Leeza Soho by Zaha Hadid Architects

The Leeza Soho tower in Beijing, China, made the world record to become the only building that contains the tallest atrium twisting through its centre.

The 45-storey skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid, the late founder of Zaha Hadid Architects before her death in 2016, is located in the Fengtai business district.

Commissioned by Soho China, the same developer of Galaxy Soho and Wangjing Soho, the Leeza Soho skyscraper contains a mix of shops and offices surrounding the mind-boggling atrium.

Beijing's multi-modal urban plan is aimed at accommodating growth without impacting its existing infrastructure networks in the centre of the city. The new Fengtai business district plays an integral role to complement the city’s greater vision, explained Patrik Schumacher who took over Zaha Hadid Architects firm.

The completed Leeza Soho has 45 floors above ground, and four floors under ground.

It is positioned on a site adjacent to the precinct’s main railway station, and straddles an underground subway service tunnel.

Its position over this tunnel led Zaha Hadid Architects to divide the building in two halves, which resulted in the formation of a giant atrium at its centre.

This atrium runs the full height of the building, which at 194.15 metres makes it the world's tallest atrium, overtaking the previous record held by the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

As it rises, the Leeza Soho's void twists by 45 degrees to appear as though the two sides of the tower are moving together in a beautiful dancing motion.

The dynamic shape of the atrium creates convex openings on either side of the tower, which allow natural light into the interiors and provide views out over towards the city from each floor.

The lowest level of the atrium has been designed to act as a public square for the business district, and is directly linked to the interchange beside the site.

The two parts of the Leeza Soho are linked internally by elevated walkways that project across the void from four different levels, while externally they are fused together by a curtain glass facade.

This glass facade is double insulated, and is made up of a number of glass panels that are angled to aid ventilation. The intention is to help maintain a comfortable indoor climate in Beijing's variable weather conditions.

In a bid to enhance the building's environmental performance, the tower is fitted with heat recovery from exhaust air and high-efficiency pumps, water-collection facilities, grey water flushing and an insulating green roof with photovoltaic panels.

There are also 2,680 bicycles parking spaces with lockers and shower facilities, alongside charging spaces for electric or hybrid cars to encourage users to travel sustainability.

Top 5 Iconic Skyscrapers In Japan

No. 1 ~ Tokyo SkyTree (634 meters)

No. 2 ~ Tokyo Tower (333 meters)

No. 3 ~ Abeno Karukas (300 meters)

No. 4 ~ Yokohama Landmark Tower (296 meters)

No. 5 ~ Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (243 meters)

MahaNakhon Tower

If I have to choose the most unusual skyscraper in Southeast Asia, I've no doubt that it has to be MahaNakhon Tower in Bangkok, Thailand. Designed by star architect Ole Scheeren, this building almost looks like it belongs to the fantasy world of Anime or Gaming. The facade of the tower looks like it has been scratched by a giant monster like Godzilla when it wrecked havoc in the busy streets of Bangkok while stepping on a few Tuk Tuk along the way.

This building defies all our knowledge of a tall buildings by deliberately 'scars' its face as if it is still left standing after a meteor hit the face of the earth. Truly imaginative in the fantasy way to design such an outrageous building for a city like Bangkok which is not known for iconic modern architecture.

Spiral Tower In Nagoya

Mode-Gakuen Spiral Towers is a structure that instantly stand out in the city of Nagoya, Japan. This shimmering tower spirals 36 stories [170 m] above the busy streets of Nagoya, Japan, and house educational facilities for three different disciplines – fashion design, computer programming and medical support. Architectural group Nikken Sekkei incorporated a host of green design features in the tower including a double-glazed air flow window system and natural ventilation system.

Due to significant political, social and practical constraints, building green can be a challenge in major metropolitan areas. A typical double-glazed air flow system significantly reduces heating and cooling loads by the passage of indoor/outdoor air (exhaust air/return air) between two panes of glass. The cavity between the panes typically has blinds which can be operated according to heating/cooling requirements at particular time. It’s a system that has been hugely successful at significantly reducing heating and cooling loads in large buildings and one that continues to spread across the globe.

