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Innovative Architectural Ideas That Would Transform NYC's Landscape

By Rebecca Ngu | March 30, 2016 1:55pm
 This drone central control terminal, named
This drone central control terminal, named "The Hive" would provide a safe way for personal and commercial drones to land and charge in New York City.
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EVolo

What would happen if we radically re-envisioned the cityscape of New York? The past winners of the annual skyscraper challenge hosted by EVolo, an architecture and design magazine, already did.

Here’s what New York City would look like in their hands.

► Sunken Central Park Surrounded By 1,000 Foot Glass Walls - 1st place in 2016

What if Central Park was excavated to its bedrock and surrounded by a 1,000 foot reflective “horizontal skyscraper”? This was this year’s winning architectural vision by Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu.

Central Park sunken

(Credit: EVolo)

Instead of building up, as is the tendency in New York, the designers decided to dig down. They proposed digging out the park's loose soil to reveal its deeper, undulating bedrock, or “mountain.” The excavation would result in a “cliff” around the park’s perimeter, creating space for a “multi-functional, hybrid mega-structure” that would rise to street level. This reflective, glass structure, at 1,000-foot-tall and 100-feet-thick, would be built within the park’s perimeter and provide around seven square miles of housing with stellar access and views of Central Park. The reflective surface of this “horizontal skyscraper” would mean park goers could look out and enjoy the illusion of the park extending infinitely to the horizon, unbound by the city.  

Reflective wall

(Credit: EVolo)

► Drone "Hive" Tower As Control Terminal - 2nd place in 2016

“The Hive,” as its designers called it, addresses the advances of drone technology as well as legal and safety concerns regarding their use.

This design by Hadeel Ayed Mohammad, Yifeng Zhao, Chengda Zhu imagines a drone control tower where personal and commercial drones can safely dock and charge while adhering to flying safety rules. The designers imagined it at 432 Park Ave. The tower’s surface consists of modules configured to fit nine types of drones based on the shape and scale of their landing fixtures. Once a drone has securely landed onto its horizontal platform, the platform will flip vertically so that it is parallel with the tower and becomes embedded in the tower’s structure.

To maximize surface area, the tower features three overlapping layers, with the smaller drones embedded deeper inside the tower. While docked, the drones can charge with the battery stations attached behind each module. The facade of the tower will be constantly shifting with hundreds of modules opening and closing as drones fly in and out of the tower.

Drone tower facade

Credit: EVolo