The spirit of the CTBUH competition is to reward the tall building which provides the greatest environmental quality and better habitability for their users, rather than the height itself. The jury considered that the buildings that fitted this purposes the most in its configuration are:
- Shanghai Tower by Gensler.- Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia Winner.
- Via 57 West by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).- Best Tall Building Americas Winner.
- The White Walls by Jean Nouvel.- Best Tall Building Europe Winner.
- The Cube by Orange Architects.- Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa Winner.
- Via 57 West by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).- Best Tall Building Americas Winner.
- The White Walls by Jean Nouvel.- Best Tall Building Europe Winner.
- The Cube by Orange Architects.- Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa Winner.
VIA 57 WEST.- Best Tall Building Americas Winner
Via 57 West, by Bjarke Ingels Group, accomplishes the ambitious goal of forging an entirely new high-rise typology. Coined by the architect as a “courtscraper,” the tower is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and the traditional Manhattan high-rise, while combining the advantages of both. It has the compactness, density, and intimacy of a classic courtyard building with the grandeur, airiness, and expansive views of a skyscraper. The building offers a unique vision for the future of the tall building; one that manages to synthesize high-quality and visually appealing architecture with the needs of the client, all without sacrificing environmental performance or residential quality.
SHANGHAI TOWER.- Best Tall Building Asia & Australasia Winner
Shanghai Tower, by Gensler, embodies a new prototype for tall buildings. Placed in close proximity to Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center, the tower rises high above the skyline, its curved façade and spiraling form symbolizing the dynamic emergence of modern China. But its twisting form goes beyond just creating a unique appearance; wind tunnel tests confirm a 24 percent savings in structural wind loading when compared to a rectangular building of the same height. The tower’s program is organized into nine vertical zones. Each of these vertical neighborhoods rise from a sky lobby, a light-filled garden atrium that creates a sense of community and supports daily life with a varied program catering to tenants and visitors.
THE WHITE WALLS.- Best Tall Building Europe Winner
The White Walls, by Jean Nouvel, has single-handedly transformed the urban silhouette of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, drawing upon its context to deliver a residential-office tower that is unmistakably Mediterranean, yet global influential with its highly successful environmental considerations. The mass of the tower’s white concrete walls is negated by numerous square perforations, from which an assortment of hanging vegetation protrudes. Abundant greenery is also present on its southern balconies, with native plants covering nearly 80 percent of the façade area. The resulting coverage serves to trap carbon dioxide, emit oxygen, and provide energy-saving shade.
THE CUBE.- Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa Winner
The Cube, employs a residential design concept that is simple yet extraordinarily effective, rotating and displacing volumes on each floor to offer residents unique outdoor areas and panoramic views of Beirut. The design stacks 14 rotated floor plans on top of a lobby, generating 21 apartments with fluid spaces, large balconies, and wall-to-wall window frames. The structure is unique for utilizing Self-Consolidating Concrete, allowing loads to be directed to four areas of rotated girders on every floor, with no additional structural slabs added to the façades.
