Editor’s Choice
2015 Skyscraper Competition

Juerg Burger, Ge Men, Qingchuan Yang, Yin Li, Wei Hou
Switzerland

Skyscrapers are controversial buildings. Conventional sksycrapers suffer from a series of programmatic and spatial problems including: homogeneous spaces, inefficient vertical/ horizontal connections, and isolation from urban fabric. Cloucity proposes a vertical city connected to the existing city at three different points. The void generated will serve as a recreational space for the city and will be  Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Choice
2015 Skyscraper Competition

Teemu Holopainen, Tomi Jaskari, Tuomas Vuorinen, Simon Ornberg
Finland

Societies around the world call for equity. Political structures and values create base for land use and build environment which in turn should equilibrate the contradictions embodied to democracy. Goal of development can no longer be based on economic values alone. Continuing growth by numbers (GDP,ROI,FAR etc.) is ecologically impossible and has already started to diminish wellbeing of man. Growth of culture is needed instead of growth of capital. Can high rise contribute for equity of culture in society? Originally high rise building was just a building on the block with more floors. Relationship with the city was organic and the door, the lobby, of the high rise was part of the public street life between buildings. With the modern movement and zoning via traffic planning for the goals of industrial capitalism, high rise isolated from the city. 20th century high rise lacked to provide more public city life but instead it strengthened the negative effects of the privatization of space. High rise architects ended up being like fashion designers trying to dress the body with trendy clothes to make just another sexy model for portfolio shoots. Relationship between the world outside and the high rise inside was only “traffical”. This arrogant ignorance and denial of the public realm has made a 20th century high rise a symbol for decadence/triumph of capitalism of time. Future society calls for openness for public space in internet and in physical city to enhance proximity to produce culture of dignity and caring as much as concrete innovations and business for better world. From this perspective 21th century high rise building should be universal and permanent construction for multiple uses. It is more about concept of construction than the concept of use. It is more about architecture.

Concept

Re²iffel seeks the concept of structure, the body, not the concept of functions, for high rise to fulfill equity goals while providing comfort and shelter for future threats of climate change where extreme ends of whether conditions will vary more and more often. The concept is based on traditional combination of load bearing facade and rigid elevator shaft which together in a form of thin-shell structure in the shape of tent creates very stable and enduring skeleton for high rise use. This kind of primary structure contributes the image of the city and landscape with landmark effect while, from near, forms human scale environment. At the same time it allows functional flexibility and openness of public space to flow through it. The greater the volume of the public space the greater the privately used floor space on the very same place. Scaled enough the structure can work also as a bandage which repair the accessibility of pedestrians or cyclists. Foot of structure can be treated same way as a giant Eiffel tower pad, which spreads the “tent” over the existing infrastructure to form pedestrian access. The surface of the facade can be dressed with the newest ubiquity intelligence finish to provide electricity out of sun (photovoltaics) and wind (piezoelectric). Tent shaped facade creates optimal angle for both zenith sun and polar sun in positions of different latitude and compass point. Inner partition walls form the tertiary structures which need to be flexible for changing use. Ground level with small scale buildings creates facilitations for events with public space as a venue around. The whole contributes the urban sustainability and history of the city. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Choice
2015 Skyscraper Competition

Satavee Kijsanayotin, Ben Novacinski, Hannah Mayer, Haydar Baydoun, Mingxi Ye, Zhifei Chen
Thailand, United States

One’s identity within the city is determined by a relationship to public and private space. Where a person can go, what they can see, and what experiences a person has access to shapes the identity of the individual. Architectural language plays a crucial role in this identity. Diffused Boundaries aims to break down previously known thresholds in the city and affect change in the way people perceive, use, and experience space.

Hong Kong, like many metropolitan cities of the world, experiences the rapid rise in urban population in limited build-able land, creating a need for the city to grow vertically.  This method of architectural urbanization have humans pushing the boundaries of our existence into the sky. Yet the existing model for vertical existence have produced an urban landscape of tall, monotonous, and isolating structures that pushes the population to become socially disconnected.

The rigid separation of the programmatic functions between the public and private realm shapes and limits human social interaction.  As cities continue to grow skyward, leaving behind the socially and culturally rich public functions that exists at street level for the private realm higher up, the more private and isolated our lives becomes. Thus, as we look skyward, the question that Diffused Boundaries seeks to answer is not only how do we begin to blur the boundaries that create separations between public and private spaces, but also how to bring the rich civic and communal lifestyle that currently exits on the ground up into the sky.

