Sci-fi Plan to Hang a wandering Skyscraper from Asteroid Orbiting Earth is Unveiled

That really is a high rise? A New York architecture firm has unveiled designs for a skyscraper that is out of this world and imaginations. Deemed the “World’s tallest building ever”, Analemma Tower will be suspended from an orbiting asteroid 31,068 miles above the Earth & the only way to leave is by parachute. The orbital path would swing the tower in a figure eight pattern between the northern and southern hemispheres each day, taking residents on a tour through different parts of the world all in just a 24 hour orbital cycle. Therefore, the radical design was created by Clouds Architecture Office, which is also the mastermind behind proposals for a Mars house and a cloud city. The latest design Tower, will 'overturn the established skyscraper typology', as it builds from the sky down, instead of the ground up.

The company explains, through the course of history humanity has been able to affect the environment on increasing scales, hence massive skyscraper will be setup in sections and each with a designated purpose. However, business will be conducted at the lower end of the towers and sleeping quarters will be positioned two-thirds of the way up the building. Moreover, inhabitants will also have access to a gardening area, a place for worship and in the bottom level will be sections for dining, shopping and entertainment. The architects plan to take full advantage of the skyscraper's location and will place solar panels at the upper most levels to generate power from the sun. Further, inhabitants will relish fresh water from condensation of clouds and rainwater, which will be collected & purified. Nowadays our activity is being registered on a global scale. So why not apply design thinking on a planetary scale? Analemma Tower will be an example of a mixed use building that incorporates planetary design strategies, yielding the world’s tallest building ever. It seems that architect is not just developing a massive skyscraper, but is also designing a floating city. It will be setup into sections, each with a designated purpose. The architect firm plans to design shape-shifting windows that change size and height in order to deal with pressure and temperature differentials.

The design will use a system called the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS), which attaches a high strength cable to an asteroid that is lowered to Earth and then attached to the tower. Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location. The proposal calls for Analemma to be constructed over Dubai, which has proven to be a specialist in tall building construction at one fifth the cost of New York City construction. Clouds Architecture Office shared on its website. Though some may question the firm’s ability to capture an asteroid for the project, Clouds Architecture Office believes its idea will soon no longer be just a concept from science fiction films.

In 2015 the European Space Agency flashed a new round of investment in asteroid mining concerns by proving with its Rosetta mission that it's likely to rendezvous and land on a spinning comet, shared the firm. Furthermore, NASA has scheduled an asteroid retrieval mission for 2021 which aims to show the feasibility of capturing and relocating an asteroid. The tower would travel on a figure 8th path over certain major cities in the northern and southern hemispheres, includes New York City, Havana, Atlanta and Panama City. Therefore, the amount of daylight increases by 40 to 45 minutes at the top of the tower due to the curvature of the Earth. Analemma can be placed in a peculiar geosynchronous orbit which would let it to travel between the northern and southern hemispheres on a daily loop,’ Clouds Architecture Office explained. The ground trace for this pendulum tower would be a figure eight, where the tower would move at its sluggish speed at the top and bottom of the figure eight letting the possibility for the towers occupants to interface with the planet’s surface at these points. The proposed orbit is calibrated so the gentlest part of the towers trajectory occurs over New York City.’ However, while studying atmospheric conditions for the project, the team discovered that there is most likely a height that people could not bear due to the extreme conditions. For example, though there may be a benefit to having 45 extra minutes of daylight at an elevation of 32,000 meters, the close vacuum and -40C temperature would prevent people from going outside without a protective suit,’ shared Clouds Architecture Office. Then again, astronauts have continually occupied the space station for decades, so perhaps it’s not so bad?