Skyscraper from Asymptote to the Korean Busan

The New York office of Asymptote won on January 25, 2007, with the Millenium Tower World Business Center (WBCB) project for Busan, South Korea. The international competition was organized by the Busan International Architectural Culture Festival (BIACF) under the auspices of the Busan city hall and Solomon Group. The jury unanimously decided on the winner on January 23, selecting a project of three tapering towers rising from a massive base. The private Korean development company Solomon Group intends to realize this design of a 560-meter-high tower, which upon completion would become the tallest building in Asia. According to Asymptote, the project of the three towers of the World Business Center Busan is meant to represent a new notion of uniqueness and autonomy that favors a strong juxtaposition of form and voids. The single entity can simultaneously be read as three distinct shapes set against a dramatic horizon between the sea and the mountains. The base of the tower will create space for the entrance level while the three tapering upper sections of the skyscraper rise around an empty central space. The formal and sculptural qualities of this unique architectural expression are a powerful symbol for Busan in the 21st century and also a beacon on its path to the future and the global stage. Link>