Vertical Cities: 12 Towers Take Urban Density to the Skies

Citytree Towers by Vincent Callebaut

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Architect Vincent Callebaut is renowned for creating outlandish concepts inspired by nature, these twisting towers taking their shape from the helix DNA structure. The Citytree concept produces more energy than it consumes and processes its own waste. The twisting design ensures that all inhabitants get both a private outdoor space and nearly 360-degree views of the surroundings.

Endless City Has a Hollow Core
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Each level of this skyscraper is shaped sort of like a flattened tube, wrapping into a sort of oval to enclose an atrium that’s open to the sky. Endless City by SURE Architecture is not just a vertical community, but a vertical ecosystem, with vast gardens, communal spaces and private residences staggered throughout.

Yongjia World Trade Center

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The new Yongjia World Trade Center building by UNStudio in Wenzhou, China creates a new 5-million-square-foot complex consisting of a series of towers that function like vertical neighborhoods. Each building has its own offices, living spaces, sky gardens, lounges and other gathering spaces open to the public as well as the residents. With their glass facades, the towers are meant to glitter within their grassy surroundings like precious jewels on a green tray.

Logistic City, Shenzhen, China

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Julien de Smedt Architects envisions Logistic City as a vertical forest for Shenzhen, China, with walkable paths weaving up and down throughout the towering structure. A ‘massive urban intervention,’ the sustainable tower will be used as a tool for reforestation within the city, mixing gardens with public areas and housing. Open spaces within the program are filled with wind turbines, producing enough power to add to the entire city’s grid.