Tao Towers
Date :
2014
Place :Shangai
Consulting :Windtech Consultants Pty Ltd
Project :Jean Marc Schivo & Lucilla Revelli
Client :proposal for CTBUH conference “Future Cities: Towards Sustainable Vertical Urbanism”
Supertall Buildings
In the near future, construction technologies and vertical traffic distribution systems will enable us to reach higher heights.
Fitting into this trend, the Tao Tower project, presented at the CTBUH 2014 congress in Shanghai, intends to propose a different way of conceiving verticality compared to current trends.
Tao Tower is first and foremost a positive energy territorial micro-model, a vertical organism that tends towards energy self-sufficiency, capable of hosting over 20,000 people, made up of offices, commercial areas, hotels, residences, services, but also spaces dedicated to agriculture, rainwater storage, energy produced from renewable sources, and the reconversion of its waste.
A mix of interconnected features
The functional and interactive mix of the two towers derives from the observation of nature and some of its formal aspects.
The five large voids that the system presents do not only give rise to a simple superposition of spaces and functions, but create microcosms strongly characterized by natural elements, where air quality, presence of water, natural ventilation and brightness contribute to improving the quality of daily life.
A system of essences specifically suited to the production of oxygen, combined with a widespread distribution of water, guarantees high air quality, promoting environmental well-being in a microclimate free of pollution.
Energy just in time. A vertical world with positive energy
The towers are divided into five large blocks, energetically autonomous, designed to optimize energy resources in relation to actual needs.
Structural patterns and the evolution of tower shapes were determined by wind analysis and verification at typhoon pressures. The wind is used on the facade to produce electricity through an integrated system that recovers the vibrations produced by the structure and channels them into technical plans to facilitate controlled natural ventilation.
Light also contributes to the production and recovery of energy through the progressive insertion of integrated photovoltaic films on the facade.