Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper Competition

*Gizem Kuçak Toprak* 

#### **Abstract**

 This study stems from the idea that developed in architectural competitions, which address sustainability principles, will influence other acquisition methods, such as bidding and direct commissions, and design processes, and that they allow the emergence and dissemination of new ideas. Since the increasing numbers of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers around the world, their environmental, social, and economic sustainability are gaining significance in our day, the study will examine projects that have been ranked in the Skyscraper Competition, which has been hosted since 2006 by eVolo—an architectural journal that identifies its focus as technological advancements, sustainability, and twenty-first century innovative designs—in order to determine the way sustainability is addressed in architectural competitions. Then, the contributions made by projects ranked in this competition, which is hosted by an organization that is dedicated to popularizing the principle of sustainability, to the concept of sustainability will be discussed and a list of proposals to overcome the deficiencies, which are identified by the 2017 study conducted in Turkey, will be presented.

**Keywords:** sustainability, sustainable architecture, architecture competition, Skyscraper Competition, eVolo Skyscraper Competition

#### **1. Introduction**

Skyscrapers date back to the Tower of Babel and the pyramids. Today, they are considered to be solutions to certain urbanization problems, occupying less urban space and green areas, offering various functions such as offices, housing, and recreation within a single building around the world and in Turkey on the one hand, while constituting an urbanization problem on the other. In the case of Istanbul, skyscrapers face heavy criticism, especially in recent years, for the damage they have done to Istanbul's silhouette (**Figure 1**). They can only be a solution to problems if they are designed at the right place, at the right time, and with the right technology, materials, and load-bearing systems.

Building the highest skyscraper has been a global race, which is more intense in some countries than others. This race continues, especially in wealthy regions like the Emirates such as Dubai, not only against the rest of the world, but domestically too and they continue to break their own records (**Figure 2**).

**Figure 1.**  *Views from Istanbul's silhouette. (a) Istanbul's silhouette 2016 [1]. (b) Istanbul's silhouette 2017 [2].* 

**Figure 2.**  *A silhouette of the Address Hotel, Dubai [3].* 

 Twenty of the 100 tallest completed buildings in the world by height to architectural top list prepared by the Skyscraper Center are located in Dubai [4]. The first building on the list, the Burj Khalifa building, is 828 meters tall. It has a combination of concrete and steel load-bearing systems and it is an important structure that contains office, residence, and hotel functions as well as social activities, which makes it a tourist destination as well. In a documentary broadcasted by National Geographic in 2011, featuring architectural historian Prof. Andrew Dolkart, it is mentioned that the challenges that the Burj Khalifa building had to go through date back to the Equitable Building that was constructed in 1854. The most fundamental problems faced in skyscraper construction are carrying people vertically, preventing the structure from sinking into the ground and making lighter buildings, making the buildings resistant against natural elements such as sun, wind, desert sand, earthquakes, and rain, and moving occupants to a safe area in emergency situations. The efforts to solve these problems date back to 1854, when Ernest R. Graham used the self-locking elevator system invented by Elisha G. Otis firm in his design for the Equitable Building. Then the Flatiron Building, Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg designed which could not exist without a steel load-bearing system, and their design eliminated the problems of heaviness, sinking into the ground, and the loss of floor space due to the load-bearing walls, which was experienced with the Monadnock Building, designed by Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn in 1891. Since the walls were not bearing any load anymore, glass facades became possible and improved the use of daylight, the view, and the sun. The greenhouse effect created by glass façades was eliminated by the air conditioning system designed by Willis Haviland Carrier, which in turn increased floor areas in the United Nations HQ Building. The World Trade Center Buildings were designed by Minaru Yamasaki and Emery Roth & Sons and were built in 1973, where the problem of carrying materials vertically for the construction of upper floors was solved by the kangaroo crane and prefabricated building elements. Bruce Graham designed Sears Tower in 1970, with a new steel load-bearing system that was improved for wind resistance by moving the skeleton, which was conventionally located inside the

#### *Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836*

 building, to the outer surface. The problem of resistance against natural disasters such as earthquakes and other ways was overcame by a new technology that allowed flexible and rigid materials to exist together and the Taipei 101 building designed by C.Y. Lee and partners that was completed in 2004 did endure an earthquake, while it was under construction. All these efforts reached their highest level with the Burj Khalifa building [5].

