A City Inside a Building

This studio investigates the effects of a city inside of a building. The town of Barrow, AK (~4500) was compacted into one single building. As the northernmost point of the United States, Barrow endures extreme climate conditions. Learning from Whittier, a southern Alaskan city that is a city inside of one building, one can easily identify the many positive attributes of living in one collective building in extreme conditions. For instance, heat-loss efficiency, energy conservation, artificial light, and political organization are just some of the potential advantages of a project like this.

Barrow, AK is the northernmost human settlement in the United States. 60% of the local inhabitants are of native Alaskan heritage, and have been living continuously in this location for thousands of years. The other 40% is largely working in the petroleum industry. With no roads leading up to this town, the only way in and out of Barrow is by airplanes. This condition makes goods extremely expensive – and drives locals, even those with full-time jobs, to sometimes hunt and gather.

The Phalanstère, an idea initially written by Charles Fourier in the 19th Century, was a proposal for a fictional city with 500-2000 people living inside of one architecture. Many architects have taken on this idea of “city within building” and produced projects with this in mind, including Unite d’Habitation, Marina City, or the Hancock Building in Chicago. The idea of the Phalanstère became a philosophical position that considers an economic, social, and political entity that required all citizens to work at the best of their abilities in order to survive. In such remote and autonomous locations such as Barrow, AK, we will explore the effects of this thought experiment.