Earlier this week, a proposal for a 2,173-foot-tall tower in New York City's Chinatown surfaced on Curbed NY, and it outlines with rambling detail a 15,000,000-square-foot urban utopia. The manifesto, entitled "The Zhongshan Center Plans," brims with delicious, wackadoo features the future "Super Tower" might have, but in hopes of sparing anyone the task of reading 113 pages, here are the bizarre tidbits of the truly "mixed-use" space:
1. The Super Tower will have an outdoor roof observation deck on the 128th Floor with a path along the skyscraper's edges for "scenic viewing" of the city. It may sound terrifying, but there's really no need to worry, as "safety will be guaranteed, because we will invest in a steady frame."
2. Displaced residents will be able to move into the new apartments "as if they had just won first prize in a lottery."
3. But wait! The plans also include "Super-Galactic" residences, which will tempt celebrities including (but not limited to) royal families from Europe, CEOs, and "the wealthy."
4. The plans accommodate a teahouse and four "super famous" international restaurants.
5. Included in the blueprint draft is The Zhongshan Center Map-Designing Song, with morsels of lyrical genius like "Architects use thousands of papers, but what good does it do?"
6. The blueprints have allowed for a whopping 180,000 square feet of space for, well, lawyers. The more than four acres of office space (oh, and assistants and secretaries will be provided) is a worthy investment because, as the next 1,000 words describe fastidiously, there turns out to be many reasons why people may need a lawyer in the United States. There are also floors for accountants and other professionals.
7. The 10 stories above the professional floors will comprise the "Galactic Hotel," which will only be out-swanked by the "Super-Galactic Hotel" on floors 106 through 110.
8. Turns out "Super-Galactic" is the hyperbolic modifier of choice. Those aforementioned "super famous" restaurants will actually also be "Super-Galactic."
9. On top of it all? You guessed it, a rotating "Super-Galactic" restaurant, the largest and highest in the world.
10. And here's what makes it a true urban pipe dream: blueprints allow for 3,000 parking spaces and 12 floors of free community space. A "Scene of Perfection and Harmony," indeed.
· Chinatown 'Super Tower' Will Solve All Urban Problems [Curbed NY]
· The Zhongshan Center Plans [pdf] [Wong Book]
· All Architectural Craziness posts [Curbed National]
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