The twenty-four-block site chosen for the project exists within the main concentration of the commercial district of Sham Shui Po.  Made of up nearly identical buildings,the shop house typology dominates. Public/Semi-public use of each building exists on street level, while the next couple floors up serves as residences.  More recently, however, towers of residential living and / or commercial use have been situated atop the shop house typology, creating an ever-distant relationship between ground and sky, public and private.  
The concept of Diffused Boundaries ,then, seek to blur this rigid division between the public and private programmatic function that exists due to the existing architectural language in all three axis of urbanization through the vertical and horizontal diffusion and dispersion gradient of form and functions.

Each building block of shop-houses are diffused vertically to redefine both its public and private space.  By opening up each floor, there create more opportunities for not only more available commercial space, but also an opportunity to extend the rich street life from the ground up into the air.  The void space that are created as a result of this strategy create allows for a mixed used circulation design that acts as both modes of navigation through the structure, but also public spaces and the lively street life style that initially inspires the project.

Vertical cores provide direct point A to point B routes and horizontal planes provide lateral circulation within a new dissolved reality. Large public spaces with storefronts allow street life and public life to merge in the sky. Vertically aligned public spaces offer more space for gathering, talking, and moving through spaces. Public and private functions exist within and without each other in a new dissolved way. This system of circulation, program separation, and public space, creates a new type of community where the experience of those passing through, working, or living within it becomes integrated. Social interaction increases as a result of dissolving the public and private. The experience of Sham Shui Po no longer exists solely in black or white, but also tones of gray. Read the rest of this entry »

The exterior is defined by a 35 meter long facade that explains the visitors in a glance what they can find here: all that glitters is gold! The entrance is clearly marked. Here, the ‘nugget of gold’ has opened up to provide access to the ‘cave’ where the real golden treasures are safely displayed.

Contrary to the exterior of the building, which is very visible and prominent, the design of the interior is very modest. Everything is black, even the reflective floors and ceiling. In combination with the lighting, the attention is directed to the shining of the displayed jewelry of the gold dealers! And in the end, that is what it’s all about.

The building and its surroundings are designed in such a way with safety and ‘crash’ protection as part of the design. The inverted pyramids aren’t just functional – because of their triangular form they also enhance the design of the facade and match with the character of the Goud souk.

The golden facade of the Goud souk consists of relief panels with a triangular pattern. By repeating these panels throughout the whole facade with a varied orientation, a very diverse facade emerges, a real eye catcher. Thanks to the lighting between the panels, the golden facade shimmers day and night.

The power of the layout design of the interior of the Goud souk is the simplicity: the faceted form of the display cases provides a very large show case surface and excellent visibility. The displays of the jewelry are in fact extended into the hall.

Design: Liong Lie Architects
Photography: Hannah Anthonysz Read the rest of this entry »

The Fresnel Trimaran designed by Margot Krasojević has a folding wingsail for a better lift to drag ratio, the sail’s frame is a built up mechanical structure similar to an airplane wing constructed from carbon fibre with a retractable Kevlar sail covered in aero-nautical film. The sail rotates around the mast and has a series of motorised creases which catch the wind, the wingsail is actuated by motors that control these movements using solar cells and wind energy.

The combination of the Fresnel lens and holographic film clad outrigger concentrates solar power for more of an efficient output. The form of the main hull acts as one unit with the wingsail, which wraps into the main body of the hull creating a continuous surface resulting in the motorised mast changing the shape of the sail allowing it to harness more wind. The outriggers detach to transform the yacht from racing multihull Trimaran to a cruise boat for leisure. The multi-hulls use recycled carbon fibre materials to reduce the environmental damage caused during processing new carbon fibre sheets.

The multi-hull wingsail design does not carry a heavy ballast which slows down vessels, all the materials used are strong yet lightweight.

A triangulated woven polyester mesh trampoline with a vinyl coating runs the length of the Trimaran, it is connected to the wingsail which wraps itself into the main composite carbon fibre hull, the trampoline frame acts as a water piercer with a heavy ensuring a smoother ride. Wind flows over wingsail and uplift drives the Trimaran forward.

