Whenever, Wherever

Our skyscraper has integrated the education and housing system of the future in a way that expands opportunities for everyone. Our project is named [Whenever, Wherever] as our aim is to make a skyscraper that enables people to learn, communicate and socialize whenever and wherever within these grounds. Not only did we enable such expansion of boundaries, but also made learning much more convenient to the wide range of people who live or visit the skyscraper.

The future of education, in our opinion, does not just include the change in the education system itself, but the change in the targeted audience. When we think of universities, mostly young people come to mind, people who are learning in order to achieve their goals. However, we believe that in the future, universities will be for a wider audience. Even nowadays, there are many people who continue their studies after working for a while. For now, it is not a very widespread phenomenon, but with the continual extension of our lifespan, we believe that in the future, people of all ages from toddlers to senior citizens, will engage in various educational activities. Another change in future education, is the platform we use to learn. Currently, even in universities, learning mainly occurs within classrooms and lecture halls. A great example of new platforms that we use to learn is video meeting platforms such as google meet or zoom. Such platforms diversify and change the way we gather knowledge and retain skills. Especially in tertiary education, the concept of learning has changed from the simple transfer of knowledge to a more broad term including the sharing of opinions, broadening of experiences and viewing new perspectives.

As for the future of housing, we think that there is a need for community formation in the residential area. People are living in smaller groups compared to before, and with the advancement of technology, more people work and study from home. This means that there are fewer opportunities for people to socialize face to face outside. Thus, the social activities that are currently occurring outside our homes, should now be moved to the residential area as homes have become the new workplace and school. Social activities are crucial as meeting various people allows us to view the world in a new light.

To embody this idea of futuristic housing and education, we divided the programs in a slightly different way. There are four categories: interactive platforms, housing units, university units and the social units. The main space in our project is the interactive platforms. They are located in the center of the building to promote active learning. The platforms are comprised of diverse spaces where people can share ideas, gain knowledge and experience new things. The central space is surrounded by hallways and stairs that act as a connector between the various units and also between the units and the platforms.

We started creating the form with a cylindrical tower, as the circular shape allows people to enter the central platform from all around. Then, we created the outer units derived from a hexagonal geometry as the geometry has a great connectivity with the central circle. The rather angular hexagonal form contrasts with the smooth curved form of the platforms, creating a difference in the mood of the space between the more public and active space and the more private and quiet spaces. As the platform is our main space of focus, we created various hallways and stairs apart from the core, in order to increase the connectivity from the various units to the various platforms, as well as in between the different units. The façade is made up of a double skin glass and skin structure to open up the view as well as ensure that the environment within the building is suitable.

The interconnected housing, social and university units as well as the interactive platforms, allows residents and students to continually pass by diverse spaces with diverse activities. We believe that this will encourage to people to explore the various socializing and learning opportunities. With such diverse activities and high level of interconnectedness, we hope that even as our cities change to metropolis, we will still, and possibly even more than before, be able to engage and learn in various environments.