GB & D

The Kinetower

article in magazine GB&D, Green Building & Design, september 2011.

To read article in full click here.

“Belgian company Kinetura is a high-concept design firm that believes strongly in the idea of “metamorphism,” a term the firm uses to describe the transformation of objects and structures to fit a particular use at any given time. Kinetura sees a future in designs that are fluid and adaptable to the possibility of varying conditions-this rather than structures carrying on the staid, static architecture that, in many respects, in the modern era, has reached about as far as it can go. Among Kinetura’s concepts for this architectural movement of motion and flexibility is the Kinetower, which the firm has imagined, essentially, as a high-rise designed to move and respond to the day’s level of sunlight. A double-skin façade covers the building with flexible slats that expand and contract to control the amount of daylighting throughout the structure while at the same time harnessing the reflected sun rays as stored solar energy. In this way, the structure works as both an energy regulator and generator. The technology is still a few years away to make the structure a reality-the firm concedes that certain smart materials and components might be necessary to achieve the kind and extent of building movement it has in mind. However, when that day comes, Kinetura is sure to be ahead of the curve.”