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  • FAQ#026 What kind of change do you expect in architecture?

    Ending pollution and waste while keeping a high standard of living will require profound changes in the way we plan cities and conduct human affairs.

    While some advocate modifying existing cities and spend lots of time and resources attempting to update them, I find such attempts inadequate. Modification carries a large price in dollars and sustaining resources. Modifying and building onto what we have means supporting older infrastructure and energy requirements, a high cost for operation and maintenance thereof, overall inefficiency, and detrimental effects on occupants. It is less expensive to build new cities from the ground up than to restore and maintain old ones, just as it is more efficient to use state-of-the art production methods than to upgrade obsolete factories.

    The innovative multi-dimensional circular cities I propose use the most sophisticated resources and construction techniques. The geometrically elegant circular arrangement, surrounded by parks and gardens, is designed to operate with a minimum expenditure of energy while obtaining the highest possible standard of living. The city would use totally clean technology in harmony with the local ecology.

    When we see a city as a biome that grows and adapts, and requires energy, food, water, disposal systems, and arteries for transportation of goods and people, our ideas about space and permanence change dramatically. Our present haphazard growth patterns reflect available space and access rather than cohesive planning. Joining city elements together in a predetermined way conserves energy and provides easy access to all portions of the city. The prefabricated elements comprising the city would be designed to permit modification as needed. As newer materials come on line, the city design can be continuously upgraded, while also keeping in mind new technological and structural progress, and evolving human patterns. All systems would be of an emergent nature and constructed to allow maximum latitude in accommodating change. This would permit the city to function as an evolving integrated organism rather than as a static structure.

    The design and development of these new cities emphasize restoration and protection of the environment: in my view, technology without human concern is meaningless.

    Created on 21/07/2012 in TVP FAQ

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