The Spiral Towers appears quite precarious from the street especially when it is erected in an earthquake prone location. The structural ingenuity of this tower has simple structure; a pivotal inner truss tube acts as a central pillar supporting the three, gently tapering wings. The truss tube is constructed of concrete-filled, steel tubular columns with structural braces affixed around the base. The entire structure is designed and fitted with some of the most robust seismic engineering features in the region. Students from the three schools: Nagoya Mode Gakuen , HAL Nagoya and Nagoya Isen —are sure to benefit from the both the gorgeous design and the green measures that have gone into this great new building.

Vertical Gardens Tower

Oasia Hotel designed by WOHA Architects is a vertical garden that truly stands out from its immediate neighbourhood. By having planting climbing throughout the structure, it managed to have 1,000% more plant life than could have existed on the original plot of land. The architects wish to bring back nature into the concrete jungle.

Penang New Waterfront City Coming Up

The Light City is a highly-acclaimed integrated waterfront development in Penang, Malaysia. It has gone through many design revision over the years and was put on hold last year due to Covid-19.

Construction works have finally commenced on Phase 1 of this mega undertaking by IJM Perennial Development Sdn. Bhd. ("IJM Perennial") - a joint venture between IJM Corporation Berhad ("IJM") and Perennial Holdings Private Limited ("Perennial").

Situated adjacent to an Expressway that connect the city to the industrial parks at the Southern part of the island, it is easily accessible by both residents and travellers. The Penang Bridge, International Airport and Ferry Terminal are within a 10km radius, and even the proposed The Light LRT Station will be located next to the site.

The Light City spans a total gross floor area (GFA) of over 4.1mil sq ft and will be developed in two phases into a unique waterfront precinct.

Key components of the project includes the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre (PWCC) which will be the largest in the state with 270,000sq.ft. of Gross Floor Area, a 1.5mil sq.ft. retail mall, 34-storey hotel and office towers, as well as two residential apartments - Mezzo and Essence.

Phase I comprises the PWCC, 1mil sq.ft. of the retail mall, the hotel and office tower, and Mezzo. Construction commenced on Oct 1, 2020 and is expected to complete progressively from December 2024 onwards.

Officially named The Waterfront Shoppes, the retail mall will offer new-to-market shopping, dining, entertainment and lifestyle experiences set against the architectural heritage of Penang.

Features include an exclusive Beverly Hills-inspired rodeo drive with external flagship stores lining the street. The F&B zones will feature an open concept gourmet food hall, food street and large-format dining concepts.

Meanwhile, al-fresco waterfront dining outlets provide diners with the perfect setting to unwind with an extensive selection of cafes, eateries and restaurants framed by clear views of the sea and the majestic Penang Bridge.

Located adjacent to the retail mall and seamlessly connected to it and the PWCC will be a luxurious four-star hotel catering to Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) delegates and leisure guests alike.

The 500-room hotel will also have smart security and access features such as mobile app check-in, keyless entry and room automation control to create a seamless guest experience.

The Light City aspires to be the first smart city in Penang. A leading converged solutions provider in Malaysia has been appointed to integrate the latest information and communications (ICT) infrastructure and turn it into a 5G city.

This affords MICE delegates, shoppers, hotel guests, office tenants and residents optimal online connectivity and high-quality voice, data and digital solutions.

Source: The Edge

经过多次设计更改和由于去年疫情暂停后，这独特项目终于开启啦！它将为马来西亚的槟城增多一个旅游和打卡景点。

A Giant Air Purifier That Also Looks Great

The first time I looked at this photo, I thought to myself: “What a great rendering job!” Upon closer look at more photos, I then realized that this is an actual building that is built! The uniqueness of this building no doubt is its twisting form. It is a rather unusual form to be adopted for an apartment building. The form is not designed purely for aesthetic reasons but there are logical driving force behind it.

The architect designed this form to achieve 4 main objectives:

• To integrate the North / South pyramidal profile of the Building Volume defined with the urban setbacks stipulated by the Municipality of Taipei.

• As the suspended open-air gardens is not included in the floor area ratio, a dramatic cascades of these gardens is achieved since the planted balconies surface area can exceed the limit of the required 10%.

• Provide panoramic views of Taipei skyline to each inhabitants. Taipei 101 tower cab be seen from this building.

• Provide privacy to each apartment by avoiding direct vision axes. As the tower moves up every floor is rotated by 4.5 degrees clockwise to a total of 90 degrees. The tower looks different when viewed from different angles.

« Tao Zhu Yin Yuan » tower is self-sufficient energy wise. The “Tao Zhu Yin Yuan” tower is also inspired by the structure of double helix DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) which symbolises source of life, dynamism and twinning. Every double helix is represented in the project by two housing units forming a full level.

