Google’s new ‘landscraper’ will be as long as a super-tall skyscraper is high — and it could be the next big building trend
Futurists say climate change-driven weather events like hurricanes are becoming more frequent and aggressive, making it increasingly risky to build high-rises
By Leanna Garfield
When complete, Google’s new London headquarters will measure longer than the Shard — the tallest skyscraper in the United Kingdom — is tall. The Shard measures 1,016 feet tall. Google’s London headquarters is similar in size, but flipped on its side at 1,082 feet long.
The building’s architects — Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios — call it a “landscraper,” meaning it gains most of its size by stretching horizontally rather than vertically.
Google’s landscraper will be one of the first of its kind in the world. But futurist Amy Webb expects landscrapers to become more mainstream over the next 20 years in the United States.
“Landscrapers will create entirely new city footprints that we just haven’t seen yet in the US, and could make life easier and more realistic,” said Webb, who identifies socioeconomic, geopolitical, and business trends based on quantitative data.
Here’s what we can expect from the landscrapers of the future.