Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Hoi Wang Chan, Blake Perkins
United States

Special Mention

In 2007 over half of the world’s population had moved to a city. This shift from rural areas to cities poses a multifaceted problem for the urban context. The Alchemorphis tower unites these disparate worlds in a synergistic response to the environment, local community, and greater city.

New York City metro area ranks amongst the most populous urban centers in the world, with its average citizen using nearly 100 gallons of water daily. Much of this water is merely gray water which is processed with wastewater and eventually pumped into the bordering rivers as cleansed effluent. Utilizing its own influent from the Hudson River and neighborhood gray water supply, the alchemical tower recycles this discarded resource into valuable commodities for city use. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Sung-Wook Kim, UF Association
South Korea

Special Mention

The Metropolitan Veil 2019 is a sustainable skyscraper designed for a business area in Seoul. It is an investigation on urban memories and their interconnection in a single place. Thus, new programs emerge from the mix of economic, cultural, and environmental conditions.

Prefabricated slab units are stacked on top of each other to create frames that allow different programs. These frames also work as structural elements connected to the vertical cores. Sunlight is controlled by a series of layers that constitute the exterior envelope with photovoltaic cells on the southern façade. On the other hand, wind turbines are located on the big openings of the façade. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Farzin Lotfi-Jam, Jerome Frumar
Australia

Special Mention

Traditionally, high-rise buildings are predicated by maximum economic return and are thus associated with commercial endeavors and opulence. This project recasts the initial ambition for vertical expansion. It envisages a rapidly deployable building that will provide centrally located resources in disaster situations. Instant High-rise builds upon the visionary concepts of Buckminster Fuller by continuing his research into lightweight ‘synergetic’ structures and geometries. The tensegrity principle is explored for its potential to provide a feasible structural system that enables the deployment of an instant skyscraper in areas struck by disaster. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Julien Rousseau, Luca Battaglia, Ulisse Gnesda
France

Special Mention

The main focus of this investigation is to rethink the ‘skin’ of the skyscraper to generate renewable energies through the use of new materials and technologies.

Our idea is to design a new generation of towers with carbon shafts attached to the glazing that capture the wind and generate sufficient energy for the entire building. These shafts are flexible and oscillate with the wind and protect the interior from direct sunlight, reducing the greenhouse effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Han Jaekyu, Park Sang Mi, Kim Ji Hyun, Park Woo Young, Lee Kyoung Ho
South Korea

Special Mention

Urban Nebulizer is a type of skyscraper designed for the most polluted cities worldwide. The geometry of the tower is a continuous spiral with program ‘trays’. It has a central hollowed core where smog is cleaned by a series of filtering membranes that use water and vegetation. It is a vertical garden that could be located in the center of any city.

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Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Joanna Borek-Clement
United States

Special Mention

Creating a New Green Layer of Urban Life for Tokyo
Research has shown that strenuous physical activity in polluted cities increases our chance of breathing harmful particles. Sky-Terra is a new level of plazas for Tokyo. They are elevated 1,600 feet above ground and are formed by the roofs of individual skyscrapers joined together to structurally support each other- allowing for smaller footprints. Each building is a module able to be reconfigured in a variety of spatial patterns that could be implemented in any metropolis worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »