As the world’s population continues to boom so does density in major conurbations. This increase in density is actually increasing around the world as an influx of people move to the cities in search of jobs and the (often hollow) promise of a better life. The shift from oil to biofuels is augmenting the problem because land that may have been used for development will be required to grow the crops needed for energy production in the future.
This leaves the world’s major cities with a conundrum: how do you accommodate more people in the same space? For many the answer lies in the architectural philosophies of Paolo Soleri, an Italian-American visionary accredited as the father of arcology. If you have ever played Sim City 2000 you may or may not already be acquainted with the arcology, a structure of mammoth proportions created to accommodate large populations in sync with the surrounding environment.
If you thought that Dubai had a monopoly on the biggest developments and architectural oddities, think again! Here are some of the best proposed arcology-inspired sky / vertical cities from around the world to feast your eyes on.
Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid, Tokyo
Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid: The dimensions of this sky city are nothing short of staggering. If ever completed the Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid will stand 12 times higher than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt at 6,574ft tall with an area of 3 square miles at the base. The structure would consist of 8 layers stacked on top of each other which would have a total area of 34 square miles. Each layer will consist of smaller pyramids each roughly the size of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas with layers 1 through 4 devoted for mixed residential and commercial usage and layers 5 through 8 for leisure and social facilities. There will be accommodation for 750,000 people, or 1/16th of Tokyo’s 12 million strong population. Getting that many people around will be a challenge met by a zero carbon, personalised rapid transit system and a network of accelerated walkways and elevators that connect the city via 55 strategically located nodes. The exterior facade of the proposed hyperstructure will be sprayed with a photovoltaic coating to convert sunlight into electricity for a greener city.
X-Seed 4000, Tokyo
X-Seed 4000: Note: X-Seed 4000 is an architectural dream, a proposal that was originally drafted in 1995 with the sole intention of drawing attention to the designers who came up with the masterplan. Nevertheless we think the X-Seed 4000 is awesomely cool, even if it is permanently consigned to the drawing board. At 13,123ft tall the X-Seed 400 would eclipse even Mount Fuji whose iconic shape has been attributed by the architects as their inspiration. The $1 trillion teepee-like, self-contained hyperstructure would be supported by a frame of pillars, each habitable. There would be 800 floors with 26 square miles of space capable of housing anywhere between 500,000 - 1 million people. Of course all sorts of technology would need to be developed to make such a gigantic project work including next generation rapid transit networks, high speed elevators and a system capable of moderating huge fluctuations in temperature, wind speed and air pressure throughout the building. X-Seed 4000 would be powered entirely by the sun, although it is unclear whether this would involve covering the facade with photovoltaic panels or next generation thin film solar panels. The interior of the building does appear to adhere to the Soleri’s ideology of humans in coexistence with nature; as seen above there is no shortage in terms of indoor foliage. The question remains: who would want to live in the shadow of a 2.5 mile tall building? Mental.
Sky City 1000, Tokyo
Sky City 1000: Sky City 1000 is an ambitious 3,280ft tall self-contained city first proposed by Takenaka Corporation in 1989 to help restore green space to Tokyo’s urban congestion. If Takenaka’s vision of an answer to Tokyo’s problems gets the green light we’ll see a city that fulfills Soleri’s visions. Sky City 1000 will consist of 14 glass-protected plateaus with a total floor area of 3.1 square miles that would be home to vast green spaces. The mixed use building will house 36,000 permanent residents with space for a further 100,000 workers as well as schools, shops, theatres and other social facilities. Next generation, triple-deck high-speed elevators are currently in development that will form the backbone of Sky City 1000’s transport system, allowing people to get from the ground floor to the top in just over 2 minutes flat. Each plateau will also have a monorail system which will help move people laterally. In theory Sky City 1000 will help reduce the high temperatures often seen in Tokyo by freeing up more land that can be reclaimed and turned into green space. This project is still at the proposal stage but authorities in Tokyo actually take it seriously; Sky City 1000 may turn out to be the world’s first arcology.
Millennium Tower, Tokyo
Millennium Tower: The cone-shaped, 2,755ft tall Millennium Tower was first proposed in 1989 by Foster + Partners to address the acute shortage of development land and overpopulation in Tokyo. The tower will be constructed 1.2 miles offshore in Tokyo Bay and stand 170 storeys high with 0.4 square miles of floor space for mixed residential and commercial use. Millennium Tower will be capable of sustaining a community of 60,000 residents who will move vertically and horizontally throughout the arcology using a high-speed metro network in cars that can hold up to 160 people at a time. This system will stop at transportation hubs available on every 13th floor where passengers may disembark and continue their journey via lifts, escalators and moving walkways. The Millennium Tower will use wind turbines and solar arrays installed in the upper floors to provide sustainable energy for the entire building, making this one of the greenest arcologies presently envisioned.
