Structures- The Absolute Towers
There are two interesting buildings, located in the heart of Mississauga only steps from Square One Shopping Center, that begs the question what do they represent? Some, including me, compared it to a pair of crushed bottles…especially when it had a red rim on top. Since then red rim had been repainted silver.
Nicknamed the Marilyn Monroe’ Towers, but officially called The Absolute Towers, it is admittedly a unique structure that is worthy of being hailed as one of the world’s best new skyscrapers.
Built by Fernbrook homes, the two Mississauga buildings, 50 storeys and 56 storeys each, were part of a five-building development at Hurontario St. and Burnhamthorpe Rd. The larger of the two towers twists 209 degrees from the base to the top.
The structural design was done by Sigmund Soudack & Associates Inc, a Toronto-based structural engineering firm. Should you also be wondering; the design of undulating shape is the genius creation of a young Beijing-based architect, Ma Yansong, and his firm, MAD Architects. Ma had entered an international design competition hosted by the tower’s developers Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen, and was awarded the project in 2006.
According to engineer Yuri Gelman , “The building represented constant challenges. In most towers, all but two of the floors are exactly the same, whereas, in this building, none of them were. This created the most challenging project of his almost 40-year career – and one of the most exciting.”
The Absolute Towers were awarded the prize of Best Tall Buildings in Americas on June 14, 2012 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a non-profit group of architects and engineers. Since then it has influenced and emboldened other architects to stray from the safe and typical confines of design: the rectangle boxes. Skylines of these high-rises are as a result bit more interesting now with many creative forms.
Here are some images of the famed Absolute Towers:
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