Urban Gallery

Since the dawn of high-rise buildings, human relationships have been limited by the floors. Compared to the pre-industrialized era where residential streets fostered community socialization, it is safe to say our relationships are constrained to the physical boundaries that surround us. Especially large cities such as New York, Chicago, Tokyo and Hong Kong, citizens lack compassion towards each other, treating neighbors as strangers.

The fundamental problem of this phenomenon originates from the stacked floor arrangements that divide people. I believe it's not people's choices to be indifferent to each other; our built environment induces this behavior. The solution is to integrate a new concept of vertical plazas to the design of high-rise buildings. This social space provides citizens not only multiple paths of movement, but also the chances to interact with people outside of the boundary that vertical floors create.

This thesis explores the possibilities of the architecture as a contributor of better human relationship.