Shimizu Mega-City
1
Pyramid
Randall Kesselring
David Slivka
ISEN 689-602: Systems Thinking and Analysis
Problem Situation
• Tokyo, Japan is the world’s most populous metropolitan
area with an estimated 35 million residents in the
Greater Tokyo Area. In short, this city is overcrowded
and land-locked with no available land for expansion.
In addition to relieving the stress of overpopulation, the
city needs means of alleviating the need for dependency
on fossil fuels and nuclear power by incorporating the
latest in eco-friendly energy generating technology. It is
essential to design a system with will help alleviate the
overpopulation issue, one which is self-sustaining
through its use of eco-friendly means of energy
production.
Tokyo
Sample subway maps
NYC
Customer Requirements
• Shall provide housing for ¾ million people
• Must incorporate state of the art office buildings,
residential, and other commercial facilities.
• Will provide all the comforts/services of a typical city
• Shall be nearly self-sustaining for its energy needs
• Must seamlessly be linked to the greater Tokyo area
through public mass transit systems
Use Case Diagram
ENVIRONMENT
TRUSSES
PIERS
NODES
GREATER TOKYO
RESIDENTS
BUILDINGS
POWER
TRANSIT
COMMUTERS
Predecessor Systems
• Great Pyramids
• Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Derived Requirements
• Open structured pyramid
• Specialized concrete
• Nano-carbon tubing
• Eco-friendly energy sources
– Photovoltaic film
– Harness ocean currents
– Algae powered fuel cells
Concept Exploration
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self Supporting structure
36 large supporting piers
“Dangling” skyscrapers
Mass transit support system
Energy requirements
Cause for concern
Questions?
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimizu_Mega-City_Pyramid and
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/engineering/pyramidcity/interactive/interactive.html