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Archive for April 27th, 2009
Sky-Terra Towers Sprout Cities in the Skies
Author: admin
These Sky-Terra concept skyscrapers look like giant pieces of artwork shooting up from the ground, but they do more than just look pretty. The network of interconnected towers, one of the entries in the 2009 eVolo Skyscraper Competition, creates a new city layer in the sky made of parks, amphitheaters, fields, and other public spaces. Unlike traditional buildings that block city residents from ever seeing direct sunlight, the Sky-Terra towers allow people to get plenty of sun without dealing with the pollution below.
Designed by San Francisco architect Joanna Borek, the towers rise to 1,600 feet and expand into a flat plaza layer with ample green space, 4-foot-wide streets for electric cars and bikes, rainwater collection systems, and interconnected foot paths. An elevator is embedded in the core of each tower to bring people up to the skyscraper plaza.
There are a couple of problems with the skyscraper. The first is the lack of sunlight below–holes and spaces in the plaza’s fins supposedly let light onto street level, but it still seems like less sunlight would reach the ground than with traditional skyscrapers. Then there is the wind and weather factor when you’re up top. But the Sky-Terra buildings were designed for already-clogged cities like Tokyo, and for these cities, some green space, direct sunlight, and fresh air might be better than none at all.
The transportation system consists of interconnected foot paths, as well as 4 foot wide streets designated for bikes or small electric cars. The remaining is meant to be green space which will assist in reducing urban heat island effect. Rainwater collection will provide water for landscaping needs, and the towers’ building materials consist of modular parts that would be mass-produced to conserve resources and energy. The plaza levels are designed with holes and spaces between the fins that allow light to beam down. The idea seems all smart and huge but I cannot imagine being stuck in the air and living there! So for holidays we go to earth?
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