Our Favorite Winners from the - eVolo Skyscraper Competition 2012. 3.10.12
1st Place. Himalaya Water Tower.
Designed By Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song
China
Housed within 55,000 glaciers in the Himalaya Mountains sits 40 percent of
the world’s fresh water. The massive ice sheets are melting at a
faster-than-ever pace due to climate change, posing possible dire consequences
for the continent of Asia and the entire world stand, and especially for the
villages and cities that sit on the seven rivers that come are fed from the
Himalayas’ runoff as they respond with erratic flooding or drought.
The “Himalaya Water Tower” is a skyscraper located high in the mountain range
that serves to store water and helps regulate its dispersal to the land below as
the mountains’ natural supplies dry up. The skyscraper, which can be replicated
en masse, will collect water in the rainy season, purify it, freeze it into ice
and store it for future use. The water distribution schedule will evolve with
the needs of residents below; while it can be used to help in times of current
drought, it’s also meant to store plentiful water for future generations.
The lower part of the Himalaya Water tower is comprised of six stem-like
pipes that curve and wind together and collect and store water. Like the stem of
a plant, these pipes grow strong as they absorb their maximum water capacity. In
each of the six stems, a core tube is flanked by levels and levels of cells,
which hold the water. The upper part of the building – the part that is visible
above the snow line – is used for frozen storage. Four massive cores support
steel cylindrical frames that, like the stems below, hold levels that radiate
out, creating four steel tubes filled with ice. In between the two sections are
mechanical systems that help freeze the water when the climatic conditions
aren’t able to do so, purify the water and regulate the distribution of water
and ice throughout the structure.
At the bottom of the structure, surrounding the six intertwined water tubes
is a transport system that regulates fresh water distribution to the towns and
cities below. The curving channels connect the mountains to the villages, and
are also hold within them a railway for the transport of people and goods.
2nd Place. Mountain Band-Aid
Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang
China
Industrialization and mining are destroying China’s natural settings,
especially mountains, which are excavated to the point of destruction in man’s
search for minerals. These processes don’t just devistate regions’ ecologies;
they also displace whole populations of people, separating them from their homes
and also their means of living, as many in these rural areas work as farmers.
The “Mountain Band-Aid” project seeks to simultaneously restore the displaced
Hmong mountain people to their homes and work as it restores the mountain
ecology of the Yunnan mountain range.
This is achieved with a two-layer construction project. The outer layer is a
skyscraper that is built into and stretched across the mountain. By building the
structure into, and as part of, the mountain, the skyscraper helps the Hmong
people recover their original lifestyle. It is organized internally by the
villagers to replicate the traditional village design they utilized before they
were displaced. The building’s placement on the mountain means that its height
is mainly determined by the height of the mountain. The design as a whole is one
of “dual recovery:” the Hmong people living on the damaged mountain can keep the
unique organization of space in their village, recreating it within the
skyscraper, but they won’t be contributing to the mountain’s degradation.
Instead, they help the mountain’s environmental restoration by recycling
domestic water for mountain irrigation. It is this irrigation system that
comprises the project’s inner layer: an irrigation system is constructed to
stabilize the mountain’s soil and grow plants.
The skyscraper is constructed in the traditional Chinese Southern building
style known as Chuan Dou. Small residential blocks are used as the
framework: The blocks are freely organized as they were in the original village,
but the framework controls this organization of blocks into different floors,
acting as the contour line in traditional Hmong village.
Honorable Mention: Plastic Fish Tower
Kim Hongseop, Cho Hyunbeom, Yoon Sunhee, Yoon Hyungsoo
South Korea
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean sits a mass of garbage that is 8.1% the
size of the entire sea. It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP),
and is estimated to contain over 100 million tons of waste. The debris gathers
in that particular location as ocean currents convene in the Subtropical
Convergence Region, and is causing grave harm to the immediate ecosystem and
those within a broad surrounding swath.
The Plastic Fish Tower, a circular structure floating on the ocean surface
within the GPGP, will collect and reprocess plastic, which estimates say
comprises 90% of the GPGP and is often ingested by birds and fish, causing their
demise. A large fence will circle the structure underwater in a 1 km diameter to
capture all the plastic that floats its way. The plastic will be recycled within
the structure and processed into plastic patches that can be assembled into fish
farms to restore the ecosystem. In addition to helping mitigate the pollution,
the fish farm will also have two added benefits: the buoyancy of the plastic
fish farm elements will be enough to keep the entire structure afloat since
plastic is in fact so buoyant, and it will position the structure as a tourist
attraction. Bringing tourists to the GPGP would greatly help in disseminating
widely the reality of this manmade ecological catastrophe. The tourists will be
transported to and from the site by ships that are fueled by chemicals that will
be collected from the processed plastics within the skyscraper in an
as-of-yet-undiscovered method of chemical extraction.
