India doesn’t have an Easter bunny or a chicken god–so who left a giant egg in the center of Mumbai? The answer is Chinese architect James Law, self-proclaimed ‘Chief Cybertect,’ (or Chairman) of James Law Cybertecture, based in Hong Kong.
He’s the man behind the ‘Cybertecture Egg,’ India’s most expensive office building, which is currently being built in Mumbai’s new business district. When I first came across an image of the conceptualized end-product, I felt I had to mention it. And with more research, it’s become clear that this is a pretty remarkable and ambitious endeavor.
For Law, the 32,000-square-metre project is what he envisions for the future of all buildings, those that are ‘no longer about concrete, steel and glass, but also the new intangible materials of technology, multimedia, intelligence and interactivity.’ So it’s no surprise that the egg will be using these qualities to be energy efficient and sustainable as well.
With 13 floors in total, the building will have solar panels and wind turbines incorporated into its surface for producing self-generated on-site electricity. Elevated gardens will work to naturally cool the structure with their vegetation. And it will use considerably less water by recycling its grey water for other purposes. For the workers, it aims to be the ‘best space to work’. One perk is a ‘cybertecture health’ inspired feature in the washroom, designed to measure and keep track of individual health through tracking things like blood pressure and weight.
The ground-breaking egg is slated for completion by the end of next year–which means we’ll get to see whether it’ll be all it’s cracked up to be (sorry–couldn’t resist!)