Special Mention
2010 Skyscraper Competition

Rocky Marchant, Ergin Birinci
United Kingdom

Damascus was voted the Arab Capital of Culture in 2008, and is also the capital of Syria. In it’s past it has been the capital of empires and located at the centre of the silk route and has always been a hive of trading. Because of this it is very proud of it’s historical context and is trying to improve it’s cultural and business facilities. 

The site chosen is at the centre of the New City, at the junction of the business and cultural axis. Because of this there is a great desire for development in this area. Having a train station and university as a neighbor emphasizes the demand for development, especially as at the moment there is no clear connection between the station, the university and the sports facilities Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2010 Skyscraper Competition

Anton Markus Pasing
Germany

Preface
“The sky switches on daylight for us – or the shower. We are small gods, mere gods of the machine which is our highest. Our universe is a huge motor, and yet we are dying of boredom. In the midst of fullness, there is an insidious dragon gnawing at our hearts.” — D.H. Lawrence

About
The basic idea of Natwalk 2.0 is based on the assumption that as highly developed descendents of our species, machines will more readily understand the significance of an ecological renewal than we human beings. Moreover, they act with an ethical and social conscience. The origin of the machines is knowingly left in the dark. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2010 Skyscraper Competition

Nikola Stojkovic, Rajan Garic
Serbia

Compress is a specially designed dynamic system which provides instant space for variety of use.

Environmental, social and economic disturbances cause significant fluctuation among people. Many are left in danger and the need for shelter comes only second after basic necessities. In such case architecture plays important part in reducing the effects and providing basis for restoring continuity. This project examines the possibilities of creating First Aid Skyscraper (called Compress), easily transported in standard shipping containers and deployed all over the world. Location for this project can be anywhere from Haiti to Afghanistan. It is designed as first building on site after accidents. It shares almost military aesthetics and is intended to be in the front rows. As such it can respond to any need and provide first aid, accommodation or shelter for scientific research. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON MARCH 8, 2010

After several years of organizing the annual Skyscraper Competition it has become a renowned architectural prize around the world. The best projects of each competition are widely published in architecture, design, and fashion journals, as well as in technology, business, and entertainment magazines. The winning projects are also featured in websites, television documentaries, and galleries.

We would like to invite students and professional architects, engineers, and designers to take part in the 2010 Skyscraper Competition. The main idea of this contest is to examine the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and urban living. Read the rest of this entry »

1st Place
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Kyu Ho Chun, Kenta Fukunishi, JaeYoung Lee
United States

First Place

This project examines a possible solution to the multiple environmental problems we might have in the year 2050. If we continue with the same year to year increment in air pollutants it will no longer be safe to breathe in the outdoors without a filtering device. Neo Arc is the solution proposed by a group of architects, engineers, scientists, and developers that are studying how to integrate the latest green technologies in major residential and commercial developments. Read the rest of this entry »

2nd Place
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Nicola Marchi, Adelaide Marchi
France

Second Place

Michel Etienne Turgot, Borough President of the City of Paris in 1734, commissioned to the drafter Louis Bretez the most beautiful and accurate representation of Paris in the ‘Ancien Régime’.

Based on this representation, it is evident that most bridges in the City at that time are living quarters and perform as actual buildings, fully integrated into the bridge itself. The same typology is found in the historic ‘Ponte Vecchio’ in Florence, that survives unaltered to this date, with its direct relationship between ‘bridge architecture’ and the river. Read the rest of this entry »

3rd Place
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Eric Vergne
United States

Third Place

In the Hudson Yard area of Manhattan, this urban high rise farm introduces inherently political opposing elements; farmers (producers) and New Yorkers (consumers) through farms, workers housing, and market places. Through the mixing of politically opposing classes, social and cultural confrontations are generated within a high rise typology by introducing producers of biomass into the city, a place of historic biomass consumption. In so doing, the high rise is re-defined not by efficiency, but rather through the use of surfaces to orchestrate the dynamic programmatic interactions and the multiplicity of spatial organization they suppose. The essence of these social/political programmatic relationships is unclear. The spaces they create are lived not represented or conceived. One can only speculate on the range of lived relationships and oppositions that might form within and around this urban farm. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Sylvie Milosevic
France

Special Mention

The skyscraper has paradoxically enjoyed a renaissance since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which brought world attention to the tragedy while raising multiple questions about its future. The boom in the Middle East has focused purely on new aesthetics and a lavish display of economic wealth. In contrast, Vertical Ecology Redux is a project that brings a new level of per formative organization into the design equation; it is fully integrated into the urban fabric and existing infrastructure. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Stefan Shaw, John Dent
United Kingdom

Special Mention

A closed loop metabolic system
A completely closed metabolic cycle in which traffic exhaust emissions are harnessed via CO2 collectors in order to feed algae grown in photo bio-reactors within the building’s facade. Algae and natural by-products produced during algae cultivation are then refined to produce renewable energy sources.

Towering 1.2 km above Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham, the UK’s largest and most congested motorway intersection, the scheme portrays a radical concept in high rise, high density urban living. Benefitting from positive solar orientation, in order to maximize solar acceptance toward the dynamic photo bioreactors which are built into the facade, BIOCITY acts as a an environmental filter, harnessing harmful traffic exhaust emissions in order to feed and cultivate microscopic algae to produce renewable bio-fuels. These bio-fuels are used to produce renewable electricity to power the vertical city and to cultivate vehicular bio-diesel and liquid hydrogen for use in hydrogen fuel cells. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition

Brian Ahmes, Gregg Hicks, Chad Porter
United States

Special Mention

During the 1960’s the city of Dallas possessed a vibrant urban culture, stimulated by round-the-clock living, working, and playing. A few years later, an aggressive interstate construction and a new desire for the suburban dream, transformed the city into a commuter business hub that closes at five o’clock. Read the rest of this entry »