by Brianna Crandall — March 22, 2013—The eVolo architecture and design journal has announced the winners of its eVolo 2013 Skyscraper Competition. The award was established in 2006 to recognize outstanding ideas for vertical living. Since then, the publication has received more than 5,000 projects that envision the future of building high. These ideas, 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, says the magazine.
For 2013, the awards jury comprised of leaders of the architecture and design fields selected three winners and 24 honorable mentions. The magazine received 625 projects from all continents and 83 different countries. The winners were selected for their creativity, ingenuity, and understanding of dynamic and adaptive vertical communities.
The first place was awarded to Derek Pirozzi from the United States, for his project “Polar Umbrella.” The proposal is a buoyant skyscraper that rebuilds the arctic ice caps by reducing the surface’s heat gain and freezing ocean water. In addition, the super-structure is equipped with a desalinization plant and solar powered research facilities and eco-tourist attractions.
The recipients of the second place are Darius Makoff and Elodie Godo from France, for their “Phobia Skyscraper.” The project seeks to revitalize an abandoned industrial area of Paris, France, through an ingenious system of prefabricated housing units. Its modularity allows for a differentiation of various programs and evolution in time.
The third place was awarded to Ting Xu and Yiming Chen from China, for their project “Light Park,” a floating skyscraper that takes new development within large cities to the sky. The project allows for a continuous growth of the world’s mega-cities by providing adequate infrastructure, housing, commercial, and recreational areas.
The honorable mentions include several projects that explore a sustainable urban future including a pH conditioner skyscraper that resembles a jellyfish and purifies polluted air or a volcano skyscraper that harvests geothermal energy. Some projects explore new frontiers such as a proposed network of skyscrapers in the stratosphere, a cluster of artificial islands that create the 7th continent in the Pacific Ocean, and nomad skyscrapers that terraform Mars. Other honorable mentions include morphing structures and digital explorations among many more ideas that look into the future of our natural and built environments.
To commemorate the award, eVolo published a collector’s edition of its highly acclaimed book eVolo Skyscrapers. The book is a two-volume, 1300-page set with the best 300 projects the magazine has received since 2006. Only 150 copies are available worldwide.
