Levitated Broadway – Los Angeles
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Kaiyu Xi, Fan Wu
United States
Broadway in downtown Los Angeles was one of the
most famous street in United States and had the highest concentration of
cinemas in the world by 1930s. The ornamental baroque style theaters witnessed
the prosperity of Broadway in the past. However, with the decline of downtown
and the migration of entertainment industry to Hollywood, Broadway became an
abandoned area in downtown and is perceived as a
dangerous location at night. This proposal is aimed to
revitalize the Broadway theater district and explore a universal strategy to
preserve and renovate the historic downtown area.
The decay of downtown is an inevitable problem for
most U.S big cities. The crowded street, outdated infrastructure, poor
building condition, lack of public space and messed environment all become the
reason to push people away from these areas, where finally became the shelter
for filth and crimes. To overthrow this vicious circle, besides preserving
historic buildings, we must inject new programs and create more
public space to make these areas dynamic again.
“Levitated Broadway” is a plan to create a new
Broadway floating on the top of existing buildings and parking lots. Instead of
demolishing the historic building, we can find more space in the between and on
the top of existing buildings, which provides us enough space to insert new
programs and create more public space in an already high-density community. The
design uses lightweight steel truss grid to fill in the negative space of
existing buildings and extend the concrete core of these buildings to support
the whole structure system. The open structure allows light and wind to
penetrate the whole building and creates a dynamic vertical street space. Along
the sky street facing Broadway, we insert boutiques, café, restaurants, bars
and a large amount of activity and green space. On the backside, we create a
new performing arts complex including large theater, music hall, cinema,
rehearsal rooms, live-house and outdoor music stage on a pervious parking lot.
The performing arts complex will be the center of future Broadway and revive
the cultural activities of this area. It’s said that
Broadway is the hidden gem to Los Angeles. The design is
aimed to find this jewellery back and polish
it to make it even brighter than before. Read the rest of this
entry »
Sand Dam: Anti-desertification
Skyscraper
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Jiangchen Hu, Yining Bei, Xiayu Zhao, Mingwen Zhang
China
The “Sand Dam”, built in the edge of Cairo, Egypt
that border the desert, is a wall which blocks the
blowing sand or even the sandstorms. In addition to alleviating the land
desertification and the inconvenience of people’s
life caused by the blowing sand and the Khamsīn,
the “Sand Dam” can also slow down the urban expansion due to the overpopulation
of Cairo. Khamsīn , more commonly known in Egypt as khamaseen,
is a dry, hot, sandy local wind, blowing from the south, in North Africa and
the Arabian Peninsula.
The“Sand Dam”is a high-rise which
can move regularly because of the tank track at the bottom of the huge racks
and walls. The huge dam can be called as an anti-desertification wall, as it
can increase the city area as well as the cultivated area by moving outwards
until the soil inside the wall reaches steady state. With this process happens
periodically, people can make use of the sandstorm and the Khamsīn
in Egypt to get the wind power. Moreover, a cement factory built in the middle
of the “Sand Dam” can also take advantage of the local materials, which may
solve the employment problem in the slum area. Read the rest of this
entry »
The Urban Lung: Timber Skyscraper
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Ryan Gormley
United Kingdom
The beginning of the Timber Age
Can high rise architecture act as a mechanism to
manifest low carbon materials and environmental design principles allowing our
cities to breathe?
In recent years, the scarcity of natural resources
tied with a push for greener construction methodologies has started to change
perceptions of mass timber construction systems. Global Government and industry
led initiatives into improving the sustainability and Carbon efficiencies of
construction partnered with technological advancements in timber technologies
will result in a rise of tall timber structures. The project explores the
possibilities of using timber for the creation of high rise
architecture by carefully considering material sourcing, structural
performance, environment, digital design and off site fabrication issues.
Implementing prefabricated timber systems not only reduces carbon emissions
when compared with steel and concrete, but instead
captures embodied carbon within the timber itself. The rule of thumb is that an
average 1m3 of timber can store 1 ton of co2. This means that architectural
interventions within the built environment can act as Carbon sinks thus
improving the sustainability of our cities. Read the rest of this
entry »
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Kartik Misra, Krishan
Sharma, Dewesh Agrawal, Kritika
Kharbanda
India
This is a skyscraper that
aims to rejuvenate the indigenous salt farming community of the great Rann in Gujarat, India, namely, the Agariyas.
