Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Daffonchio & Associates Architects
South Africa

Introduction
The first shelters were built to protect Man from Nature. Human technology has become so powerful that the building of cities should be used to protect Nature from Man. New materials, combined with parametric design will allow us to build ultra-lightweight megastructures. Real-time data mapping combined with AI, will allow hyper-efficient transport and other urban services. We propose a structure that by its shape, size and technology can change the climate.

We propose to solve the increasing reality of desertification through architecture. A cluster of tree-shaped high-rise towers can create a microclimate for a more livable urban environment in desert climates. The idea is to create a ‘forest’ of towers that are designed to cast permanent shadows on the ground below. The vast surface area of the roof is entirely employed for Photovoltaic and energy harvesting, though a high-rise megastructure which can be scaled indefinitely and change the climate through shape, scale, and technology. Read the rest of this entry »

2019 Skyscraper Competition
Editors’ Choice

Sheng Fang, Ran Chen, Yingqi Kuang, Yu Zhong, Ling Li
China

Dear Diary,

Tuesday, Rainy

I was living in Dharavi, the squatter where my family had been struggling in for decades. I know that life outside is totally different from Dharavi. Gradually, I became unwilling to stay here. I was thirsty for getting rid of here and the life that is full of poverty and hunger. But there was no chance for me to change my life. Until that day……

Some guys showed up in here and announced that they had a theory that may eventually change our lives in the squatter. However, the theory was somehow just like an experiment which sounded totally useless for us. But I knew my chance had come. After all, no gain without paying. So I joined them.

It’s really hard to time, building and planning. Through our efforts, a towering dwelling had been built. The residence was not only a place that continued the form of trade in the Dharavi but provided us a new purchaser.

Yet at some point, we can’t settle for the scattered stalls, instead, we quested for a broader and more concentrate marketplace in order to trade more conveniently. Therefore, we cooperated with the people who lived in the other two dwellings and built a broad marketplace.

Now, 10 years have passed. More and more people are moving here and coming to the marketplace. I can even find that the dwelling is growing based on what we have built.

Watching the people go by, I can’t help to imagine that maybe I can own my own store here in the near future that I would never even try to think of before, which makes me too excited to fall asleep……

Yours, Prasad Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Kiwon Hong, Namjung Kim
France, South Korea

NOMADS
The nomads of Mongolia still choose to live on wildland in the 21st century despite global urbanization. This is the traditional Mongolian way of life that has existed for over a thousand years. The Mongolians live with their herds scattered across a vast landscape and is considered as the world’s second most sparsely populated country. Three million people currently live in Mongolia and it is estimated that 24 to 40 percent of them are living as nomads.

TECHNOLOGY
With the rising accessibility of drones today, their use is rapidly expanding to commercial and scientific fields but also they are being increasingly utilized in daily life such as product deliveries, aerial photography, agriculture and surveillance just to mention a few points. Drone technology can bring to nomadic people all the expected benefits of what urban facilities can offer, adequate provision of tools which is essential to keep their thousand years old lifestyle without the need for any new construction of space-consuming horizontal infrastructures/footprints in one of the greenest country in the world. Independently to the raising of the general standards of living, access to modern medicine has been rather difficult for those who have adopted a nomadic lifestyle disconnected from the urban infrastructure and all facilities that come with it. Drones could respond to these critical situations where there is a need for quick access to drugs, blood, and medical technology. Also, for herder families who live in remote areas, far from school, drones could be a perfect solution for better schooling for nomadic children. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Bartosz Kołodziejczuk, Maciej Marszał, Marta Wróblewska
Poland

As I stand here beside you, I reflect on the hardships the African people have suffered. We all know of the harsh climate that haunts this land. Furthermore, history taught us about the brutal era of colonization and about the following years filled with turmoil. Even though Africa was the origin of civilization, it has never had a chance to keep up with the world. The situation is slowly changing and someday we might finally see the true spirit of this continent. However, due to global warming, I fear for the future. It is said that climate changes become more visible, where the climate was challenging in the first place. Cape Town is a city that can confirm this like no other.

Just by analyzing basic statistics, everyone can conclude the situation of the city. A high percentage of adolescent people is characteristic of developing countries. Cape Town’s population grew from 2.4 million in 1995 to 4.3 million people in 2018. This tendency can be observed in the vast suburbia regions emerging around the city. Furthermore, significant differences in income add up to the whole image. However setting aside social and economical situation, Cape Town faces a much bigger problem that could determine its future existence. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Adam Fernandez
France

Badgir (In Persian literal translation: bâd « wind » + gir « catch ») is a traditional element of Persian architecture used from centuries to create natural ventilation and to refresh inside the buildings, more particularly in the living room area. These wind towers are vertical ducts looking as large chimneys allowing to capture and to direct the winds towards the interior of buildings. We can see them in important quantity in the desert area of the center of the country.

The interior of the tower is vertically separated into several ducts to allow the circulation air descending flow (bringing freshness) and air ascending flows (expelling hot air) currents thanks to the differential atmospheric pressures created.

