The tower is a paradigm in wood construction.
you will have to travel to Urbach to see this amazing smart wooden tower , unique in the world for its construction process. The Urbach Tower is the pioneering project created for the celebration this summer of the Remstal Gartenschau 2019 , an event from May to June that takes place in 16 municipalities and that focuses on gardening and nature projects along 80km.
This paradigm of wood, which has been designed by the institutes ICD Y ITKE , it's found in the valley of the river Rems surrounded by nature 15 minutes from Stuttgart. And although it has been created for the event, it will remain here throughout for the next 10 years completely free of charge.
What's so special about it? In addition to an attractive design of curves that grows in a spiral, Urbach Tower is 14m high and has been built through a process that does not require heavy machinery and does not generate energy expenditure, called self-shaping .
“From an industry point of view, self-shaping manufacturing highlights the incredible intelligence of wood as a material. It is always surprising to see that there is so much more to learn from a material that we have worked with for generations," says Katharina Lehmann of the Lehmann Group.
A sustainable sculpture that will live for about 10 years.
This method takes into account the wood moisture and programs it in such a way that it changes and adapts to the passage of time and the climate without cracking as it normally does. During all this time the engineers will control its behavior as it dries. The structure created with laminated fir wood panels from Switzerland is what allows it to be programmable.
“Wood can be programmed to take a specific shape. While doing this job is relatively easy, what is a real challenge is predicting the result. If we are able to achieve this, we will open up new architectural possibilities”, underlines Professor Dylan Wood of ICD.
It has been built for the Remstal Gartenschau 2019.
The Urbach tower, in addition to being a new contemporary architectural experience, is a refuge to reflect and enjoy the landscape.
The concave curvature of the structure on the outside comes even more alive in direct sunlight , and over time, it will acquire its own lighting similar to that of the typical white chapels in the area.