Science & Technology

Firm plans to build upside-down skyscraper

By T.K. Randall
March 29, 2017 ·  27 comments

The building would begin construction in Dubai. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Pollo The concept, which has been published by Clouds Architecture Office, is so insane that you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was an April Fool's Day joke that had been published too early.

Known as the Analemma Tower, the new building would be suspended upside-down from a large asteroid via strong cables approximately 31,068 miles above the surface of the Earth.

The structure's orbital nature would mean that in a typical 24-hour period it would be carried on a whirlwind figure-of-eight tour of the entire planet while traveling at over 1,000mph.

ANALEMMA TOWER: A Skyscraper Suspended From An Asteroid https://t.co/7bPuw15lRN pic.twitter.com/XeyCQnbGJm

— Vatche Galstian (@VatcheNy) March 28, 2017

"Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location," the company wrote.It goes without saying however that the whole premise is utterly impractical to the extreme.

Even if you ignore the difficulties involved in actually creating the thing, the forces that would be exerted on such a structure as it careens around the planet would be astronomical.

Anyone wishing to access the building would have to board a high-speed jet and undertake a complex docking manoeuver. In the meantime, those looking to head back down to the Earth's surface in a hurry would have no choice but to jump off the building with a parachute.

In addition to this, what happens in the event of a fire or other emergency ? What if the orbit of the asteroid, which would be carrying the building's entire weight, started to deteriorate ?

Suffice to say, the chances of this project ever getting off the ground are literally zero.

Source: Inquisitr.com | Comments (27)

Tags: Skyscraper, Asteroid