Image 4 of 9 from Two-mile high termite nest proposed to counter the population challenge

May 5, 2008 Forward-thinking architects are looking upwards in an effort to control a global population that is growing by around 2.2 per cent every year and becoming ever more concentrated in crowded cities. Eugene Tsui is taking nature as the inspiration for his 2-mile high, one-mile wide Ultima Tower, capable of housing up to a million people. Designed to be virtually impervious to wind, water and earthquakes, the massive tower is conceived less as an architecture project but as a series of mini-ecosystems within which other architectural projects can be developed. And it offers some ingenious ideas on energy production, water use and intra-colony transport. At US$150 billion a pop, you wouldn't expect to see the Ultima being built any time soon, but as population pressure increases, it's pioneering ideas like these that will form the inspiration for real-world solutions.