The Phoenix Towers are proposed 3,280-foot (1,000 meter) supertall skyscrapers planned for construction in Wuhan, China. Making their marks not only for becoming the world's tallest buildings in 2017, beating the Kingdom Tower of Saudi Arabia in height, but also for their ability to eat pollution floating in the air.

Designed by U.K.-based architecture firm Chetwoods, the towers will be covered with a smog-eating coating. The building materials and veneers are photocatalytic so they are able to use sunlight to turn particulate matter into inert salts, a technology that’s quickly becoming the hottest thing in architecture and design. An iconic landmark of Wuhan, a city of 10 million people on the Yangtze river, the pink towers will span 47 hectares and cost an estimated $1.9 bn.

Incorporating elements from traditional Chinese culture, the project will consist of two buildings: "Feng" and "Huang", a pair of mythical Chinese birds. The Feng, or "male" tower, will supply renewable energy to the Huang, or "female" tower, a "softer" space with cafes, restaurants and a 100-storey vertical garden. The taller tower, Feng will have about 100 floors for residential living, offices and retail space. The Feng tower will also be fitted with wind turbines, and it will use solar power to suck polluted lake water up through an advanced filtration system. The slightly smaller Huang tower will contain the world's tallest garden. The towers will be constructed on an island in a lake, covering a 17-acre site. The buildings will be constructed on a steel superstructure with concrete cores and buttresses.