Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

Torre Antena Santiago by Architects of Invention

Architects of Invention have presented “Halo Santiago”, a proposal which was awarded third prize in the “Torre Antena Santiago Competition”. The tower is envisioned as a landmark structure for Santiago, a beacon for the city and its people.

Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

The concept behind the design references Chile’s vast amount of active volcanoes, forming a dynamic smoke-plume extrusion which twists and rises towards the sky. At night, the light emitted from a circular viewing platform is reminiscent of the wide glow from an active eruption, viewed as a halo hovering above the mountain’s peak.

Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

The halo shape has always been considered a feature which highlights and inspires awe across subjects such as photography, painting and religion – the viewing platform suggests this optical form, elegantly suspended by cables. Rather than entirely dominating its surroundings, the structure shares the mountainous terrain with the neighboring statue of Saint Mary, while the homogenous materiality of the antenna presents a sculptural form, rather than solely suggesting the design’s function.

Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

On their website, the statement reads: “The concept of this tower suggests the volcano and optical phenomena such as the halo and the sun pillar. The ideas originate with the early modernists such as Rodchenko, Tatlin, Yakov Chernikhov and Malevich.”

Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

“Chile has an enormous amount of active volcanoes and this tower evokes that seismic dynamism with its smoke-plume vertical extension that seems to twist and rise. Likewise, the light emitted at night by the viewing platform is reminiscent of the wide glow from an active eruption. The evocation here is more about spreading than upward movement, such as a volcano does as it emits its fiery contents. The relationship of the tower to the statue of Saint Mary is important also in that the horizontal emphasis does not represent a dominating presence but rather a shared mountainous space. The mountain’s gentle slopes are resonant with the viewing platform’s disposition that erases a hierarchy along the skyline to Saint Mary.”

Image courtesy of  Architects of Invention

“The viewing platform also suggests an optical halo – which seems to float in the sky, suspended only by cables. At night, the halo-like shape hovers above the mountain peak with only a series of red lights shining above it. The halo has always been considered as a feature that highlights and inspires awe, in phenomena as far-reaching as weather patterns, photography, painting, the physical sciences and religion.  This tower, with its strong and simple design is unlike any other tower in the world (see our scale comparison page for images of towers that correspond to it).”

more. www.architectsofinvention.com