Musk made the claim in response to a post on the social media platform X, which he owns, by news platform Daily Loud that contained a rendering of a the tunnel with the headline: “Proposed $20 Trillion tunnel would get you from New York to London in 54 minutes.”
In response Musk said: “The @boringcompany could do it for 1000X less money.”
Elon Musk claimed he could create the transatlantic tunnel for around $20 billion
This estimation would put the price of the transatlantic tunnel at around $20 billion (£15.7 billion).
Daily Loud was referencing a figure that has recently appeared in multiple news outlets including Newsweek and CNN, although no scientific or engineering source was cited.
Tunnel would be world’s longest by over 3,000 miles
According to Forbes, in the early 2000s American researchers at MIT Ernst Frankel and Frank Davidson proposed a maglev vacuum train line that would cross the 3,500-mile distance between the metropolises and allow for speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour.
If built, the 3,500-mile transatlantic tunnel would be the longest in the world by a huge distance. The current tunnel with the longest underwater section is the 31-mile-long Channel Tunnel, which connects the UK and France.
Opened in 1994, the Channel Tunnel cost £9 billion ($11.4 billion) to build, which would be around 18.5 billion ($23.4 billion) today.
Musk first announced his intention to develop “supersonic” lines, called hyperloops, in 2013, proposing a line between the California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco that would carry small carriages at 700 miles per hour.
Since then, a number of other firms have tried to execute the plan to carry people in vacuum-sealed tubes.
In 2020, transportation company Virgin Hyperloop, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, travelled 500 meters in a BIG-designed pod and reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.
Numerous nations developing hyperloops
So far, the longest hyperloop journey carried out was earlier this year in Switzerland, where a team of scientists were able to run a pod for 11.8 kilometres with a top speed of 25 miles per hour.
A number of nations have also speculated on installing the technology – both India and Mexico have put forward proposals to connect major metropolitan centres with the technology.
Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016 to carry out some of these infrastructure projects, and in 2022 announced a proposal to build a tunnel for Teslas to drive underground and bypass traffic in Miami. This, and other similar projects proposed for Los Angeles and New York, have not moved forward.
A Wall Street Journal report claimed that Musk and The Boring Company had “backed out” on multiple cities to whom Musk’s company sent proposals.
In 2022, the New York Times cast doubt on the viability of these projects going forward. The main problems continue to be funding and questions of integration into the existing infrastructure systems.
“Some industry observers believe that regulatory, financial and political hurdles may doom hyperloop as a viable high-speed alternative to air travel,” said the New York Times.
From an art gallery in a converted grain silo to a brick workshop in Vietnam, Dezeen’s editorial team have each picked their favourite building of 2024, out of more than 1,000 we have published throughout the year.
“At a glance, you might mistake this wood-lined courtyard for part of a luxury Scandinavian home, but it actually belongs to Kinderspital, a hospital for kids in Zurich.
“The project embodies the need to bring nature into the built environment that we so often hear about but is so rarely put into practice in healthcare – at least here in the UK, where medical infrastructure is plagued by sterile white-walled spaces.
“You can be sure the building not only aids the healing process for children but also comforts worried parents and fatigued staff. It’s an unexpected triumph for a studio best known for its cultural landmarks.”
“No two galleries are the same within this converted 1930s grain silo in southern Norway, renovated to house the world’s largest private collection of modern art from the Nordic region.
“Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partida preserved the building’s bright white functionalist facade, which gives away nothing from the outside, making the ‘basilica-like’ central atrium a striking revelation.
“Imagining myself standing in the interior as a tiny person gawping at this 21-metre-high circulation core, I’m transported to the inside of an otherworldly spaceship or maybe a jumbo cheese grater. My references aren’t strictly architectural, but the project sparks a distinctive feeling – and that’s what I like to get from a building.”
“With mass timber‘s rising popularity, Texas-based studio Moon Tower Design Build gestured even further, constructing what it calls a ‘plant-based’ house in Austin.
“Relatively simple in form, the structure has a cork exterior and mass-timber structural elements, with many different types of wood used for the interiors, mostly left unfinished to highlight the processes and nature of the materials as well as the almost-ubiquitous use of wood.”
