Capital FORTway: Protecting Our History, Sustaining Our Future
February 2108: The Majority Exocratic party today announced that their goal for making Washington, D.C. the nation's first entirely self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable city has been realized. The collaborative practice of Beyer Blinder Belle helped create the Capital FORTway (Future Oriented Renewable Technologies) Commission in 2008. Modeled on the city's historic fort network, the new totemic FORT towers have reengaged the city's original defense structures, acting as hubs for transportation and the generation and distribution of resources, now feeding the city's entire population. The FORTway is just one component of a larger planning initiative that includes adding downtown residential density, converting L'Enfant's diagonal avenues to green space, sustaining cultural and historic resources, restoring natural tidal flows, and adding a new rapid transit network. In addition, a transformed and expanded National Mall connects the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
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Expert's Corner: Commentary by Richard Meier
"Recalling the walls, towers, and other fortifications that once protected our cities, this master plan for Washington DC imagines a series of 29 towers that would encircle the city's borders. Inside the ring, the historic L'Enfant plan, which forms the core of the city, would be kept to a modest height. Outside the towers, the extreme portions of the city and the suburbs would increase in scale, further setting off the city's historic center. The towers would be multi-functional structures, emphasizing public spaces for the community to gather and incorporating new public transit centers, and implementing far-reaching sustainable strategy with ecological amenities like rainwater harvesting and hydroponic farming. Lasers, anchored to each tower, would serve the city's defenses, when needed. A vast network of infrastructure would tie these towers together and ensure they worked as a coherent system."
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