When designing the highrise building the architect ingenuity it is not only in entering the skyscraper in the existing urban environment. Ideally the project should, as much as possible, reflect the spirit of the city, its essence and in the future perhaps become its limelight symbol. Whether the Tulsa Tornado Tower designed for Oklahoma, become such a landmark, only a matter of time.
The outlines of what could be Chicago’s thirdtallest skyscraper came into sharp focus this spring when the project’s developers unveiled their latest plan for the riverfront tower — a trio of interconnected high-rises that would bring stacks of undulating glass to the city’s skyline. Defining a new edge of the city, the Wanda Vista Tower more tightly knits the thriving Lakeshore East community to its environment with unprecedented urban connections. At approximately 1,100 feet in height, and more than 1.8 million sf, this new hotel and residential tower will be one of the tallest buildings in the city and a dynamic new presence on the horizon.
The city of Shenzhen is located in the Pearl River Delta on the coast of the South China Sea. Today it is already hard to believe that relatively recently – some 35 years ago Shenzhen was a small fishing village. The city’s vibrant quicksteping growth started after the assigning to Shenzhen the status of China’s first free economic zone in 1980. It continues to grow and today, including in height.
For many architects their projects of tall buildings have become a kind of plastic art and conceptual statement. For PANACOM architectural bureau and its leader Arseny Leonovich such an original statement was the project of a skyscraper named Hyperion.
Vancouver, consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities, has much to offer beyond a vibrant social environment, the “City of Glass” is known for its buildings of transparency and for its breathtaking surroundings of clear water and snowcovered mountains. But, like many cities today, its skyline is dominated by verticality – extrusions of generic towers that don’t engage their environment and create isolation rather than connection.
Since that day, when as a result of a terrorist attack in New York were destroyed the famous WTC Twin Towers, passed nearly 14 years. And the place where previously housed the World Trade Center buildings is called Ground Zero. What should be constructed in this area? How should it look like? These issues have been discussed almost immediately after the tragedy, and for the conductive solution were spent countless hours and billions of dollars.
Recently have been announced the winners of the eVolo Magazine 2015 Skyscraper Competition. The award was established in 2006 to recognize outstanding ideas for vertical living. Since then, the publication has received more than 6,000 projects that envision the future of building high. These ideas, through the novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments. In 2015, the Jury, formed by leaders of the architecture and design fields selected 3 winners and 15 honorable mentions. eVolo Magazine received 480 projects from all continents. The winners were selected for their creativity, ingenuity, and understanding of dynamic and adaptive vertical communities.
How architectural masterpieces are born? This mystery equally wonders when looking at the architectural monuments of the past or contemporary cult products. This “music in stone” could be as the result of a momentary inspiration, as well as the premeditated offspring of matured ideas and dreams of the architect. But it seems like perfection and harmony of the architectural intent cannot motivate the customer to finance the construction without any changes in full accordance with the initial concept of the author.
This month, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat released the names of winners and finalists of the Best Tall Building Awards as part of the 2015 CTBUH Annual Awards. This year’s selection was the most competitive yet, with winners selected from a pool of 123 entries, which is up nearly 40% from 2014.
Memorial stele “To Pioneers of Yugra Land” in Khanty-Mansiysk, mixeduse Sport Hall on Tushino airfield territory, high-rise apartment complex in Vladivostok... These distinct projects are incorporated by Karen Saprichyan name, Professor of the International Architectural Academy and the Head of the “GrandProjectCity” project organization.
