Skyscraper concepts that limit our impact on the environment

One architectural design competition that we like to follow is eVolo Magazine’s annual Skyscraper Competition, which challenges designers, architects, and engineers around the world to approach vertical building design in an innovative way. 

The competition always spurs some incredible ideas, and this year there was a pretty clear theme among the three winners. The first, second, and third place skyscraper concepts all tackle the negative impact humans have on the environment. 

1st place: Methanescraper  

Designed by Marko Dragicevic, image via eVolo

Methanescraper is a vertical landfill system with recycling capabilities. This specific tower was designed to be built in Belgrade. 

“As the city population grows, so does our need for more resources. It has been proven that a person living in the city can produce up to four times more waste than a person living in the countryside,” explains Dragicevic. “This city waste is usually taken to the nearest landfill and buried there. However, by doing this we are not only polluting the ground, air and underground waters (which can be very dangerous to health), we are potentially wasting a great amount of usable matter.”

2nd place: Airscraper

Designed by Klaudia Gołaszewska, Marek Grodzicki, image via eVolo

Instead of landfill, the Airscraper concept focuses on managing air pollution, specifically in urban areas like Beijing, where some days are almost “uninhabitable” due to air pollution. The statement for the design says that air pollution leads to 1 million premature deaths a year. 

“Airscraper is a skyscraper that is sleeved around a chimney structure that has the potential to tackle the air pollution problem,” reads the submission. “The inner round, empty, tall and smooth tube utilizes the stack effect and sucks the polluted air from the surrounding and cleans it through a complex filtration system inside the chimney.” There are also “green-garden modules” at the residential level, which serve to improve oxygen levels. 

3rd place: Creature Ark: Biosphere Skyscraper

Designed by Zijian Wan, Xiaozhi Qi, Yueya Liu, image via eVolo

The first two concepts focus on how humans harm the environment and how we can improve it for ourselves. Creature Ark is about how humans can preserve wildlife. It’s a vertical nature reserve with wildlife conservation areas and a research facility. 

“Our concept of this vertical nature reserve equipped with a central research station is inspired by the classification of climate groups on earth,” says the concept description. “Referring to the relationship between latitude and climate zones, the skyscraper divides and simulates each climate group at a different height, while the monitor system locates at the heart of the structure. The residents in the building are endangered animals living within the simulation environment, while the research team and public tourist should be only considered as temporary visitors.”

We’re fans of all of the winners and think that any of these three skyscrapers could play an important role in Canada or Toronto. We wonder how long it will be before ideas like this finally start moving beyond the concept phase.