Our Top 5 Favourite Building Concepts of 2013

For this installment of the “Best of 2013,” we are taking a look back at some of our favourite building concepts that we came across over the last year. As you browse through our top 5 concepts, you’ll find that some of them are realistic and some are just beyond our technology, but even the designs that are a little more far fetched seem like they could exist some day!

Listed below, in no particular order, are our top 5 favourite building concepts of 2013:

Light Park by Ting Xu and Yiming Chen

This is one of the concepts that won’t be gracing any skyline in the near future, but it’s fun to think about. Light Park took third place in eVolo’s 2013 Skyscraper competition. It would feature residential, commercial, and retail space. The idea is it’s a community floating above a city that has probably run out of land. The designers are from China, so they were probably attempting to solve the country’s current/future density issues. Who thinks that we’ll see floating skyscrapers some day?

Phobia Skyscraper by Darius Maikoff and Elodie Godo

Phobia Skyscraper took second place in eVolo’s 2013 Skyscraper competition. The design is for an industrial area of France. The cool thing about this concept is that it is completely comprised of prefabricated units. It looks as if the building is organic and just grows naturally, and in a way, it would. It seems as though you could just continue to add units to the structure. Imagine just buying a unit and then having it snap onto a residential mass like a lego piece!

The Drift House by Neeraj Bhatia

This concept would solve housing issues in northern Canada. What’s the issue? There’s no good housing. During the Cold War era, the Canadian government developed permanent structures using a prefab system. These homes are essentially portables, you know, the kind you had english class in. The Drift House would take advantage of the accumulation of snow, using it as a natural insulator. It’s basically a combination of a detached single home and an igloo.

Tree in a House by A.Masow Design

Everyone would love a tree incorporated into the design of their home - a simple Google search will prove that - but this design takes it to a whole new level. According to A.Masow’s website, this home was commissioned by a businessman looking for a home where he could develop spiritually and creatively. Apparently, this home will cost $399,016 and actually be built in a forest of fir trees in Almaty, Kazakhstan - so this concept might become a reality!

Live Between Buildings! by Mateusz Mastalski and Ole Robin Storjohann

We have to say, this concept is probably our favourite of the year. It’s realistic and is applicable to Toronto. Live Between Buildings! took first place at A10 and Fakro’s New Vision Loft 2 Competition this year. This type of housing could exist anywhere where there is a wide enough alley. Just think about any major street in downtown Toronto - you can’t even count how many alleys there are in the city. Now, imagine if a GTA builder or developer found a way to execute this concept! The only thing restricting floorplans and designs is the alley where it’s built - so the possibilities are endless!