Radical vertical - Design Bureau

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Radical vertical

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

By John Dugan

Eliciting the same kind of excitement in me as good science fiction or wicked concept cars, these images are drawn from the annual Skyscraper Competition (est. 2006), which invites talent in the architecture field to refine skyscraper design through the use of new tech, materials and organization. eVolo Magazine just announced this year's winners—forward-thinking solutions to the vertical community chosen by a jury of former winners and various visionaries in the fields in architecture and design. The concept drawings remind me a bit of the imaginative space art of the legendary Robert McCall.  Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao and Dongbai Song from China took the number one spot for their project “Himalaya Water Tower” for a skyscraper that stores water and helps regulate its flow to the land below. Second went to Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, and Zihan Wang from China for their “Mountain Band-Aid,” which seeks to return the displaced Hmong people to their homes and work in the Yunnan mountains. Third went to Lin Yu-Ta from the Taiwan for a “Vertical Landfill” which includes a power plant that yields energy from waste decomposition. The honorable mentions include projects for underwater ocean research, mobile skyscrapers, floating cities, and various other ideas that would make a great Heinlein novel. Nothing like these may be built in our lifetime, but they're maybe a glimpse of what's to come by century's end.

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