Open Architecture reveals design for Sun Tower in China

Chinese studio Open Architecture has unveiled its design for a viewing tower in the coastal city of Yantai in the north east of China.

The Beijing-based architecture studio designed the 50-metre-high tower to look like a giant sundial.

OPEN Architecture has revealed visuals of Sun Tower

The form of the tower, which will act as a landmark in the city's new coastal district, was informed by watchtowers that were built in the area during the Ming dynasty.

When it is complete, Sun Tower will be a cultural facility with views of the sea, a semi-outdoor theatre on the ground floor, a winding exhibition space, library and observation deck.

Sun Tower will be a cultural facility where people can also enjoy nature

Standing in the centre of a circular plaza, it will be constructed from two white concrete conical forms connected and braced by horizontal slabs and ramps.

The space within the inner shell of the Sun Tower was designed to act as a sound collector, absorbing and amplifying the sound from the sea.

The upside-down upper shell houses a library and observation space

In summer, rain will drop from a circular opening in the roof and be collected in a small pool. In winter, this pool will be dried out and used as a fireplace.

"Immediately when we conceived of the design we wanted to reference ancient human rituals, honoring the sun, moon, and stars, and offering a space for reflection and contemplation," said Li Hu and Huang Wenjing, founding partners of Open Architecture.

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Open Architecture will also work with Aric Chen, artistic director of Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, to create the building's exhibitions, which will focus on digital exhibitions and big data.

"We wanted to ensure the building had an authentic purpose and function, creating spaces that juxtapose the incredible ocean views with the forward-thinking digital exhibitions that explore nature," added Li and Huang.

A semi-outdoor observation space will be on top of Sun Tower

Open Architecture designed a shallow pool, misting devices and fountains for the plaza that will surround the building.

A linear pool of water will cut across the plaza, which will aline with the shadow of the Sun Tower follows on the day of the equinox.

The pavement will be covered in a series of elliptical ring pattern. The intersections between the rings and the waterway mark the building shadow's footprint at specific hours on the equinox day.

The 50-meter high building is a composite shell structure

The project is currently under construction and due to complete in 2024. Open Architecture recently completed a rock-like concert hall outside of Beijing named Chapel of Sound and an art gallery within a sand dune.

The renders are courtesy of Open Architecture.

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Kengo Kuma adds mountain-shaped toilets to hiking trail overlooking Mount Fuji

Japanese architecture studio Kengo Kuma and Associates has designed a collection of peaked umbrella-shaped structures that were informed by the surrounding mountains for a rest area in Japan.

The Oath Hill Park is a rest area with toilets and an observation deck in a rural, mountainous location along a popular hiking trail on the eastern outskirts of the town of Oyama in Japan.

Oath Hill Park is located on a hiking trail and provides visitors with a place to rest and use restrooms

Kengo Kuma designed a collection of umbrella-shaped timber structures that resemble the tapering form and snowy peak of the distant Mount Fuji for the small "park."

Oath Hill Park is comprised of a sheltered observation deck beneath two adjoining umbrella canopies where hikers can rest, as well as restrooms that were positioned adjacent to the rest area.

The canopies and toilets were designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates and were informed by the peak of Mount Fuji

The two umbrella-shaped forms, used as the observation deck and for sheltered resting, were titled Eastern House. These interlock at their roof and are completely open at ground level, where they are encircled by a long curving bench.

The umbrella canopies are supported by large internal columns which, like the canopies themselves, were constructed using wooden pillars that were tied together with large iron rings.

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One of the roofs that forms part of the sheltered observation areas was wrapped in a translucent fluorine-coated membrane that reveals the timber skeleton beneath when it is illuminated.

Inside the Eastern House house structure, the wooden skeleton was left exposed to highlight the structural integrity of the building and maintain a connection with the undersides of the viewing and rest areas.

A translucent membrane clads the roof of one canopy, revealing the structural integrity when illuminated

The adjoining roof was clad in an opaque material that was similarly treated with fluorine for weatherproofing qualities.

The toilet structure has a cylindrical form and an identical opaque, peaked roof. The walls of the building were wrapped in a white render that echoes the colour of the roof that tops it, as well as the snow on Mount Fuji.

The structures were constructed using wooden pillars and iron

Elsewhere in Japan, the non-profit organisation Nippon Foundation organised Tokyo Toilet, a project that saw architects upgrade Tokyo's downtown district of Shibuya's public toilets.

As part of the project, Toyo Ito created a public toilet that is housed within three mushroom-shaped volumes, while Wonderwall referenced primitive Japanese huts by building toilets within a maze of board-marked concrete walls.

Kengo Kuma and Associates recently unveiled plans to add a contemporary, sculptural stone entrance to a gothic cathedral in France. The architecture practice also built the cedar-clad Japan National Stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

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