Aqua Tower in Chicago
The sexiest and most voluptuous
building in the book is the Aqua Tower in Chicago that was by the
Magellan Development Group and designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang
Architecture. It is 859 feet high and was a finalist in the
Americas region.
The jury's statement declared that
the tower's "signature cantilevered balconies are breathtaking; it is
exemplary of where concrete technology can take tall building design
today. When viewed as a whole, the balconies create a seemingly
organic and free 'motion' across the tower's facades unlike anything
before seen in tall building design, and yet are carefully planned to
provide solar shading, views, and to correspond to the units
within." The book also notes that the balconies "disrupted" or
"confused" the flow of wind negating the need for a tuned damper.
Its balconies extend further on the southern facade and the building
employs six different types of glass: clear, tinted, reflective,
spandrel, fritted and translucent. "Fritted glass is used and
combined with handrail design to minimize bird strikes."
Bank of America Tower
The
Bank of America Tower is 1,200 feet tall and is across from the
northwest corner of Bryant Park on 42nd Street in Manhattan. It
was developed by the Durst Organization and designed by Cook + Fox.
With its distinctive angled
top and tall spire, the tower is an important addition to midtown and
to the developer's long heritage on the Avenue of the Americas.
The book notes that its
crystalline form "suggests an appropriate natural analogue, both
organic and urban in nature. With the crisp, folded facade, the
tower changes with the sun and sky; its southeast exposure, a deep
double wall, orients the building its it full height toward Bryant
Park, its namesake and the most intensively used open space in the US."
Pinnacle at Duxton in
Singapore
The "winner" in the Asia and
Australasia region was the Pinnacle @ Duxton in Singapore with seven
buildings with a total of 1,848 apartments. The buildings have
continuous skygardens on the 24th and 50th floors.
The book provides the following commentary:
"Efficiently constsructed off-site, the pre-fabricated concrete
building componenents were delivered and put together on site.
Residents were given an unprecedented choice of exterior faade
treatments - planter boxes, bays, bay windows, windows and
balconies. The facade is atomized into modular panels strung
together to form seven sets."
Rather than creating a "relentless" wall, the buildings curve and have
very aticulated facades. The jury's statement maintains that "the
project has enlivening spaces and creates a quality experience for the
users."
The developer was the Housing & Development Board of Singagpore and
the architects was ARC Studio Architecture and Urbanism.
Marina Bay Sands
Integrated Resort
This
spectacular, 679-foot-high project was developed by the Las Vegas Sands
Corporation and is a major landmark in Singapore. It was designed
by Moshe Safdie. Its three 55-story towers support as a
1,115-foot-long SkyPark. The complex contains a casino, a
2,560-room hotel, a convention center, a museum, shopping and dining
and theaters. Each of the three towers is formed by two curved
and splayed legs that lean into one arnother as they rise.
O-14 in Dubai
The 347-foot-high tower known as O-14 in Dubai is table for its
perforated exoskeleton that has more than 1,300 openings, mostly
circular. The project was developed by Creekside Development
Corporation and designed by Reiser + Umemoto and RUR Architecture
P.C. The
facade holes were made by "weaving Computer Numerically Cut (CNC)
polystyrene void forms into the reinforcement matrix of the shell,
around which are constructed the slip forms of the internior and
exterior surfaces of the shell. Super-liquid concrete was then
cast around this meshwork and once it was cured, the forms are loosened
and moved up the tower to the next level."
Nanjing Greenland
Financial Center in China
This
1,476-foot-high tower is known as the Nanjing Greenland Financial
Center and is triangular in plan with a very distinctive facade that
has rounded corners and an asymmetrical configuration. It was
designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
100 11th Avenue
Each
of this mid-rise tower's 1,650 windows are different sized and have
unique orientation. It was developed by Cape Advisors and Alf
Naman Real Estate. It was designed byAtelier Jean Nouvel.
It fronts on the West Side Highway in Chelsea and is just to the north
of mid-rise building designed by Frank O. Gehry that utillizes a sail
motif.
Bumps in Beijing
This
very handsome, mid-rise, 26-story project in Beijing is known as Bumps
and was developed by the Beijing Xinfergxinde Real Estate Development
Company and designed by SAKO Architects. It is made up of four
residential towers and a commercial complex. Every two floors are set
as a "boxed" unit staggered 6.5 feet horizontally, and the facade
repeats the staggered spacing. The staggering is used for terraes
and a restaurant on the sixth floor of one of the commercial
buildings. The windows are randomly placed.
