LIVE-WORK-PLAY: Redefining living conditions within a megalopolis

I've been playing with the idea of  building within an "extreme city" defined as a MEGALOPOLIS.

This term was "invented" or coined by Jean Gottmann, a French Geographer in his book; Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States, published in 1961 where he conducted a landmark four-year study of the Northeastern Corridor of the United States

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“… Generally the term MEGALOPOLIS describes any densely populated social and economic entity encompassing two or more cities and the increasingly urbanized space between them. It particularly came to describe the urbanized region of the northeastern U.S. that arose in the second half of the 20th century. Stretching between the metropolitan areas of Boston on the northeast to Washington, D.C., on the southwest, it included the metropolitan areas of New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Md. The name, meaning “great city,” was coined by French geographer Jean Gottmann.” – Merriam Webster Concise Encyclopedia

After scheming through several definitions and starting off with my site (Lagos, Nigeria), I discovered this term associates strongly with the city's make-up.

Lagos is made up of pockets of tight knit settlements or "min-cities" called "districts" and became that way due to several factors over the years;

• It's proximity to the water
• Inevitably turning into a port city
• Trades occurring through this channel
• Allowing the ability for colonizers to export goods easily in the 20th century
• Development stemmed from this allowing Lagos to become an ECONOMIC CENTER 

By highlighting the CHARACTERISTICS OF A MEGALOPOLIS from Gottmann's book;

• Highly population density
• Concentrated money market
• Land distribution “revolution” that creates a symbiotic relationship between Rural & Urban
• Jobs & Trade cycle due to high population density producing a high consumer rate and therefore a high demand for workers to produce the commodities needed to sustain the city.
• Fluid transportation networks
•  Heavy cultural influence, based on being the center of activities of entertainment, publishing, broadcasting etc..

I began to create a purpose to the conditions of the site selected.

CONDITION: congested mega-city with a consistent fabric generated by opportunity, development, industrialization and technology which generates a rich and fruitful job market.

ISSUE/CRITIQUE:

With the integration of mini cities becoming megalopolitan, an architect needs to address issues associated with the neglected infrastructure of these large and rapidly developing cities, that result in TRAFFIC congestion. This happens because the average professional spends hours in traffic commuting from a farther district towards the core where the majority of firms and offices are located.

POSITION:

If development does not grow in a parallel manner and infrastructure are treated as mutually exclusive elements in the growth of a city, which poses a disconnect in the relationship between people and how they experience the architecture of the city begins to emerge.

HYPOTHESIS

Cities will intensify over the next 50 years, are we as architects designing to accommodate this anticipated or foreseen growth?

The architecture/built form within a city described as a “megalopolis” can be split into 3 main categories based on an individuals personal ROUTINE;

• The house/home; resideNCE
• The place where they carry out activities of sustenance; OFFICE/WORK-SCHOOL-BANK + the place to maintain HEALTH
• The place for ENTERTAINMENT

STRATEGIES

Attempt 1:

1. Applying contextual fabric with design; in this case maybe designing in water
2. Create user engagement with their immediate context
3. Marrying the user with his context to produce a LIVE-WORK situation

Koen Olthuis, princpal at Water Studio on his ideologies of floating cities and how they could be the "solution":

After discussing the vagueness of the above listed strategies, I developed a new set;

Attempt 2:

1. TEMPORAL INTENSIFICATION: Embodying the quality of the future and what Lagos would look like in 50 years.
   
2. MERGING ROUTINE: Bringing users daily functions into one, thereby redefining and creating a new definition of the idea of RESIDENCE. This is specific and caters to users who can function and work offline.
   
3.  INTEGRATING BUILT FORM W/ EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE: this allows for easier circulation/movement between the living component and the working/service component. The building then becomes a device that re-directs people to use alternate routes which in essense reduce congestion. Identifying nodes, hot spots and points of congestion, and having built form manifest within these spaces.
   

Attempt 3 :

Highlighting and identifying first the issues of congestion;

• Overcrowding in more affordable areas which result in pollution
• Increased and dense number of cars on the road due to the daily migration towards the areas of work opportunities
• This causes traffic jams due to commercial spaces being too far and separate from (cost-effective) living spaces/conditions 

These STRATEGIES emerge;

1. Creating An enjoyable space that encompasses the daily routine qualities of inhabitants of a city; LIVE-WORK-PLAY, to be merged within one, that deters people from frequently wanting or needing to leave the building for external functions.
   
2. Maximizing the use of existing infrastructural networks by integrating the new proposal with it.
3. Optimizing some left-over spaces and retrofitting existing buildings within the city to encourage alternative living conditions for workers who live in the area.
   
   
   
   
    

By creating a narrative, I’ll begin to consider developing an architectural response which minimizes the stresses of commuting into the downtown area. 

Here is a clip of one of the busiest commercial streets in Lagos; Awolowo Road. This road used to be strictly residential in the 60's and even in colonialist times.

It has now become predominantly commercial, with numerous bank head offices and even gas stations, shops, firms and a sprinkle of residential units located along this road.

By changing the experience of a potential commuter who is drawn to the opportunities of the core of the city for work, a space which allows for on-site productivity to flourish begins to emerge.

Creating a "new typology" (dynamic space) will begin to eliminates or alleviates the issues of the lack of space within a congested urban fabric; both from the perspective of the employer and employee, within the context of work.

Attempt 4:

1. Creating separate spaces or the illusion that evokes a sense of transition between functions (in essence making you feel like you are mentally changing zones as you move from the LIVING ZONE to the WORKING ZONE).
   
2.  Creating spaces that allow for modules of routine to be added on or plugged into single functions to accommodate the live-work typology based on ones need. Meaning if someone already owns a home, they could "add-on" the work module to their home to birth the live-work typology which allows them to carry out their regular routines within their own space.
   
3. Allowing for this "new typology/dynamic space" to possess elements of flexibility. Creating the ability to be situated in any location it is placed in; be it by the water, on a major street or in the middle of a planned community area.
   

EXPERIMENT

Would an architect be needed in this response??

I believe that architecture should...

STRATEGY: DESIGN a dynamic LIVE-WORK space/condition.

TO WHAT END?? : to encompass and alleviate the need for vehicular commuting and encourage pedestrian movement, as well as promote the use of alternate mobility devices [e.g. personal bicycles and existing commercial power bikes called "okada". The resident of the live-work home would only need to leave his place or work meetings, client meetings and other errands pertaining to his/her work

Is the problem clear and …..has this been addressed effectively as per the 4th attempt of strategies?

*Dying slowly here*

Cheers!
A.