Honorable Mention
2021 Skyscraper Competition
Zhang Zhenpeng, Feng Jialu
China
The Nagorno-Karabakh region in West Asia is generally recognized by the international community as a part of Azerbaijan, but it is controlled by Armenians. Since 1988, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been disputed over the ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia reached an agreement on a comprehensive ceasefire. However, the two countries have been hostile over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. On September 27, 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan broke out into a military conflict. The war caused a large number of casualties on both sides of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Half of the people in the Nagorno-Karabakh region lost their homes. The city was bombed and destroyed. Social security was chaotic. People had to flee to bunkers, dungeons, and churches. They were worried that they would die at any time. A church in Shusha has experienced destruction, the interior of the church is incomplete. Both sides of the war claim sovereignty here. 200 civilians took refuge here at the beginning of the war. During the war, a couple still insisted on holding a wedding in the church.
The church has changed hands several times, sometimes as an Islamic space and sometimes as a Christian space. No matter what kind of space it is, space is meaningless, and its meaning comes from life. People left their lives and plunged into war, forgetting the beauty of life’s common expectations and longings. However, people can pursue the common meaning in the Synonym Tower, whether it is truth, goodness, beauty, or divinity, the authentic form aims to erase all forms. There is no mosque or Christian church here, so the building achieves the ultimate meaning of its generation and construction—carrying all lives and manifesting the public meaning, that is, the meaning of peace.
Synonym Tower is made of construction waste caused by the war. A large amount of construction waste is difficult to transport and recycle. The concrete, stones, masonry, muck, bricks, asphalt, sand, glass, metal, plastic, etc. Reuse of wood, organic matter, etc. is feasible. The recycling rate of this type of waste can reach up to 90% in developed countries. It can not be completely recycled in war-torn areas, but these wastes can be processed simply, such as dust removal, harmlessness, and solidification to build a safe space for the people in Shusha.
Besides, constructors of Synonym Tower are the belligerents. The construction process itself was a process of communication and cooperation. People were able to stop fighting and turn to build buildings. In this process, peace will also be built. In addition to providing basic asylum, housing, and other functions for refugees, Synonym Tower itself also exists as a memorial to the war. It contains functions such as assembly, memorial, prayer, discussion, and meeting. The vertical space of the tower is divided into 5 stages: Aggregation, Knowing Differences, Forgetting, Knowing Similarity, and Unity. People’s spirits and souls will be baptized and sublimated and they will say the same word, which is peace.
