Dubai, CTBUH 2006 Chicago Conference - Baker, Tapered and Twisted Towers

Thursday 26th October 2006. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. William Baker, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; reviews the structural challenges and opportunities of several tapered and twisted projects, offers solutions to the challenges and examines the expression of these solutions at the CTBUH 2006 Chicago Conference held in the Herman Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology. He believes that structure is language. How one composes the structure can lead to clarity or confusion in the architecture and the architectural expression. Often the structure is expressed; at times it is concealed, but regardless, the structure should always contain clarity. Proper editing of the structural elements is essential to the story when the structure is expressed. One should be able to read and understand the structure within the overall narrative. In this context, we should review recent movements in architecture, such as the evolution of tapered towers extending back many decades, while the emergence of twisted towers is relatively new to the architectural world.