Taisei Construction completed designs for a building larger than the source of its inspiration, Mount Fuji. At over 13,000 feet, this 4 kilometer high building would be able to house 500,000 to one million people. The X-Seed 4000 will, unfortunately, never be built. The plans were more likely a form of viral marketing to draw attention to the construction company... and it worked! Just imagine if it were real. Think about the elevators, escalators, view from the top, and size of the basement... wow!
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I read an article quite some years ago about a company wanting to build a similar construction. Personally I think it would be awesome to see such a structure but mmmm money probably could be spent on much better causes. (Feeding and clothing the poor, sorting out Japanese retirement funds, getting rid of finger-printing, paying a hit man to get rid of Bush etc........)
But just to see it when it is finished mmm that would be cool!!
Keith
PS. And as long as there is a "Circle K" at the top, I have no real problems with it being built!!
I think they'd have a hard time finding the construction materials if they ever actually seriously considered this kind of construction.
They do have the technology as well as the materials however, the cost of doing such a project is the main stumbling block.
With the invention of particular fast setting concretes and
high pure carbon steel, it really is amazing what engineers can do. Some of the major concerns are how to get the materials to that height and do people really want to live that high.
I do feel engineering has no bounds with the exception of one simple thing and that is money!
Keith
PS. I do find it real interesting that one problem (That to me does not seem to be that hard of a problem but what would I know!) is that engineers have not come up with a way to pump concrete much higher than 500 meters mmmm go figure!!
Do you not remember the steel shortage a while back? I really do doubt that they'd pull together the materials for such a massive project.
Let's clear this up. A search on Wikipedia shows that the plans were drawn up in 1990, long before the steel shortage. Yes, there was a steel shortage which particularly hit Japanese car makers (particularly Nissan) in 1994. The shortage was blamed on "tight raw-material supplies and a surge in demand from the Chinese economy" which probably means the cost of steel rose but was still available if you could afford it. Could Japan afford it in 1990? Of course! Could they afford it now? Well, "the cost to construct the X-Seed 4000 structure may be somewhere between $300-900 billion US dollars". Japan spent 22 billion US dollars on its Indian Ocean refueling mission in the two years after 9/11. Assuming the cost hasn't changed, Japan would have spent another 44 billion since then. Hmmm, still a long way short of building the X-Seed... hold on, Japan's defense budget for 2004-2009 is 233 billion dollars. Add that to the 66 billion spent on the refueling mission and you've got 299 billion dollars! Now let's see... In 2005, Japan lent Brazil 500 million dollars to boost their infrastructure and the following year offered the South American country another half a billion dollars to set up Japanese Digital TV there! Total cost: US$300 billion! Great let's cut all that spending and build the X-Seed! :)
Wait up - I was referring to the more recent steel shortage, which caused some (ok, more like provided an excuse for) friction between Japan and China. Circa 2004? Maybe I have a faulty memory...hmmm.
Haha! You're right, it's a typo. I meant to write 2004, not 1994. :blush: