuse

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

EVOLUTION OF STRATEGIES TRADITIONAL CITY GRID An urbanism where dense metropolitan areas do not have any greenery within.

ISOLATED GREEN Singular large green spaces within dense urban areas provide respite for urban dwellers.

GREEN BOULEVARDS AND POCKET PARKS Greenery is brought closer to individual dwelling spaces via linear pathways and small pockets. However, linear green spaces require high maintenance and serve only as decoration. The green spaces are not ecologically robust and provide little ecosystem services.

NETWORK GREEN Superblocks of urbanism with interconnected large central green spaces. Interior buildings are difficult to service. Green spaces are usually encroached into.

URBAN FOREST GRID In the next step of evolution for city grids, an urban forest envelopes urbanism while circulation is integrated into buildings, reducing the amount of land taken up by human development.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

LOW RISE HIGH DENSITY In typical fashion of organic city growth, metropolitan areas feature tightly packed buildings and no natural space.

TOWER BLOCK Urbanism is concentrated vertically into enclosed concrete, steel and glass towers that unfortunately have little relation to their surroundings.

SKY GARDENS By carving voids from the tower envelope, green communal spaces are created for building dwellers to rest and relax. Some Singaporean examples include SOM’s One George St, and WOHA’s Park Royal on Pickering. Sky gardens tend to be only accessible to the floor it is on, and is usually accessible for maintenance given occupancy load restrictions. Greenery at sky gardens is poorly connected to other patches of greenery, leading to generally poor floral and faunal health.

SPIRALLING GREENERY Greenery can spiral upwards along the facade of the building via a connected space, offering spectacular views in these spaces. Some examples include Tay Kheng Soon’s proposal for the Duxton Plain social housing development, Ken Yeang’s Solaris, and most popularly, Spiral Skyscraper by BIG.

CLIMBING GREENERY In an alternative vertical arrangement, greenery is encouraged to grow up the side of buildings to increase green area. WOHA’s

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Oasia Downtown was a successful example of a manageable green wall in terms of maintenance and capital investment. All elevated greenery is continuously connected to the ground, allowing improved health.

ARBOREAL URBANISM In the next step of evolution for buildings with greenery, urbanism is lifted high enough to allow greenery to freely flow beneath. Buildings

become

â&#x20AC;&#x153;tree-houseâ&#x20AC;?-like

structures.

Vehicular

circulation traditionally placed on the ground plane is also lifted and integrated into the building. Grade separation between human and vehicular circulation allows unimpeded movement. This way, ground plane greenery is maximised, made robust and continuous.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

VS DECORATIVE GREENERY As opposed to the current mode of greenery on buildings, Arboreal Urbanism ensures vegetative connection to the ground plane. As such in the human cognitive map the greenery is read singularly. Current, overly-lauded examples of green buildings are in fact totems with trays of soil to hold plants. These patches have no connection nor real relationship to greenery on the ground plane. Such buildings are no different from potted plants on a window sill. It has been proven that vegetation needs to be connected either via soil or foliage for plant health to be strong. This is due to mycorrhiza, a symbiotic relationship between fungus and plants

that can connect plant roots together through physical common substrates, boosting plant health. In addition, building such buildings require large amount of structure to hold the weight of these decorative green patches, unnecessarily increasing the building’s carbon footprint. It is imperative that architecture moves beyond this model of green buildings to find one which is truly beneficial to vegetation, in turn benefiting society with the robust ecosystem services that

it can provide.

? ?

Figure 22. Diagrams questioning the relationship between existing models of green urbanism with the ground plane in SOM’s One George Street and WOHA’s Park Royal on Pickering

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RIGID FRAME A grid of columns dot the plan in addition to the structural core which braces against lateral forces.

CORE AND PERIMETER TUBE Loads are brought either to the perimeter or centre of the building to provide column-free spaces.

CORNER CORE Cores are placed on the corners of the building to brace against lateral loads and provide column-free spaces. Column-free spaces are maximised by flexibility of floor plans allowing a large variety of programmes, including integrating transportation.

ARBO URBA

OREAL ANISM

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Arboreal Urbanism imagines a future that is the next step in tropical high density urbanism. Transportation paths and buildings are integrated and lifted high above a tropical rainforest, allowing greenery to freely flow beneath. A new ground plane is formed.

GRADE SEPARATED PEDESTRIAN SYSTEMS CASE STUDY: HONG KONG CENTRAL ELEVATED WALKWAY Grade Separated Pedestrian Systems (GSPS) emerged in 1970s to promote a consumer-oriented economy by enforcing pedestrian connectivity. The post-war boom and rapid modernisation which was also seen in Montreal placed the aspirations of mid-century modernism in a position to solve Hong Kong’s immense density. R.C. Clarke, Assistant Superintendent of Hong Kong’s Crown Lands and Survey Office, said that street space was “wholly inadequate” for pedestrians because despite the verticality of the city, all horizontal movement is restricted to a singular plane. Unlike the United States, Hong Kong’s had a critical mass that was beyond maximum. Hong Kong is unique by having a pedestrian master plan that seems to precede development. This is due to most of Hong Kong’s land being under governmental control and lease (given its legacy as a British Dependent Territory), and hence large-scale private developments are subject to strict governmental policies. Driving that even harder are floor area incentives should private developers incorporate public space. The private sector has hence adopted a model of welfare spaces. The modus operandi of Hong Kong’s GSPS growth follow large new building complexes that reinforce monopoly land holdings designed to channel pedestrians through defined routes of corporate space. Traditional streets, parks, courtyards, and

Figure 23. An exploded diagram of Hong Kong’s Central Elevated Walkway, Frampton et al.

