This renewable energy generating tower located on the coast of Rio is one of the first buildings we’ve seen designed for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and boy, is it crazy! (In case you didn’t notice, it’s also a waterfall.) The Solar City Tower is designed by Zurich-based RAFAA Architecture & Design, and features a large solar system to generate power during the day and a pumped water storage system to generate power at night. RAFAA’s goal is that a symbolic tower such as this can serve as a starting point for a global green movement and help make the 2016 Olympic Games more sustainable.
The self-sustaining tower for the 2016 Olympic Games is designed to create renewable energy for use in the Olympic Village as well as the city of Rio. A large solar power plant generates energy during the day. Any excess power not used during the day is utilized to pump seawater into a storage tank within the tower. At night, the water is released to power turbines, which will provide nighttime power for the city. On special occasions water is pumped out to create a waterfall over the edges of the building, which RAFAA says will be, “a symbol for the forces of nature.” Info on the size of the solar and pumped water storage system is not available yet.
Access to the eco tower is gained through an urban plaza and amphitheater 60 meters above sea level, which can be used for social gatherings. On the ocean side of the 105 meter tower (behind the waterfall) is a cafeteria and shop. An elevator takes visitors up to the top floor where an observation deck offers 360 views of the ocean and city. At level 90.5, a bungee platform is available for adventurous visitors.
+ RAFAA Architecture & Designs
Via Ecofriend
what a load of rubbish.
the amount of water that could be stored at the top of that slab would in no way gush out as per the fancy render. they’d have to continuously pump water up to the top of that thing at massive quantities to achieve this ‘waterfall’ effect, otherwise its just going to be a little pissy mist coming out.
so what we have is a massive vertical slab with a big pumping water system to push a whole lot of water out the top. what a ridiculous waste of energy. the token ‘oh its to turn waterwheels’ post-rationale for the ‘awesome’ waterfall image doesn’t cut it.
look at that amazing site! this… thing… is the best they could come up with? idiots.
this is exactly the kind of nonsense architecture needs to move away from. the amount of energy required to draw the volume of water necessary for this would negate any net energy benefit. moving forward, the iconic, attention-grabbing masturbation excercise demonstrated here will hopefully be left behind with the trashy Dubai phalluses and refrigerated beaches.
I don’t really think this is useful, after all all this is just a place for “social gatherings”, shop and bungee jump?? I guess that program could be expanded to be much more interesting and useful.
Awesome design…..but is it practical?
Gosh, you guys are harsh. I’d wait to see their energy analysis calculations before bashing them and calling their project rubbish and nonsense.
I think it’s a good looking design, and a decent response to the competition. You’re right, it probably wouldn’t be as energy positive as they hope, but without analyzing the solar plant, and the turbines we can’t be sure.
It looks great, and it’s not hopeful, but I hope they prove us wrong.
It must be a joke.
This is not an official project!!!
It looks like self-marketing project of a nonsense architect with a lot of free time to waste.
Please do that in Switzerland, because here in Rio we don\\\’t buy this kind of bad project.
what is this for? the energy is already there! in the water!
@pbeseda
“It looks great” doesn’t excuse its shocking shortcomings, we really have too many beautiful-but-dumb designs already.
I would like to know if this is ONLY A PROJECT concept or has it been accepted by the govt and construction has begun?
Where are the details of the energy calculation available?– Powering the whole of the city from SOLR seems impossible unless there has been breakthrough in sorler ceel technology
It is world events such as the 2016 Olympic Games that provide a venue to show case cutting edge technology and architecture acheivements. The fact that this design is sustainable in it’s own right is a tremendous endorsement of what is possible in the renewable energy age. If this was the industrial age we would be pumping water with non renewable energy imported for the occasion.
Oh, it’s a real concept.
http://www.rafaa.ch/rafaa/rio_de_janeiro.html
Pumped storage is already in use in many countries (usually for energy demand response), and is a very viable solution to the energy storage issue, which is one of the biggest issues for renewable energy(along with cost, which is decreasing quickly). Pretty sure it would be much more energy neutral or positive than almost every other building in Rio, and it looks great, and is meant to be symbolic of the possibilities of progressive architecture. Why do people get all flustered about adding renewable energy to design (if it is producing energy, this is more than most buildings do)? With oil prices rising in the long term, we need to build projects like this now while we have the resources to do so, and demonstrate new technologies that we can use in the future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity