This Eye-Catching Development Takes Inspiration From An Ancient Wonder
The proposed Birmingham buildings aim to recreate Babylon's fabled Hanging Gardens.
By all accounts, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were quite the spectacle. Plenty of uncertainty surrounds the structure — when they were built, where, and if they were actually real or just a myth — but they're considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Short of befriending a kooky scientist, jumping in a time-travelling vehicle and venturing back more than two millennia, we'll never gaze upon them ourselves. However, if a new British development goes ahead, we could set our peepers upon quite the striking recreation.
Design firm Architects of Invention has created a proposal for two 25-storey towers in Digibeth, Birmingham that takes inspiration from the fabled gardens in its curved shape, ascending terraces and abundance of greenery. The adjacent buildings each feature an array of small apartments — approximately 250 one and two bedroom units in each, measuring between 40 and 75 square metres — placed in a staggered formation. With the highest points on the corners of the block and the lowest in the middle, they meet in the centre, creating a parabolic configuration.
Plants would hang from every stepped level, giving residents their own flora-abundant spaces and the entire structure a huge rooftop garden. At this stage, it's just a concept that's under discussion with the Birmingham City Council, but if it comes to fruition, it'll certainly catch the eye and then some.
Via Dezeen. Images: Architects of Invention
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