Helix: Redefining the Vertical City for a Sustainable, Connected Future

Helix: A Vertical City Vision by Design Bank

Set in the year 2070 in the historical and structured district of Eixample, Barcelona, Helix by R Thirth and Design Bank is a bold vision that redefines how cities can be built skyward. It challenges the limitations of traditional architecture and urban design by offering an advanced, multi-functional vertical city that integrates nature, mobility, and community. Shortlisted in the Hybrid Futures '19 - Work x Fly competition, this concept pushes the envelope of future-ready, high-density development where architecture adapts to the challenges of time, terrain, and technology.

A Vertical Take on Urban Fabric

Helix takes direct inspiration from the iconic grid and courtyard planning of Eixample, translating the horizontal urban fabric into a vertical city architecture. In this innovative proposal, city blocks are stacked vertically in a helical formation, offering a dynamic reinterpretation of spatial order. The spiral design mirrors Barcelona’s topographic contours while significantly reducing wind load and heat accumulation. The building's facade uses transparent aluminum panels for thermal regulation and movable solar elements that follow the sun’s path to optimize energy harvesting. This integration of design and technology reinforces the project's identity as an energy-efficient and climate-responsive structure.

Transit and Topography: Integrating Infrastructure

Strategically positioned near anticipated hyperloop transit lines, aerial taxi lanes, and maritime trade routes, Helix addresses the pressing need for multimodal, high-speed connectivity in megacities of the future. The tower site was chosen in alignment with Barcelona’s predicted 100-year sea rise map, ensuring long-term resilience. The architectural form responds to both the micro topography of the site and the macro mobility trends, aligning built space with mobility corridors, landscape features, and future infrastructure networks.

Live, Work, Fly: A Self-Sufficient Vertical Habitat

Helix isn't just a tower—it’s an entire urban ecosystem layered in vertical bands. Each level serves a unique function:

• Commercial zones at the ground and lower levels provide public services, retail access, and civic engagement zones.
• Sky parks and terraced green spaces on intermediate levels act as breathing lungs for the tower, accessible to residents and workers alike.
• Air-stations, embedded on south and west terraces, serve as docking zones for air taxis and drones, powered by graphene-based landing pads.
• Office modules are placed on multiple levels with biophilic integration and daylight optimization to encourage productivity and wellness.

The vertical zoning system allows seamless interaction between functions while preserving a spatial hierarchy that mimics city planning in the sky.

Sustainable Skeleton and Biomimetic Core

The tower’s structural integrity is ensured by a braced tube system constructed from cross-laminated timber and 3D-printed graphene-reinforced elements. At the center is a cylindrical core that functions like a trunk of a tree—both structurally and symbolically. This core is cloaked in living moss and air-purifying plants, forming a vertical bioskin that actively filters airborne pollutants and enhances the building’s ecological performance. It not only provides vertical circulation but also spatial anchoring for diverse urban functions stacked throughout the tower.

Urban Resilience Meets Architectural Innovation

Helix is more than a futuristic skyscraper—it is an architectural response to a climate-conscious era. With cities facing challenges from population surges, rising temperatures, and limited horizontal space, vertical city architecture like Helix offers a paradigm shift in sustainable urban living. The project advocates modular expansion, mixed-use zoning, ecological symbiosis, and vertical mobility in a form that blurs the line between nature and technology.

By fusing urban density with environmental sensitivity and transportation foresight, Helix stands as a resilient blueprint for how future cities might grow—not just outward, but upward.

Project Credits: Project by R Thirth, Design Bank

Shortlisted Entry of Hybrid Futures '19 – Work x Fly