Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower
Torre panoramica per trasmissioni televisive Guangzhou / China / 2010
7
Si innalza sino a 600 metri di altezza disegnando nello skyline una sinuosa silhouette che evoca le morbide curve di un corpo femminile.
“Se la maggior parte dei grattacieli presenta elementi “maschili” che disegnano figure introverse, forti, rettangolari e basate sulla ripetizione – spiega Mark Hemel, architetto alla guida dello studio IBA – noi abbiamo voluto creare una torre “femminile” che risultasse complessa, trasparente, sinuosa e gentile”.
“Il nostro obiettivo – prosegue Hemel – era progettare una torre dalla struttura libera con una identità umana che potesse rappresentare Guangzhou come una città dinamica ed emozionante. Abbiamo per questo immaginato un disegno non simmetrico, che desse quasi la sensazione di una torre viva, in movimento. Il risultato è stato una torre che si erge nello skyline seguendo un andamento quasi sexy che ha suggerito il soprannome di super-model”.
Forma, volume e struttura sono generate dalla rotazione di due ellissi, una al livello delle fondamenta e l’altra in corrispondenza di un immaginario piano orizzontale posto a 450 metri di altezza. La rotazione tra le due ellissi dà forma ad un restringimento che ricorda un “punto vita” dove si concentra una densificazione del materiale. La struttura reticolare, spaziosa alla base della torre, diventa cioè più fitta in corrispondenza del “punto vita”, dove la vista verso l’esterno risulta ridotta. Più in alto la griglia di apre nuovamente, accentuata dalla rastremazione dei pilastri strutturali.
La Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower si sviluppa su 37 piani complessivi che ospitano spazi espositivi, un centro conferenze, un cinema, diversi ristoranti e caffetterie, ed un belvedere.
Un piano alla base della torre nasconde i collegamenti infrastrutturali dell’edificio che trovano spazio nel sotterraneo – metropolitana, stazione autobus ed un percorso pedonale che si collega al lungofiume. Questo piano ospita anche un museo, un food court, un centro commerciale ed un parcheggio con 600 posti auto. L’ingresso alla torre funziona su due livelli, uno rialzato rispetto al livello della strada ed un altro come collegamento alle strutture del piano interrato. Ascensori panoramici servono entrambi i piani di ingresso.
English text
Canton Tower
After 6 years of design and building works, on October 1st 2010 the Canton Tower has opened its doors to the public.
Mark Hemel + Barbara Kuit and their Amsterdam firm, Information Based Architecture, designers of the tower, are pleased to announce that world’s tallest TV and Sightseeing tower is now a fact. The Canton Tower is Guangzhou’s most important new building and will represent the 10 million inhabitants counting metropolis as a cool, progressive and exciting city. Guangzhou is now ready to host the Asian Games that will take place in November 2010. The world’s tallest TV tower - reaching 600m in height, is bypassing Toronto’s CN tower, and is hoped to attract 10 000 visitors daily.
Supermodel
Mark Hemel, IBA architect and director, comments, “ Where most skyscrapers bear ‘male’ features; being introvert, strong, straight, rectangular, and based on repetition, we wanted to create a ‘female’ tower, being complex, transparent, curvy, gracious and sexy. Our aim was to design a free-form tower with a rich and human-like identity that would represent Guangzhou as a dynamic and exciting city.” The result is a tower, very slender and tall, that bears similarities with the figure of a female, the very reason that earned the nickname: ‘super-model‘.”
Twisting
The idea of the tower is simple. The form, volume and structure is generated by two ellipses, one at foundation level and the other at a horizontal plane at 450 metres. These two ellipses are rotated relative to another. The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms a ‘waist’ and a densification of material.
Organic Concept
The structure consist of a open lattice-structure, built up from 1100 nodes and the same amount of connecting ring- and bracing pieces. Basically the tower can be seen as a giant 3 dimensional puzzle of which all 3300 pieces are totally unique. Architect Mark Hemel comments: “Recent State of the Art fabrication and computerized analysis techniques allow designers to create much more complex structures then ever before.
