Skyscrapers of the Future

Designs recognized by eVolo Magazine's 2011 Skyscraper Competition run the gamut, from pancake-shaped buildings to a glossy new sports complex, from a towering eco-Ferris Wheel proposed for New Delhi to a subterranean structure to honor (and house) Mexico's dead.

"The competition is meant to stimulate discussion, development and promotion of new concepts for vertical density. Participants are asked to examine the relationships among the skyscraper and the natural world, the community and the city."

If there's anything in common between the winning designs and honorable mentions, it's a willingness to completely reimagine the building and its relationship to place, and also a focus on the environment, "whether it's through cleaning polluted air or re-imagining one of the marvels of the modern world, the Hoover Dam. A host of honorable mentions include environmental cleanup facilities, sustainable communities and even subterranean communities for the living and the dead."