Sky City Fantasies

illustration: Paolo Soleri

Sketch for a new World Trade Center

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More About

• David Byrne
• Eugene Tsui
• Steven Johnson
• Jane Jacobs
• Henry George

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Just don't look for that anchor in Times Square. Though Western architects have led the vanguard in sky cities for more than a hundred years, the consensus is that such skyscraper dreams will be realized in Asia, where architects and engineers say crowding, cultural acceptance, and government backing may in this century drive humanity's most ambitious construction. Then again, maybe Tsui will get his Ultima Tower in New York Harbor despite the misgivings of Gothamites today.

As Clarke, a transplant from Britain to Sri Lanka, says, "There is no such thing as human nature. It's infinitely flexible!"