The Berimbau Tower was designed as a sustainable structure that would house telecommunications systems and other activities during the two major events planned for Rio de Janeiro: the World Cup 2014and 2016 Olympic Games. After a thorough investigation the team has decided upon the final design of the high-rise which was largely inspired by Brazilian culture: Capoeira dance and especially its ancient musical instrument-the berimbau. The spherical building, suspended in the air, comprises 5 levels. The lower level is home to recreational activities. The immediate level houses offices while the middle level houses a gazebo and souvenir shops. The penultimate level houses offices. A conference room is located on the upper level.
All building components are recoverable, so that the skyscraper can be removed in its entirety, and its components repaired, recycled and reused. Due to its bioclimatic characteristics, the building has a very low energy consumption. The skyscraper has a heated greenhouse, and an efficient geothermal heat pump. On the other hand, it is cooled through an efficient sunscreen, a geothermal system and architectural generation of fresh air (underground), and a geothermal heat pumps. The double glass skin has an intermediate air chamber (width variable). The outer skin consists of a tempered laminated glass curve, which enables the spherical shape of the building. This curved glass outer skin has a special screen so that sunlight passes very perpendicular to the glass in the winter and does not let the sun flush in the summer. The inner skin is in turn a double glass, which has an exterior system of tarps and a triple inside rail of blinds. The set provides a very high insulation and prevents energy loss in the winter.
The double skin of glass screen printing is equipped with thousands of small multicolored LEDs, individually controlled, allowing the user to compose scenes and images. In addition, this double glass skin images are projected through a set of synchronized video projectors. Thus, images are able to manipulate the shapes and spaces, giving the whole an ethereal, weightless and intangible appearance. Physical spaces are mixed with virtual spaces, and one can’t tell where architectural elements end, and visual information begin. It is therefore a true multimedia building that changes shape and color according to circumstances.
