Skyscraper designs of the future

Coming soon to cities near you?

The eVolo Magazine 2010 Skyscraper Competition, which "recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization" has ended, and whilst the winner was an unique concept for a 'vertical prison', the contest has seen designers from all over the world submit mind-blowing designs for skyscrapers in the future. Here are a few of our favorites.

Skyscraper eco-system in Manhatten

Designed by Axel Cailteux, Céline Hautfenne, Julie Neuwels, Delphine Termote of Belgium, this design completely redefines what a city could look like, considering it as a true ecosystem, able to manage its self-sufficiency and its self-generation.

With an 'upper city' power by self-sufficiency generators, the lower city essentially parasites off it allowing renewable energy and a zero ground occupation to compensate the deficiencies.

The self-sufficiency generators feature photovoltaic skin and wind turbines for the electricity production, lagooning for the waste water purification and recycling area for the organic and paper waste recycling and production of recycled paper, compost and gas by methanization.

The Water-Scraper

We are a big fan of underwater skyscrapers at US Infrastructure and this concept by Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum of Malyasia only compounds this.

Assuming that mankind's wanton disregard for the environment has given us an 'ecologically bleak future', these water-scrapers provide a "autonomous floating unit of livable, functional and self sustaining space which will function, in a collective manner, as a floating city."

"It is self sufficient as it generates its own power through wave, wind, current, solar, bio etc. and it generates its own food through farming, aquaculture, hydroponics etc. It carries with its own small forest on top its back and supports places for users to live and works  in its depths. Its bioluminescent tentacles provide sea fauna a place to live and congregate while collecting energy through its kinetic movements."

Brilliant eh? Plus it's as big as the Empire State Building!

The Structural Cell Skyscraper

Resembling some sort of alien habitat, this concept from Hong Wong and SheungHok Lim attempts to re-organise the traditional skyscraper design which has been dominated "by the structural and cost efficient of extrusion of floor plates and the definition of space by planes- floor plates, walls and ceilings."

As such, their 'striated spatial definition and its arrangements' caters for a world that will see more people living in cities and urban areas that will have to house more and more people.

In the designer's own words, they "are exploring the opportunities that individual space be composed from a unique cell-structural system, where like a cell could be split, replicated and combined – to form different spatial opportunities."

The Wind Tower

After solar power, wind power is regarded as one of the most promising renewable energies. As such this design sees vertical-axis wind turbines all over the building, using rotors that run vertically to create a clean and sustainable fuel source that does not run out and brings no harm to environment.

Compared to widely-spread horizontal-axis wind turbines, vertical-axis turbines can continue to produce power even in high wind conditions without risk of getting damaged and they do not need to be pointed into the wind to be effective.

This 450m tall skyscraper, designed for Moscow, would utilise the power to make it a fully sustainable medical and science institution.

The vertical-axis wind module can also be regarded as a decoration element that provides an exclusive appearance to any construction and reaches the most effective measure of energy at any height of the building.

The SkyTable

A city within a city, this design sees the creation of a large public space where designer Ayrat Khusnutdinov hopes people can come together.

The SkyTable would see a large public area suspended over the city by two load bearing constructions. These bearings, as well as the perimeter of the platform level could also house offices, commercial spaces  vertical communications lifts and stairs.

It would also create gas from rotting waste productions in the building's vital functions as well as harnessing the wind by making it stream in certain directions.

Also, it would reduce energy consumption with an unusual way of using solar energy. The proposal is to use solar energy as rain water is collected: numerous quantities of lenses are used as devices for light gathering. Then the collected light rays lead to users via glass optical fiber, delivering sun rays into the centre of the building where is no way of natural lightning otherwise.

It would definitely look amazing.

So what do you think? Were any of the above designs robbed of first place? What would work? What wouldn't? What was your favorite design?

To see other designs submitted to the competition, click here.

Relevant articles:

Could Miapolis steal Burj Khalifa's crown? | Would you live on a underwater skyscraper? | Boston's floating city of the future

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: