24 replies to this topic

[Logically Irrational]

http://www.fastcoexi...s-of-the-future

The skyscraper is one of the more iconic symbols of modern society. The sight of the Burj Dubai rising from the desert is a powerful visual symbol of "progress." The engineering and manpower it takes to throw a building so far into the sky can seem unimaginable. But besides building them higher (and making them use marginally less energy) today’s newest skyscrapers remain largely the same as the Empire State Building.

But not in the future imagined by this year’s eVolo skyscraper design contest. Every year,Architecture Magazine asks architects to answer the question: What more can we do with the skyscraper? This year’s winner, pictured above, imagines the building as a place to save us from inevitable water shortages. Others envisioned buildings that would help reduce our waste or which would let us move whenever disaster struck our current homes. Click through the slide show above to see some of our favorite visions of the urban future.

All the answers are entirely fanciful; most require technology that doesn’t even exist yet. But if we could dream up the first skyscraper, some of these ideas could very well also be possible. Instead of building ever taller, maybe we could build smarter instead.

Check this one out: http://www.evolo.us/...ses/#more-16663

Monument to Civilization: Vertical Landfill for Metropolises

This skyscraper doesn’t actually provide homes to any city residents. It does, however, store its trash. If you took New York’s annual garbage production and fit it into a silo, it would be three times the height of the Empire State building. These buildings would be constructed in cites both to create an opportunity to harvest energy from the trash, but also as a potent reminder of wastefulness: the shorter a city’s trash building, the more sustainable it would be.

[Guyverman1990]

I can see carbon nanotubes being used to build these things.

[Raklian]

I don't see how this is practical, unless we figure out a way to quickly decompose the waste as a form of energy generation. Because the structure is so tall, gravity can be utilized to create extreme pressures at the bottom to create enough heat. Just my thought.

[shane_allen]

Dumb. It'll look like ass. There's no point in doing this.

[Logically Irrational]

I would just like to see the hell a project like this would have to go through to get any kind of approval. Who wants a two mile high pile of garbage for a neighbor?

[MarcZ]

There are so many goodies in dumps just waiting to be salvaged.

[Logically Irrational]

Good luck getting to the stuff at the bottom.

[Raklian]

I think this way of collecting and storing trash will become obsolete. Instead, we will have the means of splitting our trash into its atomic components and recycle them for the nanofabricators/molecular assemblers to use to create items we need on demand. All of this will happen right in our kitchens.

[Logically Irrational]

I think this way of collecting and storing trash will become obsolete. Instead, we will have the means of splitting our trash into its atomic components and recycle them for the nanofabricators/molecular assemblers to use to create items we need on demand. All of this will happen right in our kitchens.

That may be a bit further off than we would prefer, but if we can manage our waste in the traditional way for another couple of decades, molecular assemblers could start to make a dent.

I've seen highly optimistic forecasts of when we'll have these machines, but I honestly think the timeline has is about right. Definitely not until the second half of the century.

[eacao]

Good luck getting to the stuff at the bottom.

through the side.

[Raklian]

I think this way of collecting and storing trash will become obsolete. Instead, we will have the means of splitting our trash into its atomic components and recycle them for the nanofabricators/molecular assemblers to use to create items we need on demand. All of this will happen right in our kitchens.

That may be a bit further off than we would prefer, but if we can manage our waste in the traditional way for another couple of decades, molecular assemblers could start to make a dent.

I've seen highly optimistic forecasts of when we'll have these machines, but I honestly think the timeline has is about right. Definitely not until the second half of the century.

Well, the important thing is that we will eventually get there. By then, we will start recycling all of the trash heaped in landfills. In the meantime, we need to manage our waste disposal more efficiently than we have in the past.

[EVanimations]

But...but then... TRASH BECOMES A COMMODITY! So much for a post-scarcity world!

I think this way of collecting and storing trash will become obsolete. Instead, we will have the means of splitting our trash into its atomic components and recycle them for the nanofabricators/molecular assemblers to use to create items we need on demand. All of this will happen right in our kitchens.

That may be a bit further off than we would prefer, but if we can manage our waste in the traditional way for another couple of decades, molecular assemblers could start to make a dent.

I've seen highly optimistic forecasts of when we'll have these machines, but I honestly think the timeline has is about right. Definitely not until the second half of the century.

Well, the important thing is that we will eventually get there. By then, we will start recycling all of the trash heaped in landfills. In the meantime, we need to manage our waste disposal more efficiently than we have in the past.

But... but then... TRASH BECOMES A COMMODITY!!! Ancient waste will become something like modern fuel, we'll start using trash to make stuff faster than we can renew it, trade routes will open for trash, it'll be more expensive to create matter from trash... so much for a post-scarcity world.

Until we can make something from completely nothing in infinite quantity, we won't be living in a post-scarcity world.

[SG-1]

Not really, you don't have to violate the law of thermodynamics to live comfortably.

Is it possible to convert electromagnetic energy on any frequency to matter?

Edited by SG-1, 21 April 2012 - 10:23 PM.

[FlameWave]

Who would want a 2mile high stack of crap built every year in their city? It would be impractical and a waste of resources to build the tower (unless we did it Wall-e style).

[wjfox]

London's future skyline in doubt

http://www.bbc.co.uk...london-20357816

[Italian Ufo]

London's future skyline in doubt

http://www.bbc.co.uk...london-20357816

that would be awesome

[Logically Irrational]

Not a fan of the skyline?

[StanleyAlexander]

Is it possible to convert electromagnetic energy on any frequency to matter?

E=mc^2, it should be possible. That's a shit-ton of energy for not a lot of mass, though. Why frequency? Could we make more dog biscuits with gamma rays than we could with AM radio?

[Raklian]

But...but then... TRASH BECOMES A COMMODITY! So much for a post-scarcity world!

I think this way of collecting and storing trash will become obsolete. Instead, we will have the means of splitting our trash into its atomic components and recycle them for the nanofabricators/molecular assemblers to use to create items we need on demand. All of this will happen right in our kitchens.

That may be a bit further off than we would prefer, but if we can manage our waste in the traditional way for another couple of decades, molecular assemblers could start to make a dent.

I've seen highly optimistic forecasts of when we'll have these machines, but I honestly think the timeline has is about right. Definitely not until the second half of the century.

Well, the important thing is that we will eventually get there. By then, we will start recycling all of the trash heaped in landfills. In the meantime, we need to manage our waste disposal more efficiently than we have in the past.

But... but then... TRASH BECOMES A COMMODITY!!! Ancient waste will become something like modern fuel, we'll start using trash to make stuff faster than we can renew it, trade routes will open for trash, it'll be more expensive to create matter from trash... so much for a post-scarcity world.

Until we can make something from completely nothing in infinite quantity, we won't be living in a post-scarcity world.

Trash Peak!!!

[MarcZ]

Enough of this trashy affair! (Sorry I couldn't resist.)