The proposed skyscraper designed by Marie-Alice Kacou and Khanh Do, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design, seeks to become iconic edifice that helps to raise the awareness of recycling and sustainable development in terms of material reuse and water efficiency in the city. Located in south-east Raleigh, the site could be perceived as an abstracted edge of the downtown landscape as well as a transitional locus in the urban context. The parti is based on the converging points of three dynamic forces that meet at the site: the urban transition, the edge condition, and the human interaction. The investigation began with the metaphor of infinity underlying the concept of sustainable recycling and the interpretation of the universal symbol of recycling. The Symbol consists of three arrows pointing back at each other, denoting an abstraction of infinite cycles. Therefore, the infinity sign is being dissected in 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional configurations to establish the structure and fabrication of the building. What is proposed is a prototype for a mix use skyscraper acting as an architectural locus where these three forces will interact and generate interaction.

The project focuses on new ways to utilize domestic metal and plastic waste. This project goes further to analyze the relationship between the container and what is being contained, water in particular. The idea is to encourage innovation while integrating successful sustainable techniques to create a recycling machine. The many design strategies include water harvesting on the roof and the skin of the building at the West and North façades to maximize rain water conservation. A system called solar water disinfection is implemented within the building skin to store water. After being filtered by the sun, the collected water is releases using natural gravity and directed to designated tanks located on every 10th floor throughout the building to optimize pumping energy.


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