Density and height

Ensemble and master plan

Density and height

Timelessintensity of use · stepping · maximum height · densidad y altura (Spanish)

housing complexcity centermixed-use developmentcampusneighborhood

It is the decision of how much is built on a site and to what height. It is also how that height is distributed between the street edge and the interior of the development.

Solves

What it solves

A well-distributed medium density brings shops, services and transit within walking distance and curbs sprawl over the countryside. Stepped heights let sun, breeze and views reach the street and courtyards.

Today

Place the greatest height where it does not take sun from courtyards or the street and lower it toward neighbors and sidewalks. Measure density together with the open spaces, trees and transit that accompany it.

Common mistake

Measuring success only in built square meters and raising isolated towers over parking, which add people without a lively street or shade for walking.

Tomorrow

With more heat, the shape of density decides whether a street can be walked at midday. Mid-rise buildings with courtyards, passages and trees house many people and let breeze and rain reach the ground.

Fact In Belapur, Navi Mumbai, low houses on lots of 45 to 70 square meters reached about 500 people per hectare, counting open spaces and schools.

Where it comes from

  • 1Imperial Rome Rome, Italy, 1st century BC
    Augustus limited the height of rental buildings (insulae) to about 70 Roman feet, about 21 meters, because they caught fire and collapsed. Trajan later lowered it to 60 feet.
  • 21916 Zoning Resolution New York, United States, 1916
    The first citywide zoning in the United States required tall buildings to set back so light and air could reach the street, hence the stepped skyscrapers.

Masters

  • Charles Correa Belapur Incremental Housing, Navi Mumbai, India, 1986
    He showed that high density is possible in low houses grouped around shared courtyards, each on its own lot and with room to grow.

Appears in the routes

Sources

See also

Also in Ensemble and master plan

Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.