Modernism had a famous motto stating that a house is a machine for living in.
If the architect still adheres to that principle, as the machine and the societies that were built upon it go through dramatic changes, the question he should ask himself would relate to the understanding of about the definition of modern architecture today. What message should the architecture convey if it distances itself away from the industrial age?
Like other fast developing suburbs in North America, Mississauga, located in the vicinities of Toronto, is seeking a new identity that best explains its own characters.
The architects took this as a great opportunity to respond to the expanding need of the city in a special way. Mississauga should give more thought to its own unique characters rather than pursue the example of other suburbs striving to become metropolises. The design forsakes the simplification principle of modernism. In fact, it expresses a higher level of complexity within the diversity of modern society through multiple approaches, while catering to the vague social needs at multiple levels.
Not only does the tower manifest the power of design, it also serves as a statement to the surrounding area and the social context. The cross of Hurontario Street and Burmhamthope road fully embodies its role gateway to Mississauga’s City Centre through this tower.
The building is sculpture-like in its overall effect, and its design expresses the universal language of audacity, sensuality and romance. As the new landmark of the city of Mississauga, it will become the icon of the present landscape with all its twisting rhythms resembling the human body.
In the design, the continuous balcony surrounds the whole building, eliminating the vertical lines used in traditional high-rise architecture to emphasize the height. The entire building rotates by different degrees at different level, which relate to sceneries at different height. MAD’s aim was to evoke the city dwellers’ aspiration for nature, and get them in touch with the sunlight and the wind.
  Project Details and Credits:
The Absolute Towers
Architects: MAD. Directors in charge: Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano, Dang Qun . Competition Team: Shen Jun、Robert Groessinger、Florian Pucher, Yi Wenzhen、Hao Yi、Yao Mengyao Zhao Fan, Liu Yuan、Zhao Wei, Li Kunjuan, Yu Kui, Max Lonnqvist, Eric Spencer.
Client: Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group
Status: scheduled to complete in 2009
Location: Mississauga, Canada
Building Area: Phase 4: 45,000 sqm; Phase 5: 40,000sqm
Building Height: Phase 4: 56 stories, 170 meters; Phase 5: 50 stories, 150 meters
Trackback(0)
 |
Jean Nouvel - Design for Hines Project in Manhattan 
Moriyama + Teshima - Canadian War Museum
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Architects - Unity Building in Liverpool, England
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
