Eco Factor: Sustainable architecture designed to have minimal impact on the environment. Designed by Coolie Calihan and Charles Johnson, the Cidade Suspensa (Suspended City in Brazilian Portuguese), aims to refine urban architecture and bring it in harmony with nature and the environment. The site of this proposal is located on the dense urban waterfront of Rio de Janeiro and is to be completed in time for the 2016 Olympics. The structure uses a massive suspension system to lift an intricate and dense city-like infrastructure off the Earth’s surface. Two pylons anchored on the ground support a web of tendons and framework that reaches into the ocean. This unique levitation system minimizes the footprint of the structure on the ground

and expands opportunities for Rio’s future developments. The structural pylons support all of the mechanical and transportation systems as well as the “biomass generator.” These generators also take advantage of hydroponics, water recycling, waste composting, fish farming and other agricultural sciences. They create a sustainable food source that can be directly distributed to the city inhabitants, thereby saving energy and reducing transportation. The forms of the city are divided into three adjacent layers where voids are left from the structural web to create space for apartments, green spaces, markets and other urban environments to take shape. Via: eVolo Skyscraper Competition

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Suspended City aims to bring Rio de Janeiro in harmony with nature