eVolo 2012 Skyscraper Competition Winners

eVolo Magazine has announced the winners of the 2012 Skyscraper Competition. The annual contest—now in its sixth year—honors visionary ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution.
The competition received 714 projects from 95 different countries from which the jury selected 3 winners and 22 honorable mentions.

View this competition brief:

• eVolo 2012 Skyscraper Competition

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First Place: Himalaya Water Tower, Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song (China)

First Place: Himalaya Water Tower
Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song (China)
"The first place was awarded to Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao and Dongbai Song from China for their project “Himalaya Water Tower”. The proposal is a skyscraper located high in the Himalayan mountain range that stores water and helps regulate its dispersal to the land below as the mountains’ natural supplies dry up. The skyscraper, which can be replicated en masse, will collect water in the rainy season, purify it, freeze it into ice and store it for future use." (from the eVolo announcement)

First Place: Himalaya Water Tower, Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song (China)

First Place: Himalaya Water Tower, Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song (China)

Second Place: Mountain Band-Aid
Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang (China)
"The second place was awarded to Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, and Zihan Wang from China for their project “Mountain Band-Aid”, a design that seeks to simultaneously return the displaced Hmong mountain people to their homes and work as it restores the ecology of the Yunnan mountain range." (from the eVolo announcement)

Second Place: Mountain Band-Aid, Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang (China)

Second Place: Mountain Band-Aid, Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang (China)

Second Place: Mountain Band-Aid, Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang (China)

Third Place: Monument to Civilization: Vertical Landfill for Metropolises
Lin Yu-Ta, Anne Schmidt (Taiwan)
"The recipient of the third place is Lin Yu-Ta from the Taiwan for a “Vertical Landfill” to be located in the largest cities around the globe, both as a reminder of the outrageous amount of garbage that we produce and as a power plant that harvests energy from waste decomposition." (from the eVolo announcement)

Third Place: Monument to Civilization: Vertical Landfill for Metropolises, Lin Yu-Ta, Anne Schmidt (Taiwan)

Third Place: Monument to Civilization: Vertical Landfill for Metropolises, Lin Yu-Ta, Anne Schmidt (Taiwan)

Third Place: Monument to Civilization: Vertical Landfill for Metropolises, Lin Yu-Ta, Anne Schmidt (Taiwan)

The 2012 panel of judges included Maria Aiolova (principal Terreform One), Chris Bosse (principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), Gaël Brulé (principal Atelier CMJN, winner 2011 Skyscraper Competition), Julien Combes (principal Atelier CMJN, winner 2011 Skyscraper Competition), Marc Fornes (principal THEVERYMANY), Florian Idenburg (principal SO-IL  Solid Objectives – Indenburg Liu), Minnie Jan (principal MisoSoupDesign), Mitchell Joachim (principal Terreform One, professor at New York University), Jing Liu (principal SO-IL  Solid Objectives – Indenburg Liu), Daisuke Nagatomo (principal MisoSoupDesign), Alexander Rieck (principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), Michel Rojkind (principal Rojkind Arquitectos), Michael Szivos (principal Softlab, professor at Pratt Institute), Tobias Wallisser (principal LAVA – Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), and Ma Yansong (principal MAD Architects).
Check out images of the honorable mentions in the image gallery below and visit eVolo for detailed project descriptions of all awarded entries.

ἕλιξ (Greek: twisted, curved)

Gustav Reyes 

The word helix comes from the Greek word ἕλιξ, "twisted, curved".^{[2] (wikipedia)}

Fictions: Filip Dujardin

From the series of ‘fictons’ by photographer Filip Dujardin (via reform.lt).

Hiroyuki Tanaka: Table design

Japanese architect Hiroyuki Tanaka designed this amazing Temple Table. He based the structure of this table on the roof and pillar systems of ancient temples (via Dezeen).

‘Innovation Ecosystem’

Sydney-based Mark Tyrrell Studio has collaborated with Daniel Griffin to create a first prize winning entry to the 2011 international design competition Ideas on Edge Parramatta. The competition received over 150 entries, 40% international and the remainder from around Australia. There were three equal winners.
Tyrrell and Griffin’s concept focuses upon blurring the physical and metaphysical boundaries between the local culture of Parramatta, and its local ecosystem, finding moments of architectural drama at their junction.

