Designed by Carlos Augusto García, Luis Quiñones

The initial studies of Pendulous Threads were composed of extensive cyclical analyses of the existing context, the New Orleans Mississippi Riverfront. We employed the use of such studies to gain an understanding of the network of activity characterized by a culturally diverse city such as New Orleans. The cyclical analysis investigated elements of surrounding program types, ranging from hotel and residential, to music venues and galleries. These nodes of influence contain attributes of occupancy, proximity, and hours of activation based on a twenty-four hour timetable. A two-dimensional network of paths, based on the attributes of these nodes, generated the primary and secondary circulation paths through the site, a vacant parking lot in the heart of the New Orleans Riverfront.

Using parametric design techniques, we were able to transition to a complex system of three-dimensional organizational routes. Reapplying the attributes of the existing context to the introduced program facilitated the connection between the initial programmatic study and the emergent program distribution. With these seemingly atypical design methodologies engaging a traditional framework such as the French Quarter of the New Orleans riverfront, the hyperspecific topography employs the use of variation in a previously restrained cityscape. The rift between New Orleans and the Mississippi has created a lack of riverfront development, a driving force behind the will to create a departure from the traditional notion of city-river connection in New Orleans. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Madam Studio (Rebecca Harral, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Marco Ginex)

By 2030 urban analysts expect 92.2% of the British population to be living in urban areas. Corollary urban growth pitched against prohibitive green belt protection will become the central exigency within the urban architectural process. ‘Skyscraping’ will become an inevitable combative strategy.

However for several decades, inner-city skyscrapers have been firmly located within the corporate realm. These towers have been characterized by single ownership, occupancy by grade-A Office and Residential property, being exemplified both by the old generation of single use towers like 1 Canada Square, but equally by the token mixing of Luxury apartments into the program matrix by the new generation, starting with the Shard at London Bridge. Such unbalanced approaches are meaningless in the context of cities like London, and areas like Soho, defined as they are by migrating communities, and the need to balance the flexibility and strengths of these shifting communities against the ever increasing scales of capital investment.

Mixed use skyscrapers represent a minor step towards reconciling the diversity of a thriving community, and tall buildings, but invariably emerge as isolated, self contained, and alienating urban islands. It is the need for large initial capital investment to construct such towers that leaves them with single owners, who are inevitably susceptible both to paying back construction debt, as well as the difficulty of re-investing later at the scale of their large and monolithic asset. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Maria Mingallon, Sakthivel Ramaswamy, Konstantinos Karatzas

Fibre composite adaptive systems is a research project which emulates self-organisation processes in nature by developing a fibre composite that can sense, actuate and hence efficiently adapt to changing environmental conditions. Fibre composites which are anisotropic and heterogeneous offer the possibility for local variations in their material properties. Embedded fibre optics would be used to sense multiple parameters and shape memory alloys integrated in a fibre composite material for actuation. The definition of the geometry, both locally and globally would complement the adaptive functions and hence the system would display ’Integrated Functionality’. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Anggoro Putro, Raul Renada

This project proposes the idea of living on the water surface instead of inland. It is not a problem-free solution but takes a small step of human-living evolution.

The first step of this project is to build this building on shore, where it still has a physical connection with the land nearby, such as bridges or piers. These buildings will interconnect with other similar concepts such as retail along the piers or transit nodes at the bridges. As we learn how to adapt and enhance the technology, we slowly move to off-shore areas and start to live independently; detached from the land. This proposal is also a logical and practical step to respond to the rising of sea levels due to the melting ice caused by global warming. Earth is covered with 70% water and this number will keep on increasing. Land will become scarce and it will be essential to sustain its natural properties for the life of humankind. Read the rest of this entry »

Steven Holl Architects’ latest Chinese project, Sliced Porosity Block, is a showcase of his explorations of carved porous urbanism. The early watercolor diagrams make it clear that the project seeks to subvert the typical modernist rules of tower and base. A strong dynamic thrives and feeds on the interactions of mass, void, and the resultant parallax of their shifting alignments. The new project takes the ideas of porosity developed in the MIT dorm and Linked Hybrid projects to a higher level of refinement and formal exuberance. The sensitivity to color, pattern, environmental considerations, and metaphorical thinking are all marked departures from the earlier work.

The massing and resultant slices were driven by local codes in Chengdu limiting the amount of daylight that a new project can block from the existing fabric. The outer and inner facades of the project are cloaked in a postmodern, graffiti like gridded wrapper. Angled glass planes slice through these outer shells in a direct response to the sunlight restrictions. The end product is an undulating mass that hovers between urban form and natural landscape. The project captures the carving light, freezing it and thus locking impermanence into a permanent condition. This interaction of light and form should reminds us of the ever changing qualities of light we often take for granted, in a similar fashion as do the early cathedral studies by Monet. Read the rest of this entry »

Designed by Mohamed Hassan

Inspired by Ken Yeang, who states that “a bioclimatic skyscraper is a tall building whose built form is configured by design, using passive low-energy techniques to relate to the site’s climate and meteorological data, resulting in a tall building that is environmentally interactive, low-energy in embodiment and operations, and high-quality in performance”, this skyscraper is generated through the analysis of  the climatic conditions of the site using parametric and algorithmic architecture.

Environmental studies were translated to Grasshopper  to generate the desired form. An analysis of the Sun’s path was used to generate a voronoi shaded structural system while aerodynamic studies were used to design the profile curvature of the tower. Photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, and water recollection systems are some of the green aspects of the proposal.

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Dear Readers,

We are very excited to be celebrating the first anniversary of our print journal. It has been an unforgettable ride and an enormous satisfaction to discover and promote the work of excellent new designers that are pushing the boundaries of architectural design.   

We would like to show our gratitude and offer you a 50% off discount on our second issue ‘Skyscrapers of the Future’.  This offer is available worldwide all of June.

Thank you for an amazing year!

Skyscrapers of the Future

USA – 50% OFF One-year Anniversary Offer

International – 50% OFF One-year Anniversary Offer Read the rest of this entry »

Vertical urbanization has been much criticized during the last few years and it raises numerous discussions in France. Should we build skyscrapers in Paris? How can we integrate them into an environment where vertical living has not been used? When we consider existing skyscrapers we note an important loss of social exchange. It is necessary to rethink their spatial organization and its relationship with the existing urban fabric and create a structure that benefits the city. Read the rest of this entry »

The Vertical Wetland Tower designed by London-based architect William So is located on a flood-plain area of the Thames River in London.  It has been designed to allow systemically growth in over populated cities. It is a 50 storey construction covered with vegetation and equipped with recreational and cultural amenities.

The tower’s reinforced structure acts as a flooding barrier to the city and accommodates some of London’s new infrastructure. Each floor has been designed as variable modules for customized units. The completed tower will be a double helix with interwoven programs. While one helix contains the residences and offices the other incorporates green open spaces for recreational activities. Read the rest of this entry »

Volutes is a skyscraper conceived by Asami Takahashi and Jason Lim located in Singapore’s new marina. Our proposal is to pull upwards the urban fabric and create a helical volume. Public programs are wrapped around a central circulation core while six serpentine structures contain the private spaces. The morphology of the building results from the analysis of 6 control lines sweeping around the central core. The outer skin is linked to the main structure with spokes arranged in a hexagonal configuration.Volutes opens at the street level and closes at the top to allow direct sunlight into the city. Its porous skin maximizes ventilation and regulates the green parks and water reservoirs. Read the rest of this entry »