At the ride-hailing company’s second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles, six architecture firms presented their winning designs of what these so-called “Skyports” could look like. The “Sky Tower” by Pickard Chilton and Arup wouldn’t look out of place among the Star Destroyers and Dreadnoughts of the Galactic Empire (or the First Order, depending on your trilogy). The beehive-esque “Uber Hover” concept by Humphreys & Partners could easily pass for an Ewok village on Endor. BOKA Powell’s “Skyport Prototype” looks like it’s ready to take flight and begin doing battle with a swarm of TIE Fighters.
As part of Uber’s design competition, the proposed Skyports needed to support transport of more than 4,000 passengers per hour within a three-acre footprint, as well as meet noise and environmental requirements. They also needed to ensure that electric-powered aircraft were able to recharge between trips with minimal impact to nearby communities. There were no requirements about droid recharging, however.
Read more about the designs here (Andrew J. Hawkins, “These Uber Air ‘Skyport’ concepts look straight out of Star Wars”, The Verge, 09.05.2018)
