World's longest skyscraper 'The Big Bend' could transform New York's skyline

New York's famous skyline could be transformed by a radical looping, world's longest skyscraper, called The Big Bend. The conceptual bendy building, which juts out of the ground like a giant paperclip, has an arch at the top for an up-over-and-down continuous design and Willy Wonka-esque elevators that travel sideways.

As a result of its shape, the Big Bend would be the longest skyscraper in the world at 4,000ft (1219m) long – almost twice as long as the Burj Khalifa if it was placed on its side. The radical design, which at this time is only a vision, does more than just look impressive.

Architects Oiio Studio are the brains behind the idea who came up with the solution for combatting New York City's zoning laws, which charge developers on a per-foot basis. Oiio's founder, Ioannis Oikonomou, saw a way around this by building thin and long, rather than up and up.

"It seems that a property's height operates as a license for it to be expensive. New York city's zoning laws have created a peculiar set of tricks trough which developers try to maximize their property's height in order to infuse it with the prestige of a high rise structure. But what if we substituted height with length? What if our buildings were long instead of tall?" he said.

The artistic renderings of the Big Bend place the staggering skyscraper on Manhattan's West 57 street, otherwise known as Billionaire's Row that is home to other lofty structures such as Central Park Tower, which will be New York's tallest residential tower at 472m when it's completed in 2019. The designs of the glass-lined Big Bend does not specify whether the tower is aimed toward commercial or residential use, or both, but the penthouse would certainly be one of the most-sought after in the city.

Despite Oiio claiming to trade height for length, the conceptual images show the Big Bend dwarfing all neighbouring buildings in New York, and at its highest point would still be one of the world's tallest structures.

The question you're all probably asking is how does one get to and live in the arched section at its apex? According to Oiio's concept, it includes plans of sidewards-moving elevators that use track-changing systems connecting two horizontal shafts to operate in continuous loops. How liveable those sections will be would only become apparent if plans ever came to fruition.

While the design of the Big Bend is impressive, as well as its ability to bend zoning laws, there's no plans as of yet to see the structure to be built. It may, however, give developers for future skyscrapers food for thought, which may see the rise of loopy buildings before we know it.