Gigantic mega-projects from recent years that will awe and inspire you (even if they'll never be built)
"A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier." --Mies Van de Rohe, legendary architect.
By that logic, a colossal 2 kilometer high mega-structure should be really easy to visualize and put together. Of course, this is exaggerated and only meant to emphasize thoughtfulness in design. But speaking of immense skyscrapers... We've already talked about gigantic city-structures of Paolo Soleri. Today we are going to see more gigantic and highly imaginative chairs... er, no, mega-structures that were proposed in the last four decades - plus we are going to briefly look into the past, for a glimpse of glorious retrofuture.
We'll start with the re-imagining of the good old Hoover Dam - which includes a "Tower in a Dam", and looks like something dreamed up by Megatron:
This design by UK architect Yheu-Shen Chua has been awarded Third Place in eVolo's 2011 Skyscraper Competition: "One of the main purposes of the project is to allow the water from the upstream river to engage directly with the visitors through a series of containers. A hanging tower above the 700-foot drop into the Black Canyon would be used as gallery and a vertical aquarium."
Belgian Architect Vincent Callebaut dreamed up a combination of skyscraper and airship, where the skyscraper itself floats in the air, feeding on a green "algae" energy: the "Hydrogenase" project is as eco-sustainable, as it is beautiful - more info:
Vincent Callebaut uses organic shapes in his designs and and dreams BIG - see all of his fantastic projects here.
Floating Observatories: Unreal Tower Proposed for Taiwan
Strange combination of a tree-like skyscraper and huge Zeppelin airship-inspired floating observation decks is a radical vision by Romanian Dorin Stefan Birou Arhitectura - more info and images here
The flowing shapes of this skyscraper remind us of the work of late Jan Kaplicky: on the left is the new national library in Prague, on the right is the Selfridge building, part of the Bullring complex in Birmingham, England:
In 1995, a truly gigantic structure was conceived for Tokyo: X-SEED 4000 - four kilometers high, 800 floors, the tallest building ever envisioned (on the right). Image on the left shows scaled-down two-mile high tower:
Inside the X-SEED 4000:
on the right is yet another super-building concept for Tokyo, conceiving at the height of Japanese asset price bubble in 1989 - Sky City 1000:
The Shimizu TRY 2004 Mega-City Pyramid was another super structure proposed for Tokyo: "The proposed structure is so large that it cannot be built with currently available materials, due to their weight. The design relies on the future availability of super-strong lightweight materials based on carbon nanotubes."
"Large robots would assemble the truss structure, and air bladders would be used to elevate trusses above the first layer using a construction system proposed by Italian architect Dante Bini. Spheroid nodes at the connections between trusses would provide structural support and serve as transfer points for travelers."
On the left is "Project: Spiral" 1000-meter high, designed for Tokyo in 1998. Right image: Noida Tower concept for Noida, india:
Jumeira Garden District structures for Dubai (left) and Seoul Commune 2026 project for South Korea (right):
Dating from 1997 is the Bionic Tower concept for Shanghai and/or Hong Kong (with possibility of building the "Bionic Tower Vertical City" 1.228 meters high):
Algorithmic Architecture! More than just a catchy term, this is a great tool in coming up with organic and nature-inspired forms, based on mathematical algorithms:
Boston Arcology (left) is a mega-structure concept by Kevin Schopfer, who also came up with the amazing New Orleans Arcology Habitat (NOAH) (right image, more info). This building was designed using golden proportions and will house 15,000 people:
Gigantic skyscrapers and mega-cities can grow not only up high, but deep down in the water. This "Water-Scraper" is a rather creative re-thinking of a floating island idea, made for eVolo design competition - more info:
Floating cities is not a new concept by any means. Here is a sketch from Popular Mechanics, 1931:
Japanese firm Shimizu also came up with a floating city concept, consisting of floating islands, or rather the "lily-pads" drifting in the equatorial Pacific:
On the left is illustration by Paul R. Alexander from the article "Energy from the Ocean: A Resource for the Future", 1989"... On the right: City on the Sea, architect: Eugene Tsui -
To give you an idea of the UNDERGROUND super city, here is art from Astounding Stories, November 1937:
Other Elegant Proposed Skyscrapers
Organic forms of all varieties seem to be all the rage nowadays: on the left is "Tree of Life" skyscraper by Ukraine architects (info); on the right is the fantastic "Hydra", which can take energy from... lightnings!
