Designed by Asymptote Architecture with lighting by Arup. Located in Abu Dhabi.
The Yas Hotel has been wrapped in a sheeth “of more than 5,300 diamond-shaped panels bristling with over 5,000 LED fixtures.” The LEDs can support color change and even display low resolution 3D video. Underneath the penis-shaped LED coating is the Yas Hotel that includes two 12-story buildings and a Formula-1 racetrack.
Aqua Tower, designed by Studio Gang. Located in Chicago.
The design was inspired by the striated limestone outcroppings common in the Great Lakes area. But this sinuous shape is not just a mere formal gesture, but it is also a strategy to extend the views and maximize solar shading.
– 82-story mixed-use residential tower (819 ft, 250 m tall):
– 215 hotels rooms (floors 1-18)
– 476 rental residential units (floors 19-52)
– 263 condominium units & Penthouses (floors 53-80)
– 55,000 square feet (5,100 m2) of retail and office space
– 6 levels of underground parking
– 8-story base (140,000 sqf, 13,000m2) with a a 82,550 sq ft (7,669 m2) terrace with gardens, gazebos, pools, hot tubs, a walking/running track and fire pit
[Via Gizmodo; Arch Daily]
Daewon Park Observatory, designed by Kyungam Architects. To be located in Sungnam, South Korea.
“Cloud 360” will feature 360 degree views, a 10,000 square feet surface, and will be made of glass and metal. Very futuristic indeed. Check out additional images in the gallery below.
[Via Gizmodo; Design Boom]
Created by Matharoo Associates (for a diamond merchant in India).
…the door is a whopping 17 feet high and five-and-a-half feet wide, and comprises 40 sections of Burmese teak, each of them nearly a foot thick. Each section revolves around some pretty complex machinery: The door’s single pivot hides a counterweight, 80 ball bearings, and 160 pulleys. But they all work together invisibly. Push on any one plank, and all 40 sections reconfigure themselves into a sinusoidal curve, revealing an opening into the house.
That’s just freakin’ awesome.
[Via Gizmodo; Fast Company]
Universe House, created by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco and architect Tatiana Bilbao.
The creation of this paradise is inspired by the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory, which was built in Delhi, India in 1724. And boy is it an architectural beauty.
[Via Gizmodo; Arch Daily]
The Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building and most brilliant architectural feat, still stands tall after getting hit by severe lightning strikes every now and then. Check out some more images below and look after the break for some lightning striking the building in real time and in slo-mo.
[Via Gizmodo]
Continue reading The Burj Dubai struck by lightning provides a spectacular gallery of photos, video
Ok, this deck is not a vortex in disguise, but it sure looks like one. This trippy, mind-bending deck belongs to Jeff Dauber, an Apple senior executive of all people. “I wanted someone to barf when they look at it,” says Dauber.
The Japanese maple in Jeff Dauber’s San Francisco backyard is not at the center of a carbon-sucking vortex. Sorry, sci-fi fans, but the Berkeley-based architect Thom Faulders’s perfectly flat deck only looks like its far corner has its own warped gravity. Ever since Francesco Borromini’s Gallery Spada, in Rome, forced perspectives and architectural patronage have gone hand in hand, but whereas the Renaissance architect employed a mathematician to make that arcade seem longer through foreshortening, Faulders used 3-D–modeling software to achieve Deformscape’s dipping effect.
[Via Gizmodo; Metropolis Mag]
The Burj Dubai is 2,684 feet tall!
[Via Gizmodo]
On November 14 the glass doors will open to a brand new Apple Store located in the Upper West Side. It will be the fourth (and largest) Apple Store placed in New York City.
During today’s official announcements, Apple made it clear that “customers can now reserve their favorite Apple product” online and pick it up in-store between December 15-24. Also, for the first time ever Apple Store employees will giftwrap “any iPod or portable Mac for just $5.”
Oh, and for all you Apple fanboys and collectors listen up: “The Apple Store Upper West Side is located at 1981 Broadway, on the corner of West 67th Street. The first 2,500 visitors to the store will receive a limited edition, commemorative t-shirt.” Doors open at 10AM; what are you waiting for?
Be sure to check out some shots of the gorgeous Apple Store in the gallery below, courtesy of Gizmodo.
[Via Gizmodo]
Researchers at MIT have designed a tower structure to be built in London in time for the 2012 Olympics. It’s called “The Cloud” and its two towers will stand 400 feet tall and be connected by a series of plastic bubbles. LCD screens will display scores and highlights from the Games and also act as a “barometer of the city’s interests and moods.” “The Cloud” will run on ‘zero power;’ this means it will be powered by solar energy and will utilize regenerative breaking (like hybrid cars). Besides displaying information, the structure will also house an observation deck. The cost of the construction will be funded by citizens by way of micro-donations. The research team is still deciding on a final location. For more information visit raisethecloud.org.
The Dubai Fountain, designed by WET Design.
It’s “illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 colored projectors; 900 feet long; shoots water 490 feet into the air; and is synchronized with classical and contemporary Arabic and world music. It’s located right by the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building. Oh, and it cost $217 million to build.
“Fluid,” designed by Australian architects Peddle Thorp.
Fluid, a pavilion shaped like a whale, is currently under contruction and being built for World Expo 2012 in Yeosu, South Korea.
“The architects hope the design will draw attention to the preservation of oceans and ecosystems, and encourage greater collaboration between Asian and Pacific countries.” It’s been reported that there is no information whether or not Fluid will make it to the US. Because it can float from harbor to harbor around the world and hold various events inside it.
[Via Gizmodo; SoftSailor]
