Every year, nearly 600 architecture firms compete for the top spot in eVolo's skyscraper competition.
Since 2006, the architecture and design magazine has awarded the most innovative concepts in high-rise design.
This year's wildly conceptual winners, from a tower that filters polluted air to one that cools the planet, aim to make cities better places to live.
Here are Tech Insider's favorite designs out of the 24 winners.
'New York Horizon' — a sunken Central Park in Manhattan.
Two American designers, Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu, imagined this park inside a 1,000-feet-deep crater in Manhattan. Complete with boulders and lakes, it would give New Yorkers a new space to frolic in.
It won first place in eVolo's competition.
'The Hive' — a landing spot for drones in Manhattan.
This skyscraper would serve two functions: as housing for residents and a parking place for drones that whiz around NYC. Each drone (owned by residents) would fly to its designated spot, forming the walls of the "Hive."
It was conceptualized by American architects Hadeel Ayed Mohammad, Yifeng Zhao, and Chengda Zhu and won second place.
'Data Skyscraper' — a data hub in Iceland.
This skyscraper, which Italian designers Valeria Mercuri and Marco Merletti describe as a "3D motherboard," would provide internet and 100% renewable energy to Iceland. Since the country boasts a naturally cool climate, the environment would keep it from overheating, they write.
It won third place.
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