Build It Bonito: Rio's Solar City Tower
You won't be staring at thongs and bikinis on Copacabana beach: Brazil's planned 105-metre tower comes with a man-made waterfall, a power plant and a bungee platform.
Remember the years leading up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, when people were building things left, right and centre? Highways, hotels, stadiums, malls… you name it, someone built it.
Well, Brazil is hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, so they’re getting a 105-metre building with a man-made waterfall, a power plant, and a bungee jump platform. Just let that digest in your beer-infused noggin a little bit.
Although it’s not quite ready yet, Solar City Tower is going to blow everyone away – even before they set foot on Brazilian soil. Because it’s going to be built on Cotonduba Island, in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, airplanes will surely pass it as they’re landing. Because of its height, people on the observation deck (on the 98th floor) can wave at the airplane passengers, who can then watch as others bungee jump off the platform on the 90th floor.
Designed by Swiss architecture and design studio RAFAA, Solar City Tower will be a “building as a machine”, as its solar power plants and water turbines generate electricity for the tower or for the city.
Besides its energy-generating guts, Solar City Tower will also have an amphitheatre, a cafeteria, shops, a glass sky walk for you to really experience a 105-metre manmade waterfall, and, before we forget, a bungee jump. The world’s best footballers, the world’s hottest bikini models, and now this? Yup, we’re moving to Brazil.
From the April 2011 issue of FHM India.
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