Rising up from a vast grid of highways and housing blocks, Uncube Housing is an experiment in the pursuit of alternative geometries derived from the urban context. The pedestal of the towers aligns with the continuous main street. A twist in the orientation of the two residential towers facilitates a strong visual connection with the rest of the city, whereas the duality provides a semi-private space in between, loaded with common usages and a vibrant atmosphere. To fulfill the volumetric needs of functional spaces, while still achieving a delicate visual outcome, atmospheric elements were chosen as core design components, and the massive blocks were slanted by the prevailing winds and rain. The metaphorical transformation of the volume, regarded as a large mass of ice, has been used as inspiration for the key design strategy. Ice turns to water, water turns to steam and the same volume of material comes back to the earth in the form of water particles. The design proposal acknowledges the facade elements, such as windows, shading elements and sheer wall, as particles rather than a surface or a volumetric mass. Instead of a design approach, where facade elements cover a mass of functional spaces, this conceptualizing method transformed the hierarchy of the design process, and the particles guided the three-dimensional form.
