Architecture

Incredible competition imagines skyscraper design without constraints

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Nomad Metropolises, by China's Chufeng Wu, Chang Lu, Bozhi Zheng, Duo Wang and Shuxiao Zhang, has won this year's eVolo Skyscraper Competition. The project envisions vertical cities made up of rotating affordable housing
eVolo
Nomad Metropolises, by China's Chufeng Wu, Chang Lu, Bozhi Zheng, Duo Wang and Shuxiao Zhang, has won this year's eVolo Skyscraper Competition. The project envisions vertical cities made up of rotating affordable housing
eVolo
Nomad Metropolises imagines solving the problem of a lack of affordable housing in major cities
eVolo
The Ocean Re-clamation Skyscraper, by New Zealand's Dennis Byun, Harry Tse and Sunjoo Lee came in second place. It would be built from recycled plastic and float around the oceans to help clear up garbage patches and other pollution
eVolo
Third place went to K8 Forest Lift Off, by Germany's Ahmad Hafez and Hamzeh Al-Thweib. The project imagines towers shaped like trees, with observation drones to monitor and help prevent forest fires
eVolo
Elevated Plastic Skyscraper was designed by Anissa Le Scornet and Andrea Battistoni from the United States. The proposal envisions using recycled plastic to create skyscrapers that would host affordable housing throughout Africa
eVolo
Self-built Air Hospital was designed by China's Yang Xiaopeng. It envisions a tower-based temporary modular hospital for those seriously injured in the Ukraine war
eVolo
Spiral Farming Skyscraper was designed by Artha Krisiantara from Indonesia. It calls for decentralized vertical farming skyscrapers to produce higher yields of food than is possible using traditional techniques, while also protecting against the effects of climate change
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The Gate of Cairo was designed by Chang Han, Cheng Qian, Yuxiao Yang, Rangrang Pei and Youjia Jiang from China. It envisions using a membrane suspended between two skyscrapers to obtain water from fog. The water would then be purified and stored for the citizens of Cairo
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Wind Seeding Tower was designed by Fang Huo, Xinxuan Li, Bingjie Wang and Qining Zhang from China. The design imagines using strong winds in Mongolia to spread grass seeds, in an attempt to solve desertification issues in the country
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Urban Paperclip was designed by China's Haoru Dai, Weitong Zhao, Zhengzheng Wang, Tianjiao Li, Wenqing Qi and Jiabao Chen. Imagined for Manhattan, NYC, it would consist of two skyscrapers that are linked to create lots of outdoor space and affordable housing
eVolo
Origami-Scraper was designed by Yuxin Meng, Xiang Li, HaoYi Cui, Wenxi Yu, YiJing Zhang, Weilin Xin and ZiJian Liu from China. The project is envisioned for Fiji and would give locals somewhere to shelter when severe storms and typhoons hit the area. When not in use as a shelter, it would somehow fold flat and be used for agricultural needs
eVolo
PRIMUS: Mars Terraforming Structure was designed by Siyuan Liu and Yuchen Jin from both China and the United States. It imagines the future colonization of Mars by sheltering humans while pumping out oxygen and slowly helping change the planet's atmosphere to make it livable for humans
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The Antarctic Rescue Line was designed by China's Yufeng Lu, Junhao Chen, Jinming Gu, Hanye Lin, Xiaoting Zhao, Yue Wang, Sirun Li, Ruiqi Li, Yutong Jiang and Yuyuan Tao. The idea behind the design is to help slow down or prevent the loss of ice in Antarctica by using underwater skyscrapers that block geothermal radiation from the Earth's crust
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Floating Elysium was designed by Jiekai Wu, Zhihao Lu, Wenrui Yang, Jixiang Cai, Haozhe Zhang and Lijun Jin from China. Noting that the war in Ukraine has severely affected farming capabilities, this blue-sky project imagines a vertical farming skyscraper with hot air balloons on the top to allow it to float in the air
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Skyscraper Rescue was designed by Huiyue Xing, Weiqing Zhang, Wanjing Cheng, Huiqian Jia, Jiali Mao, Yang Yang in China. The project tackles the shortage of housing in Hong Kong and their general poor state. It would be used as a safe refuge while existing buildings are repaired and brought into line with modern standards
eVolo
Land Printing Skyscraper was designed by China's Di Zhang, Enda Zhou, Qi Wang, Yu Wang, Ruobing Du and Hanwen Huang. It imagines 3D-printed sustainable skyscraper-based housing for the people of Fiji, who are expected by some to be badly affected by climate change
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Rebirth Skyscraper was designed by China's Liu Shijia, Liu Jieyao and Dou Han. It aims to address ocean acidification with an underwater system of buildings that simulates coral while also helping cleanse the ocean to take the pressure off the real coral and help it thrive again
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Ice and Wood Skyscraper was designed by China's Sun Tengxin, Ma Rongzhao, Wang Xiaoyu, Zhang Yulin and Zhang Yue. It's envisioned for the village of Guttannen in Switzerland and consists of an attractive and environmentally friendly wood-based high-rise
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The Whale: Corallium Forest was designed by South Korea's Jihyo Kim, Hyunhee Lee, Seungho Woo, Gyeonghyeon Choi and Yewon Jo. This underwater skyscraper is another project focused on cleaning up the oceans by removing plastic and helping to repair ocean ecosystems
eVolo
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This year's winners of the eVolo Skyscraper Competition have been announced. Featuring fantastical skyscraper designs, highlights include rotating affordable housing, an ocean-cleaning plastic skyscraper, and tree-like towers to help keep watch over the Amazon rainforest.