Imaging living in a place that is designed to be struck by lightnings... in a safe manner, of course (more info)
The "Hydra", designed by Milos Vlastic, Vuk Djordjevic, Ana Lazovic, Milica Stankovic from Serbia, seems to be the most radical architectural concept out there right now, correct me if I'm wrong:
Here is 1 Dubai: at 850 meters, it consists of three linked towers, clad in "mosaic-like glass and aluminum-mesh cladding" - designed by Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill:
Among most elegant proposed skyscrapers we'll have to mention yet another colossal concept for Dubai (featuring beautiful spiral shape) - Dubai City Tower, 2500 meters high:
Glorious Retro-Future Urbanism from the Golden Age of SF
It's been some time since our Glorious RetroFuture Urbanism, Part 1. Since in retrofuture time moves in both directions - dreaming of the future in high style of the past, it's never too late to come up with an update:
(left image via; right image: Popular Science, 1933)
"Metropolis" poster by Boris Bilinsky from 1926 and a street view:
Frank R. Paul's vision of a mighty city from "Amazing Stories", 1928:
Note the "slides" cascading down the building! This picture is from 1934:
Moving armchair transportation system, 1939:
Certainly not for those seeking some exercise and weight loss.
I'm the first to applaud a non-conformist building design, but lots of concepts these days seem to be all about being outlandish with zero regard to practical usability; much of the organic craze looks suspiciously like "just because we finally can build like that (and want to be as different as possible for the sake of being as different as possible)".
Anyway, my grand prize always goes to those "we'll need to build it using adamantium, but we'll surely have it by then" loonies. If it really works like that, I can has my teleport gates and warp drive now please (oh, and don't forget my flying car and robot servant)...?
Also, on a related note, it might not be quite such a good idea to quote Tesla in this day and age when he kinda seems to be remembered more for the lunacy of some of his ideas than the genius of those that he actually got right, especially those concerning "wireless power"...
Thank you Max, good comment; I want my teleport gates now too. But I am really excited by the idea of combining the skyscraper and the airship. Not practical? Maybe. But this was the dream of SF writers since the 1920s.
Goodness...all the naysayers need to relax and learn how to DREAM! Who knows...maybe we're heading into an age that will allow such marvelous things to actually happen!
While these are all great feats of engineering, personally I prefer architecture that is softer on the eye. Traveling to places that have old-world architecture is more my scene.
Nikola Tesla, much like Albert Eisntein, gave up when he realised that the world [or close associates] did with his ideas. We have no way of knowing whether his 'crazier' concepts would actually work - bearing in mind that no-one else managing to make them work is *not* evidence that they wouldn't.
As for the advanced materials required, there's this lovely stuff called graphine that could be ideal, if ways can be found to produce it cost effectively.
I admire creativity but in design terms prefer simple classical architecture, up to five floors, just nice and roomy with some quality local artisanship, accordant to the environment
I'd think the Floating structures would be possible if you could build them large enough (volume increases faster than surface area as you scale up, so you can use more of the surface areas of big baloons than small ones), I guess the difficulty with them is preventing a catastrophic failure.
The rest look more reasonable, although there might not be a lot of usable space in the lower levels.
And yeah, it's the inside of the building that really matters. A pretty outside is nice but there's not much point in building these if nobody's going to enjoy being inside them.
Yeah, this organic style literally makes me nauseous. It makes me think of the vital organs dripping out of some giant body in the sky. Horrid.
The straight edges and regular angles of midcentury modern designs give me a feeling of confidence and comfort, and make me think of a steady hand, working diligently with discipline to construct a rational environment.
Hi, the building in the image top right below this caption "The flowing shapes of this skyscraper remind us of the work of late Jan Kaplicky..." is actually the Selfridge's building, part of the Bullring complex in Birmingham, England. I walk past id daily! if you Google the images for Birmingham Selfridge's you'll see a few more interesting views of this modern architectural marvel.
