Torre Espacio
LOCATION / LUGAR: Madrid, Spain / España
DATE OF COMPLETION/ FECHA ENTREGA: 2008
ARCHITECT / ARQUITECTO:
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
HEIGHT / ALTURA: 230m
The design of Torre Espacio evolves from a square plan at its base to a gently curved lozenge, shaped by the intersection of two quarter circles, at its crown. Were this a work of sculpture, such a form could readily be carved from a solid block of stone. But as a work of architecture, its intersecting curved surfaces are necessarily composed of many separate panels that must be individually fabricated and assembled. Hence, there was a need to discover and adopt a geometric order that can rationalize and facilitate the desired evolution from square to quarter circle. We have found this order by subdividing the building section into 44 horizontal layers and then subdividing each quarter circle of the plan into an equal number of radial segments. The intersections of successive layers in section with successive segments in plan define points along a vertical curve. Because the mathematical formulae describing this curve are based on the cosine, we call it a cosine curve.
El edificio se sitúa en el complejo de rascacielos Cuatro Torres Business Area (CTBA), al final del Paseo de la Castellana. La Torre Espacio ha sido la primera, del antes conocido como Madrid Arena, en acabar de construirse. Fue proyectada por el arquitecto Henry N. Cobb, miembro de la firma Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, fundada por Ieoh Ming Pei. Tiene una altura de 230 metros y 58 plantas sobre el nivel del suelo. La fachada está cubierta exclusivamente de vidrio, las plantas, que tienen forma cuadrada en la base, se modifican a medida que aumenta la altura hasta alcanzar una forma ojival, formando una curva que matemáticamente representa la función coseno.
