money A Tree-Covered, 2,400-Foot Tower Could Become NYC’s Tallest—and Most Sustainable—Building
Roosevelt Island quite literally lives in the shadow of Manhattan’s soaring skyline, but that could all change. Architecture firm Rescubika Creations has just unveiled a proposal for a tower on the island that would dwarf the World Trade Center and become the country’s tallest building.
The French outfit envisions the residential skyscraper sitting between the Queensboro Bridge and the south point of the Island. If built, the lofty 160-story structure would measure a record-breaking 2,418 feet. That’s two times taller than the Crysler Building and 372 feet taller than One World Trade Center, which is currently America’s tallest building at 1,776 feet. (Take that, Manhattan.) On top of that, it would claim the title of the world’s second-tallest building, just a few feet behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which measures 2,717 feet.
Astonishingly, height isn’t the tower’s most impressive feature. The design is named Mandragore after the mandrake plant and is as green as they come, literally and figuratively. As a “carbon sink” structure, it would be capable of trapping a huge volume of emissions to combat the greenhouse effect and help achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
How? The futuristic design features wooden construction materials, along with 8,300 shrubs, 1,600 trees, 83,000 square feet of plant walls. This living and organic matter not only makes one helluva visual statement but also works to suck up carbon. The structure is also fitted with nearly 23,000 square feet of solar panels and 36 wind turbines to produce clean energy.
To cope with the city’s extreme weather conditions, Mandragore would feature a network of underground pipes to capture warm and cool air and circulate it throughout the building. The firm also proposes the addition of a home office in each apartment to alleviate the need for commuting and thereby further reduce emissions. With the majority of the city currently working from home on account of the pandemic, it’s a suggestion that would likely stick.
While Mandragore is just a concept at this stage, the building would certainly help New York City meet the goal set by the Climate Mobilization Act of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Not to mention it’ll also get Roosevelt Island out of the shadows.
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