Amoeba-Shaped Transportation Hub Proposed for Queens
Amoeba, organ, extraterrestrial creature — take your pick; this transportation hub dubbed the Urban Alloy Towers is quite interestingly shaped. The creation of Chad Kellogg and Matt Bowles of AMLGM, the structure is proposed for the area around where the LIRR station in Woodside, Queens links to the 7 train.
The idea came from the notion that large-scale housing development is most successful when located near transportation. So, Kellog and Bowles figured they’d put their development “directly on the intersections between surface and elevated train lines,” utilizing the remnant spaces surrounding the train infrastructure. Included in this multi-use structure would be live/work spaces, retail, small offices, both market-rate and luxury residential units, SROs, and a central atrium.
What about that “skin”? Well, the flexible facade is designed to be energy efficient, using fins that shade and let in the appropriate amount of light based on sun angles. The geometric design provides a different environmental exposure at each point, arrived at through a solar algorithm. The quirky design may never come to fruition, but it certainly is a one-of-a-kind idea to imagine.
[Via Inhabitat]
Images © AMLGM Labs
