Ukrainians propose to grow a living tree skyscraper in New York: their project won the competition

Guess Line Architects from Lvov (Ukraine) won the eVolo Skyscraper Competition with project of a living skyscrapergrown from wood. Writes about it "Focus".

The design of a high-rise building for New York is based on the idea of ​​growing structures from living wood, which the founder of Guess Line Architects Andrei Lesyuk was accidentally prompted by his father. Already now bridges and furniture are grown from trees and, according to the architect, very soon people will learn to create organic houses, giving them shape with the help of special guides.

The authors of the project were inspired by paulownia - a tree that grows up to five meters a year, much faster than others.

Paulownia is the tree that has the highest growth rate, it is not demanding, it grows evenly and regenerates quickly. Recently, it has been increasingly used in furniture and biomass production. Andriy Lesyuk, one of the founders of the Lviv architectural bureau Guess Line Architects, decided to further expand this list, having seen construction potential in paulownia, reports "Voice of America".

True, in order to build a full-fledged skyscraper in at least 15 years, you need a plant that develops 30-40 times faster than paulownia. If such a species appears, people will be able to build environmentally friendly houses and not make noise during work - it is enough to provide the plants with water and fertilizers.

“For a tree, you can make different guides, put a frame on them. Living trees will grow in a given direction, respectively, they will form a certain space, volume, creating apartments, social centers, vertical parks, whole ecologically clean areas, ”says Andrey Lesyuk.

On the subject: A breathtaking skyscraper ride to open in New York this fall

Andrey says that the concept of a living skyscraper, where the trunk and branches of the paulownia would be used as frame structures, belongs to him. But the details for submitting the concept to the competition were worked out by the whole team. She says that the bureau is quite young and is constantly developing, inviting students-architects for training.

It should be noted that the team takes part exclusively in competitions and does not work on order.

“This allows us to accelerate the development of all team members several times. That is, employees do not just come to work, gain experience and sit still. We give the opportunity to constantly develop, stimulate progress, ”emphasizes Andriy Lesyuk.

He admits that he dreamed of participating in the skyscraper competition for many years. But he decided that he would take part in it only with a powerful idea. When the idea of ​​using paulownia arose, I realized: finally, this moment has come.

“Competitions are divided into those, the results of which can be realized, and those aimed at the development of the architectural trend, at the search for ideas, new solutions, tasks for the future,” says the architect.

American architect Peter Jackson highly appreciated the bold and ecological concept of his Ukrainian colleagues.

“It is a truly amazing idea to use living wood as a basis for future construction. I will refrain from commenting on how real it is now, but it all starts with an idea. Yes, now it looks very phantasmagoric, but the architecture is becoming more organic, and the concept clearly corresponds to this. Therefore, this project is a powerful application, ”said Peter Jackson.

On the subject: 'Iron House' in New York: what is unique about Manhattan's first skyscraper

In addition to fame, the victory in the competition brought young Ukrainian architects a monetary award of $ 5. Andrey Lesyuk claims that this was not the first international competition in which his team took part, and certainly not the last, since, jokingly, the architect said, their dream is to capture the architectural world.

eVolo Skyscraper Competition is one of the largest and most popular competitions for architects from all over the world, where projects for the construction of high-rise buildings are presented.