Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden. [Photograph]
A stunning spectacle of sustainable post-modernist architecture, Belgian Architect Vincent Callebaut has produced a residential high-rise tower that supersedes the current architectural ecological trend that is prevalent in building design in the 21st century.
The Agora Garden is in the heart of the city of Taiwan and stands out as an exemplary landmark due to its abstract form in the existing urban fabric of the municipality. It is a prime example of how ecological architects can provide specific architectural solutions that pertain to the concept of vertical housing gardens in metropolises with growing issues such as pollution and over-population.
Here are 10 things you did not know about The Agora Garden:
1. The Tower's form:
With an ambitious vision for a greener future, Callebaut’s inspiration behind the form of the tower is the human DNA strand- a double-helix twisting structure that gives pedestrians various dynamic views from street level. For him, this approach is a distinct fusion of ‘Western and Oriental technology and culture’ (Hasette, 2017) where the DNA strand is a symbol of life and ultimate balance. An element that he has tried to depict through the symbiosis of nature and a high-rise building typology. For Callebaut, the Agora Garden is a thorough representation of transforming a city center into an ecological hub where one finds the main structure poetically clad in a sensual green dress.
Bollinger and Grohmann, (2016). Agora Garden exoskeleton. [Photograph]
2. Culmination:
With the intent to create a not-so-typical high-rise residential building, Callebaut’s architectural company was awarded as the successful tenderer for the construction of a new sustainable residential tower in Taipei. Callebaut’s firm was able to win this competition amidst a myriad of notable architectural practices namely that of Zaha Hadid and Fernando Menis. Callebaut’s proposal was meant to create more awareness about sustainability in an otherwise non-eco-friendly city. It was a building more than just a regular residential high-rise as his proposal meant to act as a big step against the issue of global warming.
3. Greenery:
With the intent of generating a hub for biodiversity, especially regarding the flora and fauna, the twisting residential tower combines the elements of architecture, ecology, and landscape in the appropriate ratio. According to an interview with CNN in 2017, the Agora Garden has a covered area with green plants that amount to 6060 square meters. A phenomenal total of 26,000 trees and shrubs have been made use of in the architectural design of the overall building, which is the same as the number of trees found in Central Park in New York. The vertical tower also serves to act as a ‘vertical farm’ whereby the residents will be provided with space to accommodate their own vegetable gardens and orchards in the balcony area and grow their own food and compost their biodegradable waste (Malone, 2016).
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden. [Photograph]
4. The Carbon Eating Giant
The green high-rise building also provides a pioneering concept of sustainable construction using greenery. This rotating tower also acts as a carbon-eating structure that is meant to absorb ‘130 tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions each year- that is equal to almost 27 cars’, (Hasette, 2017). Not only is this a huge leap towards curbing the issue of global warming in the city of Taipei which generates almost 250 million tons of Carbon Dioxide annually, as per the calculation of the International Energy Agency, but it is meant to limit the carbon footprint of its inhabitants as well.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden balcony layout. [Photograph]
5. Programmatic Analysis:
The Agora Garden has a very basic program layout that is divided into a total of 22 floors including 42 luxury apartments with 4 types of housing units, car parks, a swimming pool, indoor lobbies that serve to be as connectors with surrounding outdoor spaces, and balconies that will enact the concept of ‘Vertical farms’ propagated by Callebaut providing transformative panoramic views of the city. It also includes rooftop clubhouses and gym facilities.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden. [Photograph]
6. Core Design
The twisting ‘foliage filled’ (Designboom, 2013) has a double-skinned central core designed like a cylindrical void that is responsible for transmitting light through and through the structure, even down to the basement and the car park areas. It can also be described as a unique twisting green core that comprises a looping band of circulation with 2 staircases, 4 high-speed elevators, and, one car elevator (Designboom, 2013). The core itself is surrounded by a naturally lightened horizontal circulation loop that demarcates the entry foyer for each residential unit. This loop enables the main entrance in the Agora Garden to always be on the axis of each apartment despite a 4.5-degree rotation on each level (Malone, 2016).
7. Active and Passive System Technology
Keeping in mind that Callebaut’s design philosophy also involves the usage of bio-climatic passive systems such as natural lighting for the ventilation of the basement and the core, rainwater, and greywater harvesting/recycling along with a double curtain walled/layered facades to protect the living units from solar radiation in summers and reduce thermal loss in the winter season. The structure also makes use of photo-voltaic rooftops for conserving energy and implements Phyto-purification through the placement of gardens. According to the ‘Cradle to Cradle’ concept (Frearson, 2013), all construction materials that have been used within the project strictly follow a non-toxic and reusable pattern of utilization.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden, bio-climatic passive system sectional view. [Photograph]
8. Sustainability Accreditations
Being an epitome of ecological architecture in the 21st century, this building also has obtained the necessary green certification to give it its legitimate image in the sustainable architectural industry. The building has received a LEED Gold energy label as well as a Diamond level awarded by the Low Carbon Building Alliance. The building also is an Innovation Award Finalist on Innovative Design by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Chicago 2015 + Highly Commented Award, Future Residential Project, World Architectural Festival, Singapore 2015 + Winner of the International Architecture Award 2014, Chicago Atheneum, New York (Lynch, 2016).
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden. [Photograph]
9. Anti-Seismic qualities:
Structurally speaking, The Agora Garden presented a big challenge of creating an anti-seismic tower. The structure makes use of EPS isolation cushions with a shock-resistant design that is similarly used in the nuclear power plants of Taiwan. The design can resist 7th-grade earthquakes (Hasette, 2017). The levels of the building are structurally supported by the Vierendeel Truss System behind glass facades, which is atypical of the regular trusses that are used in architectural design. This element gives the residential floor space freedom from columns and ample room for experimentation of interior spaces.
10. Mineral Moat:
The whole perimeter of the site is bordered by a mineral moat to give the residents their due privacy. This moat is utilized by public space as organic urban furniture. Within the vicinity of this moat, the walls transform themselves into green walls surrounding the residential tower.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures, (2016). Agora Garden. [Photograph]
References
Design Build Network. Agora Tower, Taipei, Taiwan. < https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/agora-tower-taipei/>
Designboom. (2013). Vincent Callebaut Architectures: Agora Tower, Taipei, Taiwan. < https://www.designboom.com/architecture/vincent-callebaut-architectures-agora-tower-taipei-taiwan/>
Frearson, A. (2013). Agora Garden by Vincent Callebaut. Dezeen.
Hasette, M. (2017). This twisted carbon-eating tower is rising in the East. CNN Style. < https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/vincent-callebaut-tao-zhu-yin-yuan/index.html>
Lynch, P. (2016). Vincent Callebaut Architectures' Double Helix Eco-Tower Takes Shape in Taiwan. ArchDaily. Accessed 29 Aug 2021. https://www.archdaily.com/800209/vincent-callebaut-architectures-double-helix-eco-tower-takes-shape-in-taiwan
Malone, D. (2016). Agora Garden, A Twisting plant-filled tower in Taipei, will absorb 130 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually once completed. Building Design + Construction. < https://www.bdcnetwork.com/agora-garden-twisting-plant-filled-tower-taipei-will-absorb-130-tons-carbon-dioxide-annually-once>