Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition
Hoi Wang Chan, Blake Perkins
United States
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 »