LOTUS TOWERS:
STARTING FROM ZERO
Reconstructing Downtwon New York
Credits:
Michael Sorkin, Mitchell Joachim, Andrei Vovk, Jair Laiter, Mirai Morita, Jonathan Solomon
An exploration of the form for multiple tall buildings at Ground Zero, done in a spirit of investigation. Although the idea of such buildings is contrary to the highest and best use of the site, these were designed to encourage some fluidity in approach and to keep the question of the site’s future open.
The inspiring image was the lotus, a flower unfolding to signify rebirth. The research soon became a simple speculation on skyscraper form and the limits of its expressivity.
Lotus flower is viewed as a symbol of spiritual unfoldment. The lotus has its roots in earthly mud, but as it grows upward in aspiration toward the light, its petals open out in a beautiful flower. Westside elevation looking at Battery Park in Manhattan. |
