Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Xinran He, Yiqiao Wang
China

INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of 2020, not only China but also the whole world was overshadowed by a severe biohazard caused by a new type of coronavirus.

Recalling our past, it is not unfamiliar that plagues invaded the human world: The Black Death, 1918 Flu Pandemic…Millions were lost before the disasters were called The Great Mortality. Moreover, there were always many more people infected than the dead, which would cause severe deficiency of hospital bed arrangement, leading lots of infectious patients out of containment, and would, in turn, result in even more infection.

Take the 2019-nCoV for instance: the People of China didn’t wait fruitlessly, Mount Fire God Hospital and Mount Thunder God Hospital were built within only 10 days. Thousands of workers were mobilized in no time, hectares of sites were leveled, and three thousand beds were finally ready for patients…

Within these 10 days, however, the number of patients grew rapidly from 549 to 11177. Only a quarter of them can be hospitalized, others must stay in indoor public areas like stadiums, exhibition centers with thousands of patients together without any isolation—a humble environment does no good to their health. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Shulong Ren, Hongrui Lai, Chang Liu
China

With the rapid development of the global economy and the increase of urban population in the recent 100 years, especially in recent decades, many high-density areas with skyscrapers have appeared in most cities around the world. Hong Kong is one of the typical. But with the continuous development of the city and with the problems of aging and disrepair of structures or backward functions., many high-rise buildings are facing the reality of being demolished and reconstructed. However, there are many difficulties in the demolition of skyscrapers in dense urban areas nowadays. The first is technological, the cost is a high and heavy degree of difficulty. Besides, the impact on the urban environment is large, the waste of resources is serious and it has a great impact on the lives of the surrounding population and the surrounding economy. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

HANNAH Architecture Group
Jalal Salek Zamankhani, Masoud Nimehforoush, Gholamreza Yari Bostanabad, Hussein Aghoushi, Shabnam Jalali Khosroshahi, Aylar Naghizadeh, Faegheh Pourachabalaei
Iran

Tabriz city was traditionally known for its lush gardens and natural surroundings. Excessive exploitation of natural resources on one hand, and mass urbanization, on the other hand, demolished a vast majority of these gardens and left this city as a mere industrial zone.

The Flourishing Platform Skyscrapers project aims to revive the traditional image of Tabriz city as a city-garden. Each platform consists of one central sponge core which is connected deep into the confined aquifers within mount Eynali. These core sponges absorb water from the earth and feed the vegetation planted on the platform. In order to enhance the absorbing functionality of the core sponges, Potassium polyacrylate could be used which is considered a super absorbent polymer.

In addition to providing a sustainable method for planting a wide variety of trees and vegetation, this concept contributes to the hiking culture in this city. These bridged platforms not only invite city dwellers to plant their own desired vegetation and trees but also provide straightforward access to a mountain peak and allow citizens of any age and disability to come together and enjoy their hiking experience.

Some of these platforms are enclosed in order to have the ability to function in extreme weather conditions and allow researchers to investigate rare types of plants. The entire parts of this mountain skyscraper have the ability to be covered by flora within three years. Read the rest of this entry »