Hey, are you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind? My name is Robert.

Hey, are you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind? My name is Robert.

Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday, so we are bringing you an episode from the vault. This one originally published on July fourteenth, twenty twenty two, and it's part two of our series on the Skybridge.

Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday, so we are bringing you an episode from the vault. This one originally published on July fourteenth, twenty twenty two, and it's part two of our series on the Skybridge.

I hope you enjoy.

I hope you enjoy.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert.

Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert.

Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and we're back with part two of our talk about sky bridges or skyways. If you haven't heard part one yet, maybe you should go check that one out first, but as a brief refresher, a skybridge or a skyway is an architectural feature that you can think of as kind of a hallway in the sky, or an enclosed bridge linking two buildings by the upper floors. In the last episode, we talked about some modern examples of skybridges and some interesting ones from history, such as the Bridge of Size in Venice, Italy's enclosed passageway that may look romantic from the outside but has mostly historical associations with torture and prisons. But in the let's see, But in today's episode, I think we're going to be talking more about what skybridges mean, how they're interpreted, and how they might be used in the future.

Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and we're back with part two of our talk about sky bridges or skyways. If you haven't heard part one yet, maybe you should go check that one out first, but as a brief refresher, a skybridge or a skyway is an architectural feature that you can think of as kind of a hallway in the sky, or an enclosed bridge linking two buildings by the upper floors. In the last episode, we talked about some modern examples of skybridges and some interesting ones from history, such as the Bridge of Size in Venice, Italy's enclosed passageway that may look romantic from the outside but has mostly historical associations with torture and prisons. But in the let's see, But in today's episode, I think we're going to be talking more about what skybridges mean, how they're interpreted, and how they might be used in the future.

That's right. So, first of all, I do want to refer back to some examples, just briefly that we discussed the you know, just the idea of say, the powerful Metichi family in Italy using these enclosed spaces and occasional things that we would definitely categorize as a skybridge to move from one place to the other without interacting with enemies or commoners, et cetera. We also looked at some examples of royalty in China engaging in similar practices, using these as sort of privileged passage ways for royal members of society.

That's right. So, first of all, I do want to refer back to some examples, just briefly that we discussed the you know, just the idea of say, the powerful Metichi family in Italy using these enclosed spaces and occasional things that we would definitely categorize as a skybridge to move from one place to the other without interacting with enemies or commoners, et cetera. We also looked at some examples of royalty in China engaging in similar practices, using these as sort of privileged passage ways for royal members of society.

Oh so, what was the Chinese ruler who went about in these halls so that devils would not see where he walked and he could only embrace good people?

Oh so, what was the Chinese ruler who went about in these halls so that devils would not see where he walked and he could only embrace good people?

It said, yes, yes, that would have been in Bertin shi Wang. Yeah, so that he could quote act mysteriously to avoid devils and meanwhile embrace virtuous individuals. And one thing that we mentioned was that, yeah, Okay, this is one thing within a historical context, but generally speaking, I think a lot of us wouldn't want to overtly invoke that kind of idea. So in there we get to some of these sort of controversy and back and forth over just the nature of the skybridge, not only what it physically does, but also like what is it, what does it do in terms of society and urban planning, and just the larger nature of the city that goes beyond just mere structures and moving people around. And so I want to come back to the architect John Portman Junior. John Portman Junior lived nineteen twenty four through twenty seventeen American neo futurist architect and real estate developer. We mentioned some of the examples of his work here in Atlanta, Georgia. He's known for popularizing the atrium, but also in using a lot of sky bridges. Now, as we mentioned, of course, there are a number of practical reasons to have sky bridges in a structure, moving people around so they don't have to engage in say hostile environment, hot temperatures, freezing rain, that sort of thing. Also, you're going to have situations where you want to share resources within two different towers, so connect those towers at a higher floor. That way, people don't have to go all the way back down and then back up again, perhaps crossing a street, or you know, checking in and out of security along the way, that sort of thing. But in the case of Portman's Peachtree Center skybridges, there's apparently been controversy over the years over the use of such walkways. So this area emerged during the nineteen seventies, and while some of it is dated, some of it is still quite impressive. I have to say the Marta train station at Peachtree Center is probably the coolest looking one in the system. It has these rock walls as well as this kind of still I would say futuristic looking like shiny metal surfaces.

It said, yes, yes, that would have been in Bertin shi Wang. Yeah, so that he could quote act mysteriously to avoid devils and meanwhile embrace virtuous individuals. And one thing that we mentioned was that, yeah, Okay, this is one thing within a historical context, but generally speaking, I think a lot of us wouldn't want to overtly invoke that kind of idea. So in there we get to some of these sort of controversy and back and forth over just the nature of the skybridge, not only what it physically does, but also like what is it, what does it do in terms of society and urban planning, and just the larger nature of the city that goes beyond just mere structures and moving people around. And so I want to come back to the architect John Portman Junior. John Portman Junior lived nineteen twenty four through twenty seventeen American neo futurist architect and real estate developer. We mentioned some of the examples of his work here in Atlanta, Georgia. He's known for popularizing the atrium, but also in using a lot of sky bridges. Now, as we mentioned, of course, there are a number of practical reasons to have sky bridges in a structure, moving people around so they don't have to engage in say hostile environment, hot temperatures, freezing rain, that sort of thing. Also, you're going to have situations where you want to share resources within two different towers, so connect those towers at a higher floor. That way, people don't have to go all the way back down and then back up again, perhaps crossing a street, or you know, checking in and out of security along the way, that sort of thing. But in the case of Portman's Peachtree Center skybridges, there's apparently been controversy over the years over the use of such walkways. So this area emerged during the nineteen seventies, and while some of it is dated, some of it is still quite impressive. I have to say the Marta train station at Peachtree Center is probably the coolest looking one in the system. It has these rock walls as well as this kind of still I would say futuristic looking like shiny metal surfaces.

I don't know if he designed the Marta station in question, but there was one Marta station at least that was used as a setting for a cut scene in John Carpenter's Escape from New York. I think because it, you know, the sort of the blocky concrete fixtures, and it just looked futuristic enough.

I don't know if he designed the Marta station in question, but there was one Marta station at least that was used as a setting for a cut scene in John Carpenter's Escape from New York. I think because it, you know, the sort of the blocky concrete fixtures, and it just looked futuristic enough.

Yeah, yeah, certainly at the time that was was that five point station. I can't recall off hid but certainly.

Yeah, yeah, certainly at the time that was was that five point station. I can't recall off hid but certainly.

You're right on that sounds like, yeah, yeah.

You're right on that sounds like, yeah, yeah.

That also is a huge enclosed space that is impressive in its own way.

That also is a huge enclosed space that is impressive in its own way.

To walk through.

To walk through.

But at any rate, yeah, this is all part of the varying stages of revitalization efforts in downtown Atlanta, and during this time and especially the decades to follow, Peachtree Center was, in the eyes of its critics, this thing that by its very structure, sought to cut out street level Atlanta in its entirety, and not only people but businesses. So rather than optimistically futuristic, the critics would say, well, this is actually more wellsy and a world of privilege above cut off from the realities of the street below. There was one account that I was looking at of looking through various old news stories, and I saw one about I believe it was a janitor strike that was taking place, and this particular author had mentioned people avoiding the protesters by making use of the sky bridges, which seems like a stark example of the sort of you know, the sort of privileged walkway that in ways I think can be compared to some of these older models that we were discussing now. The nineteen seventies. We're also not a period during which green downtowns were prioritized to certainly not in Atlanta. So you know, one can can factor that into the kind of weirdly spaceship like architectural approach that one sees in some of these buildings. Were discussing so giant open atriums in buildings joined to each other by enclosed tunnels and bridges cut off from an outside, where you have a languishing downtown and also just everything's just a sweltering, gray heat island. This is actually one of the reasons that Trees Atlanta was founded in nineteen eighty five to begin the quote greening of downtown.

But at any rate, yeah, this is all part of the varying stages of revitalization efforts in downtown Atlanta, and during this time and especially the decades to follow, Peachtree Center was, in the eyes of its critics, this thing that by its very structure, sought to cut out street level Atlanta in its entirety, and not only people but businesses. So rather than optimistically futuristic, the critics would say, well, this is actually more wellsy and a world of privilege above cut off from the realities of the street below. There was one account that I was looking at of looking through various old news stories, and I saw one about I believe it was a janitor strike that was taking place, and this particular author had mentioned people avoiding the protesters by making use of the sky bridges, which seems like a stark example of the sort of you know, the sort of privileged walkway that in ways I think can be compared to some of these older models that we were discussing now. The nineteen seventies. We're also not a period during which green downtowns were prioritized to certainly not in Atlanta. So you know, one can can factor that into the kind of weirdly spaceship like architectural approach that one sees in some of these buildings. Were discussing so giant open atriums in buildings joined to each other by enclosed tunnels and bridges cut off from an outside, where you have a languishing downtown and also just everything's just a sweltering, gray heat island. This is actually one of the reasons that Trees Atlanta was founded in nineteen eighty five to begin the quote greening of downtown.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Oh, I didn't know that.

I don't know exactly how far this far back this reputation goes, but at least today Atlanta is known as a city that has an unusual amount of trees and in its urban center.

I don't know exactly how far this far back this reputation goes, but at least today Atlanta is known as a city that has an unusual amount of trees and in its urban center.

Yeah, well, as far as downtown Atlanta goes, especially, a lot of that is we can think Trees Atlanta for so all that's very very local to us. But I think these are all great examples of some of the you know, the discussions that take place over the use of the skybridge and next direction we'd like to go in, though, is taking a step back and talking about for the most part, taking a step back, but a lot of this is also still contemporary as well. But talking about futurism and the skybridge, the ideas that end up being wrapped up in concepts that have skybridges in them, you know, what we're actually trying to achieve, And what are some of the visions, sort of the loftier ideas that are caught up in all of this, And indeed, what are some of the really pivotal forward facing ideas that we can point to in the early twentieth century.

Yeah, well, as far as downtown Atlanta goes, especially, a lot of that is we can think Trees Atlanta for so all that's very very local to us. But I think these are all great examples of some of the you know, the discussions that take place over the use of the skybridge and next direction we'd like to go in, though, is taking a step back and talking about for the most part, taking a step back, but a lot of this is also still contemporary as well. But talking about futurism and the skybridge, the ideas that end up being wrapped up in concepts that have skybridges in them, you know, what we're actually trying to achieve, And what are some of the visions, sort of the loftier ideas that are caught up in all of this, And indeed, what are some of the really pivotal forward facing ideas that we can point to in the early twentieth century.

So when I was thinking about the social meaning of skybridges, especially in science fiction, it's interesting I have a general sense that skybridges are often used in fictional architecture to emphasize exactly this kind of theme you were just talking about. It was sort of people living in elevated tubes of privilege that disconnect them from the realities below. And one specific example is that I had a pretty distinct memory of the movie Metropolis, the nineteen twenty seven Fritz Long movie, sort of German expressionist science fiction masterpiece, and my idea at least in my head was that this movie was full of skybridges. But when I did a Google search, I didn't find a lot of examples. The main thing I actually found in screenshots appeared to be rail lines connecting the tops of buildings, and I found what looks like, I don't know, it looks like hand drawn illustrations based on the movie that do appear to have like connected enclosed hallways, But I'm not sure how accurate my memory that the city in Metropolis is full of skybridges is. Nevertheless, for some reason, I had that impression there certainly are these these elevated rail lines going between skyscraper tops and Metropolis is A is a great dystopian sci fi film, one of the major themes of which is economic injustice. It presents a sort of class bifurcated society where you have, you know, idle rich people sort of frittering away their days up in the tops of great tall buildings, apparently rarely or never having to go down into the streets. And meanwhile, the workers and the factories who make this techno utopia possible are confined to physically lower spaces, even subterranean tunnels and caverns, and eventually there is a revolt in the film. But the theme is certainly there. But though maybe it doesn't have as many skybridges as I actually remember. I don't know, maybe they're just not coming through in the screen, you know, grabs that people have put up on the internet.

So when I was thinking about the social meaning of skybridges, especially in science fiction, it's interesting I have a general sense that skybridges are often used in fictional architecture to emphasize exactly this kind of theme you were just talking about. It was sort of people living in elevated tubes of privilege that disconnect them from the realities below. And one specific example is that I had a pretty distinct memory of the movie Metropolis, the nineteen twenty seven Fritz Long movie, sort of German expressionist science fiction masterpiece, and my idea at least in my head was that this movie was full of skybridges. But when I did a Google search, I didn't find a lot of examples. The main thing I actually found in screenshots appeared to be rail lines connecting the tops of buildings, and I found what looks like, I don't know, it looks like hand drawn illustrations based on the movie that do appear to have like connected enclosed hallways, But I'm not sure how accurate my memory that the city in Metropolis is full of skybridges is. Nevertheless, for some reason, I had that impression there certainly are these these elevated rail lines going between skyscraper tops and Metropolis is A is a great dystopian sci fi film, one of the major themes of which is economic injustice. It presents a sort of class bifurcated society where you have, you know, idle rich people sort of frittering away their days up in the tops of great tall buildings, apparently rarely or never having to go down into the streets. And meanwhile, the workers and the factories who make this techno utopia possible are confined to physically lower spaces, even subterranean tunnels and caverns, and eventually there is a revolt in the film. But the theme is certainly there. But though maybe it doesn't have as many skybridges as I actually remember. I don't know, maybe they're just not coming through in the screen, you know, grabs that people have put up on the internet.

I think there are definitely skybridges in Metropolis. I know that some of the sources I was looking at they referenced specifically early twentieth century science fiction cinematography. And when you're talking about that, you're talking about Metropolis. I mean, Metropolis is the example of a futuristic cinema from especially the twenties part excellence. You know, this is it, this is the big one.

I think there are definitely skybridges in Metropolis. I know that some of the sources I was looking at they referenced specifically early twentieth century science fiction cinematography. And when you're talking about that, you're talking about Metropolis. I mean, Metropolis is the example of a futuristic cinema from especially the twenties part excellence. You know, this is it, this is the big one.

And I did want to note that this vision of tall buildings occupied by the rich at the top while the workers live down on the ground. This interestingly, it squares with some reality, such as the idea of like I don't know, you know, the penthouse apartment. But also the class associations are often inverted. Like I was reading some actual research papers about the psychological and social impact of living in tall buildings, which I'll get into in a minute, and these studies often cited the exact opposite that there are widespread assumptions of high rise living being associated with lack.

And I did want to note that this vision of tall buildings occupied by the rich at the top while the workers live down on the ground. This interestingly, it squares with some reality, such as the idea of like I don't know, you know, the penthouse apartment. But also the class associations are often inverted. Like I was reading some actual research papers about the psychological and social impact of living in tall buildings, which I'll get into in a minute, and these studies often cited the exact opposite that there are widespread assumptions of high rise living being associated with lack.

Of economic means.

Of economic means.