The Competition
The international competition was held in 2004 for the design of the tower, a 17.9ha park at its base and the master-plan for the surrounding 56.6ha which includes an elevated Plaza, pagoda-park, retail facilities, offices, television centre and hotel.
Programme
The Canton Tower consists of 37 floors of programme including exhibition spaces, a conference centre, a cinema, 2 revolving restaurants and one VIP-restaurant, various cafés and observation levels. A deck at the base of the tower hides the giant building’s infrastructural workings. Public transport connections including a metro and bus station are met underground. These levels support other facilities as well, including exhibition spaces, a food court, extensive commercial space, a 600-vehicle parking and tourist coaches. Panoramic double-decker lifts serve both entrance levels.
Sky-walk
Between level +170 meter and level +350 meter there is a “skywalk”; an open-air staircase will lead the public all the way up through the narrow waist of the building.
Outdoor Observation square
From the upper observation levels it is possible to ascend even higher, via a further set of the stairs, to a terraced observation square at +460m, rising well above the tower’s top ring, one can have a panoramic view over the booming city of Guangzhou. A set of capsules circumvent the perimeter of the top ring, offering visitors breathtaking views over the very edge of the building.
Progress
Since the initial winning of the scheme, the design has been developed over several years. Many tests were done to check the safety and strength of the structure among which wind tunnel-, fire- and load tests. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in November 2005 after which the foundation and piling were constructed. The steel structure of the main building was completed in November 2008. The building was finally topped out in May 2009. The Canton tower now opens its doors, in order to be fully operational for the 2010 Asian Games.
Engineer: Arup
LDI: Guangzhou Design Institute
“Se la maggior parte dei grattacieli presenta elementi “maschili” che disegnano figure introverse, forti, rettangolari e basate sulla ripetizione – spiega Mark Hemel, architetto alla guida dello studio IBA – noi abbiamo voluto creare una torre “femminile” che risultasse complessa, trasparente, sinuosa e gentile”.
“Il nostro obiettivo – prosegue Hemel – era progettare una torre dalla struttura libera con una identità umana che potesse rappresentare Guangzhou come una città dinamica ed emozionante. Abbiamo per questo immaginato un disegno non simmetrico, che desse quasi la sensazione di una torre viva, in movimento. Il risultato è stato una torre che si erge nello skyline seguendo un andamento quasi sexy che ha suggerito il soprannome di super-model”.
Forma, volume e struttura sono generate dalla rotazione di due ellissi, una al livello delle fondamenta e l’altra in corrispondenza di un immaginario piano orizzontale posto a 450 metri di altezza. La rotazione tra le due ellissi dà forma ad un restringimento che ricorda un “punto vita” dove si concentra una densificazione del materiale. La struttura reticolare, spaziosa alla base della torre, diventa cioè più fitta in corrispondenza del “punto vita”, dove la vista verso l’esterno risulta ridotta. Più in alto la griglia di apre nuovamente, accentuata dalla rastremazione dei pilastri strutturali.
La Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower si sviluppa su 37 piani complessivi che ospitano spazi espositivi, un centro conferenze, un cinema, diversi ristoranti e caffetterie, ed un belvedere.
Un piano alla base della torre nasconde i collegamenti infrastrutturali dell’edificio che trovano spazio nel sotterraneo – metropolitana, stazione autobus ed un percorso pedonale che si collega al lungofiume. Questo piano ospita anche un museo, un food court, un centro commerciale ed un parcheggio con 600 posti auto. L’ingresso alla torre funziona su due livelli, uno rialzato rispetto al livello della strada ed un altro come collegamento alle strutture del piano interrato. Ascensori panoramici servono entrambi i piani di ingresso.
English text
Canton Tower
After 6 years of design and building works, on October 1st 2010 the Canton Tower has opened its doors to the public.