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plazas have been replaced by commodity space of the market. Such redevelopments also encourage regeneration of the urban surroundings, increasing property prices while modernising “old and derelict” areas. This pro-business urban model, coupled with high quality management, brings significant increase of human traffic into districts. It could be said to be an insidious form of control by private corporations on public life. Interestingly,

this

corporative

dominance

has

broken

down in recent years, the typical user identity of working middle-class

replaced

with

heterogeneous

social

and

ethic groups. Their unplanned use of space despite scarce amenities

for

social

interaction

social

production.

Through the social instrument of Hong Kong’s megastructure of GSPS, functional conflict and congestion is resolved; the GSPS is a megastructure of intensively used pedestrian paths that find its way though the city like tentacles, the city itself becoming part of this megastructure. It has even reached so far into the city’s residential areas, as in the Mid-level Escalator. With seamless integration, Hong Kong has become a “multideck city” with transportation nodes, flats, local shops, workshops, retail, parking, community uses, and public podiums, enlarging the space dedicated to mostly economic, but also social production. CASE STUDY: CITY OF LONDON PEDWAYS Postwar redevelopment took advantage of the obliterated City of London, London’s financial district, to impose a “utopia of streamlined paths and bridges” that would whisk people away from the previously convoluted and car-choked streets along “safe and efficient passages”. London’s “pedways” were a knee-jerk response to vexatious conditions of the past, an opportunistic paradigm after

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

tabula rasa. The provision of dedicated pedestrian pathways with incentives for plot ratio concessions crept into government policy even though there was no master plan for linking the pathways, and the network was composed of separate planning consents. Furthermore, public services such as the fire brigade and police did not know their legal powers on these privately owned, yet publicly utilised, pedways. This system was disorganised and fragmented. Public perception of these pedways were largely unfavourable. It was discontinuous, sometimes leading to dead-ends with no access to the ground plane. The resulting underutilisation saw London’s pedways as “bleak, barren” and unsafe, and to developers as burdensome operating costs. The only exception to this is the highly textured, though insular, pedway uniting the Barbican (Figure 25), its continued usage and celebration a possible result of its good connections to transit nodes and multiple programmes, including residential, retail, and creative.

Figure 24. Pedways over London’s Route A1 in the 1960s, Granger

Latest editions have aimed to reinvigorate the disjointed network with more bridges, instead of fewer. These new bridges exist not in isolation but part of a larger narrative of multilayered open space. The most recent designs incorporate visual delight and unconventional spatial experiences by cladding the pedways in varying materials and routing them in various directions (Moore, 2018). Perhaps most importantly, London’s GSPS speaks of a circulatory efficiency.

Figure 25. A pedway underneath a residential block of the Barbican, Joas Souza

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SITE: MARINA BAY In the 1989 draft master plan, lofty aspirations set Marina Bay as a large urban playground on land and water to be created for the young and old in downtown Singapore. Marina Bay would become the bay for events and national celebrations, set against the majestic backdrop of the city. The setting was meant to be further enhanced with urban parks and promenades. In the long term, Marina South would be the focal point of downtown Singapore. The formal grid-iron plan aimed to reflect the grandeur and dignity of the future downtown and Singapore as a modern city. Key vistas were strengthened through carefully-designed open spaces, boulevards and buildings that relate visually to each other. In 1992 the draft master plan saw the reclamation of land south of the Singapore CBD soon completing in 1995, and fresh ideas were sought to plan the new districts. It was hoped that the new land would bear the brunt of development as the existing CBD was increasingly difficult, and with diminishing returns, to redevelop. The reclaimed land was split into four districts; named Central Sub-zone and Bayside Sub-zone closest to the bay, and Marina South and Portview according to their locations. A long commercial spine with hotels and retail made the bulk of the commercial land use. High quality residential zones took up a large proportion of the master plan, indicating the intention of a well-inhabited city. Particular areas were zoned for institutions and entertainment/ cultural production. The intention was to provide green spaces as a respite to the high density urbanism in the new area. Building heights were accorded proportionately 39

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to their visibility and prominence in the urban fabric. Vehicular access was granted to the site via highway and tributary access. In 1997 a report was written to state the extant condition of the Singapore downtown, and the opportunities and challenges facing the site. The lofty and exciting aspirations for the site presented in the 1992 draft were strangely absent. The names of the four districts on the site have renamed from Bayview to Bayfront Subzone, and from Portview to Straits View. The amount of greenery is greatly reduced from the 1992 Draft. There is strong emphasis on two one-way boulevards along a central spine. The original highway Eastcoast Parkway (ECP) has been realigned to become a large boulevard; handling the redirected traffic volume is a new Coastal Expressway. The building heights had taken an axial and symmetric quality, giving the site into a monumental quality. It seems in this report that the immense area of reclaimed land is still unplanned, and that the proposals discussed in the 1992 draft were not implemented. It is reasonable to conclude that the site was too large to concretely plan, and that the authorities were leaning towards organic development of the land. The green plan for Marina Bay has constantly undergone changes. From pocket parks integrated with urbanism, it morphed to green spaces clearly distinguished from urbanism. In its most current form, green spaces are monumental centre pieces that augment the urban plan. Given the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high visibility and prominence in the Singaporean nation building narrative, it is important that it speaks resoundingly of the City in a Garden rhetoric, serving as an inspiration to other areas in Singapore and other tropical cities worldwide. 40

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Figure 26. Analysis of public transportation in Marina Bay