But as much is, architecture is often a metaphor for economic realities. I think also lots of sci fi has visions of future urban spaces where the tops of tall buildings are connected, and doesn't necessarily have that meaning. It's not always a class critique, I think sometimes instead it's supposed to be taken as a sign of a complex or complicated society, that there are avenues connecting things back and forth, like the like the arteries of a circulatory system, that it's a complex not of associations, resembling a kind of like the vines in a jungle in physical form. And of course, in fact, there's sort of a literal analogy to the biological architecture of a rainforest, because on a rainfores in a rainforest, you know, you have sort of one level of life going on at the forest floor, which of course is all connected by the continuous surface, but then you have the tree canopy level where the lateral connection of the ground level is replicated up above.

But as much is, architecture is often a metaphor for economic realities. I think also lots of sci fi has visions of future urban spaces where the tops of tall buildings are connected, and doesn't necessarily have that meaning. It's not always a class critique, I think sometimes instead it's supposed to be taken as a sign of a complex or complicated society, that there are avenues connecting things back and forth, like the like the arteries of a circulatory system, that it's a complex not of associations, resembling a kind of like the vines in a jungle in physical form. And of course, in fact, there's sort of a literal analogy to the biological architecture of a rainforest, because on a rainfores in a rainforest, you know, you have sort of one level of life going on at the forest floor, which of course is all connected by the continuous surface, but then you have the tree canopy level where the lateral connection of the ground level is replicated up above.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, And so I think even in sci fi movies without an economic critique. There we see all these hallways going back and forth between the skyscrapers, and it just makes us feel like, wow, it's so complex and there's so much going on, and it would be you know, it would be hard for me to even understand how the you know, the many layers of this society.

Yeah, And so I think even in sci fi movies without an economic critique. There we see all these hallways going back and forth between the skyscrapers, and it just makes us feel like, wow, it's so complex and there's so much going on, and it would be you know, it would be hard for me to even understand how the you know, the many layers of this society.

Yeah, because it's interesting to sort of crack this, not because one thing. And I'll come back to some sources that touch on this in a debt. If you think of like the upper pinhouse of a of a of a very tall building, a skyscraper, what have you, the thing is like that is a dead end. That is the point at which you generally have no choice but to turn around and come back down. And you know, you can say, oh, well maybe there's a helicopter port up there. Okay, well there's that. And certainly you can extend this by pointing out that while some of the futuristic visions of cities and where we're going where or have been planning, they also often involve say a whole bunch of flying cars moving around or other flying flying vehicles, flying machines that are serving as a way to connect these isolated islands in the sky. The classic examples of that would be like Blade Runner.

Yeah, because it's interesting to sort of crack this, not because one thing. And I'll come back to some sources that touch on this in a debt. If you think of like the upper pinhouse of a of a of a very tall building, a skyscraper, what have you, the thing is like that is a dead end. That is the point at which you generally have no choice but to turn around and come back down. And you know, you can say, oh, well maybe there's a helicopter port up there. Okay, well there's that. And certainly you can extend this by pointing out that while some of the futuristic visions of cities and where we're going where or have been planning, they also often involve say a whole bunch of flying cars moving around or other flying flying vehicles, flying machines that are serving as a way to connect these isolated islands in the sky. The classic examples of that would be like Blade Runner.

Now, I think you could assume that maybe with Blade Runner, like you look at some architectural features and say, there's implied critique here, there's some kind of implied critique about the society we're being shown. But there are other cases where I don't know if there is. It's just sort of like inherited science fiction texture. Like in the Star Wars prequels. You see that exacting traffic going back and forth at many levels. There's like you know, like the layers of a cake, the different crisscrossing streams of flying cars.

Now, I think you could assume that maybe with Blade Runner, like you look at some architectural features and say, there's implied critique here, there's some kind of implied critique about the society we're being shown. But there are other cases where I don't know if there is. It's just sort of like inherited science fiction texture. Like in the Star Wars prequels. You see that exacting traffic going back and forth at many levels. There's like you know, like the layers of a cake, the different crisscrossing streams of flying cars.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean there's definitely an underworld to Coroissant as well. But yeah, there are other films like I don't know, The Fifth Element, for example, has a lot of cool flying cars and that that feels might be more like just sci fi texture. But to come back to this idea like Coraissant with an underworld and all all this, I can't help but think, of course, of Dante's Inferno and all of this, and think again of the of the skyscraper as mountain in Dante's Divine Comedy. We of course have the complexities of the of the underworld of Inferno, we have the mount of Purgatory that extends upward and reaches the point of Paradise. Because because then in the third Book, of course, we have the heavenly realm and the heavenly realm. I guess we might we might well compare to some of these visions of the the the upper parts of skyscrapers being connected together. We don't want isolation and loneliness in our heavens. We want elaborate complexity.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean there's definitely an underworld to Coroissant as well. But yeah, there are other films like I don't know, The Fifth Element, for example, has a lot of cool flying cars and that that feels might be more like just sci fi texture. But to come back to this idea like Coraissant with an underworld and all all this, I can't help but think, of course, of Dante's Inferno and all of this, and think again of the of the skyscraper as mountain in Dante's Divine Comedy. We of course have the complexities of the of the underworld of Inferno, we have the mount of Purgatory that extends upward and reaches the point of Paradise. Because because then in the third Book, of course, we have the heavenly realm and the heavenly realm. I guess we might we might well compare to some of these visions of the the the upper parts of skyscrapers being connected together. We don't want isolation and loneliness in our heavens. We want elaborate complexity.

Ah, this may be a more apt analogy even than you intended, because you remember, like how often in the Paradiso Dante just talks about how like I couldn't describe what I was seeing.

Ah, this may be a more apt analogy even than you intended, because you remember, like how often in the Paradiso Dante just talks about how like I couldn't describe what I was seeing.

Yeah, it's just And certainly when you look at illustrations, it's you know, you can have a pretty firm map of of of the Inferno, pretty firm map of the amount of purgatory. But yeah, Paradise, it's just this swirling circles and interconnected wheels. Of course, any of these cinematic examples we're looking at, yeah, they harken back to Metropolis. Metropolis is the granddaddy of them all, and Metropolis is one of those movies that just stands the test of time, certainly worth taking a look at again. But while it is one of the most popular, enduring and certainly sci fi influential visions of skybridges and this interconnected skyscraper world, that film, too, was continuing trends of futurism, which apparently can be traced back to American folk artist Erastus Salisbury Field, who lived eighteen oh five through nineteen hundred, so didn't even live to see Metropolis, but he did this wonderfully intriguing work titled Historical Monument of the American Republic, eighteen sixty seven through eighteen eighty eight being the dates on this piece, And definitely look this up. You can find images of this online and Joe, I've included an image of this for you here.

Yeah, it's just And certainly when you look at illustrations, it's you know, you can have a pretty firm map of of of the Inferno, pretty firm map of the amount of purgatory. But yeah, Paradise, it's just this swirling circles and interconnected wheels. Of course, any of these cinematic examples we're looking at, yeah, they harken back to Metropolis. Metropolis is the granddaddy of them all, and Metropolis is one of those movies that just stands the test of time, certainly worth taking a look at again. But while it is one of the most popular, enduring and certainly sci fi influential visions of skybridges and this interconnected skyscraper world, that film, too, was continuing trends of futurism, which apparently can be traced back to American folk artist Erastus Salisbury Field, who lived eighteen oh five through nineteen hundred, so didn't even live to see Metropolis, but he did this wonderfully intriguing work titled Historical Monument of the American Republic, eighteen sixty seven through eighteen eighty eight being the dates on this piece, And definitely look this up. You can find images of this online and Joe, I've included an image of this for you here.

Oh okay, So I think this vision of the future is that everyone will get to live in their own Tower of Babbel.

Oh okay, So I think this vision of the future is that everyone will get to live in their own Tower of Babbel.

Yeah, it is. It is very h brugal esque. I would say these don't instantly read as skyscrapers to the modern eye, but I mean there are certainly architectural features here that you will see on modern tall buildings. But yeah, this is this looks like a fantastic realm.

