The 11th International Student Tall Building Design Competition, which focused on multi-storied buildings sited within the United States that maximize the use and expression of mass timber, kindly sponsored by Think Wood and WoodWorks, concluded in April 2022, with the jury deliberations on high caliber submissions from all around the world. The jury selected the following winners:

• 1st Place: Volcano, Hut & Divine Tree by Yuchen Wang and Yin-Shan Lin, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA (US$5,000 Cash Prize)
• 2nd Place: Interwoven by Qianqian Zhang, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China (US$4,000 Cash Prize)
• 3rd Place: The Sense-Scraper by Gordon Chun Hin Hon, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (US$3,000 Cash Prize)
• 4th Place: Fill in the Gaps by Ridho Gustama, Parahyangan, Gilbert Aldo Theodric, and Rayhan Naufal Hadiansyah, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia (US$2,000 Cash Prize)
• 5th Place: Talent Machine by Joanna Cieslikowska, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands (US$1,000 Cash Prize)

CTBUH congratulates all the winners and invites all eligible students to submit a project to the 2023 International Student Tall Building Design Competition!

About the Competition 

The goal of the CTBUH International Student Design Competition is to shed new light on the meaning and value of tall buildings in modern society. The 2022 competition focused on the use of mass timber in multi-story buildings, which has myriad benefits for society, including lower energy footprint, sequestering carbon, sustainable management of forests, etc. Participants are tasked to engage with the exploration and resolution of the synergistic relationship between a tall building and its urban setting; how that tall building can be inspired by the cultural, physical, and environmental aspects of its site; how the program of the building is influenced by the micro and macro site/urban conditions; and how the building responds to global issues. Proposals are required to show evidence of a clear understanding of how considerations of structure, environment, servicing, etc. are as vital to the success of a tall building as the form, materials, aesthetics, etc.

Jury

The competition consisted of two jury rounds. The first-round jury narrowed the submissions down to 10 semifinalists. The second-round jury evaluated the 10 projects and determined the five winners and placements. The members of the jury included prominent professionals, creating an international, multi-disciplinary group of tall building experts.   

First-Round Jury:

• Peng Du, Regional Director, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and Director, Master of Urban Design - Future Cities (MUD) and Master of Science in Urban Analytics and Geodesign programs, College of Architecture and Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia 

• Yohan Kim, Academic Coordinator, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and Assistant Director, Master of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism (MTBVU) program, College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago

• Kyoung Sun Moon, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Yale University, New Haven

• Philip Oldfield, Head of School of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney 

• Ilkay Standard, Founder/Innovation Leader/Designer, GENX, New York City

• Dario Trabucco, Research Manager, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and Associate Professor, Building Technology, Iuav University of Venice, Venice

• Zhendong Wang, Assistant Dean and Associate Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai

Second-Round Jury:

• Edward Becker, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Design, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg  

• James Tate, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station

• Liz McCormick, Assistant Professor, College of Art + Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte

Kindly sponsored by: