New York could be getting the longest building in the world, the Big Bend

New York could be getting the longest building in the world.

At 1,200m (4,000ft), designs for the Big Bend show a thin structure that curves and returns to the ground.

US architectural studio Oiio came up with the proposal for the conceptual skyscraper to highlight the race for height, rather than length, between Manhattan's big building firms.

"There's an obsession that resides in Manhattan. It is undeniable because it is made to be seen," says Oiio.

"There are many different ways that can make a building stand out, but in order to do so the building has to literary stand out."

Real-estate companies are capitalising on a planning law that allows them to buy air rights from neighbouring buildings.

This allows them to build taller and taller towers on small plots, beating the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Shanghai Tower in China.

This image shows the bottom of the Big Bend

Oiio's design features a grid of large windows, and its legs would straddle a historic building to fit into narrow plots either side.

According to De Zeen, some of New York's biggest architects have spoken out against the number of super-tall skyscrapers in the city.

The site said: "[Architect] Steven Holl said the buildings symbolise inequality in architectural form, while Liz Diller said that the city is at risk of being 'consumed by the dollar'.

"Locals have also voiced concerns about the towers, complaining that they will overshadow Central Park."

The super-tall buildings are in a class of their own, measuring between 300 and 600m tall.

'What if our buildings were long instead of tall?'

"We usually learn about the latest tallest building and we are always impressed by it's price per square foot," says Oiio.

"It seems that a property's height operates as a licence for it to be expensive.

"New York city's zoning laws have created a peculiar set of tricks which developers try to maximize their property's height in order to infuse it with the prestige of a high rise structure."

And what about lifts?

What was once considered to be the greatest challenge in lift history, is apparently becoming reality.

Oiio thinks it has the answer: the lift that can travel in curves, horizontally and in continuous loops.

"The innovative track challenge system allows for the horizontal connection of two shafts on the top and bottom to create a continuous loop."

'What if we substituted height with length?'

Oiio says if it manages to bend their structure instead of bending the zoning rules of New York, they'd be able to create "one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan".

"The Big Bend can become a modest architectural solution to the height limitations of Manhattan.

"We can now provide our structures with the measurements that will make them stand out without worrying about the limits of the sky".

Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat