Housing of the future, rethought

High density housing has already become the norm in most large cities nowadays. What we have done though, is take the same things that we have been doing with regular houses, made them more compact, and stacked them on top of each other. That is what the majority of today’s apartment blocks really are.

Take a look at this design by the engineering and architecture firm, Arup - it is a complete rethink:

While I am personally not the biggest fan of high density housing, I do see it as an eventuality - the land area on this Earth is constant, but the number of inhabitants populating said area is ever increasing. If it needs to be done, it should be done right, and this is a design which I feel there is lots to love about. 

The biggest reason for this is because the design appears to have had sustainability and environmental friendliness at its core guiding principle.

Reliance on power off the grid is offset by in-house (no pun intended) renewable energy systems. Not to mention energy efficiency boosters.

Interestingly it highlights novel new ways of possible urban transportation in the future - with many of them nods toward collaborative consumption.

Public transport integrates right into the basement levels of the building. There are car pooling and bicycle pooling stations here as well.

Cable cars and green walkways connect the high rise buildings at their middle story. These are particularly interesting because vertical transportation time is an oft overlooked factor in high density housing.

It manages all of that, while still looking rather sleek and cool. I would prefer these to become reality sooner rather than later!