The Woven Tower designed by Setfan Shöning and Studio Farris is a competition entry for a prompt set out by the Sheikh of Dubai so create a unique new landmark for the city. It incorporates three woven strip-masses which come together at a common point and rise into an iconic tower.
courtesy of Setfan Shöning + Studio Farris
There is not too much in the way of explanation offered by the architects as to the feasibility or materiality of such a structure, only one very indefinite section, that seems to imply ribbed steel. I suppose it could be welded plate steel. The welders of the world would love that. The clients and future occupants might not. It seems to me that such a form should be theoretically possible- albeit very difficult to implement- through the use of high strength concretes such as Ductal (a fibre concrete). If the concrete strips were case with shared intersecting points or shared surfaces, their geometries are sufficiently angular that their would withstand lateral forces and as long as they were connected strongly enough, withstand gravity.
courtesy of Setfan Shöning + Studio Farris
However, this is mostly conjecture on my part. The materiality is largely left to the imagination in the pictures and it is a bit of another ‘Watch out! Here comes another render!’ moment. Architecture needs less renders like this and more meaningful wall sections. Yes, sections are sometimes boring, but isn’t that where the meat of architecture is? Renders only teach us how nice something might look… if someone where to sit down and do the sections.
courtesy of Setfan Shöning + Studio Farris
Courtesy of Setfan Shöning + Studio Farris
