MAD Architects and Burka Architects designed the Absolute Towers, also nicknamed the “Marilyn Monroe,” in 2012. The designers sought a soft roundness for the typical harsh materials of skyscrapers, to emulate the fluidity of natural life. Each unit gets a sweeping balcony and become part of this gestural sweeping movement.
It is a different take on the old Corbusier vision of compartmentalized urban living. The same solution for mass, uniform residential is there, but the overall form takes on at least a sculptural image. The rounded structure is notably inexpensive and simple to construct, and handles wind and tensile forces pretty well. I’m not sure how such a unique aesthetic fits into the city, however, and it is still limited by the Corbusier model of mass, uniform living.
(sdaponte– flickr/creative commons license)
(JAMES LEE 52– flickr/creative commons license)
(paul bica– flickr/creative commons license)
(mark_mcguire– flickr/creative commons license)
