Periscope: Foam Tower
Periscope was the winning entry in the 10Up! architecture competition, sponsored by the Young Architect Forum of Atlanta. The competition called for entries that could be constructed in twenty-four hours in a ten-foot by ten-foot plot. No height limit was given. Taking advantage of this oversight, the form of the tower inverts the structural rhetoric of what appears to be a tensile fabric lifted by impossibly thin compression rods. In reality, the sixty-foot tall tower is constructed of expanded polystyrene foam blocks that were robotically cut, stacked, and then placed in compression by tension cables that lash the very large and wind-prone installation to a heavy, stabilizing foundation.
Further Information on Periscope can be found in our publication 'Range'.