X-Seed 4000
| X-Seed 4000 | |
|---|---|
| X-Sen Shushi 4000 | |
 The design of X-Seed 4000 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Never built |
| Type | Mixed use |
| Location | Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | |
| Roof | 4,000 m (13,123 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 800 |
The X-Seed 4000 was a concept blueprint for what would, if it were ever built, be the tallest building in the history of the world. Though it has not actually been built, it is the tallest design to have been completely planned and designed.[1] The idea was initially created and developed by Peter Neville. Its proposed 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) height, 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi) sea-base, and 800-floor capacity could accommodate 500,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants. This structure would be composed of over 3,000,000 tons of pure steel.
It was designed for Tokyo, Japan by the Taisei Corporation in 1995[2] as a futuristic environment combining ultra-modern living and interaction with nature.[3] Methods of transportation within the X-seed would most likely include MagLev trains.
The X-Seed 4000 "is never meant to be built," says Georges Binder, managing director of Buildings & Data, a firm which compiles data banks on buildings worldwide. "The purpose of the plan was to earn some recognition for the firm, and it worked."[4]
Unlike conventional skyscrapers, to remain habitable the X-Seed 4000 would be forced to actively protect its occupants from considerable internal air pressure gradations and weather fluctuations that its massive elevation would cause. Its design calls for the use of solar power to maintain internal environmental conditions.[1] As the proposed site for the structure is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the most active volcano range in the world, the X-Seed 4000 would be subject to tsunamis and earthquakes. The Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid (proposed in 2007, also planned for Tokyo, Japan) faces most of the same problems.
A sea-based location and a Mount Fuji shape are some of this building's other major design features—the real Mount Fuji is land-based and is 3,776 metres (12,388 ft) high so is 224 metres (735 ft) shorter than the X-Seed 4000. The X-Seed 4000 is projected to be twice the height of the Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid at 2,004 metres (6,575 ft). Other projects that may be in the top five man made structures are the Ultima Tower 3,218 metres (10,558 ft) in San Francisco, Dubai City Tower 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) and the Bionic Tower 1,228 metres (4,029 ft) in either Hong Kong or Shanghai.
Some estimate that in 1995 the cost of constructing the X-Seed 4000 might have been somewhere between US$300–900 billion; adjusted for inflation, that is the equivalent of between 479 billion and 1.2 trillion US 2017 dollars.[5]
