The design of the five hundred forty meter tall Guangzhou Television and Sightseeing Tower is derived from the symbolic form for the city itself. The character for Guangzhou is three flowing strokes around isolated dots, representing the three rivers that pass through the city. The building dramatically mimics this form, with three-curving towers wrapping around crystal-shaped observation decks. The result is an iconic physical landmark for the city that embodies the spiritual implication of infinite harmony.
The poetic geometry at the tower begins with two overlapping equilateral triangles, which form three solid towers and a central "void tower." The elevation is driven by the same logic: the tower is vertically divided into three sections, each of which is divided three times, resulting in nine sections each sixty meters high. Like the scales on a piano keyboard, the repeating progression contains within it the possibility of the infinite-a sense emphasized by reflecting pools at the tower's base, which create the impression of doubling its height. The pattern is inspired by a denglong, the traditional Chinese lantern made from woven bamboo strips. In the daytime, the tower will seem to fade into the sky as it rises and thins. At night, the tower will appear brighter as it rises, so that in foggy weather the light will seem to shine out of the clouds from an unknown source.
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