tOMOrrOW's AnsWers tODAY - AkzoNobel

22
Our city skylines are changing. Where once there was a
bland array of skyscrapers and tower blocks, peppered
with the odd historic building or telecommunications
tower, we now find ourselves in a space-aged, futuristic
environment which wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi movie like
Blade Runner.
There can be no doubt that today’s architects have their eyes
set firmly on both the functional and the fantastical. Whatever city
you visit, there are buildings of different shapes, sizes, colors and
types, featuring special materials or innovative solutions that make
even the most unassuming office block look risqué.
To the untrained eye, it might all appear a bit random. But there
is some careful method to what at first appears to be design
madness. You only need to take a look at the types of buildings
which are winning some of the world’s major architectural design
awards to appreciate what’s happening. Take the 2012 World
Building of the Year, for example – the Cooled Conservatories at
Gardens by the Bay in Singapore (pictured). Featuring two massive
glass domes and 12 so-called Supertrees, it’s a visually stunning
development which delivers a strong environmental message. It
also just happens to feature around 50,000 liters of protective
coatings supplied by AkzoNobel.
Then there’s No.1 Bligh Street in downtown Sydney, Australia.
Completed in May 2011, the office block has won a host of design
and innovation honors. But what makes it particularly eye-catching
is the fact that it looks, well, a bit ordinary. At 139 meters high, it
certainly isn’t threatening the world’s tallest building record. And,
while it has a pleasing elliptical shape, it’s not as iconic as buildings
such as The Gherkin in London, or the cactus-inspired office tower
currently being constructed in Qatar. In fact, it was a refusal to get
drawn into the iconic which was highlighted as a key reason for the
Sydney structure winning the 2012 International Highrise Award.
So what’s going on? Alan Muse, Director of Built Environment
Professional Groups at the UK’s Royal Institute of Chartered
Surveyors, offers an explanation: “Modern building design evolves
to meet the needs of society. Clearly, this is reflected in the importance
of environmental and economic factors in modern building
design, both through, for example, the use of energy efficient