The Burj Khalifa building, designed by Skidmore, Owing and Merrill and completed between 2004 and 2010, is considered an architectural and engineering marvel due to its newly developed elevator systems, its load-bearing system and weight, its relationship with factors such as desert sand, the facade material, and the relationship of this material with temperature, heat, desert sand, and the load of the articles near the facade, the problem of sinking into desert sand, emergency exit problems, and the work on the relationship between the ground relationships between the building and the desert sand (**Figure 3**) [5].

 As demonstrated by the Burj Khalifa example, challenges of the architectural problem change when it comes to skyscrapers. Especially from the beginning of the design process through the completion of the design, uninterrupted construction, completion of the construction, the beginning of the building's life time and during the processes of ensuring sustainability, a series of complex problems will be confronted. For skyscrapers many factors, such as project and construction management, material types and amounts, operation costs of the building after construction, and the energy to be consumed gain considerable importance due to the sheer volume and height of the building Therefore, the sustainability of skyscrapers is considered to be a separate topic for discussion.

Sustainability as a concept became widely used and a major agenda item in the field of architecture in the 1970s and the 1980s. In the Brundtland Report, sustainability is addressed in terms of economic, social, and environmental sustainability [7]. When it comes to sustainable architecture, it is found that environmental values are prioritized and concepts such as ecological design or ecodesign are in the foreground. Ayşin Sev defines sustainable architecture as "all activities that prioritize the use of renewable energy sources, which are sensitive to the environment, use energy, water, materials, and the area effectively, protect the health, and comfort of people while taking future generations into consideration, in every period of its existence," and lays out its principles; resource management, life cycle design, and human-oriented design [8]. The strategies for implementing these principles are resource management, life cycle design, and human oriented

**Figure 3.**  *Burj Khalifa and the other side of Burj Khalifa, Dubai [6].* 

design. Resource management principles are using energy efficiently, using water efficiently, using building materials efficiently, using building sites efficiently; life cycle design phases are preconstruction period, construction period, and postconstruction period; human-oriented design principles are protecting the natural environment, urban design site planning, and designing for human comfort.

Jason F. Mclennan defines sustainable architecture as design philosophy [9].

 Ken Yeang explains the purpose of ecodesign as harmonious integration with the environment. Basically, ecodesign is the process of carefully and harmoniously integrating human designs with the extensive patterns, flows, processes, and physical conditions of nature. To put it simply, it is the harmonious and perfect integration of the built environment with the natural environment, from source to production, use to demolition, and eventually to assimilation within ecosystems and the biosphere. Effective integration of artificial systems with natural systems and processes is the primary and principal problem in ecological design or ecodesign [10].

The common association of the concept of sustainable design with ecological design and green design becomes more striking when it comes to skyscrapers. As Ken Yeang states in his book, skyscraper is not an ecological design [11].

In this sense, it is possible to use different design criteria for the designs that will be developed. An examination of studies conducted in this context (the number of studies can be increased) [8, 11–15], it is observed that many design criteria are used together and different criteria are developed for specific buildings due to the unique conditions of each. Environmental and economic sustainability seem to dominate in the examples [8, 11–15] that are examined.

It is also possible to use different methods to improve, popularize, and encourage these criteria. This study focuses on competitions as one method. The main result of the studies conducted in 2017 [16–18] is that architectural competitions is an effective method for developing, testing, and disseminating new ideas and it is found that that the concept of sustainability has become an important factor in architectural competitions in Turkey in the 2000s. However, a study conducted in Turkey in 2017 concluded that [17] the concept of sustainable design generally remains only in the contest specifications. The main subject to be examined here is the way the projects awarded by the eVolo Skyscraper Competition—which was associated with the subject of sustainability and competitors were more independent since it was for conceptual projects approached this subject, and the intellectual and formal innovations they offered. With this examination, the aim is to propose a solution for the conclusions reached above, specifically for Turkey.

