VERTICAL DEVELOPMENT
OF CITIES AND NEIGHBORHOOD
SAMRUTHA LAVANYA PRAJWAL GAUTHAM
Contents
Case study
Award winning projects
Policies
Analysis
Merits & Demerits
References
What is Vertical Development?
Global population in cities is set to grow at a rapid pace, with 68% of the world population projected to live in
urban areas by 2050 (UN report), so accommodating multiple spaces within will be essential. So a vertical city is
an entire human habitat contained in a massive skyscraper. Hence;
“The term vertical development refers to building or developing
vertically, by creation of spaces that are dense, diverse, and active,which
enables to creates livable spaces.”
SEOUL - VERTICAL CITY
Gangnam-gu
Business centre
CULTURAL STRUCTURE
Accessibility of services
Variety of options
Proximity of services
hanok housing detached housing high rise towers
A traditional housing typology Detached housing has the most Towers have the housing capacity
in Korea, hanok has a system of significant site coverage rate to meet the density requirements
enclosed courtyards and its because it has neither the hanok on the site. Moreover, this
residents are usually are courtyard nor the tower’s grade typology has green open space
multigenerational families. Its level green space. Its housing on the ground level. Despite its
capacity limitations. capacity is larger than that of “vertical sprawl” issue, towers
hanok housing, but it is still not should be the major housing
big enough to meet the typology.
requirement of a dense
population .
COMMUTE - “TIME LOST IN TRAVELLING”
People prefer living in a mixed use development because all their needs are closely located to
their flats.
Buildings look like enormous entities on the street
Lostness of space
Close spaced blocks - shaded pathways
Navigation is difficult
AN ART DECO ICON
Empire State Building
NEW YORK
With its soaring height and signature design,
the Empire State Building defines the New York
City skyline.
The world’s most magnificent Art Deco
skyscraper, it’s a living piece of New York history
and an instantly recognizable symbol of city
culture today.
Standing at 102 stories and 1,454 feet at its
pinnacle, the Empire State Building was the
tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years
after its completion.
Today, it remains one of the world’s great
towers and an unmatched architectural
wonder.
Opened in 1931 on Manhattan’s Fifth
Avenue, the Empire State Building is
located in the heart of NYC. A testament to
the power of American industry, the
Empire State was the first building in the
world to have more than 100 floors, and its
steel frame was considered a modern
marvel.
The building’s Art Deco design has
inspired visitors from around the world. At
nightfall, the 200-foot crowning spire
captures the city’s gaze, illuminated by
tower lights that dazzle with
ever-changing combinations of color. It’s
no wonder the Empire State Building is
the most photographed building in the
world.
The Empire State
ReBuilding initiative
was launched with
the goal of restoring
the building to its
original splendor, so
that it could be
preserved for
generations to come.
After nearly a century, many of the
building’s key design elements,
from the lighting and glasswork to
the marble interiors, had
weathered. As a result, some of
these defining pieces were in
danger of being lost.
Today, more than 12,000 feet of
historic glassware has been
recreated with meticulous
attention to detail by a team of
artisans and historians. Damaged
marble has been removed and
replaced with new stone. The result
is an ESB experience that’s faithful
to the history of the building.
Among the building’s most striking
design artifacts is the vast mural
along the ceiling of the lobby. It
depicts a celestial sky in classic Art
Deco style, adorned with 23-karat
gold stars, sunbursts, and gears. For
decades, it welcomed visitors to the
building – however, in the 1960s, it
was painted over and covered with a
dropped ceiling.
In 2007, artists and historians began
to recreate this mural in all its
original brilliance. Two years, 20,000
working hours, and several thousand
square feet of gold and aluminum
leaf later, the lobby ceiling once
again captivates visitors as it did on
the building’s opening day.
No/low VOC materials only
No Red List materials allowed
MERV13 filters
HEALTH, INDOOR Regular IEQ testing for the whole building
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Access to daylight and views on every tenant
floor
AND WELLNESS
Green cleaning
Integrated pest management
Private Fitness Center discounted for all
occupants
One of the innovations is
the transformation of
the building's lighting
system, which included
an adaptive dimming
system that adjusts
according to light
coming in from the
outside. In addition,
much of the building’s
original lighting was
replaced with energy
efficient fixtures.
The US EPA Energy Star Portfolio
Manager program is used to measure and
track energy and water consumption and
greenhouses gas emissions. Billions of
square feet of all types, sizes and ages of
buildings are tracked, with only the most
efficient buildings in the nation achieving
Energy Star certification.
The Empire State Building has earned
Energy Star certification every year since
2010.
In the late-1920s, as New York’s economy boomed
like never before, builders were in a mad dash to
erect the world’s largest skyscraper. The main
competition was between 40 Wall Street’s Bank of
Manhattan building and the Chrysler Building, an
elaborate Art Deco structure conceived by car mogul
Walter Chrysler as a “monument to me.” Both towers
tried to best each other by adding more floors to
WHY WAS IT their design, and the race really heated up in August
1929, when General Motors executive John J. Raskob
and former New York Governor Al Smith announced
plans for the Empire State Building.
BUILT Upon learning that the Empire State would be 1,000
feet tall, Chrysler changed his plans a final time and
It was constructed during a race to create the fixed a stainless steel spire to the top of his
world’s tallest building. skyscraper. The addition saw the Chrysler Building
soar to a record 1,048 feet, but unfortunately for
Chrysler, Raskob and Smith simply went back to the
drawing board and returned with an even taller
design for the Empire State Building. When
completed in 1931, the colossus loomed 1,250 feet
over the streets of Midtown Manhattan. It would
remain the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years
until the completion of the first World Trade Center
tower in 1970.