Figure 27. Analysis of vehicular transportation in Marina Bay

Figure 28. Analysis of visual prominence in Marina Bay

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Figure 29. Site plan of Arboreal Urbanism

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GREEN BELT INFRASTRUCTURE Given the unique high density urbanism at the potential site, with large green patches that are currently not connected (Gardens by the Bay, Pearl’s Hill, and Fort Canning Park), this design proposal hopes to connect them in a loop of green belt. This green belt, as green infrastructure, is able to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services (benefits provided by ecosystems, such as provision of food, water, climate regulation, flood control, protection against soil erosion and intangible benefits such as those related to recreational, cultural, and spiritual activities). As the available potential site is only an L-shaped plot, it is possible to imagine the green belt to wedge itself north-westwards through the existing urbanism, should development see Arboreal Urbanism as a viable alternative to existing modes. A green wedge is a “particular articulation between open and built up spaces in which green wedges opening out towards the countryside are interspersed between development areas”. This green “wedge” drives itself from Gardens by the Bay towards Shenton Way. Conceptual movements of green spaces can serve as symbols of hope for a better and brighter future.

RELATIONSHIPS The intended relationships of inserting and integrating an urban forest into the tropical city of Singapore can be understood through the economy (whether financial or otherwise) that surrounds it.

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Figure 30. A graphic representation of the forest economy

The forest economy can be split in two major parts:

PRODUCTS Traditional forestry is not feasible due to the limited size of the urban forest, but chemicals and pharmaceutics extracting is possible at a small scale. Over one quarter of medicines are derived from rainforest plants. Plant matter is needed for biotech research and development, especially by Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s niche industry, as well as for pharmaceutics manufacturing. Research output from the urban forest is also beneficial in providing insights on how nature can coexist with urbanism in such close proximity. 45

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SERVICES Humanity has a high interrelatedness with the natural environment, and the environmental economics of forests provide ecosystem services to humans. They key services of the urban forest are: 1.

Carbon dioxide sequestration

The urban forest offsets the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carbon emissions and reduces pressure on industries to reduce their carbon footprint, easing companies into a sustainable future without large leaps of capital investment of clean practices or equipment. The reversal of climate change is the most significant service done by the urban forest. 2.

Climate regulation

A large increase in vegetated area by the urban forest stabilises the local climate, reducing erratic or extreme weather by regulating the water cycle. UHI is also reduced due to the heat reduction properties of a forest, allowing buildings around the urban forest to have reduced cooling load and energy usage. 3.

Culture and Wellness

Forests can have various connotations. It may have spiritual meanings tied to it, cultural significance, or historical heritage value which allows it to contribute and enrich human culture. It can also be a place for science and education where the next generation is involved in the intentions of creating a sustainable future.

Figure 31. A diagram showing the process of carbon sequestration

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As the urban forest is assimilated with the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fabric, it can assert itself as an icon of national or personal pride, meaning different things to collective society or the individual by personal experiences. Moreover, the urban forest can be a place of wellness and therapy. Contact with nature is a human need. Green spaces have significant positive effects on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-being. Accessing a green space has restorative powers, boosting a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity to undertake focused actions or activities. Reduction of stress levels are beneficial in high density cities where stress levels are usually elevated. There is evidence that higher degrees of natural environments lead to greater restorative potential. In addition, quantity and size of green spaces is positively associated with health and mortality. Large green spaces can offer wider range of functions, experiences, and activities for people of different age groups, socio-economic status and interests. Humans like understanding and exploration, and contact with nature is part of this stimulus. By using the forest as a place of respite from city life, city folk can relieve stress and improve their psychological well-being. The urban forest can also be a place for recreational physical activity to improve fitness. Hiking, jogging, and cycling allow the individual to experience non-synthetic forest terrain full of undesigned randomness to keep the mind keen and active. 4.

Maintaining biodiversity

By protecting species and their propagation, the ecosystem as a whole is more robust. There is greater resilience and less fragility as locally endangered species are conserved.

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NEW GROUND PLANE In Arboreal Urbanism a fine-grained network of public spaces create a vibrant living plane. The New Ground Plane offers multiple retail and dining outlets with thick thresholds to create a homely and comfortable urban environment. It is meant to be a socially sustainable and people-friendly urbanism. The gridded and defined neighbourhood, floating above the subtly swaying crowns of the rainforest trees, fosters strong sense of identity.

SERVICE STRATA Beneath the New Ground Plane is the Service Strata where transport paths are integrated into the towers of Arboreal Urbanism. A light rail line, in form of tramway, connects major towers in a loop system to create a substantial network effect. No parking is allowed in the district as the intention is for infrastructural investments to be geared towards communal transport instead of private ones. Only shared Autonomous Electric Vehicles are allowed to drive in the Service Strata, delivering goods and removing waste.

TOWERS: VERTICAL INTEGRATION Satisfying the triple bottom line of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, the towers of Arboreal Urbanism are concentrated spaces of human activity, vertically integrated in line with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Live-Work-Play-Greenâ&#x20AC;?.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 32. A view from the ground floor urban forest seeing the New Ground Plane as the New Sky

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 33. A view from a balcony of a resdential unit in Arboreal Urbanism

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Figure 34. Section of Arboreal Urbanism

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Singapore Conference Hall

Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 35. Plan of New Ground Plane between towers A, B, C, and D

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 36. A view of a tram stop in the Service Strata

