2021 Skyscraper Competition
Editors’ Choice

Jinsong Xian
China

Nuclear-contaminated water sources have caused environmental issues since Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan was destroyed by a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in March 2011, and the radioactive sewage is produced during the process of cooling disused nuclear power plants. Under the influence of the earthquake and tsunami, the operating equipment and cooling system of the nuclear power plant have been completely destroyed. In order to avoid the meltdown of this nuclear power plant, workers have continuously poured water into it to cool the core for the past ten years. In fact, the water used for cooling will attach a large amount of radionuclide after being injected into the core; therefore, those water cannot be reused. After preliminary nuclide purification, the radioactive sewage which has basically been purified will be stored in water tanks, but the tritium element in it is still difficult to be removed. By 2020, the amount of sewage in all water tanks has exceeded 1 million tons, and this figure is still increasing dramatically. Nowadays, a large amount of sewage containing tritium elements urgently needs to be properly treated. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Cheung Kat Fu Eric
Hong Kong

In ancient time, gravity and the natural slope of the land allowed aqueducts to channel water from a freshwater source, such as a lake or spring, to a city. Such recognizable bridges constructed using rounded stone arches can be still be seen today traversing European valleys.

To be able to protect the ancient structures, the project Aqua Vitae was added to bring a new life to these ruined monuments in nature. By utilizing the Ronquenfavour Aqueduct in Ventrabren, one of the largest functional stone aqueducts structure in the present. The design approach seeks to adapt to the existing stone structure, to allow frameworks to be erected within the beautiful terrain across the valley. The flow of water divides a series of natural scenarios along with the linear space. a variety of habitats like a waterfall, jungle, garden, or grotto is merged to stimulate a diverse and complex range of visual, acoustic, olfactory, and kinesthetic experiences to visitors. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Xinran He, Yiqiao Wang
China

INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of 2020, not only China but also the whole world was overshadowed by a severe biohazard caused by a new type of coronavirus.

Recalling our past, it is not unfamiliar that plagues invaded the human world: The Black Death, 1918 Flu Pandemic…Millions were lost before the disasters were called The Great Mortality. Moreover, there were always many more people infected than the dead, which would cause severe deficiency of hospital bed arrangement, leading lots of infectious patients out of containment, and would, in turn, result in even more infection.

Take the 2019-nCoV for instance: the People of China didn’t wait fruitlessly, Mount Fire God Hospital and Mount Thunder God Hospital were built within only 10 days. Thousands of workers were mobilized in no time, hectares of sites were leveled, and three thousand beds were finally ready for patients…

Within these 10 days, however, the number of patients grew rapidly from 549 to 11177. Only a quarter of them can be hospitalized, others must stay in indoor public areas like stadiums, exhibition centers with thousands of patients together without any isolation—a humble environment does no good to their health. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Shulong Ren, Hongrui Lai, Chang Liu
China

With the rapid development of the global economy and the increase of urban population in the recent 100 years, especially in recent decades, many high-density areas with skyscrapers have appeared in most cities around the world. Hong Kong is one of the typical. But with the continuous development of the city and with the problems of aging and disrepair of structures or backward functions., many high-rise buildings are facing the reality of being demolished and reconstructed. However, there are many difficulties in the demolition of skyscrapers in dense urban areas nowadays. The first is technological, the cost is a high and heavy degree of difficulty. Besides, the impact on the urban environment is large, the waste of resources is serious and it has a great impact on the lives of the surrounding population and the surrounding economy. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

HANNAH Architecture Group
Jalal Salek Zamankhani, Masoud Nimehforoush, Gholamreza Yari Bostanabad, Hussein Aghoushi, Shabnam Jalali Khosroshahi, Aylar Naghizadeh, Faegheh Pourachabalaei
Iran

Tabriz city was traditionally known for its lush gardens and natural surroundings. Excessive exploitation of natural resources on one hand, and mass urbanization, on the other hand, demolished a vast majority of these gardens and left this city as a mere industrial zone.

