This project imagines a skyscraper of tennis courts

Have you ever imagined what a bunch of tennis courts would look like stacked on top of each other? Italian architecture firm Carlo Ratti Associati has just released its concept designs for a unique skyscraper that’s ready to answer that question.

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The proposed “Playscraper,” also known as Tennis Tower, would consist of eight tennis courts on top of each other for a grand total of 5,500 square metres of playing space and 90 meters of height. It was developed by Carlo Ratti Associati with a team of engineers and technicians for RCS Sport.

A digital rendering of the playscraper from the ground up — The Playscraper consists of eight tennis courts stacked on top of each other so that the building can develop vertically rather than horizontally © Carlo Ratti Associati

The tennis courts of the Playscraper would be layered vertically to develop the building height-wise rather than width-wise thanks to “an innovative technology based on lightweight stainless-steel sandwich structure, developed by the company Broad Sustainable Building” as it reads in the project’s official description.

The shorter sides of each court would have transparent walls, offering panoramic views to anyone inside, while the two longer sides would feature electronic façades that would be able to broadcast the match happening inside of other digital content. “In this way, the tower’s unique design engages not just the players on the court, but those in the surrounding area [as well]”.

“[The project] experiments with a new type of public space,” says Carlo Ratti, the founder of Carlo Ratti Associati, in describing the project. “The tower is easy to install and dismantle and can be easily moved. This flexible approach fits the circular nature of today’s sports competitions, which move from location to location throughout the year”.

A detail of one of the floors of the playscraper — All sides of the tennis court "box" would serve a purpose— the short ones would be transparent for panoramic views, while the long ones would feature electronic display to stream the match happening inside © Carlo Ratti Associati

The Playscraper might be just an idea for now, but this is not the first time this architecture firm has worked with innovative technologies or unique materials. You can check out more about their work on their official website here.