As the global population rises and cities become more crowded, the fabric of urban centers is changing. The downtown circle project establishes a sustainable and self-sufficient vertical urbanism.
As a singular mega building complex, it aims to create a hyper-efficient urban center The proposed 550-meter-tall megastructure offers an alternative to the singular and unconnected high-rises found in most metropolitan areas and nowhere is the phenomenon more pronounced than in Dubai, where rapid urbanization drive has prompted rapid urban growth characterized by skyscrapers and sprawl.
With a circumference of 3000 meters the downtown circle functions as a continuous metropolis.
The architecture hovers over downtown Dubai and circumvents around the Burj Khalifa drawing the most invigorating views and fresh and clean air from the skypark which forms the central spine of the development.
The enormous scale of the structure is broken down into smaller units to create a variety of spaces to serve public, commercial, and cultural programs. The mix use project offers a great variety of office and housing typologies, from large office surfaces to living/working units, from lofts to townhouses, from terraced houses to patio living.
The footprint of the building is composed of two main rings, which are held together by a continuous green belt – the “skypark" – which is illuminated with natural light and has offices and research centres embedded in it. The “skypark" connects the floors with each other vertically and thus creates a connected three-dimensional urban green eco system.
Skypark concept is a potential answer to the global search for new, mixed urban typologies, which combine high densities and lavish greenery, dynamic urban functions and a high-quality user experience, as a means of doing justice to the demand for both climate protection and environmental excellence.
For transportation, a fleet of suspended peripheral pods transport passengers from one node to another in the Downtown circle. These suspended vessels, travel through a network of rail at the bottom tier to get to their destination.
Here, pods with room for twenty people are loaded at the outer perimeter ring and are connected through a pressurized vessel attached to the main lift cores that brings in the passengers. These hyper pods can travel at speeds of 100 kilometres per hour and make traveling from one point to another super-efficient and smooth. The pods also capture a 360 view of the entire city at the height of 500 mts.
