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Rio de Janerio’s Solar Power Welcome Sign

The Solar City Tower for the 2016 Olympics

Go Green

Design Features

Both entrance area and amphitheater can serve as a place for social gatherings and events.

The public spaces are also accessible from this point on. The cafeteria and the shop are situated beneath the waterfall and offer a breathtaking view. The public elevator takes the visitor to the observation decks and the urban balcony. The administration offices can be reached directly from the foyer. Its inner circulation is organized by an own entrance and the elevator.

The semi-public spaces are located in the back area of the building; thus, they can be used separately.

A retractable platform for bungee jumping is located on level +90.5. Long distance observation can be done from the observation deck on level +98.0. The urban balcony is situated at the top of the tower 105 meters above sea level. Here the visitor has a 360° view of the landscape and can experience the waterfall while walking over the glass sky walk.

Brief Analysis

The Solar City Tower is a concept envisaged by Zurich based architecture and design studio RAFAA. The design was created for a competition in 2009. The images on this page show an artist's impression of what the proposed tower might look like if ever constructed. However, the project is just a proposal and the tower may never actually be built.

The proposed Solar City Tower, to be built atop the island of Cotonduba, would be the welcome symbol to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It would be seen by Olympic game visitors and Olympic participants as they arrive either by air or by water.

The tower captures solar energy. It would supply energy for all of the Olympic city, as well as for part of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It would pump up water from the ocean to create what would look like a waterfall. This waterfall would stimulate powerful turbines that produce electric energy during the night.

It would also hold the Olympic flame, lit by the Olympic torch.

The Solar City Tower would possess an amphitheater, an auditorium, a cafeteria and boutiques. Elevators lead to various observatories. It also has a retractable platform for the practice of bungee jumping. At the summit is an observation point to appreciate the scenery of the Brazilian land and ocean, as well as the solar powered waterfall.

The Solar City Tower would be the main point of reference for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro held in Brazil, if it is ever built.

Detailed Analysis

However, at the time of writing, the Solar City Tower is just a proposal and it is unclear if the project will actually go ahead. The design for the tower was created by Zurich based architecture and design studio RAFAA. In response to an enquiry about the project, Rafael Schmidt, the director at RAFAA, replied with the following information to Brett M. Christensen of the Hoax-Slayer:

Dear Brett Christensen,

Please let me first clarify the state of the project. The Solar City Tower was a proposal for a competition in 2009. As it had drawn great media attention in the last months, we decided to contact the President of Rio 2016 again. We don't have any confirmation from the local authorities so far and don't know if this project will ever happen! Therefore the design is in a very early stage and we are facing lots of technical problems. Even though we have done some research in this field, a solid cost estimation or an energy consumption of this building is not possible at the moment.

Best Regards,

Rafael Schmidt

Director

More Details

RAFFAA has more details about the proposal on its website, including a description of the project's concept.

The tower is certainly an interesting and innovative proposal. However, quite a few of the many blog posts that discuss this project imply that the Solar Tower will definitely be built. As noted above, this is not the case. To reiterate, the Solar Tower is currently just a proposal and, in fact, the project may never go ahead.

Architectural Concept

The aim of this architect’s project was to ask how the classic concept of a landmark could be reconsidered. It is less about an expressive, iconic architectural form; rather, it is a return to content and actual, real challenges for the imminent post-oil-era. This project represents a message of a society facing the future; thus, it is the representation of an inner attitude.

This project, standing in the tradition of “a building/city as a machine”, according to the RAFAA, “would provide energy both to the city of Rio de Janeiro and its citizens while using natural resources. We hope to attain an international Olympic message with a political appeal. After hosting the United Nation’s Earth Summit in 1992, Rio de Janeiro will once again be the starting point for a global green movement and for a sustainable development of urban structures. It will perhaps even become a symbol for the first zero carbon footprint Olympic Games.”