architect: Morphosis
location: Paris
year: 2012
Synthesizing Idiosyncrasies to Mend a Site
Drawing on the power of parametric scripting, the design of the Phare Tower gathers disparate programmatic, physical, and infrastructural elements from the requirements of the building and synthesizes these into a form that seamlessly integrates the building into the idiosyncrasies of its site while expressing multiple flows of movement. In the spirit of the Paris Exposition competition proposals, the tower embodies state-of-the-art technological advances to become a cultural landmark.
The complex structure and skin adapt to the tower’s nonstandard form while simultaneously responding to a range of complex, and often competing, physical and environmental considerations. Technologies integrated into the Phare Tower capture the sun and wind for the production of energy and selectively minimize solar gain while maximizing glare-free daylight. Its high-performance skin transforms with changes in light, becoming opaque, translucent, or transparent from different angles and vantage points. At night, ribbons of light garland the building to animate the building’s shifting form.
luogo: La Défense
cliente: Unibail
programma: Commercial office tower with office space, employee restaurants, public café, trading floors, public amenities, and parking for 450 cars
progettazione: 2006-2008
costruzione: 2009-2012
dimensione: 185.494 mq
project principal: Tim Christ
project director: Charles Lamy
project manager: Matt Grady
project designer: Chandler Ahrens
project architect: David Rindlaub
ingegneri: Setec TPI/TESS, RFR Facades, RFR Elements
acustica: AVLS
construction Manager: Oger International
Thom Mayne was born in the USA in the 1943, he received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1968 and his Master from Harvard University in 1978. He was a founder of the Souther California Institute of Architecture, and has held teaching position at Columbia University, Harvard University, Yale University, the Berlage Institute and the Barlett School of Architecture in London. Currently, he holds a tenured faculty position at the UCLA School of Arts and Architecure. His distinguished honors include the National Design Award for Architecture (2006), the Pritzker Prize (2005), Rome Prize Fellowship (1987). In the 1972 he founded Morphosis that nowday consist of a group of more than 40 professionists. With Morphosis, Thom Mayne, received 25 Progressive Architecture Awards, 60 AIA Awards and numerous other design recognitions.Under his direction, the firm has been the subject of many exhibition.
