3rd Place
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Neri Oxman, Mitchell Joachim
United States

Third Place

Peristalsis: The rippling motion of muscles in tubular organs characterized by the alternate contraction and relaxation of the muscles that propel the contents onward.

The core of the skyscraper, its structural and circulatory conventions, as a central obstacle to tall building design is well known. Should the elevator, of all things, persist as the non-negotiable limit of our vertical habitats? The limit is vexing, for not only does it determine compositional forms but, more significantly, the arrangement of social practices with regards to both our labor and leisure. Elevators stifle more than facilitate our movement by virtue of their rigid planes and fleeting occupations. That is to say, the vast space which the elevator shaft occupies is, temporally speaking, useless. But suppose we involved ourselves with a different interpretation of that inactive, rigid, and sequestered domain which much of this central shaft represents. It would demand a vital shift, or at least a conceptual reworking, towards an active utilization of such space. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Marco Steiner
Germany

Special Mention

How to transform horizontal into vertical?
The famous German architect Erich Mendelssohn once said: “Man can only find tranquility in today fast living in the motionless horizontal line”.

How do we combine the vertical expression of the skyscraper with the serenity of a horizontal space? The “Skyframe” tries to answer this question. The Skyframe is a multifunctional skyscraper in which public areas such as conference center, shopping mall, cinemas, and recreational spaces are located on the ground floor. Restaurants and apartments are located in the upper part while the rising verticals allocate offices and meeting rooms. The vertical segments reflect the active and busy aspects of working life. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Justyna Karakiewicz, Jeff Cheng, John Kao
Hong Kong

Special Mention

Hong Kong is a city of extreme landscape conditions in which the majority of the land is defined as high steep terrain. Due to this condition there is a complex infrastructure of trains and escalators for the mobility of the pedestrians. This type of infrastructure accounts for more than 50 percent of the available land. The remaining areas are clustered with isolated skyscrapers surrounded by heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Loren M. Supp
United States

Special Mention

Rather than looking at the city as an extension of architectonic space, the Shanghai market is here reinvented as an internal extension of a fluid landscape. Operating under this axiom, the vertical market changes the previous horizontality of the urban activity by pulling the city fabric upwards, enabling a further densification of the city.

While modeling the existing economic flows of the city there was revealed a potential for a systemic expansion of the streetscape skyward. This move enables an accretion of market functions, pulling the chaotic action to a single site. Formally and theoretically, the degradative nature of fluid market economics define the building architecture, the thickness of circulatory structure responds to the predicted expenditure of capital as one moves through the building, and space is allocated for market activity accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2008 Skyscraper Competition

Hajung Lee
United States

Special Mention

Throughout history, mankind has been competing to build higher towers, not only to meet spacial demands, but also to celebrate and display their technological ability. Perhaps, this kind of proud achievement is interpreted as the origin of our desire towards vertical architecture. In this sense, one can say that every vertical structure has its own monumentality. While a historical monumental tower speaks of certain memory or event, a contemporary skyscraper should celebrate its height, functions and achievement of technology. The depiction for monumentality of a skyscraper should be a different concept from the representation of a historical monument. Contemporary skyscrapers tend to express their grandiosity in a monotonous way, as if to mimic a historical monument. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Marco Vanucci
United Kingdom

Special Mention

In nature, organisms try to respond to the impact of various forces with minimum energy consumption. Similarly, materials are subject to a process of self-organization/adaptation in relation to the action of intrinsic as well as extrinsic forces acting upon it, aiming to fulfill a state of equilibrium. Exploring the inherent properties governing the behavior of a given material and its effects on the surrounding environment, represents the starting point for a broader understanding of material forms as a mutable, multi-performing, and generative design tool. The bottom-up approach towards the research onto a given material system discloses the opportunity to deeply investigate the proprieties of such a material, as well as opening unexpected potentials for inclusive performances and effects. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Martin Henn, Max Schwitalla
Russia

Special Mention

Historically loaded and about to be demolished, the centrally located Hotel Rossija constitutes an exemplary terrain for an architectural operation. Starting with Lissitzky’s Wolkenbügeln in the 1920’s, followed by Stalin’s 7 Sisters, and the Palace of the Soviets in the 1940’s, there is a long history of skyscrapers in the city of Moscow. Contrary to planning of the new suburban business district “Moscow City”, we propose our building to be located in the heart of Moscow. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Michael Samula
United States

Special Mention

Questioning what possibly is or will be the skyscraper for the XXI Century… It must not be singularly definable, but instead, in a multiplicious manner. A skyscraper for the XXI Century should act and react within itself as well as its context: both locally and globally, reconsider program and activity, generate new appetites, question standard fabrication techniques, create abundant spatial possibilities, and most of all, it must aim to redefine social identity and cultural conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Bea Goller
Spain

Special Mention

The site selected for the skyscraper is located on the Mediterranean Sea, off the Barcelona Waterfront, creating a grand vertical visual icon at the end of the Diagonal Avenue, in Barcelona; an urban axis, cutting the city grid on NE-SW angle, and finishing on the sea shore. It is erected on an artificial man-made peninsula, on which three intertwined towers would be built. They are entering a marine dominion, maybe representing utopia, extending the city, using a vertical element in a metropolis (Barcelona), while simultaneously turning toward the sky. It fulfills an old desired intention in an unconventional manner. Read the rest of this entry »

Special Mention
2006 Skyscraper Competition

Marco Vermeulen, Theo Hauben
Netherlands

Special Mention

Although it is impossible to imagine contemporary life without car-based mobility, the car is frequently barred from the public space. In European inner cities, where pedestrians rule, the car is viewed as a threat to the city. This is rather strange because, in general, we spend a lot of money on cars and many car owners derive their social status from their possession, to a greater or lesser degree. In addition, sooner or later, most pedestrians become car users forced to descend into dark parking basements. Multi-storey parking facilities are an answer to the ever-growing demand for parking space, particularly where the concentration of activities requires the well-conceived use of space available. Read the rest of this entry »