TATA Tower / Seth Ellsworth + JaYoung Kim
Illinois Institute of Technology B.Arch students, Seth Ellsworth and JaYoung Kim have shared with us their Mumbai traveling studio project, TATA Tower. Their project studies the infrastructural crisis regarding parking in developing regions such as Mumbai and how to address such issues in a way that does not stifle economic expansion, increases housing density, produces clean energy and creates high quality outdoor space for Mumbai. Additional images and a description by the architects after the break.
By the year 2030, 25% of the land area of Mumbai will be covered by parked cars.
— Mumbai Traffic Police
Project Description
This project addresses Mumbai’s increasing congestion and pollution. The TATA Corporation is the largest automaker in India and manufacturer of the Nano, the world’s cheapest car ($2500 US). The tower is seen as a development for TATA offices and employee residences, all of which drive alternative energy Nano cars. TATA Tower aims to be part of a much larger solution to the city’s crumbling infrastructure. Energy demands of the building and vehicles are met by photovoltaic louvers, building-integrated wind turbines, tri-generation, and an algae farm which produces biodiesel. Vertical parking allows for maximum parking density, gathering parked cars to act as a parking resource for neighboring linked towers. This also frees up space for a more pedestrian oriented ground plane, allowing for parks, recreation and increased public transportation.
Building Agenda
Mumbai’s increasing density has brought the city’s infrastructure to the brink of collapse. Public transportation is either non-existant or far beyond capacity, which is contributing to the growing number of cars in the city. Our building is envisaged in the year 2030, and along with new urban transportation strategies (congestion charging, etc.) aims to:
1 // Create a new residential community for the TATA Corporation and its employees, where every family owns an alternative fuel TATA Nano car.
2 // Generate electricity and biodiesel from alternative energy sources to power both the building and vehicles.
3 // Create a vertical parking system the full height of the tower in order to maximize parking density.
4 // Intensify car parking density within the city, eliminating the typical anti-urban parking structure and freeing up space for a more pedestrian-orientated ground floor.
5 // Allow the building to become a parking resource for nearby towers, linked horizontally at height through skybridges.*Number of residential units in scheme = 930. Number of car parking spaces = 4050.
6 // Create high quality outdoor parks and spaces throughout the tower, for the benefit of the vertical community and the local community of Mumbai.
7 // Become a prototype for urban algae farming and other forms of alternative energy generation.
8 // Become a vertical parking prototype for other areas in Mumbai and other cities around the world.
Project Team: Professor Antony Wood, Seth Ellsworth, JaYoung Kim
Location: C-Ward, Mumbai, India
Date: Spring 2010
Materials: Concrete, Steel
Sponsor: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
- Courtesy Studio Ellsworth
- Courtesy Studio Ellsworth
- Courtesy Studio Ellsworth
- Conceptual Render
- Site Plan
- Ground Floor Plan
- Tower (typical) Floor Plan
- Section
- Energy Flow Diagram
- Technical Information
- Mumbai Vehicle Statistics
- Physical Model
- Physical Model





























































So DARK!
archdaily keep kidding us…
COME ON ARCDAILY WTH
wow… people are so negative…
this is a pretty cool project for an undergraduate studio. identifies a problem, proposes an interesting solution, and creates provocation that could in turn enhance discourse. good job.
Thank you Archdaily for continuing to show promising work of students. It’s great to see conceptual work addressing a relevant problem in such a thoughtful way as these students have done.
This stuff is more aptly placed in the genre of cinema scenographics–very redolent of the inside of the alien spaceship on the movie Independence Day.
A bit heavy on the phantasmagoric…..
and a wee bit light on critical Design.
Let’s stop using the machine as an excuse for form.
I think its located at wrong place.. environment should be taken into account as well. And designer forgot rails.. safety before all.
Good to see your work in here NUNA KK.
i like super design.its a source of inspiration….i will present mine very soon.watch out
Very disappointing project from IIT. Must be reflective of the quality of the professor promoting such bad design.
What’s with the negative attitude, people?
10:33 PM Feb 5th
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10:38 PM Feb 5th
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12:07 AM Feb 6th
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1:26 AM Feb 6th
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1:26 AM Feb 6th
TATA Tower / Seth Ellsworth + JaYoung Kim: Courtesy Studio EllsworthIllinois Institute of Technology B.Arch stud… http://bit.ly/fapYU4
1:33 AM Feb 6th
TATA RT @ArchDaily: TATA Tower / Seth Ellsworth + JaYoung Kim http://archdai.ly/hsLKxn #architecture
2:25 AM Feb 6th
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5:31 AM Feb 6th
http://j.mp/hlrWRh …Mami tiene un edificio de Ella xD!
12:46 PM Feb 6th
pensam que já conhecem tdo em matéria de #absurdos ? então vejam isto http://www.archdaily.com/109186/tata-tower-seth-ellsworth-jayoung-kim/
4:28 PM Feb 6th
RT @ArchDaily: TATA Tower / Seth Ellsworth + JaYoung Kim http://archdai.ly/hsLKxn #architecture
3:16 PM Feb 8th
B.Arch. students Seth Ellsworth and JaYoung Kim were featured in ArchDaily, an international architecture online… http://fb.me/QijzJrEG
5:35 PM Mar 21st
Reading: "TATA Tower / Seth Ellsworth + JaYoung Kim | ArchDaily"( http://twitthis.com/68upxr )