Portable “tree” apartment house (Jan, 1966)
Portable “tree” apartment house
An easy-to-assemble “tree” apartment house with cabins on its branches has been designed by Hoist Dollinger, German architect. The building is intended for temporary accommodations. The 320-foot concrete mast has a base only 16-1/2 feet square. An internal elevator and stairs provide access to the cabins. One of the structures is planned for the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair.
Was one of these ever built? How is a 320 foot concrete mast portable? Would it not have to be constructed mostly on site? This looks cool but seems like a very expensive way to provide about 20 suites.
There must be a picture of this thing next to the word “impractical” in the dictionary.
I couldn’t find any photo evidence of this structure being built for the Fair, but I did find this:
http://en.wikipedia.org…
… which looks like it inspired part of a new matte painting for the recent Star Trek remastering project (lower right):
http://www.trekweb.com/…
Is each suite supplied with a dog exercising treadmill on the balcony?
There are a couple of buildings in Tokyo that seem to reflect the same thinking.
There’s the (notoriously ugly) Sofitel Tower Ueno:
http://interhotel.com/i…
There’s also the Nakagin Capsule Tower:
http://www.worldarchite…
One gust of wind and you would be living in a metronome.