M&A Architects has shared with us their Bubble Skyscraper, a study on new typologies for futuristic architecture by the young international studio. A description of the process that lead them to the bubble solution and additional images after the break.
One of the 21 century stunning evolutions is apparently the vertical growth in the cities. Skyscrapers tend to function as a small city with varies of different facilities. Organizing such buildings, however, is far from an easy task. One of the major concerns of an architect is to make designs compatible with nature, especially in rural or urban spaces. Architecture must go toward the use of the latent potentials in nature to enhance the living conditions.
By considering the project location and by inspiring from nature, we thought of the bubbles created when the waves strike the rocks or the ones floating on the shoreline over the sands. We imagined a skyscraper that has a bubble like shape; Bubbles that come from the heart of the sea and rise towards the sky. The organic structure of bubble and its tenuous nature may cause calmness in today’s crowded urban appearance. After studying the bubble constructions with the Kelvin theory, the Weaire-Phelan structure and the Voronoi structure, we started the design process. We created a 3D computer model with Autodesk 3ds Max to find the junctions between the bubbles and find out how bubbles could seat beside each others.
The Exterior shell was designed based on aesthetic appeal and an aerodynamic damping shape to oppose cross-wind deflection during strong winds, supported by a structural braced core, which also functions as a vertical access. Using tree legs at the base provides additional resistance against lateral forces like earthquake, wind and sea waves. To eliminate unnecessary traffic for the skyscraper residents, we embedded multifunctional spaces such as commercial, service, and administrative spaces in different levels according to the nearest accessibility for residential parts.
Also, according to the wind and the solar orientation, we designed gaps between bubbles in different levels. Green spaces and sky-gardens are accommodated behind the gaps in order to serve as social spaces. By considering intelligent trapdoors in these spaces, the building can achieve proper winds for natural ventilation produced by the chimney effect in central atrium. The great interior space also fills the building with light for giving a liveliness, vitality and freshness to the place. The electrical and mechanical facilities are embedded in pipes running on the facade. Lighting these pipes with attractive colors at night enhances the skyscraper aesthetic appeal.
Other attractive areas are the suspended common spaces and restaurants, which stay half inside and half outside of the sea, where users can enjoy large aquariums. Moreover, due to the world wide concern about global warming and according to the fact that fossil fuel consumption is a big threat to our planet and the fuel resources are rapidly exhausting, we embedded wave energy converters in cells at the sea level to convert the wave energy to electrical energy for use in the skyscraper. To achieve self-sufficiency in water supply, a system collects and stores the rainwater. This water is refined using filters and drinkable water is directed to the building water cycle.
