Digital places : rethinking urban elements : the case of the tower

Abstract

Problem - How can we make working, living and all aspects of our life in the urban tower more palatable? How can we create environment at the urban tower scale. With technology as one of the biggest drivers of social and environmental change what new design opportunities does it present? Presented in this thesis is a new approach to the urban tower, where its design and planning are perceived as a form of urban design. This study reviews developing trends in: Space/Place making - A vertical theory of urban design; Technology and people - Focusing on the impact of technology and social trends on design of tower components (retail, office, & housing) This study will argue that these developments and the new juxtapositions of activities (live - work, point of sale - marketing, 'public space' - offices, digital interfaces - physical interfaces) will facilitate new design opportunities. Concept - recombining space, technology and people to achieve innovative and productive work & live spaces The outcome of this approach is a built milieu that is more physically and socially comprehensible. A high-rise built environment that is more humane and habitable; a built environment that emulates the ideal life on the ground plane. This study does not propose towers as a better environment than the ground plane, it argues for a better design of towers because, as shall be seen in later sections of this study, towers shall continue to be built as viable solution to cities' land use intensification. Another outcome of this approach is a new architecture which will be less about responding to a rigid architecture program and more about creating diverse, flexible, humane environments for electronically supported nomadic occupation.

(cont.) This new architecture will also be about integrating inhabited space with its associated technologies - making technological devices standard architectural features. Ultimately, this study will attempt to capture through design experiments the new trends and design opportunities brought about by the interplay of these new technological and social factors.