Now in its fourth year running, the eVolo Skyscraper Competition takes future-forward architecture to its breaking point, unveiling a stunning array of new structural concepts by architects, engineers, and designers. The latest crop of entries is up, and Daekwon Park’s Symbiotic Interlock goes far beyond the standard skyscraper to envision a total renovation of inner-city infrastructure. The pitch: it’s modular, prefabricated, and completely symbiotic on the existing vertical infrastructure of the city.
Skyscrapers are one of the modern city’s most ideologically charged structures. Dominating the skyline, they captivate and articulate a wealth of ideals while anchoring a city’s social fabric. As the world’s population increases and cities stretch to accommodate it, these structures will become increasingly important in sustaining this massive influx. Out of necessity, they will have to evolve. eVolo Architecture was founded in 2003 by a group of international architects in NYC and hosts a yearly contest dedicated to rethinking the skyscraper in radical new ways. The only requirement: “Designs must be technologically feasible and environmentally responsible.”
Daekwon Park created Symbiotic Interlock “to reunite the isolated city blocks and insert a multi-layer network of public space, green space and nodes for the city”. It comprises a system of stackable modules that are designed to add an extra layer of infrastructure to existing buildings via sky docks and bridges, vertical gardens, cultural spaces, and energy producing wind turbines. It addresses some of the shortcomings of green roofs by internalizing green environments within its biomorphic structure while contributing functionality, energy, and food. It may not have beaten the competition, but its symbiotic integration with existing buildings struck us as a brilliant brand of future-forward thinking within the present era.
+ evolo-arch.com
Via treehugger.com via Pruned
This realy looks great and is a great source of inspiration for me. As a parasite it uses some essentials from the excisting structures. Though the design is not my taste, the idea is great; creating sub-communities in large scale communities. Actually downscaling the city…
But hugo, as you see from the photos only beautiful people can live inside of these structures
I think this would be a disaster for our cities – both visually and socially. Hugo is right. They are parasitic and they look the part. I can’t imagine the crime that would occur on those sky bridges. And I just don’t think these are green at all. I know there are wind turbines here and there and some sky gardens but that’s doesn’t nearly come close to off-setting the resources needed to make these and the extra energy they are drawing from their hosts. And all that structure for hardly any programmable space – who would pay for that? Anyway, let’s get past the cool imagery and criticize it for what it is.
By far, one of the ugliest Sustainable Skyscrapers I have ever seen. Looks like a beehive for humans.
How do I enter into the competition? Exciting stuff!
While I\’m not sold on the vertical structures themselves, I do like the idea of sky bridges. The idea that one can get to a building a few blocks away simply by going through the bridges means a lot of time saved by not getting on an elevator, going down, walking on the sidewalks and having to stop for traffic at each intersection, and then getting on an elevator to get to the floor you needed to be on in the building. Sky bridges are a great idea and I think they deserve further study in their wider adoption throughout a city structure.
Hi Scott,
Archicool has a post outlining what the submission process was like for the 2008 contest. Since it’s a yearly competition, I’d imagine the next contest will fall along a similar timeline (October – March). We’ll be sure to post updates as the year progresses. Best of luck!
http://www.archicool.com/cgi-bin/presse/pg-newspro.cgi?id_news=3466
Mike – Thanks for posting this competition, it’s made happy [and inspired] reading this evening. K.
PL- what kinds of crimes do you speak of?
And what would make you say they’re not green?
…I would pay for that.
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I think I prefer these fantastic structures to the skyscrapers they are attempting to connect. Perhaps they could grow organically and evolve into elevated nests where the villages similar to the arboreal societies of our past could flourish, up above the floor of the (concrete) jungle.
I think its trying to make more of a statement than be practical so in that sense it would be more sustainable to not even have them around!
I have to question if daekwon park had answered his own question of reuniting isolated city blocks, how well he answered to his own question. I will say no. I still see strong emphasis on vericality, programtically impractical, and structually non-sensical, acutally very dangerous. I will say he has the decieving ideas that seems like he had answered his own question of reuniting. He stated that today’s urban spaces are very fragmented, limited and unkind to nature, and he wanted to reunite thecity blocks, provide green space, and nodes for the city. However, what he had created is even more fragmented, even to the vertical diration. This adds another problem added to the current isolation of skyscrapers in horizontal direciton. His design has very limited access both in vertically and horizontally. He just added another problems, rather than solving what’s currently exists.
I wonder where he came up with this form. But what i see is that he came accross this form randomly, and have randomly placed green ideas. Randomly placing grass does not mean green. Also, can you guys imagin all the vibration and noise from the wind turbine ? This will certainly damage it’s own structure also the adjacent builinsg attaced by the bridge. I will say he had decieved the judges with interesting form when he himself did not answered to his questions, rather creating even more drastic problems.
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Great idea for these eye catching tall buildings. However, i\\\’d agree with hugo regarding the design of these symbiotic interlock. Functionally, it would be of great help, however it wont look good on all buildings. Imagine how a city would look like having these symbiotic interlock ideas. It would kinda look boring seeing similar structures connected on several buildings. Its maybe because of how it looks like which made me not like this idea but being id give it two thumbs up it being environmentally helpful.
BTW, i was wondering if i could get pictures from this site. Is there by any chance someone i can talk to who would give me pictures? Thanks in advance
Im making a report on Daekwon Parks’ Superstructure for Sutainable Skyscrapers and if any moderator or anyone that can be able to send me these pictures to my email would be of great help. I have tried emailing several people however no one seems to reply. Many Thanks. BTW, my email is miks232000@yahoo.com Thanks again
-mikko
I think the criticisms are a bit overblown: if you look at pictures 3 and 4 of the slide show, programmatic space is included. And the ratio of programmatic to non is adjustable due to the systems modular nature.
The charge of ugliness is a bit more serious. My first thought on seeing the article was to remember the external infrastructure added to older buildings in BLADE RUNNER, and that wasn’t pretty; this would be best used in high-rise areas where the buildings aren’t built for aesthetics to begin with.