Felix Tower

The Site is located in the heart of Pune, a growing smart city. It is an educational and IT hub. The site faces the bustling Boat Club Road. It is surrounded by the commercial hotspots of Bund Garden, the Koregaon garden and the Mulla Mutha River. The area hosts a number of iconic buildings. The site is surrounded with heritage buildings as well as malls, hotels, movie theaters, railway station, airport and schools.

Boat Club road separates itself from the traditional Pune streets in the urban fabric and the city skyline.

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Felix was the elder son of a Syrian centurion. After his father's death he sold off most of his property and possessions, gave the proceeds to the poor, and pursued a clerical vocation. Felix was ordained by, and worked with, Saint Maximus of Nola.

Concept images

When bishop Maximus fled to the mountains to escape the persecution of the Roman emperor Decius, Felix was arrested and beaten for his faith instead. He escaped prison, according to legend being freed by an angel, so that he could help bishop Maximus. Felix found Maximus alone, ill, and helpless, and hid him from soldiers in a vacant building. When the two were safely inside, a spider quickly spun a web over the door, fooling the imperial forces into thinking it was long abandoned, and they left without finding the Christians. A subsequent attempt to arrest Felix followed, which he avoided by hiding in a ruined building where again spider web was spun across the entrance convinced the soldiers the building was abandoned. The two managed to hide from authorities until the persecution ended with

the death of Emperor Decius in 251.

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The site is part of a larger entity of the Saint Felix School, Covenant and Church on boat club road.

Inspired by the St. Felix story, the building will merge the structural grid of a web in plan with a palette of materials that links this building to its neighboring structures.

The glass will be the element representing the purity of the holy place as well as a mirror to the natural landscape surrounding the building. The bricks will be the visual link to the adjacent church.

The building’s simplicity is a reflection of the life led by the clerk and is highlighted and adorned through the play of light and shadows on the facades.