French designers OXO Architectes and Nicolas Laisné Associés have published plans for a 450m-high "vertical city" located in the Sahara desert.Â
The Tower of Sand is being proposed for somewhere in Morocco. The idea is to create a structure that seems to be hewn from rock containing a sustainable town, complete with a hotel, housing, shops, meteorological observatory, heliport, offices, a museum of the desert and the compulsory panoramic restaurant.
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The project would use solar and geothermal power and would collect and recycle its own water. Â
The designers estimate that 45,000 cubic meters of water could be collected each year. This would be funnelled 4km underground, where it would be heated to 100°C and could be used to provide energy for the building.
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Inside the walls, a central tower would be covered with plants and vegetation to form a vertical garden. Around this would be 192 acres of floorspace.Â
OXO Architectes speculates that any actual building project might start around 2025.
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Read more about the project here.Â
Images courtesy of OXO Architectes