Taiwan Conceptual Tower - 2nd Prize for Sir Peter Cook and Gavin Robotham

The Taiwan Conceptual Tower International Competition continues to stir up massive excitement, so we're very happy to also publish the 2nd prize-winning entry today: "The Tower of Droplets" by Sir Peter Cook and Gavin Robotham's London-based Cook Robotham Architecture Bureau.

From a field of 237 entries from 25 countries, CRAB Studio's concept received the $65,000 second prize. The design team for the conceptual observation tower in Taichung, Taiwan comprised Jenna Al-Ali, Nuria Blanco, Lorene Faure, and Selma Johannson. Consulting engineer was Michael Kaverne of Buro Happold.

Project Description:

The entire tower is inspired by the creation of energy: Living energy, which must be………Visible living energy

SYMBOLISING THE VISIBLE ENERGY, ENTERPRISE AND INVENTIVE OPTIMISM OF THE TAIWAN.

The droplets are the primary elements of this process. Their activity, presence and form resonate throughout the scheme.

Much of the tower is open to the public to view the processes at close quarters. Even from the lifts, the daily state of vegetable husbandry will be visible. A variety of different arrangements of plantation and localized environment are distributed over its length.

The principal purpose of the tower is to CREATE ALGAE.

When watered and filtered the algae create BIOMASS used as food for fish and plants and for making paper.

And BIOFUEL for powering engines. This process takes CO² (a known hazard in Taiwan) out of the environment.

In the basic tower we provide 10,888 m² surfaces of algae, which produce 3,266,400 liters of oil…

…and produces several thousand tons of biomass in a year. The same structure could be further developed with accumulated income and more bags to a maximum of double the surface and thus creating 6,532,800 liters of oil.

The structure is a series of steel lattices that wind around the steel elevator cores. The droplets are steel cages with membrane skinning.

There are 3 observation levels:

TOP OBSERVATION LEVEL: overlooks the mountains

MID OBSERVATION LEVEL: contains areas of hydroponic vegetation growth, enabling PUBLIC VIEWING of plants and processes

LOWER OBSERVATION LEVELS: contain aviaries and aquaria

There are 3 office zones; all are used by the City development Authority.

THE MUSEUM at the base of the tower contains 5 floors - on its top are viewable algae systems.

At the middle levels are exhibition zones based upon techniques developed by the authors at the Kunsthaus Graz (Austria) and the War Museum of the North.