Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Siyuan Liu, Yuchen Jin
China, United States

Where is the future shelter of humanity？

The ongoing degradation of the terrestrial environment, manifested by the pernicious effects of global warming and the rise in sea levels, has presented a formidable challenge to human survival on our planet. The shrinkage of terrestrial areas, consequent to the inundation of coastal regions, compounds this pressing issue. In light of this impending crisis, humanity has been forced to contemplate alternative avenues for securing its future, including the augmentation of life expectancy and the pursuit of extraterrestrial habitation.

Mars, with its aura of romanticism and enigmatic character, has become the subject of scholarly interest and a viable target for colonization. The hypothesis of terraforming the Red Planet into a hospitable environment for human life, however, remains a matter of contention, given the lack of concrete evidence supporting its feasibility. Nevertheless, the prospect of colonizing Mars constitutes a potential strategy for mitigating the risks posed by the changing environmental conditions on Earth and ensuring the continuation of human civilization in the face of uncertainty. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Yufeng Lu, Junhao Chen, Jinming Gu, Hanye Lin, Xiaoting Zhao, Yue Wang, Sirun Li, Ruiqi Li, Yutong Jiang, Yuyuan Tao
China

According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center(NSIDC), Antarctic sea ice shrank to 1.91 million square kilometers in 2023, the lowest level since records began in 1979. The continent’s glaciers are also melting faster. After the sea ice completely melts, the continent’s glaciers are also in danger. In our study of the melting of the Antarctic ice, we found that the West Antarctic ice is melting at a much faster rate than the east.

We have studied carefully the reasons behind this phenomenon. We found a region in West Antarctica called Mary Byrd Land, where the crustal plate is relatively thin, only 17 kilometers thick. Heat from the Earth’s interior breaks through the Earth’s crust and releases beneath the West Antarctic glaciers, causing them to melt even faster. The upwelling magma from the asthenosphere impinges on the Earth’s crust, forming spectacular rift systems. Measurements show that the area releases 150 milliwatts of geothermal energy per square meter. The underside of the West Antarctic glacier is melting under the heat of the earth, creating spectacular ice caves, the largest of which are more than 38 square kilometers in area. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Di Zhang, Enda Zhou, Qi Wang, Yu Wang, Ruobing Du, Hanwen Huang
China

Our quality of life today has been greatly improved compared to before, and what people pursue is no longer limited to food and clothing. With the improvement of the quality of life and the promotion of network technology, our life has become colorful. People can use different ways to express their feelings, art, or self, and they also have diversified channels to ensure their living standards are richer. But it also has many negative impacts on the planet we live on, among which global warming is the most worthy of people’s attention.

There are many factors that lead to global warming, such as regional wars, deforestation, irregular gas emissions, excessive animal husbandry, excessive non-recyclable items, etc., that will aggravate the pace of global warming. Over the past 150 years, temperatures have accelerated over time to the extent that they contribute to sea level rise. Fiji is facing this huge conundrum. In the next 20 years, continuous sea level rise will affect the survival and living of 570 cities and 8 million people. Half of our land will disappear in 500 years, which will be a disaster for all living things on earth. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Jiekai Wu, Zhihao Lu, Wenrui Yang, Jixiang Cai, Haozhe Zhang, Lijun Jin
China

On February 24, 2022, the Russian military attacked Ukraine, and the ongoing conflict between the two countries officially turned into a full-scale war, which quickly evolved into one of the largest wars in post-World War II Europe. By the end of 2022, the war had killed at least 146,748 people and created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, with at least 12 million people fleeing their homes, including more than 5 million to neighboring countries and another 7.1 million displaced within Ukraine. The massive influx of refugees has also created economic and political problems for neighboring countries.

The losses from the war were also reflected in the agricultural sector. As the war rages on, Ukraine’s spring sowing area has been reduced by more than half, causing a serious global food crisis that has made the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people around the world extremely vulnerable. Homes were lost, food production was reduced, gas was disrupted, ports were shut down…… The war brought untold havoc to civilians on both sides, to the European region and to people around the world. It’s been a long winter, long and cold. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Huiyue Xing, Weiqing Zhang, Wanjing Cheng, Huiqian Jia, Jiali Mao, Yang Yang
China

Hong Kong is one of the fastest growing and most densely populated cities in the world with the largest number of skyscrapers since the 1950s in response to a housing shortage, the cost of living and a soaring population. The skyscrapers of the past have been dilapidated and have even become dangerous buildings. Due to the hidden dangers of buildings, there have been many major accidents of old buildings collapsing and causing fires in Hong Kong. Therefore, renovation of old skyscrapers is one of the problems that Hong Kong, a city with high-density construction, needs to face.

In recent years, due to disrepair and improper maintenance, an increasing number of skyscrapers have collapsed, which seriously affects people’s normal work and life and even threatens people’s life safety. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Liu Shijia, Liu Jieyao, Dou Han
China

Ocean acidification is the loss of pH value caused by the absorption of excessive carbon dioxide from the air. The change of atmospheric carbon is mainly caused by natural factors, which lead to natural fluctuations of global climate. Affected by the wind, the atmosphere first melted to the ocean surface hundreds of feet deep, and in the next few centuries, it gradually spread to all corners of the sea floor. Therefore, human activities are intensifying ocean acidification. Ocean acidification threatens biological and ecosystem services, which in turn threatens food security, tourism, coastal protection and people’s livelihoods.

When coral is under the pressure of environmental change, coral bleaching will occur. These corals expel symbiotic algae from their tissues, so that their tissues become transparent, exposing the white limestone skeleton below. Other effects of coral bleaching include thinning of coral tissue, reduction of mucus, and inhibition of sexual reproduction. The increase of ocean acidity and pollution are the main factors leading to bleaching phenomenon. Due to the effects of ocean acidification caused by climate change, global warming and the increase of carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere, coral bleaching in the Earth’s oceans is becoming more frequent and serious. By 2050, more than 30% to 50% of the global coral species may be extinct. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Sun Tengxin, Ma Rongzhao, Wang Xiaoyu, Zhang Yulin, Zhang Yue
China

The village of Guttannen lies at the foot of the Alps in Switzerland. It is rich in forest and glacier resources. Here, our building follows the seasonal changes of local glaciers and forests, integrating nature to form the co-metabolism of glaciers, woods and human dwelling.
In winter, water of the upstream river is guided and solidified at the foot of the mountain to form artificial glaciers, which becomes a winter residence for people to live and do ice climbing. In summer, the natural melting of the glacier breeds the local rivers and ponds, irrigating the downstream woods. Meanwhile, trees which are cut down to balance the growth of different tree species will constitute the summer residence. These timber parts will soon be removed and burned to heat the building in winter. Read the rest of this entry »

Honorable Mention
2023 Skyscraper Competition

Jihyo Kim, Hyunhee Lee, Seungho Woo, Gyeonghyeon Choi, Yewon Jo
South Korea

Today, plastic pollution exists everywhere in the world, and pollution are increasing exponentially. Plastic began to be widely used only after World War II, but the total mass of plastic produced so far has already exceeded twice the total mass of all animals combined. Plastic production has skyrocketed over the past two decades, with plastic produced from 2003 to 2016 being as much as all the plastics produced earlier. Also, a significant portion of it has been introduced into the oceans, with about 150 million tons of plastic accumulated in the oceans. At this point, some systematic global changes for the marine plastics are desperately needed. Read the rest of this entry »