The map projection is imposing, but distance is relative. I live in the Netherlands (on the map somewhere in Canada), which you can travel from north to south in about 3 hours. But when I travel in a plane for about 2 to 3 hours, I can be in a different country and even in another continent with a totally different culture if I want to. Holidays are real fun this way.
The part of the sculpture with the cat is from Tom Otterness "The Real World", Battery Park, New York. I don´t know it myself, but I know the "Überfrau" from him in my hometown very well and recognized the style. Three googles further and I found it on his website tomostudio.com.
Just watched on youtube american girls converted to islaam. And foto of muslim women with sewing machine on the head... Its like metaphor for me. Headless tool. So sad.
So how does it work? Does it detect the point where the line crosses over onto the clock face and sound an alarm at the appropriate time?
With such a small clock with only four numbers on it seems like it could be quite hard to get it accurate, I could easily imagine it being half an hour out.
I'm pretty sure that's Mad Professor, aka Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, not Herbie Hancock. The album cover that is from is: http://www.ebreggae.com/Reggae/CD/563/Mad-Professor-Dub-Me-Crazy-5-Who-Knows-Secret-Of-The-Master-Tape.html
Cab-over in Europe is largely because of length-economics: there's regulations concerning total truck length so by moving the engine under the cab you can have more load-space.
And there's less clutter because of safety regulations: less pointy bits mean less gruesome damage to pedestrians and cyclist when having an accident. Notice the smooth sticking-out bits on the corners, these are both for aero dynamics as well as extra impact absorption.
All this reflects that in Europe roads are a bit smaller, cities are tighter and there's more mixed road-use.
mm47 is right, it looks like a windmill blade (or possibly a set of three).
Also, that "ultimate mobile home" rig looks like it's pulling a horse trailer or some other kind of racing team trailer. It might very well have some living quarters on board, but every time I've ever seen that layout, it was for horses, motorcycles or dirt track racers. Does anyone know anything about that particular truck? I can see text on the trailer, but the glare from the chrome makes it impossible to read.
The placement of the "what is it, exactly" caption is why some articles on this site are confusing to read. I thought it was referring to the next photo. Either put the captions only above the photo or below it and keep it consistent.
The multiple windows on the side of the "mobile home" shows that it is indeed a horse trailer. The windows can be opened for horses standing next to each other.
Speaking of "improper" use of trucks, here you can find some photos and technical specifications of the trucks (also light trucks and cars) used for several (12) expeditions around the world by the the italian tv show "Overland: World Truck Expedition"
Amazing collection of turtles. Concerning the last one, the postcard. It is the "Tarasque" a mythical creature from South-East France. It was some sort of dragon-turtle. You'll find more details on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque
The Tarasque is an animal of folklore of Provence. Kind of six-legged turtle living in the sude of France. His feast at Tarascon, is part of UNESCO World Heritage
Dunno what's happened, but I'm having to read this with IE - something on the page crashes Firefox - tried it on three PCs and none of them like it. It gobbles a vast swathe of memory and doesn't actually manage anything.
foxfire on a mac here, runs good. this site is LOADED with ads & they status shows which one is taking too long to do its thing. I don't think it is this site per se, more likely the ad servers.
Just so you know DRB, that last GFI animation of Mutual Understanding Tennis - Men's finals was made by the lovely people over at b3ta.com by c_kick (http://www.b3ta.com/users/profile.php?id=38051)
I'm sure he'd appreciate a link back to the website or his profile!
the panda in the foreground is being prepared for release to the wild by the zoo staff in the background. they are wearing panda suits to avoid having the cub get accustomed to people. more pictures here:
Did anyone notice how "westernized" the facial features of the girls in the Chinese posters are? I wonder which influence it is: Russian, or pre-revolution fashion media?
Nice young ladies. Still, when the revolution comes I'll feel a lot more comfortable with the Warrior Woman on my side. http://content8.flixster.com/photo/10/89/95/10899554_gal.jpg
Fascinating though these images are, China isn't socialist or communist because Chinese government policy flies in the face of the principals of socialism/communism. For a start, all trade unions apart from the one the government devised (and controls) are illegal. Marx spins in his grave every time someone calls China, Cuba or any other modern country for that matter, socialist. Just wanted to mention.
