Calzavara ve Desall'in düzenlediği "Calzavara Tower Coating Design" yarışması, telekomünikasyon kuleleri için estetik ve kentsel peyzajla uyumlu cephe kaplaması tasarımına odaklanıyor. Yarışma için son başvuru tarihi ise 22 Ekim 2024.
Summary
Calzavara and Desall are looking for ideas to create new coatings that contribute to defining the aesthetics of telecommunications towers, improving their integration into the urban landscape, and transforming them into architectural icons.
What are they looking for
Calzavara is looking for ideas for new aesthetic coatings dedicated to telecommunications towers, specifically suitable for installation on its own collection of architectural towers. To examine the reference tower and a series of additional information, please refer to the downloadable Material files.
Solutions that manage to combine different materials, with particular attention to ecological and sustainable ones, will be of greater interest. Additionally, proposals that integrate technological elements into the coatings, capable of reducing the structure’s management costs or generating income through the sale of advertising space, will be appreciated. However, it is essential that these elements do not compromise the aesthetics and harmony with the installation environment.
Project type
Calzavara’s telecommunications towers are an innovative solution to bring cellular connectivity to high-profile urban environments without impacting the landscape aesthetically. These towers are designed to host antennas and radio equipment, concealing them behind an architectural coating. You are invited to design the aesthetic coating of the architectural towers, considering every aspect: the selection of materials and textures to be printed on the coating, the design of lighting to enhance the aesthetic appeal even during nighttime, the integration of technological elements that perform additional functions besides aesthetics, such as solar panels, LED screens, etc. To examine the reference tower and some examples of currently used coatings, please refer to the downloadable Material files.
Style and aesthetic
The style of the coatings should be modern, technology-oriented, green, and sustainable. No specific colour constraints are provided.
The aesthetic elements should be visually appealing and evoke pleasant emotions in the observer, combining innovation and functional solutions to create a positive and significant impact on the urban landscape.
Features/functionality
The primary function of the coating is to provide aesthetic value to the structure. However, the coating design could also integrate technological elements useful for reducing management costs and enhancing sustainability. For example, solar panels could reduce electricity costs, while the integration of advertising panels and LED screens could generate revenue from advertising space.
The components must fit within the space allocated for the coating. The interior of the structure should not be obstructed to allow passive ventilation through the chimney effect and to ensure that personnel can safely and easily access the internal ladder used for maintenance.
Dimensions
The architectural towers have a triangular base (each side is approximately 3 metres long) and a height ranging from 24 to 42 metres, with a modular structure of 6 metres. The current coatings are modular and anchor to a steel frame of H=3m x W=2m. The frame is designed to be attached to the structure.
Weight
The weight of the coatings is a relevant factor as it affects the load capacity of the structure. Coatings that are too heavy must be excluded. The panels currently used for the coating are made of plastic material and weigh approximately 150 kg each (coating + steel frame).
Materials and Finishes
Any material is permitted as long as it is readily available on the market and suitable for industrial production processes. Solutions that successfully combine different materials, with a particular focus on ecological and sustainable options, will be of greater interest.
In the section intended to house the antennas, it is crucial to use only radio-transparent materials (that do not block radio waves). This is necessary to ensure proper transmission and reception of signals, avoiding interference that could compromise the performance of telecommunications infrastructure. Therefore, designs must consider this constraint, ensuring that the materials chosen for the coating in that specific area do not interfere with the functionality of the antennas.
Contest timeline
Upload Phase: 22 July 2024 – 22 October 2024 (1:59 PM UTC)
Concept Review: 23 September 2024 (1:59 PM UTC)
Client Voting: from 22 October 2024
Winner Announcement: approximately by the end of December 2024
Award
1°: €3000
The selection of the winner by the Sponsor will be the result of an unquestionable evaluation and it will take into account originality, feasibility and consistency of submitted projects with the presented brief.
Extra Award (option right fee): €1500
Throughout the duration of the option right, the Sponsor offers an additional opportunity to all participants by setting the compensation of €1500 for the purchase of the licence for the economic exploitation of projects not recognized as winning proposals.