THE future of skyscrapers is not set in stone, concrete or steel – instead, they might be made out of coral-like materials or inspired by silkworms.
An annual competition run by eVolo Magazine has attracted some of the wacky and wildest designs for future skyscrapers.
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Here are the winners:
Urban Intercropping
In first place was the Chinese skyscraper pitch called Urban Intercropping, put forward by Penghao Zhao et al (and others).
The design uses a sophisticated planting system which can preserve air quality in metropolitan areas.
Architects have suggested using specific plants that naturally suck-up the most CO2, and produce the most oxygen – so even city-slickers can enjoy fresh air.
The Streamline Concerto
In second place was the Streamline Concerto, another Chinese design from Jianwei Zhu et al.
Instead of a continuous climb upward, architects have suggested that skyscrapers may not develop vertically.
Instead, these buildings may be long, sprawling constructions that extend in any direction on the ground.
The team have designed a skyscraper to run along the bank of the Yellow River, the second-longest river in China, in an effort to stop bank erosion.
The skyscraper will have homes built into the river bank, securing it so it doesn’t wash away over time.
Ocean Lungs skyscraper
Some 1000 meters beneath the ocean surface, this skyscraper has dozens of spherical pods that grant inhabitants amazing views of the sea.
The Ocean Lungs skyscraper has been created by Mohammed Noeman Coutry et al, a team of architects from Egypt.
They designed it to be constructed out of eco-friendly concrete infused with aragonite – a key component in coral skeletons.
Self-replicating structures and disaster hotels
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Silkworm Skyscraper: Self-Replicating Hotel
This bizarre “self-replicating” hotel, from Iran-based HSH Design Studio, has been inspired by silkworm cocoons.
“The general geometry of the hotel skyscraper is derived from a standing cube like a silkworm cocoon suspended to create diverse and experimental spatial qualities,” the team wrote.
Like the Streamline Concerto idea, a skyscraper that sprawls out horizontally, the team at HSH Design Studio believe their structure can extend both upwards and sideways.
“Silkworm cocoon fiber composites with white color and elliptical shape as a replicable structure provide the possibility to expand the hotel in horizontal and vertical dimensions, if desirable, without the need for land demolition and new constructions,” they added.
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Cloud Net Above The Three Gorges
When cities eventually run out of space for more skyscrapers, designers are expected turn to unlikely corners of the world – like gorges and dams.
Chinese designers Zhengsheng Pu, Bingrui Liu and Jingxiang Hong et al have drawn up the world’s largest hydro-power project.
It’s a high-rise building design with a lightweight mesh structure, that looks like giant spiderwebs attached to large cranes.
How you would maneuver around this structure is unclear, but it was ranked fourth by the magazine.
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Memory Drop Skyscraper
The Memory Drop skyscraper is a breathtaking coastal structure that looks set to be a new six-star hotel.
From Germany designers Pablo Allen Vizan and Inma Herves González, the skyscraper is inspired by time capsules.
It has lots of rooms that access an inner-core of the sphere where the ‘memory drop’ hangs the lowest.
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Disaster Response and Regeneration Island
This apocalypse-proof hotel was designed with Japan in mind, an island nation that is subject to various unforgiving natural disasters.
Chinese designers Yinuo Zhang, Jialu Huang Binbin Ye and Ya Yu said the “mobile regeneration island” can move in real time according to the location of the disaster.
“We adopt a spiral turntable structure, and adjust the shape by rotation, so that the regeneration island can respond flexibly in different situations,” the team explained.
The skyscraper is more than just homes, or a hotel, but an entire city with school classrooms, supermarkets, officers.
Residents travel through the tower using an elevator system, where they can travel from the large gardens at the top to the islanded areas at the bottom.