The Wingsail generates wind energy, internal gearing systems convert wind energy to electricity which can be used to part run the motors or contribute to the integrated desalination unit along with the solar cell/ fresnel clad outriggers which run the desalination unit providing up to 4 litres of drinking water per hour.

Flexible solar panels located on the top and bottom of the wingsail surfaces generate electricity using wind and solar energy.
During bright windless days, wingsails face the sun and only solar energy is generated.
On windy days, wingsails rotate to generate largest combined energy from wind and sun. At night, wingsails generate just wind energy.

The outrigger hulls can detach themselves from the main hull, they are constructed from a double section vacuum bonded PVC surface lined with Fresnel lenses and holographic film to focus the light intensity towards the sandwiched solar cells. The Fresnel trimaran also has a set of fold-out hydrofoils. When it’s in monohull mode, these hydrofoils can be deployed, pushing the main hull up above the water, reducing water resistance by up to 80 percent, allowing for a fast, smooth ride that uses less fuel.

The main cabin is lined with holographic film which defracts incident light, it also acts as a prismatic concentrator which channels light towards the photovoltaic material.
The second stage to the project involves a series of elliptical tracks running across the yacht’s boards attempting to harness the main hull pendulum motion to run the perpetual retrieving magnetic turbine motor. Read the rest of this entry »

The proposal developed by AGi architects for the Qatar Courthouse restricted competition, organized by the Qatar Government, has been awarded second prize.

Institutional buildings need to embody the ideals and value system of any given society, with order being one of the core principles of any group. No society can prosper and thrive without it. Order is structure, it is the law, it is justice; without it, there is chaos. It is therefore extremely important that the Qatar Court House be aspirational and reflect these basic principles. The building is designed on two basic grids that are site driven, one linking it to its immediate context and the second to the larger context of Doha. These grids create stunning structural and spatial possibilities that make the building stand out visually so that people can see their ideals reflected in built form -structure, order, transparency, ambition -all of which are the ideals of Qatar’s growing society.

One of the fundamental questions for a civic structure is how is it approached and how is it perceived? The project brief contained a dense program that would occupy only 40% of the site, which would yield a type of vertical structure. This verticality however in the context of modern day Doha does not read as institutional. We sought to expand the ground plane across the entirety of the site, creating a public plaza and in doing so altering the proportion of the building. Floating above the plaza is the main structure carrying the central courtrooms, signifying that the law is above everyone. These subtle gestures ensure that the plaza act as a threshold between society at large and the justice system, making the Qatar Court House an open and welcoming building, rather than an ominous, insular one. At this scale, the floating structure acts as a literal and figurative canopy: it offers protection from the elements and a place where one can seek refuge from the greater population. The geometry of the floating structure ensures that there is ample light that fills the plaza, making the building feel lighter. At night, this very interplay between the volumes themselves makes the building visually striking. Read the rest of this entry »

Ice Crystal designed by Virginia Melnyk arrives from a series of aggregations and adjustments inspired by the way that snowflakes and ice crystals are formed. Using computational design to generate growth cycles and manually manipulating outputs for desired proportions and organization, the structure arises from the assembled tetrahedrons. Each of the different generations which combine to shape the pavilion built on top of one another and decrease in scale every new generation. The proposed frame work  would be made from PVC pipes with unique connectors at all the joints digitally fabricated with 3d printing. The surfaces of the tetrahedrons is made from silver Mylar, commonly used as “space blankets” or emergency blankets. The space blanket feels warm by reflecting heat from the body back onto the body. The Ice crystal warming hut feels warm, in contrast it’s cool iceberg  like appearance on the icy landscape. But once inside colors of the skaters clothes begin to reflect around the Mylar walls producing and kaleidoscope effect inside the Ice Crystal warming hut. Read the rest of this entry »

Experimental project SYMMETRYSCOPE tryes get to the bottom of symmetry and reveal its possibilities. At first step the liner symmetry was investigated and several columns were made. The principle consisted in the rotation and mirroring geometrically simple shapes (tetrahedron). However, the geometry of the column did not allow any internal spaces and so were unusable for architectural purposes. Another move forward was done by the planar symmetry. The principle was similar to the columns. The effort was to achieve interior spaces.

