Flex Tower is visionary proposal by Italian architect Paolo Venturella for 2040. New York City, whose population grew unexpectedly and there is need for new and innovative typology. Even with significantly reduced carbon emission, the use of energy increases. Therefore, the high-rise is the only answer. A solution combining housing and energy systems for a sustainable living starts to be built in various parts of the city. In order to avoid uncontrolled invasion of photovoltaic panels all over the city, the new typology perfectly combines the need of the moment.

Since photovoltaic panels need a tilted surface oriented to the sun, this typology tilts and rotates itself. At the ground level the building respects the Manhattan’s grid while in a higher level the shape rotates facing the sun allowing panels to displace correctly. The “FlexTower” combines the rotation and the flex in an appropriate 30 degrees angle facing the sun. The façade works at the same time as structure and as performative skin.

The structure is unique steel frame, wrapping the building. This enables very original shape challenging gravity and also to create an interior space completely free from structural elements.

The skin is designed so to create a unique envelope, an intelligent system made by different modules. At the top, most of it is clad in photovoltaic panels and looks denser while at the bottom photovoltaic evanesces and becomes less dense. Due to “Flex Tower” the aspect of the city mutates. The classic skyline historically grown up as the extrusion of the plot converts to a new direction, while New Yorkers find their own space and a sustainable lifestyle. Read the rest of this entry »

2018 Skyscraper Competition is open for registration.

MahaNakhon by Ole Scheeren at OMA is a 77-storey high-rise complex located in Bangkok’s Central Business District. This vertical development of more than 150,000 square meters will be comprised of a landscaped public plaza; a multi-level retail centre with restaurants, cafes, and 24-hour marketplace; 200 serviced apartments operated by the Ritz-Carlton; the Bangkok Edition, a 150 room boutique hotel in collaboration with Marriot International and Ian Schrager; and a rooftop Sky Bar and restaurant. MahaNakhon is the most ambitious complex of contemporary architecture and urbanism in Thailand and the tallest building in Bangkok.

The design of MahaNakhon dismantles the typical tower and podium typology, creating a skyscraper that melds with the city by gradually ‘dissolving’ as it flows downward to meet the ground. A series of cascading indoor/outdoor terraces at the base of the tower accommodates retail and entertainment facilities, evoking the shifting protrusions of a mountain landscape. An adjacent freestanding seven-storey building – the “Cube” with corresponding terraces creates an expansive outdoor atrium – forming a valley and network of social, dining, and leisure spaces that serve the residences and the public. MahaNakhon Square, at the front, is designed as a dynamic public plaza, a spot for planned and spontaneous cultural events, a landscaped retreat for the city’s inhabitants, and a rare venue for cultural and social interaction.

The Tower has been carefully carved to introduce a three-dimensional ribbon of architectural pixels that coil up the tower’s full height to reveal the inner life of the building. This generates a set of specific features – projecting glass sky-boxes with sweeping views and generous indoor/outdoor spaces – uncommon to high-rise living, but well-suited to the tropical climate of Bangkok. The pixels have been designed to maximize unobstructed panoramas and offers rare birds-eye views of the city and Chaophraya River. Residences located in the non-pixelated area of the tower enjoy a parallel innovation: double-height living spaces equipped with multiple bays of full-height bi-fold balcony windows – sections of facade that fold inwards and upwards – transforming living areas into indoor/outdoor environments. Read the rest of this entry »

In an era which could be defined by dominant need of representation of the power and by inevitable environmental awareness on the other side, LAVA’s concept for the Oromia Bank Tower in Oromia, Ethiopia brings the promising compromise – it creates an environmentally responsive icon, inspired by the local cultural identity and uses nature’s fluid geometry to be both efficient and beautiful. The façade design references waterfalls, the fine texture of local woven baskets, whilst the rich colors of opals highlight the significance of this national institution.

High-tech methodology of the tower combined with local construction and delivery techniques create a sophisticated tower borne out of a strong sense of place. Simply organized, the sky-scraper consists of an iconic main banking hall on the ground floor with 20 levels of office space above.

More with less has been achieved by the innovative integration of structure and environmental control systems. A façade of external fins controls solar gain and reflects light deep into the floor space, saving energy. The tower’s upper levels step back to give way to a spectacular rooftop cafe, complete with a solar harvesting open-air roof canopy. Optimized site boundaries, maximized plot coverage, adaptability for future proofing and efficient floor plate dimensions all combine to create a tower that is at once iconic, efficient and forecasts a strong future direction for the city.

