Special Mention
2009 Skyscraper Competition
Joanna Borek-Clement
United States
Creating a New Green Layer of Urban Life for Tokyo
Research has shown that strenuous physical activity in polluted cities increases our chance of breathing harmful particles. Sky-Terra is a new level of plazas for Tokyo. They are elevated 1,600 feet above ground and are formed by the roofs of individual skyscrapers joined together to structurally support each other- allowing for smaller footprints. Each building is a module able to be reconfigured in a variety of spatial patterns that could be implemented in any metropolis worldwide.
Sky-Terra bridges over the existing high-density conglomeration of Tokyo. The transportation system in the ‘plazas’ is designed for pedestrians, electric cars, and bicycles. Everyone will enjoy clean air in this virtually endless park in the sky. The green roofs recollect rainwater for landscape irrigation.
Each skyscraper consists of three main elements: a structural core for vertical circulation, office space wrapped around it with structural ‘fins’, and the sky-plaza. These fins are also the main structural support for the sky-plaza and are directly attached to the core and the foundation. The system of plazas is connected by two types of circulation: pedestrian pathways and roads for electric cars and bicycles.
Creating new gathering spaces for the community is essential and difficult in existing cities. Two important elements for Sky-Terra are its amphitheatres and pools. Located at the plaza level, they are designed to instill and promote the quality of social life. The structure of Sky-Terra allows the development of a variety of public gathering spaces to suit the social demands of any city.
Sky-Terra was inspired by neurons that create a lattice system of interdependency between cells. Its design was also influenced by the layout of intersecting paths and public areas throughout the gardens of palaces in France.
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