Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition
Dennis Byun, Sunjoo Lee, Harry Tse
New Zealand
INAAOMATA is a disaster adaptation tower set around the Pacific islands. The tower acts as the last resort to save what is left, which holds important value to the people of Kiribati. It is confirmed that Kiribati will be the first island to sink completely underwater in less than 50 years due to climate change and sea level rising. With these irreversible changes, we have no choice but to adapt and survive.
Alternative survival method has been presented to the Gilbertese to move to a different country and settle down with a different culture and lifestyle. Local elderlies who tooled the culture and sentimental value of their identity and space refused to move to another country. To show the independence of the people and their standing with their culture, the tower is anchored down with a massive dolphin structure in the core to hold everything up, the whole tower floats on the water as the dolphin allows the tower to rise with the sea level. As it’s risen, the tower will be fixed in position until the next rise.
The tower is positioned on top of Kiribati which allows the tower itself to enjoy the same climate, environment and lifestyles as the cultural, architecture and method of living has been carried directly through the rising platform. The tower has a maneaba (meeting house) surrounding the core on the first floor to maintain the community and the tower in control of a system.
The Pacific islands have been crying for help but were not succoured by the bigger countries who ignorantly avoided the problem. Islands such as Kiribati who contributed the least to global emissions are facing sea level rising alone without any aid from the United Nation. The tower, therefore, represents the ideology of independence of the people from Kiribati and other surrounding islands. The tower is constantly expanding and demolishing, like a cycle and the lives that will be continuously growing in the tower.
The residential tower enables the expansion in the bamboo grids and allows the freedom of personalising the size of the pods for the people who will be residing in the place. The tower is made out of local materials sticks and straws, which is sustainable and the grid allows ventilation in the tower. However, the residential tower may have a limited life span, so it has a demolishing system called the Kajima cut & take down method to demolish the tower from the bottom as the materials fulfil its life span. And it is continuously building on the top at a faster rate to replace and occupy the growing population.
The architecture structure holds everything needed for survival. The fishing port, the canoe parking area and the agriculture platforms surrounding it, take a big part of the structure right below the maneaba in the centre of the tower. The platforms are floating by the pontoon made out of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) cubes. HDPE can be found in everyday plastics and can be moulded very easily. Platforms are then connected through bridges with a suitable height for the canoes to pass through underneath. The platforms are expandable and it has a greenhouse on the top to collect drinkable water through the condensation structure.
Finally, the outer agriculture perimeter is surrounded by the hydroelectric generator pump which gains kinetic energy through wave movement to be used in the tower. This is placed in the surrounding of the tower to break the harsh currents in the sea and protect the agriculture and the skyscraper from the damage.
