2024 Skyscraper Competition

Zhangchi Lu, Xuerong Feng, Yuhao Shi, Yimin Wang, Baoqi Luo, Chi Chen
China

Since the invention of nuclear weapons, our world has been on the brink of a complete collapse. In today’s world, wars and conflicts persist, and faced with such an extremely pessimistic reality, this project attempts to depict, from an architect’s perspective, the possible modes of survival and habitation for humanity in a world on the verge of doomsday.

This project unfolds in the context of a localized contemporary war and imagines the catastrophic consequences of a subsequent global nuclear war, causing devastation and upheaval to the survival of both humans and other species on Earth. Amidst the nuclear dust, surviving humans initiate the Doomsday Ark Project. They raise massive floating cities drifting in the stratosphere to escape the nuclear radiation.

Based on biomimicry, the Doomsday Ark is inspired by jellyfish. Inside these mechanical ‘Leviathan’ giants, this project integrates the physiological features of jellyfish with spatial characteristics necessary for functions, creating the ‘energy system,’ ‘residential and ecological system,’ and ‘collection and purification system.’ In the post-nuclear war era, these floating cities serve as survival spaces, providing energy and healing for humans and other creatures. Simultaneously, they act as rescue stations for creatures still on the ground and Earth’s nuclear dust purifiers. Read the rest of this entry »