Experimental architecture firm ZNera Space has come up with a bold concept that involves building a massive circular structure around the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the skyscraper that is currently regarded as the tallest in the world.
According to CNN, the proposed five-story structure, dubbed Downtown Circle, would sit high above street level, resting on five massive 550-meter-tall pillars, and would have a circumference of over three kilometers.
ZNera Space’s principal architects Najmus Chowdry and Nils Remess, however, readily admitted that their concept is impossible to implement at this time.
"It was meant to be a conversation starter," Chowdry told the media outlet. "Something that could trigger people to rethink urban development, to rethink city congestion ... We are promising the sustainable city."
The structure would incorporate residential space, along with commercial and cultural areas, with Remess describing the result as a "self-sustained city within a city."
"If you live there, you can reach your office, or you can reach your park, or you can reach your home in a 15-to-20-minute walk,” he remarked. “In Dubai, it's hard to do that."
Power would be provided via “solar hydrogen cells,” with energy collected by solar panels installed on the structure’s roof used to convert water into hydrogen “which can then power the air conditioning and provide energy to the building,” the media outlet notes.
The pillars on which the structure would be perched may be outfitted with a smog-filtering design also developed by ZNera Space, with Chowdry suggesting that the pillars could essentially be used as “urban air purifiers.”
"We wanted to create a microclimate in Downtown and create a sort of envelope around the area to control the temperature and make it more liveable in hot weather," he said.