Yeah, it is. It is very h brugal esque. I would say these don't instantly read as skyscrapers to the modern eye, but I mean there are certainly architectural features here that you will see on modern tall buildings. But yeah, this is this looks like a fantastic realm.

So, whereas in a more mundane age you have the jealous competition with your neighbor for who can have the prettier lawn or the fancier I don't know, satellite TV antenna, in this case, you're competing to see who can kill God first.

So, whereas in a more mundane age you have the jealous competition with your neighbor for who can have the prettier lawn or the fancier I don't know, satellite TV antenna, in this case, you're competing to see who can kill God first.

Yeah, and if they're going to pull it off, they're going to do it from these what look to be like penthouse temples, kind of Gozarian in their structure, that are all connected by bridges and have just oodles of statues at the top. I assume those are statues and this is and they literally appear to be clouds swirling around them.

Yeah, and if they're going to pull it off, they're going to do it from these what look to be like penthouse temples, kind of Gozarian in their structure, that are all connected by bridges and have just oodles of statues at the top. I assume those are statues and this is and they literally appear to be clouds swirling around them.

I mean it's a cool drawing.

I mean it's a cool drawing.

Yeah. Yeah. So this was created for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in eighteen seventy six and Wooden Sephariic, the authors that I have referenced in the first episode. They say that this image influenced a number of other artists, including Charles R. Lamb and Vernon hoe Bailey, who created the nineteen o eight Streets High in the Air illustrations. These are also worth checking out, and Joe I have included two examples of these for you.

Yeah. Yeah. So this was created for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in eighteen seventy six and Wooden Sephariic, the authors that I have referenced in the first episode. They say that this image influenced a number of other artists, including Charles R. Lamb and Vernon hoe Bailey, who created the nineteen o eight Streets High in the Air illustrations. These are also worth checking out, and Joe I have included two examples of these for you.

Now.

Now.

These are not necessarily skybridges or skyways in the more narrow sense that we were talking about earlier, of basically an enclosed hallway that's got stuff all around. But these are still interesting because they are ideas of the bridge connecting skyscrapers buildings at height having a second level or maybe multiple levels of lateral connection. But here they're just open streets. I mean that's interesting too.

These are not necessarily skybridges or skyways in the more narrow sense that we were talking about earlier, of basically an enclosed hallway that's got stuff all around. But these are still interesting because they are ideas of the bridge connecting skyscrapers buildings at height having a second level or maybe multiple levels of lateral connection. But here they're just open streets. I mean that's interesting too.

Yeah, and you see a train moving through one of them, like a great worm burrowing through this behemoth. Yeah. These are impressive images that also have you know, maybe it's the coloration, or at least the versions I have here, Like one is definitely like a charcoal looking black and white, and the other has this kind of washed out like orange and brown tint to it. It makes it feel kind of apocalyptic in some ways, but still this Yeah, this was roughly twenty years before we'd see such images in cinema. Another key twentieth century figure in all of this was editor and publisher Moses King, who commissioned many such images for King's Views of New York. This was a book that came out, and I've included a cover from this publication for you, Joe, and as you can see this one's just crazy with it. They're just bridges connecting all of these skyscrapers, skyscrapers that look more contemporary for this time period. But then also flying machines galore.

Yeah, and you see a train moving through one of them, like a great worm burrowing through this behemoth. Yeah. These are impressive images that also have you know, maybe it's the coloration, or at least the versions I have here, Like one is definitely like a charcoal looking black and white, and the other has this kind of washed out like orange and brown tint to it. It makes it feel kind of apocalyptic in some ways, but still this Yeah, this was roughly twenty years before we'd see such images in cinema. Another key twentieth century figure in all of this was editor and publisher Moses King, who commissioned many such images for King's Views of New York. This was a book that came out, and I've included a cover from this publication for you, Joe, and as you can see this one's just crazy with it. They're just bridges connecting all of these skyscrapers, skyscrapers that look more contemporary for this time period. But then also flying machines galore.

Oh, your city's full of biplanes, well minds full of triplanes.

Oh, your city's full of biplanes, well minds full of triplanes.

Yep, yep. I see some airships. Pretty fantastic looking. So this is what would and Sophariic have to say in their paper, and that paper again if anyone wants to check that out, it is Skybridge is a history and a view to the near future, they write. Quote. The early Skybridge sky city portrayals came about as a direct response to very real urban issues which were pressing at the time. Primary of these urban issues was the impact that both tall buildings and increased vehicular traffic were having on the ground floor urban condition. Tall buildings were increasingly growing in height and overcrowding the street, and the conflict between pedestrian and the hicular traffic was increasing. The recurring themes in all the early futuristic visions evolved as a response to these problems, both the stepped back tiered skyscraper and the multi level circulation system. The stepped back skyscraper was seen as a way to preserve light and air on congested, over developed New York streets, and the multi level circulation system a practical organizational tool to handle the vast number of new vehicles and people flooding into the city.

Yep, yep. I see some airships. Pretty fantastic looking. So this is what would and Sophariic have to say in their paper, and that paper again if anyone wants to check that out, it is Skybridge is a history and a view to the near future, they write. Quote. The early Skybridge sky city portrayals came about as a direct response to very real urban issues which were pressing at the time. Primary of these urban issues was the impact that both tall buildings and increased vehicular traffic were having on the ground floor urban condition. Tall buildings were increasingly growing in height and overcrowding the street, and the conflict between pedestrian and the hicular traffic was increasing. The recurring themes in all the early futuristic visions evolved as a response to these problems, both the stepped back tiered skyscraper and the multi level circulation system. The stepped back skyscraper was seen as a way to preserve light and air on congested, over developed New York streets, and the multi level circulation system a practical organizational tool to handle the vast number of new vehicles and people flooding into the city.

So to come in to rob, I don't think you explained this one yet, but the idea of the stepped back tiered skyscraper results also interesting. So you're imagining something well, actually, this might explain the idea of the why the towers in that drawing look like the tower of Babbel from Breugel, you know that, like it's terraced I don't know what you call it, stadium seating levels. You know they go back each level, and this, I guess would let more light into the city.

So to come in to rob, I don't think you explained this one yet, but the idea of the stepped back tiered skyscraper results also interesting. So you're imagining something well, actually, this might explain the idea of the why the towers in that drawing look like the tower of Babbel from Breugel, you know that, like it's terraced I don't know what you call it, stadium seating levels. You know they go back each level, and this, I guess would let more light into the city.

Right, I mean this will also factor into a few other design issues that and engineering issues that were definitely present in buildings of that time period. And sometimes it was like the code of the city that if you built it, you had to have upper levels step back from the street a certain amount.

Right, I mean this will also factor into a few other design issues that and engineering issues that were definitely present in buildings of that time period. And sometimes it was like the code of the city that if you built it, you had to have upper levels step back from the street a certain amount.

Interesting.

Interesting.

Now, another name to mention here American architect, illustrator and poet Hugh Ferris, no connection to Gail Ferris, junior of Ferris Wheel fame. Their last names are spelled differently, but Hugh Ferris another big name who created some images for nineteen twenty nine's The Metropolis of Tomorrow and Joe. If you look at these, just beautiful art deco black and white illustrations. These are pretty fabulous, Like this is Gotham City.

Now, another name to mention here American architect, illustrator and poet Hugh Ferris, no connection to Gail Ferris, junior of Ferris Wheel fame. Their last names are spelled differently, but Hugh Ferris another big name who created some images for nineteen twenty nine's The Metropolis of Tomorrow and Joe. If you look at these, just beautiful art deco black and white illustrations. These are pretty fabulous, Like this is Gotham City.

They make me think of the Oscar Statue for some reason.

