BIOCLIMATIC SKYSCRAPERS A Contemporary Architectural Trend by the Beginning - st of the 21 Century

Abstract

Skyscrapers are the product of need for grov.1h that due to increased densities in urban centers around the world and the high land value of the centers. The construction of tall buildings are becoming increasingly necessary as a result of the efficient use that they make of the limited land available and spreading cost of expensive land across many stories of floor space.

The last optimistic forecast is that we shall reach 12.000.000.000 by 2050. At current rates the surface of the planet will be nearly totally covered with residential, commercial and apartment dwellings within the coming century. Over the past 100 years, cities have transformed their urban physiology, featuring important concentrations of skyscrapers & large residential low-density areas. Ecologicall/ speaking, the consequences of this evolution have been the progressive destruction (ft..

vegetation, the irrationality on energy consumption and the deterioration of the environment. The 20th century urban planning models seem ineffective to solve problems of urban growth in huge overpopulated areas. Solutions to future urban problems should face up to the new mega cities reality where the technological progress will find its balance with the bio-ecological recovery of the natural environment.

In the future we see great advantage in high-rise developments that create a coordinate unit within one tower while recognizing human scale and open space at its base. Single buildings, in which one can work, live, shop and play, will create a new urban lifestyle relying on wheels less and less. Cars traveling longer distances cause traffic congestion, inconvenience and air pollution, while fragmenting the city socially and physically.

The main goal of the thesis is to reduce the use of automobiles, creating less fragmentation while providing a more pedestrian - friendly lifestyle. Making our cities more vertical by creating of multi-use high-rise projects will improve our air quality and decreases the amount of time we need to go from point to point. Environment • problems will be reduced and a new urban lifestyle will improve the quality of life in our cities.