electro^plankton

All I can say is, OH MY DAMN!

I think I just shatted in my pants. WOW! Are they REALLY gonna build this beast?

wow, i read about this first in The Face about fifteen years ago... so i guess it really must be in our future !!
with Dubai-ism infecting architecture worldwide, this Logan's Run is a natural progression.

Hybris?!

OMFG!!
Damn, i cant even imagine that thing!!!!!!

It's like all my futuristic Anime movies come true.

Japan=earthquakes. Need I say more?

tell me how could i get involved with that, i'm a mechanical engineer

at $300 -$900 billion for 1 million inhabitants, you're looking at a housing cost of $300-900k per person. Real estate in Japan must be pretty expensive for the market to support that.

Only one word. W H Y ?

Did you not read? Because of overcrowding in the islands. I think it's cool and I bet it'd take a good 5 minutes to get from the ground to the top floor.... without stops (LOL).

Imagine the view from the top floors....
WAU...
It also snows a lot Japan...

Finally something godzilla can't smash

a mountain this high would take multiple days to climb... they're gonna have some really super elevator tech guys for the thousands of superfast elevators they're gonna need.

I wonder how large the individual apartments will be?

They are never going to build this thing in the next 100 years. It s way to expansive and materials beeing able to hold that much weight need to be devoloped yet.

This is just another rendering of the Millennium Tower that was featured on the Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering featuring the aforementioned tower, the Gibraltar Bridge and the Freedom ship....it keeps getting rehashed, I'll wait until I see it but in this age of terrorism I doubt it, at least not that big.

They say it's self contained and supporting so the "elevator's are too long" idea isn't really applicable, they should be compared to commuter bus rides more than elevators.

They say it's self contained and supporting so the "elevator's are too long" idea isn't really applicable, they should be compared to commuter bus rides more than elevators.

Shatted??

To shit..past tense is Shat.
Shatted is not good.

Whether it will get built or not, this is the future. As of last year more people reside in urbanized areas than rural the growth of and need for habitation combined with a need to be able to commute to work in the shortest possible time at the cheapest cost will inevitably lead to the development of these kinds of structures. The growth in 'work from home' coupled with a need for services only available in a city environment as well as a lack of available land (as japan and china suffer from) will make these kinds of structures more and more cost effective.

The cost of an apartement at 300-900k is expensive now but in 30 years will not be so.

Bladerunner is happening, it is our choice whether to make it a cleaner, more beautiful future of city living.

All that aside I'd mrder to be able to live in the penthouse suite of that beast wow!!

Michael you'd murder someone for the penthouse? Why did you tell us that? Now we're all accessories to your diabolical plan!!!

compensating for something i guess

I'll be very interested in seeing how far this goes.

There have been megastructures proposed for a very long time: at least as far back as Frank Lloyd Wright's mile-high tower.

The engineering, from what I've read, is fairly straight-forward.

It's the economics that have kept these things from being built so far.

Tokyo may be wealthy enough, and have the social and practical needs required, to make a project like this worthwhile.

"compensating for something i guess"

Small breasts?

> As the Japanese islands become more crowded

Grow a brain. The Japanese population, according to official statistics, is now shrinking. And this depopulation will only accelerate. How then do you see the Japanese islands are becoming more crowded?

The current reigning structure is actually the CN Tower in Toronto at 1,815 feet, 5 inches high.

Looks like something the Japanese would build. Their society could probably adapt very well to a structure like that. It's going to need one helluva foundation!

Grow a brain. The Japanese population, according to official statistics, is now shrinking. And this depopulation will only accelerate. How then do you see the Japanese islands are becoming more crowded?

Japan has some of the most dense urban areas per sqft in the world. Moving populations up into huge structures in self contained cities is a way to relieve over population and traffic congestion.

I think it's gonna be beautiful. Futuristic, with very fast elevators. Or maybe a transformer thing like in Star Trek. If you have seen it on television or in the movies chances are it's been done.

Good idea because it sounds like it'll be energy sufficient to a large degree because of the solar powering. I wonder if any nation will ever get into that kind of project because of the obvious terrorist target these truly larger than life structures represent?

The current reigning structure is actually the CN Tower in Toronto at 1,815 feet, 5 inches high.
It ain't a big old appartment bdg mind you, but it is taller then Taipei with a nice restaurant at the 2/3rds of the way up point.

>The current reigning structure is actually the CN Tower in Toronto at 1,815 feet, 5 inches high.

If you read the post carefully, he's only comparing it to the world's tallest populated structure. The CN Tower does not have people living in it.

There are several things that would need to be overcome for this idea to become a reality. First the weight of the structure would be immense. It looks like they are trying to compensate by spreading the base out and thus the weight, which would also make the structure more stable. Though this reduces the loading, it means you would need a very large area to build this and all the soils under it would need to be able to support the load.