View this competition brief:

• Ideas on Edge

Drawing showing the natural processes of the river, its species diversity and how this is translated into an architecture which is ‘of’ the river. View over raingarden edge and into ‘The Birdshell’.

Project Description from the Architects:
The scheme recognises that the site is located at a brackish point of the river where the fresh water from the inland meets the salt water from the coast. This mixing of waters produces a highly diverse ecosystem at a local level. It is a place where species of fish meet, where salt and freshwater tolerant plant species are found and where hundreds of birds are attracted to the mix.
Interestingly, the site also occurs at a key urban point where the busy urban spine of Church Street meets the river. Unfortunately, Parramatta has progressively turned its back on its river, which has become a forgotten drain rather than a living, changing natural focus for the city.

A view from the river into the proposal, showing the birdshell weaving beneath existing road/river infrastructure, further blurring the rivers edge.

The design breaks down a series of abrupt and divisive river edges by laying a generative grid over river and land. The grid resolves itself into a variety of functional built elements in the design but also acts as a conceptual tool to blur land and water.
Next, a series of ‘program intensifiers’ are layered on the design. Local culture is intensified through the creation of an urban incubator for innovation and ideas. This takes the form of small studio spaces, research labs, aged and childcare, performance spaces and university and corporate support shopfronts. Together, this small-scale urbanism plugs into the disused rear of shops and creates a humming cultural district which moves out over the river.

View towards the innovation incubator, showing how new urban forms are clipped onto the dead edges of existing buildings. Also shows power generation grid overlaying the rivers edge.

The ecology of the site is intensified through a large sculptural building called ‘The Birdshell’. The building is a conference centre, but its façade accommodates and is designed around a celebration of urban birdlife. Hard concrete becomes a soft and living veil. From within the conference centre, birds create a shadow play on the walls. The form of the shell is designed to both amplify the varied birdcalls and to draw in and cool breezes from the river. It is an open aviary of an urban scale.
The site is allowed to flood regularly, and runoff is collected in a mosaic of raingardens that treat stormwater from the urban core of the design and release it clean to the river. Ultimately, the river has no edge in the final proposal; it is an urbanism ‘of ‘ a river rather than ‘beside’ a river.
The Parramatta City Council has been talking about turning Parramatta into Venice since mid 2010. However, Parramatta council does not need to copy the European model. Griffin and Tyrrell’s winning scheme aims to show that Parramatta has its own unique and Australian landscape identity, which should be fused with its own local culture to create a catalytic urbanism suited to Sydney’s second city, not Italy’s.

Complete competition board of the "Innovation Ecosystem" entry

Images courtesy of Mark Tyrrell Studio.

BOXHOME: Small Living Inside A Stylish Norwegian Box

Boxhome is a small, residential project in Oslo by Norwegian architects Rintala Eggertsson.

The 19 square metre dwelling is described by the architects as being “a peaceful small home, a kind of urban cave”.

It is constructed using a timber frame and is clad in aluminium. Internally, a different species of wood was chosen for each room.

Here’s some more information from Rintala Eggertsson:

–

In the North all residential buildings have to be constructed in an advanced way due to the ever-changing weather. Additionally, houses have to be artificially heated for more than half of the year. Therefore producing smaller homes would bring about a considerable economical and ecological benefit. Today the construction industry is responsible for more than one third of total global energy and material consumption, well exceeding that of all traffic and transport. This should be a crucial question especially in Scandinavia, where people, in accordance with their growing wealth, possess larger and larger houses. And in most cases, this is in addition to a second home called a summer house or a cottage.

Boxhome is a 19 square metre dwelling with four rooms covering the basic living functions: kitchen with dining, bathroom, living room and bedroom.

Firstly, the project focuses on the quality of space, materials and natural light, and tries to reduce unnecessary floor area. The result is a dwelling which is a quarter of the price of any same size apartment in the same area. Boxhome is a prototype building, yet the same attitude could be taken further to bigger family housing and consequently to work places.

