Following on the heels of that paperclip-esque tower design for New York, here’s another ‘out there’ skyscraper design. Literally, this one is ‘out there’—in Earth’s orbit. Designed by Clouds Architecture Office, this speculative building would hang from an asteroid, which would be lowered into orbit. Then a high strength cable would descend down to Earth and support a super tall tower.
“Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location,” state the architects. “The proposal calls for Analemma to be constructed over Dubai, which has proven to be a specialist in tall building construction at one fifth the cost of New York City construction.”
From the architects:
Orbital mechanics for Analemma: geosynchronous orbit matches earth's sidereal rotation period of one day. The tower's position in the sky traces out a path in a figure-8 form, returning the tower to exactly the same position in the sky each day. Ground trace annotated with 24-hour segments corresponding to the towers position over a specific geographic feature.
Unrolled Orbital Path: Chart showing a typical daily cycle for an inhabitant of Analemma. Business is conducted at the lower end of the tower (F), while sleeping quarters are approximately 2/3 of the way up. Devotional activities are scattered along the highest reaches (A, B, D), while surface transfer points (G) take advantage of high topography. The size and shape of windows changes with height to account for pressure and temperature differentials. The amount of daylight increases by 40 minutes at the top of the tower due to the curvature of the earth.
More images in the gallery below.
5 Comments
the infamous sky hooks are here!
This project will consume the world's skyhook production for several decades.
I'm glad someone is finally tackling the tricky problem of "But the slaves don't build where the rich people live."
Just as genius!
haha!!! Super!
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