The second issue that comes to mind is that at 13,000 ft the air is pretty dang thin. Keep in mind that most people suffer from shortness of breath in Denver, which is no where near that height (only 5,280 ft). Something would need to be developed to keep oxygen levels at a reasonable level.

Can it erupt as well?

It can be built.

now, what i think everyones overlooked is the impracticality.... ever been stuck waiting in a lift going to 8 different floors than yours?? imagine the delay for this one....but yeah, bloody good chiz here

Yeh, lets build! You busy little Japs. Use energy, spend money, f**k the planet, f**k the poor, f**k the sick, lets concrete everything!

Wow! That was harsh!

Forget the high speed elevators, get everyone a jetpack

Until the space elevator shows up, anyway.

I heard of another thing they are wanting to build, which looks like a pyramid. There was a video up on google or some place like that and it was quite amazing. Could the be a Freudian thing? Obsession with size?

As per the cost of individual apartments - they'll be substantially defrayed by all the retail there to service the inhabitants. It's basically going to be a shopping mall with a ton of residential. Also there would be businesses of very sort that would have offices for many of the inhabitants to commute to in the building. Probably some government offices as well. Much would gravitate to being in the building that I haven't thought of - such as a heliport.

Lets not forget the money generated by tourism as well.

Seems to me that someone has been playing too much Simcity 2k. This thing sounds exactly like the Arcologies they had in the game. If they can build it then it would be the wonder of the modern age.

As for the person who made the comment "concrete everything" this kind of building actually goes against that since it packs more people into a smaller surface area and so is more land efficient then the normal urban sprawl. This would relieve pressure for further lateral urbanisation and so help spare land.

haha 300-900k expensive for an apartment? not in NYC it isnt.

I just can't imagine where they would get enough steel and glass to complete the project. It would be an unfathomable amount of materials, and the cost of steel can be very steep. Those are just two materials. I assume that there would also be a huge amount of nonferrous metals needed such as copper (OUCH! now we're talking EXPENSE!)

Let the Japs eat cake; or sushi; who cares?

Wellll golly gee whiz fellers! ain't that sumping ,
dang good thing them fellers don't have any of them earth quakes huh.

If I was to have an evil lair, that would be it, man. X3

well, i hope it goes through...

I was at the NCE 'Engineering Tall Buildings' conference today and we were told by the Chairman of the council for tall buildings and urban habitat (and he should know) that this building got the green light last week and IS going to be built!

Dont ask me how, but apparently they are going to do it. never mind getting a lift to the top that is the easy part - imagine the weight of the steel rope on a crane to get materials up to the top! helicopters?!

Found this on wikipedia...just a publicity stunt.

"The X-Seed 4000 "was never meant to be built," says Georges Binder, managing director of Buildings & Data, a firm which compiles data banks on buildings worldwide. "The purpose of the plan was to earn some recognition for the firm, and it worked."

Honestly people, do you really think that a structure costing more than whole countries are worth will be built? For one thing, the rooms near the top would have to be pressurized the same way planes cabins are. With one million + people living there, just think how devastating a fire could be. Trying to get out would be chaotic, and if anyting ever happend to the elevators you're talking about almost a day or two worth of climbing down stair after stair. Imagine a million japanese trying to escape down the sairwells. This sort of building is just a terrorist time-bomb waiting to be attacked. Two, the cost outweighs any benefits from a structure this rediculous. It is more economically AND ecologically sound to construct a series of smaller skyscraper apartments than to build this "Mountain." You can call me a cynic, skeptic, or whatever you feel like, but don't sit around hoping this will be built, because I can garauntee it won't be happening anytime soon.

My most powerful feeling on this is that Japan is perhaps the most earthquake-prone nation on Earth,(I lived in Japan for a year and during that time personally experienced 2 significant earthquakes)and while the design looks quite strong and geometrically (

Why is everybody looking at this as a building? This is going to be entire city. Most of the residents will not have to leave their own floor. Some of them will probably stay in the XSEED 4000 entire life.

The entries of myself and 'Actual Engineer' were juxtaposed in the earlier 2 commentaries. I tried to say that because Japan is SO earthquake-prone this structure has GOT to be merely a design exercise. The Japanese will not build a structure this large only so it can be turned to a giant heap of scrap and rubble at the first twitch on the face of mother earth. There is a reason that for centuries Japanese homes and smaller buildings were made of very lightweight materials: bamboo, straw, some wood, and had walls made of paper and floors of rice matting. What would YOU rather be in in a 7.0 eartquake? A geometrically strong 13,000 foot metal tower, or a bamboo and straw hut?

sweet

im not sure but wouldnt you need to acclimatise at the top?

either way, itd be good for a sposrtsman to train up there

What they should do, is convert one side of the structure...into the worlds largest slide....Imagine it, a 5 kilometre slide... with a 2 metre deep ball pit at the bottom!! Imagine how many people would die from the G force at the bottom...