The eVolo Skyscraper Competition doesn't concern itself with mundane practicalities like planning permission, building cost, budget or safety, but is laser-focused on highlighting interesting ideas and sparking the imagination. There's no official overriding theme this year, but the specter of climate change looms large.

"eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 Skyscraper Competition," said eVolo. "The Jury selected 3 winners and 15 honorable mentions from 309 projects received. The annual award established in 2006 recognizes visionary ideas that through the novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments."

This year's three winners are showcased below, but be sure to take a look at the runners-up in the gallery, including an eclectic mixture of skyscrapers that float, fold, farm and more.

Nomad Metropolises imagines solving the problem of a lack of affordable housing in major cities
eVolo

This year's eVolo Skyscraper Competition winner is Nomad Metropolises, by China's Chufeng Wu, Chang Lu, Bozhi Zheng, Duo Wang and Shuxiao Zhang.

The Nomad Metropolises imagines vertical cities made up of affordable housing. Modularity and flexibility would be the key focus and their rotating form would allow a home to take up a smaller physical footprint than usual. A central capsule would contain areas such as a kitchen and bathroom, while the other living areas would be placed on four sides of the rotatable part, which users could customize as necessary.

The Ocean Re-clamation Skyscraper, by New Zealand's Dennis Byun, Harry Tse and Sunjoo Lee came in second place. It would be built from recycled plastic and float around the oceans to help clear up garbage patches and other pollution
eVolo

The Ocean Re-clamation Skyscraper, by New Zealand's Dennis Byun, Harry Tse and Sunjoo Lee came in second place.

As its name suggests, the proposal envisions reclaiming the oceans for nature. It would tackle environmental disasters such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and would be built from recycled plastic itself sourced from ocean waste. It would also move around the oceans to recycle pollution using an outer ring as a suction port and a complicated system of filters and recycling technology.

Third place went to K8 Forest Lift Off, by Germany's Ahmad Hafez and Hamzeh Al-Thweib. The project imagines towers shaped like trees, with observation drones to monitor and help prevent forest fires
eVolo

Third place went to K8 Forest Lift Off, by Germany pair Ahmad Hafez and Hamzeh Al-Thweib.

This design looks to the Amazon rainforest and is inspired by the Kapok tree depicted in the children's book The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest, by Lynne Cherry. It would create multiple towers shaped like trees, with each one including an underground water reservoir, huge amounts of soil and greenery. The buildings would also incorporate a complex system of drones to help prevent forest fires, as well as monitoring the surrounding forest, ecosystems and local animal life.

Source: eVolo

View gallery - 19 images
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3 comments
2Hedz
Great art from some talented kids.
GregVoevodsky
Ya, if you believe this, I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
Nelson Hyde Chick
Need to pack us in tighter and tighter to accomidate the billions more of us coming. Nothing will be getting better with more people, just worse. With current technology an Earth of three to four billion of us could be an Eden, at eight things are getting bad and an Earth of nine to ten billion of us will just be one huge living Hell. Go anthropocene! Humanity is a cancer for this planet!