News: international architecture firms IND and Powerhouse Company have won a competition to design a 100-metre-tall broadcast and observation tower in Çanakkale, Turkey, with a design that resembles a continuous ribbon.
Planned for a forested hilltop on the outskirts of the historic city of Çanakkale, the proposal by IND (Inter.National.Design) and Powerhouse Company is based on an undulating loop that rises above the ground and stretches upwards to create the tower.
The competition brief called for a building that provides recreational facilities including exhibition spaces and observation decks, as well as the communications mast.
"The design of the new Çanakkale Antenna Tower resolves these paradoxes by uniting all the different functions and spatial requirement into one spatial gesture," said a statement about the winning design.
Visitors will be able to wander along a raised path that will loop around the site and lead to the visitor centre, which will be built above the treetops on the edge of the hill facing the city.
The tower is deliberately located away from the visitor centre to reduce the danger of radiation from the transmitters fixed to its surface affecting visitors or staff, and is designed with a simple form that will enable it to accommodate future technologies.
"The antenna tower is formed by joining the two vertical paths, creating a gracious gateway under which the visitors enter the premises," added the statement. "This gesture creates a strong visual identity; an iconic appearance from afar that is transformed into an elaborate scenic experience when up close."
By lifting the structure off the ground, the architects aim to minimise its impact on the surrounding forest. The space surrounded by the looping pathway will be dedicated to use as a park that visitors will be able to access at points where the path touches the ground, and from a staircase beneath the viewing deck.
The architects collaborated with infrastructure and engineering firm ABT on the design of the winning proposal.
The main image is by MIR.