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The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest man-made structure in the world, but it would be dwarfed by the Tokyo Tower of Babel, which was proposed 30 years ago
What the Tokyo Tower of Babel may have looked like (AI mock-up) (Image: Midjourney)
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, standing at a staggering 828 metres, holds the title for the world's tallest man-made structure. However, this pales in comparison to an ultra-skyscraper proposed for Tokyo, Japan, 34 years ago.
In truth, the nearly forgotten Tokyo Tower of Babel was never more than a concept, but it was envisioned to surpass Mount Everest in height and potentially house up to 30 million residents.
The proposed tower would have stood at 10,000 metres (1,150 metres taller than Everest), with the audacious proposal put forward by Professor Toshio Ojima of Waseda University. This dwarfs another ambitious yet unrealised project in Tokyo that aimed to accommodate a "measley" 1 million inhabitants.
The tallest building ever imagined (AI mock-up) (Image: Midjourney)
With approximately 1,969 floors, the world's tallest skyscraper, planned to be erected by the Yamanote Line, would have had a conical shape, with a broad base spanning 110km that tapered as it ascended towards the sky.
Despite never being constructed, the Tokyo Tower of Babel has remained a subject of study and research over the years, including by the Japanese Hyper Building Study Group, which was established following the economic crash in 1994.
However, the estimated cost to build a 33,000-foot-tall structure with a steel column weighing 10 billion tons - dwarfing any existing building - would be a staggering £23 trillion, according to a report in Malevus.
The professor and architect revealed his plans, which were estimated to take between 100 to 150 years to complete, at the Brazil Earth Summit in 1992.
It was going to be divided up into different sections (Image: Luxygen Tech 2.0/Youtube)
Unsurprisingly, he drew inspiration from the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis, where everyone spoke the same language and began constructing a city that would reach the heavens.
The prohibitive cost was one of the main reasons why the tower never materialised, particularly as it would require relocating people and businesses in the area to free up the necessary space.
Another issue is that the building's extreme height would severely limit airspace.
The proposed Tokyo Tower of Babel (centre) beside other proposed projects including the X-Seed 400 (left) and Ultima Tower (right) (Image: Midjourney)
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Additional concerns include the risk of catastrophic events such as earthquakes, to which Tokyo is susceptible, potentially leading to the loss of millions of lives.
Moreover, the upper floors would be uninhabitable due to outside temperatures dropping as low as -55C at times.
Nonetheless, the plans for the skyscraper included dividing it into various zones, encompassing residential and commercial areas, and even a 'space territory' where a space development centre was proposed.
The building was designed to have different 'territories' (Image: Luxygen Tech 2.0/Youtube)
Although it's unlikely to ever be built, the Tokyo Tower of Babel continues to spark debate to this day.
In one Reddit thread, a user observed: "The amount of money to keep the air pressure breathable, food being able to be cooked properly, all 'stupid safe' so no one ends up depressurizing the upper floors and killing off people from hypoxia is just laughably stupid."
Another quipped: "Imagine being on the top floor and there's a fire drill."
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