FREE's urban prototype is on show at the 2nd creativity world biennale as part of the CRio festival from november 21-25, 2012.
FREE City is an urban prototype for building new cities in emerging economies of the XXI century. Imagine a city where people in developing countries are able to contribute towards society and enjoy the liberties of urban life in a holistic economy. Envision a place where residents are guaranteed security, healthcare and education; a city where access to information is unrestricted and innovative technologies are fully integrated into everyday life. What if policy-making were determined by factual data and not political disputes? Cities must embrace these types of opportunities and help redefine the way we live today.
FREE proposes a new urban master plan that synthesizes three existing urban typologies: the radial city, the hexagonal connection and the urban grid. The scheme organizes the city in a radial manner, creating a hierarchical zoning strategy and allows for continuous growth in all directions. A rectangular grid is superimposed in each sector and hexagonal rings optimize the proximity between the various axis. An efficient public transit network allows the city to be free of cars – all residents are perpetually within a 8-minute walking distance from a tram station. Block types range from the efficient rectangular blocks at the periphery to circular blocks in the city-center, where the overlapping and interlocking of programmatic elements creates a new definition for vertical urbanism. The desire is to create an urban model that integrates ideas of sustainability, population growth and urban interactions in an intelligent and systematic manner, prompting us to redefine the notion of a 21st century city.
CREDITS
Program.- Urban planning
Size.- 100 km²
Date.- 20012
Status.- Project
Design.- Fernando Romero, Sérgio Rebelo, Armando Ramos, Antonia Wai, Leonidas Trampoukis, Ryan Kukuraitis, Fernando Torres, Alexander Middleton,
Denis Bondar, Daniela Gallo, Mark Paz, Adrian Reifer, Olivier Brouillard (Complexity.Fr).
Environment & Infrastructure.- Byron Stigge (Buro Happold).
Animation.- Lucas Werthein (Super Uber), Shahar Zaks (Super Uber), Molly Schwartz (Super Uber).
Sound Design.- Liv Spencer (Still Going Records).
Models.- Michael Kennedy (Kennedy Fabrications), Jamie Scott (Kennedy Fabrications).
Renderings.- Christopher Shelley, Juan Carlos Ramos.
