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'FREE city' by FREE
all images courtesy of FREE
'FREE city' is an urban prototype with a utopian vision designed by mexico city-based practice FREE. the scheme is envisioned to utilize the benefits of radial,
hexagonal and rectilinear grids to maintain radial organization, hierarchical zoning and logical growth. the typical block system is superimposed over
each sector and hexagonal ring to optimize proximity between locations. an efficient public transit network supports a car-free plan, ensuring residents are
never more than an 8 minute walk from a tram station.
districts are more circular towards the center and more rectangular towards the outer periphery. the centralized overlapping of programmatic areas generates
a vertical urbanism derived by the interlocking of these elements. population growth and urban interactions are developed sustainably and systematically,
eliminating wasted land, a current effect of sprawl.
FREE's urban prototype for building new cities in emerging economies of the 21st century, is on show at the 2nd creativity world biennale as part of
the CRio festival from november 21-25, 2012.
FREE city
video courtesy of FREE

components of the utopian vision
project info:
design: fernando romero, sérgio rebelo, armando ramos, antonia wai, leonidas trampoukis, ryan kukuraitis, fernando torres, alexander middleton,
denis bondar, daniela gallo, mark paz, adrian reifer, olivier brouillard (complexity.fr)
environment & infrastructure: byron stigge (buro happold)
animation: lucas werthein (super uber), shahar zaks (super uber), molly schwartz (super uber)
sound design: liv spencer (still going records)
models: michael kennedy (kennedy fabrications), jamie scott (kennedy fabrications)
renders: christopher shelley, juan carlos ramos
Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City meets Total Recall
diagram much?
a year round city inspired by the burning man layout/ pseudoutopia? Its better than my city.
pretty colors
It didn’t work in the “ideal city” of renaissance,
it didn’t work in Lutyen’s New Delhi,
it didn’t work in Howard’s garden city,
it won’t work anywhere.
Stop meaningless formalism – learn from slums how cities get lively.
IT LOOKS LIKE Metatron’s Cube
Would never want to live there and I would pose the question to anyone to tell me why this design is so ingenuitive that it would make u rethink ur perception of the urban cities of today?
Ambitious project! Not sure about some of the typologies. The overlapping circular buildings scare me. As far as the growth of the fabric, its brilliant! Could it be placed closer to the water? Maybe it could be half of a circle growing outwards from the river deltas. Over all, inspirational modern take on a Palmanovian utopia!
agree with “jaded” i think we should create more practical space
virtually no parks…
very mexico-cityish