To achieve its Anti-Global Warming and Carbon-Absorbing Ecosystem objectives, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan covers its open spaces with trees, planting approximately 23,000 trees, shrubs and plants on the ground floor garden, the balconies and terraces of each household. It is estimated that the annual carbon absorption of this project could reach up to 130 tons with a green coverage of 246%, which is nearly 5 times higher than required by local regulation. Professional botanists carefully selected and planted multiple species of trees with better carbon absorption capabilities to improve the air quality. The growing plants on balconies provide oxygen, moisture environment, also mitigate the noise from surroundings. In addition, the tower integrates natural ventilation chimneys filtering the air inside the central core, rainwater recycle, wireless monitor control of LED lighting, fiber optic connection, light guide system and solar/wind power to achieve energy saving and carbon reduction. The double skin façade at the central core of the building extracts air at ground level by heating it in a specially adapted glass greenhouse at the base before letting the air pass through a series of filters and releasing clean air at the top. The heating at the base of the tower is done using solar energy. Think of the tower as a giant air purifier smacked right in the centre of a big city!

Solar panels is designed to integrate into the aesthetic of the roof.

Besides protecting the environment, the design team of this project also has to consider earthquake resistant. The structural design is inspired by the body of a skier in the design. The central core of the tower is the human body. The 5‐meter truss structure above 21F are the two arms. The megacolumns on the two sides are the ski poles. A suspended structural system and a Vierendeel truss system (a set of beams for every two floors) transfer all the weight via the arms (beams) to the body (central core) and then down to the foundation. The result is a one‐of‐a‐kind structural design that combines the science of mechanics and the art of aesthetics.

Tao Zhu Yin Yuan is a building that co-exists with the environment. The tower is a huge carbon absorbing Vertical Forest which sets the benchmark for designing eco-friendly buildings in urban environment. This tower no doubt has successfully put Taiwan on the map in terms of fighting global warming. It is a perfect example of action speaks louder than words. Let’s hope that more architects worldwide can learn a valuable lesson from this project.

第一次看这照片时，我对自己说：“现在的电脑可以画到如此逼真啊！” 但仔细查看其他照片后，才意识到原来这是一栋真正已建俊的建筑！这座建筑的独特性无疑是其扭曲的形状。对公寓楼设计来讲这是一种非常不寻常的建筑。

«桃竹银苑»塔的设计灵感取自于双螺旋DNA（脱氧核糖核酸）结构，双螺旋DNA象征着生命，活力和孪生的来源。

为了实现对抗全球暖化和碳吸收生态系统的目标，《桃竹银苑》用树木覆盖其空间，在底层花园，每个家庭的阳台和露台上种植了约23,000棵树木，灌木和植物。据估计，该项目的年碳吸收量可达130吨，绿色覆盖率为246％，比当地法规要求高近5倍。专业的植物学家精心挑选并种植了多种具有更好碳吸收能力的树木，以改善空气质量。阳台上生长的植物不但提供氧气，也减少了周围环境的噪音。此外，该塔还集成了自然通风烟囱，可过滤中心核心内的空气，回收雨水，无线监控LED照明，光纤连接，光导系统和太阳能/风能，以实现节能和减碳。建筑物中央核心的双层外立面通过在底部经过特殊改装的玻璃温室中加热空气来抽取地面空气，然后让空气通过一系列过滤器并在顶部释放干净的空气。塔底的加热系统利用太阳能。

除了保护环境，该项目的设计团队还必须考虑到抗震性。结构设计的灵感来自滑雪者的身体。塔的中心核心是人体。21楼上方的5米长的桁架结构是两条臂。两侧的巨型柱是滑雪杆。悬挂的结构系统和Vierendeel桁架系统（每两层一组横梁）将所有重量通过手臂（梁）传递到身体（中央核心），然后向下传递到基础。出来的效果是独一无二的结构设计，将科学和美学艺术融为一体。

桃竹银苑是一座与环境共存的建筑。该塔是一个巨大的碳吸收性垂直森林，为设计城市环境中的环保建筑树立了基准。无可否认的，这座塔成功地将台湾置于应对全球变暖的位置。这是行动胜于雄辩的完美例子。希望世界各地有更多的建筑师可以从该项目中学习到宝贵的一课以便在世界各地设计更多环保建筑。