Conceptual architecture can be a lot of things from realistic to a novel skyscraper or something that can be extremely unreal and imaginary but serves well in a science fiction movie. We have seen a lot of strange boundary-pushing architecture concepts in 2017. This selection of concepts from the past year includes a variety of insane proposals that obviously will never be actually constructed but there is value in their concept and idea.
Good conceptual architecture asks questions about where we are heading as a society and what kinds of design principles we should be exploring.
From an imaginative yet realizable skyscraper that hangs over the Earth’s surface from an artificial orbiting asteroid to a bizarre bending tower that resembles a giant paper clip, it has been a fascinating year for conceptual architecture.
A continuing trend throughout 2017 has been green plant covered buildings and high timber towers. Stefano Boeri’s iconic plant-covered verticle forest towers continued to impress this year with several new concepts proposed, and what seemed like an out-there dream a few years ago started becoming reality in several parts of the world. The Italian architect’s Forest City design for Liuzhou in China got underway and is set to be completed by 2020.
A spectacular 712 ft high timber structure proposed for New York City is unlikely to be built, work actually started on an excited staircase/art installation called Vessel from Heatherwick Studio. This was one we never thought would actually see the light of the day but you never truly know whether these crazy concepts will get over the line.
Paris-based firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures again delivered a series of stunning futuristic concepts in 2017. The Nautilus Eco-Resort especially stood out from the rest with its unique perspective on sustainable architecture that envisioned rotating building arranged into a shape inspired by the Fibonacci sequence.
Have a look at all these mind-bending architectural concepts of 2017 including an inspired shipping container house, 
A giant simulation of a city on Mars proposed for the desert outside Dubai,
And a skyscraper inside a mammoth tree.
