Skyscraper Competition 2010
Date_ 12/2009 - 03/2010
Ente Banditore_ eVolo Magazine
Gruppo Progettista_ Franceso Michele Brunetti, Eleonora Lucantoni, Simone Scuglia
“In Middle Ages, cities measured about 5 kilometres in diameter (one hour of walking); in the 1950’s 15 kilometres (one hour of cycling); in the 1980’s 100 kilometres (one hour of driving); in the 2000’s 500 kilometres (one hour of flying).” (MVRDV-UWM, SKYCAR CITY A Pre-emptive History, Actar, 2007). The explosion of urbanism importance leads to an increase of roads network and a growth of streets dimensions, becoming consequently roads, motorway or highway. Nowadays data are exorbitant: we can count up to 68,937,575 road kilometres all over the world, 6,465,799 in USA, 5,454,446 in Europe, 3,583,715 in China ( excluding “village-class” roads not officially recognized). (data by CIA World Factbook)At the beginning of the 20th century, about 8 thousand passenger cars existed. During the 70’s cars were 170 million, about the middle of the 80’s 375 millions, in 2001 450 millions, for the 2009 is estimated that over 600 million passenger cars travel the streets and the roads of the entire world. These numbers are going to increase: just in 2009, 51,971,328 cars were produced, whose 16,131,000 (33%) in Europe, 9,757,515 (20%) in Japan, 5,233,132 (10%) in China. (data by OICA and ACEA).Human activity is drastically increasing gas concentration in atmosphere, above all carbon dioxide, responsible for 60% of greenhouse effect and worldwide superheating. CO2 concentration in 2007 was 46,7 million of tons (1 ton of CO2 estimate to rise global temperature by 0,0000000000015°C). Fossil fuels combustion alone produces around 21,3 million tons of carbon dioxide, whose natural processes absorb just an half. The top 10 countries of the world emit 67,2% of the world total, whose 6,103,493 (21,5%) by China, 5,752,289 (20,2%) by USA and 3,914,359 (13,8%) by Europe. (data by CDIAC for USA).Considering that residual life of oil reserve is estimated from 40 to 54 years, data described above seem to be useless and senseless. What will highways and car need? What will they be used for? How could we reduce atmospheric pollution and global superheating? The answer is VORTEX, a huge metal whirl made of cars recycled components. It is a self-construction building: a potential inhabitant can reach with his now-unnecessary-car the top of built helix, disassemble the car, and with its elements build his own house. The wing section is made of common city’s elements, analyzed and reinterpreted. Streets, from all the parts of the town, get to a crucial junction, roll up, lift up and grow up; squares soften their outlines and lift up; road sections, including buildings, regularize their shape and duplicate themselves being mirrored. In VORTEX emphasized city’s ingredients assume new values keeping, at the same time, original principles: streets and buildings, constituting the wing section, are not just the backbone of the city, they decide the city progress much more than in a horizontal town; squares, generated as wings deformation, interrupt the long and obsessive street and, overlooking the inner hole, look like viewpoints and roof gardens. The result is an hollow skyscraper, with a striped metal skin and a unsettled outline, due to auto-construction principle. The global shape has no importance, VORTEX can be built in every metropolis of the world, because, more than a building, it is a method of aggregation, it’s a new urban texture, it’s a method to reuse cars and consequently reduce the atmospheric pollution.
Ente Banditore_ eVolo Magazine
Gruppo Progettista_ Franceso Michele Brunetti, Eleonora Lucantoni, Simone Scuglia
“In Middle Ages, cities measured about 5 kilometres in diameter (one hour of walking); in the 1950’s 15 kilometres (one hour of cycling); in the 1980’s 100 kilometres (one hour of driving); in the 2000’s 500 kilometres (one hour of flying).” (MVRDV-UWM, SKYCAR CITY A Pre-emptive History, Actar, 2007). The explosion of urbanism importance leads to an increase of roads network and a growth of streets dimensions, becoming consequently roads, motorway or highway. Nowadays data are exorbitant: we can count up to 68,937,575 road kilometres all over the world, 6,465,799 in USA, 5,454,446 in Europe, 3,583,715 in China ( excluding “village-class” roads not officially recognized). (data by CIA World Factbook)At the beginning of the 20th century, about 8 thousand passenger cars existed. During the 70’s cars were 170 million, about the middle of the 80’s 375 millions, in 2001 450 millions, for the 2009 is estimated that over 600 million passenger cars travel the streets and the roads of the entire world. These numbers are going to increase: just in 2009, 51,971,328 cars were produced, whose 16,131,000 (33%) in Europe, 9,757,515 (20%) in Japan, 5,233,132 (10%) in China. (data by OICA and ACEA).Human activity is drastically increasing gas concentration in atmosphere, above all carbon dioxide, responsible for 60% of greenhouse effect and worldwide superheating. CO2 concentration in 2007 was 46,7 million of tons (1 ton of CO2 estimate to rise global temperature by 0,0000000000015°C). Fossil fuels combustion alone produces around 21,3 million tons of carbon dioxide, whose natural processes absorb just an half. The top 10 countries of the world emit 67,2% of the world total, whose 6,103,493 (21,5%) by China, 5,752,289 (20,2%) by USA and 3,914,359 (13,8%) by Europe. (data by CDIAC for USA).Considering that residual life of oil reserve is estimated from 40 to 54 years, data described above seem to be useless and senseless. What will highways and car need? What will they be used for? How could we reduce atmospheric pollution and global superheating? The answer is VORTEX, a huge metal whirl made of cars recycled components. It is a self-construction building: a potential inhabitant can reach with his now-unnecessary-car the top of built helix, disassemble the car, and with its elements build his own house. The wing section is made of common city’s elements, analyzed and reinterpreted. Streets, from all the parts of the town, get to a crucial junction, roll up, lift up and grow up; squares soften their outlines and lift up; road sections, including buildings, regularize their shape and duplicate themselves being mirrored. In VORTEX emphasized city’s ingredients assume new values keeping, at the same time, original principles: streets and buildings, constituting the wing section, are not just the backbone of the city, they decide the city progress much more than in a horizontal town; squares, generated as wings deformation, interrupt the long and obsessive street and, overlooking the inner hole, look like viewpoints and roof gardens. The result is an hollow skyscraper, with a striped metal skin and a unsettled outline, due to auto-construction principle. The global shape has no importance, VORTEX can be built in every metropolis of the world, because, more than a building, it is a method of aggregation, it’s a new urban texture, it’s a method to reuse cars and consequently reduce the atmospheric pollution.
