Jul 6, 2011
Absolute World is a residential condominium twin tower skyscraper complex in the five tower Absolute City Centre development in Mississauga, Ontario. The project is being built by Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group. With the first three towers completed (Absolute City Centre 1 & 2 and Absolute Vision), the last two towers (Absolute World 4 & 5) are currently under construction. Standing at 50 and 56 storeys, these two skyscrapers will be the tallest of any built in a North American suburban city.
On November 28, 2006, during the 24th annual Mississauga Urban Design Awards ceremony, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion announced that an international design competition was going to be held for the building of the fourth tower for Absolute World that would be the landmark tower for the development located at the north-east corner of Burnhamthorpe Road and Hurontario Street. It also marked the first time in 40 years that an international design competition was held by a private development group for a building in the GTA area after the Toronto City Hall competition. Over six hundred registrants and ninety-two submissions from architects in seventy countries took part in this competition. On January 30, 2007, an announcement was made at Atrium at BCE Place in downtown Toronto at 12:00 PM informing the public who the 6 finalists were along with seven honorary mentions.
Submissions were judged by a panel which included architects, civic leaders and the development team members. Those on the jury included:
Larry Beasley, co-director of Planning, City of Vancouver
Colin Fournier, Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, Bartlett School of Architecture, London
Sol Wassermuhl, president Page + Steele Architects, Toronto
Claude LaCombe, EI Richmond Architects, Toronto
Michael Spaziani, MSAi, Toronto
Danny Salvatore, president, Fernbrook Homes
Sam Crignano and Paulo Stellato of Cityzen Development Group, and
Ed Sajecki, Commissioner of Planning and Building, City of Mississauga.
On January 30, 2007, the six finalists announced were:
Nicholas Boyarsky, Boyarsky Murphy Architects, United Kingdom
Michel Rojkind, rojkind arquitectos, Mexico
Roland Rom Colthoff, Quadrangle Architects Limited, Canada
Sebastian Messer, Studio MWM, United Kingdom
Yansong Ma, MAD office, USA, and
Tarek El-Khatib, Zeidler Partnership Architects, Canada
Each of the finalists were given an honorarium to defray the costs of preparing the final submission design for a tower that would be taller than 50 stories and the tallest building in Mississauga when completed.
The public was invited to vote for the favourite designs which were on display at the Square One Shopping Centre as well as online, along with the judging panel. The voting was to stop on March 22, 2007 with the winning design announced from CN Tower on March 28, 2007 at 10:30 AM. On March 28, at 10:30 AM, Yansong Ma, founder of the MAD office, Beijing/China architectural design firm was announced as the winner. Sales were to start in May 2007 with construction beginning later that year, and anticipated completion in 2009. Within days of the announcement, the building had been nicknamed the “Marilyn Monroe Tower” due to its curvaceous, hourglass figure likened to actress Marilyn Monroe. In April 2007, it was announced that Burka Varacalli Architects, a Toronto firm, was hired as MA local partner and construction would start within 6 months with completion in 2010. As of January 1, 2010, the first tower was at the 22nd level while the work on the 2nd tower has begun. Both towers are expected to be completed by August 2011.
NicknameAbsolute World Tower 4 was dubbed Marilyn Monroe by Sam Sibai during the announcement of the winning Yansong Ma design, because, to him, it “looked like Marilyn Monroe.” The variation of the rotation of the floorplates–from two to eight degrees–and the high position of the “bulge” in the silhouette give this tower its dynamic feminine profile. The Absolute World Tower 5, on the other hand, is characterized by a uniform rotation of each floor and a lower swelling of its profile; inevitably giving it the appearance of Marilyn’s masculine companion.
DesignThe tower twists 209 degrees from the base to the top, making it very similar to Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden. The structural design is done by Sigmund Soudack & Associates Inc- a Toronto based almost 40 years old structural engineering firm. The tower has six levels of underground parking.
