Harmonia 57 office building by French-Brazilian architecture firm Triptyque was honoured in the category of Built Environment.
The building’s most distinctive feature is its planted façade that is being irrigated by a mist system. The informal outwardly appearance of the structure helps it to blend well with the urban chaos of the populous city. Plants are rooted in pores set into the concrete facade and as it grows the building will eventually be draped in green. Plants are watered via sprinklers. This vegetal layer works like the skin of the structure, giving the facades a unique look.
The pipelines, the pumps and the water treatment system are exposed in the exterior walls, giving the appearance of veins and arteries of a body.
The main objective behind crafting the building with rough and primitive elegance was to ensure that the structure will never lose its novel appeal. Unlike traditional buildings, whose charm will be lost in a few years of wear and tear, the architects wanted to create a building that continues to develop and gain in quality after its completion.
Parts of the structure for Harmonia 57 are created out of two separate building blocks that are connected through a metal pedestrian bridge with a small open area between them. The front building block stands on pilotis, the rear block set on the ground, boasting a birdhouse-style penthouse at the top. Large windows, blinds and terraces lend a feeling of airiness.
Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment is designed to honour outstanding sustainable solutions in architecture and engineering that make a notable contribution to a liveable, sustainable and equitable future.
Triptyque is an architectural firm with offices in São Paulo, Brazil and Paris.