Oromia Bank Tower project by Laboratory for Visionary Architecture is a competition proposal, done together with JDAW Battle McCarthy Architects. Read the rest of this entry »

The Scitech mixed-use redevelopment by UNStudio is located on a crossing point of traditional and modern developments in Beijing, China. The site is adjacent to the city’s east-west central axis leading to the Tiananmen Square. UNStudio’s massing strategy for the plot focuses on creating optimal links between the mixed-use programming of the redevelopment, whilst interweaving a dense low rise development with a high rise component. Simultaneously, through phasing the redevelopment, the existing retail mall is integrated into the design from the outset.

In the low rise portion of the new development, a series of connected courtyards organize the different programs around the user flows to form an urban carpet, providing outdoor and indoor spaces which combine programs through internal and external links. This five to seven storey high podium is designed as an undulating landscape that organizes the traffic flows on its perimeters, whilst providing interior green and sheltered spaces for pedestrian access. The towers emerge from the low rise base and provide singular usage for hotel and office premises. In the intersection with the low rise podium, functions are allocated accordingly to create maximum synergy between activities in the low rise zone and the towers. The public zones in the towers are highlighted by connected atria and voids.

The podium is primarily dedicated to retail function with five levels underground and eight levels above ground, including spa and conference facilities located within the upper floor and roof-scape. Three underground levels provide parking facilities, and the remaining two house a supermarket, food court and programmatically arranged drop offs to sustain the ground level for pedestrians. These levels have visual links and vertical circulation to the upper levels through a series of voids. The main circulation concept utilizes clustered atriums instead of one central atrium. This concept enables stretched diagonal visual and physical links as well as local aggregations of varied atmospheres. Read the rest of this entry »

La Tour Bioclimatique office tower by UNStudio was designed as an organizing element for the previously disconnected programmatic clusters within the Issy-Les-Moulineaux area of Paris. In order to find the most optimal placement on the site, a typological study was performed, resulting in a streamlined plan that gives an optimal basic plan.This basic plan of the building has been further optimized into a smart organization by utilizing software driven form-finding processes which take into account optimal floor area in relation to compact core design, optimal facade length and daylight penetration for the offices.

As they state at UNStudio, sustainability is an integral part of the design process as three interconnected entities – passive sustainability which focuses on non-technological parameters such as building efficiency, flexibility and materials; active sustainability which integrates fully the design of technological techniques to advance the operational efficiency and social sustainability which caters on the level of user comfort and the influence of the building on its surroundings on multiple scale levels. Next to building efficiency, flexibility is an equally important factor for ensuring future usability. The floor plan and vertical distribution are designed in such a way that many different tenant scenarios can be realized.

The facade functions as a skin for the building that contains all the key factors of a sustainable high-rise building. The concept of the natural ventilated double facade is limited to a height range of 1-4 floors to prevent the risk of overheating, allowing the system to perform to highest standards in all seasons. The building influences the comfort and well-being of individuals by incorporating working environments with different qualities, such as communal work spaces, concentration work spaces, lounges, meeting centers, team work centers. By connecting floors through the expanded double facades and by planting these spaces, vertical office gardens can be created to provide pleasant working environments. Read the rest of this entry »

The team of HMC Architects and HOY Architects and Associates, led by HMC’s Raymond Pan, was among the five finalists selected for the Taiwan Tower International Design Competition. Their proposal was envisioned as beacon for the city of Taichung. The iconic 400-meter tall green tower is an evolving column of life that captures and reflects the strength and resilience of the people of Taiwan. Rising from its roots that are infused with its people, place, history, and stories, this column of life is the culmination of the serendipitous lifestyle and inclusive multicultural dynamism of Taiwan. The tower sustains a creative synergy between structure and its context through a physical, visual, and metaphysical morphology.

The aim was that visitors experience the tower as a vertical museum, displaying the history of Taichung as a continuous tapestry of life ascending to 400 meters in height. The form of the tower rotates to provide optimal views of historical landmarks as visitors move upward through the tower and ascend through time.

The tower acts as a carbon sequester that responds and is adaptive to its location and climate. The characteristic form allows wind to pass through the super-tall structure, decreasing structural loads and harvesting the energy via integrated turbines. Modular, energy producing fins shade the tower from the tropical sun, and can be moved, updated, or enhanced as green technology continues to evolve. As a result, the tower produces 185 percent of its own energy needs, exporting the surplus renewable energy to the surrounding city. Read the rest of this entry »

Angkasa Raya is situated directly across from the well-known Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur City Center. The new tower by Ole Scheeren presents a new typology in high-rise skyscraper design that overtly expresses the inhabitation of diverse urban activities in a tropical environment and captures the vibrancy of the city’s multifaceted culture.

