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THE RACE TO the skies in Manhattan has seen some impressive towering architecture over the last decade.
That trend is being challenged by something else – a design that would be the world’s longest building. Ohio-based design studio OI IO came up with what they call The Big Bend.
The design sees two narrow residential towers rise on New York’s 57th Street and arches in mid air to form an eye-catching loop and the world’s longest building.
The studio suggests that to make a building stand out, it “has to literally stand out”.
“We have become familiar with building height measurements. We usually learn about the latest tallest building and we are always impressed by its price per square foot. It seems that a property’s height operates as a license for it to be expensive.
“New York city’s zoning laws have created a peculiar set of tricks through which developers try to maximise their property’s height in order to infuse it with the prestige of a high rise structure. But what if we substituted height with length? What if our buildings were long instead of tall?”
They say that the building would become a prestige development in its own right.
“If we manage to bend our structure instead of bending the zoning rules of New York we would be able to create one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. The longest building in the world.
“The Big Bend can become a modest architectural solution to the height limitations of Manhattan. We can now provide our structures with the measurements that will make them stand out without worrying about the limits of the sky.”
The renderings of the building are bizarre, and some, like the one showing a suited man amid piles of cash, speak to the satirical nature of the design.
Even if the design is not realised, it is unique.
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Would you not think that mentioning the actual length would add to the story?
@brian magee: It’s just a drawing. Pick any length you want.
The funniest part above is Paul Hosford claiming, “Even if the design is not realised, it is unique.”
So of all the millions of doodles sketched by kids and architecture students Paul thinks that no one ever doodled this shape ever!
The paperclip.
@Padraig: put two circular buildings at the base and youll see it for what it is
All I can see is a huge challenge for the paragliders etc of the world to be the first to race through the hoop
It looks awesome
This would be pushing skyscraper technology to the limit. It simply couldn’t be done and if by a miracle you managed to get the engineering to work the building would be so inefficient due to column size and elevator space that it would reduce usability below a practical level. Major engineering issues other than actual strength at the base for overturning would be differenti movement of the two towers and uncomfortable sway
@Awkward Seal:
You’re forgetting that they won’t need the bulky elevators in the future when they harness teleportation technology.
@Awkward Seal: Red Thumb
@Awkward Seal: could put all the lifts on the outside
Dibs on the top floor
It’s no Liberty Hall
It may be slightly cheaper to simply connect two existing adjacent buildings by an arch
The ‘Croquet Hoop’
What would the environmental foot print be if it were to be built?
@Tony Daly: it would look a bit like this: =
@Tony Daly: I’m sure the environmental footprint would be much less than if they built hundreds of small office and residential blocks in its place
@Tweety McTweeter: but compared to a columnar design, it would be vastly far more inefficient.
It seems to me that environmental efficiency needs to be a much more of a priority in the design and operation of such tall buildings.
@bopter:
I’ve just drawn one that is taller.
There’s a lot of wasted space in that design.
It looks like a big mad Dyson Air Heater.
I don’t get it. How is this considered ‘long’ rather than ‘tall’? It’s still taller than the surrounding buildings by a good bit.
@Shane O Neill: Burj Khalifa is 2700+ feet and the tallest building in the world. One structure, straight up into the sky. These lads would build two 2000 foot towers and join them with a bend / arch shape at the top. You are then to believe that at 4000 feet it is the longest building in the world as it would be measured from the bottom left, straight up, over the arch and down to the bottom right. Capiche?
@Darach Malone: Oh I dont know Darach. Depends how you look at it. Is the great wall of China long or short? Comprende
@Donal Proctor: How I looked at it Donal was on the architects website on the inter world wide net.
The Keyhole.
Tough to beat the US American inferiority complex alright!
An invitation to put Hand-Gliders through the Hoop, nice challenge.
@James Keogh: Or the Millenium Falcon on a 360 degree roll would fit nicely through it.
@Michael Lynch: I got a bad feeling about this!
@Mark Byrne: lol
Ugly as sin
Imagine the poor sucker having to clean the windows!
Stupid idea.
Stupid attempt at justifying stupid idea.
I died a little reading about it.
Tall building move, so when you connect the two of them, would that not create stress from the movement???
have your say