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Loading/ Unloading Bay

Bin Centre

M&E and Storage

Figure 37. Plan of a cul-de-sac in the Service Strata

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Loading/ Unloading Bay

Bin Centre

Storage

Tram stop M&E

Figure 38. Plan of a straight-through in the Service Strata

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Bin Centre

Loading/ Unloading Bay Storage

M&E Tram stop

Figure 39. Plan of a straight-through tramway T-junction in the Service Strata

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Loading/ Unloading Bay

Bin Centre

M&E & Storage

Tram stop

Figure 40. Plan of a corner in the Service Strata

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Bin Centre

M&E

Tram stop

Loading/ Unloading Bay

M&E

Figure 41. Plan of a corner tramway T-junction in the Service Strata

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Bin Centre

Storage Loading/ Unloading Bay

M&E

Tram stop

Figure 42. Plan of a corner tramway cross-junction in the Service Strata

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TOWER C TOWER A By the exisitnig master plan, it is inteded as the tallest building on site. It was meant as a landmark/ anchor point to the formal and monumental master plan. It is a showcase of the Arboreal Urbanism master plan at 290m containing a business hotel, featuring the unique MET construction, and offices.

TOWER D As it is in proxmity to existing cultural institutions, the tower expands the programmatic cluster by incorporating a performance arts space.

TOWER B In close proximity to the large, noisy, and highly trafficked Marina Coastal Expressway, it contains more non-residential spaces (i.e. comercial office and industrial).

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Figure 43. View of a full-floor column free office in Towers A, B, C, and D

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Pantry

Discussion Area Pantry Reception

Conference Rooms

Figure 44. Typical plan of a full-floor column free office in Towers A, B, C, and D

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Figure 45. Typical plan of a full-floor column free industrial workshop in Tower B

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Green Room Backstage

Backstage

Dressing Rms

Black Box Theatre

Lobby

Figure 46. Plan of the Performance Arts Space in Tower D

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Figure 47. View of the Hotel Lobby in Tower A

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Ballroom

Kitchen

Restaurant Concierge

Restaurant/ Bar

Lobby

Figure 48. Plan of the Hotel Lobby in Tower A

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Figure 49. View of a typical 29.1 m2 Hotel Room

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Back-end

bb y

Back-end

Figure 50. Typical plan of a hotel floor

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Figure 51. View of the hotel Sky Forest

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Figure 52. Plan of the hotel Sky Forest with Swimming Pool

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Figure 53. View of the Residential Communal Lobby in Tower C

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Pool

Function Rooms

Office

BBQ

Playground Gym

Lounge

Figure 54. Plan of the Residential Communal Lobby in Towers B, C, and D

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LOFT APARTMENTS In line with “Arboreal” Urbanism, residential apartments are designed as loft units. This creates a treehouse-like living experience. It has also been shown that staircases in dwelling spaces contribute to active ageing and wellness.

Figure 55. View of a Unit B: Loft Studio with Study Room

UNIT A A 50.4 m2 unit with one bedroom. It is constructed as a PPVC unit that is set across two long span CFRW deep beams.

UNIT B A 58.9 m2 unit with one bedroom and a study room. It is constructed as a PPVC unit that is set across two long span CFRW deep beams.

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LIVING BEHIND CLIMBING GREEN As an extension of “Arboreal” Urbanism, i.e. living in trees, spaces in towers are situated behind the green facade of Climbing Green. It allows residents to be constantly enveloped by greenery, living and working in close proximity to it. As they look across to neighbouring towers, they also see a full facade of Climbing Green, a unique experience in high density urbanism. Furthermore, it reduces solar heat gain by using vegetation and foliage as screening.

Figure 56. View of a Unit C: 3 Bedroom Apartment

UNIT C A 96.6 m2 unit with three bedrooms. All bathrooms are en suite. It is constructed with CLT slabs and panels. The unit features two balconies that bring residents beyond the climbing green facade.

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Unit A Unit B Unit C

Figure 57. Typical plan of a residential lower floor

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Unit A Unit B Unit C

Figure 58. Typical plan of a residential upper floor

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Unit A Unit B Unit C

Figure 59. Typical alternate plan of a residential lower floor

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Unit A Unit B Unit C

Figure 60. Typical alternate plan of a residential upper floor

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Figure 61. Plan of a Sky Forest with an Oculus

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Figure 62. Plan of a Sky Forest without an Oculus

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BENEFITS Urban forest benefits are a function of the floral and faunal composition of an urban forest, and its relationship to urbanism. Due to the holistic relationships created by Arboreal Urbanism with the urban forest, it has multiple benefits across many aspects of urbanism. Firstly, it improves public health and wellness by providing novel green spaces and nature experiences for city residents. Contact With Nature (CWN) fights the effects of rapid urbanisation and decreasing green spaces resulting in a ‘nature-deficit disorder’. CWN facilitates Connection To Nature (CTN), the cognition of nature and one’s association to it, and its benefits. CTN is related to physiological, cognitive, psychological, social well-being which relieves stress and improves social cohesion by positively influencing behaviours, work performance and social skills. This boosts productivity of workers and the city in general. Broader cognition of the pursuit of sustainability is also reinforced. More physiologically, Sky Forest reduces pollution from Singapore’s transportation and heavy petrochemical industries. This lowers the risks of asthma and lung cancer, reducing related costs of illness and ageing. Secondly, it improves the robustness of ecosystem by allowing the recovery and survival of endangered species which lack meaningful ability to counter urban development pressure. Thirdly, it enforces vital climate systems (CO2-O2 cycle, rain regulation, temperature regulation) that would otherwise be severely affected by climate change. Weather and climate is stabilised, improving national security since a source of water is

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reservoirs. UHI effects, which traditional methods of streetscaping and vertical greenery are insufficient in tackling, are reduced by the significant vegetation size of the urban forest. This reduces energy consumption from reduced cooling load. Finally, it reverses climate change mitigation by net negative carbon emissions through carbon sequestration. It avoids the runaway costs of climate change.

AUGMENTATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY The modern tropical solution to urbanism has mostly been found in reinforced concrete (RC), yet it does not take into account their huge amounts of embodied energy, which make most tropical buildings unsustainable. A carbon positive direction is at odds with Arboreal Urbanism, which has every intent to create a green, sustainable, and carbon negative future. There is hope in carbon sequestration, a solution to climate change that gained traction in the 2010s as the world edged towards a climate change “point of no return”. Its purpose is not to mitigate climate change but reverse the effects of it. By making systems carbon negative, atmospheric carbon is removed and sequestered into solid states, preventing global warming and hence climate change from CO2. Some have called carbon sequestration to be the new “moral imperative”. The production of both concrete and steel are immensely unfriendly to the environment. While the villainy of concrete is better researched and more publicised, the negative environmental effects of steel production are less known. Like concrete, steel requires massive mines and exhilarating temperatures to process

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and produce. Of the standard construction materials like brick and concrete, steel has the highest carbon footprint of almost 2 tons of CO2 per ton, approximately 8 times the amount that for concrete. Moreover, steel takes around 2.25 billion joules of energy to produce each ton. It is the building material that has the largest carbon footprint per tonne. Its relevant carbon footprint comprises: 1.

Extraction and resulting environmental degradation

2. Processing 3.

Transportation

Despite steel’s large carbon footprint, the Singapore government prefers it for construction, defining it as “sustainable” because of the speed, reduced labour requirements, higher strength-toweight ratios, and recyclability. In Singapore, 80.1% of national steel consumption is used in construction (Figure 63), the rest mostly in shipbuilding (12.9%). Hence, Singapore’s use of long iron (rebar, wire, cable etc.) is triple that of flat iron use (rolled sheets, slabs, etc.). Owing to the ambitious construction works by Singapore to bolster its economy and satisfy burgeoning population demands, Singapore’s estimated apparent steel consumption is 3rd in Asia, trailing behind South Korea and Taiwan. To put things in perspective, SEA contributed 12% of global GHG emissions in 2000, and climate change will be the most serious challenges for the region in the 21st Century. Singapore being an island nation with a large population in low-lying areas is highly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change which its own consumption of steel contributed to.

Figure 63. Share of steel consumption in Singapore 2015

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Archaic and environmentally destructive construction methods cannot be used to build Arboreal Urbanism. Instead, new technologies that turn the climate crisis around must be employed to keep in line with the environmental intentions of Arboreal Urbanism. One avenue is carbon sequestering materials.

WOOD Timber is a good building material sequesters more carbon than it produces. As a tree grows, photosynthesis uses CO2 and water to produce sugars, sequestering CO2 and increasing the plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biomass. Recent developments in building technology have allowed raw lumber to be processed into engineered timber, improving and homogenising the properties of wood. Since the mid-2000s, many experiments in mass engineered timber (MET) have proved its structural and carbon sequestration abilities. However, its use in the tropics is hindered by the Figure 64. A proposal of shipping timber for construction from sustainable forestry in the SEA region

requirement for Eurocode compliance. Only European timber has been tested and certified to meet this requirement and hence large transportation carbon footprints result from the shipping of timber from European countries. To eliminate this carbon footprint, locally or regionally sourced timber could be used. Tropical timber takes 7 years to grow, compared to 20 years needed for temperate trees. Sustainable forestry (certified by the Forest Stewardship Council FSC) ensures tropical forests maintain and even enlarge the amount of available material. Already such timber plantations are a growing industry in Indonesia.

ALGAE Another carbon sequestration material, algae, has been found to

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have viable uses in architecture and construction. Unlike trees, the maturity and harvest durations are not in the order of years. Instead, algae take a far quicker cycle of 3-6 weeks.

ALGAE-DERIVED CARBON FIBRE New research has found that algae can be processed into carbon fibre (Figure 65), a potential building material. The process extracts hydrocarbons from algae, afterwards turning the hydrocarbons into carbon fibre. The research is conclusive that

Figure 65. A prototype of algae-derived carbon fibre

this algae-derived carbon fibre sequesters carbon, reduces energy use, and is economically viable if scaled beyond the laboratory. This exiting research offers an entirely new system of producing carbon negative construction materials.

CARBON-FIBRE REINFORCED WOOD This thesis posits synergising both mass engineered timber and algae to build upon each material’s powers of carbon sequestration. Such a composite is called carbon fibre reinforced wood (CFRW). Latest research suggests CFRW may be the future of engineered timber construction, where sheets, cords, or lamella of carbon fibre reinforces timber to improve the structural abilities of the composite member. Other research on CFRW reveals that such a

Figure 66. Carbon fibre reinforced wood in research, Teijin

composite could approach the strengths of steel (Figure 67). This thesis imagines the potential of this composite becoming a steel replacement upon the technology’s maturation. This suggests the potential of long-span structures owing to CFRW’s steel-like properties. Arboreal Urbanism could exploit this new material to achieve its goals of high rise long span structures, allowing novel spaces of large span, column free towers which are the next step in building

Figure 67. A comparison of absolute strengths of concrete, steel, and CFRW

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

evolution. This augments Arboreal Urbanism towards a carbon negative future. As the towers of Arboreal Urbanism follow a city grid, and distances between them may be in excess of a hundred meters, a unique system of performative Vierendeel truss supports the New Ground Plane. The structural system of the towers of Arboreal Urbanism in four RC cores that take compressive and lateral loads. They are tied together at intervals of service floors with outriggers. Strung between the cores are long-span CFRW deep beams. Laid above are hybrid concrete slabs with timber joists, which offer advantages of small structural depth.

