Giant Sequoia Skyscraper

By:  | April - 10 - 2017

Honorable Mention
2017 Skyscraper Competition

Ko Jinhyeuk, Cheong Changwon, Cho Kyuhyung, Choi Sunwoong
South Korea

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Human desires are endless and incapable of coexisting with nature. Crying in agony, nature seems to fight back with worldwide natural disasters. Deforestation is one of the worse crimes on nature and also one of the main causes of natural disasters. Now it is the time to change, to stop exploiting nature and find equilibrium.

The Giant Sequoia in the United States, worshipped by the Native Americans, has been mercilessly destroyed by modernization. Global warming has increased the breeding rate of pests and has shortened the life span of these trees. Moreover, the Giant Sequoia with enormous volume and height does not grow deep roots. When the heartwood, or the structural backbone start to rot, they fall dead by its own weight.

This project attempts to show a new architectural approach to human coexistence with nature, in harmony with the nature’s temporality. The architecture quietly takes place in the empty void of trunks, without hindering the breathtaking landscape formed by the giants. It then becomes active as an artificial organ to replace the trunks rotten away. Only occupied in the void is the minimal gesture necessary for human occupation.

The project attempts to educate visitors about these natural wonders while feeling infinitely small among these giant creatures of 100 meters in height and of 27 centuries of history.

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