‍The sailboat provides an analogical conceptual apparatus that helps ecoscope develop both sectional as well as planimetric architectural responses to the site’s overlay of local site constraints and metropolitan potentials.

We detect a datum, at an elevation of roughly +85.00m above sea level, that defines a threshold above which metropolitan vectors (expressed in the form of Tamsui river estuary views to the north-west and Guanyin mountain views to the south-west) can begin to affect the monetization of future real estate at different elevations on the site. The underlying assumption is that the value of1 sellable square unit above said datum will be superior compared to that of the same unit surface area below the datum’s elevation.

In examining the performance of different sails we choose to compare two antagonistic sail types. The lateen sail is conceived as a versatile sail designed to be operable in a wide range of wind conditions. Its shape is streamlined to capture incoming wind within the lower half of the length of the mast and transfer this turning moment to the hull propelling the vessel forward. The spinnaker sail on the other hand, is a sail devised to be deployed only at low wind speeds, its shape rationalized to help harvest wind blowing on the upper half of the length of the mast, thus exerting a comparably greater turning force in relation to the lateen sail given the same sail area and wind conditions.‍‍

If we take the mast of a boat to be analogical to the core of a residential tower, we can equate the profile of a given sail to the envelope of the building. Thus, in elevation we find the profile of the spinnaker sail to be congruent with the real estate desire to attempt to maximize floor plate size on the upper half of the tower above the defined datum by disproportionately expanding sellable square footage westward of the core of the building in relation to both metropolitan view axes.

If we look at the performance of a sailboat in plan, more often than not present wind force and desired boat course vectors will not coincide, and the sail-mast-hull-daggerboard-rudder assemblage will have to negotiate such misalignment. Such is in effect an incredibly sophisticated apparatus for translating wind forces(contingent) into a force (rationalized) that can propel the vessel along a desired course. Furthering on this analogy, we encounter a similar set of misalignments when considering the placement of buildings on the site.A rational approach implies that the cores of the towers should, for reasons of economy, try to orient the overall structure of the buildings in relation to the structure of the underground car parks. Car park underground structures will in turn tend to be heavily influenced by local site conditions such as predominant site slope and street alignments. Metropolitan vectors do not, however, coincide with these local forces and hence the tower envelope is designed as a responsive surface that negotiates floor plate size and depth along the vertical axis of the building as a function of the relation between the core’s orientation and the real estate draw of urban metropolitan vectors.‍‍

The proposed type tower envelope is defined by the combined logics of both spinnaker and lateen sails. The result is a composite envelope whereby the shape of the lower half of the building conforms to the lateen sail while the profile of the upper half of the building follows that of a spinnaker sail. The building touches the ground with a footprint 18 meters wide and 28 meters deep, a configuration that allows the release of valuable real estate to help define a coherent open space strategy. As the buildings proceed upward the spinnaker profile gains relevance gradually transforming the floor plate toward a 28meter wide by 20 meter deep plan that still allows a consistent separation between towers that ranges between 25 and 30 meters.