The Flourishing Platform Skyscrapers project aims to revive the traditional image of Tabriz city as a city-garden. Each platform consists of one central sponge core which is connected deep into the confined aquifers within mount Eynali. These core sponges absorb water from the earth and feed the vegetation planted on the platform. In order to enhance the absorbing functionality of the core sponges, Potassium polyacrylate could be used which is considered a super absorbent polymer.

In addition to providing a sustainable method for planting a wide variety of trees and vegetation, this concept contributes to the hiking culture in this city. These bridged platforms not only invite city dwellers to plant their own desired vegetation and trees but also provide straightforward access to a mountain peak and allow citizens of any age and disability to come together and enjoy their hiking experience.

Some of these platforms are enclosed in order to have the ability to function in extreme weather conditions and allow researchers to investigate rare types of plants. The entire parts of this mountain skyscraper have the ability to be covered by flora within three years. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Fanbo Zeng, Jianhua Lei, Bisheng Hong, Zhaoshan Huang, Yi Zhu, Yushan Xie
China

WHAT IF A LARGE BUILDING COULD BE CREATED IN SECONDS?
With the development of society, the requirement of architecture is getting higher. Human beings pursue faster construction, larger building scale, and more diverse space. When the technology develops to a certain level, how can architecture form on a larger scale with complex spaces in lesser time? The proposal assumes that in the future, large-scale buildings can be triggered by long-range missiles. In such a process, a large number of materials solidify to form a series of spaces spontaneously. The project aims for a manifesto of a megastructure by the explosion with three main characteristics. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have a BIC ballpoint pen? Almost everyone does! It is the most famous and best-selling pen in history. About 60 pens are sold every second. Its success relies on its affordable price point, reliable ink refill, and worldwide availability.

California pen company ēnsso just unveiled a premium, yet affordable pen for all classic BIC ballpoint refills. The pen is machined from solid bars of space-grade aluminum and natural brass. The lightweight aluminum version is anodized in matte black for an understated and elegant aesthetic while the brass edition is heavier and offers a more tactile experience.

Both pens are exclusively available on Kickstarter for $29.

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Wang Yuchen
China

The Concept of the skyscraper is to provide a building complex for the heaviest disaster area combining the research and rescuing function towards viruses because the virus is still one of the most difficult problems of human beings.

The colossal structures should not serve as a symbol of Maintenance of life and health, but also provide quickly aid the area in the city where new outbreaks of the epidemic situation are happening. The small box packages are prepared into the core generator of the building and transported on the corridors, assembling to be a single first aid kit holding the medicine or a makeshift hospital accompanied by doctors, ready to be dispatched. When needed, they can fly anywhere to rescue the patients. After finishing the tasks, they can fly back to the holes of the building to be recycled and share the data they collected. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Gidich + Sepúlveda Architecture
United States

In a modern world inundated by an extensive sea of technological apparatus, often artifacts and resources available in abundance to the population are obliterated from people’s minds.  Its ubiquity along with its ancient discoveries turns many other methods of usage into obsolete practice.  Cannabis is most certainly one of the world’s best natural resources, yet its consumption continues to be highly and mainly focused on recreational smoking.  Similar to the obsolescence of cannabis purposes are immense building marvels.  Initially designed and engineered with one purpose at hand when they were constructed, however never repurposed as the time evolves.  The Empire High-Rise takes a dive into all the opportunities cannabis has to offer, whilst seamlessly merging the contingencies of repurposed spaces and programs to one of New York’s most iconic hallmark pieces of architecture, The Empire State building. Read the rest of this entry »

Editors’ Choice
2020 Skyscraper Competition

Ruwan Fernando
Australia

Ever since the Apollo mission showed us the first images of our ‘pale blue dot’ from space, the idea of the world as a ‘whole’ has captured the people’s imagination. Going beyond borders, oceans, and thinking of the continents as a continuous entity comes from this vision. Fifty years later, we face the existential threat of ecological disaster, and maybe revisiting the whole earth project seems like a way of recapturing that drive. Read the rest of this entry »