Smart Tree: Future Life in a Vertical Community 'The Next Architecture' Award (Episode I)

Background

On one hand, our planet has undergone unpredictable changes in climate. On the other hand, digital technology cored with artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things has changed our lives dramatically. “Vertical Intelligent Community” embodies an understanding and response to ongoing phenomena and life expectancy in densely populated cities in Asia. Its features include vertical mixture, vertical ecology, systematic connectivity, live mechanisms, and energetic balance. To achieve fuller vitality, it is required to generate more mobility, extension, abundance, and wisdom in the areas of communications, entertainment, commerce, R&D, healthcare, and public services. At the same time, the development and construction of this project will advance integration of new technology industries, representing intelligence, informatization and clean energy, architectural design, and the general management of community systems.


Introduction

The competition focuses on Building No. 3 of the International Healthcare Area Talent Apartment in Jiangbei New Area, Nanjing. A 35.1-meter-high section above the ground floor of the apartment will be utilized as the competition scope.

From the ground up to 15.3 meters (Part B) will be designated as public vertical community. From 15.3 meters to 35.1 meters (Part A) will be designated as the conceptual experiment unit of a future residence. The conceptual experiment unit of future residence (15.3m - 35.1m)(Part A) has partial rooms no wider than 3 meters on the edges of the southern, eastern, and western sides, and 15.3 meters from the ground, encouraging overall designs that integrate into the external landscape.

Functional content includes, but is not limited to, conceptual units of future residence. However, these are mainly residential units. Other possible content includes small-scaled R&D and brainstorm centers, makerspaces, business meeting rooms, libraries, exhibition halls, cold-chain supermarkets, restaurants, coffee bars, tearooms, fitness clubs, theaters, farms, gardens, etc. that maximize flexibility and variability.

The elevator and staircase shown in the floor plan are used for the upper floors of this apartment, and the staircase serves as the safety evacuation staircase for the high-rise building (elevators and safety evacuation staircases will service both residents from the competition units and residents from upper floors). The design solution for this competition project needs to consider the transportation system for vertical communities, and also distinguish the public streamlines from the residential streamlines.

1) The International Healthcare Area Talent Apartment in the International Healthcare Area, Jiangbei New Area, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China is located in a green, low-carbon park in a residential area. The total construction area covers 22,270 square meters, and the total height is 100 meters. It is expected to accommodate 450 people in total.

2) This is the external landscape site, covering 2,163 square meters.

3) Part A will be the conceptual experiment unit of the future residence.Part B will be the public vertical community.

4) The conceptual experiment unit of future residence (15.3m - 35.1m)(Part A) has partial rooms no wider than 3 meters on the edges of the southern, eastern, and western sides.

5) The concrete core-tube and steel-framed construction of the building are established with a structural load of 12.5 KN/m2.