Reforma Tower
Site: Reforma, Mexico CityFall 2016 || Design Studio
Instructor: Margaret Griffin
Partners: Adilet Dairabayev & Will Wang
If there is one constituent element in today’s High Rise that best synthesizes the tension between the rising demand for high iconic impact and performance; expression and efficiency; formal quality and structural stability; that would be, without a doubt, the building envelope.
The notion of the envelope can have multiple roles. One of the most obvious uses of the envelope is reduced to two-dimensional usage, curtain walls that retain the private from the public. Once three-dimensionalized, this creates new opportunities to explore how a High Rise can make use of the open floor plan, maximizing square footage while allowing the facade to express a sense of massing.
By treating the facade as the primary expression for massing, this allowed the project to explore to incorporate multiple programs and to maximize efficiency.
The notion of the envelope can have multiple roles. One of the most obvious uses of the envelope is reduced to two-dimensional usage, curtain walls that retain the private from the public. Once three-dimensionalized, this creates new opportunities to explore how a High Rise can make use of the open floor plan, maximizing square footage while allowing the facade to express a sense of massing.
By treating the facade as the primary expression for massing, this allowed the project to explore to incorporate multiple programs and to maximize efficiency.
