As the population continues to increase and cities expand in size, sustainable building solutions are needed now more than ever to help combat this unprecedented growth before it spirals out of control. This can cause cities to face problems in providing adequate housing, energy, transportation, and infrastructure to their inhabitants. Traditionally, solutions have included horizontal expansion of cities to outlying land surrounding the city center resulting in suburban neighborhoods and smaller cities sprouting up around a large metropolis. However, effects like urban sprawl can easily come into play as neighborhoods and suburbs begin to look at not what is best for the individual but for the developer. By exploring architectural alternatives, cities can look at new ways to combat urban sprawl while meeting the challenges of a growing populace head on. As a design solution, the vertical city can be one example of how architecture and design can help combat the consequences of rapid urban growth and expansion. Vertical cities look at combining the elements that make up a city into one massive structure that still offers residents and visitors a fully urban lifestyle while combatting urban sprawl and solving issues such as overcrowding and reduced resources. This is achieved by creating a highly blended and cohesive program that goes beyond traditional mixed-use typologies and implementing it into a design that responds to the city in which it lives. This technique can result in a vertical city that is an architectural response to a given problem rather than an imposition on a pre-existing landscape. This project is meant to serve as just one possibility when studying urban architecture. The idea of a vertical city means that it will be different depending on its location and this building is no different. It makes use of various design methods that help tailor the building to its own unique site and meet the needs of the city it is in. Therefore, the following project can be seen as one of many approaches to the vertical city and a proposed solution in exploring alternative urban architecture.
