The world’s most twisted towers have been unveiled in Chongqing, a megacity in western China. The 180-metre-tall ‘Dance of Light’ skyscraper has been inspired by northern lights, according to architectural company Aedas, which has designed it. The pictures of the amazing building have gone viral on social media. The tower, situated on Xingfu Plaza in Chongqing’s Jiangbei district, features two double-curved sides that give the sense that the structure is twisting.
The unique 39-story building is meant to serve as a landmark in the business district, where each structure has been inspired by stars and other celestial phenomena. The Aurora Borealis, popularly known as the northern lights, has a curvy shape, and the studio opted to model its structure. Now the structure has been nicknamed ‘Dance of Light’.The building is developed by the Aedas Corporation and it tries to capture the essence of the northern lights of the Aurora Borealis.
Aedas Global Design Principal Ken Wai said, “The concept of the Dance of Light was proposed to celebrate the achievement to embrace technology by the city of Chongqing. The Dance of Light is derived from the mesmerizing phenomenon of northern light that lit up heaven.”
“They are natural, dynamic and elegant, all the important aspects we would like to achieve in our tower design,” Mr Ken further said. The ‘Dance of Light’ tower has a “twisting angle” of up to 8.8 degrees per floor, which Aedas claims is 1.5 times more than any other skyscraper, making it one of the “most twisted towers in the world”.
The design team collaborated with consultant RFR to create a smooth external façade rather than the angular forms seen in the other twisted buildings. To achieve this, the building’s façade was made with double-curved, cold-form glass,
Features of the tower
- 34 floors of office space topped with five storeys of meeting rooms and other facilities.
- The building has a ‘twisting angle’ of up to 8.8 degrees per floor.
- A low-level block of the building contains restaurants and cafes.
- The building is meant to serve as a landmark in Chongqing’s business district where each structure has been inspired by stars or other celestial phenomena.
“As an open public space, the tower has all the credits to be a city icon, especially the significant twisting of the facade is remarkable,” said Ken Wai, the global design principal at Aedas.