The basic need to house a family has become a great business adventure. Making a simple house, after all, is perhaps not such a difficult task. Moreover, meeting the official construction restrictions and laws usually means the use of building industry products and services, thus limiting the possibility of real change and development.

Thirdly, in Western societies at the moment we are enjoying the highest standard of living ever know to human kind. At the same time we are fully informed of the results of our culture of consumerism. Therein lays the greatest paradox: We are forced to actively forget the real reality to be able to enjoy the facade of excess we have created around us.

Finally, and most importantly, the goal has been to make a peaceful small home, a kind of urban cave, where a person can withdraw to, and whenever they wish, forget the intensity of the surrounding city for a while.

Client: Galleri ROM, Maridalsveien 3, Oslo, Norway.
Curator: Henrik de Menassian

Work group:
Sami Rintala, architect Oslo

Dagur Eggertson, architect Oslo
John Roger Holte, artist Oslo
Julian Fors, architect student Vienna

Sponsors:
Aspelin-Ramm/ fundingInfill/ funding
Ruukki/ metal facades
Pilkington Floatglass/ windows
Optimera Industri/ interior wood


Vitra Scandinavia/ chair and lamps

SM-Lys/ lamps

Byggmakker/ construction material
Glava Isolasjon/ insulation

Materials:
wood:

pine/ structures
cypress/ interior walls and floors
birch/ kitchen

spruce/ bathroom
red oak/ living room
nut/ bedroom
aluminium:

facades

Size: exterior measures 5500 cm (length) x 5700 cm (height) x 2300 cm (width).

Camouflage Architecture: underground buildings

If you're familiar with the Wombles, then you probably encountered underground architecture at any early age.

The Wombles' home was located in the London suburb of Wimbledon, close to the underground station, and embodied every child's dream: subterranean and cave-like, it was made from stuff that society had thrown away. It was an early example of sustainability and the use of recycled building materials.

It's unlikely that the following projects were inspired by the Wombles, but that doesn't mean they're any less successful in terms of their functionality and singularity.

Black rocks at the coast, photo © Denton Corker Marshall

In the Swiss town of Vals, known for its thermal baths, it's not a meteor strike that's created a inverted-dome-shaped hole in the ground: it's a holiday home.

Astonished by the relaxed planning regulations in the vicinity of the baths – an architectural masterpiece by Peter Zumthor – the owner of the house decided on a minimal approach, so as not to obstruct views of the spa complex.

The building embeds itself fully into the landscape, yet offers sufficient natural light and views out onto the picturesque countryside.

Villa Vals, architecture: SeARCH / Bjarne Mastenbroek i.c.w. CMA, photographer: Iwan Baan

Architects Christian Müller and Bjarne Mastenbroeck achieved this by arranging the windows at angles around a circular courtyard. The entrance is perfectly concealed: you arrive across a 'Maiensäss', a typical wooden alpine cabin, and then go through an underground tunnel.

This idea is reminiscent of the 'Fake Chalets' exhibition at the Design Museum in Zurich, which featured photographs of observation bunkers disguised as barns.

To the article "Indestructible Remembrance - The conversion of European bunkers"

Villa Vals, architecture: SeARCH / Bjarne Mastenbroek i.c.w. CMA, photographer: Iwan Baan

Interior of Villa Vals, architecture: SeARCH / Bjarne Mastenbroek i.c.w. CMA, photographer: Iwan Baan

The Marshall House by Australian architects Denton Corker Marshall is buried in the dunes of the Melbourne coastline. Looking back from the small bay's beach, it's only visible as a black line; the local rock is of the same hue.

Marshall House, east of Melbourne, architecture: Denton Corker Marshall, © Denton Corker Marshall

The house itself is defined by a wall, which, in turn, marks out a generous, square courtyard, a bit like a sports ground. This north-facing outdoor space offers protection from stormy sea winds and traps the Australian winter sun.

The outer façade of the structure faces towards the sea. Each room's window openings are sized and arranged in such a way that allow picture-like views of the sea.

