The eVolo competition brief required the design of a skyscraper that would take into account
the immediate context and environment. Given the generality of this request, as the place
chosen by each participating group would have been arbitrary, we decided to design a
flexible SYSTEM adaptable to different
Compared with the traditional way of thinking of a single super-tall skyscraper, we proposed a
broader, global vision for a solution to the problems of the cities.
After more than 100 years from the construction of the first skyscrapers, the city has evolved
and its dynamics and problems are now different and more complex than those of the last
century: density, the need for renovation and reuse of abandoned sites, the need for multifunctional
hubs and so on. We believe that it is anachronistic and limiting to try to solve these
instances with a single episode of architectural design. That is why we propose a broader scale
of intervention: the skyscraper becomes a flexible SYSTEM of integrated skyscrapers in a bigger
urban scale, with the objective of addressing the complexity of the modern city.
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This SYSTEM of skyscrapers will interact in various ways, depending on the different contexts in
which it will be inserted. While it will be influenced by the existing urban dynamics, at the same
time it will influence them, creating new ones, giving rise to a principle of action-reaction.
The main feature of the skyscraper SYSTEM will be to integrate two types of mobility: the vertical,
typical of the towers, and a horizontal one, typical for a promenade. The horizontal mobility will
happen on two different levels: one on the ground: the plinth and one raised.
The proposed skyscraper SYSTEM will be an injection of integrated services: leisure,
infrastructure, housing, work and ecology. It will have the main features of the tower:
spectacular views, light, high density. To these a network of horizontal movement will be added
with the function of overcoming the limit of exclusively vertical movement of a single tower.
Plinth
The plinth will be at the same time the public access to the system and the connecting
element of all the skyscrapers within the SYSTEM on ground level. This area of connection will
adapt to the genius loci of the place, taking into consideration the programmatic needs and
the morphology of the surrounding.
Raised junction
The cluster of skyscrapers will have elevated horizontal structures that will allow another
connection of the individual vertical elements.
This SYSTEM breaks with the centennial exclusively vertical movement inside the tower. The user
of the new skyscraper SYSTEM will be able to reach the various towers moving horizontally
without necessarily having to use the horizontal connections on the ground. The horizontal joints
of the system will also hold functions alternative to those present in the towers and can
symbolically allude to the local dynamics and culture.