The project seeks to become an architectural epitome that caters to the future
and ambitions of the region by utilizing the abundant salt as the building
block of the community’s macrocosm.An ecological and
social renaissance for the people of the cursed land has been sought for by
providing them a structure which endeavours
to achieve better opportunities for the people.
THE WHITE DESOLATION
The vast expanse of the salt marsh is characterized by myriad salt pans disseminated with makeshift shacks. Inter societal
islands arise due to isolated pattern of settlement. An absolute absence of
social and physical infrastructure is observed which
renders the community incapable of mutual learning. Deteriorating health
because of long exposure to immense salt and solar concentration further
intensifies it. The salt marsh betrays the community every monsoon, because the
fields become completely submerged in water, making
annual migration necessary.
HABITAT ASSIMILATION
The project induces community interaction and interdependence, coupled with
efficient service delivery. Standard, systematic and non-intermittent salt
production throughout the year due to juxtaposed functions
which provide ease in the output cycle. Integration of vacuum
evaporation plant with the building gives rise to an effortless method of production.
Forging a resilient, permanent and sustainable setup with increased dependence
of solar power creates a heterogeneous yet admissible ecosystem for the
community. An increment in the efficiency of salt production from solar
evaporation through introduction of novel methodology, machinery and community
training boosts the comprehensive output. Read the rest of this entry »
Civilization 0.000:
Floating Power Station
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Dimo Ivanov
Switzerland
Story
Civilization 0.000 is a high tech structure, placed at Cape Horn in Southern Chile, that uses locally available renewable energy sources
to generate electricity. Making use of the ample wind, wave, and tidal energy
of this region, the structure would utilize a combination of 19 wind turbines,
4 wave power plants, and 6 tidal power turbines to create 100 million kWh of
renewable energy each year. However the electricity
production is only one of many important functions such as living space,
education, resource management, energy storage, research and engineering.
Cape Horn – The first 0.000 unit
The first ever designed 0.000 unit will be placed at
Cape Horn, the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of
southern Chile. This unit will be specialized in generating electricity. If we take a look on the global energy maps, we’ll recognize the
enormous amount of wind-, wave-, and tidal energy concentrated in this area.
The choice to design the first 0.000 unit there is almost self-explanatory.
Design
Form follows force – There are three main forces, that
define the whole structure – wind, wave & tidal energy. Through a series of
different experiments and optimizations according its aqua- and aerodynamic
features, the building is composed of three main structural and functional
areas – tower, platform & tidal power station. Read
the rest of this entry »
Honorable Mention
2018 Skyscraper Competition
Estelle Filliat,
Charlotte Ferreux, Duc
Truong, Elias Vogel
France
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The armed conflicts raging for several months are deteriorating an already
critical situation. In addition to causing terrible human suffering, these
attacks are destroying Yemen’s unique cultural heritage, which is the
repository of people’s identity. Yemen has architectural masterpieces. Shibam is probably the most emblematic example of them. The
16th-century Walled City of Shibam remains the oldest
metropolis in the world to use vertical construction,
this construction is called « tower houses». The mud-brick high-rises, which
stretch up to seven stories high, were constructed
from the fertile soil surrounding the city. One of Unesco’s
experts, Jacques Heyman, stresses the urgency of the situation : «Today almost nothing has been done to stop the
ruin of this city, which is accelerating. If Shibalm
is not restored immediately there won’t be much left to restore in 10 years’
time ». It seemed essential to put a spotlight on this threatened city. We must reverse the situation !
The idea is not to resolve an international
conflict but to project into a peaceful future. The idea is to propose a
sustainable extension of the city of Shibam. The
development of the city is both constrained by its ramparts and by the
constructive boundary of the mud-brick. The extension of the city is limited
both horizontally and vertically. The only possible solution is in the ground
itself. The idea is to dig the existing streets. The new Shibam,
a natural extension of tower houses, are all roots that directly use the
richness of the ground : the heat of the depths, the
water of the groundwater, the thermal inertia of the ground, the mud as
material and the depths as architecture. The tower is
extended from a tower-house to a true skyscraper. Using existing
resources under the city, Shibam steers clear from
Yemen’s extreme import dependence. Read the rest
of this entry
»