On The Boards

If you've picked up this month's Architecture magazine, you've probably seen this design for the North Air Terminal Traffic Control Tower at O'Hare International Airport by behemoth DMJM.



From Architecture magazine:

The [tower]—a stooped figure inspired by freeway light posts, says lead designer José Palacios—is no exercise in whimsy: it is highly efficient in its use of space, and it maximizes occupant visibility. The bend in the unusual form occurs at the "junction floor," where controllers' break rooms and restrooms are located, creating larger floor plates without much widening of the overall volume.

As with most such towers, the structure includes a concrete shaft to damp wind loads and a steel-framed crown. A panelized ceramic-metal composite clads the form, opening at glazed "zippers" that admit daylight into both sides. At the top, the controller's cab is wrapped in 1.5-inch-thick laminated low-iron glass, tilted 30 degrees to minimize reflection. An air curtain inside prevents condensation from forming on the interior surface; outside, a catwalk allows for frequent cleaning.

While I don't think freeway light posts are the most exemplary design inspirations, the form of this control tower is quite interesting, in a futuristic-via-War of the Worlds way. Unlike most control towers that plop the cab on a concrete shaft, this design makes the two more integral, with the bend in the shaft the clearest aesthetic improvement over previous tower designs.