CONCLUSION Arboreal Urbanism has been designed as the next step in tropical high density urbanism. It is evolved from current but archaic models of urbanism into a form where nature and urbanism are in a more perfect symbiosis. As green belt infrastructure, it hopes to positively impact its urban and rural surroundings through ecosystem services, wildlife connectivity, and biodiversity support. By both vertical and horizontal integration of typical city infrastructure, a new typology of city is created, augmented by new technology to propel it towards flexibility and a carbon negative future. Arboreal Urbanism creates a green and well city fabric that is beneficial for both humanity and wildlife.

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

Hybrid concrete slab with CFRW joists

Long span CFRW deep beams

Performative Vierendeel Truss

Cross-braced post and beam CFRW frame

Reinforced concrete core

ARBOREAL URBANISM: A FUTURE STANDARD IN URBAN-NATURE SYMBIOSIS

PPVC Hotel Room

CLT slab and panel construction Unit C

PPVC Unit A PPVC Unit B

Figure 68. Isometric view of the structural system of Towers A, B, C, and D

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE EMBODIMENT OF ITS ERA The Industrial Revolution saw technology as a way to define future standards of living. With advances in iron forging, the steam engine, and mass production, civilisation leaped ahead and envisioned possible futures for itself. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830 (Figure 69) cemented Figure 69. A lithograph of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, A. B. Clayton

the Industrial Revolution’s position as a turning point in human history. The railway provided faster transport of raw materials, finished goods, and passengers between Liverpool, a port city, and Manchester, an industrial city. A journey that once took days was shortened to an hour. It ushered in an era of manifold increases in speed and efficiency. The growing success of the Industrial Revolution inspired many to contribute to the epoch’s frenzy of invention. Just as people today study entrepreneurship, invention was a discipline to be learned. In the mid-1800s, metallurgy improved to a point where iron could be refined into steel, a superior material with far better physical properties for machines and construction. This propelled industry into an ever increasing machinistic future. Preceding this period in the mid-1750s, the architectural profession had split into the disciplines of design and civil engineering. Two schools were at odds with each other; Ecolé des Beaux-Arts was focused on architecture, while Ecolé Polytechnique was focused on the engineering of buildings and infrastructure. Subsequently, the Ecolé des Beaux-Arts and the architectural community became increasingly isolated from technological advances.

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However, a reactionary movement that opposed the insularity of architecture championed for a harmony between form, function, and economy. This movement came to be termed Rationalism. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, forerunner of the Rationalist movement, gave this analogy to call out the stubbornness of the profession: “While the wheeled carriages in the reign of Louis XIV where vastly different from the Egyptian chariots, the architectural elements at Versailles and Hadrian’s villa thousands of years before were essentially the same.” Architecture was called to move away from repetition of historical styles (i.e. neoclassicism, an “ideal architecture”) and instead solve existent problems with rational construction approaches defined by the materials and purpose of the structure to represent the age of industrialisation. The rigid proportions of classical architecture were questioned. Quoting Viollet-le-Duc, “architecture [could] only equip itself with new forms if it [sought] them in the rigorous application of a new structure.” The movement saw the growing influence of scientific techniques that shifted art and architecture towards the rational. The role of the Engineer encroached ever more upon the Architect, as he had an important role to play ensuring the firmness of the Architect’s creations. CASE STUDY: BIBLIOTHÈQUE SAINTE-GENEVIÈVE The architect Henri Labrouste was the inspirer for Viollet-leDuc’s career, and issues from the same architectural climate of Rationalist thought. Labrouste designed a radical library in 1851 that was unlike archaic typologies of cosy, enclosed spaces “befitting of study

Figure 70. The interior of Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve

APPENDIX I

and contemplation”. Instead the building was a singular large space contained within a masonry envelope covered by cast iron barrel vaults of “astonishing thinness” (Figure 70). The duality of the prefabricated iron frame and external skin is modulated by a broad range of materials. The design was however criticized by Gottfried Semper, a leading Figure 71. Engraving of the Bibliothèque StGenevieve’s fine cast iron details, Huguenet

architect at the time, claiming that the iron structure was not slender enough. While he saw the iron as a medium to achieve an architecture of invisibility, Labrouste had ornamented the structure in order not to shock, but bring attention to the remarkable lightness of the novel material (Figure 71). Unlike his predecessors, Labrouste revealed what new materials could achieve not technologically, but artistically. He freed architecture from a historical style and gave it its own distinct 19th Century character. CASE STUDY: CRYSTAL PALACE In the same year the Bibliothèque St-Geneviève opened, Joseph Paxton was about to complete a masterpiece that defined the Industrial Revolution. The Great Exhibition of 1851 required a temporary structure to be built in record time and be dismantled just as quickly. While a design competition saw various designs in other more traditional materials, the millions of bricks and stones needed was regarded as too permanent. Joseph Paxton’s design chosen over others due to three key aspects: its sheer ingenuity, the publicity surrounding it, and its temporality. No structure like the Crystal Palace had been seen before (Figure 72), and when the design had been published in a

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newspaper, popular sentiment immediately rooted for his design of iron and glass. Despite the immense size, the Crystal Palace

