While Dubai's Burj Khalifa soars to 828 metres, it is a mere speck compared to one of the most audacious architectural concepts ever conceived: a proposed Tokyo skyscraper designed to be taller than Mount Everest itself.
The Colossal Vision of Professor Ojima
This almost forgotten mega-project, known as the Tokyo Tower of Babel, was the brainchild of Professor Toshio Ojima from Waseda University. He first presented his staggering vision at the Brazil Earth Summit in 1992.
Inspired by the biblical story, Professor Ojima imagined a conical structure reaching a dizzying 10,000 metres (33,000 feet) into the sky. That is 1,150 metres taller than Mount Everest. The base was planned to span an astonishing 110 kilometres, tapering as it rose across its 1,969 floors.
The ultimate goal was to create a vertical metropolis for approximately 30 million residents, a population figure that makes other planned mega-structures seem modest by comparison.
Why the Dream Remained a Fantasy
Despite captivating imaginations, the Tokyo Tower of Babel never progressed beyond the concept stage. The barriers to its construction were as monumental as the design itself.
The most immediate hurdle was an eye-watering estimated cost of £23 trillion. Furthermore, the project would have required a century and a half to build, with a steel column weighing 10 billion tons.
Practical and safety concerns were overwhelming. Tokyo's proneness to earthquakes presented a catastrophic risk for a structure of this scale. The upper floors would be uninhabitable, facing external temperatures as low as -55°C and complex life-support challenges for air pressure.
Airspace restrictions and the monumental task of relocating millions of people and businesses from the proposed site along the Yamanote Line rendered the plan unfeasible.
A Legacy of Speculation and Study
Although never built, the concept has never been entirely forgotten. It was revisited by the Japanese Hyper Building Study Group formed after the country's economic collapse in 1994.
The plans detailed a building divided into distinct territories for residential, commercial, and even space development purposes. Today, it continues to spark debate online, with commentators humourously noting the absurdity of a fire drill on the 1,969th floor or the engineering nightmare of maintaining a safe environment.
The Tokyo Tower of Babel stands as a powerful testament to human ambition and a stark reminder of the immense gulf that can exist between visionary architecture and practical reality.
