Pyramid power: our zero-carbon future?
by Tom Hughes in At home on 28.08.08
The future of city living could be rooted very much in the past, if the incredible vision of a Dubai-based design company is brought to life.
Nicknamed Ziggurat, in reference to the enduring Mayan architecture which inspired its shape, the project attempts to envisage a self-sufficient city, free of harmful emissions.
Designers Timelinks reckon a million people could be housed in the 2.3km square pyramid, which would run on steam and wind energy and take up just a fraction of the area used by traditional cities.
And for all those Chariots of the Gods theorists, the futuristic building looks like it could really have been beamed down from on high by spacemen.
In addition, the idea is to integrate “horizontal and vertical travel systems” – escalators and lifts? – to make cars a thing of the past.
But would this work in Dubai, an area famed for its conspicuous consumption of the automobile?
There’s a lot of car love going on in Dubai. And no matter how fancy the escalator, I’m not sure it would fill the gap.
But how nice would it be for a family to live in such a Pyramid? And what account is taken of the carbon footprint used to build it? Would the latter be significantly less than it is now for similar - sized accommadation?
28.08.2008 at 12:35 pmThese are all valid points - it certainly makes you wonder about the effort needed to establish it in the first place. Would it end up being something of an environmental phyrric victory?
Further details are set to be released at Cityscape Dubai (6-9 October 2008) and we will revisit the story at that point.
29.08.2008 at 9:45 am