Translating Data into Types
With the topological data extracted from the tissue, we can translate our cells and clusters into typological components.
These building blocks will each bring with them rules for combination which will suggest access and aspect, public/private character, circulation, and sectional differentiation.
Public and private spaces will be allocated providing different spatial character to the clusters. Greenhouses and newly formed communal spaces will be exploited for both access and production.
The rules developed in this section should be seen as part a master planning tool, to be put into the hands of individual architects and designers in the interest of the collective manifestation of the Productive City.
Base Components
Our typological types inform the differentiation of dwelling units that will form the base components of our new combinatorial typologies. These base components can be related to familiar dwelling types found in most urban environments.
Single cells, Linear and Linear Branching Chains suggest individual direct access, and dual aspect, that is light and air from two sides, most likely front and back, resembling what we might call a row house type.
Double chains are more likely to provide access through internal corridors with single aspect units, such as those found in apartment/block type buildings.
Loops suggest a courtyard type, but can be further differentiated as single or dual aspect units arranged in a courtyard configuration. The difference being that access is via a semi-private communal space, which is distinct from access directly from the circulatory network.
Relationship to Production
When productive units are added to these base types, further differentiation is generated. Production units can be classified as public, communal (semi-private) or private based on scale, topology, and adjacency to the circulatory networks.
When public or communal production is situated between the dwellings and circulatory networks, these can serve as a semi-public/private gradient and suggest social-mixing spaces for residents in these clusters.
Providing circulatory space within these units creates opportunities for flows of people between dwellings and the two circulatory networks, the primary urban network on the outside of the blocks, and the secondary green/recreational network on the interiors.
Sectional Opportunities
These same relationships can be exploited in section as well. Corridor access can be accommodated within the dwelling clusters, with the introduction of new communal spaces providing the buffer between the semi-private corridor and the connection to the public urban space. On the other hand, direct access, dual aspect units can circulate vertically in tall public/semi-public atrium-like greenhouse volumes.
The terracing generated by our building height redistribution provides opportunities for private productive spaces on the adjacent roofs. These can manifest as small private, or communal outdoor spaces or greenhouses. Alternatively, some climates, such as those in higher colder latitudes, might suggest large greenhouse envelopes. These might be constructed as temporary structures which are seasonal, or might be used to transition a territory longer term, from a colder climate to a warmer one as is projected due to global warming.
