As skyscrapers soar to new heights, a New York architecture firm is taking a different approach, proposing a U-shaped tower that would smash records as the longest building in the world.

Designs for the “Big Bend” show a 4,000 ft long, arched skyscraper that would tower over Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row – an area named for its ultra-luxury residential high-rise buildings.

US architectural studio Oiio came up with the idea as a way to work around New York City’s strict zoning laws, which the firm says have “created a peculiar set of tricks through which developers try to maximise their property’s height in order to infuse it with the prestige of a high-rise structure”.

“But what if we substituted height with length?” the company asks on its website.

“If we manage to bend our structure instead of bending the zoning rules of New York, we would be able to create one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. The longest building in the world.”

The ‘Big Bend’ would beat the Burj Khalifa and the Shanghai Tower, becoming the tallest building in the world (Oiio)

If built, the Big Bend would replace Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which at 2,722ft measures as the longest building in the world.

As for how people would get around in the boomerang-shaped building once it’s constructed, Oiio says it has a simple, but revolutionary, solution.

In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Nik Wallenda walks across the Chicago skyline blindfolded for Discovery Channel's Skyscraper Live with Nik Wallenda In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Daredevil Nik Wallenda, left center in red, makes his tightrope walk uphill at a 19-degree angle, from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda A large crowd waits to watch daredevil Nik Wallenda begin his walk on a tightrope uphill at a 19-degree angle from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Nik Wallenda begins his tightrope walk uphill at a 19-degree angle from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda The shadow of daredevil Nik Wallenda is cast against the West Marina Tower as he begins his tightrope walk uphill at a 19-degree angle, from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Daredevil Nik Wallenda makes his tightrope walk uphill at a 19-degree angle, from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building, past the Aqua Building, background, in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda A large crowd watches Daredevil Nik Wallenda walk a tightrope uphill at a 19-degree angle from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Nik Wallenda walks on a tightrope uphill at a 19-degree angle from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Daredevil Nik Wallenda reacts after completing his first walk along a tightrope between two skyscrapers suspended 500 feet (152.4 meters) above the Chicago River in Chicago In pictures: Nik Wallenda completes two tightrope walks between Chicago skyscrapers without safety net Nik Wallenda Nik Wallenda walks on a tightrope uphill at a 19-degree angle from the Marina City west tower across the Chicago River to the top of the Leo Burnett Building in Chicago

“What was once considered to be the greatest challenge in elevator history, is finally becoming reality: the elevator that can travel in curves, horizontally, and in continuous loops,” the firm says on its website.

It says “an innovative track changing system” would allow for the horizontal connection of two elevator shafts on the top of the building and below ground that would allow for a “continuous loop”.

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the longest building in the world, standing at 2,722-feet (Lester Al i/Dubai Tourism) (Lester Al i / Dubai Tourism)