Space Walk ? Water Walk ?

Euroscraper

2階が2つあるビルですよ。エレベータは…足でしょうね。ははは。

この高層建築「Euroscraper」は、NY在住のメキシコ人建築家José Muñoz Villersが考えた未来型建築のコンセプト。高層ビル設計コンペ（ FEIDAD2004かな？）で見事第3位に入賞した作品、ということです。

この未来的ビジョンにやられます。
ビジョンで終わりそうな気配も濃厚ですが。

アーティストさんのサイトも是非のぞいてみて。以前こちらの非常に目立たない記事の巻末リンクで見たソニーのFlashページ思い出しちゃいましたが。
http://www.euroscraper.com/

Cobra Tower at Kuwait

きっと世界中の人々が魅了されるはず。

西アジアはクウェートに建設される予定のコブラタワーです。

まだ建つと決まった訳ではありませんが、凝ってますねぇ。
まさにコブラが絡まってるような外見は、有無を言わせぬデザインです。

World's tallest tower will house 1 million people

Inspired by Mount Fuji, Taisei Construction Corporation has completed designs for construction of the world's tallest building. The X-Seed 4000 would stand at approximately 13,123 feet (4 km), nearly 700 feet (213 m) taller than the real Mount Fuji. The next tallest buildings don't even break 2,000 feet, how puny! While likely to never be built, the X-Seed would have up to 800 floors, and be capable of housing between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people.

Unlike conventional skyscrapers, the X-Seed 4000 would be required to actively protect its occupants from considerable air pressure gradations and weather fluctuations along its massive elevation. Its design calls for the use of solar power to maintain internal environmental conditions. Some estimate that the cost to construct the X-Seed 4000 structure may be somewhere between $300-900 billion US dollars.
Now I'm no astronomer or anything, but if I learned anything in grade school, it's that 13,123 feet is pretty much the distance to the sun. Which means that the top floor would be perfect for a natural sauna. You heard it here first, if they end up doing that I want credit.

A few more conceptual pictures after the jump.

「ビル」と呼んでいいものかどうかすら迷います。

大成建設が1990年に構想した「X-Seed 4000」は、約100万人が居住可能な…マンション？　だそうです。
その外見は上に行くほど細くなる「富士山型」で、総工費3000億～9000億円。高さ4000m、800階建て…っていうことは、今ある一番高いビルの7倍、本物の富士山より224mも高いという計算になりますね…
ここまで規格外なものを作るのであれば、いっそのこと日本らしく、いざというときは変形して巨大ロボになり国防に尽くす、という仕様にしてくれたらいいと思います。
Japan is a country full of crazy ideas, but their plan for the world's tallest building makes every single one of their insane USB devices look downright reasonable in comparison. It's a 13,123-foot-tall superstructure. To give you an idea of just how tall that is, it's about 7 times taller than the current tallest building on earth, and it's a solid 700 feet taller than Mt. Fuji. Yeah, it's pretty tall.

The mountain-shaped building, known as the X-Seed 4000, would be able to house upwards of 1,000,000 people and would cost somewhere between $300 billion and $900 billion to construct. Due to the size, scope, and, well, general insanity of the project, the chances of it actually being built are somewhere between slim and none. But hey, it's nice to know that at least one country out there is willing to make plans for stuff this crazy. Keep on keepin' on, Japan. — Adam Frucci

http://dvice.com/archives/2007/08/japans_plans_for_the_13000foot.php
http://www.geekologie.com/2007/08/japans_plan_for_worlds_tallest.php
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/08/20/self-contained-tokyo-highrise-eco-city-x-seed-4000/

A High-Tech House On A Pole

When prefabricated houses become small enough, hi-tech enough and weird enough to get into a gadget blog, they've probably gone a a step (or a splash) too far in trying to be different. The Single Hauz, from Poland, offers cantilevered space for one atop a cement pole, allowing it to be installed anywhere from a mountainside or the top of an existing building, to a lake.
It's like Myst meets the billboard industry.

