eVOLO 2022 skyscraper competition

Rethinking Height

1.       Work by M. Arch 1 student Nick Gochnour; instructor Elena Manferdini Vertical Studio SCI-Arc, Fall 2020

About the workshop:

What is a skyscraper in the 21st century? What are the historical, contextual, social, urban, and environmental responsibilities of these mega-structures?

The online workshop will rethink the typology of the high-rise in the age of the Coronavirus, when tall building developments are rapidly dropping in value. Historically, skyscrapers -one of America's greatest contribution to architecture- have been the solution to the practical problem of how to make the best use of a limited real estate. For decades, major companies have spent heavily on prized office buildings in major cities. However, today over 20% of Down Town LA high-rise offices are vacant. One example of the decline of the office typology is the 72 floors US Bank Tower, designed by Henry Cobb in Down Town LA, that is now being sold to Silverstein Properties for a fraction of its value.

The workshop will be confronted with the task of reconciling various powerful and opposite forces:  on one end the need of high density buildings in fast pace growing cities, and on the other end the well-known impoverishment of the public realm that exist in the streets separating the plinths of the towers, now joint by the new risk of virus transmission in high-rise construction. Contrary to the never ending global race to build the tallest skyscraper in the world, the workshop will argue that high-rise typology needs to drop.

The workshop approach to towers will go beyond the trait of being solely rhetorical, a seemingly unescapable quality of a building to be an advertisement for itself. The class at large will challenge the ubiquitous norm of putting a fancy hat on top, while surrendering to the hegemony of the internal systems. More importantly than occupying a skyline, the class will invest in developing a new mobility, in creating vibrant civic space and planning of safe private space, and will consider the façade -rather than the top of the building- as a place for design. This position is grounded in the firm belief that the autonomy of the architectural discipline is, at last, contingent to its physical context, and ultimately that today tall buildings’ responsibility lies more on how they meet the ground –with its inhabitants- rather than the sky.

Course Organization:

Open to creative individuals, inspired professionals, and current college students and graduates, the workshop is a 12 h immersion in a wide range of contemporary discourse about the role of high-rises in the contemporary city.

 The course will offer a combination of Theory classes and reviews -held by SCI-Arc Graduate Programs Chair Elena Manferdini- in a unique and lively on-line setting. Students will receive personalized feedback throughout the length of the workshop. The class will culminate with the submission of the work to the 2022 Skyscraper Competition. Established in 2006, the annual Skyscraper Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious awards for high-rise architecture. It recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the implementation of novel technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations; along with studies on globalization, flexibility, adaptability, and the digital revolution. It is a forum that examines the relationship between the skyscraper and the natural world, the skyscraper and the community, and the skyscraper and the city..