eVolo Magazine has announced the winners of its 2018 Skyscraper Competition. Now in its 13th year, the annual award was established to recognize “visionary ideas for building [high-rise] projects that through [the] novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.”
This year, 3 winners and 27 honorable mentions were selected from a pool of 526 entries. Among this year’s winners are a foldable skyscraper inspired by origami, an urban building for rice farming, and a prototype for vertical housing in areas damaged by wildfires.
First Place
Skyshelter.zip: Foldable Skyscraper for Disaster Zones / Damian Granosik, Jakub Kulisa, Piotr Pańczyk
More and more natural disasters happen annually across the world. When dealing with forces so powerful, standard means of crisis-management often prove to be inefficient. Whether a certain region is struck by earthquake, flood or hurricane – help needs to arrive quickly. This is often easier to be said than done, as damages to transportation infrastructure or remote localization can make it extremely difficult.
The Skyshelter.zip tries to address these issues by proposing a structure that while offering large floor surface is compact, easy to transport anywhere and can be deployed with a minimum amount of time and manpower requirements. It is meant to serve as a multi-purpose hub for any relief operation.
Second Place
Shinto Shrine / Urban Rice Farming Skyscraper / Tony Leung
The objective of this proposal is to restore the traditional interactions between Jinja (Japanese Shinto Shrine) and local people by reterritorializing a busy urban corner in Ginza, Tokyo with a vertically organized Jinja cum rice-farming complex.
In the past, Jinja and rice farming were the center of the Japanese economy. The paddy field and Jinja complex also served as centers of everyday interaction. Many local Jinja not only housed the relevant Kami (deities) but also served as a warehouse for harvests. Also, the biggest communal festival, Matsuri, happened during spring seeding and autumn harvesting.
As cities expand, both rice farming and Jinja remains in the shadow of urban livings. Jinja complex is overshadowed by modern skyscrapers. However, more than two centuries ago, according to some ancient manuscripts, Izumo Shrine was said to be reaching 96m high above ground i.e. a historical origin of skyscraping Jinja. On the other hand, recent development in hydroponic farming technology makes vertical rice farming possible. The pitched roof of a Jinja can be converted to a stepped paddy field, which conforms to the traditional idea of using organic roofing material in Jinja construction.
Third Place
Waria Lemuy: Fire Prevention Skyscraper / Claudio C. Araya Arias
Forest fires are one of the greatest agents of degradation of ecosystems in the world. Although fire is part of the natural dynamics of some habitats, large disturbances cause a deterioration of their functionalities. Fire modifies biogeochemical cycles, produces changes in vegetation, soil, fauna, hydrological and geomorphological processes, water quality and even changes in the composition of the atmosphere. Each of these elements puts at risk not only the existing geography but also directly threatens population centers, putting at risk the lives of people, their goods, infrastructure, among other things.
The proposal looks for a new way of inhabiting the territory, through a system of buildings at height, avoiding the effects of the old settlement model. The objective is to face the reconstruction from a new perspective, recover the lost housing and infrastructure, added to a restoration of the flora and biodiversity, through a system that prevents and mitigates future catastrophes, through a renovating process that allows coexisting with the geography and the territory.
Honorable Mentions
Levitated Broadway – Los Angeles / Kaiyu Xi, Fan Wu
Sand Dam Anti-desertification Skyscraper / Jiangchen Hu, Yining Bei, Xiayu Zhao, Mingwen Zhang
The Urban Lung: Timber Skyscraper / Ryan Gormley
Saltscraper in India / Kartik Misra, Krishan Sharma, Dewesh Agrawal, Kritika Kharbanda
Civilization 0.000: Floating Power Station / Dimo Ivanov
Manhattan of the Desert / Estelle Filliat, Charlotte Ferreux, Duc Truong, Elias Vogel
Ever-changing Skyscraper for Post-capitalism World / Ngai Hang WU, Han-Hsun, Hsieh, Man Nguyen
River Square: Water Purification Skyscraper in India / Kang Tae Hwan, Kim Min Jeong, Yun Seo Jun, Lee Se Won
Revealing the Boundries / Jun Ho Han, Yungi Jung
Vapolator: Seawater Extraction Skyscraper / Seunghwan Jung, Ryeojin Jeon
Synctopia: Air Purification Skyscraper for Tehran / Golnaz Mayel Afshar, Faranak Momeni Azandaryani
LAX 2.0: The Vertical Airport / Jonathan Ortega
Vertical Cemetery / GuoChao Deng, QingMing Xiao, Yuan Feng, Liwei Shen, Qin Xiong
Icemill Skyscraper: Pure Water for Global Sustainability / Katarzyna Przybyła
Project 1111: Sustainable Vertical City / Philip Nikandrov, Stepan Kukharskiy, Aleksandr Muraviev, Ivan Mylnikov, Vadim Zamula, Vladimir Travush
Manhattan Ridge: Affordable Housing for Commuters / Zhenjia Wang, Xiayi Li
City Rehab – Detroit / Yassin Nour Al-tubor, Fawzi Bata, Boran Al-Amro, Yazeed Balqar
Volcanic Tower / Chunyang Li, Shuai Yang, Zhenhang Zhao, Ruize Xiao, Yuequn Wang
Hong Kong 2.0 / Huy Bui, Howard Mack
Amman Living Quary / Baraa Kawasmi, Amal Tatfi
E Mare Libertas: Skyscraper on Water / Alexander Nikolas Walzer
Earth Healer Skyscraper / Dong Jingzhe , Li Boyu , Zhang Zihan , Sun Zhe , Wu Yilun , Yu Yang , Zhang Haohao
The Reincarnation: Buddhist Skyscraper / QiLong Wu, WuHong Fang, HuiFang Duan, HuiChen Bao
Northern Anticline: Arctic Skyscraper-City / BoSheng Liu, Jon Rankin, Bryan Daily
Community as a Cloud / Keon Hee Lee, Dong Hyun Kim, Elicia Jiwoo Eom
Additive Effect: 3D-printed Skyscrapers / Jinzi Wei, Yiliang Shao
Liulin Skyscraper: Communist Experience Center / Peitong Liu
This year’s jury consisted of:
- Vishaan Chakrabarti, Principal, PAU
- Moon Hoon, Principal, Moon Hoon
- Eric Höweler, Principal, Höweler + Yoon
- Chris Precht, Principal, PENDA
- James Ramsey, Principal, Raad Studio
- Dayong Sun, Principal, PENDA
Learn more about the competitions and read detailed project descriptions, here.
News via eVolo
eVolo Announces 2017 Skyscraper Competition Winners
eVolo Magazine has announced the winners of its 2017 Skyscraper Competition. Now in its 12th year, the annual award was established to recognize "visionary ideas for building [high-rise] projects that through [the] novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments."
