A team of Mexican architects believe they have found the solution to the capital city of Mexico’s overcrowding problem, and the answer lies underground. The architects have designed a 65-story “Earthscraper” made up of steel and glass that they hope to construct beneath Mexico City’s historic plaza.
The 300-meter deep inverted pyramid-style structure would serve as an office, retail, and living space costing an estimated $800 million to build. The first 10 floors of the pyramid are designed to house a museum dedicated to the city’s history and artifacts.
Esteban Suarez, co-founder of BNKR Arquitectura, the firm behind the proposals, said he felt that the team’s design would be “a practical way of conserving the built environment while creating much-needed new space for commerce and living.”
Although Suarez’s design is innovative, constructing an underground world comes along with its own set of problems. The flow of natural air and light reaching the lower floors of the pyramid will be a potential challenge, according to Suarez.
Creating an aesthetically pleasing environment and improving air quality in a subterranean habitat are additional factors that Suarez and his team have taken into account. The team has designed “earth lobbies” that would store trees and other plants help alleviate these problems.
The top of the pyramid will be covered with glass in order to conserve the activities that take place throughout the year on top of the plaza. Suarez and his team hope that the glass covering will allow the life and culture above ground to integrate with the subterranean happenings.
Suarez’s ground-breaking design still requires a lot of work and the approval from proper authorities before any construction can commence.