flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
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

| Feb 11, 2011

Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America

The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.

| Feb 11, 2011

Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum

(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.

| Feb 11, 2011

Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork

Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.

| Feb 10, 2011

Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?

There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?

| Feb 9, 2011

Fortune 1000: Despite moral obligation to sustainability, cash is still king

Eighty-eight percent of Fortune 1000 senior executives feel business has a moral responsibility, beyond regulatory requirements, to make their companies more energy efficient, according to a new poll released today by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Schneider Electric. At the same time, the vast majority (61%) of respondents say that potential cost savings are their biggest motivator to save energy at the enterprise-level, outranking environmental concerns (13%) or government regulations (2%).

| Feb 9, 2011

Businesses make bigger, bolder sustainability commitments

In 2010, U.S. corporations continued to enhance their sustainable business efforts by making bigger, bolder, longer-term sustainability commitments. GreenBiz issued its 4th annual State of Green Business report, a free downloadable report that measures the progress of U.S. business and the economy from an environmental perspective, and highlights key trends in corporate culture in regard to the environment.

| Feb 7, 2011

President Obama cites PPG glass, coatings in Penn State speech

President Barack Obama yesterday acknowledged PPG Industries as a leader in the development of high-performance glass and coatings for energy-efficient buildings during a visit to Penn State University that kicked off the U.S. government’s “Better Buildings Initiative.’

| Feb 7, 2011

GSA Unveils New Sustainable Workplace Design Tool

The U.S. General Services Administration launched its Sustainable Facilities Tool on Monday, Feb. 7.  The innovative online tool will make it easier for both government and private-sector property managers and developers to learn about and evaluate strategies to make workplaces more sustainable, helping to build and create jobs in America’s clean energy economy of the future.

| Feb 4, 2011

U.S. Green Building Council applauds President Obama’s Green Building Initiative

The U.S. Green Building Council applauded a key element of President Obama’s plan to “win the future” by making America’s commercial buildings more energy- and resource-efficient over the next decade.  The President’s plan, entitled Better Buildings Initiative, catalyzes private-sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and universities, hospitals and other commercial and municipal buildings.

| Feb 4, 2011

President Obama: 20% improvement in energy efficiency will save $40 billion

President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative, announced February 3, 2011, aims to achieve a 20% improvement in energy efficiency in commercial buildings by 2020, improvements that will save American businesses $40 billion a year.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




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