This article was taken from the September issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content bysubscribing online
At 610 metres, China’s GuangzhouTV Tower is the third tallest freestanding structure in the world, due for completion this November. But the quest for a “sexy skyscraper” of such vertigo-inducing proportions posed Dutch husband-and wife team Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture some serious challenges.
First, there’s its geometrical complexity. The tower’s giant steel lattice, formed by 24 columns and 46 rings, called for collaboration with Arup, the British engineering experts. Using Arup’s parametric associative software, Hemel and Kuit generated a computer model of the building in its entirety, which allowed them to calculate how each new design decision affected the rest of the structure. The twisted shape of the towermeans that each of the 1,104 joints in the lattice is similar, but not identical. Having a software render of each joint allowed them to be designed automatically and cheaply. Joop Paul of Arup describes the process as “mass customisation”.
Another challenge was that columns starting on one side of the tower finish on the opposite side, which made it difficult to place them precisely. To calculate the exact positioning of the structural members, three GPS base-stations were installed around the tower to help with construction.
At such great heights, things risk getting a little… unstable. So during construction, 600 sensors were embedded into the concrete core and the steel columns that spiral around it. Named PolyU’s Mega-Structure Diagnostic and Prognostic System, it documents the structural behaviour of the tower and feeds it to engineers at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Not only does it allow early identification of structural deterioration, but, admits Hemel, the system is the building’s “black box recorder”, enabling “the assessment of structural safety immediately after unexpected disasters”. Nice to know they’re planning ahead.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