As soon as I looked at the picture, I saw a vision. A vision of one of the sides of the structure...turned into THE WORLDS LONGEST SLIDE!! At 5~6km, it would be AWESOME!! There would be a big ball pit at the bottom, and it would be so exhilerating that so many people would go on it and want second goes (mostly, if they survive) meaning they would bring in hundreds of thousands of yens!

this thing is going to be a one of a kind i can't wait

Nothing is impossible. You are what you think you are....so as "Japanese". They will make it happen!

I am an Indian but a very big fan of Japan.When I heard of these tall structure such as Sky City 1000, Pyramid City and the highest the great X - Seed 4000, I told my all the friends in the school to come with me and live over there.I was planning that when I grow big, I will live there.Please dont pay attention on the comments who say no and continue to build it.Its not impossible, its I'm possible.

i like this japen projaect. pleas send me good photos about japen..... bay

OMG! that could take a while to build!

Is there nothing better they can spend 300-900 billion dollars on than this? It looks very scary and not very pretty. Oh. My. God.

Is there nothing better they can spend 300-900 billion dollars on than this? It looks very scary and not very pretty. Oh. My. God.

That can't be true! :)

I should visit Japan, anyways... :)

S

yeah i saw this ages back too and i remember crapping my pants. its like a ghost in the shell-type thing. i doubt that they'll get the permission to build it thought. what about air traffic? what about earthquakes? earthquakes are as often as lunch in japan

This is a very exciting challenge. I've observed a lot of Japanese interest in mega-constructions. When I see such a large building and imagine the lives of the many people that will live there I always thinks about how similar living there would be to living on a the large space-ships of science fiction. Its ironic that breaking away from our beloved earth may in the end not feel like such a big deal once we have lived for generations in these sanitized environments.

wow. amazing!!!

japan rocks. i think this unbeatable

the terrorists are gonna be all over this like bees over honey

WOW THEY GO BUILD DAT THE ARE LIEING IF THERE NOT I KNOW MY NEXT VACTION SPOT JAPAN AND LADIES WATCH OUT A'M COMING FREE LOL BUT THEY ARE CRAZY TO BUILD DAT

WOW THEY GO BUILD DAT THE ARE LIEING IF THERE NOT I KNOW MY NEXT VACTION SPOT JAPAN AND LADIES WATCH OUT A'M COMING FREE LOL BUT THEY ARE CRAZY TO BUILD DAT

it's scary!

Does anyone remember what happen to babylon tower? I don't believe that they will built that THING... It will take a small nuclear power plant to give electricity only to that building.
By the way... don't mess with Godzilla! :)

you are the stupidist people ever for even considering this... It's a deathtrap when an earthquake comes... and 5 min to get 13,000 feet???

think about how long it takes you... IN A CAR.... to go 2 and a half miles....

and that's at a good 65 miles an hour... not happening....

china is retarded

esto esta hijeeee puttttssssss esta gillau!!!!

Hope this thing gets erected. It would just SMASH anything dubai could ever dream of.

Just a couple of things.. mountains like Mt. Fuji don't take multiple days to climb.. you can climb it in a day.. though most people do it overnight to catch the sunrise.

it's basically just under 4km people, we aren't talking Everest which is twice the height of this.

The lifts can work fine with a simple system, less people will live at the top because as you see in the design the number of apartments get less as you go up.. so just an express life to the top like 20 floors will have it handled and for the bottom-mid floors will be a problem because of just how many people will live there and how often lifts will be used but they can find a good number of elevators to have for all the lower floors from ground floor.. the best way to do it would probably be split the overall building into different sections, 6 lower floor sections (split like cake fractions from birds eye view) then the upper floor adding a 7th section or something like that.

But wow it sounds impressive and with the right materials it can be built because the structure's shape is perfect for stability.

Hopefully we finally hear something about this in the future.

Oh and jets fly at 30,000 feet.. 13,000 feet will be thin on air but a healthy and fit person could live there and it'd be an amazing place to live, or they could put an elite gym facility up top with expensive membership to help with the costs of building and housing.

And the price worked out for each apartment being 300-900k isn't that much, but prices will probably be relative to which section you live in as higher floors will probably cost double those at the bottom.

Just my two cents on the whole thing and problems people have addressed.

and for the person above who said for people to even consider this is stupid then say china is retarded when we're talking about japan i don't get.

5 mins to go 13,000 feet in a lift is yeah ridiculous.. I'd estimate around 13 mins in a reasonably fast lift, not crazy fast.. based on running times for the distances and a comfortable lift ride will travel probably just faster than a good running time on a short-mid distance run.

and yeah earthquakes are a problem but engineers will account for that with the right materials and right structure design (the triangular mountain shape being a good base for a tall building like that) can't imagine how much sway there'd be at the top so living up there would be tough? probably best for a broadcasting company or something to have a station up there and pay a lot for the space?

it's a steep challenge for engineers but i'm sure in the future we'll be seeing structures like this being built to handle densely populated cities and housing shortages in areas with less land.

omg wowow