Lesson plan
Vortex Tower
The Vortex Tower was the working name of a London skyscraper design by Make Architects, a London-based business headed by Ken Shuttleworth. The building would have risen to a height of with 70 floors. The Vortex Tower was proposed for the edge of the City of London but was never built. The planned shape of the Vortex Tower was a hyperboloid of revolution. The structure would have twisted into a spiral shape with a tapering centre and wide base. The project was based on a different concept, with rotation enabling the use of leaning columns as straight structural elements of hyperboloid. Shuttleworth expressed surprise when the design was compared to that of the similar Kobe Port Tower, built in Japan in 1963. He said "I haven't seen it before and it was not a source of inspiration for the Vortex." and noted that the Kobe designers "did not use the full envelope of the building", and that the towers would be different colours.
Article summary
The Vortex Tower was the working name of a London skyscraper design by Make Architects, a London-based business headed by Ken Shuttleworth. The building would have risen to a height of with 70 floors. The Vortex Tower was proposed for the edge of the City of London but was never built. The planned shape of the Vortex Tower was a hyperboloid of revolution. The structure would have twisted into a spiral shape with a tapering centre and wide base. The project was based on a different concept, with rotation enabling the use of leaning columns as straight structural elements of hyperboloid. Shuttleworth expressed surprise when the design was compared to that of the similar Kobe Port Tower, built in Japan in 1963. He said "I haven't seen it before and it was not a source of inspiration for the Vortex." and noted that the Kobe designers "did not use the full envelope of the building", and that the towers would be different colours.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.