SAN FRANCISCO | Ultima Tower | 10,561 FT / 3,219 M | 500 FLOORS | VISION

[M II A II R II K]

Eugene Tsui originally conceived the idea of the Ultima Tower as part of a study of the compact urban area of San Francisco. The project combines nature with urban environment on a mega scale. The tower is two miles high with a base of 6000 feet in diameter. The structure's shape is modeled after the tallest structure not made by man-- African termite nests. The Ultima Tower is 500 stories tall and is intended to house one million residents.

The tower explores the idea of stacking nature vertically to conserve space. The structure contains stacked levels of soil that form individual landscapes with "skies" between 30 and 50 meters high. Neighborhoods of architectural structures can be built on these landscapes, forming a vertical city.

The structure is designed to be energy efficient. It has built in solar panels on its exterior, self-shading glass, windmills, and a water-based cooling system. The structure also utilizes Atmospheric Energy Conversion, converts the difference in atmospheric pressure at the top and bottom of the structure into electrical power.

The base of the Ultima Tower as seen covering San Francisco:

[JDRCRASH]

I can't see the top photo, but 10,000 ft?

[Wrightguy0]

UGLY, Eugene Tsui is just god awful I don't like any of his stuff

[FLBlake]

It looks like a very stretched out nipple, like maybe a nipple with a piercing and someone is pulling hard on the piercing.

[RLS_rls]

^Lovely.

So whats the 'Eye in the Sky' building? Never heard of that one before...

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by Evilon Doomm

^Lovely.

So whats the 'Eye in the Sky' building? Never heard of that one before...

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=148538

[M II A II R II K]

Originally Posted by Evilon Doomm

So whats the 'Eye in the Sky' building? Never heard of that one before...

That's probably for the best.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

That's probably for the best.

Good point.

[Cypherus]

You'd think the proposed location would be where the Pacific oceanic plate is not sub-ducting under the North American continental plate....

[Raraavis]

Why would you destroy half of one of the greatest cities on earth to build this thing. Put it in Oakland.

[America 117]

this is too funny
thats the most ugly thing ive ever seen its not even a skyscraper its soo ugly.
dont destroy san francisco.

[TANGELD_SLC]

Ok there's that top photo. I got it to work for me

What I don't get is why they propose these types of mammoth structures in the middle of an already-established area? I think it would be much more impressive if it was built, say, off the east or west coasts somewhere or on a plain in Kansas, or in a mountain valley in Utah, where there was nothing else built for miles and miles and miles.

[JDRCRASH]

Have no fear America 117; San Francisco would never allow something that hideous to be erected anywhere near the city.

[JDRCRASH]

Originally Posted by Raraavis

Put it in Oakland.

[Stratosphere]

Oh god! Look at those "puny" supertalls being compared to it.

[JDRCRASH]

Tch, yeah I know; I beat that the base of the tower could completely cover up Lower Manhattan Island.

[JVissle]

Originally Posted by FLBlake

It looks like a very stretched out nipple, like maybe a nipple with a piercing and someone is pulling hard on the piercing.

LMFAO!!!

[citywarrior]

eugene tsui was probably high when he was designing this. It would help the population, but 1. It's too ugly. 2. It would probably collapse, 3. It costs 150 billion dollars, and 4. It looks like total crap.

[Chicago103]

Maybe in the 26th Century with the same proportions but a different exterior design and built two miles offshore from mainland San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean but the population still counted as part of the city. So let's assume that in the year 2555 there are two million people living in mainland San Francisco and one million in the tower, that would be three million people. That's roughly level Manhattan density over the entire present day land mass of San Francisco plus the density of the tower. I could base a science fiction series on something like this but the city by the bay would probably have to a plethora of hundred story plus buildings for centuries first before people could accept something like this.

[JDRCRASH]

No way this could be built with conventional materials.