Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Leslie E. Robertson Associates have joined forces to propose “Next Tokyo,” a vision for Tokyo in the year 2045 when a mile-high tower and eco-city floats on Tokyo Bay, providing a home for half a million citizens and simultaneously addressing city-wide vulnerability by providing coastal defense infrastructure.
“Next Tokyo” envisions an infrastructural network that stretches across the bay, acting as reclaimed land to buffer Tokyo’s shoreline. Island clusters function as the foundations for high-density developments and accommodate a half-million residents who are seeking to leave at-risk coastal regions and reduce their commute times. Water-filled infrastructural rings allow for the sharing of resources such as freshwater reservoirs, public beach harbors, and urban farming plots. Saline water from the bay will also be retained to grow algae, which is a rapidly renewable and efficient clean fuel source. KPF, has been involved in some of Tokyo’s most recent major urban redevelopments like Roppongi Hills and the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, the Merrill Lynch Japan Head Office in Nihonbashi and Otemachi Tower.
But “Next Tokyo”, if realized, will make all his projects look tiny: the plan calls for a 1600-meter tower (1 mile is 1609 meters), which would be twice as high as the world’s current tallest building.