The structure itself is a ring that rises above the water and also goes
below, but is largely hollow. The outer ring holds residential and leisure
spaces, and is connected at intervals by bridges that are enclosed underwater
(and one that is open on the water’s surface). Fishing banks made from the
recycled plastic funnel up through the middle of the ring, helping to keep the
structure buoyant.
size of the entire sea. It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP),
and is estimated to contain over 100 million tons of waste. The debris gathers
in that particular location as ocean currents convene in the Subtropical
Convergence Region, and is causing grave harm to the immediate ecosystem and
those within a broad surrounding swath.
The Plastic Fish Tower, a circular structure floating on the ocean surface
within the GPGP, will collect and reprocess plastic, which estimates say
comprises 90% of the GPGP and is often ingested by birds and fish, causing their
demise. A large fence will circle the structure underwater in a 1 km diameter to
capture all the plastic that floats its way. The plastic will be recycled within
the structure and processed into plastic patches that can be assembled into fish
farms to restore the ecosystem. In addition to helping mitigate the pollution,
the fish farm will also have two added benefits: the buoyancy of the plastic
fish farm elements will be enough to keep the entire structure afloat since
plastic is in fact so buoyant, and it will position the structure as a tourist
attraction. Bringing tourists to the GPGP would greatly help in disseminating
widely the reality of this manmade ecological catastrophe. The tourists will be
transported to and from the site by ships that are fueled by chemicals that will
be collected from the processed plastics within the skyscraper in an
as-of-yet-undiscovered method of chemical extraction.
The structure itself is a ring that rises above the water and also goes
below, but is largely hollow. The outer ring holds residential and leisure
spaces, and is connected at intervals by bridges that are enclosed underwater
(and one that is open on the water’s surface). Fishing banks made from the
recycled plastic funnel up through the middle of the ring, helping to keep the
structure buoyant.
Honorable Mention: Coal Power Plant Mutation
Chipara Radu Bogdan,
Romania
The incredibly destructive effects that coal plants cause to our natural
environment are well documented and known, but 50,000 plants still operate the
world over every day to power the planet, as green technology has not evolved to
a point where they generate enough energy to replace fossil fuel processes. The
“Coal Power Plant Mutation” project is a proposal for coal factory addendum, a
skyscraper built over an existing factory that can reduce the amounts of harmful
waste that spew from their chimney stacks while we wait for green technologies
to take over.
he skyscraper coal cleansers are comprised of three long, tubular legs that
join are built around the existing factory’s chimneys and meet high in the air
to share a bio-filtering area that also has balloons to capture and hold waste
particles. The structure is made out from multiple carbon-fiber steel props that
are held together by a carbon-fiber steel mesh; the props are anchored in the
existing foundation of the power plant. The chimneys rise 1,000 meters in the
air; as the smokestack pollution rises through the tall skyscraper chimneys,
tubes with various types of air filters with various densities are placed at
different heights. The lower filters for carbon dioxide exhaustion use synthetic
carbon fixation techniques, while filters located higher in the chimneys are
bio-filters. , At the very top, the chimneys are equipped carbon and vapor
capturing and filtering devices that keep the gasses from reaching the
atmosphere. They are made of horizontal air pipes connected only to the
exterior. The vapors condensate on them, and the resulting water is gathered and
distributed back at the base.
The mesh that holds the skyscraper together is covered by a lightweight skin,
a waterproof elastomer that isolates the gasses and vapors that are produced in
the factory. (The skin keeps them separate, as the vapors and gasses mixing
could lead to acid rain.) The skin has an area of 300,000 square meters and is
covered with photovoltaic cells and air quality monitoring sensors.
The skin is also covered in LED lights as an instructive tool that promotes
awareness. Most power plants are located close to cities; the LED lights shine
vertical patterns to make people aware of their power demands and what these
imply. The patterns change according to the inner and outer air quality,
monitored by sensors.
environment are well documented and known, but 50,000 plants still operate the
world over every day to power the planet, as green technology has not evolved to
a point where they generate enough energy to replace fossil fuel processes. The
“Coal Power Plant Mutation” project is a proposal for coal factory addendum, a
skyscraper built over an existing factory that can reduce the amounts of harmful
waste that spew from their chimney stacks while we wait for green technologies
to take over.
he skyscraper coal cleansers are comprised of three long, tubular legs that
join are built around the existing factory’s chimneys and meet high in the air
to share a bio-filtering area that also has balloons to capture and hold waste
particles. The structure is made out from multiple carbon-fiber steel props that
are held together by a carbon-fiber steel mesh; the props are anchored in the
existing foundation of the power plant. The chimneys rise 1,000 meters in the
air; as the smokestack pollution rises through the tall skyscraper chimneys,
tubes with various types of air filters with various densities are placed at
different heights. The lower filters for carbon dioxide exhaustion use synthetic
carbon fixation techniques, while filters located higher in the chimneys are
bio-filters. , At the very top, the chimneys are equipped carbon and vapor
capturing and filtering devices that keep the gasses from reaching the
atmosphere. They are made of horizontal air pipes connected only to the
exterior. The vapors condensate on them, and the resulting water is gathered and
distributed back at the base.
The mesh that holds the skyscraper together is covered by a lightweight skin,
a waterproof elastomer that isolates the gasses and vapors that are produced in
the factory. (The skin keeps them separate, as the vapors and gasses mixing
could lead to acid rain.) The skin has an area of 300,000 square meters and is
covered with photovoltaic cells and air quality monitoring sensors.
