'Mangal City': A Mangrove Inspired Skyscraper Design by Team Chimera
Green Futures, 24 Jun 10
by Sam Jones
These spiraling skyscrapers are part of a self-sustaining urban ecosystem proposed for London by Team Chimera (Pierandrea Angius, Alkis Dikaios, Thomas Jacobsen, Carlos Parraga-Botero), at the Architectural Association. Dubbed 'Mangal City', the structure draws on phyllotaxis - the mechanism which determines leaf patterns to maximize exposures to sunlight and moisture. The leaf-like residential pods sit on 'branches' that twist towards the sun to maximize warmth, light and PV potential.
This post originally appeared on Green Futures.
Editor's Note: Team Chimera was tutored by Theodore Spyropoulos, who teaches at the AASchool of Architecture in London (Team Chimera's rendering appears on page 65 of the PDF of the AA's "Prospectus 2009-10" opposite a description of Spyropoulos's graduate design studio "Digital Materialism"). An interview with Team Chimera as well as more images of the project are available at suckerPUNCH. For more, see also "‘Mangal City’ Skyscrapers by Chimera" and "Spiraling Skyscraper Pod City For a Future New York."
A leaf can flutter in the wind. A human habitation can't. Keeping these rigid in wind will take structural components with high embodied energy. If these are ever built and actually turn out to use less resources and energy than a conventional skyscraper, I'll be astonished. I wish designers would become less image-driven and more empirical. The design actually reveals pretty shallow thinking.
Posted by: David Foley on 25 Jun 10
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