Office Tower, Asmita Gardens

• Type: university project, defended April 2014
• Location: Asmita Gardens area, Bucharest

The brief focused on the problems of designing a tall building. Two requirements shaped this one. The structure had to resist forces from the building's height, from wind, and from Bucharest's earthquakes. The form had to work with the structure and also function well, with enough space and daylight on every floor.

The answer is a diagrid, a grid of diagonal members that frees floor space and holds the form. The tower starts as a circle in plan and ends as an ellipse. With no corners, it avoids the strong air currents that form along a building's edges.

The three diagrams show the steps: wind conditions, functional requirements, and the formal and structural response.