Page 74 - Vertical City
P. 74
74 The vertical city
the highest conceivable towers, as long as the technical
consequences of this choice are fully assumed 7.
Care and maintenance of construction components
are also simpler and guaranteed in term by use of ductile
materials, produced and recycled locally.
Social relationships
The third observation concerns the relationships
and social networks that are practically impossible to
develop in present high-rise buildings.
A new type of vertical architecture remains, thus, to
be invented to rediscover the benefits offered by the
low-level city. We shall explore some paths.
The typical floor plan
The rectangular, narrow and long floor plan of the
high-rise apartment building presents, in the tropics, its
facades to the north and the south, which are thus natu-
rally shaded.
7 The chill factor relative to the use of wood in contemporary archi-
tecture is a good example of technological brainwashing. Contrary
to popular beliefs fed by a productivist industry, needing to evolve
rapidly if it wishes to subsist, well-designed wood window frames
are not only more economical, but less costly in maintenance than
those of any other material, at equal levels of performance. The
catalogue of UNESCO’s world patrimony is full of centuries-old
wood window frames.
