The annual eVolo Skyscraper Competition is one of the most thought-provoking architecture contests around. Small on detail, but big on wild ideas, this year’s crop of blue-sky conceptual designs includes a skyscraper made from genetically modified trees imagined for New York City and a water collecting tower that would hydrate Mexico City.

Originally conceived 15 years ago to promote new ideas for vertical living, this year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition consists of three winners and 20 honorable mentions. Read on below for a look at the three winners, before heading to the gallery to see each one of the 23 projects that are included.

“The Jury selected three winners and 20 honorable mentions from 492 projects received,” says eVolo Magazine. “The annual award established in 2006 recognizes visionary ideas that through the novel use of technology, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organizations, challenge the way we understand vertical architecture and its relationship with the natural and built environments.”

A Ukrainian team made up of Andrii Lesiuk, Mykhaylo Kohut, Sofiia Shkoliar, Kateryna Ivashchuk, Nazarii Duda, Mariia Shkolnyk, Oksana-Daryna Kytsiuk, and Andrii Honcharenko won first place in the 2021 eVolo Skyscraper Competition with an interesting idea for a tree-based tower (pictured above).

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