Honorable Mention
2012 Skyscraper Competition
Pavel Sipkin
Russia
Tundra City is located in the exhausted diamond mine “Lucky” which is the geographical center of the entire Russian Tundra – the last point of urbanization of the Russian North.
The tundra is an unexplored region, which hardly anyone wants to go. It is associated with a “hole” due to poor living conditions. The Russian government has paid attention to the prospect and huge potential benefits of developing the region to the whole the country. This has been facilitated by the existing geopolitical threat posed by the rapidly development of China, India, and other countries.
Tundra City is a launching pad to address the problems of the region: population, development of infrastructure, creation of new industry, agriculture, science, and culture.
Tundra City is a new ark, which will gather people together for a new life, new qualified scientists and workers will grow, who will put the Yakut ideas into practice. The tradition of the Yakut people is dominated by the heart-“olonkho”. The Center (a symbolic heart) is built of 11 modules – logs, including the following areas: scientific, social, agro-industrial, residential, relaxation, hospitality, educational, and industrial. Two blocks (expedition and station) are located on the surface; the rest of the program is located underneath. A central skeleton supports spatial structures while residential unit are built around an H section, in which the central wall is complemented by a number of locked houses. Academic (scientific) units are built of space trusses. Agro-industrial unit consists of a structure of massive floors, fixed on the central bearing wall.