Last May, the city of Melbourne has approved a 741-foot tower that features a curvy façade based on Beyoncé’s music video Ghost, where models (possibly the songstress herself) are enveloped in what appears to be skin-tight chiffon, stretching and swaying as a wind machine blows.
But according to the building’s designer, architects at Australian firm Elenberg Fraser, the shape isn’t merely an ode to one of today’s most prominent pop icons alive. In fact, lead architect Reid Dixon told Gizmag it was purely coincidental.
"The building volume was created by those natural outcomes," Dixon told Gizmag. "We were in a meeting and trying to describe the appearance of the design to somebody, but we didn't have any images. So one of our directors said it looks like the music clip to Beyoncé's Ghost."
"This project is the culmination of our significant research," the firm told Dezeen. "The complex form—a vertical cantilever—is actually the most effective way to redistribute the building's mass, giving the best results in terms of structural dispersion, frequency oscillation and wind requirements."
According to Gizmag, the similarity between the form and Beyoncé's music video was noticed in the early stages, when only the exterior design was completed. So the team went on with the idea, even designing the interiors in "a nice warm palette, inspired by Beyoncé's skin tones and theatre performances," Dixon tells Gizmag.
Computer aid using parametric modeling helped the architects come up with the design specifics, such as where the building swells in and swells out.
The building will have 68 stories, containing 660 apartments and a 160-room hotel. The building will be located at the west end of Melbourne’s business district. There is no construction start or completion date announced yet.
Beyoncé wouldn’t be the first pop icon to inspire architects. Dancing duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were credited for being Frank Gehry’s inspiration in design of the Nationale-Nederlanden building in Prague.
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | May 8, 2023
The average multifamily rent was $1,709 in April 2023, up for the second straight month
Despite economic headwinds, the multifamily housing market continues to demonstrate resilience, according to a new Yardi Matrix report.
Multifamily Housing | May 1, 2023
Survey of apartment residents shows support for property-provided smart home devices for security, energy savings
Multifamily housing residents receive broadband services faster if they are provided by the property management rather than acquiring such service on their own.
Multifamily Housing | May 1, 2023
A prefab multifamily housing project will deliver 200 new apartments near downtown Denver
In Denver, Mortenson, a Colorado-based builder, developer, and engineering services provider, along with joint venture partner Pinnacle Partners, has broken ground on Revival on Platte, a multifamily housing project. The 234,156-sf development will feature 200 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments on eight floors, with two levels of parking.
Codes and Standards | May 1, 2023
Hurricane Ian aftermath expected to prompt building code reform in Florida
Hurricane Ian struck the Southwest Florida coastline last fall with winds exceeding 150 mph, flooding cities, and devastating structures across the state. A construction risk management expert believes the projected economic damage, as high as $75 billion, will prompt the state to beef up building codes and reform land use rules.
| Apr 28, 2023
$1 billion mixed-use multifamily development will add 1,200 units to South Florida market
A giant $1 billion residential project, The District in Davie, will bring 1.6 million sf of new Class A residential apartments to the hot South Florida market. Located near Ft. Lauderdale and greater Miami, the development will include 36,000 sf of restaurants and retail space. The development will also provide 1.1 million sf of access controlled onsite parking with 2,650 parking spaces.
Mixed-Use | Apr 27, 2023
New Jersey turns a brownfield site into Steel Tech, a 3.3-acre mixed-use development
In Jersey City, N.J., a 3.3-acre redevelopment project called Steel Tech will turn a brownfield site into a mixed-use residential high-rise building, a community center, two public plazas, and a business incubator facility. Steel Tech received site plan approval in recent weeks.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 27, 2023
Watch: Specifying materials in multifamily housing projects
A trio of multifamily housing experts discusses trends in materials in their latest developments. Topics include the need to balance aesthetics and durability, the advantages of textured materials, and the benefits of biophilia.
Concrete Technology | Apr 24, 2023
A housing complex outside Paris is touted as the world’s first fully recycled concrete building
Outside Paris, Holcim, a Swiss-based provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions, and Seqens, a social housing provider in France, are partnering to build Recygénie—a 220-unit housing complex, including 70 social housing units. Holcim is calling the project the world’s first fully recycled concrete building.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 21, 2023
Arlington County, Va., eliminates single-family-only zoning
Arlington County, a Washington, D.C., community that took shape in the 1950s, when single-family homes were the rule in suburbia, recently became one of the first locations on the East Coast to eliminate single-family-only zoning.
Green | Apr 21, 2023
Top 10 green building projects for 2023
The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Boston and the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis are among the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards honorees for 2023.
