eVolo reveals 2018 Skyscraper Competition winners

Another edition of eVolo Magazine's popular-as-ever Skyscraper Competition has come to a close. The yearly ideas competition invites entrants to submit their most creative skyscraper designs that also rethink vertical architecture and its relationship to the built and natural environments.

From a foldable skyscraper shelter and religious-inspired towers, to an LAX vertical airport and a “Communist Experience Center”, the 2018 competition reeled in 526 submissions. The three prize-winning entries came from Poland, Hong Kong, and Chile, and 27 honorable mentions were also announced.

Scroll down to see the winning entries!

1ST PLACE: Skyshelter.zip: Foldable Skyscraper for Disaster Zones by Damian Granosik, Jakub Kulisa, Piotr Pańczyk | Poland

Project excerpt: “More and more natural disasters happen annually across the world. When dealing with forces so powerful, standard means of crisis-management often prove to be inefficient. Whether certain region is struck by earthquake, flood or hurricane – help needs to arrive quickly. This is often easier to be said than done, as damages to transportation infrastructure or remote localization can make it extremely difficult. The Skyshelter.zip tries to address these issues by proposing structure that while offering large floor surface is compact, easy to transport anywhere and can be deployed with minimum amount of time and manpower requirements. It is meant to serve as multi-purpose hub for any relief operation.  The Skyshelter.zip is extremely easy to move due to its unique qualities. The entire structure is foldable in a manner that resembles origami or accordion.” More project info

2ND PLACE: Shinto Shrine / Urban Rice Farming Skyscraper by Tony Leung | Hong Kong

Project excerpt: “The objective of this proposal is to restore the traditional interactions between Jinja (Japanese Shinto Shrine) and local people by reterritorizing a busy urban corner in Ginza, Tokyo with a vertically organized Jinja-cum-rice-farming complex. In the past, Jinja and rice farming were the center of Japanese economy. The paddy field and Jinja complex also served as centers of everyday interaction. Many local Jinja not only housed the relevant Kami (deities) but also served as a warehouse for harvests. Also, the biggest communal festival, Matsuri, happened during spring seeding and autumn harvesting. [...] The interconnected roofs served as stepped paddy farms and public access to various halls, creating a continuous landscape. A service Core consists of lift and escape staircase are provided for services and emergency.” More project info

3RD PLACE: Waria Lemuy: Fire Prevention Skyscraper by Claudio C. Araya Arias | Chile

Project excerpt: “The 2016-2017 season of forest fires left a record of destruction never before recorded in the south-central zone of Chile. The consequences of the above were 5,244 fires with an impact of 569,989 hectares, 2,500 homes. The most serious case was the one in the town of Santa Olga, where the destruction exceeds 1,000 homes, destroying the entire city. Reconstruction is an indisputable subject, but the existing model of growth by expansion left a clear vulnerability within the territory. 

The degraded soils and the decrease of the vegetation, among other variables produced by this settlement model, were part of the factors that modified the natural conditions, leaving the sector vulnerable. 

WARIA LEMUY, forest city in Mapudungun (the native language of the sector). 

The proposal looks for a new way of inhabiting the territory, through a system of buildings at height, avoiding the effects of the old settlement model. The objective is to face the reconstruction from a new perspective, recover the lost housing and infrastructure, added to a restoration of the flora and biodiversity, through a system that prevents and mitigates future catastrophes. Through a renovating process that allows to coexist with the geography and the territory.” More project info

Don't forget about the honorable mentions in the gallery below.

All images courtesy of eVolo.