A Vertical City in the Sahara?

[Skywizard]

In what is surely the most resolutely optimistic architectural proposal of the year so far, French firm
OXO Architectes has put forth a plan to build a city in the Sahara desert. A vertical city. That looks
like a rock.

The City Sand Tower is technically described as a mixed-use tower, but in its scope and ambition might be more accurately termed a space-age arcology.

Rising to a height of more than 1,400 feet, the tower would have a total floorspace of 192 acres and include residential housing, business offices, hotels, shops, restaurants, sports and recreation facilities and a museum.

Dubai To Build Domed City

The tower’s exterior design, meanwhile, would incorporate angled facades with shading materials and sensors calibrated to make the most of the desert sun, collecting solar energy while cooling the interior.

As you can see from the image, the design is also intended to make the tower appear part of the desert environment — an enormous, impossible rock jutting out of the sand.



Inside the perimeter structure, architects plan a central inner tower that doubles as a vertical farm,
with vegetation protected from the desert climate. At the top of the structure, a meteorological
research station and observatory would keep an eye on the sky.

Vertical Farms To Sprout Up In Cities

To power the gigantic structure, the builders plan to run a 700-mile extension cord to a wall outlet in this one guy’s apartment in Cairo. We kid: Builders intend a self-sustaining system using solar panels and geothermal energy. Rainwater would be recycled more or less endlessly, converted into steam for generators and used to irrigate the vertical farm.

If it all seems a bit ambitious, keep in mind that these kinds of proposals tend to be more conceptual than anything else. They’re like thought experiments in high-density living and improbable real estate. Still, it can’t hurt to dream, right?



Source: http://news.discovery.com/tech/alter...ara-150421.htm



peace...

[grannyfranny100]

"If it all seems a bit ambitious, keep in mind that these kinds of proposals tend to be more conceptual than anything else. They’re like thought experiments in high-density living and improbable real estate. Still, it can’t hurt to dream, right?"

That's not a dream; it's a nightmare