“‘Form follows function’ is a phrase often thrown around in architecture, and it’s perfectly embodied in Dutch studio Krft‘s design for the Brighton College performing arts centre, where the facade bulges out to accommodate stepped theatre seating.
“The studio made bold moves with the massive brutalist form, but the scale is somehow softened by the grey brick and flint cladding, which creates a subtle stepped pattern under the swooping curves and ties to the adjacent neogothic flint building.”
“Mallorca has emerged as an unlikely hotspot for quality social housing in recent years, and this development of 42 apartments by Barcelona studio Peris+Toral Arquitectes is among the best examples I’ve seen to date.
“It is respectful of its surroundings, gentle in its density and sparing in its use of concrete, as well as generous in layout and use of material finishes inside the flats. I expect it will be a place where people enjoy living for a very long time.”
“More than any other venue, the Grand Palais came to represent this year’s Paris Olympics with is vast green-steel-and-glass structure forming a dramatic backdrop for the fencing and taekwondo events.
“The 19th-century landmark structure between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine was restored by French studio Chatillon Architectes ahead of the games.
“It’s not only the restoration of a significant landmark, but also demonstrates the Olympics’ increased focus on reuse – with just one new permanent venue built for this games.”
“Like Jesus, Junya Ishigami‘s Zaishui Art Museum allows visitors to walk on water – in this case, an artificial lake in China’s Shandong Province.
“Small gaps in the facade allow water to wash over the museum’s floor, setting a dramatic new example for how buildings in China – and the rest of the world – can actually bring people closer to nature rather than keeping them sequestered.”
“Following a recent increase in development in Detroit, The Shepherd arts centre is part of the wider Little Village project, which encompasses a host of creative spaces.
“While impact on the city from these recent projects remains to be seen, Peterson Rich Office thoughtfully restored and converted this early-1900s church into a gallery space. I imagine it lends itself well to a host of events, or a peaceful Sunday at its library.”
“The Czech Republic has been the site of a significant number of interesting architecture projects in recent years, many of them adaptive reuse ones that transform existing buildings.
“The best one this year was architecture studio KWK Promes‘ metamorphosis of a former slaughterhouse in Ostrava. The studio turned the heritage-protected 19th-century brick building into an art gallery, adding rotating white concrete walls that let it open up to its surroundings.”
“The visually striking form is topped with a glass-lined library and a semi-open viewing deck. I can imagine myself just sitting there all day staring space into the sea. It’s exactly what the public in China need to slow down and relax.”
“Encompassing a visitor centre and brick kiln, the Terra Cotta Workshop in Vietnam by Tropical Space was designed to accompany the site’s existing Terra Cotta Studio, which was designed by the studio for artist Le Huc Da in 2016.
“Drawing me to the project’s simple yet charming design is the use of perforated brick walls, which provide shade and ventilation on the interior, as well as its open shelving, which encloses the workshops and doubles as a display space for the pottery.”
Named Porcelain Factory Plug-in Revival, the project is located alongside the Imperial Kiln Ruins and Imperial Kiln Museum in a historical part of the city dubbed the porcelain capital of the world.
Beijing-based People’s Architecture Office‘s (PAO) design opens up the previously private site to expand the area’s offering for both locals and tourists.
People’s Architecture Office has transformed an old porcelain factory in Jingdezhen
Using a strategy that the studio calls “plug-in architecture”, the site’s traditional brick and timber structures have been extended and interlinked with contemporary elements in glass and blue and orange steel.
“By using plug-in architecture, the design addresses contemporary needs within a heritage context, adding functional spaces that support modern artistic practices and community interaction,” PAO principal James Shen told Dezeen.
“This approach enables modern interventions to coexist with traditional elements, creating a space that harmonies old and new as a form of urban regeneration,” he added.
The studio connected the old structures with modern elements
At the centre of the site next to a large brick chimney, PAO has encased the factory’s tallest structure in a glazed shell.
This aims to better connect its internal exhibition spaces and cafe to a surrounding public square, created by uniting two previously isolated courtyards.
This central form is topped by an oversized roof described by Shen as the project’s “contemporary focal point”. It is finished with clay tiles on the exterior and faceted, slatted wood ceilings above the internal spaces.
