Mirror Tower / LAN Architecture
LAN Architecture’s Mirror Tower contains more than 30,000 identical facets that reflect 14 of the city’s monuments and are orientated to produce smooth transitions between these panoramic viewpoints. “The starting point of the project was to imagine Beirut in all its complexity. We have imagined the city as an ‘un-finished’ superposition of histories, contexts, architectures and situations; Our project was conceived as an interface, an algorithm that generates new connections and that creates new view axis, ways of observing the history, the present and the future,” explained LAN architects. The building’s complex envelope reflects changes in surroundings, the seasons and light. The reflective façade works by globally defining the orientation of each facet of the cylinder’s surface to create the desired reflection. With the help of specialists, LAN Architecture produced an automated 3D tool that allowed the team to visualize different instances of the facade by changing viewpoints at will, both the reflective area and the position of the reflected images on the tower.
More about the tower and more images after the break.
Structured along a cross-shaped volume, the building’s envelope is a solar protection based on a square plan of 25x25m. The outer envelope consists of sliding panels made of perforated sheet metal with mirror polish finishing. It reflects, protects and lets views and light pass all at the same time. The terraces of the apartments occupy at one floor out of four the voids in the angles of the cross plan. “The tower becomes phantom, shows or doesn’t shows its faces, it will be understood in different ways depending on the light shining on it, the angle from which it’s perceived. The rest is architecture.”
Cluster Houses are the residential piece of the project, and arguably the most important program unit. “We wanted to realize a continuity of typology as to the traditional oriental patio house, with its rich relation between interior and exterior, and this in a vertical type of building,” explained the architects. The apartments are entered through an exterior space, and the day living and dining areas are again separated by a patio. Particular attention has been paid to such indoor-outdoor sequences, permitting the apartment to morph from winter to summer by a double skin. The houses’ materiality intend to continue the contextual and typological concept of the city.
The exterior skin is clad in Ductal which becomes completely open at times, or perforated by different patterns, permitting light to cross and draw beautiful shadows. The structural mineral envelope is separated by a corridor in perimeter of the apartment of the inner glazed façade.
Since the tower is located in an urban area dominated by high-rise buildings, public roof gardens add greenery to the site. Such levels are vertically connected by voids and skylights incorporated in the green strips and passageways, permitting light and views to cross.
As seen on designboom. All images courtesy of LAN Architecture
wait, all this and the plinth is constructed from a pile of dead birds…brilliant!
If this was being considered in the United States, I think the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration, would have a fit over the reflectivity. If it distracts airline pilots, the idea would be thrown down the bin.
On the other hand, if there is no possible way it could, for example reflect the sun into a pilot’s eyes, then the whole idea is brilliant!
Or reflect the sun into a neighbor’s window! Imagine the poor people who have to clean the mirrors with the sun cooking them from both sides.
I like the light and the shadow, generated by the pattern of the wall – unfortunately the pattern is from peter zumthors kolumba museum in cologne. I didn´t know that he joined this project.
Peter Zumthor didn’t joined the project neither he owns any pattern. It is called a “sunscreen” and it has been used for ages. I really hope that this starchitect hype never downgrade the profession to the point of owning patents on geometry.
agree with Diego … what’s the deal here ? every masterpiece of architecture is an heritage of hundreds or thousands of years of practice … sunscreen, moucharabieh in middle-east, jalis in india, it’s all the same, and it’s been use for ever … the pattern here is a very light question of “style” and “looks”, completely unrelated to the quality of this architecture.
I can imagine the new owner of one of this flat, facing it’s wall and crying : “oh god, I love the light quality of my environment, but this is obviously a pale copy of Peter Zumthor’s pattern from his new museum in cologne, germany ! shocking !!”
are we heading heading to a point where the only thing that matters is to be “original” … then I fear we’ll be soon surrounded by odd-looking piece of fashion architecture, only linked to us people by our desire for the new, our need of projection … not anymore to our culture, history, identity. hope this day never comes …
The lighting effects are very interesting.
There is a post on the below blog showing some of Helene Binets architectural photographs. (Some of which are images of Daniel Libeskind’s buildings). It’s the same kind of effects.
http://www.modern-zen.com/archiblog/
http://bit.ly/lATbP
I like it. Nice play with patterns to break up the facade.
Maybe could lose the reflectivity and just play with the light.
weather it is similar to Peter Zumthor pattern or not, I think you can only judge the building by weather it has a good architecture or not, and you can’t fully judge it until it is build and occupied as well.
I respect using a language that was successful for hundreds of years, I think it is a good concept, but I was hoping to see more how the ground level was designed.
The use of mirrors is original. But so much mirror is not sustainable
about peter zumthor’s wall is in this case just to say: to copy something is allowed so long you do will interpretate this detail in your own new way. BUT: to copy 1:1 in the rendering the wall (and for sure this is a copy and paste action by the renderings guys is a bit disgusting is it? the reflection at the ceiling is indeed just zumthor and i was seen it : http://www.flickr.com/photos/7468702@N02/3847815719/ – which happened just because of the unbelievable quality of the concrete here! but it’s of course just a copy in a rendering, later on it will be looking not in the same way, don’t worry.
True … it’s quite clear ! in complement with my previous post I’ll say that, on the other hand, being far away from Cologne does not mean you can copy/past some of it’s museum, since not most people, including your client, is not familiar with it … that’s cheap attitude. But that doesn’t mean you’re stealing anything though.