O:ORIGINS :: The Vasari Corridor

The Vasari Corridor in Florence is a direct ancestor of Chicago's Pedway. Built in 1565, the corridor was the first elevated walkway of its kind. It functioned as an extension of the Palazzo Vecchio and winds for nearly a kilometer above houses, through a church, around a tower, and over a bridge. It allowed the Medicis to attend church, conduct business, and go for strolls all without leaving the comfort of their home. Unfortunately, unlike the Pedway, the Vasari Corridor is rarely opened to visitors.

Top left: A view inside the Vasari Corridor in Florence. Top right: The Vasari Corridor is visible on top of the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge crossing the River Arno in Florence.

At left: The Pedway's Point-of-Interest #4: The First Overpass. in Chicago.

U:UTOPIA :: Space Colonies

In 1977, NASA's Ames Research Center summer program focused on Space Settlement. They devised a number of prototype communities for how space settlement was feasible. Below are excerpts from their findings. For more images and the entire article, click here.

Each colony houses around 10,000 people. Click on images above to enlarge.

These orbital space colonies could be wonderful places to live; about the size of a California beach town and endowed with weightless recreation, fantastic views, freedom, elbow-room in spades, and great wealth. In time, we may see hundreds of thousands of orbital space settlements in our solar system alone.

Who? You. Or at least people a lot like you. Space settlements will be a place for ordinary people.

Why? Why build space settlements? Why do weeds grow through cracks in sidewalks? Why did life crawl out of the oceans and colonize land? Because living things want to grow and expand. We have the ability to live in space, therefore we will. The key advantage of space settlements is the ability to build new land, rather than take it from someone else.

What? A space settlement is a home in orbit. Typical space settlement designs are roughly one half to a few kilometers across. A few designs are much larger. Settlements must be air tight to hold a breathable atmosphere, and must rotate to provide psuedo-gravity. Thus, people stand on the inide of the hull.

Enormous amounts of matter, probably lunar soil at first, must cover the settlements to protect inhabitants from radiation. On Earth our atmosphere does this job, but space settlements need about five tons of matter covering every square meter of a colony's hull to protect space settlers from cosmic rays and solar flares. Each settlement must be an independent biosphere. All oxygen, water, wastes, and other materials must be recycled endlessly.

A few features of orbital real estate are worth mentioning:
• Great Views
• Low-g recreation
• Environmental Independence
• The ultimate gated community
• Custom living

Survival Someday the Earth will become uninhabitable. Before then humanity must move off the planet or become extinct.

E:Enclosure :: The Rotating Home

Power companies doubling electricity for new kind of living.

Future homes will be able to face in any direction-turned from hour to hour or season to season by your electricity.  Electrically operated, climate-conditioned extensions will permit "spring or summer terraces" all year round- enjoy swimming, winter fun and gardening all at once, if you wish.

Plenty of electricity can make your home of the future a house of marvels!

In the future, you'll be able to flip switches to raise or lower table and work surfaces to any height.  Electricity will bring beds out of the walls in the evening - then "make" them and fold them into the walls in the morning.  The power that controls your home's climate will even do the dusting.

E:Enclosure :: The Nautilus