A controversial design proposal for the tallest building in Europe has been making the rounds online over the past few days. Designed by Morphosis Architects, the 381 meter-tall tower is being proposed in Vals in the Swiss Alps. 

And pretty much everyone seems to hate it.

When I first came across the design, I truthfully had to do a double take to see if it was actually a real proposal. But it seems to be. Everyone is writing about it.

Clearly there are some interesting tensions at play here. You have a hyper-urban building typology in a mountain town setting, but with materials that are intended to make it dematerialize into the landscape.

So I thought we could have a discussion about it in the comments.

Is a small mountain town the right place for the tallest building in Europe? Could it work as a one-off tower?

Image: Morphosis Architects via ArchDaily

A controversial design proposal for the tallest building in Europe has been making the rounds online over the past few days. Designed by Morphosis Architects, the 381 meter-tall tower is being proposed in Vals in the Swiss Alps. 

And pretty much everyone seems to hate it.

When I first came across the design, I truthfully had to do a double take to see if it was actually a real proposal. But it seems to be. Everyone is writing about it.

Clearly there are some interesting tensions at play here. You have a hyper-urban building typology in a mountain town setting, but with materials that are intended to make it dematerialize into the landscape.

So I thought we could have a discussion about it in the comments.

Is a small mountain town the right place for the tallest building in Europe? Could it work as a one-off tower?

Image: Morphosis Architects via ArchDaily