Architects and botanists, rejoice! Your constructions no longer need to be rooted in reality. Last month, we showed you a vertical forest, and now we have news of an ethereal island in the sky.We owe the impressive structure to the Taiwan Tower International Competition. Its designer, Sou Fujimoto, calls the tower, whose design was inspired by the reaching interwoven branches of a banyan tree, a “twenty-first century oasis.” The Taiwan Tower’s roof is an inclined plane 1,000 feet in the air, meant to represent a Formosa, or “divine island” in the clouds. This island is supported by crisscrossing steel beams, which allow light to filter through to an ethereal effect. The structural supports will be resistant to strong winds and earthquakes. At night, the light display “pulsates and flows like a life form, and eventually falls asleep.”
The Tower’s expected to be complete in 2016. Fujimoto envisions the structure as a symbol of modernity, likening its impact to the construction of the Eiffel tower last century. He hopes its unique style will inspire even more contemporary designs in future years.[via Architizer]