Lust for Height [Mile-high skyscraper coming?]

American.com ^ | February 23, 2007 | By Philip Nobel

[Quix]

I expect to see the day when most of So Fla is underwater. First heard that more than 30 years ago. Felt it was true then. Still feel it's true.

[Quix]

I think not.

Sadly, I think the Jihadi's are going to . . . degrade such plans.

There would also be this issue of light down below . . . not insurmountable but an issue.

And, with the world having 1/3--2/3 less people . . . I'm skeptical there will be a market.

[RockinRight]

Except I...and about 75% of the rest of the population, has NO desire to live like sardines in an arcology type environment.

[HitmanLV]

This is a very strange fixation some folks have.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Architects and civil engineers ping

Lemme know if you want to be on the list.

[SamAdams76]

I must admit that I am fascinated with skyscrapers. Whenever I go to a new city, the first thing I want to do is go to the tallest building and ride the elevator to the top. I want to see buildings get taller and taller. No height is too tall for me. I wouldn't mind seeing mile high buildings. Just don't ask me to clean the windows.

[jaydubya2]

"The terrorist attacks of 9/11 seem to have whetted the global appetite to build taller and taller."

This baffles me. I would think it would have the opposite effect.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I'm a skyscraper fanatic too. To me, it symbolizes American ingenuity and might.

[JB in Whitefish]

“Everyone I know flies from Dubai to Tokyo to Shanghai to Hong Kong to Taipei,” says Carol Willis...


Me too, how about YOU...???

[George W. Bush]

I saw a special about one on plan that would be a city. There was shopping, recreation, a school, apartments and offices in the same building.

A city-building that is, say, 9 city blocks square or (better yet, 16 city blocks square) and a half-mile tall would be far more impressive than all these skinny towers.

The Japanese, with such limited ground area in commerce centers, seem to be looking at such. Buildings that could withstand tsunamis and earthquakes. People could spend most of their lives working and living in such buildings.

[JB in Whitefish]

"Imagine at the 50-story level, having all the skyscrapers in Manhattan connected by pedestrian bridges (fully enclosed from the weather) making it possible to walk up and down Manhattan at the 50-story level."

Impossible due to structural differences causing varying "sway factors".

More likely is a series of buildings like I saw in downtown San Francisco some years ago, joined by walkways and plazas at the mezzanine level. Nice for pedestrians. No traffic worries.

[CindyDawg]

I think that was one of the building plans I saw. It was tall but huge inside. A city within a city.

[Balding_Eagle]

If I go down into my basement, and dig down another 2,000 feet, I can get to a mile high!

[Balding_Eagle]

Interesting idea, but I think the wieght of the structures would cause them to sink.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

It will get to the point where people can live their entire lives many stories off the ground.

They will be the cloud dwellers while we stay behind to mine the zenite?

(a little Star Trek humor, forgive me)

Actually, I like it. Ship the slickers upstairs and keep the rural country such as where I live pristine.

[showme_the_Glory]

Pisa/

[gcruse]

"1,083-foot-tall Ryugyong Tower in Pyongyang, North Korea (if its stalled construction resumes, it will be the world’s tallest hotel)'

There are pictures on the web of this. It needs to stay stalled.

[Right Wing Assault]

Impossible due to structural differences causing varying "sway factors".

They wouldn't be rigid. You put flexible and sliding joints in such as expansion joints in bridges.

[patton]

Crystal City, VA.

[CindyDawg]

Funny. I'm right the opposite. I like elevators with windows but my favorite part is coming down and seeing things get bigger and bigger:')