2020 in NYC

A site called DeZeen has published the latest imaging of planned projects in Manhattan - WOW!  HOWEVER...there are these issues for EVERY one of us on the topic:

Architecture has shown a thing here in scope and financial goals - but these tall buildings are a huge sign - truly a message :  they talk about the soaring spirit of mankind and SOMETHING ELSE...something BIG:

The earth's crust is just that - a crust - and pilings sent beyond and much further down into the top layer have already made skyscrapers immune to techtonic upsets- even winning over Japan's frequent earthquake issues.

Please LOOK AGAIN - the skycrapers poking nicely upward should be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak - with twice the constructions BELOW ground to support and strengthen the earth below, and to lighten our "green footprint" with much much more underground construction - yay hobbits! Perhaps Tolkien called them "Smials" for a reason - smile.

Visualizations of planned and existing structures in Lower Manhattan per DeZeen - innovations site.

But there is MORE here - the genius salvation happens , if these planned constructions include the modern deep-sunk pilings and underground work: THINK about the concept of shoring up the earth AS  we build EVERYWHERE on our earth in general - with techtonic plate SUPPORTS and underground superglue so that our coasts and fragile inland areas no longer need to be in imminent danger of falling off into the abyss.  And they can - geologists predict it and once it begins, it can take out 8 miles inward on the entire coastline, north to south, along the shores...and much more - our vision is kindergarten...we see land and land's end....it's MUCH more than that.  Google it.

"While I'm up" - we DO need the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange to be restored with rooftop and wall gardens the rule, not the exception, and MOST parking lots can easily be sent underground as well, with gardens and parks in their place, above ground,  for beauty and even more, for our health and survival.

The reflective concept of the buildings can be a life and vision problem, too - are they addressing this issue?   Living / working daily on the higher floors means getting used to more than the wobble of the earth as always happens  Can we thrive in buildings that sway in the breezes at that height - the twin towers would wave 30 feet and more, back and forth....WHILE the window-washers did their job.  Robotic washing WOULD be bright, in any event.

But FINALLY and most of all:  BEFORE the Freedom Tower was built, these showoff architects I love needed to build the pods - elevator-like constructions that insert between inner and outer walls of these buildings - they ARE able to be done. They ARE able to accommodate the occupants on each floor, no matter how high up- and able to eject from the building  and safely usher them to ground - in under ten minutes.  Buildings may fail , but why should that mean death for the occupants?   My FATHER and AERO-TECH pals had the drawings done and promised that ,by the time I grew up, they would be a reality, but only the jet pilot ejection seats got done back then - the rest was considered "ahead of itself" and suppressed.
AND SO...as a direct result - planes and tall buildings can be deathtraps as terrorist targets, no matter how sound the construction -  and people died on Nineleven 2001 who did NOT need to die.  

These pods are, in concept, so easy that they can be installed in most buildings , old and new. But so far, if you ask MIT , they can't be bothered - they are designing neat new video games.

DITTO the detatchable passenger cabins for planes that safely eject and touchdown passengers on land or sea with first aid, food and GPS to bring help quickly.    THINK and get those petitions going, or it won't get done -  and we can go on being unforgivably blind to the totally unnecessary loss of life.

There are several ways to empower them for action and all perfectly do-able today....in fact, they were on the table when the first pilot ejection seats were done up 50 years ago. Back then, technology was primitive and expensive -too expensive - for practical application - but nottanymore. MAKE THEM DO IT.

Freedom Tower is a limp-wristed memorial to those who died and those who grieve for them - a better one would be the good escape technology for buildings and planes, so that we can We remember - NEVER AGAIN!