Crazy skyscrapers of the future

From buildings that pump water in the Himalayan glaciers, to round towers that can allow their residents to travel without leaving their homes. How do architects imagine the buildings of the future?

The skyscraper is one of the most significant symbols of modern society. The sight of Burj Khalifa billowing in the middle of the desert is an impressive image of technological progress. The engineering solutions and the amount of resources that allowed this building to soar towards the skies may seem inconceivable. But besides the fact that buildings are growing higher and higher, and consume less energy, in general, they are still not far from the Empire State Building .
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EVolo magazine holds an annual skyscraper design contest, in which architects are asked: what else can we do with skyscrapers? Some solutions represent buildings that will save us from water shortages, others - buildings that can help cope with the problem of garbage, or even those that can in the event of a disaster move independently to a safe place.

All projects are absolutely fantastic. Most of them require technologies that do not even exist yet. But maybe instead of building higher and higher, we will try to build smarter?

Himalaya Water Tower (pictured above)
Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, Dongbai Song
China

These buildings are designed to collect water frozen in the Himalayan glaciers, where today 40% of fresh water is concentrated on Earth. The buildings are located on several pipes that go deep into the ice and produce water for their residents.

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Mountain Band-Aid
Yiting Shen, Nanjue Wang, Ji Xia, Zihan Wang
China

In response to an active Chinese mining program that is gradually “eating up” the national mountains, the buildings represented will help repair these losses, as well as give shelter to the villagers who have been pressed by industry.

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Monument to Civilization
Lin Yu-Ta
Taiwan

This skyscraper will not be a haven of residents. However, it will become such for their garbage. For example, if you collect the annual garbage in New York and place it in the mine, then we will get a height three times greater than the Empire State Building. These buildings will not only receive energy from garbage, but also serve as excellent monuments of the waste of a particular city. The lower the garbage buildings - the more environmentally friendly and more sustainable its economy.

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Migrant Skyscraper
Damian Przybyła, Rafał Przybyła
Poland

Sometimes the chosen place is so bad or dangerous that you just want to take it and leave. But if money has already been invested in the construction of a building, or even a whole city, it becomes difficult. This is where wheel building can come in handy. When things are really bad, they can just get together and go to another place.

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House of babel
Nikita Asadov
Russia

The previous project could allow you and your neighbors to move quickly to another place, and this one can save you from your neighbors. One module of this building is on the ground, and the second is as high as you wish. A great way to get rid of annoying neighbors or to stay safe when some unpleasant things happen on earth.

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Plastic fish tower
Kim Hongseop, Cho Hyunbeom, Yoon Sunhee, Yoon Hyungsoo
South Korea

The building was designed specifically to solve the problem of plastic debris in the ocean. In addition to providing shelter with a beautiful view of the depths, it will continuously clean the ocean — sucking and recycling plastic trash floating on the surface.

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Human rights skyscraper
Ren Tianhang, Luo Jing, Kang Jun
China

In Beijing, where land ownership is a big deal, this building was designed to symbolize everyone’s right to own their own private home. Outside of Beijing, this decision may allow stopping the disorderly construction. As the population of cities grows, some people are left with a choice - to live in a city or to have their own home outside. Now they can have both.

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Cliff dwellings
Román J. Cordero Tovar, Eric Israel Dorantes, Daniel Justino Rodríguez, Izbeth K. Mendoza Fragoso
Mexico

We use more and more land for construction. In this regard, everything becomes more valuable compact architecture, occupying a minimum of space. But there is a solution even with zero area - to build houses on the steep slopes of the mountains.

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Coal Power Plant Mutation
Chipara Radu Bogdan
Romania

As long as clean energy makes its way, coal energy will long remain a significant part of our economy. But what if we can prevent atmospheric pollution? These skyscrapers will “sit” on chimneys and neutralize the exhaust gases, using them as long as possible to power the entire building.