SAVING THE CITY

Richard Rogers’s battle is geared towards sustainable massive quality housing and shelters. A master in the use of state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology, he has been exploring its use in living spaces and not only in the workplace (which is what he may best be known for).
The integrated systems and environmental efficiency with which each unit is built is one of the lines along which he has been doing research. But he also understands that the urban sprawl is something that needs to be addressed too. His proposal is therefore a search for different layouts that make intense use of scant urban land.
What is to be noted, though, is the deliberate introduction of a “spatial inefficiency.” There is a core that concentrates the infrastructure for basic services and vertical circulation, but the way the modules are arranged around the core leaves some voids. They introduce outdoor spaces which complement the efficiency in land use of any vertical structure with some of the freedom proper of the houses. But besides the mediation between interior and exterior that tall structures tend to miss, those voids introduce a principle of uncertainty that is desirable when looking for vital living environments. One can expect these to be the opportunity architecture gives for self-expression and adaptability to the diversity of human preferences and needs that closed “efficient” systems tend to neglect.