Architecture

Winning Taiwan Tower hosts a "21st-Century Oasis"

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The winning Sou Fujimoto concept features a tower that in essence is a "21st Century Oasis" (image:Sou Fujimoto)
Japanese architectural firm Sou Fujimoto has won the Taiwan Tower International Competition with its green architecture design that features a floating forest (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The tower's roof-top garden is 300 meters (984 ft) above the ground (image:Sou Fujimoto)
At night the tower will be lit up without any obvious form (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The winning Sou Fujimoto concept features a tower that in essence is a "21st Century Oasis" (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The structural design is inspired by the Taiwanese Banyan tree (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The structural design is inspired by the Taiwanese Banyan tree and incorporates a roof-top garden that seems to float 300 meters (984 ft) above the ground (image:Sou Fujimoto)
At night the tower will be lit up without any obvious form (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The iconic tower will be located at the southern tip of the Taichung Gateway Park (image:Sou Fujimoto)
The superstructure of the tower will feature a series of steel columns, spiral beams and roof beams (image:Sou Fujimoto)
Taiwan Tower undertakes the role that Eiffel Tower had undertook in Modernity for the 21st Century (image:Sou Fujimoto)
View gallery - 10 images

Japanese architecture firm Sou Fujimoto has won the Taiwan Tower International Competition with its green architecture design that features a floating forest. The competition is part of a larger urban plan in Taichung, Taiwan as a part of a new development for the "Gateway City." Architects were given the task of designing a tower that would be located at the southern tip of Taichung Gateway Park, with a minimum height of 300 meters (984 ft).

The winning Sou Fujimoto concept features a tower that in essence is a "21st Century Oasis." The structural design is inspired by the Taiwanese Banyan tree and incorporates a roof-top garden that seems to float 300 meters above the ground. The tower will create a symbolic landmark for Taichung City, with the garden being visible from within a vast radius.

The structure will adopt several green architecture initiatives by implementing a forest roof; rainwater harvesting; solar hot water panels; wind turbines; photovoltaic cells; a ground source heat pump; a desiccant air-handling unit and natural ventilation. Sou Fujimoto also hopes that these green strategies will be a significant contribution to acquiring the LEED Gold certification.

The superstructure of the tower will feature a series of steel columns, spiral beams and roof beams. The perimeter columns and intermediate columns will be positioned in various directions so that they can resist strong lateral winds and earthquakes.

The structural design is inspired by the Taiwanese Banyan tree (image:Sou Fujimoto)

At night the tower will be lit up without any obvious form. Like a breeze, the light display will pulsate and flow as the tower eventually falls asleep. "The light of this tower will evoke and engage to all, the spirit of Taiwan," says Sou Fujimoto. "Light that allows one to feel and be connected to the spirit of life, this will be the ever-changing face of Taiwan Tower, Taichung Gateway, and for Taiwan."

The total construction budget for Sou Fujimoto's Taiwan Tower is about US$220 million and is subject to approval by the city council.

Source: Akichiatlas

View gallery - 10 images
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6 comments
Joseph Shimandle
See how nicely it fits in with the exsiting skyline- NOT.
Todd Dunning
That\'s a relief that it\'s \'green\' and \'eco\'. I was worried for a second that it was a pointless excercise in Autodesk Maya meant to pad somebody\'s resume.
Riaanh
Why ??
mikalasabir
it\'s a nice step towards ultimate green sustainable building, not quite ready for prime time, plan check approved construction.
Dawar Saify
If it were for the renewable energy part, it is a completely useless exercise.
Reuben Richardson
Structurally it looks a mess. I don\'t believe any structural engineers could of been involved in this design.... it is hard to make out how it designed if it\'s a single layer of columns buckling about the height would be a big problem. Columns need to be restrained in both directions to be any good at supporting large vertical loads... For such a irregular building with no torsional diaphragms I would suggest its asking for trouble with global buckling of the tower...thirdly... Sustainable and Eco? Not on your life.