I have always wanted to get a good set of pictures of control panels (preferably from direct on) to use as backgrounds on my computer. I think the more knobs and switches the better. I have always enjoyed looking at analog synthesizers too.
Fantastic collection of instrument panels! However, I can assure you that your Vostok spacecraft panel is actually a Voskhod spacecraft panel. The difference is visible in the black, blue and yellow longitude-latitude displays visible above the globe. Find out more at Voskhod Spacecraft "Globus" IMP navigation instrument
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17 Comments:
You forgot an the "l" in "html" in the link.
Thank you. Fixed.
Great imagination, but these concepts are just absurdly impossible and rather jarring to look at.
Loved this post. Isn't the human imagination wonderful.
I'm the first to applaud a non-conformist building design, but lots of concepts these days seem to be all about being outlandish with zero regard to practical usability; much of the organic craze looks suspiciously like "just because we finally can build like that (and want to be as different as possible for the sake of being as different as possible)".
Anyway, my grand prize always goes to those "we'll need to build it using adamantium, but we'll surely have it by then" loonies. If it really works like that, I can has my teleport gates and warp drive now please (oh, and don't forget my flying car and robot servant)...?
Also, on a related note, it might not be quite such a good idea to quote Tesla in this day and age when he kinda seems to be remembered more for the lunacy of some of his ideas than the genius of those that he actually got right, especially those concerning "wireless power"...
...nevertheless, nice roundup. :)
Looks like these several of these architects are compensating for something...
Thank you Max, good comment; I want my teleport gates now too. But I am really excited by the idea of combining the skyscraper and the airship. Not practical? Maybe. But this was the dream of SF writers since the 1920s.
Goodness...all the naysayers need to relax and learn how to DREAM! Who knows...maybe we're heading into an age that will allow such marvelous things to actually happen!
Loosen the cage around your imaginations!
While these are all great feats of engineering, personally I prefer architecture that is softer on the eye. Traveling to places that have old-world architecture is more my scene.
Nikola Tesla, much like Albert Eisntein, gave up when he realised that the world [or close associates] did with his ideas. We have no way of knowing whether his 'crazier' concepts would actually work - bearing in mind that no-one else managing to make them work is *not* evidence that they wouldn't.
As for the advanced materials required, there's this lovely stuff called graphine that could be ideal, if ways can be found to produce it cost effectively.
Meanwhile, here's to the dreamers!
I admire creativity but in design terms prefer simple classical architecture, up to five floors, just nice and roomy with some quality local artisanship, accordant to the environment
Arcology rocks, thanks for the link
I'd think the Floating structures would be possible if you could build them large enough (volume increases faster than surface area as you scale up, so you can use more of the surface areas of big baloons than small ones), I guess the difficulty with them is preventing a catastrophic failure.
The rest look more reasonable, although there might not be a lot of usable space in the lower levels.
And yeah, it's the inside of the building that really matters. A pretty outside is nice but there's not much point in building these if nobody's going to enjoy being inside them.
Yeah, this organic style literally makes me nauseous. It makes me think of the vital organs dripping out of some giant body in the sky. Horrid.
The straight edges and regular angles of midcentury modern designs give me a feeling of confidence and comfort, and make me think of a steady hand, working diligently with discipline to construct a rational environment.
Hi, the building in the image top right below this caption "The flowing shapes of this skyscraper remind us of the work of late Jan Kaplicky..." is actually the Selfridge's building, part of the Bullring complex in Birmingham, England. I walk past id daily! if you Google the images for Birmingham Selfridge's you'll see a few more interesting views of this modern architectural marvel.
Another wonderful post, thanks a lot.
Everyone's obsessed with skyscrapers, aren't they? Almost all of them consist of redesigning skyscrapers.
The "tree" shaped ones are pretty cool. But the "flat" ones are the best, because they're a shift from the usual norm.
Here's one you missed. A man with a plan!
http://www.victorycities.com/simpson.html
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