History

Vertical Housing

History

Designing dwellings that touch the sky may seem like a modern concept, but its history spans thousands of years over several civilizations and mythological texts. Looking at these examples, we can understand the tendency of humans to build towards the sky. The tower of Babel is one of the examples displayed in mythological texts. The first to build vertical housing were the Romans around 2000 years ago. These were constructed from mud and timber.

“The higher the floor, the cheaper the rent,

The working poor lived here;

Fires and collapses they couldn’t prevent.

Around 600 years ago, in South-Eastern China, in the Fujian province, the Tulou clusters came into existence. They are stacked circular homes constructed with load-bearing rammed earth walls. These are usually three to five stories and contain clans of families of 80 members with a total population of 800 people. All units were equal. For centuries, communal living was part of their law.

Vertical housing got a major boost in 1743 when Louis XV commissioned an early elevator in his apartment in Versailles. But it was not accepted widely in the public due to safety concerns. During the industrial revolution, the increase in immigrants meant designing compact dwellings. With the technological advancements in elevators, stacking of the houses was now possible1 .

1 The New York Times. (2014). A Short History of the Highrise. NY Times. A Short History of the Highrise