The Cities of Tomorrow: Sea-scrapers and Downloadable Buildings

[M II A II R II K]

The Cities of Tomorrow: Sea-scrapers and Downloadable Buildings


May 23, 2013

Read More: http://www.theconnectivist.com/2013/...ble-buildings/

The growth of the urban landscape has been unprecedented over the last 50 years. Such a pace of expansion creates logistical problems but also opportunities for innovation.

- Electronic sensors have never been cheaper or more sophisticated than they are right now, which means they can be rolled out on a massive scale to track, analyze, and measurably understand patterns as never before. Los Angeles is leading the way with a plan to deploy “LightGrid technology,” to produce a “smart” and cloud-connected network of street lighting.

- Thanks to the increasing capabilities of broadband, “we’re moving into a future where the factory is everywhere, and that means the design team is everyone,” he says. Parvin co-founded a company called WikiHouse, which offers free CAD files to anyone with a 3D printer looking to build a home on a tight budget. The 3-D printer produces the home’s structural components, which Parvin says the user can then assemble “without formal construction skills or power tools.”

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This is perhaps one of the more radical predictions for the future of the urban environment: a sea-scraper. Its designer, Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum, a Malaysian architect, won a special mention from eVolvo Magazine for its entry into the magazine’s annual skyscrapers competition. The design iIt’s essentially a floating, self-sufficient tower building, its top just peeking out above the water’s surface. Wave power would supposedly power the underwater city, while the rooftop would provide a place to farm food. It’s pretty safe to say this is a far-out premise, and there are no plans to build anything like the sea-scraper anytime soon, but it’s certainly set tongues a-wagging.