Patent ID: 8146326

Claim:
An architectural structure comprising: a generally horizontal floor; a generally horizontal beam above and spaced apart from said horizontal floor; a vertically oriented, substantially hollow load bearing shaft between said floor and said beam and supporting said beam through said shaft and on said horizontal floor; a tapered exterior shell formed of a plurality of contiguous walls that together define a first opening having a first geometric area at an end adjacent said floor and a second opening having a second geometric area at an opposite end adjacent said beam, wherein said second geometric area is smaller than said first geometric area so that the difference in size between said first geometric area and said second geometric area produces a taper longitudinally along said shell; and a mounting bracket comprising a horizontal member connected to a pair of vertical members, said vertical members engaging oppositely positioned interior surfaces of said hollow load bearing shaft, and said horizontal member extending outside said hollow load bearing shaft and fixed to said floor or said beam.