REVERSIBILITY POROSITY
Architects often have to deal with the Podium Tower typology as a strategy to density Vancouver downtown. The responses shows two negative patterns, resulting in tedious landscapes, homogeneous skylines as well as the growing presence of a "fenced public field" (enclosed podium boxes).
One pattern regards towers. Towers appear as single structures textured by conventional skins (glassmullions facades). Towers have one redeeming factor When we go through tower interior spaces we forget we are 400 feet above the ground, we forget Vancouver landscapes.
The second pattern regards podiums. Podiums are powerful typologies that produce densification without shadowing the city. But the result is often an enclosed box, the podium becomes an impenetrable private space.
The project location is whatever downtown block. Just as an example we can have in mind the block defined by Georgia, Alberni, Thurlow and Bute.
Two concepts for POTO Porosity Reversibility
The intention of porosity is to create a walkable, crossable and multi-gated first floor podium.
Reversibility means that the verticality of the towers must be somehow reproduced on the first floor by projecting down what is happening above.
There are three towers that penetrate the podium in three different spots. When the towers touch the podium, the podium takes the same tower shape, but in its opposite emptiness.
A changing section in the upper floors of the three towers wants to provoke constant diversity between each floor plan.
Every angle has to show a different tower.
(From competitor's text)
9 scanned / 7 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Plan
- Plan
- Section
- Axonometric Drawing