#### **2. Methodology**

As a project acquisition method, architectural competitions offer several advantages over other methods like bidding or direct commissioning. The most notable advantages include freedom to experiment with new ideas, creation of a platform that includes competitors, jury members, host of the competition, and all other participants in a discussion on evaluating various alternatives, and publication of competition results digitally, which allows them to access different platforms. A study conducted in Turkey in 2017 [16] revealed that various political and military administrations that ruled the country from 1930 to 2000 have acquired a portion of the building types that reflected their ideology through architectural competitions. Architectural competitions are not only an opportunity for independent ideas to flourish but also a tool for popularizing ideologies. With their potential to lead the dissemination of an idea, architectural competitions seem to be able to

*Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 

 spearhead the search and transfer of how the principle of sustainability can be used in the architectural context, development of available alternatives, and expanding ways of use. Another study conducted in Turkey in 2017 [17] reveals that the concept of "sustainability" is only addressed superficially in competition specifications and in competing submissions, and that it is thoroughly discussed only in competitions that are specifically about this concept. Yet the concept of sustainability has become one of the issues that need to be addressed thoroughly with its environmental, social, and economic aspects in the building production process and it should be imperatively addressed at every competition and not only the ones that include sustainable design as a subject.

In this context, eVolo Skyscraper Competition and the award-winnings projects between 2006 and 2018 will be examined in terms of sustainable design decisions that are effective in design. Therefore, examination tables have been developed and various keywords describing projects have been identified.

#### **3. Case study**

 eVolo defines itself as an architecture journal that focuses on technological advancements, sustainability, and innovative designs of the twenty-first century and has been organizing Skyscraper Competitions every year since 2006 [19]. **Tables 1**–**13** examine the intellectual and formal innovations brought by the awarded projects by the competition, thanks to the more liberal environment due to the conceptual nature of the projects. **Tables 1**–**13** examine the projects that were ranked first, second, and third, providing project name, name of designer, and sustainable design decisions that influenced the design. Sustainable design decisions are described with keywords from project reports, as well as certain critical definitions and descriptions from these reports when keywords are not sufficient. Information on these projects was obtained from eVOLO's official website [20]. As a result of this examination, the aim is to create a conclusion to discover the intellectual and formal innovations that can be offered by the projects and the hope is that these discoveries will reflect on skyscraper design as an added value.


**Table 1.** 

*Examination of 2018 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 2.**

*Examination of 2017 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 3.**

*Examination of 2016 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


*Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


#### **Table 4.**

*Examination of 2015 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 5.**

*Examination of 2014 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 6.**

*Examination of 2013 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 7.**

*Examination of 2012 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 8.**

*Examination of 2011 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


*Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


#### **Table 9.**

*Examination of 2010 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 10.**

*Examination of 2009 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 11.**

*Examination of 2008 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 12.**

*Examination of 2007 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 


#### **Table 13.**

*Examination of 2006 eVolo Skyscraper Competition awarded projects in terms of sustainability principles.* 

#### **4. Conclusions**

As mentioned in the introduction, architectural competitions are a project acquisition method that nourishes the intellectual realm by disseminating and discussing ideas and allowing them to be used in other projects. Thus, it is a valuable method for popularizing the use of sustainability principles and allowing various ideas that are discussed to lead other designs. In this study, the following conclusions were reached by examining the results of the Skyscraper Competition held annually by eVOLO journal since 2006 in order to disseminate different ideas on how sustainability can be addressed:

• The primary focus of the submissions have been social and economic sustainability. We find proposals developed for solving social problems. Proposals include reinterpreting vernacular architecture, using natural materials, revitalizing production, bringing it back into the city, alternative property concepts, and organizing social relations.

*Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


As a result of the examination of the eVolo Journal's Skyscraper Competition, it is determined that the concept of sustainability is not merely related to ecological architecture and environmental values, and that addressing economic and environmental sustainability together, developing new systems that will contribute to the sustainability of the building in the light of technological advancements, form, shape and geometric enquiries, and investigating flexibility, functionality, and transformability as well as height will create an added value, that it is important to support and promote these values through conceptual competitions, which offer an environment of experimentation.

*ISBS 2019 - 4th International Sustainable Buildings Symposium* 

#### **Author details**

Gizem Kuçak Toprak Department of Architecture, Atılım University, Ankara, Turkey

\*Address all correspondence to: gizem.toprak@atilim.edu.tr

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Architecture Competitions and Sustainability Criteria: The Example of eVolo Skyscraper… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 

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#### **Chapter 7**