Crystal Island, Moscow
Crystal Island: Foster + Partners’ Crystal Island was recently granted preliminary planning permission for construction on Nagatino Peninsula, just 4.5 miles from the Kremlin. Crystal Island is a self-contained city that will soar 1,500ft tall with 0.96 square miles of floor space for mixed use, that’s 4 times the floor area of the Pentagon. This megastructure will accommodate up to 30,000 residents in 900 apartments but will also boast 3,000 hotel rooms, a cinema, theatre, museum, shopping malls, sports complex and an international school for 500 pupils. Panoramic views of the city skyline will be available on huge viewing platforms 980ft above the streets of Moscow. When completed Crystal Island will have one of the largest atriums in the world, which can be opened in the summer to regulate the temperature of the 500ft high public space inside.
Ultima Tower, San Francisco
Ultima Tower: Eugene Tsui is known for his enthusiasm for futuristic megastructures. His design for the 2 mile tall Ultima Tower in San Francisco is a response to increasing population density in San Francisco where space comes at a premium. The proposed Ultima Tower will have a 6,000ft base diameter with 500 storeys shaped like a giant cone that encloses 53 square miles of space. Tsui’s plans reveal a space capable of housing 1 million residents in a vertical city that meets and exceeds anything previously conceived. Ultima Tower will be a sustainable building powered by facade-mounted arrays of solar panels, wind turbines and a technique called Atmospheric Energy Conversion that will use the difference in pressure between peak and base to generate electricity. If ever constructed the Ultima Tower will have a unique stacked design with entire floors devoted to green space complete with 100ft - 165ft ’skies’ for an open and non-claustrophobic feeling. One interesting thing to note: given the height of the building the journey from the ground floor to top would take just under 10 minutes travelling at 3 miles per hour in an elevator.
Bionic Tower, Shanghai / Hong Kong
Bionic Tower: The Bionic Tower is a proposed vertical city that has piqued the interest of Shanghai and Hong Kong, both cities with notoriously high population densities. If the project was to get the green light from either city it would reach 3,950ft tall consisting of 300 storeys with a total internal enclosed area of 0.8 square miles. The tower would be constructed on a 0.4 square mile artificial island connected to the mainland to allow the 100,000 inhabitants access. The cost of all this, in one of the most populous areas in the world? $15 billion.
译文:
生态建筑师的梦想：未来七大天空之城的设计构想
随着世界人口的激增，大城市的承载力也在猛增。人们憧憬着更好的工作机会和美好生活，纷纷涌向大城市，（显然许多时候他们的期待会落空），使得全世界范围内大城市的人口负荷不断加重。从使用石油到改用生物燃料的这一转变使得人们开始考虑土地的使用问题，燃料使用观念的改变是否意味着：那些原本用来开发的地现在都会被用来种农作物以生产能源呢？
这就留给世界上的许多大城市一个大难题：怎样才能在这定死了的不会变大的空间里安置更多的人呢？对于这个问题许多人都相信Paolo Soleri的建筑理论。Paolo Soleri，美籍意大利人，被誉为生态建筑理论之父，是一个具有远见卓识的人。如果你有玩过模拟城市2000的话可能或多或少地有一些关于生态建筑的概念：配合周边环境建造一个可以容纳大量人口的巨大空间结构。
如果你觉得杜拜是独具最大开发区以及新型建筑的地方的话，你可要想想清楚了。接下这里向你展示一些世界各地最受推崇的受到生态建筑概念启发的天空之城的设计方案，请你尽情欣赏。
ShimizuTRY2004巨城金字塔：这座天空之城大得令人难以想象。ShimizuTRY2004巨城金字塔落成后将比埃及的吉萨金字塔大12倍（吉萨金字塔高6574英尺约167米，占地3平方英里合677公顷.）该建筑由八层堆砌而成，总占地面积34平方英里。每一层都有大约相当于拉斯维加斯的Luxor酒店一般大小的小金字塔组成。塔内的一至四层商住两用，五至八层设有娱乐和公共设施。大金字塔可以容纳75万人，占了东京巨大总人口数（1200万）的16分之一。解决那么多人的出行问题是项巨大挑战，然而便捷的交通运输系统以及快速移动人行道和电梯网通过55个交通枢纽连接整个城市保证了人们出行。巨塔的外部表面会有一层光电涂层将太阳能转换为电能，让城市更环保。
X-Seed 4000可谓一个建筑梦，这个构想早在1995年就被提出，当时的初衷只是为了引起那些具有宏图构案设计师的注意。当然，即便这个方案只处在构想阶段，我们仍觉得这是个非凡的建筑设计。X-Seed 4000高1，3123 英尺，富士山与其相比都相形见拙。富士山是建筑师的设计灵感来源。这个造价一兆的巨型建筑形似帐篷由巨柱支撑，每根柱子都可以住人。建筑内有800层占地26平方英里合6734平方公顷，可容纳五十至一百万人。.要建造这样一个巨型建筑当然需要用到各种科技，包括新一代便捷交通运输网，高速电梯以及一个可以测控整个内部空间温度变化，风速和气压的系统。 X-Seed 4000会使用太阳能作为其动力来源，但不清楚是否会在其外表面安装光电板或新型超薄太阳能板来吸收太阳光。建筑内部叶茂林密，充分体现Soleri人与自然和谐共处的理念。但问题是又有谁愿意住在高达2.5英里的建筑阴影里哪？恐怕那只能置放金属吧。
天空之城1000，由Takenaka公司在1989最早提出，是座高3280英尺可以自控的城市构型。如果Takenaka的方案可行那么Soleri的生态建筑构想就能得以实现。天空之城1000由14处生态高地组成，绿化占地3.1平方英里，外围由玻璃层保护。该建筑可容纳三万六千名常住居民，十万流动上班族，内部还设有学校，商店，剧院以及一系列其他公共设施。现在正在研制的新一代三层坡速电梯将成为天空之城1000的交通主干，它建成后人们从底层到顶层只需2分钟。每处高地都设单轨铁路系统实现人们便捷的平面移动。天空之城1000将土地从新回收利用变成绿化空间，理论上可以降低东京的高温。尽管这个设计方案还在构思阶段，有关部门还真对其严加考虑。方案通过的话，天空之城1000可能会成为世界上第一座生态建筑。
东京千年塔:高2755英尺圆锥形的千年塔最早是由Foster+Partner提出来解决东京开发用地短缺和人口过度问题的。该塔将被建在离东京湾1.2海里的海上，它有170层楼那么高，0.4平方英里的平面空间可以商住两用。千年塔里有一条高速地铁网，网上汽车一次能载160人，使塔内居民自由穿梭，可以保证一个6万人口的社区人口正常出行。每13层都设有一个交通中转站，塔内的公交系统连接这些枢纽，乘客可在这些中转站上下车或转乘直达电梯，自动扶梯，移动人行道。塔内的风力涡轮机和上层安装的太阳能板为整个建筑提供能源，是目前提出的最环保的建筑方案。
水晶岛：Foster+Partner的水晶岛近来得到在离克林姆林只有4英里半的Nagatino半岛上建造的初步许可。高1500英尺的水晶岛是座自给自足的独立城市，其占地0.96平方英里，是五角大楼的四倍，有多种用途。这座巨型建筑有容纳3万居民的900套公寓，同时还有3000间酒店房间，设有电影院，剧院，购物中心，健身中心和有500名学生的国际学校。从980英尺高的观景平台望去可以看到莫斯科街道的全景。落成后的水晶岛中庭将成为世界上最大的中庭之一，在夏季这个中庭可以开放来控制500英里高处公共空间的温度。
Ultima 塔：Eugene Tsui以他对于未来巨型建筑的热情而著称。他设计的Ultima塔高2英里可以应对寸土寸金的旧金山的人口激增问题。设计构想中的Ultima塔有一个6000英尺直径的底座，500层楼面叠加构成一个巨大的圆锥形，覆盖总共63平方英里的空间面积。Tsui向人们展示了一个能够容纳一百万人口的垂直空间的设计构想，这与之前的任何类似设计方案相比是有过之而无不及的。表面的太阳能吸收板，风力涡轮机以及一种利用顶部和底部的压差来发电的气压能转换技术为Ultino提供能源维持其运作。落成后的Ultino在100至165英尺高度的楼层设有开放的绿化空间，特有的叠层设计使人身处这样的高度却不会有恐高的感觉。值得一提的是尽管Ultima非常高，乘坐每小时3英里时速的电梯用不了10分钟就可以从底层到顶层了。
电子超能塔这个垂直城市的设计构想引起了香港和上海兴趣，这两处都是人口密度相当高的城市。如果该设计方案被采用，那么将有一座高3950英尺，包括300层楼面内部面积总共达0.8平方英里的摩天建筑在香港或是上海的土地上拔地而起。该塔将被建在一个和内陆相连的大小为0.4平方英里的人工岛上，有10万居民可以入住。想想建造在世界上人口密度最高的区域之一的香港或是上海，电子超能塔的造价会是多少呢？预计将达到150亿美元。