The International Council for Tall Buildings and the Urban Environment is awarding the best towers for the 14th time. This organization, with the help of an expert jury, tries to select laureates not by obvious signs - the height and spectacular appearance, but to take into account their environmental friendliness, connection with the city space (this is a weak point in many similar structures), and constructive innovations.
This year, 123 buildings from 33 countries of the world applied for the award, which is 40% more than in 2014. CTBUH management notes that, to their delight, more and more high-rise designers are considering the requirements of “sustainability” and are responsive to the urban context. The jury paid particular attention to the towers, which widely use vertical gardening - which gives both ecological and psychological effects (greenery outside the windows makes the interiors more comfortable). Last time, the best skyscraper was just a similar one - Jean Nouvel's One Central Park in Sydney (Archi.ru wrote about it). The Grand Prix Winner is selected from 4 Regional Winners at the CTBUH Conference in the fall. This time it will be held on November 12 - as usual, in Chicago.
Tower 1 of the World Trade Center in New York
SOM Architects - Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
North America and South America Winner
The 541-meter skyscraper is the tallest in North America and the third tallest in the world, but more importantly, it is the main building of the new World Trade Center in Manhattan. After the terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, they wanted to make the new WTC no less expressive architectural gesture than the destroyed structures of Minoru Yamasaki. However, many years of difficulties and delays have turned this complex into an ordinary "cluster" of high-rise buildings. Tower 1, which was previously planned to be called "Freedom Tower", looks modest, albeit quite elegant. From the dramatic design of Daniel Libeskind, only a long spire and a symbolic height of 1,776 feet remained (in 1776, the United States Declaration of Independence was signed). However, the jury of the award considered that this office building takes into account the context (both the neighboring memorial and the classic Manhattan skyscrapers) and justifies the great expectations placed on it (for more details about Tower 1 of the WTC, see
material Archi.ru).
CapitaGreen office building in Singapore
Toyo Ito & Associates Architects
Winner in the Asia and Australasia region
55% of the shell of this 242-meter tower is covered with greenery, with plantings located between two layers of the facade, protecting the interior from the sun. Also, this solution creates prospects for agricultural use.
Residential complex Bosco Verticale in Milan
Architects Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra, Boeri Studio
Winner in the Europe region
The jury considered the use of greenery in the two towers (116 and 85 m high, respectively) unprecedented in scale and mastered height. Numerous trees and other plants are planted on the terraces of the complex, more than 90 species in total, which fully justifies its name - "Vertical Forest". More details - in
article about him on Archi.ru.
Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Foster + Partners Architects
Middle East and Africa Winner
The tower is located above the Central Market (see.
Archi.ru article about him), designed by Foster's bureau taking into account local traditions. This market serves as a "buffer zone" between the residential Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid (381 m), the second office skyscraper of the local WTC and the street space, softening the scale difference. In addition, the wavy facades of the laureate tower are reminiscent of mirages in the desert, which also serves as a reference to local realities.
Among the finalists of the award there was also a Russian building: the Evolution tower of the British RMJM and ZAO Gorproekt in the Moscow-City MIBC.
The tower also reached the final
Charleroi Danses dance center and police station designed by Jean Nouvel in Charleroi, Belgium, Malmö Live complex in Malmö by schmidt hammer lassen, London Leadenhall skyscraper in London, and Swanston Square, a 31-story apartment building in Melbourne (architects ARM), on the facade of which A portrait of Aboriginal elder, artist, and civil rights leader, William Barack, was painted (his tribe formerly owned the land on which this building stands).