Marshall House, east of Melbourne, architecture: Denton Corker Marshall, © Denton Corker Marshall

Interior of Marshall House, east of Melbourne, architecture: Denton Corker Marshall, © Denton Corker Marshall

The Aloni House is located in a similarly rugged coastal landscape, yet in a different hemisphere. The terrain of the Greek Cyclades has been transformed over hundreds of years into a terraced, agricultural landscape. Stone walls prevent erosion and make the cultivation of the steep land easier.

Aloni House, Antiparos island, aerial view, architecture: decaArchitecture, © decaArchitecture

Aloni House, Antiparos island, elevation, architecture: decaArchitecture, © decaArchitecture

The design of the Aloni House took a cue from these existing natural-stone walls. The architectural intervention is located in a hollow between two mountain slopes and creates a bridge, so to speak, between two contours. The house's sides disappear into the ground, blending the structure into the landscape. To the front, the land falls away, allowing one of the house's long elevations a view of the sea. There are five internal courtyards, which flood the rooms with light and shield windows and doors from stormy rainwater.

Aloni House, Antiparos island, architecture: decaArchitecture, © decaArchitecture

Interior of Aloni House, Antiparos island, architecture: decaArchitecture, © decaArchitecture

A whole development of underground homes is due to be built in the conservation area near Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania. Patkau Architects won a competition run by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, an institute that looks after the preservation and maintenance of Fallingwater.

Cottages at Fallingwater (USA), architecture: Patkau Architects, rendering © Patkau Architects

The six new units will serve as accommodation for participants in the institute's further-education programme.


The jury praised the subtle, yet progressive, character of the design, with its minimal impact on the landscape, which also met the criteria of sustainability and energy efficiency that had been set down.

Cottages at Fallingwater (USA), architecture: Patkau Architects, rendering © Patkau Architects

Model of Cottages at Fallingwater (USA), architecture: Patkau Architects, photo © Patkau Architects

Interior of Cottages at Fallingwater (USA), architecture: Patkau Architects, rendering © Patkau Architects

The California Academy of Sciences is the last and also the biggest of the projects discussed here; it is less subterranean than the others, but just as integrated into its physical context.

Most notable about Renzo Piano's California Academy of Sciences is its 'roofscape'. The academy brings together research, natural-science collections, teaching and public exhibitions under one roof, and houses an aquarium, a planetarium and a rainforest biosphere. These three building elements represent outer space, Earth and the oceans, and function as the three 'columns' that support the roof and form the roofscape's three hills.

Aerial view of the Goldengate Park, San Francisco, photographer: Tom Fox, SWA Group

Made of rock, the aquarium alone, which is open to visitors, can house 38,000 species from all over the planet.


The institute's scientific collection, which belongs to the research department, contains 18 million specimens in jars and other special containers. With its mission 'To Explore, Explain and Protect the Natural World', the academy's design programme was always destined to be a sustainable one. Apart from the building's energy-saving features, valuable consideration was given to the choice of materials and to the re-using of building elements from the old academy.

Californian Academy of Sciences, photographer: Ishida Shunji © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The structure's insulation consists in part of recycled denim jeans, and the roof not only gives a bit of nature back, but also functions to stop heat escaping. In the middle of the roofscape, over the interior piazza, is a large, glazed skylight; lots of smaller, hole-like skylights are dotted across the roof, offering natural daylight and opening automatically to give the interiors natural ventilation.

Californian Academy of Sciences, view of roof, photographer: Mc Neal Jon © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Skylights in the roof allow sunlight to reach the living rainforest and coral reef. They also open automatically to allow heat to escape, photographer: Justine Lee © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Conceptual sketch of the Piazza, photographer: Goldberg Stefano - Publifoto © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The green roof stretches all the way to the outer walls, where it meets a glass canopy containing over 55,000 solar-energy cells. The roof's substructure consists of a combination of concrete and steel framework. A water-retentive layer is built into the roof structure. The rest of the building is realised in light-grey exposed concrete (including the African Hall, whose original rendering in limestone was reused); the moulding holes were left open to allow for the fixing of exhibits.

View of the exhibit hall of the Californian Academy of Sciences, view to the West, Photographer: Nic Lehoux © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Source: archdaily