An earthscraper is a building that provides multiple stories of permanent space below ground where people may live: the inverse of very tall high-rise buildings.
Though humans have been building structures underground for centuries, such dwellings are generally called Earth shelters, and typically are only one or two stories deep at most. [1] [2] [3] It is the number or depth of below ground stories that distinguish an earthscraper.
An earthscraper might have some exposed sides, such as one built in a quarry with open exposure on some sides for lighting or ventilation purposes.
The term "earthscraper" was first applied to buildings that had continuously habitable space, as measured in stories, below ground, though no clear number of stories has been applied to the word. The word does not refer to, or count, the very deep foundations that are often required of skyscrapers in order to anchor and balance such tall structures—such as the Shanghai Tower which has foundations 282 ft 0 in (85.95 m) deep. [4] Deep parking garages, defensive bunkers, shelters, or buildings other than habitable structures designed with the same sort of purpose as a skyscraper, are not considered earthscrapers.
The first known earthscraper that was both proposed and then subsequently completed was the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland. This property was first unveiled in 2013, experienced significant delays initially due to the novel nature of its construction, but then finally was completed in 2018. This hotel earthscraper property has 16 underground stories, and two additional stories aboveground, making it 18 stories in total. [5] This design presents opportunities for developers to transform potentially unappealing landmasses, such as an old, abandoned quarry [6] in the case of the Intercontinental Shanghai, and turn them into useful, productive, or aesthetically appealing projects. [5]
Earthscrapers have also been thought of as a way to deal with urban planning issues such as overcrowding, [7] historically the notion of "building up" was thought of as the solution when space was scarce and at a premium, however neighborhood externalities such as a tall building casting shade over other previously existing properties arise, issues which may not be problems with an earthscraper. [8] [3]
A 65-story deep earthscraper was proposed in 2011 to be built in Mexico City's central plaza, a region called "Zócalo", though as of 2023 no such earthscraper has been completed. [8] [9]
Earthscrapers have been proposed as a means to deal with the effects of climate change, and to make human living less harmful on the external environment. [10] This may be different from skyscrapers, which some critics allege are not good for the environment or for climate change. [11] Some of the reasons that earthscrapers might be considered an improved option for large-scale human dwellings in urban environments over skyscrapers include the massively reduced cost of heating, or cooling, a large structure that is built mostly underground. Also, the amount of steel required in a skyscraper is enormous due to it needing to support its own weight, something an earthscraper does not need to do. Though an earthscraper still would still require large amounts of steel and concrete, it also has the support of the surrounding earth upon which the outer walls and frame can rest. [11]
Arcology, a portmanteau of "architecture" and "ecology", is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated and ecologically low-impact human habitats.
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft) or 150 meters (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Historically, the term first referred to buildings at least 10 stories high when these types of buildings began to be constructed in the 1880s. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.
An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely buried underground.
The Jin Mao Tower, also known as the Jinmao Building or Jinmao Tower, is a 420.5-meter-tall (1,380 ft), 88-story landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It contains a shopping mall, offices and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel which starts from the 53rd floor, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower it is part of the Lujiazui skyline seen from the Bund. It was the tallest building in China from its completion in 1999 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center which is located close by. The Shanghai Tower, a 128-story building located next to these two buildings, surpassed the height of both these buildings in 2015, creating the world's first trio of adjacent supertall skyscrapers.
The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Company, with Leslie E. Robertson Associates as its structural engineer and China State Construction Engineering Corp and Shanghai Construction (Group) General Co. as its main contractor. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, consisting of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, ground-floor shopping malls. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the tower's hotel component, comprising 174 rooms and suites occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. It is now the third-highest hotel in the world after the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, which occupies floors 102 to 118 of the International Commerce Centre.
The X-Seed 4000 was a concept for a megatall skyscraper. Its proposed 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) height, 6-kilometre-wide (3.7 mi) sea-base, and 800-floor capacity could accommodate 500,000-1,000,000 inhabitants. This structure would have been composed of over 3 million t of steel.
The Bionic Tower was an imagined vertical city, designed for human habitation by Spanish architects Eloy Celaya, María Rosa Cervera and Javier Gómez. It would have a main tower 1,228 metres (4,029 ft) high, with 300 stories housing approximately 100,000 people. The purpose of the Bionic Tower was to utilize bionics to address the issue of the world's rising population in an eco-friendly manner.
Underground living refers to living below the ground's surface, whether in natural or manmade caves or structures. Underground dwellings are an alternative to above-ground dwellings for some home seekers, including those who are looking to minimize impact on the environment. Factories and office buildings can benefit from underground facilities for many of the same reasons as underground dwellings such as noise abatement, energy use, and security.
Shanghai Tower is a 128-story, 632-meter-tall (2,073 ft) megatall skyscraper located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. It is the tallest building in China and the world's third-tallest building by height to architectural top. It is the tallest and largest LEED Platinum certified building in the world since 2015. It had the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 meters per second until 2017, when it was surpassed by the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center, with its top speed of 21 meters per second. Designed by the international design firm Gensler and owned by the Shanghai Municipal Government, it is the tallest of the world's first triple-adjacent supertall buildings in Pudong, the other two being the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine separate zones divided between office, retail and leisure use. The US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat cites it as "one of the most sustainably advanced tall buildings in the world."
The tallest building in the world, as of 2024, is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The title of "world's tallest building" has been held by various buildings in modern times, including Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England, and the Empire State Building and the original World Trade Center, both in New York City.
The Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland, also known as the Tianma Pit Hotel, Shimao Quarry Hotel, Songjiang, or Pit Pegasus Hotel is a hotel and earthscraper in Songjiang, Shanghai, China, 50 kilometres from city center. The hotel, which started operations on 20 November 2018, is managed by InterContinental and was built on the site of an abandoned quarry and, notably, features some rooms underwater.
4/C, also known as 4th & Columbia, is a proposed supertall skyscraper in Seattle, Washington, United States. If built, the 1,020-foot-tall (310 m), 91-story tower would be the tallest in Seattle, surpassing the neighboring Columbia Center, and the first supertall in the Pacific Northwest. The project has been under development by Miami-based Crescent Heights since 2015 and undergone several design changes and modifications under three architecture firms. As of 2023, 4/C is expected to have 1,090 residential units—apartments up to the 64th floor and condominiums from the 65th to 90th floor—along with several coworking and retail spaces. The latest version was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Martin Jochman Dip Arch RIBA is a British architect who is the designer of The InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, an 88-meter deep underground hotel that was built in an abandoned rock quarry in China.