“The three-story glass building, a key intervention, anchors the public square and introduces openness and transparency, visually harmonising with the surrounding traditional architecture,” he explained.
The central structure is encased in a glazed shell
“The balance between modern and traditional is emphasised by the roof’s ‘floating’ quality over the transparent enclosure, creating a memorable architectural feature that elegantly bridges the distinction between the past and the present,” Shen added.
Around this central structure are the restored porcelain workshops, of which the existing brick and timber structures have been restored and extended by PAO with a series of prefabricated cuboid modules, staircases and walkways.
PAO chose colourful finishes for the new steel elements
Each metal-clad module has allowed the insertion of modern facilities into the old buildings, including a kitchen, bathrooms, meeting spaces and sleeping areas, while minimising disruption to their existing fabric.
Dezeen has partnered with Kia Design Team to launch a video series highlighting contemporary South Korean architecture, beginning with the Sayuwon arboretum and architecture park.
In the first video reel in the series, Dezeen showcases the Sayuwon Arboretum alongside Kia’s EV9 car model.
Dezeen video profiles vast South Korean arboretum
Sayuwon is a 700,000 square-kilometre park located in a mountainous region outside the city of Daegu, South Korea.
Originally conceived as a preservation project for quince trees in 2004, Sayuwon has since grown into a sprawling complex of landscaped gardens, hiking routes, buildings and artworks.
The park includes structures designed by international architects
The park includes various buildings, including a monolithic concrete art pavilion created by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza in collaboration with Carlos Castanheira Architects.
The pavilion comprises two large forked volumes, built partly underground from rough board-formed concrete. As visitors walk through the space, they encounter square openings in the walls and ceilings which provide glimpses of the sky and surrounding landscape.
The structure was built to be used as an exhibition space for sculptures designed by Siza, who also created an intimate chapel and a looming concrete observation tower for the park.
The EV9 is a high performance electric vehicle
Dezeen’s collaborative video series with Kia situates the Kia Design Team’s electric car models alongside examples of contemporary South Korean architecture.
For the first reel in the series, Dezeen filmed Kia’s EV9 alongside the buildings at Sayuwon.
The Kia EV9 is a fully electric SUV with a polygonal form and partially faceted edges. The vehicle comes in six or seven-seat configurations.
The EV9 is a fully electric SUV with a polygonal form
Kia aimed to create a sleek, sculptural exterior for the car, with fold-away door handles and flat vertical headlights, as well as Kia’s “digital tiger face” design for the front of the vehicle.
According to Kia, the car is designed to be compatible with a variety of environments, from dense urban areas to long-distance travel.
Partnership content
This video series was produced by Dezeen in partnership with Kia. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
An oversized, bamboo-clad roof connects the spaces at the Bamboo Gate community centre in the Mabi Reconstruction Disaster Prevention Park, Japan, designed by architecture studio Kengo Kuma and Associates.
Designed to frame views of the surroundings, the building has two volumes separated by an opening to give it a form resembling a gateway.
Bamboo Gate was made from bamboo sourced locally in Mabi
Named Bamboo Gate, the community centre is located in the town of Mabi in Okayama Prefecture, which was damaged by flooding in 2018.
The building and surrounding Mabi Reconstruction Disaster Prevention Park were designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates to provide a disaster-resilient public space for the town.
Its swooping roof connects two sides of the building and forms an opening in the centre
One side of the building, which is clad almost entirely in bamboo contains an emergency storage warehouse.
The sculptural roof curves out from this storage warehouse to form a column at the centre of the community centre, which has glass walls and will be used as an events space.
The roof overhangs both volumes to shade the outdoor space around the building.
“The large bamboo eaves that extend out into the surroundings are opened as a breezeway to protect people from the rain and sunlight,” said Kengo Kuma and Associates.
The building has a curving shape
A paved path forms an axis through the opening in Bamboo Gate, designed to connect the river, city and surrounding mountains.
“A large hole through the centre of the Bamboo Gate is made of bamboo, a local speciality of Mabi,” said Kengo Kuma and Associates.
“This opening receives the axis from the city and the river, and through this opening, the bustle of the city and the beautiful nature of the Oda River and mountains are connected.”
