Monday, July 25, 2011

Architectural acclaim for SOTA and The Helix

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_689795.html

After reading the article.

What are your thought? What do you think are the contributing factors to winning the awards?
Please post your thoughts in the comment section below.

Deadline: 25th July 2011

http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAAwards/Winners2011/East/Eastwinners2011.aspx

Click above to view other winning entries.

9 comments:

  1. Reasons which contributed to the good architecture in SOTA:
    1. Rooftop Garden and Green walls (Vertical Gardens), helps the surrounding to be cooling due to natural ventilation, and in urban environments where the plants reduce overall temperatures of the building which prevents insulation of heat. This also softens the concrete walls effect, reducing dull, grey colors into vibrant ones.
    2. Creative architectural design. It includes voids, allowing natural wind to pass through the building, maximising space effiency. The building interior is spacious, not cramped. This is useful for socialising or organising open parties.

    Reasons which contributed to the good architecture in Helix Bridge:
    1. Creative architectural design because it is shaped like a strain of DNA. There are hydrogen bonds which is combined like Adenine Guanine (AG) or Cytosine Thymine (CT) which is the structure that supports the DNA, just like the bridge.
    2. Appealing lights around the external structure of the helix. During the nights, LED lights glow which attracts passer-bys and the panoramic view is fantastic. The hydrogen bonds are shown on the floor on the bridge and lights up during the night.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SOTA:
    It satisfies the purpose of creative and sustainable good architecture, with functions that are environmentally friendly, such as Rooftop Garden, Vertical gardens which brings down the room temperature inside the building, requiring less artificial cooling. Plants also makes the buildings more attractive architecturally.

    Allowing the utilization of wind also reduces the amount of energy needed to cool the building. The overall design is also space efficient, which means it creates the atmosphere of a large space while needing only a limited amount of space to create that illusion.

    Helix Bridge:
    Creative and unique design utilizing the double helical shape of the DNA. The floors are layout with lights with labels symbolizing the different nucleobases, namely adenine, Thymine (AT) cytosine and guanine (CG).

    The structure utilizes ambience lighting by having LED lights that glow of different colours, thus attracting visitors. There are decks at portions of the bridge useful for socializing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SOTA:
    -creative
    -environmentally friendly>natural ventilation
    -spacious design

    Helix Bridge:
    -creative
    -unique structure
    -use of different coloured LED light
    -interaction space

    ReplyDelete
  4. SOTA
    It has lots of greenery and looks like it is a tear down building, and has lots of gardens and nature around.This bring down the temperature and make it look very cool and easily remembered.
    Helix Bridge
    Cool and out of the box design as no one will think of using that kind of shape,has platforms to relax and beautiful night lighting.

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  5. I think the contributing factors to winning the awards for the SOTA building is that it looks modern, and has many plants on the building itself, which looks very eco-friendly. I think the most important contributing factor would be that the building looks very artistic which represents the school very well.

    For the Helix Bridge, the contributing factors to winning the awards would be the distinct design and the LED lighting used. Another contributing factor would be that the overall look and feel of the bridge is captivating and impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SOTA:
    - Environmentally-friendly
    - Interesting use of plants for the design of the building

    Helix Bridge:
    - Lights
    - Uniqueness of structure (DNA/pairs of coloured letters)
    - Material used to build the bridge

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  7. I think that SOTA had won the award due to the interesting outlook of the building and though it has plants on the building itself, it still looked modern and hints that they are eco-friendly. The design was unique and having the ship at the top to view across Singapore is very innovative and rare, hence attracting customers. Hence, I think that the ship at the top of the building that lets people to view Singapore from up there is the most captivating and leaves the greatest impression on people.

    i think that the Helix Bridge has a very nice concept of the DNA pairing. It gives the people walking through it that they are walking within a DNA, it's the DNA of Singapore and such. It has a unique design and well built structure, letting people feel safe even when looking up to the sky. It also has areas at the side for people to step out when they want to admire the scenery of the river. But I believed that the DNA concept is the one that leaves the greatest impression on the people due to its uniqueness.

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  8. SOTA
    It is aesthetically appealing, with modern designs and it is also eco-friendly. As SOTA is the School of the Arts, the design of the building represents the school well.

    Helix bridge
    Its shape is adapted from the shape of a DNA, which is pretty unique and also aesthetically appealing. It also has small spaces for people to step out and admire the beautiful scenery of the river. It is also not totally covered up. This bridge allows people to feel calm and peaceful after crossing the bridge.

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  9. Helix Bridge
    - Creative
    - LED lights (light-emitting diode)
    - Open air bridge (will not be stuffy)

    SOTA (School of the Arts)
    - Environmentally friendly (Rooftop gardens, cool downs temperature)
    - Aesthetically appealing (Unique design)

    ReplyDelete