2024 Skyscraper Competition
Honorable Mention
Void Studio Architecture + Research Ltd
United Kingdom
A day in the life of an inhabitant of the Weave.
In the vibrant centre of Bangkok, Nara awoke on the The Weave’s 65th floor; an urban mixed-use tower, emerging from the fabric of South-East Asian urbanscape. An essential solution to the issue of overly dense valuable urban land, whilst preserving the unique characteristics of Thai street culture.
An interlocking timber-frame forms a layered topography of sun-facing urban rainforests and food gardens, the tower stands as a testament of the interplay between human engineering and nature’s unruly beauty.
Stepping onto her balcony, Nara finds herself immersed in the sensory garden embracing the facade. The defining feature, a timber lattice, intricately intertwined with the native flora, creates a dialogue between the rigid precision of architectural design merged with the natural tapestry of the urban rainforest. The natural feature of the façade maintains the temperature throughout the day, with less temperature fluctuations, as Nara experienced in her old apartment building.
‘Breathe in, breathe out’ whispers Nara as she walks towards her allotment. The community aquaponics garden allows residents to cultivate their own food, therefore, increasing locally sourced produce and a circular economy within the tower. The surplus produce is either sold at the Skytrain platform farmers market or supplies the food pods within the tower. The water that sustains the aquaponics allotments is captured early in the morning by fog collectors, which recirculates the moisture from the urban rainforest façade and integrates it in the tower’s food system. Utilising nature as a collaborator in the building design creates a healthy metabolism from which both human and plant life thrive.
As Nara descends within a transparent lift, the cityscape captured within the tower’s timber structure, unfolds in a unique choreography. The once horizontal condensed neon-lit streets of Bangkok had given way to a pulsating network of elevators, creating a mesmerising vertical streetscape. Maintaining the character of the South-East Asian theatrical urban strata, the interweave between food stalls, markets, transport hubs, live- work places, the endless motion of traffic and pedestrians, and the exotic flora, encompasses a holistic ecosystem.
Arriving on level 44, Nara’s senses are awoken by the scent of Thai street food. The food stalls that once conquered the Thai streets, are now converted into food pods that are interlocked in place by drones, into the timber structure. This construction process allows for a rapid assembly of components which responds to the fast-increasing population growth, without compromising the natural environment. Waiting for her breakfast, Nara peeks into the food pod kitchen where take-away drones fly by their window, picking up orders.
Descending further into the live-work studios on level 37, where young professionals setup their studio pods, Nara’s creativity is inspired by the tapestry of human and non-human ecosystems that encloses her design studio. The interplay of light and shadow overcast by the intricate timber lattice combined with the tree canopy, inspires Nara to contemplate on the once divided world between humans and the natural world.
At lunchtime, Nara heads to level 41 where the Skytrain platform opens into the farmers market, selling produce grown within the building’s community allotments, becoming a social beacon within the local neighbourhood. Every three minutes, people moved with uncanny precision, seamlessly entering, and exiting the train in a synchronised urban performance.
As twilight approaches, Nara joins The Weave Land Trust Committee, discussing the anaerobic pods installed on level 72, which turns food compost into gas and therefore, energy, allowing The Weave to become a fully sustainable urban organism in the ever-growing metropolis of South-East Asia.
