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

| Oct 21, 2010

GSA confirms new LEED Gold requirement

The General Services Administration has increased its sustainability requirements and now mandates LEED Gold for its projects.

| Oct 18, 2010

World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi

Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.

| Oct 13, 2010

Editorial

The AEC industry shares a widespread obsession with the new. New is fresh. New is youthful. New is cool. But “old” or “slightly used” can be financially profitable and professionally rewarding, too.

| Oct 13, 2010

Prefab Trailblazer

The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.

| Oct 13, 2010

Campus building gives students a taste of the business world

William R. Hough Hall is the new home of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The $17.6 million, 70,000-sf building gives students access to the latest technology, including a lab that simulates the stock exchange.

| Oct 13, 2010

Apartment complex will offer affordable green housing

Urban Housing Communities, KTGY Group, and the City of Big Bear Lake (Calif.) Improvement Agency are collaborating on The Crossings at Big Bear Lake, the first apartment complex in the city to offer residents affordable, eco-friendly homes. KTGY designed 28 two-bedroom, two-story townhomes and 14 three-bedroom, single-story flats, averaging 1,100 sf each.

| Oct 13, 2010

Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East

A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.

| Oct 13, 2010

Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum

A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.

| Oct 13, 2010

Community college plans new campus building

Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.

| Oct 13, 2010

Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library

The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.

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