Over A Thousand Terraced Green Roofs Grace JDS’s Olympic Port Proposal for Rio

One of the most remarkable submissions to <a href="http://concursoportoolimpico.com.br/website/" target="_blank">Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Port competition</a>, this terraced proposal by <a href="http://jdsa.eu/" target="_blank">JDS Architects</a> and <a href="http://nearquitetura.com/" target="_blank">NE Arquitetura</a> caught our attention with its amazing array of nearly one thousand green roofs. Seeking to redefine how neighborhoods are conceived and taking inspiration from natural terraced cliffs, JDS and NE Arquitetura developed a cluster of residential towers surrounded by public parks and outfitted with thousands of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/green-roofs">green roofs</a>. Surrounded and immersed in lush green spaces, their proposal is a stunning hybrid of the urban and natural world.

Thousands of green roofs and large public parks could dramatically alter downtown Rio.

A lush green landscape is designed to encourage a new social life in Rio.

The proposed site for the Olympic Port occupies a number of large downtown blocks near the harbor of Rio de Janeiro.

The project team sought with their proposal to create a new identity for the downtown area.

Rotating the towers on their site allows for greater views.

The development would consist of a number of residential towers, office towers, a convention and expo center and hotels.

The buildings are extruded in grids up from the ground level to create terraces.

Parks would completely surround each building.

Rather than focussing all the aesthetics and design on the interior, this project looks to the exterior as well by incorporating terraced green roofs on the towers.

Although the interior layouts of the apartments is certainly important, the project is defined by a thousand parks, balconies, and plateau’s of life and vitality.

The public parks and private terraces are used to encourage a social life in the city. At the same time the terraced effect of the residential towers steps back the building and helps them feel less massive, although they are still quite dense.

Inspiration for the design came from towns like Santorini, where the cliff sides feature natural terraces and integrate shops, cafes and housing all in the vertical space.

JDS and NE Arquitetura hoped that their proposal would be able to bridge the gap between more natural spaces and the urban environment.