The Big Bend

Instead of taller, what if our buildings were longer? An architectural response to this ambitious question is a proposal for a new residential tower that instead of rising towards the sky, bends over itself to produce a massive yet inhabitable arch.

Dubbed as “The Big Bend,” this ambitious feat will be set on the “Billionaire’s Row” along Central Park’s southern border – a high-end location known for its many luxurious skyscrapers. The project was designed by Greek architect Ioannis Oikonomou, in hopes of pioneering a unique skyscraper design that strays away from the conventional taller and taller skyscrapers commonly built by Manhattan developers.

Resembling the first drop of a rollercoaster, the skinny and super-tall skyscraper graciously bends in half on its highest point. This U-shaped tower is set to be “the world’s longest building” spanning at an estimated length of 4,000 feet end-to-end and a notable height around 200 feet taller than the One World Trade Center – the latter being the largest tower in New York City.

Aside from its phenomenal form, the project also seeks to utilize the world’s latest elevator technologies, an example being the MULTI system by Thyssen Krupp, allowing elevators to independently travel both horizontally and vertically by wrapping the building into looping shafts.

Today, however, The Big Bend remains to be a hopeful proposal, with the architectural studio still in the process of seeking investments from a few developers. However, in a world where developers favor higher returns on investment, a huge skyscraper that won’t take up much space because of its uniquely bent form could accommodate more people – resulting in more payments for rent and mortgages.

The recent trend of people buying condominium units without actually using them as primary residences has made huge cities like New York a macro hotel. With projects such as The Big Bend slowly introducing itself to the city, it can maximize profit for investors, even if the majority of its apartments are not as frequently occupied.