This almost caricatured example of architecture, establishes a specifically ironic approach to sustainability.  It refers to the production of brown coal, still one of the most exploited non-renewable energy sources. Making it into a outdated practice and exhibiting it as a museum artifact is what makes the design witty and interesting. To complete the architect’s statement, the building is conceived so it would rely on wind energy.

It contains an uncapped pipe, opened to the air at the ends. Thanks to the pressure difference between top and bottom, an air current is formed going up. Wind turbines installed at the top use the airflow in creating enough energy to light the tower all year round.

The building is made of slag concrete. It’s a combination of concrete and a by-product of burning coil. Slag is supposed to replace an expensive crushed stone filler added to the concrete itself.

Positioned in, what can be called a rip in the object’s body, a lightweight  metal staircase leads to the top out looking platform. It creates an archeological journey through layers of the lithosphere. At one point during the climb, it becomes clear that what you’re climbing are not layers of Earth, but chronologically represented stages in overcoming  the need for fossil fuels .

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