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Pyramid Cities - Origins
Born in Turin, Italy on June 21, 1919, Paolo Soleri was awarded his
Ph.D. with highest honors in architecture from the Torino Polytechnico in 1946. He came to the United States in 1947 and spent a yearand-a-half in fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West
in Arizona, and at Taliesin East in Wisconsin. During this time, he
gained international recognition for a bridge design displayed at
the Museum of Modern Art and published in The Architecture of
Bridges by Elizabeth Mock.
In 1956 he settled in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his late wife, Colly,
and their two daughters. Dr. and Mrs. Soleri made a life-long
commitment to research and experimentation in urban planning,
establishing the Cosanti Foundation, a not-for-profit educational
foundation.
The Foundation’s major project is Arcosanti, a prototype town for
5,000 people designed by Soleri, under construction since 1970. Located at Cordes Junction, in central Arizona, the project is based on
Soleri’s concept of “Arcology,” architecture coherent with ecology.
He has written six books and numerous essays and monographs.
When he is not traveling on the international lecture circuit, Soleri
divides his time between Cosanti, the original site for his research
located in Scottsdale, and Arcosanti.
http://www.arcosanti.org/project/background/soleri/main.html
“Arcology” is an idea developed by Paolo Soleri in the 1960s. Arcology, which conceptually addresses the interrelationship between
architecture and ecology, was conceived by Paolo Soleri as a vital
process as well as an end product. Arcologies ultimately provide
alternatives to horizontal growth that characterizes most American cities and their resulting suburbs. By contrast, arcologies are
self-contained, vertically layered megabuildings that combine living,
working, and natural environments into condensed superorganisms.
Although unconventional in form, the underlying assumptions are
intensely urbanistic in that they support a complex philosophical position that relates megacities to the entire process of evolution. Paolo
Soleri makes a scientific analogy between the compactness in nature
and the density, or critical mass, essential to urban societies. Because
the degree of liveliness, energy, and efficiency is directly proportional
to density, the city must be predicated on compactness: lack of density
is synonymous with inefficiency.
http://architect.architecture.sk/paolo-soleri-architect/paolo-soleri-architect.php
Pyramid Cities - Precursors
X-Seed 4000 is a proposed skyscraper that looks oddly like Mt. Fuji.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that it could be eventually built in Tokyo,
Japan. The tallest building ever fully designed, the X-Seed 4000
would house between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people. A tiny quantity
of individuals, if you take into account that the technology to “fabricate” mature adult individuals from raw materials is probably only a
few decades away. (A topic that probably deserves a post all its own.)
The X-Seed 4000, which would be 4,000 meters high (13,123.2 feet),
would in fact be taller than Mt. Fuji, which is merely 3776 meters
high (12,388 ft).
The proposed structure would have a base 6 km wide and contain 800 floors. Designed by Taisei Construction Corporation, this
mountain-shaped living environment would be powered by solar
power and blend together high living with natural surroundings.
It seems odd to claim that it would be powered by the sun entirely
– this would mean that the company either intends to devote entire
floors to nothing but solar panels or that it has found a way to power
buildings economically with minimal paneling. In any case, it seems
like nuclear power would be just as good.
Designed as an “intelligent building” the super-futuristically-named
X-Seed 4000 would maintain light, temperature, and air pressure
in response to changing external weather conditions. Because it
has already been fully designed using materials available today, the
structure could, in principle, be built, although it would likely cost
several hundred billion dollars, if not more. Because the structure
would weigh so much, it could only be built on the sea if present-day
construction materials were used.
http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2006/02/x-seed-4000/
In 1970, the Cosanti Foundation began building Arcosanti, an
experimental town in the high desert of Arizona, 70 miles north
of metropolitan Phoenix. When complete, Arcosanti will house
5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions
and lessen our destructive impact on the earth. Its large, compact
structures and large-scale solar greenhouses will occupy only 25
acres of a 4060 acre land preserve, keeping the natural countryside in close proximity to urban dwellers.
In this complex, creative environment, apartments, businesses,
production, technology, open space, studios, and educational
and cultural events are all accessible, while privacy is paramount
in the overall design. Greenhouses provide gardening space for
public and private use, and act as solar collectors for winter heat.
http://www.arcosanti.org/project/background/history/main.html
Pyramid Cities - Shimizu Mega City
Proposed to be constructed in Japan over Tokyo Bay. Being built over
the bay, supported by 36 piers that would be driven into the bay, giving it a somewhat floating effect, it would not compete for land in the
already densely populated Japan has. The structure itself is 12 times
taller than the pyramid of Giza and would hold within it, more than
50 smaller pyramids. It would house a population of 750,000 and
would use renewable energy from solar PV film, wind power, and
algae/pond scum. People in the city would be transported through
the use of the hollow exoskeleton holding the structure together with
accelerating walkways, pods, and inclined elevators. The lightweight
materials needed to construct the structure haven’t been invented it,
hindering it’s actual creation but it’s estimated to be fully constructed
by the year 2110.
Pros:
Would accelerate and encourage research of lightweight materials
for it’s construction.
Would ease the effect the dense population of Tokyo has on the city,
such as land price, overall space, and land mobility.
Self sufficient, use of renewable energy.
Cons:
Susceptible to destruction by natural disaster.
Would be a heavy investment.
Discovery Channel’s Extreme Engineering covered
the work behind trying to make the Shimizu
Pyramid City a reality
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/
pyramidcity/interactive/interactive.html
Pyramid Cities - Ziggurat
The Ziggurat designed by Timelinks, located in Dubai. It would
serve as home to a million people, employing the use of steam power
and wind turbine technology. The structure would span 2.3 sq km,
which would take up less than 10% of the land surface a one million
person population would need. Inhabitants would be transported by
a 360 degree network and security with a facial recognition system.
Pros:
Only uses less than 10% of land that it takes for one million to normally inhabit
Self sufficient.
Cons:
Susceptible to destruction by natural disaster.
Would be a heavy investment.
http://worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.
projectview&upload_id=10224