Editors’ Choice

2019 Skyscraper Competition
Daffonchio & Associates Architects

South Africa

Introduction

The first shelters were built to protect Man from Nature. Human technology has become so powerful that the building of cities should be used to protect Nature from Man. New materials, combined with parametric design will allow us to build ultra-lightweight megastructures. Real-time data mapping combined with AI, will allow hyper-efficient transport and other urban services. We propose a structure that by its shape, size and technology can change the climate.
We propose to solve the increasing reality of desertification through architecture. A cluster of tree-shaped high-rise towers can create a microclimate for a more livable urban environment in desert climates. The idea is to create a ?forest? of towers that are designed to cast permanent shadows on the ground below. The vast surface area of the roof is entirely employed for Photovoltaic and energy harvesting, though a high-rise megastructure which can be scaled indefinitely and change the climate through shape, scale, and technology. Context

We have imagined an architectural intervention that responds to the inevitable future of increasing desertification. We are experiencing an accelerated growth of cities modeled after European and North American examples irrespective of climatic context.
Scale

The towers are multiplied to create a ?forest? which forms an architectural ecosystem. The system can build...