Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid

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For sunken Japanese formations, including pyramids, see Yonaguni Monument.
Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid

The Pyramid City arcology or megacity as featured on the Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering programs
General information
Status Idea
Type Office, Residential, Research, Leisure
Location Tokyo Bay, Japan
Height
Roof 2,004 m (6,575 ft)
Technical details
Floor area 8 square kilometres (3.1 sq mi)
Design and construction
Architect Dante Bini, David Dimitric

The Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid is a hypothetical project for construction of a massive pyramid over Tokyo Bay in Japan. The structure would be more than 14 times as high as the Great Pyramid at Giza, and would house 1,000,000 people. The structure would be 2000 meters (6,561 feet) above mean sea level, including 5 stacked trusses, each with similar dimensions to that of the great pyramid of Giza. This pyramid would help answer Tokyo's increasing lack of space, although the project would only handle 1/47th of the Greater Tokyo Area's population.[1]

The proposed structure is so large that it cannot be built with currently available materials, due to their weight. The design relies on the future availability of super-strong lightweight materials based on carbon nanotubes.

Materials and construction process

First, the pyramid's foundation would be formed by 36 piers made of special concrete.

Because the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire cuts right through Japan, the external structure of the pyramid would be an open network of megatrusses, supporting struts made from carbon nanotubes to allow the pyramid to stand against and let through high winds, and survive earthquakes and tsunamis.

The trusses would be coated with photovoltaic film to convert sunlight into electricity and help power the city. The city will also be powered by pond scum or algae.[2]

Large robots would assemble the truss structure, and air bladders would be used to elevate trusses above the first layer using a construction system proposed by Italian architect Dante Bini. Spheroid nodes at the connections between trusses would provide structural support and serve as transfer points for travelers.

Australian Company, Straight Edge Tiling have secured a contract for the internal tiling of the Pyramid. CEO Daiman Cartan met with construction engineer David Dimitric and lawyer Tavis Gorman in December 2007 to discuss innovative concepts regarding the huge task, as well as legal boundaries, to which an agreement was made.

Interior traffic and buildings

Transportation within the city would be provided by accelerating walkways, inclined elevators, and a personal rapid transit system where automated pods would travel within the trusses.

Housing and office space would be provided by twenty-four or more 30-story high[3] skyscrapers suspended from above and below, and attached to the pyramid's supporting structure with nanotube cables.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Statistics Bureau of Japan
  2. ↑ Discovery Channel's Extreme Engineering Season 1, Episode 4
  3. ↑ City in a Pyramid by Discovery Channel.

External links

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