The concept is simple: reuse this traditional process by integrating turbines to generate electricity and to turn this tower into a wind turbine. Higher is the tower, easier it’s to capture air flows (5km/h as minimum) and stronger will be the pressure. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Tony Leung
Hong Kong

In the age of “Level 5” (fully automated) autonomous driving, a vehicle (e.g. Toyota E-Palette) can be adopted as Mobile Greenhouse, traveling between farmers and buyers directly.

These vehicles can be charged at vertical “docks” equipped with PV charger and drainage system when idle. The best dock available will be selected by the central computer and directed by GPS automatically to suit solar demand of different crops. The “dock” becomes an ever-changing organism with its own ‘metabolism’.

The recent development in hydroponic technology makes vertical planting possible. Not only farmers but enthusiast or family can hire or own a mobile greenhouse for weekend farming. The docking ports are connected by double spiral ramps; car lift and staircase are provided for services and pedestrian circulations. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Spyridon Koutantzis
Greece

Concept & Context
The project’s name – Mediterraneo – derives from its geographical namesake, the Mediterranean Sea, thus signifying a search for locality in an everchanging place. It studies the past of a rich in history area, in the effort to define its future. While doing so, it attempts to cope with the growing “temporal rental housing crisis” the European South is facing with an increasing number of people each year facing eviction, unable to find a home, in a market that favors visitors over inhabitants.

Form
The process of form-finding is a constant dialogue between the past and the future. It studies the vernacular architecture and transcribes its vital elements in the vertical axis. The insular staircase, the small opening, the variability of the pre-industrial built environment, the social interaction. All of the integral parts of the Mediterranean culture are being reimagined in a futuristic way that respects the landscape and creates the place.

Function
The program for the proposed tower is rather simple, not unlike that one of a village. It consists of a well-defined entrance area, a vertical promenade adjacent to which lay the habitable space and a social hub. While the floor plans are indicatory, the structural system offers to the building unique flexibility in terms of use, allowing a bottom-up approach for that matter. On top, lies a lifted social interaction space (plaza), getting abundant light from a glass dome and allowing people to enjoy a scenic view of the surrounding landscape. The boundaries between private and public spaces are blurred, since the promenade itself acts as a daily interaction space as well, communicating with the “front stoop” urban typology. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Yangpeng Xin, Shiyu Fan
China

With the advent of global climate disasters and war conflicts, more and more sea refugees are suffering these every year on this planet. Their homes were flooded by rising sea levels or destroyed by war, leaving them adrift in search of new homes. When they were adrift in the ocean, they may be hit by a hurricane or a huge wave at any time, causing their boat to capsize and lose their lives.

The design aims to solve the survival problems of sea refugees — how to take shelter when they encounter storms and huge waves while drifting at sea. Our inspiration comes from the buoy used in fishing. The buoy stood above the water and would not capsize after the storm. This is because when the slender buoy stood in the water, gravity and buoyancy can maintain a good balance, even if there is a strong external force interference. This is something that we use very well in our design. Traditional lifeboats that serve as safe havens for refugees are still vulnerable to capsizing in storms. If the refugees’ safe haven is a giant buoy, it can stand up in a storm. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Liang Yue, Liu Zimin, Wang Chunxin, Meng Yuan
China

In Sichuan and Gansu mountainous areas, the inhabitable land resources are very scarce, and the alluvial plain along the river is the main gathering place for people. Due to the deforestation and destruction of vegetation, the soil has become sparsely broken, and with the extremely dry and rainy weather in Gansu, the danger of mudslides has always threatened the residents on the plain.

Affected by the 512-magnitude earthquake in 2008, the situation became worse and the soil was looser. In the past ten years, mudslides of different sizes have erupted in the rainy season almost every year. The houses rebuilt after the disaster have been damaged several times, causing huge loss of life and property.

The mountainous land resources are in short supply, and the alluvial plain is the main gathering place for people.The depth of the mountainous terrain ditch, the debris flow erupts along the ditch.The alluvial plains gathered by people are just facing the downward direction of the debris flow. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2019 Skyscraper Competition

Chih-Ting Yeh
Taiwan

Each year, 1,000 or more people die in the war because when military conflicts between two or more organizations，including wars and armed conflicts that are taking place through the world and continuing to result in violent deaths. According to the report, Syria affected madly by war afflicts and had mass injuries in the world. So Syria could be the best delivering expansion site during EMS( Emergency Medical Services) due to its central geometrical site.

Normally this hospital provides medical innovation, medication, and education. When war broke out, the purpose of the convertible hospital must be for the sake of peace, save war victims and provide EMS by helicopters and drones during shrinking. We can shrink and transform the building volumes from dividing space into those channels to connect up and downstairs, and create open spaces. it’s making of fire prevention materials and duplicate volumes by plus, rotate and assemble. Using the wooden construction of the traditional burr puzzle to shrink buildings efficiently.  With the transformed prefabricated hospital we can better off displacing war victims and educate those habitats for war areas. Read the rest of this entry »