A Sharp Sign in the Skyline
An Italian-based architectural firm has unveiled a design proposal for a needle- like tower project located close to Shanghai in China. The Needle Towers project by Gianluca Milesi Architecture consists of a 470m-high tubular tower together with a shorter building covering a total area of 35,000 sq m. The needle design of the 107-storey main tower has been created using two tubular structures which intersect each other at various angles and jut out to form a distinctive, angular shape. Glass and aluminium have been used for the vertical and horizontal closures, coatings and finishes of the two buildings, as well as steel being used for the structural parts of the projects. Speaking about the design, Gianluca Milesi Architecture said: “The building structure wants to be a strong landmark in the territory and at the same time to be a precise sign of contemporary architecture avoiding any indulgence to heaviness or vulgarity, despite of the dimensions. The design of the building wants to connect harmonically horizontal and vertical public and private life through a non-stop spatial and visual perception.” The tubular structures of the main tower have been designed to be as slender as possible in order to give the building certain ‘lightness’. Once the scheme is completed, which is currently projected to be in 2015, the complex will contain several public functional spaces, from office spaces to commercial and leisure areas. The Milan-based architects added: “We wanted to sign the territory with a strong structure in terms of importance and organization and to sign it with a sharp landmark. This system is a real urban macrostructure because of its big dimensions, its impact on the territory and the life in the area and because of the complexity of its own nature.”
Gianluca Milesi Architecture