Figure 72. A sectional perspective of the Crystal Palace, Peter Berlyn

was ephemeral, having the promise of being constructed within 9 months and torn down just as fast. The building was formed of modular prefabricated cast iron columns and wrought iron girders, allowing construction to advance at great speed. The public could observe this tremendous pace of construction (Figure 73), generating great public interest and anticipation. Upon completion of the building’s frame and glass envelope, the public could still perceive the happenings within as exhibits were being installed. Hyde Park was filled with people on the day of its opening, with royal attendance bolstering support for the project. The Crystal Palace’s great success is owed to the public nature of its construction and function. This had a secondary effect of salvaging the dire political climate in Britain at that time. The fairy-tale like atmosphere that surrounded the Crystal Palace can be understood through recorded written reactions of

Figure 73. The public observing the raising of the semi-circular transept ribs, Peter Berlyn

stupendous awe to the building. The surprising inhabitation of a “supersized greenhouse”, its sheer scale, the unique features of light and repetition, the tapestry of machinery, plants, goods, and wares (Figure 74) provided a new spatial experience that greatly altered conceptions of space. The historian Siegfried Gideon praises how “the ingenious combination of iron, glass, and wood, an entirely practical exhibition technique, had evoked a new kind of imagination which sprang directly from the spirit of the age”. While the Crystal Palace revealed the triumphs of capitalism and materialism, it changed the course of architecture and engineering forever by showing the possibilities of a ferrous skeleton, prefiguring skyscraper construction by three decades.

Figure 74. Interior of the Crystal Palace, John Nash

APPENDIX I

Figure 75. The Eiffel Tower under construction

CASE STUDY: EIFFEL TOWER Unlike the two previous case studies, this edifice sprang out of a vision than real needs. It falls outside the usual connotations of a ‘building’ and can be at once a manifesto and a monument of the Age. Gustave Eiffel’s design for a gateway into the Exposition Universelle’s fairgrounds were essentially bridge pylons “connecting asymptotically at the top”, stretched to cosmic dimensions (Figure 75). Despite embracing an enormous space, the outer and inner spaces are inter-penetrating, a transparency so hallmark of iron construction. Certainly designed to be a breath-taking colossus, public perception of it changed from a “hideous monster” before its completion, to a towering lady of emotional significance. It pridefully came to represent Paris and its prowess of industry. The French sculptor Duchamp-Villon believes “our spirit surrenders to [the Eiffel Tower] as when it is emotionally moved by the art of sculpture or architecture”. The Eiffel Tower, and other iron buildings preceding it like the Bibliothèque Nationale, Les Halles, St Pancras Station, Galaries des Machines etc., opened the eyes of the public to the possibilities of how large buildings could go. Never before could spaces encompass such expansive and unobstructed areas. The ingenuity of this can be found in prefabricated parts that when assembled, made a gargantuan, but transparent, whole.

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DESIGN EXPERIMENTS

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Figure 76. Collage experiments: A New Ground Plane

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Figure 77. Collage experiments: An architecture of Tables- Timber tower

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Figure 78. Collage experiments: Long span timber towers

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Figure 79. Master plan of Sky Forest in Axonometric View

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SKY FOREST: AN ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSAL The creation of an artificial biotope, a Sky Forest, free from the constraints on existing models of land use, soaring above the city skyline may be proposed. Meant to be a new and vital resource to the city, it is augmented by carbon negative technologies that reverse the mechanisms of climate change. This allows it to contribute positively to the city economy. Serving as a visible icon to the tropical city, it is a torch of the race to reverse climate change. Just as the three case studies mentioned earlier in the paper epitomise the Industrial Age, Sky Forest is the epitome of the ecological age. Most essentially, the multitier Sky Forest addresses the issues of tropical high density in a double-edged approach. At once natural and synthetic, it is an active effort to boost the tropical ecosystem by increasing forest size: afforestation. It defragments disjointed patches of vegetation in the city by a network of forest corridors. Sky Forest improves city conditions by using particular UHI mitigation strategies suggested by Cooling Singapore (i.e. planting greeneries: green roofs, vertical greenery, vegetation around buildings, parks & open spaces: local urban greening, tree species, and green corridors).

SITE To reach a population goal of 6.9 million by 2030, Singapore is shifting the port of Tanjong Pagar Terminal to the islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s west, freeing up large swathes of land for the amount of building required.

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Figure 80. Conceptual collage of Sky Forest

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MASTER PLAN The Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) is an extension of the city, yet the adjacent congested urban fabric of Singapore’s CBD remains as it is. This is the area which needs most attention to simultaneously be and signify the fight against climate change. The placement of the Sky Forest woven along the thresholds of the CBD and GSW can suggest the physical and intellectual direction for future developments in the vicinity. It will be the icon to inspire future developments to follow in its footsteps to use its principles and technologies. The new infrastructure connects the major green spaces skirting Singapore’s CBD, creating Structural Connectivity for wildlife and greenery while integrating itself in the city fabric. Sky Forest is a network of 3 distinct links: Mt Faber-Gardens by the Bay, 4.9 km Pearl’s Hill-Fort Canning, 2.5 km Barrage, 0.4 km To ensure visibility and cognizance of the Sky Forest, especially during its construction, it is composed of a kit of easily understandable parts; vertically a Column, within it vertical transport, horizontally a Platform, which can be linked between two Columns to form a Bridge, stacking Platforms create a Multitier situation, and numerous stacked Platforms linked in a spiral form a Climbing Tower for flora and fauna to reach the upper levels.

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Figure 81. Perspective views of Sky Forest

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Physical manifestations of the Sky Forest tangible at the human scale to suggest spatial relationships with the city fabric can be found in this Appendix, together with graphics of the aforementioned discussions.