確かに、判で押したように同じ形のマンションばかりです。そんなのとは一線を画した、ユニークな住まいを持つのは、なかなかにお洒落なことだと思います。

でも…「洒落てる」と「どうかしてる」の間には、明確な線引きがあるのも確かです。この「The Single Hauz」は、その超えてはならない境界を余裕で飛び越えて、すっかりレッドゾーンを振り切ってしまっているように思われます。ウッヒョォォォォォッッッ！！！
湖の真ん中にポールを建て、その上に部屋を設ける。通勤はいったいどうしたらいんですかね？　ウッヒョォォォォォッッッ！！！

35 years in 10 seconds

You don’t get a lot of chances to see a city grow right in front of your eyes.
But now you can. In 10 seconds you see what has been happening in Tokyo between 1969 and 2004.
35年間、同じ場所で撮影し続けないと作れない映像です。

これは新宿が1969年から2004年までどう移り変わってきたのか、定点観測で撮影した写真を繋げたものです。
ビルがニョキニョキと生えてきたりして…なんだか「都市は生き物である」という言葉が、現実味を帯びてくる気がしますね。

World’s Biggest Building Coming to Moscow: Crystal IslandMoscow’s rapidly growing skyline will soon feature an eye-popping new addition: Crystal Islan

Moscow’s rapidly growing skyline will soon feature an eye-popping new addition: Crystal Island, which will be the world’s biggest building when completed. Sir Norman Foster’s mountainous 27 million square feet spiraling “city within a building” will cost $4 billion and it is scheduled to be built within next 5 years.

The Crystal Island will be Lord Foster’s second large scale project in the Russian capital, and his third new building design that resembles a volcano (we’re talking about his two mountainous buildings in Astana, Kazakstan). Although many people are calling this design the ‘Christmas Tree’ of Moscow - we can’t help but be reminded of the utopian and also rather volcanic X-Seed 4000 design for Tokyo. Unlike that pipe-dream project, however, Foster has a track record of getting buildings built, so the likelihood is high that we will see this striking structure towering over the Kremlin within 5 years time.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/26/tallest-skyscraper-in-the-world-coming-to-moscow/

Infinity Tower

For the record, I would like to state that I'm really bored of these outsized erections popping up all over the Arabian Peninsula. This one is going up in the Dubai Marina. It's called the Infinity Tower (because that is how long it seems that we have been covering these giant penile substitutes that are currently littering the Middle East) and its USP is that it twists 90º. This is the blurb on the 1,000-foot, 80-story, twisted monstrosity.

Imagine a tower whose unique spiralling design reflects the boundless energies and ever-changing shapes of the deserts, winds and seas that surround it.
I think that the Infinity Tower reflects the boundless money and ever-burgeoning profits of foreign contractors as they reap the seemingly never-ending petro-dollars of Dubai and its neighbors' ruling families. Hot dang, there goes my invite to the opening of the Burj Dubai.

http://www.infinitytower.com/

World's largest and tallest spanning arch bridge

FXFOWLE INTERNATIONAL wins major architectural design competition
FXFOWLE INTERNATIONAL’s proposal for the architectural design of a 1.7km and 205m bridge in Dubai was selected by the country’s Roads & Transport Authority in a major international design competition. The firm’s winning bridge design further advances the infrastructure and transportation initiatives in Dubai. FXFOWLE’s design makes the 6th Crossing the largest and tallest spanning arch bridge in the world. Sudhir Jambhekar, Senior Partner, FXFOWLE INTERNATIONAL stated, “The bridge’s design was inspired by multiple sources, each evoking similar imagery – the rhythmic grace of Dubai Creek’s current, the elegant splendor of the sand dunes adjacent to the City, the lighting patterns of the lunar cycle and the design of the future Opera House. We believe that our bridge design is not merely to link the City’s cultural and commercial developments or ease congestion, but an opportunity to connect people both physically and emotionally by creating an iconic landmark, destination, and gateway between the old, the new and the future Dubai.”