They make me think of the Oscar Statue for some reason.

Yeah, yeah, I.

Yeah, yeah, I.

Couldn't say why, but they are very pretty.

Couldn't say why, but they are very pretty.

Yeah, So I guess I just want to drive home that. Yeah, this craving for skybridges and interconnected skyscrapers like this, it's kind of this mix of this attempt to solve practical problems while also clearly to you know, to create beautiful architecture to bring dreams into physical reality. And I imagine there's a bit of push and pull between those those aspirations.

Yeah, So I guess I just want to drive home that. Yeah, this craving for skybridges and interconnected skyscrapers like this, it's kind of this mix of this attempt to solve practical problems while also clearly to you know, to create beautiful architecture to bring dreams into physical reality. And I imagine there's a bit of push and pull between those those aspirations.

Well, yeah, and I think you you know, we've talked about some of the dystopian associations of skybridges in science fiction, but they certainly don't have to have those, And in some ways you could look at interconnecting higher levels of buildings as a very positive social outcome, especially given that it just looks like, the reality is urban population density is probably going to continue to increase. You know, there are strong urbanization trends worldwide. People are more often just moving further into city centers. In twenty fifteen, fifty four percent of the world's population lived in cities. The World Health Organization estimates that by twenty fifty that number will probably climb to about sixty six percent. It's hard to know for sure, but if you know, trends continue, so people are continually crowding more and more into cities. Population density is increasing, and where we're going to fit all those people. There is no way to generate additional surface area, So the main direction you have to go would be up or down. So I guess you could dig into tunnels, but you know, natural light is nice, so you want to go up.

Well, yeah, and I think you you know, we've talked about some of the dystopian associations of skybridges in science fiction, but they certainly don't have to have those, And in some ways you could look at interconnecting higher levels of buildings as a very positive social outcome, especially given that it just looks like, the reality is urban population density is probably going to continue to increase. You know, there are strong urbanization trends worldwide. People are more often just moving further into city centers. In twenty fifteen, fifty four percent of the world's population lived in cities. The World Health Organization estimates that by twenty fifty that number will probably climb to about sixty six percent. It's hard to know for sure, but if you know, trends continue, so people are continually crowding more and more into cities. Population density is increasing, and where we're going to fit all those people. There is no way to generate additional surface area, So the main direction you have to go would be up or down. So I guess you could dig into tunnels, but you know, natural light is nice, so you want to go up.

Yeah. Yeah, And to your point, like access is also a big point that's not necessarily going to be as baked into the architectural design, you know, just to take it in a different direction. It's like the difference between a fully public park and a and a membership based golf course in a city. Yes, like one of the they're both big green spaces, but they're totally different in how they connect with the city and the people of.

Yeah. Yeah, And to your point, like access is also a big point that's not necessarily going to be as baked into the architectural design, you know, just to take it in a different direction. It's like the difference between a fully public park and a and a membership based golf course in a city. Yes, like one of the they're both big green spaces, but they're totally different in how they connect with the city and the people of.

The city exactly. So you can imagine a city full of tall buildings that are connected at upper levels, just providing new kind of public spaces in the In the better version of this future, where you know, it's like the streets below, there's new things to see and do up there, new places to live and sites to visit. And so when you look at these sci fi visions of a future where tall buildings are often connected by skybridges and other lateral thoroughfares, again creating a kind of like the canopy level of the trees and a rainforest, it implies a society where one can travel from building to building at the top level without ever having to go down to the bottom, exit the building, and use the surface level streets. And I guess what that means about if you're trying to imagine the life people would live in that environment, it's just a life where there are fewer reasons to exit the high rise environment. So today, if you live in a tall building, you probably need to exit that building to do most things, to see family and friends, to go to work, to go shopping, and so forth. But what if all of those things were also in the tops of nearby buildings, and you could travel across skybridges from one to the other. That's clearly a future that some people have in mind, and it's not impossible to imagine something like this, But if you are imagining that as the future, it's worth asking how would this situation affect.

The city exactly. So you can imagine a city full of tall buildings that are connected at upper levels, just providing new kind of public spaces in the In the better version of this future, where you know, it's like the streets below, there's new things to see and do up there, new places to live and sites to visit. And so when you look at these sci fi visions of a future where tall buildings are often connected by skybridges and other lateral thoroughfares, again creating a kind of like the canopy level of the trees and a rainforest, it implies a society where one can travel from building to building at the top level without ever having to go down to the bottom, exit the building, and use the surface level streets. And I guess what that means about if you're trying to imagine the life people would live in that environment, it's just a life where there are fewer reasons to exit the high rise environment. So today, if you live in a tall building, you probably need to exit that building to do most things, to see family and friends, to go to work, to go shopping, and so forth. But what if all of those things were also in the tops of nearby buildings, and you could travel across skybridges from one to the other. That's clearly a future that some people have in mind, and it's not impossible to imagine something like this, But if you are imagining that as the future, it's worth asking how would this situation affect.

Our minds and our culture. You know, you can.

Our minds and our culture. You know, you can.

Such a radical restructuring of the you know, the location and architecture of our lives. That's probably not totally neutral. So has anybody looked into the question of what being in a high rise all the time does to people? Are there psychological effects of spending more of your time in the upper floors? And it turns out yes, there actually is a good bit of research on this subject. So I came across a review of the existing body of literature on this from twenty twenty one by a couple of scholars affiliated with Cornell University. So this paper is by Salah Culentari and Mardel Shepley. It was published in the journal Housing Studies again twenty twenty one, and it's called Psychological and Social Impacts of high Rise Buildings, A review of the post occupancy evaluation literature. So this paper looks specifically at what are called post occupancy evaluation studies, which are the quote evaluation of buildings in a systemic and rigorous manner after they have been built and occupied. This systemic evaluation measures and monitors the performance of a built environment using data gathered from behavioral, technical, and functional observation.

Such a radical restructuring of the you know, the location and architecture of our lives. That's probably not totally neutral. So has anybody looked into the question of what being in a high rise all the time does to people? Are there psychological effects of spending more of your time in the upper floors? And it turns out yes, there actually is a good bit of research on this subject. So I came across a review of the existing body of literature on this from twenty twenty one by a couple of scholars affiliated with Cornell University. So this paper is by Salah Culentari and Mardel Shepley. It was published in the journal Housing Studies again twenty twenty one, and it's called Psychological and Social Impacts of high Rise Buildings, A review of the post occupancy evaluation literature. So this paper looks specifically at what are called post occupancy evaluation studies, which are the quote evaluation of buildings in a systemic and rigorous manner after they have been built and occupied. This systemic evaluation measures and monitors the performance of a built environment using data gathered from behavioral, technical, and functional observation.

So this is.

So this is.

What's happening in buildings after people have moved in and lived there now. Unfortunately, this is another one of those social science areas where there are lots of different studies, but they aren't always perfectly easy to compare to each other because they're not always measuring exactly the same thing, or maybe limited in scope, or have results that conflict with one another. But a few trends do seem to emerge from this literature. The top line I would say is that spending your life up in a tall building is associated with some fairly consistent negative consequences for life and health, especially for lower income occupants, but that these negative effects can probably be mitigated or even erased by better design of high rise living spaces. So what are some of the negative effects that have been repeatedly found to be associated with high rise living. I want to mention a couple of these in more detail and then give some summary comments. In terms of the ones I'm going to mention in more detail, one of them appears to be loneliness and social isolation. So since the nineteen seventies, researchers have found that people living in high rises are likely to experience more feelings of loneliness and less social and community engagement.

