Giant ring encircles Burj Khalifa 550 meters above ground

The architecture company Znera Space has created a beautiful concept that would completely change the view of the Dubai skyline.

The project is called Downtown Circle and is a 550-meter-tall ring, which will surround Burj Khalifa. The designers created this to innovate and bring a change to the traditional ideas of gated communities and skyscraper homes. It is designed in a way that is sustainable and self-sufficient.

The illustrations show the amazing design, which is hoped to surround all of Downtown Dubai with a circumference of three kilometers. It will be divided into smaller units, which will include homes, public, commercial and cultural spaces. The project has been drafted by Najmus Chowdry and Nils Remess who are the co-founders of Znera Space. They usually focus their energy on experimental architecture that discovers and addresses environmental issues and social boundaries.

Downtown Circle- Idea of a vertical city in Dubai

Downtown Circle was created by the two of them during the pandemic, which generated the idea of how we should live differently in cities. “We wanted to analyze how gated communities were made in a very horizontal built environment,” Chowdry says. “But you can’t have it here because of the urban fabric of Dubai. The most ideal way to practice and explore this concept was in Downtown itself.”

“The new idea was of a vertical city”, says Remess. “When Covid-19 hit, we thought a lot about suitability and how we can bring a change, how we can do urban planning. We looked at different things like food production, garbage disposal, pollution, and traffic problems. We put all the above things together and came up with the concept.” Downtown Circle consists of five levels and will sit on five points, or pillars, that are connected to the ground. The span of the circle would have two rings that are joined by a green belt that is named Skypark which connects the floors vertically with each other and creates a connected three-dimensional green eco-system.

“One of our targets was agriculture”, Remess points out. “Cities start with agriculture and then move forward with urbanization. Today, many cities are facing the problem of how to add more agriculture. This is what we needed to add- a self-sufficient city.”

Skypark will have floras, tropical vegetation, waterfalls, and swamps. The plan will also dedicate areas to rainwater harvesting, solar power, and a system of carbon and filtering pollutants from the air. There is also an idea for a tram in the outer perimeter ring which is shown in the concept and drawings, which were generated in collaboration with Pictown, that is a Poland-based visualizations studio. Twenty beautiful pods which will be going at 100 kilometers per hour would take the passengers around the Downtown Circle while providing 360-degree views of the city. While Chowdry and Remess have taken into consideration all aspects of urban living, from economic, social, and sustainable when making Downtown Circle, the discussion about what is possible in architecture excites them equally as much.

“Our role as architects is to come up with these ideas”, Chowdry quotes. “We need people to comment on it, criticize it, to see how we can think about building topographies.” “It also takes the discussion to what we can do better,” says Remess. “The way we build cities, the way we plan things. There can be negative viewpoints around this type of discussion but also solutions on how to change things for the better. “ In conclusion, the giant ring is the latest invention by Najmus Chowdry and Nils Remess. It will take the Dubai skyline to a whole new level. The project is called Downtown Circle and is a 550-meter-tall ring, which will surround Burj Khalifa.