Results of the 2011: Why Tall? Student Tall Building Competition

Winners have been announced at the first annual CTBUH International Student Design Competition "2011: Why Tall?". From more than 200 projects submitted, 32 finalists were displayed and judged during the 2011 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) World Conference in Seoul, earlier in October. The winning projects were announced at the conference dinner.

The competition picked up on the 2011 CTBUH Seoul Conference themes, seeking to find innovative ideas to shed new light on the meaning and value of tall buildings in modern society from the themes of green, safety, and humanity. There were no restrictions on site, program or size, with the objective of allowing maximum freedom to the participants in proposing imaginative design ideas for new construction. This resulted in a very diverse compilation within the competition.

As noted by the 2011 Jury Chair, William Pedersen (Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects): "There has been a major transition in the sense of the value of the tall building and what it can contribute to the urban realm, and society in general. This transition moves the tall building away from just an instrument of financial exploitation and toward a development highly concerned with its impact on the city, the environment, and the urban habitat. Bringing students together from all over the world, as this competition has done, is an important step for the evolution of the tall building typology."

These are the winning projects:

1st Prize: "MultipliCITY"
Xiaokai Huang, Dong Jin & Lingyun Yang, Harvard University (United States) & Tongji University (China)
Board (PDF)

2nd Prize: "Cloud Skyscraper"
Sungjin Jang, Hojun Choi, Yohwan Jo, Youngshin Kim, Sewook Son, Yonsei University (Korea) & Hyunkyu Lim, Kyunkook University (Korea)
Board (PDF)

3rd Prize: "Vertical Neighborhood"
Daniel Sacristán Contreras, Escuela Tecnica de Arquitectura de Madrid (Spain)
Board (PDF)

Special Mention: "Culture Transcend"
Davin Tanasa, University of Melbourne (Australia)
Board (PDF)

During the Special Exhibition, Seoul Conference attendees were given the opportunity to vote on their favorite project. Unbeknownst to the jury at the time of judging, “MultipliCITY” was selected as the “Public’s Favorite” winner, showing the judges views were aligned with the majority of Conference attendees. Also unknown to the jury at the time of their selections, but a pleasant surprise and excellent reflection of the international nature of the competition, the top awards were from students located all over the globe: USA, China, South Korea, and Spain were all included in the top three winners alone.

Also check out the six Honorable Mentions in the image gallery below. All images courtesy of 2011: Why Tall?