Archinect - News

Innovative mass timber Wangen Tower opens in southern Germany

2024-05-22T17:16:00-04:00

University of Stuttgart professor Achim Menges has shared details of a new research-led observation tower project called Wangen Tower after its realization earlier this month at the regional garden showcase Landesgartenschau Wangen im Allgäu in southern Germany.

The project is a collaboration between the university's Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the university.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Nina Baisch)

Image: © Roland Halbe

Menges’ eight-member team worked with Prof. Dr. Jan Knippers and Gregor Neubauer to produce the prototype using CNC milling techniques and curved CLT panels. The result is a durable, high-performance structure made from locally sourced renewable materials as well as the first-ever built example of a multi-level building made using self-shaped structural timber components.

Image: © ICD/ITKE/IntCDC University of Stuttgart (Photo: Christoph Mo...

IAAC team’s mass timber nature observatory floats above a Barcelona forest

2023-05-16T12:13:00-04:00

A team from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) has constructed a timber observatory in a Barcelona forest to support analyses of nature. The group of students and researchers from the institution’s Masters in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities program were inspired by the hanging walkways of American biologist Margaret D. Lowman.

Image credit: Adrià Goula

Located in the city’s Collserola Natural Park, and named the Forest Lab for Observational Research and Analysis (FLORA), the facility seeks to provide researchers a space to live and work in the forest canopy. Among the observatory’s facilities are a bird radio, bird houses, working and projection space, as well as bird watching spaces.

Image credit: Adrià Goula

The observatory’s design process began with students studying the biodiversity of the forest, including identifying various inhabitants from underground, aboveground, canopy, and sky levels. T...

Virginia Tech team completes world-first observation tower with innovative low-carbon timber

2022-04-20T11:51:00-04:00

A team of students and faculty at Virginia Tech has completed an innovative observation tower in rural Virginia. The design and delivery of the project saw the development and certification of a new custom timber product, off-site prefabrication, and the discovery of the ruins of a historic building.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The project, formally titled the New River Train Observation Tower, was delivered to the city of Radford, Virginia. In 2018, the city commissioned Virginia Tech to design and build a train observation tower that would create publicly accessible views over the city’s New River and a historically significant railroad bridge. With a budget of $100,000, the city requested that the tower used clean-tech, low-carbon building products to showcase the city’s transition away from its industrial past.

Photography by Kay Edge and Edward Becker

The student/faculty team initially sought to construct the tower from cross-laminated timber (CLT) due to its durab...

UK housing secretary Michael Gove rumored to be mulling approval of Foster + Partners' Tulip Tower

2021-10-20T13:36:00-04:00

Foster + Partners’ hotly-contested Tulip Tower proposal in London may now spring to life once more as several UK outlets are reporting the £500 million ($691 million) scheme is set to be granted approval by housing secretary Michael Gove.

Planned for the site opposite The Gherkin, the 300-meter-high tower is meant as a tourist attraction, featuring a 12-story viewing ‘pod’ that will serve a variety of functions, most notably as a “classroom in the sky” for the 20,000 schoolchildren expected to visit the tower annually.

The tower would become London's second tallest building once completed. Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners.

The plan bounced back in the summer of 2019 after London’s mayor Sadiq Khan rescinded municipal approval for the tower on the grounds that it was "of insufficient quality for such a prominent location" and "would result in harm to London’s skyline and impact views of the nearby Tower of London World Heritage Site."

London's mayor had previously rejected municipa...

All along the (Marsk) Watchtower: BIG unveils images of its new tourist attraction by the North Sea

2021-08-11T14:03:00-04:00

Images of BIG’s new corten steel Marsk Watchtower have been revealed, showcasing a sculptural design that offers users superlative views of the adjacent North Sea coast.

Image by Rasmus Hjortshoj and BIG

Marsk Tower section. Image by BIG

DNA helices inspire the 80-foot-tall observatory located in Denmark’s Wadden Sea National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The tapered structure increases in width as the spiral gradually climbs its way to the top and the 40-foot-wide viewing platform. Two sets of steps totaling 277 connect users to its base, which also contains a built-in elevator for increased accessibility.

Image by Rasmus Hjortshoj and BIG

The tower is meant to lure tourists to the Marsk Camp complex and will now make up the centerpiece of a program that also includes an on-site restaurant. A 250-ton concrete plinth forms the base of the helix-like structure with similarities to the 150-foot-tall Camp Adventure tower installed in the Gisselfeld Klosters Skove forest by Danish s...

New York State Pavilion's observation towers will soon shine in restored glory

2019-09-11T14:56:00-04:00

[...] the restoration on the observation towers of the New York State Pavilion is beginning soon. A project update on the Parks’ capital project tracker states that there is an estimated start date of September 2019, and that a date has been set for construction to begin, an update first noticed by the People for the Pavilion.

