Piotr Pańczyk, a student of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, has won the prestigious international architecture competition eVolo. Along with two other students, he designed a moveable high-rise building for victims of natural disasters

Organised since 2006, eVolo Skyscraper Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions dedicated to the architecture of high-rise buildings. The entries are based on the principle of the implementation of new technologies and materials while proposing new aesthetic qualities and organisation of space. Piotr Pańczyk from the Faculty of Architecture of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, along with Damian Granosik from Łódź University of Technology and Jakub Kulisa from Kraków University of Technology came up with the idea of Skyshelter.zip, i.e. a design of a foldable high-rise building for victims of natural disasters. 

- The idea of jointly entering the competition with the design occurred to us last autumn when the three of us began our semester at Milan University of Technology under an Erasmus placement - explains Pańczyk. The students chose eVolo competition due to its renown in the architecture milieu as well as the considerable prestige that comes with winning it, apart from the financial benefit. 

The work on the design took half a year, and the idea for the structure to serve victims of natural disasters appeared after the media reports of the earthquake and tsunami in Puerto Rico. - Architecture for victims of natural disasters is often ignored, and we wanted to attract the attention of people working in architecture to this issue - admits Pańczyk.