Human Race Motor
05  /  Speculative  /  2026

Human Race Motor

A city grown by rules instead of drawn by hand: cellular automata generate unit towers, the best are selected as the shell, and a space city takes shape around four zones and walkways in zero gravity.

Year
2026
Type
Individual work / Speculative urbanism
Location
Speculative space city
Tools
Cellular automata, collage, axonometric drawing

Technology and nature are two routes through the long river of human civilisation, each moving forward on its own track until they meet at the far end. The history of technology is a process of constantly stealing fire; where people gather, everyday city life becomes its most authentic exhibition.

Here the city is generated rather than drawn. Cellular automata, which can simulate how complex systems evolve in space and time, grow a field of unit towers. Selected by set rules, the towers become the outer shell that houses the city’s functional blocks, organised into four zones and threaded by walkways.

45unit tower variants in the AA-1 matrix
4zones: government and science, living, transport, manufacturing
4case cities: Melbourne, Barcelona, Paris, New York
1957first satellite in space: where the timeline starts

Design process

  1. How cities growMelbourne, Barcelona, Paris, New York
  2. Cellular automataRules simulate growth over time
  3. Select the unit towersA shell for every function
  4. Four zonesGovernment, living, transport, industry
  5. Space between buildingsWalkways in zero gravity

From rule to city

Scroll to grow the city, drag to turn it

A diagram of the method, grown live: a growth rule adds unit-tower bars around one transport spine generation by generation, selection removes the loose ends, four zones tint the shell and walkways reach out between the blocks.

    Loading model…

      How cities grow

      The research sets the space race beside a century of urban models, from the City Beautiful and the Garden City to the sustainable city.

      Four cities show how blocks change over time: in Melbourne plots consolidate from the economic centre out to the fringe; in Barcelona blocks group into communities and then urban areas; Paris opens wide channels so the city can breathe; Manhattan grows vertically, up and into the basement.

      The development of the space city, 1957 to the 2020s, set against a century of urban models.
      Urban morphology over time: Melbourne, Barcelona, Paris and New York.
      Cover collage.

      Unit towers and zones

      Among the many structures generated, the final unit towers were chosen by the selection rules to serve as the outer boundary: the shell of the suspended part of the design, housing the functional blocks and their combinations.

      Scroll from unit to plan

      From unit to city: the unit tower variants, their aggregates, and the plan of the city along its central spine.

      1. 01Unit tower variantsPart of the AA-1 matrix of unit towers.
      2. 02Determination of unit towersUnit towers combined into larger aggregates.
      3. 03PlanThe city gathered along one spine.
      Unit tower variants: Part of the AA-1 matrix of unit towers.
      Determination of unit towers: Unit towers combined into larger aggregates.
      Plan: The city gathered along one spine.

      The city is divided into four zones: government offices, law enforcement and science labs; housing, a hospital and shopping; transport; and manufacturing.

      The four zones: government and science, living, transport and manufacturing.
      1 more in the viewer

      Space between buildings

      In a society that only focuses on work and production, housing grows layer by layer around the workplace and takes over every open space. Yet people always find the space that has not been built on yet and make it a place to meet; when it is built over, they find new space.

      Without gravity, people can move between buildings and districts at will, while the city keeps fixed lines of transport. The walkways above the transport pipes are among the few places left for people to walk and talk.

      A street in the space city: residents in helmets crossing under the towers.
      A walkway above the transport line, with cable cars between the blocks.

      Presentation boards

      Human Race Motor
      Development of the space city
      Cellular automata and unit towers
      Zones and plan
      Space