Abitare — "Torsioni Speculative / Speculative Twists"
‘As the tower ascends, faceted window bays rotate by a few feet each floor, extending magnificent views in every direction. The slanted bays effect a spiraling geometry, animating public space around the tower. “This project is about how to do something that will give difference to the light and orientation of the different homes, but also give it some active vitality,” says architect Jeanne Gang, now among a cadre of the most prominent and well-respected designers in the United States. “I think the site planning is very well done. We spent a lot of time looking at how to make accessible outdoor space within the box: the court that reach out and faces the street, and the lobbies and the shared amenities. Within the tower, it’s this sense of movement that’s achieved through different orientations of the bay windows.”
From the street, the white façade with a twisting pattern distinguishes it from the otherwise bland glassy towers and neo-traditional office campuses of a district being colonized by the tech industry. Google, Facebook, and Salesforce are among the bigger presences here, along with apartment towers designed by OMA, Arquitectonica, and Heller Manus Architects. Nearby, a magnificent hub for buses and trains with an elevated park and a computationally designed exterior screen by Pelli Clarke Pelli was originally called the Transbay Transit Center but has been renamed the Salesforce Transit Center in a $110 million, 25-year marketing agreement, which epitomizes the sprawling corporate occupation of San Francisco.’
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