The Sky's The Limit

Each year, architecture and design journal eVolo challenges designers to come up with creative ideas for building vertical living space.  The entries are scored on their innovative use of current and future technologies which would provide living space which is both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sustainable.  The results often look like something dreamed up for a science fiction or fantasy movie.

The results of the 2013 eVolo Skyscraper Competition have just been announced, with three named winners and 24 listed honorable mentions out of the 625 projects which were submitted from 83 countries across the world.

The top three design winners as reported in their press release this week:

“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 Maïkoff 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.”

Check out more information about each of these designs as well as renderings and descriptions of six of the designs which received honorable mentions on the eVolo website.  You may also read about some of the design winners from 2012 which Jim Kollaer pointed out last year.

While these may seem like pure fantasy, perhaps some may lead to actual advancements.  After all, fifty years ago who could have imagined high-speed bullet trains, the International Space Station, world-wide communication via phones that we carry in our pockets, or even a World Wide Web with sites such as Construction Citizen?  Imaginative minds like the ones that came up with these skyscraper designs – that’s who!



Renderings courtesy of eVolo