spotlight 2011- sky scraper design-IIT ROORKEE

The excessive concentration of urban population in metropolitan cities has given rise to a plethora of urban problems. As financial resources of municipal corporations are meagre,in order to meet the growing demand for essential services, the increase in public and private investments for expansion and improvement of urban housing and infrastructure has to be proposed.
Thus, new ideas, new paradigms, new approach to building and construction are needed to improve the quality of life, all for a better tomorrow.

So far, Urban Planning in Indian cities is carried adverting to the various zones (residential, commercial, administrative, industrial etc). The accretion in the transport aberrancies are one of the major concerns of infrastructure development. Most of the proposed transport systems are renderd redundant shortly after their inception. This causes not only wastage of time in traveling from one's own residence to work place but also the annoying botheration of traffic.

While planning in accord with the future demands, apart from energy issues, the problems faced by ongoing urban planning need to be catered. Hence, before expanding the cities or planning new ones, some novel ideas need to be proposed and thought over for tackling the issues being faced in present and probable issues that may arise in future.

Problem:

The new proposal for Urban Planning talks about amalgamating the Office and Residential Spacesrather than adhering to the on-going urban planning of segregating various zones (Residential, Administrative and Commercial) from each other. The design brief proposes to combine the various urban zones and develop a building prototype for the new structured city - a single complex of Bioclimatic Twin-Skyscrapers (two towers) incorporating residences as well as office spaces and thereby creating a holistic environment for sustainable living. The proposed city is in the vicinity (50-60 km) of a Tier II city in Hot-Humid Climatic Zone. Circulation within the building and hierarchy of spaces shall be the integral factors. The building should aim to have a minimum environmental footprint. The tower should be an iconic landmark in the city representing the vibrance of the city and simultaneously meeting its growing needs.

The problem statement can be downloaded from: http://www.cognizance.org.in/2011/departments/archi/spotlight.php