Architecture

Skyscraper made of shipping containers envisaged for Mumbai

Skyscraper made of shipping containers envisaged for Mumbai
The unnamed tower would rise to a height of roughly 32 floors, or 100 m (328 ft)
The unnamed tower would rise to a height of roughly 32 floors, or 100 m (328 ft)
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The shipping containers would be supported by a steel girder framework at a frequency of every eight stories
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The shipping containers would be supported by a steel girder framework at a frequency of every eight stories
The unnamed tower would rise to a height of roughly 32 floors, or 100 m (328 ft)
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The unnamed tower would rise to a height of roughly 32 floors, or 100 m (328 ft)
The interior is spacious and each apartment comprises three containers joined together
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The interior is spacious and each apartment comprises three containers joined together
Each apartment would have two toilets, a kitchen, study, master bedroom and kid's bedroom, lounge, deck area, and dining area
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Each apartment would have two toilets, a kitchen, study, master bedroom and kid's bedroom, lounge, deck area, and dining area
A solar panel array would be mounted on the south-facing facade
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A solar panel array would be mounted on the south-facing facade
The apartments would be arranged around a central core housing the stairs and elevators
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The apartments would be arranged around a central core housing the stairs and elevators
Locally-made recycled terracotta jaalis (a latticed shading and ventilation screen) would clad the corridor to provide natural daylight for the interior
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Locally-made recycled terracotta jaalis (a latticed shading and ventilation screen) would clad the corridor to provide natural daylight for the interior
View gallery - 7 images

Though we appreciate shipping container-based architecture when it's done right, the ubiquitous metal boxes don't seem a good basis for a skyscraper. Still, the dream of a container tower refuses to die, and international firm Ganti and Associates Design has taken a crack at designing a structurally viable and sustainable container skyscraper for the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, India.

If the premise for the project sounds familiar, it's probably because the concept derives from the same architectural competition that produced CGRG's twin skyscrapers, which it won.

Ganti and Associates Design's unnamed tower would rise to a height of roughly 32 floors, or 100 m (328 ft). Since the containers couldn't bear the weight of the structure alone, they are supported by a steel girder framework.

The tower's exterior design plays to the strengths of shipping containers, and features staggered boxes painted in different colors. The interior is spacious and each apartment comprises three containers joined together. The proposal depicts two toilets, a kitchen, study, master bedroom and kid's bedroom, lounge, deck area, and dining area. The apartments would be arranged around a central core, which includes the stairs and elevators.

Locally-made recycled terracotta jaalis (a latticed shading and ventilation screen) would clad the corridor to provide natural daylight for the interior
Locally-made recycled terracotta jaalis (a latticed shading and ventilation screen) would clad the corridor to provide natural daylight for the interior

In addition to the use of recycled shipping containers, sustainable design and technology slated for the project includes a solar panel array mounted on the south-facing facade, and energy-saving LED lighting throughout the interior. Wind turbines are also imagined for the tower, and locally-made recycled terracotta jaalis (a latticed shading and ventilation screen) would clad corridors to provide natural daylight and ventilation for the interior.

All of which sounds good, but the proposal does not mention any significant provision for dealing with solar heat gain, so it would likely be far too hot for comfort inside.

We've no word from the firm as to whether or not it will be built, though suspect that the container tower will very likely remain a concept.

Source: GA Design via Arch Daily

View gallery - 7 images
4 comments
4 comments
tapasmonkey
Anyone who has been to Mumbai, and who has experienced the insane heat and humidity there, will realise that this is a seriously bad idea.
Looks nice, but if it gets built it will be a triumph of architects showing off over good sense.
Robert Walther
Fortunately warehousing the poor has worked out so well in the USA. I think every high rise, welfare containment facility has been destroyed. It is cheaper to put all these poor in MacMansions than to try to police dozens of 1000 unit 25 story high rises. See Judge Dred. v2., or the history of Chicago housing for confirmation.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Looks like they have built the expensive part of a regular high rise to hold the shipping containers.
christopher
Pretty sure slumdwellers can't afford to buy shipping containers, but if they actually did have enough money for one, they could use it to build a really nice house instead... used containers aren't cheap, nor is moving them around, and getting them into a high-rise, well, probably an order of magnitude more than the (unaffordable anyhow) container cost itself.