Strata Tower Abu Dhabi, UAE

Date: 2008-11 Designer: Asymptote Architecture Introduction: Forty-storey, luxury residential building in Abu Dhabi. The Strata Tower is scheduled for completion in 2011 and, at a height of 160 meters, will be the tallest building in Aldar Properties PJSC's prestigious Al Raha Beach development. Construction begins on Asymptote’s Strata Tower in Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE—The Strata Tower, a forty-story, luxury residential building designed by architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote, has broken ground on Al Raha Beach and is now under construction. The tower is scheduled for completion in early 2011 and, at a height of 160 meters, will be the tallest building in the Al Dana precinct, the centerpiece of Aldar Properties PJSC’s prestigious Al Raha Beach development. The project and development was showcased at Cityscape Abu Dhabi from May 13–15, 2008. The landmark Strata Tower is designed to signify a dignified and important future for Abu Dhabi and the region. As a signature architectural statement, the Strata Tower’s articulate, striking physical presence seeks to encapsulate meaning through the use of abstract form drawn from both local cultural landscapes and motifs and dynamic forces of global influence. The Strata Tower’s design utilizes primarily mathematical means in its design to achieve both a poetic, as well as highly pertinent, architecture for the UAE, a region in flux with ambitions for continued rapid growth. The Strata Tower’s innovative form was created using state-of-the-art, advanced parametric modeling tools and techniques from the onset of the design process to the production phase. The building’s design emerged from various influences and factors including economies of production and fabrication with special consideration given to environmental sustainability. Sophisticated computer modeling and tools were utilized to produce the building’s intelligent, environmentally responsive louver system that is held in a unique, cantilevered exoskeleton structure. The exoskeleton veils the entire tower in a shimmering curvilinear form set against Abu Dhabi’s surrounding desert and sea, embracing and reflecting the ever-changing light and atmospheres that enfold and contain it. As architecture the Strata Tower resists being an overt, singular gesture reliant on a set meaning or association. Rather, the mathematical properties used, not unlike those in the manifestation of the arabesque or abstract calligraphy, give the building its supreme elegance, prominence and potential for meaning and significance. Feedback on Dubai Architecture welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk Strata Tower designer - Asymptote Architecture: Principal Architects: Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture Strata Tower Abu Dahbi - Consultants: Structural and MEP Engineer: ARUP, New York Façade Consultant: Front Inc., New York Building Information Modeling (BIM) Consultant: Gehry Technologies, Los Angeles & New York Environmental Designers: Atelier Ten, New York & London About Asymptote Architecture Asymptote Architecture was founded by principals Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture in 1989. Since Asymptote’s founding the New York-based firm has been at the forefront of technological innovation in the field of architecture and design and received international acclaim for visionary building designs and large-scale master plans. Asymptote is currently working on a broad range of commissions at sites in the United States, Europe, the United Arab Emirates and Asia including three landmark towers in Tbilisi, Georgia; commercial office towers in Budapest and Prague and the World Business Center Busan in Busan, South Korea, slated to be one of the tallest buildings in Asia upon its completion in 2011. In addition to the Strata Tower, projects designed by Asymptote now under construction include an innovative, high-end condominium building in New York City and a 500-room hotel in the United Arab Emirates. In 2004 Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture were awarded the Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts given in recognition of exceptional contributions to the progress and merging of art and architecture.