AKiCiF: Building a quickie skyscraper.

[jeriendhal]

So is there any way to build a skyscraper fast without using concrete in its structure?

I'm thinking the Groupmind is going to want to build its Earthside Rest & Rec cities quickly to contain the populace, because tent cities aren't a particularly elegant solution. But the big concrete slabs in a modern building take time to cure I'm guessing, which would slow things down.

Comments

[seawasp]

You're postulating technology way beyond ours; I think making a concrete-like material that has nanostructure to allow it to set REALLY fast is not at all beyond reason.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Point. I'll just assume it has a micro-honeycomb to allow coolant fluid through the structure as it cures.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

Carbon nanotubes.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

Steel-frame buildings don't need concrete. Concrete is great under compression, but thick steel columns still work. Concrete makes a good thermal barrier to protect steel columns during fires, but there are other protective materials such as glass fibre or clay tile. Concrete makes a nice level sound-resistant floor over steel framing materials, but a steel floor with clay tiles also works.

Of course, whether you use steel or concrete, there's a need for infrastructure to make the materials. If you are starting with no steel mills or cement kilns, and have a lot of morphs, the fastest solution might be stone.

A city filled with dense five-story stone buildings (like central Paris) can have as high a population density as a city with widely-spaced residential towers (like the banlieus of Paris).

Morphs could walk across a field, and perform a 3D scan on all the stones they see as they pick them up. The Groupmind would determine the optimum configuration, and the morphs would slot them together without mortar to make a structually-sound drystone house. Thick stone walls would support arched stone ceilings. For the few areas where naturally-occuring loose stone would not be suitable (keystones of arches, stair risers, drains), morphs would cut or grind stone to fit.

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/11/tiles-vaults.html

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, I like that idea. Familiar and bizarre at the same time.