What's happening in buildings after people have moved in and lived there now. Unfortunately, this is another one of those social science areas where there are lots of different studies, but they aren't always perfectly easy to compare to each other because they're not always measuring exactly the same thing, or maybe limited in scope, or have results that conflict with one another. But a few trends do seem to emerge from this literature. The top line I would say is that spending your life up in a tall building is associated with some fairly consistent negative consequences for life and health, especially for lower income occupants, but that these negative effects can probably be mitigated or even erased by better design of high rise living spaces. So what are some of the negative effects that have been repeatedly found to be associated with high rise living. I want to mention a couple of these in more detail and then give some summary comments. In terms of the ones I'm going to mention in more detail, one of them appears to be loneliness and social isolation. So since the nineteen seventies, researchers have found that people living in high rises are likely to experience more feelings of loneliness and less social and community engagement.

Why would this be well?

Why would this be well?

The authors of this review right quote Ronald two thousand and seven indicated a relative deficiency in social engagement in a broad comparative study of European high rise housing and attributed this isolation to designs that quote support individualization and anonymity. A study conducted in Singapore reported minimal neighborly relations and concluded that high rise living quote does not readily build community. So at least, what some of these studies seem to conclude is that there's something about the way we are building high rise building, the high rise residential buildings that sort of discourages people from forming community relationships with their neighbors and encourages a kind of isolated way of living that sort of makes you feel like you need to retreat into an anonymous space.

The authors of this review right quote Ronald two thousand and seven indicated a relative deficiency in social engagement in a broad comparative study of European high rise housing and attributed this isolation to designs that quote support individualization and anonymity. A study conducted in Singapore reported minimal neighborly relations and concluded that high rise living quote does not readily build community. So at least, what some of these studies seem to conclude is that there's something about the way we are building high rise building, the high rise residential buildings that sort of discourages people from forming community relationships with their neighbors and encourages a kind of isolated way of living that sort of makes you feel like you need to retreat into an anonymous space.

Oh, once again, I'm reminded of the lyrics of Warren Zevon from Splendid Isolation. I want to live on the upper east side and never go down in the streets.

Oh, once again, I'm reminded of the lyrics of Warren Zevon from Splendid Isolation. I want to live on the upper east side and never go down in the streets.

Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that, but yeah. And so the authors of this review that they look at a number of studies from different places all around the world Scotland, Hong Kong, India, which all found that high rise living was more associated with things like loneliness, anti social behavior, decrease trust in neighbors, and stuff like that. However, and this seems to be important, I think the researchers note that it may not actually be the fact that you were high up off the ground that causes this, Like it might not actually be the elevation. It may be more the more kind of side effect resulting from trends in the design of high rise buildings. In other words, it may just happen to be that high rise buildings are designed in ways that discourage social interaction and community and that breed loneliness and isolation. But that would be the case no matter what floor you lived on.

Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that, but yeah. And so the authors of this review that they look at a number of studies from different places all around the world Scotland, Hong Kong, India, which all found that high rise living was more associated with things like loneliness, anti social behavior, decrease trust in neighbors, and stuff like that. However, and this seems to be important, I think the researchers note that it may not actually be the fact that you were high up off the ground that causes this, Like it might not actually be the elevation. It may be more the more kind of side effect resulting from trends in the design of high rise buildings. In other words, it may just happen to be that high rise buildings are designed in ways that discourage social interaction and community and that breed loneliness and isolation. But that would be the case no matter what floor you lived on.

So it's not a case of well, if God wanted us to live in the skies, he would have given us wings. It's more of a situation where, well, we human beings are not wired to live in this kind of isolation generally speaking, like, we are social creatures who need to have some level of community around us.

So it's not a case of well, if God wanted us to live in the skies, he would have given us wings. It's more of a situation where, well, we human beings are not wired to live in this kind of isolation generally speaking, like, we are social creatures who need to have some level of community around us.

Yes, And also that there's some indication that maybe the designs of high rise residential buildings, when they do force interaction between residents, it tends to be negative interactions, like the author's cite a study of high rise residential buildings in Paris which found that people attributed their poor relationships to quote, overcrowded conditions in their high rises, which they viewed as prompting irritability and conflict. So it's possible that differently designed spaces for high rise life would not produce these negative effects at all. And then I thought this was really interesting. To further complicate things, there are some studies that don't find this association, or even find the exact opposite, with people living in high rises having fairly strong community bonds, especially when building designs include things like central courtyard areas like common spaces where people can gather, or when residents had pre existing external social connections meaning that like, they know each other in some capacity other than just being neighbors in the building. Maybe they work together, or they knew each other before they moved in. To read from the authors here quote. In many of these latter studies, various sociological factors in the overall environmental design, rather than high rise buildings per se, appear to be more relevant to the health of social interactions. It's also notable that all of the included studies that found positive community relationships in high rise contexts were conducted in East or Southeast Asia, such as Singapore, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, while the majority of studies that found negative community impacts were carried out in the US and Europe. And so, I don't know what would be the cause of these cultural differences in the impact of high rise buildings. I don't know if it's a result of different trends in architecture in these places or cultural differences, but those divergent outcomes are interesting.

Yes, And also that there's some indication that maybe the designs of high rise residential buildings, when they do force interaction between residents, it tends to be negative interactions, like the author's cite a study of high rise residential buildings in Paris which found that people attributed their poor relationships to quote, overcrowded conditions in their high rises, which they viewed as prompting irritability and conflict. So it's possible that differently designed spaces for high rise life would not produce these negative effects at all. And then I thought this was really interesting. To further complicate things, there are some studies that don't find this association, or even find the exact opposite, with people living in high rises having fairly strong community bonds, especially when building designs include things like central courtyard areas like common spaces where people can gather, or when residents had pre existing external social connections meaning that like, they know each other in some capacity other than just being neighbors in the building. Maybe they work together, or they knew each other before they moved in. To read from the authors here quote. In many of these latter studies, various sociological factors in the overall environmental design, rather than high rise buildings per se, appear to be more relevant to the health of social interactions. It's also notable that all of the included studies that found positive community relationships in high rise contexts were conducted in East or Southeast Asia, such as Singapore, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, while the majority of studies that found negative community impacts were carried out in the US and Europe. And so, I don't know what would be the cause of these cultural differences in the impact of high rise buildings. I don't know if it's a result of different trends in architecture in these places or cultural differences, but those divergent outcomes are interesting.

This is a fascinating Yeah. It reminds me. I've been watching this show on Apple TV titled Home, which is about different specifically about different home designs that have been constructed that you know that explore new ideas or explore old ideas, and in the show they do get into some of some of the cultural aspects. It makes me wonder like if multi generational households are a part of this equation, because you definitely see I mean in general, I think you see this trend away from that with modern city based living, but perhaps less so in like East Asian models versus European and US models. But I'm not sure.

This is a fascinating Yeah. It reminds me. I've been watching this show on Apple TV titled Home, which is about different specifically about different home designs that have been constructed that you know that explore new ideas or explore old ideas, and in the show they do get into some of some of the cultural aspects. It makes me wonder like if multi generational households are a part of this equation, because you definitely see I mean in general, I think you see this trend away from that with modern city based living, but perhaps less so in like East Asian models versus European and US models. But I'm not sure.

