Russell put me onto a TED talk by Thomas Heatherwick, the architect of the UK pavilion at the world expo. At the conclusion to the presentation, Heatherwick reveals plans for high-rise apartments in Malaysia that are designed upside-down. This unique configuration provides the economic benefit of creating more of the valuable top-floor real estate while also creating ample space for a natural rainforest ecosystem. Thomas explains how by removing building mass at the lower levels, space is opened up to give back 70% more of the site as public rainforest. This is demonstrated in the first two illustrations.
What particularly captured me about Thomas' speak was the way he refers to the current attitude of 'plonking' a skyscraper onto the site and then adding a couple of trees around the edges. This project captures the possibilities I want to explore for this studio however, I would to explore more than just economic viability.
