Australian architecture firm Elenberg Fraser has designed a 68-story mixed-use skyscraper in Melbourne whose curvaceous form is inspired by the undulating curves of the fabric-wrapped dancing bodies in Beyoncé’s music video “Ghost.”
Photos by Pointilism
But the silhouette of the future Premier Tower at 134 Spencer St. isn’t purely aesthetic, according to the architects, who write in a project description that although the building’s “spiralling curves recall the twists and turns of a woman dancing in black cloth,” the design is “the culmination of our significant research into how to best work with individual site and climatic constraints, brought together using our new parametric modelling techniques,” according to a press release.
“The complex form—a vertical cantilever—is actually the most effective way to redistribute the building’s mass,” they write, “giving the best results in terms of structural dispersion, frequency oscillation and wind requirements.”
Photo by Pointilism
But enough of that technical stuff.
“Art and science?” the architects ask. “You betcha. For those more on the art than science side, we will reveal that the form does pay homage to something more aesthetic – we’re going to trust you’ve seen the music video for Beyoncé’s Ghost,” later adding: “We’re not going to deny that this is one stunning building.”
