15 Incredible Images Of Futuristic Skyscrapers

Light Park Floating Skyscraper Coming in third place, this design for Beijing imagines a skyscraper that brings parks and other green spaces to heavily developed areas. A giant balloon would suspend it in mid-air. We have some thoughts about trees on buildings, but it's still pretty amazing. (The following images all received honorable mentions in the competition.) Ting Xu, Yiming Chen

View Photo Gallery

eVolo Magazine, an architecture and design journal with a futuristic bent, has announced the winners of its 2013 Skyscraper Competition, where architects imagine what the skyscrapers of tomorrow will look like. Hundreds of architects entered and offered up concepts for buildings, and they are some of the most science-fictional ideas we've seen in a while. Just a quick sample of some honorable mentions: a skyscraper that floats on a giant balloon, a shield that harnesses heat from volcanoes, and a plan for building cities inside meteorite crash sites.

Admittedly, this contest is more of a thought experiment; it's not very likely any of these are ever going to be built. (Hopefully the one for rebuilding after the apocalypse isn't necessary, anyway.) But still, like the best sci-fi, it gives a glimpse of the future based on technology we're near now.

So until you're reading this from your wood skyscraper, enjoy.

[eVolo]