Hotel Full Moon

Hotel Full Moon

Full Moon Bay

Full Moon Bay

Hotel Crescent and Caspian Plus

Hotel Crescent and Caspian Plus

Heerim Architects has attempted to reinvent the skyscraper beyond the traditional with two lunar inspired projects in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan.

The Korean firm has dreamed up Full Moon Bay and Caspian Plus that includes Crescent Place on neighbouring peninsulas in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku that look on to the Caspian Sea - the two projects on opposite extremes of the same bay acting as gateway markers.

Hotel Full Moon is essentially a disc with rounded edges and a hole in one of the top corners that appears radically different to the view depending on the angle it is seen from. The frontage thanks to the bulging centre makes it appear more like a glass death star whilst the side profile is more than a little gherkinesque.

Changing appearance depending on the view is reinforced by the cladding treatment the architect has selected. The front will have a glass diagrid whilst the back will be covered with hexagonal honeycombs.

This main building will be a 35 storey luxury hotel with 104,182 square metres of space for only 382 rooms, a relatively small amount of rooms given the sheer size of the internal space on offer. It will reach a maximum height of 158.68 metres.

The hotel is linked via a zoomorphically shaped podium that snakes curvaceously around the boundaries of the site to two residential apartment blocks entitled Palace of Wind 1 and 2.

Acting as the counterpoint to Hotel Full Moon is Hotel Crescent, part of the Caspian Plus redevelopment that stands as a curving arch similar to a crescent moon. The arch-like nature of the building is revealed by the fact that the structure isn't a pure crescent on its inside relying on more regularly shaped columns to help provide it with support.

At 32 floors tall it will also be a luxury hotel, this time with 221 rooms. There will also be 128 serviced apartments in the building. Floor space will 128,140 square metres.

Behind it will stand a further four tall buildings, three of which will be residential with the tallest of the quartet being a 43 floor office building standing 203 metres tall.

Heerim Architects have not long been established in Azerbaijan. They only opened their office in the country in July 2007 and yet have already secured these two major projects that face transforming the capital of one of the world's fastest growing economies.

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1357

the Masdar Headquarters

この約3億ドルになると見積もりされている本部ビル建設計画は、2015年に完成予定の「マスダールシティ」にとって、印象的なセンターピースになるとのこと。ちなみに、「マスダールシティ」全体の建造費は220億ドルになるそうで、日本や欧米を巻き込んだ計画となっています。

そんなマスダール計画本部ビルは、まさにエコの未来形。なにしろ、一番最初に釣り上げられるパーツは屋根の窓間壁なんですが、これがソーラーパネルで被われる予定なんですね。そして、そこから建設工事に必要なエネルギーを生成することになっているんです！　完成すると、約130万平方フィートが網羅されるようですよ。

どうやら、この「マスダール計画」本部の建設計画に沿って、「知能設計」という用語を、そろそろ再定義するべきなのかもしれません。そう思いませんか？

Eiffel Tower

Six and a half million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year, and almost all of them want to see the view from the top of the Parisian icon. That was the premise of French studio Serero Architects’ winning design for the recent competition held in celebration of the tower’s 120th anniversary.

The call to action was simple: reconfigure any of the public reception or access areas in a manner befitting Gustave Eiffel’s legendary structure. Serero’s design will consist of a carbon Kevlar structure temporarily fixed to the top floor plate, which will give visitors an improved 360-degree view of the city of lights and nearly double the capacity of the platform. (Via Archinect)

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Orchid House

「消費する分よりも多いエネルギーを生産する」家だそうです。

この「Orchid House」はイギリスはコッツウォルズの自然保護区に建っている、エコフレンドリーな家。全体がミツバチランの形をしていて、地下ポンプと地熱を使ってエネルギーを作とのこと。
まだ建設中で、完成まであと3年かかるとか。気になるお値段1500万ドルで、エンターティメント業界の誰かエコな方がご購入されたらしいと、もっぱらの評判です。
なお、この家は夜になるとまた別の、やけにパーティチックな表情を見せます。その写真を以下に置いておきますね。
http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/a-luxurious-eco-house-favors-green-earth-but-unfair-on-your-pockets/

Intelligent Egg

‘Cybertecture’ design offers provocative intelligence systems in India with the Cybertecture Egg office
“In the 21st Century, buildings will be different from 20th Century”, say James Law Cybertecture International, “They are no longer about concrete, steel and glass, but also the new intangible materials of technology, multimedia, intelligence and interactivity. Only recognizing this will bring a new form of architecture to light, namely a Cybertecture.”

