Advances of Evolution
November 12th, 2015 at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago was celebrated the 14th Annual CTBUH International Best Tall Building Awards Symposium, Ceremony & Dinner, which was held by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) following the competition “2015 Best Tall Building Worldwide”.
Prestigious title of finalists from Europe gained the Evolution Tower - skyscraper, located in the Moscow International Business Center “Moscow-City”. The Chief Architect of GORPROJECT Philip Nikandrov was awarded the CTBUH Certificate and album of the best tall buildings 2014-2015, in which the Evolution Tower presented, along with many other iconic buildings of the planet. The competitive struggle was very tough: totally this year’s competition was attended by 123 entries representing a total of 33 countries from Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania, the Middle East and Africa. According to experts, because of the large number of competitive projects to choose the winners was not easy. The jury sought to identify the most comprehensive and complex highrise structures.
Philip Nikandrov was among the selective speakers in the first opening session of CTBUH, anticipating the awards ceremony, along with Santiago Calatrava, James Goettisch (Goettsch Partners), Hiroo Mori (Director & Executive VP, Mori Building), David Malott (CTBUH Chairman, KPF) and Anthony Wood (Executive Director of CTBUH).
The Evolution Tower presented at the Symposium by its Chief Architect Philip Nikandrov made a strong impression on the professional audience. Perhaps, it was the first presentation of the building constructed in Russia at such a high world-class level. The tower has a spiral design that employs glazing on an astonishingly large scale: the helical tower levels rotated three degrees each floor, with the overall twist reaching 153 degrees clockwise. The ribbons of the white façade twist up around the building into a helix, the visual reference to Mobius strip or DNA alluding to human evolution. It’s a symbol of life, aspiring to eternity.
Its structural solution is simple, efficient, and economical. The twisting square-shaped floor plates have a vertical structural concrete frame based on a central core, which is surrounded by eight columns with continuous beams, and four spiraling columns at the corners. The structural scheme is comprised of cantilevered continuous beams made of reinforced concrete, and cantilevered floor slabs that pick up the overhangs from the twisted floor plates.
This inventive façade rotates to show in its reflection the panoramas of the Moscow skyline from every angle, as well as the river. The building is also interesting from a distance in that its composition changes dramatically depending on the vantage point of the spectator. The continuous line of the curved glazing with a constant slope at the building corners provides amazing telescopic illusion, reflecting the surrounding Moscow panoramic views upside down at the angle of 90º to the horizon - unprecedented optical effect in the world’s highrise architecture. Commissioned in 2015, the Evolution Tower has become an integral part of the urban landscape of the Russian capital. The Evolution Tower makes a unique impression in the evening and at night, when its elegant glowing silhouette against the sky reflected in the Moscow River. The building could be described as one of the most recognizable landmarks of modern Moscow.
