megastructures graham
TRANSCRIPT
HistoriesoftheFutureinContemporaryMegastructures
StephenGraham
1.“Letusraisethelevelofthecity!”
“Thehousesofconcrete,glassandironmustriseontheedgeofatumultuousabyss”.Insteadofground-levelstreetsstretching“likeafoot-matlevelwiththeporter’slodge,”futureciEeswouldinstead“belinkedbymetalwalkwaysandimmenselyfastescalators.”“Letusthrowawaysidewalks,arcades,steps!”heextolled.“Letusraisethelevelofthecity!”AntonioSantElia
Newcastle:The‘Layer-cakeCity’
“prepareafreshlayoutinthreedimensions,andthentoredeveloptheareasasawholeinoneconEnuousoperaEon”
“noprojectforurbanrenewal,beitextensiveorquitelocal,
willmatchuptomodernnecessiEesunlessitprovides
forpropersegregaEonofoperaEons.ThisisessenEal
forsafety,formaximumconcentraEonofuse,andforamenityandcomfort[…]The
transportdesignshould,therefore,aimatthe
segregaEonofpedestrians,cityroads,serviceroads,and
carparkroads,leadingtomulE-levelcirculaEonof
funcEonssuchastwo-storeyshopping”
InsEtuEonofMunicipalEngineers,1962
“Someofthemosthatedandunmanageable
[plannedlandscapes]inurbanBritain.Dismantlingordis-guisingthelegacy
ofdeckaccessandwalkwaydesignnow
absorbsagoodshareoftheBriEshgovernment’s“problemestates”budget.
Severalrecentlybuiltmega-structuresare
beingdemolishedandtheoriginalpaXernofstreetsandsidewalksreinstated”
MichaelHebbert
2.InternalisingDowntown
“Thedevelopmentofdiscrete,grade-separatedpedestriannetworksinthedowntowncoreareasissurelyoneofthemostremarkable,[]Theideaofaninteriorcityfromwhichonemightneverneedtostepoutdoors,isonthepointofrealizaEonina
scoreoflocaEonsacrosstheconEnent”.BarryMaitland,1992
Li[ingtheLadderUp?
In1980surbancrisis,Minneapolis’eight-mileskywaysystem“becamesomethingitwasneverintendedtobe:afortress,afilter,arefuge”TrevorBoddy.“ThesuccessandproliferaEonofinteriorizedacEvityandthefactthatitsnodescanbeplacedanywhereasislandswhoseconnecEveEssueisaseaofformlessnessandnothingness,hasle[theoutsideamputated,mostlyinhabitable,andquiteo[enaspaceofthreat”SzeTsungLeong“Thebeginningsofadualleveldowntownsocietyinwhichpeoplearephysicallyseparatedbyclass”KentRobertson
“TheenEreHillis[...]separatedfromtheadjacentcitybyan
obstaclecourseofopenfreewaytrenches,apalisadeofconcreteparkinggaragesandandatangle
ofconcretebridgeslinkingcitadeltocitadelhighabovethestreets.[…]WecouldaXainthesummitfromthesouth,butonlybyclimbinganarrow,heavilypatrolledstair‘plaza’,studdedwithvideocamerasandclearlymarkedasprivateproperty”
StevenFlusty
3.Bangkok’sSkytrain:An“Exclusive,ElevatedUrbanRealm”:
• A“supremesymbolandiconofBangkok’sentranceintotherealmofthesuper-modern”;Raisedtravellersexperiencethecity“withinanelevatedurbanrealmofcoolspaces,whilstbeingvoyeuroftherelaEvelychaoEc‘other’realmbelow”RichardsonandJensen
• Ticketscostover10%ofaveragemonthlywagesinThailand
• ElitesandwealthygroupsarestarEngtolive,workandentertainthemselveswithinaraisedarchipelagocityofenclaves,whichdevelopnewconcentraEonsofeliteservicesandspacesgearedtotheirneeds,lacedtogetheralongtheraisedurbanplanebytheSkytrainanditssystemofskybridgesproviding‘plug-in’connecEonstoitsstaEon
“Theuppermiddleclassesandtherichpeopletransportthemselvesandlive,generallyspeaking,from3rdfloorandup.Theyworkinbuildingswithair
condiEoning;theyshopinaircondiEonedshoppingmalls;gotocinemasandtrainincoolfitnesscentres.TheyeventransportthemselvesinaircondiEoned
carsonelevatedhighwaysorinskytrains.”Marling
4.BypassinBombayGeographerAndrewHarrisfoundthatatleastsome,suchasthatwhichallowscommuterstocompletelybypasstheverypoorneighbourhoodofBandraEast,have“beencreatedtoenableparEculargroupstomovethroughthecitywithouthavingtoacknowledgeandnegoEatethewidespreaddispossessionandpovertythatremainsthedominantandabidingexperienceformostpeoplebelow”.
5.HongKong:CityWithoutGround
• Over500mulElevelwalkwaysthatitisthefirstcityonearthtohaveathree-dimensionalurbanguidebookdevotedtoit
“HongKongenhancesthree-dimensionalconnecEvitytosuchadegree,”theguide’sauthorswrite,“thatiteliminatesreferencetothegroundaltogether.HongKongisacitywithoutground”
Solomon,WongandFrampton,
5.SpaJalDead-Ends:Beyond‘VerJcalSprawl’?
• AsciEesacrosstheworldriseup,manyarchitectsandplannersarearguingthatafully-threedimensionalsenseoftheurbanpublicrealmisnownecessary.QuesEonsofphysicalaccessibilityandsocialinequalityarenowconstructedwithinthecomplexvolumesofurbanbuiltspaceandcannolongeradequatelyberepresentedontradiEonaltwo-dimensionalmapsusedbyurbangeographersandtransportplanners.
• HorizontalimaginaEonsofurbanspaceareclearlyinadequatetotheemergingurbanlabyrinthswhichseamlesslyblendover-ground,ground-levelandsubterraneancomplexesandmegastructuresandlinkthemtogetherunevenlythroughelevators,escalators,tunnels,skywalks,subways,walkways,bridges,people-moversandskytrains
• WithmanyverEcalenclavesinternalisingawiderangeofservicesandameniEesfortheireliteowners,suchprojectsarebecomingmoreandmoresecuriEsedandsolipsisEc;theirrelaEonshiptotheurbanstreetever-moredistantandremote
• ‘VerEcalgatedcommuniEes’• “skyscrapingsuburb”,IrisHwang• “the3-Dcitydependsonskypassagesthatconnectbuildingstogetherat
certainlevels.IntheearlytwenEethcentury,eachbuildinghaditsownundergroundlevel;nowtheseareconnectedandbecamepartofthecity.Thesamethingcouldhappenintheair”HirosiHara
• “Couldsomeoftheretail,artsandleisurefaciliEesthatnormallyoccuratgroundlevelwithinthecitybeli[edupintotheskytooccupyanew‘publiczone’atheight?”AnthonyWood
• MVRDV’s2005Mirador;TheCloud’inYongsan;PinnacleatDuxton,Singapore