Well, so that's the idea of loneliness and isolation and promoting anti social living. But another thing is that many studies have found a fairly consistent link between high rise living and several negative mental health outcomes, though in this case, again it's difficult to isolate the high rise itself is the causative factor rather than attendance, social and cultural issues that often go along with high high rise living places where this has been studied. So if it is actually living in the high rise building that causes negative mental health outcomes, how would that work well? One explanation would be that this is caused by reducing exposure to nature, reducing exposure to vegetation in green space. If you are up in the high rise and there's not much greenery around you in the rooms, in the hallways that you occupy, and being up there, you're just less likely to get out into nature at the ground level. That probably will have some negative consequences for mental health. And this seems to be backed up by at least a couple of studies showing that adding more natural elements to high rises. So maybe if you include access, like you ease access to green space from the upper floors of the high rise, or you include green space within those places, that that reduces some of these problems. And finally, the author cites some probably important findings about the potential effect of high rise living space, specifically on childhood growth and development. So they write, quote, A number of studies conducted during the nineteen seventies found increased behavioral problems, physical health issues, and decreased motor and academic skills among children living in high rise buildings. They say that these findings have been confirmed in later studies several times, and then they write quote, As is the case with other demographic populations, however, the current research is demonstrated that these outcomes are strongly mediated by income level and other socioeconomic variables. Children from wealthier families who live in high rises are much more likely to have access to vibrant play spaces and to experience a greater sense of safety and involvement in the surrounding neighborhood, which makes it unsurprising that they exhibit few of the developmental issues that are widely reported for their less privileged peers, and that last point about a sort of economic determinism in the outcomes for child development can actually be extracted to the findings of this research more broadly. So the authors write in their discussion sect that you know, one of the most significant trends observed here is that quote the high rise environment appears to intensify existing socioeconomic divisions. So there seems to be a kind of Matthew principle at work, right, Like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So when you study wealthy people, it seems that the ones living in high rise environments tend to report outcomes that are just as good or even better than equivalent equivalently wealthy people in other built environments, whereas for lower income people, living in a high rise is correlated with a lot of negative outcomes when compared to other types of buildings and this seemingly paradoxical result could have. It could have a number of causes, so it's hard to pin it down to one thing, but to the extent that the built environments themselves are at least one of those causes. A lot of these unequal outcomes could probably be alleviated by better, more humane building design in affordable residential high rises, and so some of the better designs would probably you know, couldn't be limited to this, but would probably include things like the incorporation of these vibrant shared spaces right essentially courtyards, lobbies, gathering places which have safe, open spaces for children to play and explore and for people to gather. Also, on top of that lots of natural light and greenery. These factors seem really important for people's psychological well being. You need to be able to see the sun, there need to be plants around. And then they also call out things like better wayfinding and layout design, though I think they mentioned this more in the context of like commercial buildings, though that matters too. You know, they say the floors of tall buildings can sometimes be hard to navigate in ways that cause a kind of stress and confusion that really builds up on you over time.

Well, so that's the idea of loneliness and isolation and promoting anti social living. But another thing is that many studies have found a fairly consistent link between high rise living and several negative mental health outcomes, though in this case, again it's difficult to isolate the high rise itself is the causative factor rather than attendance, social and cultural issues that often go along with high high rise living places where this has been studied. So if it is actually living in the high rise building that causes negative mental health outcomes, how would that work well? One explanation would be that this is caused by reducing exposure to nature, reducing exposure to vegetation in green space. If you are up in the high rise and there's not much greenery around you in the rooms, in the hallways that you occupy, and being up there, you're just less likely to get out into nature at the ground level. That probably will have some negative consequences for mental health. And this seems to be backed up by at least a couple of studies showing that adding more natural elements to high rises. So maybe if you include access, like you ease access to green space from the upper floors of the high rise, or you include green space within those places, that that reduces some of these problems. And finally, the author cites some probably important findings about the potential effect of high rise living space, specifically on childhood growth and development. So they write, quote, A number of studies conducted during the nineteen seventies found increased behavioral problems, physical health issues, and decreased motor and academic skills among children living in high rise buildings. They say that these findings have been confirmed in later studies several times, and then they write quote, As is the case with other demographic populations, however, the current research is demonstrated that these outcomes are strongly mediated by income level and other socioeconomic variables. Children from wealthier families who live in high rises are much more likely to have access to vibrant play spaces and to experience a greater sense of safety and involvement in the surrounding neighborhood, which makes it unsurprising that they exhibit few of the developmental issues that are widely reported for their less privileged peers, and that last point about a sort of economic determinism in the outcomes for child development can actually be extracted to the findings of this research more broadly. So the authors write in their discussion sect that you know, one of the most significant trends observed here is that quote the high rise environment appears to intensify existing socioeconomic divisions. So there seems to be a kind of Matthew principle at work, right, Like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So when you study wealthy people, it seems that the ones living in high rise environments tend to report outcomes that are just as good or even better than equivalent equivalently wealthy people in other built environments, whereas for lower income people, living in a high rise is correlated with a lot of negative outcomes when compared to other types of buildings and this seemingly paradoxical result could have. It could have a number of causes, so it's hard to pin it down to one thing, but to the extent that the built environments themselves are at least one of those causes. A lot of these unequal outcomes could probably be alleviated by better, more humane building design in affordable residential high rises, and so some of the better designs would probably you know, couldn't be limited to this, but would probably include things like the incorporation of these vibrant shared spaces right essentially courtyards, lobbies, gathering places which have safe, open spaces for children to play and explore and for people to gather. Also, on top of that lots of natural light and greenery. These factors seem really important for people's psychological well being. You need to be able to see the sun, there need to be plants around. And then they also call out things like better wayfinding and layout design, though I think they mentioned this more in the context of like commercial buildings, though that matters too. You know, they say the floors of tall buildings can sometimes be hard to navigate in ways that cause a kind of stress and confusion that really builds up on you over time.

Yeah, like that feeling of exiting the elevator and not really knowing like which way you're supposed to go in, Yeah, and the case sort of getting lost in the hallways. Yeah.

Yeah, like that feeling of exiting the elevator and not really knowing like which way you're supposed to go in, Yeah, and the case sort of getting lost in the hallways. Yeah.

So to bring all this back to the idea of building this sci fi fantasy city, sort of the concrete canopy, if we were to try to build cities that had life that existed in a more consistent way and the upper levels of buildings, I do think that's doable, but it sounds like you need to be very careful how you designed in that city. You'd want to design it in a way that doesn't make people miserable and cause these negative downstream outcomes for their well being and mental health. Again, this is not exhaustive of the things you need to do, but it seems clear that like a very important thing would be putting plenty of things like parks up there. And I think this is partially the spirit of an architectural movement I've read about called Streets in the Sky, where I think the idea is sort of to create high rises in which there are lots of public areas that are more like the streets on the not like private hallways, but open spaces connecting desirable destinations that cause that have plenty of foot traffic, and of course foot traffic is associated with all kinds of positive outcomes in residential areas, you know, resultant improvements in public safety, and just a positive vibe that comes along with people, you know, wanting to hang out and go from place to place. I think attempts to design buildings like this may may have had some limited success so far, but you could imagine it working better if it was more widely adopted, if you had more contiguous buildings connected each with destinations for shopping in public spaces, especially lots of greenery and natural light, places that people would want to go and be walking around in all the time.

So to bring all this back to the idea of building this sci fi fantasy city, sort of the concrete canopy, if we were to try to build cities that had life that existed in a more consistent way and the upper levels of buildings, I do think that's doable, but it sounds like you need to be very careful how you designed in that city. You'd want to design it in a way that doesn't make people miserable and cause these negative downstream outcomes for their well being and mental health. Again, this is not exhaustive of the things you need to do, but it seems clear that like a very important thing would be putting plenty of things like parks up there. And I think this is partially the spirit of an architectural movement I've read about called Streets in the Sky, where I think the idea is sort of to create high rises in which there are lots of public areas that are more like the streets on the not like private hallways, but open spaces connecting desirable destinations that cause that have plenty of foot traffic, and of course foot traffic is associated with all kinds of positive outcomes in residential areas, you know, resultant improvements in public safety, and just a positive vibe that comes along with people, you know, wanting to hang out and go from place to place. I think attempts to design buildings like this may may have had some limited success so far, but you could imagine it working better if it was more widely adopted, if you had more contiguous buildings connected each with destinations for shopping in public spaces, especially lots of greenery and natural light, places that people would want to go and be walking around in all the time.

