“Next Tokyo” City Plan Unveiled

A proposal for a residential skyscraper in Tokyo Bay that takes into account the recurrent threats of rising sea levels, seismic activity and typhoons. The collaborative project by architecture firms Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and Leslie E. Roberson Associates (LERA), anticipates an ecodistrict modified by the effects of climate change in 2045.

Their master plan, named Next Tokyo 2045: A Mile-High Tower Rooted in Intersecting Ecologies, identifies the instable climate risks that Tokyo is being subjected to. The mega-city will be built on a constructed archipelago with a stretch of 14 kilometers, located between Kawasaki and Kisarazu. The design proposes a defense strategy wherein the coastal infrastructure functions as an obstruction to natural disasters, while it simultaneously houses clusters of residential areas for a half-million residents.

The showpiece of the project, the Sky Mile Tower, rises approximately 1600 meters into the sky - doubling the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest skyscraper. Defined “a vertical network of segmented residential communities”, the tower houses 55.000 occupants, but also multi-level sky lobbies and many public amenities, like shopping areas, gyms, clinics, restaurants and hotels. The tower pumps water from the ground level up and, through its aerodynamic design, it protects itself from intense wind flows.

The district would be able to generate energy on-site, adapting kinetic energy, solar and wind power to its needs. The hexagonal-shaped structures function both as water tanks to the islands urban farming plots, and as wave breakers for the bay. In addition, saline water from the bay will also be retained to grow algae, a source of renewable and clean fuel.

Source: ArchDaily