New York-based Clouds Architecture Office has unveiled a project that could revolutionise modern architecture. Dubai, a city known for realising the most ambitious constructions has plans to erect the world’s first inverted skyscraper. The building, named Analemma Tower, is to be suspended from an asteroid orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 50,000 kilometres. The project aims to create a new model for how architecture functions in asteroidal space.
The architects at Clouds Architecture Office propose a departure from traditional structural assumptions based on anchoring to the ground. In the Analemma model, the base of the building is an orbital anchor from which a very strong support cable is lowered towards the Earth and from which the skyscraper is suspended. This arrangement makes it possible to make the construction site independent of the target location. The tower can be built anywhere and then transported to another location. The project envisages installation over Dubai, which has the necessary infrastructure and experience to build high-rise buildings at a much lower cost than in New York.
Asteroid manipulation technology is no longer the domain of science fiction. In 2015, the European Space Agency proved during the Rosetta mission the possibility of landing on a comet, which encouraged investment in the space mining sector. It is intended that the tower structure would move in an eccentric geosynchronous orbit. Such a track would allow the building to move between hemispheres on a daily basis. The movement of the structure would reproduce the shape of a figure eight. At the extreme points, the tower would move at the slowest speed, allowing contact with the Earth’s surface. The design envisages that the slowest part of the trajectory would be over New York City.
The skyscraper is to be powered by solar energy. Photovoltaic panels will be installed above the atmosphere, allowing for a higher efficiency than ground-based installations. The water management system envisages a semi-closed circuit using water recovery from condensate and rainfall. Analyses of atmospheric conditions have shown that there is an altitude limit above which human life becomes difficult due to extreme temperatures and low pressure. For example, at an altitude of 32 kilometres, the day extends by 45 minutes, but the temperature drops to -40 degrees Celsius and conditions resemble a vacuum. Although they require protective suits, the analogous environment has not been an obstacle for astronauts on space stations for years.
Analemma Tower is also a proposal for the realisation of the tallest building ever, which is part of the trend of exploring new residential and utility models in extraterrestrial space. The project exploits the potential of planetary design and the interest in extreme height architecture. If the principle of property appreciation with height is confirmed here, the tower could achieve record sales prices, justifying the development costs.
Project: Clouds Architecture Office(instagram)
Design team: Ostap Rudakevych, Masayuki Sono, Kevin Huang
Photography: Clouds AO
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