The skin is also covered in LED lights as an instructive tool that promotes
awareness. Most power plants are located close to cities; the LED lights shine
vertical patterns to make people aware of their power demands and what these
imply. The patterns change according to the inner and outer air quality,
monitored by sensors.
Honorable Mention: Airport Skyscraper
ZhiYong Hong , XueTing Zhang
China
Ninety-seven percent of Chinese airports will need to be rebuilt by 2020,
according to a recent survey, causing huge implications for cost and land use
issues, and the city of Beijing is currently planning the construction of a
second airport. The designers of the Air@Port propose avoiding using precious
land for new airports by constructing one that is positioned 450 meters in the
air. The airport sits atop the bases of dozens of thin towers that mushroom out
at the top with wide platforms that all connect to support the runways and
airport facilities on top. Locating an airport city so high in the air has many
immediate benefits. Being so high up will mean that there won’t be height
restrictions on the buildings erected on the platform, which will allow for
great stimulation and creativity in the resulting development. Also, because
wind speed is higher 450 meters in the air than it is at sea level, the length
of the runway can be effectively reduced, saving space.
Vertical air buses will transport visitors from the ground (or underground,
if they are arriving via subway) up the stems of the tall structures. In
addition to air transport facilities, this air city will also include a hotel
and commercial, conference and office spaces; these areas are located in the
towers beneath the airport. Passengers can stop anywhere on the air bus ride to
access these other programs.
according to a recent survey, causing huge implications for cost and land use
issues, and the city of Beijing is currently planning the construction of a
second airport. The designers of the Air@Port propose avoiding using precious
land for new airports by constructing one that is positioned 450 meters in the
air. The airport sits atop the bases of dozens of thin towers that mushroom out
at the top with wide platforms that all connect to support the runways and
airport facilities on top. Locating an airport city so high in the air has many
immediate benefits. Being so high up will mean that there won’t be height
restrictions on the buildings erected on the platform, which will allow for
great stimulation and creativity in the resulting development. Also, because
wind speed is higher 450 meters in the air than it is at sea level, the length
of the runway can be effectively reduced, saving space.
Vertical air buses will transport visitors from the ground (or underground,
if they are arriving via subway) up the stems of the tall structures. In
addition to air transport facilities, this air city will also include a hotel
and commercial, conference and office spaces; these areas are located in the
towers beneath the airport. Passengers can stop anywhere on the air bus ride to
access these other programs.
Honorable Mention: Noahs Ark: Sustainable City
Aleksandar Joksimovic, Jelena Nikolic
Serbia
Noah’s Ark is a self-sustainable city on the water that can support all
living species, from humans to animals and fish to plants and trees, that have
been evicted from land by natural disasters, warfare, whatever disasters the end
days may bring. In addition to providing protection from these disasters, the
Ark concept also addresses overcrowding on land: 72% of the earth’s surface is
already covered by water, so extension of the urban city grid onto water is both
logical and useful, as solar, wind and wave energies are easily captured at sea,
and it is these natural energy sources that will power the development.
It is designed as part of a network consisting of other Arks, which connect
with floating underwater tunnels and the main land. As the settlements grow,
the Arks can attach to each other, creating one big artificial mainland from a
series of artificial islands.A large number of flexible cables connect the
island to the ocean’s bottom, providing stability, and an external wall as
tall as 64 meters protects the island from hard sea winds and tsunamis.
When emergencies of grave severity arise, residents can retreat to bubbles
inside the depths of the islands for
protection.
Underneath the island, great turbines attached to the bottom convert ocean
currents to energy, and artificial coral coats the surfaces, encouraging the
development of new ecosystems.As a settlement, the Ark has everything residents
need for comfort: residences, offices, recreation areas, parks and forests, and
beaches. There is also a reserve for animals.
living species, from humans to animals and fish to plants and trees, that have
been evicted from land by natural disasters, warfare, whatever disasters the end
days may bring. In addition to providing protection from these disasters, the
Ark concept also addresses overcrowding on land: 72% of the earth’s surface is
already covered by water, so extension of the urban city grid onto water is both
logical and useful, as solar, wind and wave energies are easily captured at sea,
and it is these natural energy sources that will power the development.
It is designed as part of a network consisting of other Arks, which connect
with floating underwater tunnels and the main land. As the settlements grow,
the Arks can attach to each other, creating one big artificial mainland from a
series of artificial islands.A large number of flexible cables connect the
island to the ocean’s bottom, providing stability, and an external wall as
tall as 64 meters protects the island from hard sea winds and tsunamis.
When emergencies of grave severity arise, residents can retreat to bubbles
inside the depths of the islands for
protection.
Underneath the island, great turbines attached to the bottom convert ocean
currents to energy, and artificial coral coats the surfaces, encouraging the
development of new ecosystems.As a settlement, the Ark has everything residents
need for comfort: residences, offices, recreation areas, parks and forests, and
beaches. There is also a reserve for animals.