NYC
Shaded streets due to high rise buildings
No setbacks from the road
Over the past decade, the streets of New
York City have undergone a dramatic
transformation.
Nearly 400 miles of bike lanes were
installed, the largest bike share program
in North America began
Times Square morphed from a busy
thoroughfare into a packed pedestrian
plaza.
Hari Sreenivasan sits down with former Transportation Commissioner Janette
Sadik-Khan, author of the book "Street Fight," to discuss more on rethinking New
York's public spaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKJf3pBeB0s
created a seven-block experiment of
a bike lane on Ninth Avenue. Here,
concrete dividers and a row of parked
cars shield a bike lane from the street
and its traffic.
Low mini traffic lights show when
cyclists have the right of way. Bike
commuters, messengers and delivery
people peel down perfectly smooth
paths.
TIMES SQUARE
redesigned Broadway from 42nd to
34th Street. It converted two of
Broadway’s four lanes into a linear
pedestrian plaza with a protected
bicycle lane.
At the same time, DOT transformed
the wide expanse of pavement in
Madison Square into a series of
attractive public plazas. The new
areas were landscaped, including a
distinctive gravel surface, chairs,
tables, brightly colored sun
umbrellas, and large planters filled
with flowers that served a dual safety
and aesthetic purpose. New Yorkers
immediately occupied Broadway’s
chairs and benches, and the sites
became a favorite of office workers
and tourists alike.
THE INTERLACE
Interlace is a 1,040-unit mixed use
development inspired by the old
villages of Singapore
Architect : OMA, Ole Scheeren
Location : Singapore
Award : World building of the
year 2015
Urban Habitat Award
Contains :
31 stacked residential blocks and is
six stories tall.
Swimming pools, tennis courts,
gardens and roof terraces
Interlinking public space
With about 170,000m2 of gross floor area,
the development will provide 1,040
apartment units of varying sizes
Creates active public space by
connecting various public space
Doesn’t isolates people
Creates more interaction with
neighbours
Secured living environment
LINKED HYBRID
“Open city within a city”
Location: Beijing, China
Architect: Steven Holl
Architects & Capital
Group
Constructed: 2009
OVERVIEW
Mixed use:
644 apartments, public green
space, commercial zones, hotel,
cinemateque, kindergarten,
Montessori school, underground
parking.
Security:
ID verification and monitoring
facilities are located at the three
entrances to the community. All
vehicles entering and exiting the
community have to travel
through an underground garage,
within which elevators are
provided for direct access to each
unit.
LINKED HYBRID
“Open city within a city”
Area:
221462 sqm ~ 54.7 Acres
Ground Coverage: 26146.6
sqm (11.8% of site)
Built Area: 1107310 sqm
8 major towers 35m
tall
21 Floors
INSIGHTS
Porous urban space, inviting and open to the public
from every side.
The project promotes interactive relations and
encourages encounters in the public spaces.
All public functions on the ground level, - including a
restaurant, hotel, Montessori school, kindergarten, and
cinema.
Shops activate the urban space surrounding the large
reflecting pond.
At the centre of the community, there is a garden
with a pond. And in the winter the pool freezes to
become an ice-skating rink.
ANALYSIS
Public Life and streets Human Scale
Dense spaces with multiple activities at Overpowering and intimidating
different time and heights.
Relation with building lost
Social/Community gathering around (and
within) the development Compact, openness?
Easy connectivity - live and work Higher floors for better views
Power and politics with respect to height,
grandeur.
Efficiency
POLICIES
Regional byelaws curbs the height of the building. Indian cities have traditionally set the floor-space index
(FSI), which measures the square footage of living space allowed to be built as a proportion of the total square
footage of the plot, at super-low levels such as 1.3 or 1. The low FSI disallows buildings from going vertically up
India needs to reform the Land Acquisition Act to permit acquisition of land at speed and at market prices.
Given ill-defined land titles in India, such acquisition is necessary for medium and large firms as well as
building rental housing.
MERITS
More secured.
Less land used.
Support growth of population .
Encourage green space.
Promotes less transportation need by that
reduce pollution .
Promotes social interaction will in turn create
better community.
Economical and better transportation
Energy conservation
DEMERIT
Effects on climate
No privacy
High construction cost
Dominating
Energy consumption
Earthquake and wind prone
High maintenance
References
● https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html
● https://www.archdaily.com/34302/linked-hybrid-steven-holl-architects
● https://www.stevenholl.com/projects/beijing-linked-hybrid
● https://housing.com/news/vertical-cities-the-future-of-urban-development/
● https://www.boonedam.com/blog/vertical-urbanisation
● https://www.archdaily.com/627887/the-interlace-oma
● https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/singapore-s-vertical-village-named-building-year-world-architecture-awar
ds-a6725391.html
● https://www.dezeen.com/2015/11/06/ole-scheeren-the-interlace-vertical-village-singapore-building-of-the-year-2015-world-architecture-festi
val-2015/
● https://newatlas.com/world-building-of-the-year-2015-the-interlace-singapore/40268/
● https://www.boonedam.com/blog/vertical-urbanisation
● https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/vertical-city-concept-how-live-sustainable-life/1163942\
● https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/pdfs/student_work/planning/vertical_cities_asia.pdf
● https://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/city-planning-vertical-growth-do-not-limit-floor-space-index-to-limit-congestion
● https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/16/which-is-the-worlds-most-vertical-city
