Light Park Floating Skyscraper | Ting Xu & Yiming Chen

The Light Park Floating Skyscraper, designed by Ting Xu & Yiming Chen and winner of 3^rd place in eVolo’s 2013 Skyscraper competition, is a brilliant and optimistic proposal for a brighter, more care-free future. Addressing the problem of green and recreation space scarcity within the world’s major urban centers, Light Park proposes a floating multi-platform for a plurality of functions, including parks, green houses, sports fields, restaurants, and exhibition spaces.

Courtesy of Ting Xu & Yiming Chen

The various programs of the floating skyscraper are designed to be arrayed around a central core and supported by reinforced steel cables hanging from a massive, helium-filled volume above. This volume provides the necessary buoyancy to float the structure above the bustle of the city below- thus relieving congestion- and is stabilized by a network of solar-powered propellers positioned around the form. The floor slabs, composed of a variety of shapes and sizes, are positioned around the core to balance the structure and optimize solar exposure to the various levels.

Courtesy of Ting Xu & Yiming Chen

Atop the helium-filled dirigible superstructure are translucent solar collectors and rainwater catchment facilities which provide power and irrigation for the parks and fields below. By virtue of its airborne nature and possession of vast green plantings, the Light Park will provide a powerful source of clean air back to the city which it floats above. The airborne nature is also, sadly, a source of concern given the current climate of the world, with the abundance of terrorism and those who mean to do others harm. It is unfortunate and disappointing for contemporary humanity that such a forward-looking, optimistic proposal- which is more than likely, within the grasps of current technology- must be viewed in this dark light of ‘what if’.

By Matt Davis