In an alternate universe where architects Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu had their way with the land, the pair would pit the entirety of Central Park.

The thought is certainly jarring, but it turns out architecture magazine eVolo took a liking to their project, as the proposal was selected as the publication’s first place winner from over 480 submissions. The magazine’s annual competition started back in 2006, and was established to scout out ambitious, large-scale architectural projects that employ new ways of using technology and space.

Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu, New York Horizon. (2016).
Photo: Courtesy of the architects via eVolo Magazine.

Titled ‘New York Horizons,’ the project would reveal the geological formations beneath the park. Its colossal, 1,000-foot-tall glass perimeter would be used as a “hybrid multi-functional mega structure” for public and private projects. According to the architects, the structure would be designed in so that “every occupiable space has direct connection to the nature.”

While their aim is admirable, the apartments in the enclosure are likely anything but affordable.

Hadeel Ayed Mohammad, Yifeng Zhao, Chengda Zhu, The Hive. (2016).
Photo: Courtesy of the architects via eVolo.

According to eVolo, the pair edged out a bizarre (and frankly terrifying) drone skyscraper titled “The Hive” in New York City and a futuristic data tower on an unspecified arctic plot in Iceland. eVolo shared that their 21 honorable mentions count “skyscrapers that purify air, vertical cities, and sensory towers that explore our psychological relationship with space”—whatever that means.