Domed City
Choose your Sky
2014/15
The idea of a domed city has intrigued science fiction writers and scientists for a long time now.
In 1960 Buckminster Fuller proposed a geodesic dome structure with a diameter of 3 km over Midtown Manhattan to regulate weather and reduce air pollution.
Between 1991 and 1992 eight people lived in “Bio- sphere 2” in the Arizona desert, a complex of interconnected domes and glass pyramids, conceived and built as a sealed environment for the purpose of determining whether a closed ecological system could be self sustaining. The experiment was not conclusive.
In 2010 a two million square meter dome was proposed for downtown Houston, Texas to regulate its climate and protect it from hurricanes.
Also in July 2010 the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre was opened in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, one of the coldest capital cities in the world with winter temperatures as low as -35°C. This 150 meter high, highly transparent tent construction was designed by Foster + Partners and forms an entertainment complex of more than 100 000m2, including a climatized tropical indoor beach.
In 2013 the International School of Beijing built air filtrated and temperature controlled domes in order to protect the children from air pollution while they are playing.
In 2014, leaders of the wealthy Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai announced that they will soon start the construc- tion of the worlds first fully airconditioned city district in Dubai, one of the hottest cities in the world.
During the coming academic year we are going to take up the concept of a domed city as proposed by Buckminster Fuller and examine the potential of the ap- proach to provide answers to the challenges presently facing our society, especially against the background of the massive technological advances in materials that have taken place since 1960 (e.g. recent break- through research proves the possibility of fully trans- parent solar cells).
Recent work in our research and teaching on “Vertical Farming”, “Teleworking” and “Hyper Building Cities” as well as recent design work on projects such as the Ecole Centrale Paris with OMA architects have influenced our decision to look again at the city underneath a dome and the whole idea of the creation of macro climates underneath a climate envelope.
The main research question is the nature of the pos- sible benefits as well as drawbacks of enclosing a large urban area under a single roof and creating a climate modified urban environment within a dome structure. Further questions are then whether the system is closed or open, whether the skin is airtight or porous, whether the environment is actively climate controlled and whether the energy supply systems are located in- side or outside the dome? What would the weather be like? More or less predictable? Would there be wind, clouds and rain? What are the implications of snow? What would the effect be on the energy demand and energy performance of the city?
In which climate zones and parts of the world could a domed solution make sense? Is it conceivable or desirable to create a diversity of possible habitats, cli- mate zones and niches for different life styles within the enclosure? A variety of microclimates within a large macroclimate? And which social implications arise out of the enclosure of a city? This is not a new topic in ur- banism: before the 19th century, it was normal to fortify and enclose cities. What kind of society will such an architecture produce: in the context of gated communi- ties and total surveillance? On the other hand, could such an approach offer potential to solve other issues and challenges arising in our cities? In London, New York City and other metropoles large parts of the in- ner city now belong to wealthy speculators and inves- tors who are themselves not city residents. In these cities only the super wealthy can now afford to live in the inner city with the vast majority of residents forced to commute long distances. Could a domed inner city concept give the city back to its people?
Interesting architectural questions also pose them- selves, particularly regarding the consequences for the design of the buildings and places within the dome. In this years design studio projects the students will be confronted with a dome structure with a geometry resembling that of Fullers project for New York City, along with all the potential benefits and challenges as- sociated with this. They will have the freedom - and the responsibility - to choose the material properties of the dome skin, including light and heat transmission, po- rosity, possible energy production etc. As a team they will develop a master plan for the city as well as work individually on designs for individual buildings within the domed city.
As always at the Institute for Buildings and Energy, all teaching courses will be involved and integrated into this exciting thought experiment; studying various as- pects, analysing case studies as well working on de- sign projects. The one exception is the course “Building Systems”, one of the first courses our undergraduate students take. Here students will be introduced to the fascinating world of building climate control and energy systems by a new didactic approach, in which architec- tural models will be built by the students and used to il- lustrate and aid understanding of the systems involved and especially their architectural implications.