eVolo Magazine’s annual skyscraper competition pushes the boundaries of vertical architecture, promoting designs that challenge traditional tall buildings and their impact on our environment. These visionary ideas bridge the gap between science fiction and sustainable solutions, showing how skyscrapers can be environmental conservational streams in urban landscapes.
The 2024 winner, "Urban Intercropping," exemplifies this approach. A skyscraper connecting farmland into its actual plan. This system uses modular vertical farms stacked on top of each other, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in the city. It reduces reliance on long-distance food transport, reducing carbon footprint and encourages fresh, locally sourced materials for urban infrastructure. They intend to use the “untapped potential” of gaps between high rise towers that can maximize use of daylight, resources and space for agriculture.
Another concept, "Ocean Lungs Skyscraper," addresses the issue of ocean acidification. This system envisions an elevated structure that draws in and purifies polluted seawater and acts as a giant filter. It uses biomimicry, mimicking the natural filtering process of marine life to simulate the coral reefs of the sea, to purify the water and return it to the sea healthier than before.This project proposes a kilometer deep underwater skyscraper designed to filter the CO2 excess in the oceans by using the latest carbon capture technology. This not only combats ocean acidification but also restores marine life . The ocean lungs are a floating skyscraper, anchored to the ocean floor by a buoy that allows it to float just below the ocean floor.
A Chinese architect proposed "Cloud Net Above the Three Gorges" . It offers solutions for the future of clean energy production. This huge structure extends over the large area of the three gorges and captures water from the sky through a network of meshes.The collected water is then used to generate hydroelectricity, providing a clean and sustainable source of energy for the vast surrounding area. The construction of the three gorges dam altered the ecology of the river segment and this project envisions restoring biological peace to the reservoir area.
The "Memory Drop Skyscraper" stands out for its focus on preserving collective memories. This system creates a large digital memory archive, which is accessible to everyone. By protecting this information, it fosters a sense of connection across generations and cultures, and promotes sustainable social design in a changing urban environment. They propose their location as a place of pilgrimage, a recollection of an experience accessible once a year, at point nemo, the point farthest away from the mainland.
“So all those moments will be recorded in time, like drops in sea. Time to remind.”
eVolo magazine's skyscraper competition seeks to change the way skyscrapers interact with the environment. They focus on programs that promote environmental protection in cities, aiming to make these tall buildings positive contributions to the health of the city’s environment, and they want to break the established trend of generating high carbon footprint towers by reversing these effects through their participants’ designs.
Commentaires