The 1920s Sky‑Bridge Megacity That Never rose: Raymond Hood’s Aerotropolis

Описание: In this deep‑dive we explore Raymond Hood’s 1924 Aerotropolis – a bold, unbuilt vision of a skyscraper city linked by elegant sky‑bridges. Discover the project's Form, its groundbreaking Function, and the Art Deco Aesthetic that still influences modern vertical cities. 🎬 Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction to the Aerotropolis concept
00:45 – How the steel sky‑bridges were intended to work
01:30 – The legacy and modern echoes of Hood’s design

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👇 (TIMESTAMPS)

00:00 - In the roaring twenties the skyline of America seemed destined to soar ever higher. Among the archi
00:08 - best known for the Rockefeller Center, who, in 1924, drafted an audacious urban plan he called the
00:14 - Aerotropolis. The Aerotropolis imagined a dense cluster of 20 to 30 12-story towers,
00:20 - each built of steel frame and lightweight terracotta, strewn across a reclaimed river bend in Chicag
00:26 - What set the design apart were the elegant sky bridges, arched steel ribs capped with glass walkway
00:35 - network suspended above the street level. Form, the towers followed the emerging art deco language
00:41 - of the era, setbacks that tapered the bulk upward, decorative zigzag freezes, and vertical
00:46 - pilasters that emphasized height. The bridges themselves were a hybrid of engineering and sculpture
00:57 - used in early aviation, while the transparent glass decks were framed with brass balustrades, givin
01:06 - The overall silhouette resembled a crystalline coral reef, each tower and bridge forming a repeatab
01:16 - twofold. First, the bridges would relieve street congestion by moving foot traffic to a sky level
01:22 - promenade, complete with landscaped terraces, cafes, and shaded benches. Second, they offered an
01:29 - early vision of mixed use vertical zoning, retail on the lower floors, offices in the mid levels,
01:34 - and residential units perched at the crowns, all serviced by a hidden freight elevator core that ra
01:44 - trolley lifts that would shuttle passengers between bridge levels and ground transit hubs. Aestheti
01:55 - gleamed against the city's smokestacks, symbolizing a bridge between industry and a brighter, more
02:06 - visual script that changed with the sun, embodying the Jazz Age's belief that technology could sculp
02:11 - a more graceful, interconnected world. Though never constructed, Hood's Eritropolis continues
02:16 - to inspire contemporary Skybridge projects, reminding us that the dreams of the 1920s still echo in
02:22 - our skyscraper skylines today.