Bionic Tower
The Bionic Tower (Spanish: Torre Biónica; Chinese: 仿生塔) was a visionary vertical city, an extremely large building designed for human habitation by Spanish architects Eloy Celaya, María Rosa Cervera and Javier Gómez. It would have a main tower 1,228 metres (4,029 ft) high, with 300 stories housing approximately 100,000 people. The Bionic Tower would be exactly 400 meters taller than the current tallest building, Burj Khalifa. The point of the Bionic Tower is to use Bionics to solve the world's rising population problems in an eco-friendly way, an incredibly difficult feat to accomplish.
| Bionic Tower | |
|---|---|
仿生塔 | |
 Computer rendering of the Bionic Tower | |
| General information | |
| Status | Never built |
| Type | Residential |
| Location | Shanghai or Hong Kong, as both locations have the interest |
| Cost | USD $16 billion+. |
| Height | 1228 m / 4,029 ft |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 300 |
| Lifts/elevators | 368 elevators (15 m/s, with vertical and horizontal movement) |
The Bionic Tower is composed of two complexes put together. The first complex, Bionic Tower, is made up of twelve vertical neighborhoods, each eighty meters high. The neighborhoods are separated by safety areas to make for easier construction and evacuation in case of an emergency. Each neighborhood has two groups of buildings, one on the interior of the building and one on the exterior. Both groups of buildings are situated around large gardens and pools. The second complex, called the Base Island, is 1,000 meters in diameter, and is made up of many buildings, gardens, pools, and communication infrastructures. Foreseen uses of these complexes include hotels, offices, residential, commerce, cultural, sports and leisure.
In 1997, work on the prototype Bionic Vertical Space began. This was developed by the architects Eloy Celaya, María Rosa Cervera and Javier Gómez through the beginning of 2001. However, Eloy Celaya, who studied at Columbia University, is developing another project similar to the Bionic Tower project.
While in office, then-Shanghai mayor Xu Kuangdi expressed an interest in the concept for his city. Hong Kong also reportedly expressed interest in the project.
Specifications
- Authorship: Spanish architects Eloy Celaya, María Rosa Cervera and Javier Gómez.
- Urban model: vertical city.
- Inhabitants: 100,000.
- Height: 1,228 m (4,029 ft).
- Stories: 300.
- Communication: 368 elevators (15 m/s, with vertical and horizontal movement).
- Footprint: 133 m (436 ft) x 110 m (361 ft) at base, expanding to 166 m (545 ft) x 133 m (436 ft) max.
- Area: 2,000,000 m2 (21,528,000 sq ft).
- Artificial base island: 1 km (0.6 mi) diameter.
- Structure: micro-structured high strength concrete (2 tonnes/cm^3 or 1372 MPa).
- Maximum sway: 2.45 m (8 ft) lateral displacement.
- Tech. system: Bionic Vertical Tech. Space.
- Cost: USD $16 billion+.
- Location: Asia