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SkyriseCities headquarters is closed for the holidays. We'll be back with our regularly scheduled editorial on January 4th, but we've collected skyscraper visions from around the world to give you something to read while we're away.
The evolution and advances in the fields of architecture, engineering, and technology have created new ways of living, even in the most inhospitable places around the globe. In the Sahara desert, more precisely in Morocco, a vision for a new city has been developed by French firms OXO Architectes and Nicolas Laisne Associés. Their vision for this project translates into a 450-metre tower rising above a souk-like, low-rise neighbourhood spreading at its base.
Referred to as the City Sand Tower, it would consist of a mixed-used building housing all the facilities that make a sustainable, livable city. Across a total surface of 780,000 square metres, residents would have access to office spaces, restaurants, bars, a hotel, 600 residences, shops, a weather station, a pool, and many other amenities to help establish a permanent home in the heart of one of the most arid, remote, and hot places on earth.
The centre of the tower boasts an atrium, where a pond at ground level brings a relative coolness that contrasts with the outside temperatures. Up to 45,000 cubic metres of rain water would be collected annually and be used for sanitation purposes but also to produce electricity.
Entirely sustainable, the tower would produce all its energy locally though the use of geothermal technology and other renewable resources. Indeed, the collected water will be injected four kilometres underground where the earth's heat will turn it into steam. The steam will be brought back to the surface where it will be used to power a turbine.
The angled facades of the tower are covered in ochre-toned panels recalling the Sahara sand dunes. On each panel, a series of brise-soleil would prevent the hot sun from penetrating and heating up the building, while solar panels would produce part of the energy needed for the city to function.
The centre of the tower consists of a vertical garden rising the entire height of the building, standing in the middle of the atrium and bringing much needed greenery into this arid environment.
There are currently no concrete plans to build the City Sand Tower. However, the team of architects and engineers are projecting a possible start of construction in 2025. The building process would be phased and last for over 50 years, for a potential completion date in 2075. What do you think about this project? Let us know by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page.
