When I submitted to a civil engineering school in Memphis my choices for seven future wonders of the world, I included the Frank Lloyd Wright Stratotower. It would be a building that is around 50 kilometers tall that would be constructed in Chicago where skyscrapers were born. It would be a vertical city of over a million residents and maybe the future home of the Cubs, Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls.
One thing that sets stratotowers apart from other tall buildings are the electromagnetic energy beams that are projected toward receivers located on the building at various levels. For the FLW, there would be four projectors that would emit at least four beams each toward the building. Each beam would be powerful enough to send a powered projectile the size of a 747 into orbit. Laser beams would have to accompany the projection beams to warn pilots not to fly close to the building since the beams could slice the crafts in half.
A tapered foundation section would plunge a few miles into the ground to reach geothermal sources of energy to power generators that would produce the electricity needed by the projection beams and the building's power grid. Enough power to supply a large city with electricity would be generated. The section might be 150 meters wide toward the surface and taper to 75 meters at the bottom.
In the foundation section would be the sports arenas, concert halls, exhibition centers, and theaters that would generate the revenues needed for the completion of the building. If the building costs over $10 billion a kilometer to construct, the need for tremendous revenue sources is evident. An Experiencable Program Unit System which would allow people to experience things via computer would allow millions of people to experience sporting events, concerts, and shows for less than what the attendees of the events pay. Those using EPUs could feel like they are actually at the places they are experiencing. A champion athletic team could generate enough in revenues via EPUs to pay for the completion of the building.
There would be four surface sections for the FLW. In the bottom section that is 150 meters wide at the base and tapered to 125 meters at the top 5 kilometers above the streets of Chicago would be factories and commercial areas mainly. There would be projection beam receivers at the top of that section and the other surface sections above it.
The next section up would taper to 100 meters where the receivers are which would be located 15 kilometers above the streets of Chicago. It would mainly have offices, stores, theaters, houses of worship, restaurants, radio and TV stations, banks, and other things that would attract customers and appeal to white collar workers.
The third section up would be tapered to 75 meters where the receivers are which would be located 25 kilometers above the streets of Chicago. There would mainly be places that appeal to people intellectually located there. Schools and museums would be located here along with other services people desire.
The top section would be tapered to 25 meters where the receivers are which would be located 50 kilometers above the streets of Chicago. At the very top would be satellite units for the transmission of radio and TV signals from the stations in the FLW and the receiving of signals from satellites. There would be a restaurant and observation area at the top where the only glass in the building might be located. Video cameras would allow people to see out of the building via video windows in the sections below the top of the building. This will help maintain the structural integrity of the stratotower.
The elevators would be self-propelled so that hundreds of them could be in one shaft at a time and to reduce the number of elevator shafts needed. The shafts would be either local shafts or express shafts. When the cars reach the bottom or top of a section they are servicing, they would be moved to another shaft and travel in the other direction. A local car might service 100 floors while an express car might service 1000 floors. With between 15 and 20,000 floors in the above-ground sections, over 1000 cars will be needed.
The top section would be the residential section where over a million prople could live and at times work. It would offer everything you would expect from a city like schools, stores, houses of worship, theaters, exercise centers, restaurants, a hospital, and other amenities. With the foundation section and lower sections below that section generating more revenues than what some small countries generate, the monthly maintenance costs for apartments could be very low. Even a five-floor penthouse apartment complex toward the top may sell for $5 million and have a monthly maintenance cost of $50,000.
To make living in the FLW more attractive, residential incentive packages will be offered like free use of the EPU arcades, free season passes to sporting events, free movie passes, and coupons for purchases at stores and shops.
Living and working in the Frank Lloyd Wright Stratotower could be wonderful. Being in one of the tallest buildings in the world will appeal to many. The view from the observation area will be spectacular. On a clear night, one might be able to see the lights of Canadian cities to the north and east of Michigan. It may even convince other cities and developers to build stratotowers. They may in the future be indicators of the economic strength of cities, states, and nations.
