The Buildings of the Future

Most people assume that the future will be filled with 500-story skyscrapers decked in white metal curved beams and gigantic glass banks that make up the massive walls. However fantastical this may seem, information and technology are saying that some of those stereotypes and dreams just might be possible. I'm not gonna give any of those fairly random predictions on when this might happen, but there is considerable evidence to prove that it's possible. Other things might be possible, as well. I, for one, love architecture, so studying this has been fascinating, fun, and satisfying for me. Strangely, I really almost no longer have the aspiration, but at one point in my life I wanted to be architect. Because of this, I am naturally fascinated by designs and ideas of buildings that might be possible in both the near and distant future. There are theories, designs, and ideas for gardens, space stations, ecosystems in space, spaceships, skyscrapers, factories, hospitals, houses, honestly, there isn't space here to fit it all. Many of the designs are eco-friendly, made for efficiency, and are beautiful, sometimes almost positively sparkling.

An idea that I have thought of are buildings separated into certain zones, much like the zoning in existence today. There could be industrial, residential, and commercial zones, all in one building! In the future, more zone types might be possible, or maybe even zones could coexist. Perhaps commercial in the bottom of the building, so as to be readily accessible from the street without the constant hum of elevators or other inter-level transportation through the residential levels, which would be next so as to have a peaceful environment in the middle of chaos, then industrial near the top to be nearest the transportation which would be at the top of the tower, along with government. This would be to allow non-used materials to be shipped away to other factories and production places that would use the materials, and allow workers, or possibly just maintenance and management to pass through easily and without bugging the residential levels again, which would be below the industrial levels. Agricultural might be there too, to provide farms and gardens with easy access to much needed supplies, and minimize the need for a larger area that would provide cargo transportation. And perhaps you could drag in a research zone here, maybe slide in a recreational zone there. And it would be smart to plop some security levels down every once in a while. You might as well add a military center, while you're at it. In the end, you could have a fully and independently functioning society in one skyscraper, albeit it massive.

But there could also be cities neatly and perfectly organized in massive zones. A city lined in perfectly square blocks. Zones in nine-to-sixteen-block sections. Buildings would be set up right next to each other looking very similar to each other and serving similar purposes to each other, all in their appropriate zones. It would be one of my dreams, seeing as how I have OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It makes me want to put everything into a symmetrical and neat order and guard it jealously. Don't get me wrong, I like originality. But sometimes... Another idea is the crater-scrapers, an idea that in a catastrophe such as an asteroid impact, we would fill the craters with skyscrapers. That and other ideas promote eco-friendly and efficient buildings with inexpensive but durable and smart construction. But that's for another day, a future day. Thanks, Aidan.