Tokyo's mile-high skyscraper would have its own subway system and fit 55,000 people

The world has never seen a skyscraper pass the one-mile mark, but architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox has some ideas.

The current world-record holder is Burj Khalifa, the Dubai skyscraper that stands at an imposing 2,722 feet tall. Close on its heels is the Saudi Arabian skyscraper Jeddah Tower, which will soar 500 feet higher should it be completed. 

But neither of those are as tall as the "Sky Mile Tower" in Kohn Pedersen Fox's plan, Next Tokyo 2045, which would stretch more than 5,000 feet into the sky.

The firm has no actual construction plans just yet — it's more of an exercise in researching how such a build could be possible. But oh, how we wish it were real.

Next Tokyo 2045 really concerns more than just the skyscraper, even if that is the clear focal point, the architects explain.

The Sky Mile Tower would serve as a hub for more than 500,000 people living near Tokyo Bay — a low-elevation region currently at-risk for earthquakes, hurricanes, and flooding from rising sea levels.

Hexagonal barriers, each ranging from 500 to 5,000 feet in diameter, surrounding the tower to help disrupt wave activity in the archipelago.

The architects have designed a system of floating rice paddies and algae farms. The algae could then be turned into fuel sources.

Underneath these squares is a hidden transportation system, the architects explain.

It relies on the same Hyperloop technology Elon Musk is championing. It will ferry people from the mainland, through the bay, and over to the other shore. 

The main station services the Sky Mile Tower, which is located roughly two and a half miles off the coast of Kisarazu, a white paper states.

More than 55,000 people could work in the Sky Mile Tower.

Kohn Pedersen Fox conducted many tests to gauge the strength and wind-resistance of the tower, even pitting it against existing tower designs to see how it would compare.

The final design features a staggered set of sections, connected every 60 to 90 floors, rather than one big chain. Breaking the building into sections allowed the design team to essentially "vent" the middle of the building, which lets harsh winds more easily pass through.