Bamboo Gate is located in the Mabi Disaster Prevention Park
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma founded his eponymous studio in 1990. Today, it has offices in Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul.
Promotion: kitchen and furniture brand Eba has opened its first London showroom, exhibiting its own kitchen and living room designs alongside furniture from other boutique brands.
Situated in Marylebone, on a street featuring other distinguished design brands, Eba‘s new showroom serves as a destination for those seeking refined, bespoke interiors, said the brand.
Eba has opened a showroom in Marylebone
“Marylebone’s blend of historical charm and modern sophistication makes it an ideal location for eba’s new showroom,” the brand said.
“This vibrant neighbourhood reflects the brand’s ethos: timeless design enhanced by contemporary living.”
It is the company’s fourth showroom around the world as it looks to extend its geographical footprint, adding to its presence in Paris, Auch (in south west France), and Mexico City.
The showroom exhibits exclusive kitchen designs and luxury furniture
Spread across two floors, the 215-square-metre London showroom features kitchens and living room furniture designed to “blend aesthetic beauty with everyday practicality”.
This includes Santos’ crafted kitchens, designed in collaboration with its Spanish parent company Santos, to create spaces ideal for modern living.
The furniture is defined by sleek lines, ergonomic layouts, and craftsmanship
Defined by sleek lines, ergonomic layouts, and precision craftsmanship, the kitchen designs are intended to balance beauty and functionality.
Also featured in the space is a collection of luxury living room furniture by Eba, alongside iconic pieces by other design brands including House of Finn Juhl, PP Møbler, and Fredericia.
Reflecting its aim to serve clients seeking “sophisticated, beautifully crafted interiors”, the showroom is finished with natural and minimalist interiors consisting of neutral tones.
Pieces from luxury design brands are exhibited throughout the space
The showroom opens up to a functional kitchen space, which features handless unit fronts in cashmere and worktops in Mont Blanc Quartzite, alongside a dining table in solid oak.
It also features a retractable sliding door unit and plinth drawers.
The kitchen area is in the basement level of Eba’s London showroom
The ground floor living area appears as a refined and contemporary space, accentuated by seating by House of Finn Juhl, lamps from Flos, and a bookshelf, alongside a stone and wood table by Eba.
A kitchen and dining area complete with walnut furniture is hosted on the showroom’s basement level.
A Cherry Wood desk by Eba is on show in the library area
Also on show in the library area of Eba’s Marylebone showroom is a cherry wood desk paired with a PP Møbler chair.
Beside this space is a dining room intended to convey a modern elegant aesthetic, where lie a wooden table and chairs under hanging lights from Moooi.
Eba’s parent company Santos was founded in 1952
Eba was established by the designer behind Santos, a boutique kitchen and furniture manufacturer based in Spain which goes back to 1952 when it was founded.
To celebrate its opening in November, Eba hosted an exclusive reception, where guests were offered a first look at the brand’s furniture, alongside the creative team.
For more information, visit the brand’s website here.
The photography is by Verónica Rodríguez for Eba.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen as part of a partnership with Eba. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
A sponge made from a fusion of cotton fibre and squid bone could help to clear some of the world’s microplastic pollution after a team of Chinese researchers found it can soak up as much as 99.8 per cent of the particles from water samples.
When deployed in water, the sponge was found to remove between 98 and 99.8 per cent of microplastics, and the researchers believe the material’s low cost and simple production could allow it to be scaled up for widespread use.
“Few practical technologies” for removal of microplastics
Cellulose and chitin are two very abundant molecules in nature and are already often used to help cleanse pollutants from wastewater.
The researchers’ innovation involved combining the two in a way that offers unprecedented efficacy at cleaning up microplastics – the tiny plastic particles that have pervaded the environment, posing a significant risk to ecosystems and human health.
“The planet is under great threat from microplastics,” the researchers wrote in their paper in the journal Science Advances. “And aquatic ecosystems are the first to suffer as they provide convenient places for microplastics, which can combine with other contaminants and be ingested by multiple levels of organisms.”
“Currently, there are few practical technologies for efficient and extensive removal of microplastics, especially for those smaller than 10 [micrometres].”
