An Australian city with personality

Will cities of the future all look the same? Or by revisiting basic design concepts can we create a distinctive personality for a city?

Image source: Crikey, The Urbanist

Inspired by its sub-tropical climate, Brisbane City Council is heading back to basic design concepts in order to create a distinctive built form for the city centre. Caroline Stalker from Architectus (who was one of the most interesting presenters at the 2015 Urban Design Forum) has developed new high-rise podia typologies which adapt to the climate and locale conditions. This may lead to the creation of better sub-tropic cities as they are based on old architectural principles of porosity to light, air and integration of landscape rather than taking the standard podium tower approach.

Currently the standard podium tower forms in the city centre are making it an urban heat island in summer with the city becoming the hottest part of the metropolitan region. This type of form is currently applied to many cities, leading to a similar look with no distinctive character or identity.

The use of basic elements like the architectural style; use of material; layout of the building; and type of openings that respond to the climatic conditions of a place can contribute to making the built form of a city distinctive to other cities.

Read more: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2015/11/17/can-cities-be-built-with-a-distinctive-look/

Click here to read Caroline's research paper 'Beyond the Podium Urban Spaces for Tall Buildings in a Subtropical City.'

By Amruta Purohit