The fascination with symmetry has not been exhausted. From the mirror surface we moved into the space. I started from the tetrahedron, I used its internal organization. The mirroring planes match his faces axes, internal axes and perpendicular planes to theses axes in vertexes. Geometry results in kaleidoscopic effect. It can be rotated, target structure changes.

DOMINIK CÍSAŘ (AUTOR)

/ AIII / Imrich Vaško, Martin Gsandtner
ACADEMY OF ARTS, ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, PRAGUE Read the rest of this entry »

We understand the whole as an exquisitely meticulous sculpture that contains space and hosts knowledge. Our intention is to convey a strong character and presence for the building, exemplifying how it as an urban cultural container. The building stands as an entity able to transcend from the local to the provincial scale, capable of reflecting the collective consciousness, feelings, and future visions of the Chinese society.

The Exhibition Hall of Nanling Town should be an important landmark building that represents the town and its local culture. In order to achieve this we looked for local sources of inspiration. The interesting rock formations that cover the Yashan Mountain inspired us to create the lines of the building and to make a landmark that is easy to recognize by anyone.

We organized the project into 3 buildings with a public space in the middle. The volumes are shaped like the rocks with cuts and cracks that act as entrances and windows to bring the natural light inside. The cuts in the volumes are made from different materials. Outside the volumes look rough but inside they are shinny, similar to a cut natural stone. On the edges the building looks solid with only a few carefully placed cuts, but inside the courtyard the building opens to receive natural light.

Although the project is unitary and all the buildings use the same language, we can talk about two different types of facades.One of them is solid, in white color, to give the image of rocks to the buildings and the idea of compactly and solidness.In this solid skin, we draw some cuts to allow the entrance of light inside and to break the volume. In this cuts, the material is glass or metal, like copper or cor-ten steel. The second facade is the opposite, made of glass, very translucent.This facade is necessary for the entrance of light in the parts where we have office.

The main idea is to leave the maximum possible space for people. That’s why, by placing a perimetral car street, the major part of the inner project is pedestrian.This configuration is perfect for creating squares, enforce pedestrian circulation and create people-oriented public spaces.The accesses to the buildings are inside the plot, to reinforce the use of the public areas and create lively space.

Because the major part of the open space of the project is pedestrian, the landscape has a big importance in our project.The first important concept is that we wanted to create a connection between the green park in front of the plot and the inner square of the project.The idea is the use of simple materials to create a soft and elegant landscape in order to set up a friendly and calm environment, The materials chosen are traditional materials like stone, wood, grass and bamboo.We also wanted to reinforce the idea of “green environment”, that’s why we dispose very big green areas. Essentially, the program is divided into three main uses: exhibition, office, and archive. Each of these uses are allocated into one of the different buildings, subsequently, the structure is very simple and easy to understand. Read the rest of this entry »

There are ideas that arise from the need of a particular moment. Such a need – another hot day of summer spent in the office and a thought “if only I could go for a walk” – became inspiration for a project of a path suspended in the air, a balcony Walk-on. It is also one of the ideas to change a sad courtyard, that we overlook every day out of the office windows on the 3rd floor, to give the courtyard a bit of magic. A normal path is tortuous, winds, does not lead directly to the goal, surprises, relaxes, gives contact with nature. Therefore our path should also flow freely in space – giving you a moment of relaxation, rest, allowing you to change the perspective. This influenced its shape – it winds freely and intertwines with itself – it allows for a relaxing walk “from office to office.” Longing for a bit of greenery made us treat the path as a large pot. We filled it with grass that can grow as it wants – after all it’s just a path.

A dark courtyard – a well, that was the nucleus of the problem – became in fact an inspiration for solutions. Mounting method imposed itself. Supports – the walls of houses – had just to be reached from all sides. Shading the neighbors was reduced by reaching to the very idea of a path – which in addition to the fact that is winding, it is also very narrow. It is therefore 80cm wide strip of greenery suspended in the air. From the bottom it seems even narrower because of the palate made of polished metal. The sheet, thanks to bending the bows, mirrors the surroundings and blurs the edges of the path.

Usually “the form follows function” but sometimes “the form follows fun” – and our balcony follows this path.

Design: ZALEWSKI ARCHITECTURE GROUP Read the rest of this entry »