Yeah, and I guess one of the big challenges here, obviously, is that one skybridge is not going to fix it. Like, we're not talking about a throw up of skybridge. I'll throw up two skybridges and we'll fix things. No, you really are talking about a whole different approach to treating these these towers, these skyscrapers, and they're uh, not only you know what's available at the upper levels, but also the street level as well, you know. I mean there are plenty of existing apartment towers in cities like Chicago that that were designed with the idea of, yeah, you don't have to leave this tower, like here are your shops, here's your here's where you park your car, and it's all in the various layers of the design, and so, you know, it's it's almost like a teardown approach. You would need a new type of building, a new type of architecture to create the city. And and so there have been some really interesting designs that have emerged over the years. One of which that I've been fascinated by in the past is a Russian concept that emerged called the the Vulcan bugle. Okay, this is This can be translated as cloud hangers, sky hangers, or guy hooks, and these were the brainchild of a Russian architect by the name of l. Lisitski who lived eighteen ninety through nineteen forty one. I encourage everyone out there to look up some images of these. These are what are sometimes described as horizontal skyscrapers. They were never built, but the basic concept here. The idea was that there would be eight basically three story L shaped buildings in Moscow position fifty meters above the street on three pylons. So yeah, imagine one of those. Imagine a tetris block that is two or three up and then it has a little L part. Now imagine turning that horizontally, turning it on its side, and then sticking that up in the air on a massive pylon.

Yeah, and I guess one of the big challenges here, obviously, is that one skybridge is not going to fix it. Like, we're not talking about a throw up of skybridge. I'll throw up two skybridges and we'll fix things. No, you really are talking about a whole different approach to treating these these towers, these skyscrapers, and they're uh, not only you know what's available at the upper levels, but also the street level as well, you know. I mean there are plenty of existing apartment towers in cities like Chicago that that were designed with the idea of, yeah, you don't have to leave this tower, like here are your shops, here's your here's where you park your car, and it's all in the various layers of the design, and so, you know, it's it's almost like a teardown approach. You would need a new type of building, a new type of architecture to create the city. And and so there have been some really interesting designs that have emerged over the years. One of which that I've been fascinated by in the past is a Russian concept that emerged called the the Vulcan bugle. Okay, this is This can be translated as cloud hangers, sky hangers, or guy hooks, and these were the brainchild of a Russian architect by the name of l. Lisitski who lived eighteen ninety through nineteen forty one. I encourage everyone out there to look up some images of these. These are what are sometimes described as horizontal skyscrapers. They were never built, but the basic concept here. The idea was that there would be eight basically three story L shaped buildings in Moscow position fifty meters above the street on three pylons. So yeah, imagine one of those. Imagine a tetris block that is two or three up and then it has a little L part. Now imagine turning that horizontally, turning it on its side, and then sticking that up in the air on a massive pylon.

I think it's very cool design. Though you can imagine being nervous walking under one of these.

I think it's very cool design. Though you can imagine being nervous walking under one of these.

Yes, yeah, you know, but I guess you'd get used to it, you know, the same way we get used to the concept of skyscrapers in the in the air above us. But yeah, it's it's basically the idea here. It's a wide, horizontal living space elevated with a very narrow footprint on the street. So again, go back to what we were talking about earlier, like some of the reasons that people were looking at skybridges, part of it was congestion, vehicular and pedestrian congestion below. They're like, well, we got to if you can reduce the footprint, then then that's great, and then if you can connect things above even better. So one of the central ideas though on top of this was that Lesiski didn't think that vertical living was natural for human beings. He argued that we needed horizontal spaces, and this sort of design, while certainly still requiring vertical movement, you'd still have to take stairs or elevators up, it would maximize the horizontal environmental experience.

Yes, yeah, you know, but I guess you'd get used to it, you know, the same way we get used to the concept of skyscrapers in the in the air above us. But yeah, it's it's basically the idea here. It's a wide, horizontal living space elevated with a very narrow footprint on the street. So again, go back to what we were talking about earlier, like some of the reasons that people were looking at skybridges, part of it was congestion, vehicular and pedestrian congestion below. They're like, well, we got to if you can reduce the footprint, then then that's great, and then if you can connect things above even better. So one of the central ideas though on top of this was that Lesiski didn't think that vertical living was natural for human beings. He argued that we needed horizontal spaces, and this sort of design, while certainly still requiring vertical movement, you'd still have to take stairs or elevators up, it would maximize the horizontal environmental experience.

I mean, none of the empirical researchers I was reading put it in exactly those terms, but in a vague way that seems to square pretty strongly with the research I was just looking at that, you know, like that these what do they call these vibrant shared spaces, Like having these big, open, horizontal spaces seems to be very helpful in creating a more humane living environment.

I mean, none of the empirical researchers I was reading put it in exactly those terms, but in a vague way that seems to square pretty strongly with the research I was just looking at that, you know, like that these what do they call these vibrant shared spaces, Like having these big, open, horizontal spaces seems to be very helpful in creating a more humane living environment.

Yeah. Yeah. On top of this, there was the idea that these pylons would extend into the ground, connecting to a subway system. And then he also even factored in the idea, Okay, if you have multiple of these these these skyhangers cloud hangers in a given part of the city, it might be confusing. They all look the same. No, he's saying, well, color code them. That way you have you're able to instantly tell where you are in reference to another. So it's not just a bunch of sort of alien gray buildings all emerging from the same area. No one is say orange, one is red, one.

Yeah. Yeah. On top of this, there was the idea that these pylons would extend into the ground, connecting to a subway system. And then he also even factored in the idea, Okay, if you have multiple of these these these skyhangers cloud hangers in a given part of the city, it might be confusing. They all look the same. No, he's saying, well, color code them. That way you have you're able to instantly tell where you are in reference to another. So it's not just a bunch of sort of alien gray buildings all emerging from the same area. No one is say orange, one is red, one.

Is et cetera.

Is et cetera.

Also, these would be positioned at intersections where traffic and congestion was that it's worse freeing up room. Yeah, so these are these are fascinating to look at some of the images of what could have been here. And while there are modern buildings with fantastic cantilever designs that that bring these images to mind, no Vocan bugles were ever actually built, certainly not in Russia, and largely it seems to be just two ahead of its time, partially as a concept perhaps, but also just I think engineering wise, Lisitski seemed to think, well, just we weren't ready to build these yet.

Also, these would be positioned at intersections where traffic and congestion was that it's worse freeing up room. Yeah, so these are these are fascinating to look at some of the images of what could have been here. And while there are modern buildings with fantastic cantilever designs that that bring these images to mind, no Vocan bugles were ever actually built, certainly not in Russia, and largely it seems to be just two ahead of its time, partially as a concept perhaps, but also just I think engineering wise, Lisitski seemed to think, well, just we weren't ready to build these yet.

You know, as I'm looking at these pictures, though, a consequence was emerging in my mind. We've been talking about more, more positive, more equitable, more humane ways to design cities that are connected at the upper levels.

You know, as I'm looking at these pictures, though, a consequence was emerging in my mind. We've been talking about more, more positive, more equitable, more humane ways to design cities that are connected at the upper levels.

But I was just.

But I was just.

Thinking about how, to some degree, some of the benefits of of horizontal space are kind of zero s right, because if you were to end up creating a city that's totally covered in these horizontal spaces. At higher levels, you'd essentially be cutting off the ground level from sunlight. You know, like you get some diagonal sunlight, but there are some limits on what you could put up above without negatively impacting the quality of life below. And then you get back into that possible vision of bifurcation with negative consequences at the ground.