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[Guevara]

Those mighty Kingdom Tower guys are probably crying their eyes out right about now! In the spitfire race to build the tallest edifice on the globe, there's a new frontfronner: Azerbaijan Tower, a kilometer-tall structure that's set to break ground in 2015 in the Republic of Azerbaijan in Eurasia. If you don't usually equate Azerbaijan with, say, skyscrapers, it's because this beast will essentially be the first, rising above the Caspian's Khazar Islands, a 41-island manmade archipelago that has yet to be developed to its $100B glory. And compared to the Burj Khalifa, currently the world's tallest building at 2,723 feet, and Saudi Arabia's planned Kingdom Tower (3,280 feet, not a mile, as Curbed previously reported), Azerbaijan's 3,444-foot mass will go unrivaled. Ever poetically, Architizer describes the architecture of the new edifice as such: "the form altogether shuns the slim, shard-like profiles that characterize the current crop of Brobdingnagian skyscraper design. Instead, it curiously alludes both to the platonic massings of Constructivist projects (via corporate High-Tech of ’80s and ’90s) and various paper arcologies of the last quarter of the past century, from the Metabolists to the Sims." Estimated completion, 2018 or 2019; estimated cost: $2B.

http://curbed.com/archives/2012/02/09/please-welcome-the-new-new-worlds-tallest-skyscraper.php

but even taller!

These pics pretty much look like Crackdown IRL.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Massive real estate market crash in the making.

 

[strafer]

Mission Impossible 5 then.

 

[SuicidalSteve]

That tower...can't unsee lightsabre hilts

 

[Stealth Editor]

Radio masts? Why would they count that?

 

[elsk]

Woah, I pictured Azerbaijan 100% different than that.

 

[jakncoke]

I wonder how long it'd take recoup the 2 billion building price

 

[Guevara]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea (and the whole complex, etc. will be closer to $100M)

 

[JCreasy]

Was I the only one that thought of a Final Fantasy cutscene when I saw those renders?

 

[Revenant]

A real life dick waving contest, every few years we seem to hear about a new tower.

granted these buildings are awesome when they're done.

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea:

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/khazar-islands-600x450.jpg

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/khazar-islands2-600x450.jpg

http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/tall6-600x355.jpg

That's actually fucking awesome.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea:

Welp. Battlefield maps need updating now...

 

[noah111]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea:

Fuck me...

Spoiler

sideways

 

[- J - D -]

Over compensating.

 

[KillGore]

I wonder what will be the limit of these towers. They have to reach an end. Maybe when it reaches the moon.

 

[Meadows]

or they could spend that money on diversifying their economy so that they aren't massively reliant on oil...

nope, build skyscrapers that make you feel like a modern country even though it will lead you to absolute reliance on US/EU/Chinese demand for oil and be at the mercy of wider OPEC, geopolitical decisions!

anyway, it looks like something Shinra would build in Midgar.

 

[IceCold]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea (and the whole complex, etc. will be closer to $100M)

wow. Where is the money used to build this coming from? Oil?

 

[whitehawk]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea (and the whole complex, etc. will be closer to $100M)

They're building an island to build the tallest building ever on?

 

[Guevara]

The latter half of the 21st century is going to feature some spectacular ruins.

 

[Pagusas]

and how will this not be destroyed by tides/some form of tropical storm?

 

[LakeEarth]

Do they have plans to, you know, fill it with businesses and people? Cause that seems to be a vital part of the whole "gigantic building" thing.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Looks like a bunch of lightsabers.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Still smaller than Barad-dûr.

 

[Guevara]

and how will this not be destroyed by tides/some form of tropical storm?

Well it's not in the tropics and it's a relatively small and stable sea, rather than an ocean

 

[McNei1y]

Back in the 60s and 70s we were in a space race... Now we're in a giant building contest. USA should just create the tallest building that is also a spaceship.

 

[Seanspeed]

and how will this not be destroyed by tides/some form of tropical storm?

Caspian Sea

 

[TheJollyCorner]

In context, this is all built out into the Caspian Sea (and the whole complex, etc. will be closer to $100M)

leaked designs from FFXV

 

[victreeb3l]

Back in the 60s and 70s we were in a space race... Now we're in a giant building contest. USA should just create the tallest building that is also a spaceship.

this building in azerbaijan looks like it could lift off if shit hits the fan

 

[Host Samurai]

Looks exotic and I am getting a Final Fantasy 8 vibe from this as well.

 

[Souldriver]

Makes sense considering how insanely rich Azerbaijan is.



Wait, what?

 

[Wiggum2007]

Back in the 60s and 70s we were in a space race... Now we're in a giant building contest. USA should just create the tallest building that is also a spaceship.

 

[Jme]

What a disgusting waste of resources.

 

[Dr. Malik]

Looks like a jumbled mess in the middle of nowhere, but if they have the money more power to them

 

[clemenx]

Those towers look like lipstick.

 

[Blitzzz]

Those renders look amazing. They should invent some flying cars to finish the futuristic vibe

 

[Plywood]

its purdeh

 

[Kabouter]

wow. Where is the money used to build this coming from? Oil?

Yes, Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, has always been the oil capital of the Caucasus.

 

[xbhaskarx]

So they are building the worlds largest tower, out in the sea, on a man-made island, in a region with a fair amount of seismic activity?

 

[Seanspeed]

Ha! SimCity2000 is actually the first thing I thought of seeing the renders.

The building is insanely huge and not just the jaw-dropping 3400ft figure. Some of the attached lipstick tubes will be almost as tall as Burj Khalifa itself. Can they really find a use for all the space inside?

And it looks like much of the surrounding area will be filled with 1000+ ft skyscrapers to boot.

I also see an oval track and a road course track.

Good lord.

 

[Cjdamon042]

Was I the only one that thought of a Final Fantasy cutscene when I saw those renders?

No, I was thinking something similar too haha

Those pictures are odd though...they don't make it look very tall. I guess it's the building's design and the other buildings and whatnot around it, but I'm having a hard time picturing how tall it actually is :/

Does look kind of neat though, very different from what we normally see.

That tower...can't unsee lightsabre hilts

That too.

 

[Pagusas]

Well it's not in the tropics and it's a relatively small and stable sea, rather than an ocean

I know nothing about the Caspian sea, i take it it doesn't have major tidal surges or storms?

 

[Stumpokapow]

2 billion is pretty cheap, all things considered.

 

[Mindlog]

2 billion is pretty cheap, all things considered.

That was my impression as well.

 

[enzo_gt]

First thing I thought of was Crackdown too.

 

[Bisnic]

The tower looks like its coming from some sci-fi movie, cool.

But by the time the Earth is filled with futurist looking buildings, i'll be an old man or dead.

 

[Slime]

All these places are starting to remind me of the art design in the Star Wars prequel trilogy or something.

 

[cluto]

Should spend that money on a space elevator. They make something really useful and still get the biggest dick award.

 

[Prez]

2 billion is pretty cheap, all things considered.

Seems more than enough for just one building, no?

 

[SUPREME1]

2 billion is pretty cheap, all things considered.

Yup.

 

[xbhaskarx]

The building is insanely huge and not just the jaw-dropping 3400ft figure. Some of the attached lipstick tubes will be almost as tall as Burj Khalifa itself. Can they really find a use for all the space inside?

Good question.
How long has the Burj Khalifa been completed, and what is the current occupancy rate?
And I'd say Dubai is a more desirable location than Azerbaijan...

 

[louis89]

I'm calling it:

This tower will never be built.