Tetrahedron Skyscraper, San Diego
The designers of the Tetrahedron Skyscraper looked at the legacy of ancient forms and simple geometry to identify the shape that encloses space in its most simple form. This shape, which is simply four times the area of a single face, can be found in virtually all architecture including the pitched roofs of suburban homes. In this tower, each ‘tetra’ is a single condominium unit.
Parametric Skyscraper, Beijing
How can the floor plates and facade of a skyscraper be transformed according to different parametric programs? The designers of the ‘Lattice Towers’ project for China use “a series of tectonic manipulations” to change the appearance of the building. Its curving shape varies dramatically depending on your viewpoint.
Fractal Bamboo Pavilion
Using the basic unit of the Sierpinski Triangle, a pure fractal form, this fractal pavilion design achieves structural stability using nothing but bamboo trusses and latticework covered in acrylic glass.
Inflatable Yorkshire Diamond Pavilion
This might just be the most complex inflatable structure ever designed. Various Architects created the Yorkshire Diamond Pavilion with inflatable tubes forming a diamond-lattice structure. While it looks like a box from the outside, the interior is a cavernous ‘excavated’ space reminiscent of the town’s coal mines. The double-layer skin lets in light and air, and enable streams of colorful light to emerge when the structure is lit up at night.
