The mega structure:
Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the United States and the demand for energy, mobility and space continues to grow in this region as we progress towards the year 2040. Los Angeles is already flooded with a continuous network of urban communities and traffic. It has limited open area and low modes of public transportation.
The The 25-Hour City concept focuses on creating hyper dense and a hyper active urban living situation at the El Toro MCAS in Irvine, CA. The concept is simple and environmentally-friendly. The creator of the city has kept in mind the urban living conditions that include commercial, residential and recreational places like parks and cafeterias, and even parking lots, all in a limited area and acquiring the space vertically instead on ground level.
Designer:
Houston Drum
Location:
The mega structure is located in El Toro MCAS, Irvine, California.
What makes it mega?
The total area required to built the mega city is 24,600,000 sq meters. The city consists of 9 towers and each of them is 580 meters, having 145 stories. The width area of the tower is 280 meters.
The vertical structure accommodates 75,000 people in one tower thereby reducing the transportation needs to a great extent. With this, the open area on the ground is also maintained. When allotting room for a dense population of 80,000 people/km2, the factors of natural light and air becomes the most salient feature that have an important effect during the zoning and massing of the city. If the city grows vertically rather than ground level, then these parameters of light and air won’t exist. An ultimate distinctive level is reached when the proposal of the vertical city creates micro autonomous areas of one program typology, a multiplex containing various recreational areas and many more areas of hyper-density.
Fact box
Designer: Houston Drum
Masters of Architecture | 2009
University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Architecture | 2008
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Location: El Toro MCAS | Irvine, California
Purpose: Mixed-use
Surface Area: 10.8 sq km
Construction Time: expected to come in existence in the year 2040
Eco Credentials
A substantial increase in the building area is required for creating a city to include an urban climate by making multiplexes, parks and other recreational areas. As the city rises vertically instead of expanding horizontally at ground level the limitation of the density of natural light and air, comes to an end. When this logic of a city to grow vertically is implied in construction of urban cities, these restrictions will no longer exist.
Via: Houston drum
