A twisting observation tower for a northern Italian forest
The spiralling form tree is an idea to give Bruneck a new landmark
A project by Anton Pramstrahler and Alex Niederkofler architects
#Design
img.0The twisting tree
Architects Anton Pramstrahler and Alex Niederkofler have unveiled their proposal for a wooden viewing tower near Bruneck, northern Italy, with a twisted body shaped like a tree trunk. Pramstrahler and Niederkofler designed the 33-metre-high Lookout Tower in response to a competition inviting ideas for a new landmark for Bruneck, the town in the South Tyrol region of Italy.
img.1The base
img.2A look inside
The proposed location is a forest nearby, and the architects want to build 90 per cent of the tower's structure from wood to evoke its natural context. The structure's spiralling form is intended to look like a tree that spreads out at its base and canopy – the result of a hexagonal section that rotates gradually as the tower ascends.
img.3Three dimensional diagram
"The organic structure results from a simple geometric shape based on several different parameters," said Pramstrahler. "The main parameters are the golden ratio and linear structural elements." Only straight wooden beams would be used for the cladding, and would be constructed from sections that are offset by a few degrees for every two metres the structure ascends. "By simply rotating the upper and lower hexagon against their directions and changing their sizes and angles it was possible to composite a shape that not only resembles a tree but also functions as such," the architect added.
img.4Section two
Image coutesy Dezeen