MAD Architects Unveil Urban Forest Skyscraper For China
Posted By Bridgette Meinhold On December 1, 2009 @ 1:00 am In Architecture | 3 Comments
Inspired by mountainous Chinese landscapes and the traditional villages built their hillsides, MAD Architects [4] has unveiled plans to create a towering vertical Urban Forest. Designed for Chongqing, China, the projects consists of a stacked vertical forest set in the heart of the city, designed to bring more nature and open space in a dense and compact way. MAD Architects is becoming more known for their sustainable designs [5], and hopefully the green design aspects of this new tower extend beyond the garden spaces on each floor.
Urban Forest is a commercial high-rise building that takes the form of an urban mountain [6] with over 70 floors, each one different and unique. Each floor is an abstract curved shape, layered slightly off-center to give the facade an organic look as it rises up into the sky. A central cylindrical core structure supports all the floors and hosts the mechanical systems and elevators.
Each floor is also covered in floor-to-ceiling glass windows, providing expansive views of the city. A walk-around balcony of differing widths hosts the green garden space [7], as well as pools, trees, and courtyards. Some floors are nothing but open space, while others contain offices or residential space. Each floor is seen as a separate and unique level of the urban forest and is meant to combine both nature and the urban metropolis [8].
+ MAD Architects [9]
Via Designboom [10]
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/mad-architects-unveil-urban-forest-skyscraper-for-china/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/mad-architects-unveil-urban-forest-skyscraper-for-china/
[4] MAD Architects: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/25/mad-unveils-taichung-convention-center-with-solar-eco-skin/
[5] sustainable designs: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/09/15/mad-architects-superstar-mobile-city/
[6] urban mountain: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/10/the-berg-is-building-the-worlds-largest-man-made-mountain-a-colossal-mistake/
[7] green garden space: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/10/12/eco-towers-for-hamburg-by-greeen-architects/
[8] combine both nature and the urban metropolis: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/08/31/west-loop-park-an-urban-plan-for-chicago/
[9] + MAD Architects: http://www.i-mad.com/?go/#/news/
[10] Designboom: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/8328/mad-architects-urban-forest.html
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