Aria, the flying city
Design by Jacopo Ascari
St. Petersburg, Russia
2018
competition
What would occur if the city and the urban elements were arranged in layers? And if cities really adapted to the dawning urban aerial mobility, thus becoming celestial bodies themselves, floating in the atmosphere? The project, put forth for a suburb of St. Petersburg, in Russia, tackles the issue by means of the masterplan of a hypothetical flying city, consisting of two “decks” dedicated to public activities, as meeting places based on the Hippodamus grid plan, a sequence of buildings and open spaces.
Between the two decks, a cloud shields and hides the residential area, designed in layers, around “ avenues of light “, essential in order to keep the whole system in flight. The residential function is thus organized around “clusters”, a reinterpretation of neighborhood communities in the sky.
To see the stars once again.
Date:
22 January 2021
