Tower Town

Competition entry for the Taiwan Tower competition in Taichung.

A tall building is simply not enough in the endeavour for an emblematic skyscraper
in the 21st century. The sensation seeking of a high solitaire object has been the predominant show-off for the last century where the height has been limited to a combination of building technique and money.
With growing economies all over the world and leaps in technology; the record race has become more obscure than ever with record holdings that only will last a couple of years with today’s pace. The tall lone building has been done so many times before, it doesn’t matter if you tweak it, swirl it, punctuate it, clad it with new materials; it still will more or less be the same.
If you go up the elevators of Empire State Building, Sears Towers, Pearl Tower or any other solitaire, it is pretty much the same experience.
To make new world wonders, new typologies must be found, making architecture and spatial experience once again the main key to success.
With our proposed typology, we wanted to make a truly unique experience for anyone visiting, working in or living in the new tower.
Our solution was to separate the building into over a hundred of sleek towers; this will make the complex more into a highly interactive and intimate city district than into one large building mass that has little to no interaction with its users. The narrow streetscape will offer stunning vertical views, both from a street level and in mid-air on the many footbridges that is connecting the many towers, both for structural support and for communication and observation purposes.
The observation deck is not just from one high point, it is on many levels and in different towers to get a broad spectra of views of the surrounding city, the towers themselves, the mountainous landscape and even as far as the ocean.


Above Tower Town


Inside Tower Town


Tower Town from mid-air


Looking up in Tower Town


The Streets of Tower Town


Tower Town from Taichung city


Tower Town from the park


Tower Town from above


Tower Town from above


Conceptual drawing

Conceptual drawing

Section

Plans

Facades

Site plan

Star Light

The new Pop centre in Taipei is a city in itself, designed to transcend its visitors into a total escapism of pop. The enclosure makes the experience inside strong and focused and gives the structure’s different districts a framework of function and identity. The wall will act as a noise barrier as well as a very straight forward tool of communication.

The tower in its center projects light to the different parts of the town as stage lights or to enhance the setting. Every district uses the effect from the tower in some aspect and is consequently designed according to the angles of light.

The lights can make the whole building expand dramatically in appearance, from rather low key from a distance into a spectacular body of light; forming a unique landmark for this developing part of the city.
The projections also works in a smaller scale, such as high precision laser to light up a visiting Tina Turner's Martini for example.


Aerial perspective

Aerial perspective of the eastern parts of the building

Section

THE DISTRICTS;

The Star District hosts the office part with rehearsal studios.
As an extra feature we also added a guest star palace.
The rehearsal studios and office space is located in a flexible and large space that are easy to change after specific needs. All office space and rehearsal studios can be reached internally through the surrounding walls. The streets and the small squares in these blocks will be an important area for intermingling for the guest artist and entourage with the local artists and office personnel working in the building.

The star palace features a hotel for the artist’s entourage on the first three levels. The upper level is a penthouse suite for the guest artist with an exclusive pool overlooking the whole complex and formed as a glass bowl that can be illuminated by the tower.

Star District with the star pool

Star District

The outdoor arena is a plane surface surrounded by walls with three levels of balconies on each side. Hovering over the space is a rig with smoke machines that allows it to be disguised as a cloud. The cloud rig is mounted on a rail with a light and sound system that can support the scene anywhere on the arena area either as a roof for the artist or as a separate feature emphasizing the show. When not used for shows the arena can serve as a big square with great scenographic opportunities for markets, car shows, parties etcetera.

The cloud and the outdoor arena

The live houses are located in the centre of the building, connected both to the outdoor arena and the commercial district. The live houses have different scales and characters for different performances such as a hovering outdoor live house as well as small and big scale indoor live houses. All live houses, except the smallest ones, have holes punctuating the roofs for the projections from the tower to reach the scenes. In between the live houses is a tranquil park for recreation with features like headphones to just relax for a moment while visiting the complex and a projection wall for the tower to display music videos or other moving media. The live houses are placed so they can be reached separately from outside the complex for easy controlled night activities.

Live House landscape

Inside a livehouse with stage projection

The commercial district consists of the central square with the tower, the hall of fame and a great cluster of bars and shops that continues on the sloping roof terrace of the main auditorium. The main square is an important entry point to the complex with a close access to all public events.
In the middle of the square lies the tower which is a clearly visible landmark and controls the light ambiance for the whole complex.

The Hall of Fame is easily accessed for the public via the main square and hosts a great collection of Pop memorabilia as well as a permanent exhibition of the supreme of pop.

The shops and bars are relatively small units tweaked towards the tower to individually light up a preferred interior vibe via the glass roofs. The many small streets and squares makes for a vibrant atmosphere, perfect for a pre-drink before a concert or an evening stroll.

From the tower

Shop district

Shop district with projections

The main hall provides a unique concert experience; large punctuations in the roof for the tower projections lights up the whole scene as well as a large part of the hall.

The sloping spectator area is made out of glass beams which can transmit light out on the auditorium plaza, creating an epic foyer for the arriving crowds. The auditorium foyer/square is protected from rain by the large overhang and acts as a connection hub for pedestrians; interlinking various footbridges and takes the visitors to the desired floor level.

The roof on the auditorium becomes a sloping terrace down to the commercial district with views over the whole complex.

Main auditorium

Siteplan

Plans

Thanks to Andres Morelli for some of the 3D renderings

Tornado

Entry for an opera competition in Taipei.
Competition in progress.

This is a powerful energy generating machine on the outside with a sensual, organic inside that transcends the visitors from the bustling city to a serene world of the performing arts.

One of the positive aspects of raising the building is that it creates a generous public space around it.
The square slopes gently towards the entrance, surrounded by pearls, the visitors descends fadingly into the building like entering an ocean.


A great spiral of pearls is the main focal point of the entrance hall, you can either take the elevator through it or the ramp around it, by foot or with the VIP Train of pearls, taking you all the way into the Grand Theatre.

The Grand theatre is embedded in pearls, creating a elegant and modern experience for the audience. The semi-transparent pearls are lit from behind and dim the light,
creating a glowing sensation. Depending on the performance, the ambience can be set into different modes.
A chandelier of pearls in the middle of the theatre drops seamlessly from the roof like a jewel, radiating an ambient light. The VIP Train is now converted into comfortable seats.

Reaching the roof terrace, the pearls subsides into clouds. Walking around among the clouds one can experience panorama views of Taipei.

The building performs on its own for the city, generating culture, urban life and pure sustainable energy for its vicinity.
This is all strongly manifested from the visual effect of its rotating facade.

The façade is covered with curved blades are attached on segments that rotate with the wind, generating energy to the building and to the city.

The pearls are non-toxic and non-flamable acrylic balls with a tint of reflection.
Pearls in different sizes is combined into various landscapes inside the building to enhance the theatre experience.

Flow diagram

Siteplan

Administration level

Theatre level

Roof terrace

Section

This competition was a collaboration with Markus Wagner, a member of Svensk standard,

http://www.svenskstandard.org/.