eVolo Magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the 2018 Skyscraper Competition. The Jury selected 3 winners and 27 honorable mentions from 526 projects received. The annual award established in 2006 recognizes visionary ideas- projects that through the novel novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.
The FIRST PLACE was awarded to Skyshelter.zip designed by Damian Granosik, Jakub Kulisa, and Piotr Pańczyk from Poland. The project is a foldable skyscraper inspired by origami that could be easily transported and deployed in disaster zones.
Jinja: Shinto Shrine Skyscraper designed by Tony Leung from Hong Kong received the SECOND PLACE. The project aims to restore the traditional interactions between a Shinto Shrine and the local people- an urban building for rice farming, spiritual meditation, and community development.
The recipient of the THIRD PLACE is Claudio C. Araya Arias from Chile for the project Waria Lemuy: Fire Prevention Skyscraper. This proposal envisions a new prototype for vertical housing in areas damaged by wild fires in Chile. The project makes use of passive systems to mitigate wind and disperse water to prevent new fires.
The honorable mentions include Sandscrapers that prevent desertification, floating skyscrapers that transform ocean water into fresh water, towers that collect fog in arid regions, 3-D printed buildings, and volcano skyscrapers among other visionary proposals.