Quiz+4

QUIZ 4 =﻿ What are the concepts of the Bionic Tower and Little Cities Projects? = Modeling nature, the Bionic Tower is proposing new forms of architecture who seek a sustainable future for a planet in the process of overpopulation. It's a 1228 meters high tower that frees up space to be left to nature and find the vertical growth. In the bionic tower cars are replaced by a transport system that works vertically and horizontally reducing energy consumption.

The Little Cities are large, mixed-use developments that work as integrated urban elements amenable to human-scaled interaction in cities with rapidly increasing populations and haphazard urban planning practices.

=What are the architectural /urban planning principles of these projects ?=

The Bionic Tower is based on the fact that urban planning models seem ineffective to solve problems of urban growth in huge overpopulated areas. Future urban planning models should replace the over-used term "minimal environmental impact" with "environmental improvement". The technological progress must find its balance with the "bio-ecological" recovery of the natural environment and Bionic Science appears as an alternative to reach that balance.

The Little Cities eschew purely vertical and singular designs for ones in which mixed uses are distributed across several separate and irregularly massed volumes that contain a wealth of horizontal circulation paths. Little cities seek to create green public open spaces.

=How are these projects similar / different? =

While the Bionic Tower is a giant structure that promotes vertical growth, the Little Cities are horizontal designs focus on a much smaller scale. Otherwise both projects try to reach an environmental improvement and use horizontal circulation as transport system.

=Are there actual examples of these projects? If so, mention them=

There are some examples of the Bionic Tower such as People's Republic of China Embassy in Madrid which is a Building with 30 apartments for staff and an Offices, laboratories and teaching rooms Building in Albacete- Spain. About Little Cities there are the Steven Holl’s three mixed-use projects in China, the Sliced Porosity Block, Linked Hybrid, and Vanke Center.

=Explain the vertical and horizontal circulation for one of these projects =

The Bionic Tower transport system is based on a kind of subway that circulate horizontally and vertically providing an energy efficient and fast way to move from one place of the structure to another.

=What do you think of these projects? =

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I think that these projects represent an alternative for the uncontrolled growth of population promoting environmental improvement and solving <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">the problem of lack of space for the development of cities.

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