Megastructures Graham

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