After an eleven-year construction process, the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower designed by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is about to be completed in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. A 21-story skyscraper that features installation of hanging gardens, waterfalls and ultramodern interiors. But there is a detail that makes the tower a masterpiece of ecological architecture. It can absorb smog thanks to over 23,000 trees that will cover its many terraces. The structure has, in fact, a total of 13 thousand plants, which muffle the noise, provide shade and cool in summer, help to keep the heat in winter. But above all, they will absorb up to 130 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The project is eco-friendly right from its design. The team made up of seismic experts, interior design, and landscape architects immediately conceived the skyscraper as a vertical extension of the earth. A building built by analyzing exposure to sunlight, wind, and the bioclimatic characteristics of the area. The structure’s energy costs are also minimal, thanks to photovoltaic panels, regenerative lift drives, optimization of ventilation, and natural lighting.
A peculiarity of the tower, built according to anti-seismic criteria, is that of changing shape depending on the point of view. It can appear as a pyramid, some cross, an inverted pyramid, or an ellipse. Each top is rotated 4.5 degrees clockwise, for a total of 90 degrees of rotation, which gives the structure its particular elliptical shape. The building is also equipped with a rainwater recycling system and wireless LED lighting control system. The materials used for the interiors are ecologically sustainable and recyclable; The apartments are equipped with double walls that reduce thermal energy consumption.
To make the green tower even more exclusive, the 40 entirely eco-sustainable luxury apartments, two on each floor, developed along with the building’s double helix structure. The introductory price starts at 30 million dollars.
In a future in which cities’ sustainability will become a fundamental factor, the Tao Zhu Yin Yuan tower represents the future of urban planning at 360 °. A concept that was explored in Milan with the Bosco Verticale by Stefano Boeri. The surface of towers and skyscrapers can become an opportunity for metropolitan reforestation and the purification of its air.
