Cellular Vertical Village – d3 Housing Tomorrow

By: Lidija Grozdanic | June - 20 - 2011

The “Vertical Village: A Sustainable Way of Village-style Living” by Yushang Zhang, Rajiv Sewtahal, Riemer Postma, and Qianqian Cai (with studio tutor Alexander Sverdlov, at The Why Factory of professor Winy Maas (MVRDV) at the TU Delft) was recently awarded the first prize in the d3 Housing Tomorrow 2011 Competition.
The proposal investigates medium density housing as a new way to enjoy village living without occupying conventional land area. The Vertical Village tries to achieve this goal. For the team’s studio work in The Why Factory  they analyzed the pros and cons of typical spatial organization of both traditional village and urban high‐rise residences and determined this concept of “3D plot division” inside a vertical volume to realize the idea of a vertical village.
This division is based on the 3D Voronoi algorithmic system, translating the relation of points into interfaces to divide a certain volume into individual cells. If every cell is owned by one family, changing the positions of points allows an opportunity for various 3D individual domains.Control of the generation of points is essential — every point should be relatively orthogonal to its nearest point, so that every cell offers the largest surface perpendicular or parallel to the horizon. Some activities, such as cooking or studying, rely on those orthogonal surfaces, while others, including gardening or leisure, may occupy more irregular zones. Therefore, both practical and dramatic spaces have been defined by this system.Each family can decide where and how to place their house inside their own 3D plot. A series of cells is designed as circulation and public facilities to provide dwellers with conveniences and places to convene in collective activities. In the end, collective dwelling is not simple stacking layers, but rather, a more complex yet organized co-existence of unique individual domains in a vertical community.