CITY LAYERS
The site context is understood and explained in multiple different layers that are extracted from the site. Each layer represents a program or system that makes up the city. These components are carefully taken piece by piece and are then flipped vertically and transformed into a unit dedicated to a certain program. These can be added/subtracted over time.
NEGATIVE SPACE
The negative space or voids within the existing city are preserved and incorporated into the vertical transformation, providing transparency and offering a communal space for the residents. The mega-scale of the vertical city can use different footprints to optimize the parametric arrangement of its modules.
PROGRAM CONFIGURATION
The units are composed of five different programs: residential, commercial, civic, mixed-use, and green space. The units are stacked and organized on a grid system allowing programs to become interchangeable. Two different scales make up the entirety of the infrastructure providing different options.
MODULAR DISTRICT
Downtown Los Angeles
May 2017
By questioning traditional typologies, a vertical city works at the macro and micro scale and redefines historical methods of organizing communities by preserving intimacy at the human scale.
A new typology of a vertical would embrace communities as a flexible framework which adapts to environmental and economic changes. Over time, the city can grow and expand as needed. This city would renew declining urban zones by filling voids in the city grid with functioning, thriving neighborhoods. Most importantly, this new typology would have the capacity to maximize green space while creating an efficient, accessible circulation system throughout each space.
This innovative design can take place in any major city around the world. By expanding up along the vertical plane, unused urban voids will be activated.
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