French architect Vincent Callebaut has a lot of big ideas, envisioning grand, visually spectacular architectural solutions to pressing problems like climate change. A decade ago, when his firm began presenting concepts like algae farm airships, floating lilypad-shaped cities, and bizarre biomimetic artificial landscapes, they seemed like pipe dreams with no hope of ever being built. They were too strange, too futuristic, and most of all, too reliant on technologies that hadn’t been refined or even invented yet.

But if Callebaut is a bit of a utopian dreamer, perhaps he’s also a visionary foreseeing a more enlightened era of humanity we can’t quite wrap our minds around just yet. His designs evoke a sense of hope and possibility that we can overcome climate change and adapt to a more sustainable way of life. Maybe that’s what makes the actual construction of projects like Tao Zhu Yin Yuan (aka Agora Garden Tower), a spectacular spiraling tower in Taiwan, all the more thrilling. Yes, we are currently four years past the expected completion date, and the tower isn’t quite ready for residents to move in. But what’s remarkable is the fact that this ambitious high-rise hasn’t just come to fruition, it’s done so without losing all the unique beauty of the original concept. Taking inspiration from the double helix shape of DNA and rising to a height of 305 feet, the 21-story tower incorporates green design features like rainwater col...