Untapped Cities reports that the restoration work of the three New York State Pavilion observation towers, designed by Philip Johnson, Richard Foster and structural engineer Lev Zetlin for the 1964 World’s Fair, will include "reconstruction of the stairways, replace deteriorated suspension cables at all the platform levels, repair deteriorated concrete, restore the floor finish on the plaza level, partial restoration of the historical lighting design, replace and repair electrical and drainage infrastructure."

BIG proposes 500-foot observation tower for San Diego

2019-07-23T13:11:00-04:00

A proposed observation tower at the edge of Pacific Highway is a polarizing symbol of change that could make or break the larger, $2.4 billion redevelopment effort planned for downtown’s Central Embarcadero.

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and developers 1HWY1 have proposed a 500-foot cylindrical observation tower for San Diego's waterfront Central Embarcadero as part of a massive $2.4 billion Seaport San Diego project.

The part-hotel, part-theme park development could include 385 hotel rooms, a 170,822-square-foot "vertical aquarium," and other retail, office, and leisure spaces, according to a recent report from The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The proposal, which will have to undergo extensive environmental review and be approved by the California Coastal Commission, is not without controversy, however.

Ground-level view of the proposed observation tower. Image courtesy of Seaport San Diego.

Melody Lasiter, a San Diego coastal planner, told The San Diego Union-Tribune, “We have concerns about the bulk and scale of the project in general."

Lasiter added, “Our major concern is that the existing development down at Seaport Village right now is easily accessible for a wide range of incomes. The...

Before "The Tulip," there was Welton Becket's Reunion Tower

2019-07-17T09:14:00-04:00

With a certain bulb-shaped observation tower in the news again, perhaps now is a good time to revisit another seminal observation tower project: The Welton Becket and Associates-designed Reunion Tower in Dallas, Texas.

Crafted as a three-story, lightbulb-studded geodesic dome hoisted atop a series of monolithic poured-in-place concrete piers, Reunion Tower is among one of the more iconic elements of Dallas’s eclectic and neon-lit skyline. The tower rises to 561-feet in height and is topped in part by a panoramic restaurant designed to revolve around the building’s axis once every 55 minutes, creating one of the more remarkable—and still fully functional—high points of 1970s-era architecture. The restaurant, Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck, according to its website, offers diners “floor-to-ceiling windows offering 360-degree views of the city from the dramatic, revolving dining room.”

View of the Reunion Tower. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user texas_mustang.

Like a New Year’s Eve ball th...

Foster's Tulip Tower receives approval from London officials

2019-04-02T14:45:00-04:00

The controversial Tulip skyscraper in the City was granted planning approval today despite huge concerns about its impact on historic views of London. The decision by the City of London Corporation’s planning committee paves the way for the 305.3-metre high structure on Bury Street, which will be western Europe’s second tallest building after the Shard.

Despite all controversy surrounding the 1,000-foot-tall Tulip Tower, the Foster + Partners-designed project appears to have breezed through the approval process since it was first unveiled last November.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

"This building—a lift shaft with a bulge on top—would damage the very thing its developers claim they will deliver—tourism and views of London’s extraordinary heritage," said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, in his opposing opinion.

"The setting of the Tower of London, a symbol of the city not just to millions of Londoners but to the whole world and one of our most visited places, will be harmed. It has already been damaged by the Walkie Talkie and it would be a great shame if that mistake was repeated."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan still has to sign off the approval.

Foster + Partners-designed Tulip tower may impact London's air traffic control systems

2018-12-03T13:44:00-05:00

Gondalas designed to move up and down the top of the Tulip tower are at risk of confusing air traffic control systems, according to technical experts at London City airport. Construction on the 305-metre (1,000ft) tower must not go ahead until an assessment has been carried out into its potential impact on radar systems at the airport six miles to the east, officials told the authority considering whether to grant planning permission.

After its big reveal in November, planning for the 1,000-foot-tall The Tulip observation tower by Foster + Partners has been halted by officials to study the impact the attraction's moving glass spheres high up in the sky will have on radar systems at the nearby London City airport, pointing out that "the gondalas will be moving and therefore may have a slightly different effect than a static element of the building."

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Next to the Gherkin, a Tulip-shaped tower designed by Foster + Partners could soon rise

2018-11-19T14:10:00-05:00

British firm Foster + Partners have proposed plans for a Tulip-shaped tower that would rise beside their London landmark, the Gherkin. The new skyscraper, which at 305-meters high would become the city's second-tallest building, is conceived as a state-of-the-art cultural and educational resource by the architects.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Also described as 'a classroom in the sky,' the future landmark will include an educational facility for local schoolchildren, with 20,000 free visits offered per year. In addition, the Tulip will have viewing galleries as well as bars and restaurants offering panoramic views of the city.

Visitors will have a variety of noteworthy ways to move about the 12-story observation tower, choosing between sky bridges, internal glass slides and/or a gondola pod ride.

Credit: DBOX for Foster + Partners

Announcing the plans, Norman Foster described the project as "in the spirit of London as a progressive, forward-t...

