flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Could a virtual 'city-forest' help solve population density challenges?

Sustainability

Could a virtual 'city-forest' help solve population density challenges?

The project will house 200,000 people.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | April 28, 2020
The Link exterior with drones

All renderings courtesy Luca Curci Architects

Luca Curci Architects, an Italian architecture firm, has designed a project that combines vertical expansion with economic innovation to solve the challenge of population density.

Dubbed The Link, the plant-covered project would absorb CO2 and produce oxygen for cleaner air and increased biodiversity. The Link comprises four interconnected main towers, each equipped with green areas on every level, 100% green transport systems, and natural light and ventilation.

The tallest building will rise an ambitious 300 floors and 1,200 meters and include apartments, villas, common areas and services, and green areas with private and public gardens. Another tower will rise between 650 and 850 meters and include offices, government departments, healthcare facilities, and education institutions ranging from  early education to universities.

 

The Link plant-covered facade

 

Other features among the interconnected towers will include areas more oriented to lifestyle amenities such as hotels, wellness and spa centers, sport centers, shopping malls, bookshops, and leisure attractions.

 

See Also: This will be the largest Living Building in the world

 

Over 120,000 trees and 2 million plants of over 150 species will cover the interconnected buildings, helping to reduce indoor and outdoor temperatures. Farming will also be incorporated, enabling communities to produce their own food and be self-sufficient. Each building will include water baths, markets, and spiritual and cultural hubs. Drone ports connected with the upper garden-squares of each tower will allow the building's to be reached by air while the basement will be equipped with external and internal docks for pedestrians and public electric transports.

 

The Link interior resident space

 

An urban operating system equipped with AI will be able to manage the global city temperature, levels of CO2, and humidity. The system will also control the global lighting system and will store extra energy produced by solar panels and other renewable energy sources.

The Link, while still just a concept, will be presented in several cities around the world with the goal of starting a conversation with institutions and private investors.

 

The Link public space/common area

 

The Link aerial

 

Related Stories

| May 9, 2013

Post-tornado Greensburg, Kan., leads world in LEED-certified buildings per capita

Six years after a tornado virtually wiped out the town, Greensburg, Kan., is the world's leading community in LEED-certified buildings per capita.

| May 3, 2013

'LEED for all GSA buildings,' says GSA Green Building Advisory Committee

The Green Building Advisory Committee established by the General Services Administration, officially recommended to GSA that the LEED green building certification system be used for all GSA buildings as the best measure of building efficiency.

| Apr 25, 2013

Colorado State University, DLR Group team to study 12 high-performance schools

DLR Group and the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University have collaborated on a research project to evaluate the effect of green school design on occupants and long-term building performance.

| Apr 22, 2013

Top 10 green building projects for 2013 [slideshow]

The AIA's Committee on the Environment selected its top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.

| Apr 16, 2013

5 projects that profited from insulated metal panels

From an orchid-shaped visitor center to California’s largest public works project, each of these projects benefited from IMP technology.

| Apr 12, 2013

Nation's first 'food forest' planned in Seattle

Seattle's Beacon Food Forest project is transforming a seven-acre lot in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood into a self-sustaining, edible public park.

| Apr 2, 2013

Green building consultant explores the truth about green building performance in new book

A new book from leading sustainability, green building author and expert Jerry Yudelson challenges assumptions about the value of sustainable design and environmentally-friendly buildings.

| Mar 29, 2013

Stanford researchers develop nanophotonic panel that reflects sun's heat out of the atmosphere

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a nanophotonic material that not only reflects sunlight, but actually beams the thermal energy out of the earth's atmosphere.

| Mar 27, 2013

Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem

The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021