James Law have been commissioned by Vijay Associate (Wadhwa Developers) to create an office unlike any other in Mumbai, India. The 32,000 sq m egg-shaped build will accommodate 13 floors of offices bringing together iconic architecture, environmental design, intelligent systems, and new engineering to create an awe-inspiring landmark in the city.

The concept was inspired, according to the designers, by considering the world as an ecosystem allowing life to evolve. Elements of the design and intelligence systems will work together to give the building’s inhabitants the ‘best space to work in’. And this includes monitoring their health. Within the building, there will be a series of innovative systems such as ‘cybertecture health’ in the washroom which is designed to keep track of the inhabitant’s health including blood pressure and weight. The data collected may be retrieved and sent to a doctor if deemed necessary.

Technology and the working environment are united in the use of ‘cybertecture reality’ which allows you to customize your favorite view and have real time scenery all around the world instead of the view the user currently has.

The egg itself is orientated and skewed at an angle to create both a strong visual language and to alleviate the solar gain of the building, also there is a sky garden on the top of building which performs thermolysis (the dissipation of heat from the surface). PV panels will be installed on top of the building and a wind turbine on the sky gardens will generate electricity. A water filtration system will also be incorporated into the building to recycle grey water for flushing and irrigation purpose.

By using this “Egg” shape, compared to a conventional building, the structure has approximately 10-20% less surface area. Within the building, an innovative structure derived from the skin of the egg creates up to 30m spans of columnless floors. The architecture is sleek and computer designed, with engineering that creates a building of high quality and geometric sophistication. It is hoped this building will act like a “jewel” for the new Central Business District of Mumbai, and will be a worthy neighbour to other esteemed buildings in the district. The building is due for completion by the end of 2010.

Niki May Young
News Editor

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=2361

DUBAI OPERA HOUSE AND CULTURAL CENTRE

もしかして、イギリス人建築家のZaha Hadidさんは、『宇宙空母ギャラクティカ』が大好き？

きっとそうですよ。Hadidさんが設計したドバイ・オペラハウスを一目見れば、この疑問が頭によぎったこと納得してもらえると思います。この姿は、ビューンと宇宙を飛んで、スターバックに勇敢に立ち向かうクロワッサン型の戦闘機を思い起こさせますよね？

こちら、ドバイの文化的ランドマークのひとつとしてDubai Creekの人工島に建つ予定で、2500人の観客が歌声にウットリできる大きなホールと、800席の劇場、アートギャラリー、舞台芸術学校、そして6つ星がテーマのホテルがあるそうです。

それでは、ドバイ・オペラハウスの完成予想図をギャラリーにまとめてみたので、宇宙空母ギャラクティカな世界をお楽しみください。
　
http://www.dezeen.com/2008/06/06/dubai-opera-house-by-zaha-hadid/

Foating ecopolis for climate refugees

According to the less alarming forecasts of the GIEC (Intergovernmental group on the evolution of the climate), the ocean level should rise from 20 to 90 cm during the 21st Century with a status quo by 50 cm (versus 10 cm in the 20th Century). As a solution to this alarming problem architect Vincent Callebaut came up with this ecotectural marvel that could serve as a luxurious future retreat for 50,000 inhabitants seeking refuge from rising waters due to global warming. He believes the world will be desperately seeking shelter from the devastations of climate change, and hopes the auto-sufficient amphibious city will serve as a luxurious solution. To bad that right now we are close to 7 billion people and this luxurious future retreat is just for 50,000 inhabitants ( just for rich people ).



http://freshome.com/2008/06/11/future-architecture-floating-ecopolis-for-climate-refugees/