Angkasa Raya is comprised of five distinct elements – three floating elevated tower blocks and two multi-level zones of open horizontal slabs – that are autonomous yet connected to one another in a uniquely stacked and shifting configuration of varied functional and urban typologies. Rather than competing with the Twin Towers in the form of another “twin” or blending into the surrounding context of singular towers on a podium, Angkasa Raya offers a new contemporary reading of the capital city and stands as an icon of the harmonious and dynamic balance of Malaysia’s cultural multiplicity and diversity.

The tower Angkasa Raya accommodates Premium Offices, a luxury Hotel, and high-end Service Residences. Each function occupies one of the three rectangular volumes which, through their mutual support and delicate balance, generate a unity that is both multiple and symbiotic. A series of open horizontal slabs, bring urban life into the building and unfold two interconnected spirals of vehicular and pedestrian circulation, mixing signature retail, restaurants, cafes, a food court, and prayer rooms with abundant outdoor greenery and urban street-scape. The plural trajectories weave through the open levels and offer multiple street-like experiences of interconnected urban activities, injecting public spaces into the heart of the building.

At the virtual intersection between the three tower blocks, 120 meters above the city, are four levels of tropical greenery and metropolitan activity – the Sky Levels. Catapulting the public energy of the Ground Levels skywards, a signature bar and restaurant with outdoor dining terraces, an infinity edge pool, as well as a multi-function banquet hall, business lounges and meeting rooms offer premium work and leisure space in a lush environment with spectacular elevated views of the dramatic skyline. Read the rest of this entry »

“Blue Tape” by architecture graduates Evan Shieh and Ali Chen is the 1st-prize winner of the Dubai Architecture School Tower competition. In the single-phase ideas competition, participants had to design an architecture school tower whose environment would play a vital role in the students’ education, as well as make an iconic addition to Dubai’s skyline.

Blue Tape – school tower is a vertical re-imagining of the typical architecture school typology. Located adjacent to the American University of Dubai and publicly integrated with the Dubai metro system, the tower campus houses an international architecture program offering students opportunity to pursue a modern architectural education within an iconic landmark of the Dubai skyline.

At the core of Blue Tape is the concept of the Pin-Up Space – a place where students share their ideas, while collaborating with their peers and participating in academic critique of their designs with instructors and colleagues. The tower re-defines the Pin-Up space as the integral and vital tool of the architectural education and recognizes that in many examples of current schools it is often pushed to the margins of physical space.

Placed within the tower typology, the typically horizontal space becomes vertical, forming a visual, physical and conceptual epicenter for the tower. As one moves upward, the Pin-Up space forms the conceptual spine of larger public programs – classrooms, workshops, an auditorium, a library, event and gallery spaces, and finally culminates in an outdoor roof terrace. These public programs become conceptual extensions of the Pin-Up spine, expressed on the façade of the tower as formal voids, representing a symbolic and public expression of a continuous space of academia. Read the rest of this entry »

Century Properties Group and architect Daniel Libeskind collaborated on Century Spire, a residential and office tower that will break ground this year in Manila, Philippines. The 59-floor Century Spire will contain 18 floors of office space, and 35 of residences comprising penthouses, duplexes, suites and one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The units will range in size from 30 square meters to 400 square meters and will have luxurious and striking interiors.

Century Spire is the last residential tower to rise in Century City. It is a remarkable addition to the Makati skyline and solidifies Century City as one of the greatest luxury districts in the Philippines. Century Spire’s architecture goes beyond a traditional tower. Rather than taper into a fine point at its peak, the building blooms like a flower, its petals opening up to the world. This blossoming form is symbolic of Century Properties’ growth through the years and its development into a company known the world over for its dynamic, industry-shaping projects.

The building’s “crown” – three interlocking segments – is distinctly Libeskind in structure, its geometric shapes an interesting fusion of playful and sophisticated design. The design enhances the living experience of the top floor residents as it affords them dynamic living space and more exhilarating views of the city. Century Spire’s architecture challenges conventional skyscraper formation. By exploring fresh and visionary approaches to residential architecture, Century Properties brings a new wave of idealism to the local real estate industry. Read the rest of this entry »