Way Up and Far Out describes some unusual skyscrapers on the drawing boards:
Advancements in design technology, construction techniques and steel and concrete fabrication also give the financiers shelling out for these symbols in the sky a little more leeway in paying for pizzazz. The island part of Louisville’s Museum Plaza, for example, will be built at ground level and lifted 220 feet with the type of massive jacks that have been used to install weighty retractable roofs on football stadiums.The shimmering Moscow City Tower, in the Russian capital’s planned financial district, would rise from an unusual Y-shaped base into narrow blades that taper as they reach 118 stories — nearly 2,000 feet — above the ground. The tower, which has been dubbed by its developer, STT Group, a “vertical city for 25,000 people,” will include apartments, a hotel, offices and leisure space. It is expected to cost $1.5 billion and be completed as early as 2010.
The architects, London-based Foster & Partners, led by Norman Foster, say it will be the world’s tallest “naturally ventilated” tower, reducing heating demands in frigid Moscow winters by 20%. Rain and snow harvesting will supply 30% of the water for sinks and toilets.
In Guangzhou, China, state-owned China National Tobacco Co. Guangdong’s new headquarters will be an undulating rectangle. It won’t be the tallest in town, but it is aiming for a lofty goal: having zero net impact on energy consumption. Gill-like gaps in the facade will “inhale” wind that will propel turbines to produce electricity.