Stunning Star-Shaped Taiwan Tower With Built-In Wind Turbine

The City of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/03/24/taichung-metropolitan-oper-celebrates-culture-and-environmental-awareness/" target="_blank">Taichung</a> recently sought proposals for an iconic new tower to serve as a landmark and a symbol of Taiwan´s spirit. One of the proposals in the design competition was the 'Taiwan Tower' designed by Portugal-based <a href="http://www.ood-a.com/" target="_blank">OODA Architecture</a> in collaboration with the Spanish and American studio <a href="http://www.ooiio.com/" target="_blank">OOIIO.</a> The stunning star-shaped tower received a Merit Award in the competition based on its unique architecture and green building strategies that include a <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/30/helix-wind-turbines-power-cell-phone-towers-in-us-africa/">vertical-axis wind turbine</a> in the very tip of the tower.

The tower's form was inspired by Taiwan's diamond industry, traditional origami, the Eiffel Tower, and the star, which is part of Taiwan's flag.

The combination of all these visual icons together into one building results in a large star-shaped, multi-faceted tower designed to rival Taiwan's other famous skyscrapers.

The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/10/22/foster-partners-first-project-in-vietnam-breaks-ground/" target="_blank">eco tower</a> would stand over 350 meters tall and includes offices for Taichung City Government, leisure and recreational spaces, retail and educational centers, and the new Museum of Taichung City Development.

Green garden spaces and public courtyards are interspersed throughout the building to encourage impromptu meetings.

Sun-lit atria line the buildings facade allowing for increased daylighting and ventilation shafts to draw hot up air out.

Recreational facilities, like a fitness center and pool, would be included in the towers design.

The tower would house the new Museum of Taichung City Development.

The tower would stand on three legs, each serving as an entrance to the three parts of the building: tower, museum and offices.

OODA Architecture and OOIIO's proposal received a Merit Award for the Taiwan Tower Conceptual Design International Competition, which weighed criteria at 50% for Architecture and 50% for Structure, Green Solutions and Office Portfolio.

The Taiwan Tower is designed to serve as an iconic tower for Taichung. It rivals some other famous Taiwanese buildings in profile.

The 350 meter-tall building would leave a unique shadow pattern on the ground level.

As for sustainable strategies, the tower is designed with a highly integrated daylighting, shading and ventilation system to maintain the interior climate in an energy-efficient manner.

Sunlight reaches in through the windows and bounces off floors, ceilings and walls to reach the interior of each volume, while automatic shades reduce heat gain when it gets too hot. The building's atrium spaces allow hot air to rise up and out of the tip-top of the tower, where a <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/09/14/eddy-gt-wind-turbine-is-sleek-silent-and-designed-for-the-city/" target="_blank">vertical axis wind turbine</a> takes advantage of the draft. The building also features high performance lighting with photosensors, radiant floor heating, <a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/tag/rainwater-collection" target="_blank">rainwater collection</a>, water-efficient fixtures and interior garden spaces.