They say: “Bigger is better”. Not sure who THEY are, but it seems since the dawn
of civilization, people have dreamed big. And built big too. From the Great Pyramid
to the Great Wall, there's been no limit to humanity's architectural aspirations. Engineers
of today are no different. So let’s go around the world to see their most ambitious (and
bizarre) projects!
1. To start with, there’s Dubai’s floating underwater train. Engineers in the UAE have
proposed a high-speed rail connecting the city of Dubai to Mumbai, India, crossing 1,200
miles underwater in only 2 hours. That’s about the distance from New York to Kansas
City – almost half the continental US – and the FLIGHT takes 2½ hours! The high-speed
train would travel through a submerged tube floating just below the surface. Instead of
anchoring it on the seafloor, the tunnel will hang from a series of enormous buoys! Hey
like they always say: bouys will be bouys!
2. Also from the city whose name seems to mean “Hey look at me!” the Dubai Creek
Tower has been under construction since 2016. Designed to resemble both a minaret and a
lily blossom, once complete (in 2021 if all goes according to plan), the tower will feature
offices, restaurants, rotating viewing platforms, and beautiful sky gardens inspired by the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The tower will serve as the centerpiece of a new community
called Dubai Creek Harbor, which will house up to 470,000 people.
3. Meanwhile, green energy is the future, but wind farms can take up a lot of space.
Solution? Put ‘em in the ocean, of course! Ocean Wind is a planned offshore wind farm
located 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Once completed in 2024,
the massive farm of 850-ft turbines will generate over 1,000 megawatts of electricity, nearly
twice as much as an average coal power plant and enough to power over half a million homes!
4. Resembling a giant corkscrew, the Chicago Spire would’ve been the tallest building
in the western hemisphere, dominating the Chicago skyline 2,000 ft above street level.
Its shape was inspired by smoke rising from a campfire, and it offered a unique architectural
challenge. The twisting walls would’ve made the building vulnerable to the high winds
Chicago’s known for. Funding dried up in 2008, with nothing but a large hole to show
for all the planning.
5. Designed by the same architect who brought us the Burj Khalifa, the world's current tallest
building jutting half a mile into the sky, the Jeddah Tower was originally planned to
double that! But the futuristic spire was scaled back due to practical concerns like
wind and weight. It’s supposed to be completed in 2020, and once that happens, it’ll dethrone
the Burj Khalifa and stand an impressive 3,280 ft.
6. And reaching even further is the Sky Mile Tower. The name says it all! So apparent there’s
nothing else for me to say. Alright, if you insist: Twice the height of the Burj Khalifa,
Sky Mile will rise from an artificial island in Tokyo bay. The island will function as
a sea wall, protecting the city from rising ocean levels. The tower will also provide
clean water from a desalinization plant in the lower levels.
7. It’s been called one of the most ambitious construction plans since the Pyramid of Khufu.
Behold the UAE’s proposed Dynamic Tower. Each floor is shaped like a giant fidget spinner
and would be able to rotate independently. The building would also produce its own power
thanks to a combination of solar panels and wind turbines.
8. The strait of Gibraltar is so narrow that Spain and Morocco are practically touching.
Hello! It's not surprising that many engineers have dreamed of building a superbridge across
it. Plenty of designs have been presented over the years, with the most eye-catching
resembling a cross between the Golden Gate and Brooklyn Bridges. This towering structure
would span 8.7 miles from shore to shore. Just the space between each supporting tower
would be twice as long as the Golden Gate Bridge!
9. Freedom Ship has been a decades-old concept for a floating city capable of housing 80,000
people. At 4,500 ft long, the ship would be almost 4 times the length of the world's largest
cruise ship, the Symphony of the Seas. Its 25 floors would tower over anything else on
the ocean. This moving city would contain a nearly self-sufficient society with hospitals,
schools, and a runway for commercial aircraft. Hmm, think you could live on a ship like that?
10.
11. From the sea to the clouds, the Sky City 1000 offers a solution to Japan's equally
sky-high housing prices. Resembling 14 bowls stacked on top of each other, it was the first
seriously considered concept for a self-contained vertical city, a concept known as Arcology.
Designed to house more than 35,000 people, the 3,300-ft building would feature its own
schools, theaters, and even outdoor parks in the gaps between each terrace.
12. A similar project to deal with the lack of space in the overcrowded city, Tokyo’s
proposed Shimizu 2004 Mega-City Pyramid is designed to house up to 1 million people.
This enormous pyramid would be the largest building in history, covering a little over
3 square miles of what's now Tokyo Bay. That’s 2½ times the size of Central Park! The 2004
in its name refers to a planned height of 2,004 meters, or about 6,600 ft.
Do you think these massive skyscrapers will a normal thing of the future? Maybe we’ll
have flying cars so you can park right next to your 400th-floor apartment! Let me know
your thoughts down in the comments. Now, let’s look at some even more epic projects!
13. The tallest construction project ever seriously considered, the Dubai City Tower
draws inspiration from the shape of the Eiffel Tower. It would triple the height of the Burj
Khalifa, and stand 5 times taller than the Empire State building! Just imagine looking
up at such a huge construction! The pointed shape would help offset the impact of wind
and disperse the tower’s weight over a wider area. Instead of an elevator, the proposed
building comes equipped with a high-speed train to move people between floors. You know
I think it was Shakespeare who named this town, or Hamlet to be precise. “Dubai or
not Dubai. That is the question.” Really.
14. Atlantropa was an insanely ambitious plan to partially drain the Mediterranean Sea.
The proposal called for massive hydroelectric dams to be built in several places like the
Dardanelles Channel and Strait of Gibraltar. It would’ve lowered the sea level by up
to 660 ft, the entire height of the Seattle Space Needle, plus some! The plan also called
for the Nile and Congo rivers to be redirected to irrigate the Sahara Desert. For obvious
reasons, the idea didn’t stick for long.
15. And now a project so unbelievable, it's impossible. It’s a building…hanging in
the sky…from an asteroid. Specifically, it's meant to hang suspended by cables from
an asteroid that would FIRST need to be towed into our planet’s orbit! You could even
parachute off the top floors and down to Earth! Don't get me wrong – as a science fiction
concept, it gets an A+! But something tells me we won’t be seeing many hanging skyscrapers
any time soon. On second thought, never say never!
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