VOLUMETRIC POROSITY - OPENING UP THE TOWER

Abstract

In light of the increasing size of downtown Central Business Districts(CBDs) in cities across the world, there is no doubt that these heavily built up areas will continue to sprawl beyond their current boundaries. Yet with a finite amount of land, the question is no longer “if cities are going to develop higher” but rather “how cities will develop higher”. For future development of cities, it is important to seek ways to open up the dominating linearity of the tower, and bring softer elements back into the landscape giving a portion of the space taken away back to the public. By introducing the concept of volumetric porosity into buildings, the public sphere can be allowed to grow vertically alongside the city’s development. Opening up the tower also allows the creation of pockets of spaces that not only provides the chance to reintroduce greenery back into the landscape but also to facilitate better ventilation on the urban scale. In addition, from a design standpoint, the versatility of the concept of volumetric porosity allows for endless possibilities on experiments of shapes, forms and the interaction between the solid and void spaces. Despite its potential, the concept of volumetric porosity a fairly new and underused strategy in the designing of skyscrapers seen today. Amongst problems such as structural and maintenance issues the biggest obstacle for volumetric porosity is cost. Through studying the context of expanding CBD areas in Asia and understanding the tectonics of the skyscraper as a single element, this paper seeks to analyse and provide a deeper insight into the benefits and challenges of the concept of volumetric porosity and how it could be applied in future projects. In addition, this paper also aims to illustrate how designing in-line with the concept of volumetric porosity could potentially add value to future constructions in heavily built-up downtown business districts.