Dubai, Saudi Arabia or Iraq? One of these three countries will hold the record for the world’s tallest skyscraper in the next decade. But the United States could then dethrone them. The American company Arconic has just unveiled a crazy project: an ecological tower as high as Mont Blanc.

 

To exceed one kilometer, that is what all those who want to hold the record of the highest tower in the world dream of. But Arconic, an American company, is thinking much bigger. If it sees the light of day, its future skyscraper will surpass, by far, all records. Obviously that of the current title holder, Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828 meters), but also that of the giant towers under construction: Dubai Creek Harbor, or the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), which will culminate at 1 kilometer. Even among the most ambitious projects, such as The Bride in Basra (Iraq) designed to reach 1,152 meters, nothing surpasses Arconic’s dream. Its tower rivals Mont Blanc, as its designers aim for 4.8 km.

 

The New York-based company was inspired by the world of “The Jetsons,” a science fiction cartoon that first aired in 1962. “It’s amazing how right the Jetsons were, they predicted things that actually exist like smartwatches, tablets, or 3D printers,” says Arconic, which asked itself what still needs to be invented by 2062, a century after the cartoon’s creation. And one of the things they thought about was housing.

 

A special coating to purify the air

But Arconic’s engineers didn’t just make utopian plans, they imagined a feasible project. And for that, they developed, with scientists, technologies necessary for this building. Thus, this tower, as tall as Mont Blanc, will have a high thermal resistance, which is essential at this height to consume less energy, and has been designed to resist natural disasters.

 

But above all, it will be able to purify the air around it, thanks to a special coating called EcoClean. Thanks to the combined action of the sun, steam and oxygen, this coating will be able to attract the polluting particles present in the air, trap them and destroy them. The building will not need to be cleaned.

 

Arconic’s engineers have also thought about the well-being of the inhabitants of this skyscraper of the future. In good weather, they will be able to get fresh air without having to leave their homes. Their apartment will be equipped with retractable windows. They can be transformed into a balcony in less than a minute. The company even plans to be able to build the necessary elements for this tower with a 3D printer by 2062. A way to give architects more flexibility, Sherri McCleary, director of science, tells Business Insider.

 

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