CASE STUDY: ECOLINK @ BKE &CASE STUDY: MANDAI ECOLINK The most recent green corridor to be completed in Singapore is 44m in width and 110m length (Figure 20). Its design is not substantiated by research, but by experience from the first Ecolink@BKE. While it is claimed that the varieties in Mandai Ecolink’s forest structure “encourages animals to cross”, large variations in forest structures can amplify edge effects, effectively turning the wildlife crossing into a curated garden instead.

CASE STUDY: THE HIGH LINE This project is an outstanding example of urban rehabilitation of dirty infrastructure to clean. Formerly a disused elevated railway line, it was transformed into a green corridor that runs through the city (Figure 21), with intentionally designed spaces for recreation, relaxation and social interaction. Its presence in the urban fabric and pull of nature has sparked real estate development, increasing property values and bolstered business. It reflects the contemporary aspirations for urban greenery.

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Figure 82. Elevational collage of Sky Forest

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STREET CORNER LANDING The Sky Forest is able to insert itself directly into the existing street fabric of the city, increasing vibrancy of the street with minimal disruption.

REJUVENATING BACK ALLEYS When the Sky Forest is planted within a back alley, it is able to bring new life into the space by increasing the amount of programmes and space that directly connect to it.

GREENERY CLIMB To connect patches of green spaces to each other, the Sky Forest must allow a climb from one end to the other. Wildlife and plants should be able to easily gain elevation.

DEFINING PUBLIC SPACE When vertical supports gather due to structural requirements for the Sky Forest above, pockets of greenery or public spaces can be easily defined.

SKY FOREST CLEARINGS When the need arises, voids can be created in the Sky Forest platform so that light can penetrate down to the street level. This also allows ground level visibility of the Sky Forest canopy.

MULTILEVEL PLATFORMS With the Sky Forest on the highest platform, shaded lower tiers can be used for public gathering spaces.

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SHADING ROOFS The large width of the Sky Forest is able to effectively shade building roof below, increasing the attractiveness for use in Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tropical climate.

BUILDING-PLATFORM CONNECTION Buildings can directly connect to the Sky Forest as an alternative form of access or as an easy link between spaces within the building and the forest. New relationships can arise from this proximity.

INTERNAL SPACES Due to the structural depth of the Sky Forest, new spaces can be formed.

Figure 83. Structural Tectonics of Sky Forest

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Figure 84. Green master plan

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SKY FOREST @ GREATER SOUTHERN WATERFRONT In a controversial White Paper written in 2013, the Singaporean government aimed to bring the country’s population to 6.5-6.9 million in 2030. This brings the island nation’s population density to a little over 9,500 persons per square kilometre. This future is barely a decade away, and the consequences of the needs of urbanisation are beginning to show. Singapore’s urban sprawl and building activities to reach a population of 6.9 million is insatiable. The same year of 2013, the URA announced that it would shift its burgeoning port facilities at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Pulau Brani, and Pasir Panjang to a new megaport in Tuas. This port would be closer to the industrial zones in Singapore’s southwest, and free up copious amounts of land for waterfront living. It presents an opportunity to shape the waterfront skyline of Singapore, being a hub of business, entertainment, and comfortable living. The large site that was once concrete paving can be revitalised into dense greenery that functionally connects the green patch of the Southern Ridges to Gardens by the Bay. This drives a Green Wedge into the city from the West, improving the city’s biodiversity. Since the site is along the coast, there are possibilities in exploiting mangrove forests to protect against the consequences of climate change (e.g. stronger storms, flooding). The design proposal is one that soars above a rainforest on the ground plane, in addition to other multilevel Sky Forests.

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NEW TYPOLOGIES Imagining urban development as linear blocks enclosing a large courtyard of pristine rainforest, wildlife connectivity between courtyards can be ensured by lifting building masses to encourage wildlife movement. Developmental impact on the

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forest courtyards can be further minimised by raising the building masses on piloti, or a nodal point of exchange where building masses intersect to aid business and social transactions. Certain areas closer to the city centre require denser configurations. This is done by increasing

heights, forming a secondary landscape above.

APPENDIX IV

FRACTAL AGGREGATION Mimicking the aggregation of members as seen in crystals, the organic growth of a city and the Sky Forest is dictated by rules of connection to achieve a multilevel city of Sky Forests.

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Figure 85. Plan of a multitiered urbanism with Sky Forests

FIVE DISTRICTS The development is separated into 5 districts with their own unique characterKeppel, Cantonment, Anson, Bakau, and Marina South. The districts mirror the surrounding mix of residential/commercial zoning.

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Figure 86. Short sections across Sky Forest @ Greater Southern Waterfront

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APPENDIX V

MONUMENT GREEN Drawing on the formal irongrid of the Marina Bay master plan, buildings are imagined as monuments, towers that are connected to each other as green mountains. The heights of the tower clusters are dictated by the required density. Atop each cluster is a Sky Forest.

Figure 87. Zhangjie Mountains

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INTERCONNECTED MONUMENTS In order to connect patches of Sky Forest into a singular, robust Sky Forest, a uniform strata where tower clusters join is designed. Here, the Sky Forest and climbing greenery permeate the entire district.

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APPENDIX V

MONUMENT SKY FOREST Opening up sky area to ensure the ground level forest continues to thrive, a singular thread of Sky Forest imagined as an overflowing aqueduct of greenery is passed through the entire district. It is imagined that this thread continues as the Green Belt begins to envelope the city. From this line springs various other clusters of climbing greenery. Figure 88. Zhangjie Mountains

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Figure 89. Pont du Gard Aqueduct

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