The concept
The Netanya city centre, a unique creation by Yanv Pardo Architects, is an innovative redesign given to the municipality building which will now act as the city’s iconic landmark. The building has become not only a vibrant and exciting location, but also an architectural milestone that adorns the urban landscape. It mainly caters to the needs of the city’s residents who will be using it for a variety of services and activities. It will link the existing city landmarks and will also incorporate a large car park that will serve the building and the surrounding establishments as well. Facing the Raziel Street, a spacious square will be built outside the building for the purpose of facilitating conferences, outdoor events, receptions and youth events.
The inspiration
A Mediterranean city, which lacks Bauhaus architecture and the saucy vibe of Tel Aviv, has been given a redesign by Yaniv Pardo that puts the city back to its deserved position on the map. It has been designed to provide the inhabitants n inspiring space to rediscover the beauty of their home city. Designed after a weather vane, the building will be thronged as it will act as a gathering space by linking other urban facilities like shopping, social, cultural and other commercial centers.
Eco credentials
The design appeals to the mind of a viewer as the building will be having numerous apertures and will, therefore, be flooded with daylight and will be covered by plants. To make it eco friendly, the twisted mixed-use tower has also been designed to act as a carbon sponge and it will also be generating its energy from geothermal resources. The tower will lean on materials and will have a thermal plant above public spaces. It will have Mashrabiya (or Shanasheel) windows with high quality curtain walls providing solar control and isolation. These are all part of the sustainable design of the building. Moreover, the frame of the building will be extremely light.
Feasibility
Though the design is innovative and much like a dream come true, yet no word has been heard about the construction plan of the project. The tower, made for multipurpose services with natural light flooding it and geothermal resources providing it with energy, will naturally be a gathering place for the city residents. It is hoped that the design will take its awaited physical form and will also be counted in the field of reconstructed green architecture.
Related trends
1. Windscraper tower
The Piraeus Tower in the city of Piraeus, Greece, has been called the ‘Sleeping Giant’ as its construction, which started 30 years ago, has yet not been completed. A competition was held by the GreekArchitects.gr and Dupont inviting architects to come up with ideas of a tower in modern times with a new façade that will establish the incomplete tower as the landmark it was meant to be. The winner is the Windscraper Tower constructed by the New York city-based HWKN Architects. HWKN though has proposed to transform The Piraeus Tower into a wind generating machine. This will be done by adding a layer of wind harvesting technology to the exterior of the building.
2. UTS tower
The University of Technology Sidney Tower has been famous as Sidney’s ugliest building. Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has proposed the ‘Tower Skin’ concept that would wrap the building with a light weight composite mesh textile. This would help in collecting rain water, generating electricity and assist the ventilation and cooling system of the tower.
3. Herzog & de Meuron’s Towering Triangular Skyscraper
The design of the Le Project Triangle by Herzog & de Meuron, unveiled in 2008, has finally received approval for its construction after the 31-year old ban established by the previous Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, had been lifted. The building will rise about 200 meters from the Porte de Versialles in Paris. The building has been designed such that it will virtually cast no shadow. Its orientation will take advantage of both solar and wind power. This pyramid building has been the city’s center since 1977. The building’s completion is expected to be seen by 2017.
4. Turning Torso
HSB Turning Torso, Sweden’s tallest residential building, has been designed by architect, sculptor and structural engineer Santiago Calatrava. The building has 54 floors and is inspired by studies on nature and human bodies. It twists a full 90 degree from top to bottom and is completely powered by renewable energy.