Although the cellulose and chitin are fused on a molecular level to make the “Ct-Cel biomass foam”, the production process was completed using readily available equipment.
The researchers say that this – combined with the low cost of the abundant materials and their non-toxic, biocompatible nature – means that the foam could avoid the problems that have hampered other solutions from gaining traction outside of the lab.
“These works generally involved complex fabrication procedures or expensive raw materials, and the investment might be unaffordable for large-scale remediation of microplastics,” they wrote.
Biomass sponge is made simply and cheaply
To make the biomass sponge, the researchers bonded the cellulose and chitin on a molecular level, forming a cross-linked fibrous network.
This involved first soaking chitin flakes in a solution of one per cent acetic acid and then blending the material with a high-speed homogeniser – a common tool in industrial food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics production.
The cotton, meanwhile, was stirred by a soy milk machine to obtain a cellulose solution before the two compounds were mixed together, poured into a mould and frozen.
The researchers tested their sponge in the lab and in four real-world settings – an agricultural irrigation site, lake water, still water and coastal water.
Not only did the sponge remove 98 to 99.8 per cent of microplastics during its initial use in these settings, but it was also found to remain effective when reused, removing around 95 per cent of microplastics after five uses.
The researchers observed that the sponge worked through several mechanisms, including physically intercepting microplastics, attracting them electrostatically and occasioning interactions between the chitin, cellulose and plastic molecules.
The researchers believe that, following further testing, the sponge could be used not just in seas and rivers but also to treat factory wastewater and as a filter in domestic washing machines and dishwashers, stopping microplastics from entering the natural world in the first place.
Researchers have found microplastics in the human brain, blood and digestive system, where they have been shown to damage cells and affect hormone activity. They also have consequences for other species and ecosystems.
We try to keep up with the South Korean Interior designer, aesthete, collector and entrepreneur
Josh Rubin, Evan Orensten
17 December 2024
Teo Yang speaks softly and humbly while parsing his mind for images and references of things past that inform his incredibly chic vision of the present and future. An interior designer by training, his creative energy keeps expanding; he runs his eponymous design studio alongside a furniture company, a fragrance company, a side hobby writing science fiction, and he also creates meaningful collaborations.
Though he could live anywhere, in choosing to renovate a 1917 hanook (traditional town house) in one of Seoul’s remaining bukchon neighborhoods he weaves the many influences in his life—art, books, furniture, collections of all kinds, old and new in a constantly evolving, always inspiring creative hub. One of the most special moments during our CH Korea trip was when Teo welcomed us into his home, sharing the things that he’s found, made, studied and honored.
Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.
Design Tangents is produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte, Hannah Viti, and Rachel Senator and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND atsurroundpodcasts.com.
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Since its completion, the Shard has been the tallest skyscraper in the UK and Western Europe. But, now a new skyscraper is set to be constructed of the same height. Designed by Eric Parry Architects and in collaboration with Aroland Holdings and Stanthope, and dubbed the 1 Undershaft, this supertall structure will feature a height of (1,015 ft). It will match the Shard’s official height, making it one of the tallest European skyscrapers outside of Russia.
The skyscraper will be located in London and will be equipped with a chunky design with greenery at different points. It will accommodate 154,000 sq m of floor space, spread over nearly 74 floors. Most of these floors will be office space. The building will also include the highest publicly accessible viewing gallery in Europe, as well as an education center for schoolchildren near the top. It will also contain a free-to-access garden area on the 11th floor, as well as some pleasant landscaping.
“Tall buildings can generate huge amounts of value in our cities,” said Eric Parry Architects. “1 Undershaft is a generous building with the aspirations to be a next-generation classic of its kind, both for the public and occupants. A strong and compelling civic quality is woven throughout the design, defining and setting it apart as the cluster’s totemic centerpiece. The building is modelled to provide a series of urban horizons; street level, elevated public garden, amenity floors, and the London Museum classrooms and viewing gallery at the apex of the building. Our redesign of the lower levels has improved both the public realm and engagement on three active frontages, making the base of the building more animated and attractive.”
The 1 Undershaft is still a concept currently, but it will be completed in the early 2030s. It truly is something to look forward to in the architectural realm, and will give some interesting company to the Shard!
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