Mark Hemel + Barbara Kuit and their Amsterdam firm, Information Based Architecture, designers of the tower, are pleased to announce that world’s tallest TV and Sightseeing tower is now a fact. The Canton Tower is Guangzhou’s most important new building and will represent the 10 million inhabitants counting metropolis as a cool, progressive and exciting city. Guangzhou is now ready to host the Asian Games that will take place in November 2010. The world’s tallest TV tower - reaching 600m in height, is bypassing Toronto’s CN tower, and is hoped to attract 10 000 visitors daily.
Supermodel
Mark Hemel, IBA architect and director, comments, “ Where most skyscrapers bear ‘male’ features; being introvert, strong, straight, rectangular, and based on repetition, we wanted to create a ‘female’ tower, being complex, transparent, curvy, gracious and sexy. Our aim was to design a free-form tower with a rich and human-like identity that would represent Guangzhou as a dynamic and exciting city.” The result is a tower, very slender and tall, that bears similarities with the figure of a female, the very reason that earned the nickname: ‘super-model‘.”
Twisting
The idea of the tower is simple. The form, volume and structure is generated by two ellipses, one at foundation level and the other at a horizontal plane at 450 metres. These two ellipses are rotated relative to another. The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms a ‘waist’ and a densification of material.
Organic Concept
The structure consist of a open lattice-structure, built up from 1100 nodes and the same amount of connecting ring- and bracing pieces. Basically the tower can be seen as a giant 3 dimensional puzzle of which all 3300 pieces are totally unique. Architect Mark Hemel comments: “Recent State of the Art fabrication and computerized analysis techniques allow designers to create much more complex structures then ever before.
The Competition
The international competition was held in 2004 for the design of the tower, a 17.9ha park at its base and the master-plan for the surrounding 56.6ha which includes an elevated Plaza, pagoda-park, retail facilities, offices, television centre and hotel.
Programme
The Canton Tower consists of 37 floors of programme including exhibition spaces, a conference centre, a cinema, 2 revolving restaurants and one VIP-restaurant, various cafés and observation levels. A deck at the base of the tower hides the giant building’s infrastructural workings. Public transport connections including a metro and bus station are met underground. These levels support other facilities as well, including exhibition spaces, a food court, extensive commercial space, a 600-vehicle parking and tourist coaches. Panoramic double-decker lifts serve both entrance levels.
Sky-walk
Between level +170 meter and level +350 meter there is a “skywalk”; an open-air staircase will lead the public all the way up through the narrow waist of the building.
Outdoor Observation square
From the upper observation levels it is possible to ascend even higher, via a further set of the stairs, to a terraced observation square at +460m, rising well above the tower’s top ring, one can have a panoramic view over the booming city of Guangzhou. A set of capsules circumvent the perimeter of the top ring, offering visitors breathtaking views over the very edge of the building.
Progress
Since the initial winning of the scheme, the design has been developed over several years. Many tests were done to check the safety and strength of the structure among which wind tunnel-, fire- and load tests. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in November 2005 after which the foundation and piling were constructed. The steel structure of the main building was completed in November 2008. The building was finally topped out in May 2009. The Canton tower now opens its doors, in order to be fully operational for the 2010 Asian Games.
Engineer: Arup
LDI: Guangzhou Design Institute
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Si innalza sino a 600 metri di altezza disegnando nello skyline una sinuosa silhouette che evoca le morbide curve di un corpo femminile. “Se la maggior parte dei grattacieli presenta elementi “maschili” che disegnano figure introverse, forti, rettangolari e basate sulla ripetizione – spiega Mark Hemel, architetto alla guida dello studio IBA – noi abbiamo voluto creare una torre “femminile” che risultasse complessa, trasparente, sinuosa e gentile”.“Il nostro obiettivo – prosegue Hemel – era...
- Year 2010
- Work started in 2005
- Work finished in 2010
- Client Guangzhou Municipal Construction Commission
- Status Completed works
- Type Tower blocks/Skyscrapers / Museums / Cinemas / Shopping Malls / Bars/Cafés / Restaurants
- Websitehttp://www.iba-bv.com
- Websitehttp://www.cantontower.info
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