Daniel Libeskind is a name that bangs against many stupendous architectures around the world. From Denver Art Museum, Royal Ontario Museum extension to Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England, the design-pro has majorly tested his frontiers in class-apart museums and galleries. And when you thought Downtown Tornoto wasn’t the best place to blossom with green ideas, the head-honcho of Studio Daniel Libeskind planted a seed that will soar the sky-heights in the form of 57-storey epitome of eco-friendly design. The redevelopment project of 50 year old Sony Centre for performing arts will be complimented by the ‘L-tower’ which will be a domicile of condominiums and an arts and culture facility.
Lying atop the top-notch cultural facilities, it will house approximately 470 units and rise to a height of 57 stories, providing stunning views over downtown Toronto. The residential tower component bags the majority (428,000 sq.ft.) of the overall redesign. The entire revamp seeks to deliver 21st Century living, whereby inner city life is actively integrated with culture and the arts. If your keen eyes were active enough to notice the semi-sphere shaped collective space, let me tell you it is crafted to be symbolic and functional, evoking to bring together the diversity of cultures present in Tornoto.
The maker has befriended the eco-norms by incorporating elements like reducing wasted energy with high-performance glazing, capturing and re-using rainwater for non-potable applications, purchasing greenpower, dual-flush toilets, water-conserving front-loading clothes washers, low-flow showers and the use of local materials in construction. That seemed a bit of information overload! Mr Libeskind turned green into gold for he lived up to the standards of LEED, North America’s green building rating system.
For all those you thought that L was Mr. Daniel’s favourite alphabet, let me enlighten you that the L shape of the tower and its curvature is designed to shun interference of shadows on the lush green Berczy Park. As of now, the structure awaits timely funding from the government’s side, failure of which might convert the art and culture facility into a retail centre. I think the finance guys in the government aren’t baboons to let the city part away with something like this.
Worldarchitecturenews via DesignBoom via StyleAtHome