Special Mention
2010 Skyscraper Competition
Rocky Marchant, Ergin Birinci
United Kingdom
Damascus was voted the Arab Capital of Culture in 2008, and is also the capital of Syria. In it’s past it has been the capital of empires and located at the centre of the silk route and has always been a hive of trading. Because of this it is very proud of it’s historical context and is trying to improve it’s cultural and business facilities.
The site chosen is at the centre of the New City, at the junction of the business and cultural axis. Because of this there is a great desire for development in this area. Having a train station and university as a neighbor emphasizes the demand for development, especially as at the moment there is no clear connection between the station, the university and the sports facilities
The main idea is to join these axes and to create a new area for the business area to expand, while the cultural and leisure activities are integrated into it.
The new project will create a new route which will gather users from the train station, university and sports complex through ventilated and well shaded passages, also it will create a new link between them.
This scheme consists of a new underground and train station, a hotel, shopping mall, souks, mixed use office / residential and leisure spaces, and a tower which includes the same as well as creating a new route between them.
Damascus is suffering from very high for centuries. The difference today is that the environment is becoming more dry and desert-like while the city is growing intensely. This growth is resulting in a loss of oasis which is a life source for the city. These issues highlight the importance of having an environmental strategy. The buildings we propose developed from a ventilation strategy which helps to cool the building and gets rid of the hot air inside the building by using technical cooling towers and stack effect. The wind which comes from the NW and SW will be gathered by the Western Edges of the building and pushed into the double skin system which will allow for the cooling of the building. The towers will be used to gather the hot air inside the building and push it out through ventilation funnels.
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