Megastructure

[1][2] Some sources define a megastructure as an enormous self-supporting artificial construct.

Most megastructure designs could not be constructed with today's level of industrial technology.

Megastructures often play a part in the plot or setting of science fiction movies and books, such as Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.

In 1968, Ralph Wilcoxen defined a megastructure as any structural framework into which rooms, houses, or other small buildings can later be installed, uninstalled, and replaced; and which is capable of "unlimited" extension.

Some of the more notable such architects and architectural groups include the Metabolist Movement, Archigram, Cedric Price, Frei Otto, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Yona Friedman, and Buckminster Fuller.

The Great Wall of China , at 6,352 km or 3,947 mi long, is a megastructure. This picture was taken near Beijing in February 2005.
A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell —a variant on Dyson's original concept—1 AU in radius.
One concept for the space elevator has it tethered to a mobile seagoing platform.