Interesting.....

But are they really going to allow people to walk on the flat glass roof? And who would want to?

Mexican cooks have been doing something similar for years.

Where are the moisture vaporators?

Uncle Owen, Uncle Owen

Srsly, this is pretty farking cool.

What a great disaster movie that will make.

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Approves

How would you like to be the person on the bottom if it collapsed?

Upskirts would be incredibly easy to get...

odd.
I get that for the building above ground that you would want it tapered like a pyramid or have some other interesting shape.

however, since this is undergound, why bother? No one is going to see what the structure looks like from the outside and if are going to go through the trouble of digging up the ground, why not use more space

The great thing about construction contractors in Mexico is they never cut corners.

If I am not mistaken, this was proposed by Popular Mechanics magazine about 15-20 years ago.

Any PM Farkers out there to confirm this and the dates.

Come on then, I know we have PM Farkers in the house somewhere.

"I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her. Marooned for all eternity, at the center of a dead planet. Buried alive, buried alive."

The elevator button on the bottom floor doesn't say PH...it says HELL

tenpoundsofcheese: I get that for the building above ground that you would want it tapered like a pyramid or have some other interesting shape.
however, since this is undergound, why bother?

Because it gives more light to the lower levels, and more visibility when looking up from below.

I've been to that square. That's kinda cool. But I was told that the ground was unstable due to underground waterways. What to think...?

10lbofcheese: The idea was to create a design which would allow sunlight to hit every level all the way to the bottom. An inverted pyramid or cone would allow this, any other structure would create dead zones

/learned that from PopMech

tenpoundsofcheese: however, since this is undergound, why bother? No one is going to see what the structure looks like from the outside and if are going to go through the trouble of digging up the ground, why not use more space

Well, for one it's supposed to use that great big glass top to let natural light in, for another, the tapering allows them to use the ground for most of the support. With a 100% vertical shaft, it'd require much more reinforcement.

Honestly, this looks like another one of those drawing of neat looking buildings that never get built.

That looks so cool.

It's the wave of the future, I tells ya!

LOVE. THIS. STUFF.

Mexico City is essentially a bowl surrounded by mountains and has problems with flooding and parts of the city sinking. It also rests atop a caldera and has frequent seismic activity.

Sounds like the perfect place!

when is their next earthquake scheduled?

They'll have video cameras in the lower apartments so you can keep in contact with your relatives.

The terrorists are winning.

That looks like it should be in Second Life. Maybe that's why it seems creepy.

They need to be careful. Too close to hell:

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And I drew pictures of a space elevator.

So instead of the regular penis shaped structures that are everywhere, we're going to get a vee-jay-jay instead...
The feminists are going to have a field day with this

sallys: That looks like it should be in Second Life. Maybe that's why it seems creepy.

Eh, I just think of it as the MC Arcology.

Oak: "I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her. Marooned for all eternity, at the center of a dead planet. Buried alive, buried alive."

KHAAAAAAAAAN!



/Khaaaaaaaan

Going to be obscene excavation costs..

At first, I was like "Whoa".

Then I realized its a hole.

/And then I was like "Whoa".

Stupid Mexicans. First rainfall and it will fill up with water.

jm105:


Mexico City is essentially a bowl surrounded by mountains and has problems with flooding and parts of the city sinking. It also rests atop a caldera and has frequent seismic activity.

Sounds like the perfect place!

That was my first thought... When I was there in the early 1980's they were very proud of their *one* skyscraper and all the advanced earthquake-proofing tech that went in to it. In fact a year after I was there I saw a photo in the newspaper of the hotel I stayed at collapsed in a quake.

That, and the subsidence since it was built on a filled-in lake. I remember one cathedral where you had to go *down* several steps to get to the main doors, and once you were in you noticed the lamps hanging down from the roof at an angle. Oh... Wait... The lamps are hanging straight down, the entire cathedral is tilted.

On the other hand they do know how to dig there. The metro is almost an entire city unto itself. Maybe that is their best bet.

/ In before Larry Niven "Canyon" reference.

All the drug cartels' body parts are going to collect at the bottom. eeeuuu.

they are severely overestimating the amount of sunlight they'll be receiving in those mock up drawings of lower levels.

But what happens when someone uses a F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead.

I would love to give a glass bottom boat to 1000 people looking up.

User1005273: Mexican cooks have been doing something similar for years.

Wait wait wait - these are Mexicans! They cannot build - they cut grass and clean plates!

lohphat: What happens to the CO2 when the air circulation pumps fail?

I'd hate to be in the "penthouse" what that happens.

If you're aware of when the circulation stops, you have quite some time to get above ground before CO2 buildup would stop you.

I expect to see this small budget disaster movie in a redbox in 6 to 9 months.

lohphat: What happens to the CO2 when the air circulation pumps fail?

I'd hate to be in the "penthouse" what that happens.

Same thing that happens in an above-ground skyscraper, I'd guess. It's not like their windows open.