Eco-towers high above the Amazon, desert cities made from sand and towers that shoot planes into the air: Designers reveal the future of skyscrapers

  • Contest asked designers to come up with a detailed plan for a sustainable city
  • Amazon tower would keep an eye out for fires - and dispatch drones to deal with them
  • One tower could launch planes from its centre using a maglev track

By Mark Prigg

PUBLISHED: 18:40 EST, 24 March 2014 | UPDATED: 08:41 EST, 25 March 2014

Dramatic new designs for skyscrapers ranging from a huge 'eco-tower; in the Amazon rainforest to a design with a movable roof based on a Koreen home have been revealed as part of a design contest.

The eVolo Magazine 2014 Skyscraper Competition shows off a range of unique designs, including a desert tower made from sand.

It also includes a 'city in the sky' for Detroit, and a Sky Village for Los Angeles.

The Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper,a Chinese design to help montor forests for fires and conduct experiments high above the treeline.

The Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper,a Chinese design to help montor forests for fires and conduct experiments high above the treeline.

eVolo Magazine received 525 projects from 43 countries in all continents.

The Jury, formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields selected 3 winners and 20 honorable mentions.

One of the winners, The Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper, consists of a water tower, a forest fire station, a weather station, and scientific research and education laboratories. It stands still at the Amazon’s frontier, preventing fires effectively by capturing rainwater in the rainy season and irrigating the land in the dry season.

The lotus-shaped water tower is capable of capturing rainwater directly.

 

More...

The collected water is filtered and stored in spare reservoirs. Using capillarity combined with active energy, the aerial roots with a distinct sponge-structure can absorb and store the excess water without disturbing the Amazon’s ecosystem.

In the case of fire, firefighters fly to the scene and extinguish the fire with the collected water.

In addition, the Guardian Skyscraper provides special scientific research laboratories for scientists to monitor the climate change and the ecosystem stability.

The laboratories also act as exhibition spaces for tourists to create environmental awareness.

Honorable Mention. Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper. Jie Huang, Jin Wei, Qiaowan Tang, Yiwei Yu, Zhe Hao (China)
Honorable Mention. Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper. Jie Huang, Jin Wei, Qiaowan Tang, Yiwei Yu, Zhe Hao (China)

How it works: The Rainforest Guardian Skyscraper, consists of a water tower, a forest fire station, a weather station, and scientific research and education laboratories

First place was awarded to Yong Ju Lee from the United States for his project 'Vernacular Versatility'.

The proposal reinterprets traditional Korean architecture in a contemporary mixed-use high-rise.

Hanok is the named used to describe a traditional Korean house.

The curved edge of the roof can be adjusted to control the amount of sunlight entering the house while the core structural element is a wooden connection named Gagu.

The Gagu is located below the main roof system where the column meets the beam and girder and it is fastened without the need of any additional parts such as nails – this connection is one of the main aesthetic characteristics of traditional Korean architecture.

An electromagnetic vertical accelerator, utilizing the technological principles developed at CERN¿s LHC and maglev train propulsion, the Launchspire provides a method for commercial aircraft to be accelerated to cruising speed using renewable electrical energy sources from ground based infrastructure

An electromagnetic vertical accelerator, utilizing the technological principles developed at CERN¿s LHC and maglev train propulsion, the Launchspire provides a method for commercial aircraft to be accelerated to cruising speed using renewable electrical energy sources from ground based infrastructure

Sand Babel is a group of ecological structures designed as scientific research facilities and tourist attractions for the desert. The structures are divided into two parts. The first part, above ground, consists of several independent structures for a desert community while the second part is partially underground and partially above ground connecting several buildings and creating a multi-functional tube network system. The main portion of each building is constructed with sand, sintered through a solar-powered 3D printer.

Sand Babel is a group of ecological structures designed as scientific research facilities and tourist attractions for the desert. The structures are divided into two parts. The first part, above ground, consists of several independent structures for a desert community while the second part is partially underground and partially above ground connecting several buildings and creating a multi-functional tube network system. The main portion of each building is constructed with sand, sintered through a solar-powered 3D printer.

The second place was awarded to Mark Talbot and Daniel Markiewicz from the United States for his project “Car and Shell: or Marinetti’s Monster” which proposes a city in the sky for Detroit, MI.

The recipients of the third place are YuHao Liu and Rui Wu from Canada for their project 'Propagate Skyscraper' that investigates the structural use of carbon dioxide in skyscrapers.

Some of the honorable mentions include a skyscraper that filters the air of polluted cities, a sky village for Los Angeles, a 3D printed tower in the desert, and a vertical transportation hub among other innovative projects.

First Placein the contest went to Vernacular Versatility by Yong Ju Lee (United States). Hanok is the named used to describe a traditional Korean house. A Hanok is defined by its exposed wooden structural system and tiled roof. The curved edge of the roof can be adjusted to control the amount of sunlight entering the house while the core structural element is a wooden connection named Gagu. The Gagu is located below the main roof system where the column meets the beam and girder and it is fastened without the need of any additional parts such as nails ¿ this connection is one of the main aesthetic characteristics of traditional Korean architecture.

First Placein the contest went to Vernacular Versatility by Yong Ju Lee (United States). Hanok is the named used to describe a traditional Korean house. A Hanok is defined by its exposed wooden structural system and tiled roof. The curved edge of the roof can be adjusted to control the amount of sunlight entering the house while the core structural element is a wooden connection named Gagu. The Gagu is located below the main roof system where the column meets the beam and girder and it is fastened without the need of any additional parts such as nails ¿ this connection is one of the main aesthetic characteristics of traditional Korean architecture.

The second place was awarded to Mark Talbot and Daniel Markiewicz from the United States for his project ¿Car and Shell: or Marinetti¿s Monster¿ which proposes a city in the sky for Detroit, MI.

The second place was awarded to Mark Talbot and Daniel Markiewicz from the United States for his project ¿Car and Shell: or Marinetti¿s Monster¿ which proposes a city in the sky for Detroit, MI.



Comments (24)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

I'm wondering how much crime that tower would have in Detroit...

1
11
 Click to rate

It looks like they just copied their ideas from sci-fi movies from the past 30 years.

1
9
 Click to rate

I always thought by 2013 we would we would be living in buildings like these. Instead, we have blankets with sleeves.

0
30
 Click to rate

Can you imagine the state of the recycling bins at the bottom?

0
5
 Click to rate

good stuff. Fast forward this into reality please

2
16
 Click to rate

Let's try fixing Detroit first.

3
25
 Click to rate

yeah right....with the factor of cost being paramount, we are more likely to see concrete tower blocks in the future than these sci-fi buildings.

1
14
 Click to rate

GM modification + nanotechnology = biotecture ?

0
8
 Click to rate

Pics 2 and 3, the North Downs and East Anglia, after we've 'looked after' the planet for a little while longer.

0
4
 Click to rate

Sorry, I can't see anything more than the most basic nod to sustainability, these are just the pie in the sky fantasies of architecture students. Will never be built.

5
7
 Click to rate

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now