Coral City
Henning Larsen architects of Copenhagen developed concept designs for a family of towers based on coral forms found in local seas.
1000 metres tall and in an area of high seismicity near the Straits of Hormuz, Chris Bakkala at Buro Happold assisted the architect on in proportioning the towers for efficiency of material utilisation. He developed a structural concept design using a perimeter frame based on the form of the cholla cactus skeleton, a native plant of northern Mexico and the south western United States. A desert species, the Cholla cactus has evolved a simple and elegant structure which enables it extend to significant height, given its slenderness, from the minimal material composition achievable in a land with constrained nutrients and moisture. Similarly the perimeter frame of the towers provides efficient deployment of strength and ductility commensurate with one kilometre height and loading.
