Zaha Hadid Architects’s design for the Dorobanti Tower in Bucharest, Romania, aims to provide an iconic presence in the very center of the city. The architecture of this high-rise is progressive – the distinctive form and ingenious structure of the skyscraper set new parameters for sky-high living. The form of the building is a chamfered diamond and its exterior is wrapped in irregular meandering structural lattice.

Building’s profile was generated by urban parameters, site constraints and program requirements – the outcome is and elegant, tapering tower which dynamically changes surface profile. As it is tapering inwards, the skyscraper maximizes views and the incoming daylight for its users. The tower is offset at the ground level, therefore providing a generous and spacious public space and the entrance plaza.

Regarding its solid structure, the Dorobanti Tower had to be conceived to maximize strength and resilience to earthquakes, due to Bucharest’s highly vulnerable seismic zone.

The public realm adjacent to the tower is magnificent and first of its kind in Bucharest – it represents major attraction within the city, offering new meeting space and urban spot, conceived as a wrapped carpet made in concrete. The surface of that urban carpet connects three surrounding streets, linking seating areas, water basins, fountains and green spaces into one urban entity. Read the rest of this entry »

Nympha Cultural Center in Bucharest is a concept proposal designed by Brasov-based upgrade.studio, an architectural practice oriented towards computational design and cutting-edge concepts. Their Urban BY-PASS project received a Special Mention at eVolo’s Scyscraper Competition in 2008.

The proposal is conceived as a programmatic addition to the studio’s Digital University project. It comprises Art galleries, Cultural Center, Performing Arts Center and the University library.The two morphologies seem to be deliberately conflicted, expressing opposite approaches. Read the rest of this entry »

In designing an entry for eVolo’s 2010 Skyscraper Competition, three architecture students from Romania, Csegzi Kamilla, Hoffman Alexandru and Moldovanu Vladimir, wanted to question what forces really impact a building’s design. The large, theoretical question comes from using Bucharest as the city to site a new skyscraper: in a place run, until recently, by a communist regime, along with the oppressed mentality and Soviet architecture that accompanies such a force, how can architecture help a culture move beyond a suffocating era?

An architectural style “without form,” the trio claim, can be a way that design can bring “progressive change,” as the architecture itself is eternally able to evolve, grow, develop. The group’s design shows rods growing out of stable, low structures; these rods have units attached to them as they ascend. The units can flexibly change as needed, shift within the building’s location or be replaced altogether. Read the rest of this entry »