eVolo Magazine created this award in 2006 to celebrate outstanding ideas for vertical living. Architects and designers submit their designs, using innovations in technology, aesthetics, and materials to challenge current views about vertical architecture, and give us a glimpse as to the future of highrise living. They’ve received thousands of submissions, and last July, the jury–comprised of leaders in design and architecture–chose three winners, which were announced today:
First Place: BOMP, for Essence Skycraper
Ewa Odyjas, Agnieszka Morga, Konrad Basan, and Jakub Pudo are the creative minds at BOMP in Poland. Their conceptual design, “Essence Skyscraper”, is a massive urban structure that blends architecture with the idea of a “secret garden”. The building is divided into 11 natural landscapes that integrate visual, acoustic, thermal, and olfactory experiences ranging from jungles and caves to arctic areas and waterfalls to create a sky-high, living adventure tower.
Second Place: Suraksha Bhatla and Sharan Sundar, for Shanty-Scraper
India’s slum population is expected to reach 104 million within the next two years, and the “Shanty-Scraper”, designed by Suraksha Bhatla and Sharan Sundar, is a vertical tower proposal that can combat the slum’s urban sprawl by sheltering its residents vertically. Using post-construction debris and other recycled, reclaimed materials such as timber and thatch, the tower can house many people at minimal cost, providing vital shelter for the families in the low-income fishing community.
Third Place: Egor Orlov, for Cybertopia
Egor Orlov imagined the city of the future as one that morphs and evolves according to the needs of its inhabitants. Blending digital and physical worlds, his “Cybertopia” tower would have elements created by 3D printing or construction by drones, aspects that are comprised of light and graphics, and high-speed trains that move citizens across the city in record time. Homes could grow or reduce organically according to the residents’ needs, and online worlds (like computer game landscapes) would meld into the “real” world.
Congratulations again to these three winners, and also to the 15 honorable mentions!
+ eVolo Magazine