Calatrava-designed Dubai Creek Tower completes massive concrete pile cap

2018-06-04T15:11:00-04:00

Concrete placement work for Dubai Creek Tower's pile cap has been completed two months ahead of schedule. A 20m-thick, multi-layered pile cap has been developed for the $1bn (AED3.67bn) Dubai Creek Tower, which is part of the 6km2 Dubai Creek Harbour master development. The pile covers and transfers the load to the foundation barrettes.

Image: Emaar Properties.

Up to 16,000 tons of steel reinforcement, reportedly twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower, have been buried in the sandy Dubai ground to support (what has been promised to become) the world's tallest tower at a yet to be disclosed height: the Dubai Creek Tower designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Calatrava's megatall Dubai Creek Tower completes design development

2018-02-15T14:52:00-05:00

The design development programme for Dubai Creek Tower is fully complete. BMT, an international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, announced that it had taken the Emaar Properties project "to 100% design development". Wind engineering experts from BMT have completed aerodynamic shape optimisation studies, wind loading analyses, and façade wind pressure assessments for the project.

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, stopped by the Santiago Calatrava-designed Dubai Creek Tower megaproject last month and inspected the monumental foundation work of what may soon be the world's tallest building (the final height is still kept a secret but was announced to surpass the 829.8 m/2,722 ft of the current and nearby record holder, the Burj Khalifa).

DFA proposes 712-foot observation tower to clean Central Park reservoir

2017-09-14T15:36:00-04:00

Creative studio DFA is proposing a 712-foot public observation tower in Central Park that would double as a sustainable filtration system to clean the hazardous Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and turn it into a non-toxic, useable freshwater pond. Though meant to be temporary, the prefabricated tower would be the world’s tallest timber structure if completed, featuring a 56-foot-wide viewing platform and a glass oculus that showcases the tower’s functional elements.

Via DFA

Groundbreaking for Calatrava-designed Dubai Tower — (potentially) the world's tallest building

2016-10-11T16:03:00-04:00

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid on Monday "broke ground" on the world’s tallest tower – a structure that will define Expo 2020 as the Eiffel Tower defined Paris for its 1889 World Fair. "The new tower sets another challenge in the history of human architecture – a race the UAE deserves to lead," said Sheikh Mohammed [...]. The futuristic design, chosen by Sheikh Mohammed, was by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls [...].

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Dubai's ruler, laying the foundation stone for the 'The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour' project on Monday. (Image: WAM)

The structure's final height has not yet been revealed — the 1km-high Kingdom Tower, currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is also reaching for the title of 'World's Tallest Building.'

The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour project previously in the Archinect news:

Calatrava's megatall Dubai tower: engineers complete wind tests and seismic studies

2016-07-28T14:05:00-04:00

[...] has completed advanced wind tunnel tests on The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour, which is set to be 100 metres taller than the 828-metre Burj Khalifa when complete. Emaar said the wind tests were crucial in defining the final height and design aspects, while the project’s Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls added that they "were an important component in the structural design stage, and we have deployed innovative engineering techniques to confirm the strength of the new icon".

The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour project previously in the Archinect news:

"A notch taller" than Burj Khalifa: check out these new renderings of Santiago Calatrava's megatall Dubai tower

2016-04-11T19:35:00-04:00

Back in February, Santiago Calatrava was announced the winner of the competition to design an observation tower for the massive Dubai Creek Harbor development: a showstopping (it's Dubai after all) megatall and superslender observation tower, soon to be "as great as the Burj Khalifa and the Eiffel Tower."

Now the project's developer, Emaar Properties, has revealed further details about the design and released new fancy renderings to gaze at.

"The design has clear reference to the classic art from the past and the culture of the place while serving as a great technological achievement," said Santiago Calatrava about his competition winner. "In my whole career, I have perceived technology as a vehicle to beauty and to art. This project envisages an artistic achievement in itself, inspired by the idea of welcoming people, not only from Dubai and the UAE, but from the entire world. It is a symbol of an abiding belief in progress."

Asked about the final height of the ambitious structure...

Santiago Calatrava to design a seemingly supertall observation tower in Dubai

2016-02-09T18:52:00-05:00

Santiago Calatrava won the competition to design an observation tower for the Dubai Creek Harbor development in the city...Calatrava's winning design was met with approval this past weekend from Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the [UAE] and Ruler of Dubai. 'This architectural wonder will be as great as the Burj Khalifa and the Eiffel Tower,' he commented on Calatrava's proposal.

Thoughts?

You can also find more images of the project on Bustler.

Wutai Mountain Viewing Tower VII by Yaohua Wang Architecture

2013-07-09T16:22:00-04:00

LA-based architect Yaohua Wang - whose previous project submissions managed to polarize the audience like no one else - has sent us his latest project, a design proposal for a viewing tower at Wutai Mountain in China.

Previously featured Yaohua Wang works:

Let us know what you think in the comment section below!

BIG Designs Sexy Observation Tower for Phoenix

2012-12-19T17:19:00-05:00

News just broke that BIG has been commissioned to design a sleek 420 ft tall mixed-use observation tower for Phoenix, Arizona. Quite possibly the city's new symbol?