Crazy Junkyard

Sweden architect Wilhelmson Arkitekter have designed a housing project with windows that look like gilded picture frames.  This project consists of 2 houses, both 6 stories wide, with 14 apartments (9 of them duplex apartments), glossy white enameled facade panels, with cast aluminium window frames that are gold leaf painted.

This rustic-modern aesthetic hotel was designed by Heinz Legler, who used to own a film set construction company and Veronique Lievre, previously a set decorator, from Paris. They started this project as their personal hideaway, but it ended up construction an hotel in a 5 acre area, with infinity pool, spa, restaurants, yoga hut and 8 guest rooms. This year they expanded their hotel with V-Houses, 5 units with 3 units for hotel staff, 2 for guests, a kitchen and a shared bathroom. This three tower-houses have a particular structure, raising from a small concrete foundation. The V Houses are made out of steel, plywood and red corrugated iron roofs. Each V-House is 16′x16′ with open sides to maintain views and air flow. Standing 18′ apart, the V-houses have basically no environmental impact or foot print and can be built on any surface condition.

Malta International Fireworks Festival: Malta

(more…) Crazy Fireworks Across the World

This mixed use tower in Costa Rica is by Spanish firm Moho Architects, will be a new landmark, providing crucial amenities for the city, sheltered from the local climate. the concept is driven by a progressive environmental strategy that is expected to establish new benchmarks for the region. The tower splits and creases independently as it rises into the sky. This ‘head split’ configuration, permits natural lighting, while sky courts filled with vegetation punctuate at intervals the tower and mitigate the hot climate, which also can be resembled with fingers. The 25-story building will be used for both commercial and retail facilities and will feature, offices, conference rooms, a hotel and casino, and a restaurant that offers panoramic views over the city. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

This beautiful and crazy building is designed to resemble a blossoming flower, Greek architecture firm Petra  Architects recently submitted “Blossoming Dubai” to the Zaabeel Park Tall Emblem Structure Competition.

Main building access is on the ground floor and through the two symmetrical structures located on each side of the tower’s base. one of the structures houses the children’s library while providing (through skylights) an excellent view of the tower above. the children have the chance to use both the enclosed library as well as part of the park outside.  The conference rooms are located on the lower ground floor offering a more controlled environment. All this area is flooded with natural light from skylight-like holes on the ground above while framing views of the tower. The building’s cafeteria is located 135 meters above ground and provides a 360 degree view of dubai and the surrounding zaabeel park. there are also two staircases connecting the cafeteria level with the viewing platform above providing a connection between the two.

Pedestrian Bridge, Texas :This beautiful arched bridge in Lake Austin was a private build by Miro Rivera Architects and is used to connect the client’s main house to the smaller guest house on the other side of the water.  The idea was to make the bridge seem as natural as possible within its surroundings and to do this they made the decking and reed-like hand rails as imperfect as possible.  The result is a bridge that looks extremely fragile but definitely worth the risk.

Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge, São Paulo,  Brazil: Opened in May of this year, the Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge is a stunning x-shaped cable-stayed bridge that crosses thePinheiros River in Sao Paulo.  It’s design is unique in that the 2 curved decks of the bridge cross each other through its x-shaped supporting tower, an illuminated structure that stands 450ft tall and has attached to it 144 steel cables.

Kintaikyo, Iwakuni, Japan: The original Kintai Bridge was built in 1673 and didn’t stand very long until it was damaged due to flooding.  It was then rebuilt and survived for more than 200 years until a typhoon battered it to death in 1950.  The bridge that stands now over the Nishiki Riveris the 3rd build and looks magnificent, it’s 5 wooden arches displaying an incredible amount of detail and craftmanship.  Interesting fact: no nails or bolts have been used to build the arches, only clamps and wires.

Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, Brasilia, Brazil: The JK Bridge in Brasilia is a lesson in elegant bridge design.  The 3 huge arches diagonally hopping over the deck of the bridge give the structure an amazing visual fluidity and make the whole 1.2km bridge look effortlessly cool.  Since being built the bridge has won awards for its design but is still massively underappreciated on a wider scale.

Rolling Bridge, London, UK: Thomas heatherwick’ s award-winning rolling bridge is an ingenious addition to the grand union canal system in london and is unique in its design.  Unlike regular movable canal bridges, the rolling bridge curls up on itself to form an octagon by way of hydraulics.  It’s an amazing sight and a reminder that a fresh perspective can produce great, innovative results, even when dealing with a structure as common as a bridge.

Beipanjiang River Railroad Bridge, Guizhou, China: Beipanjiang River Railroad Bridge in Guizhou is an enormous railway bridge that was built as part of the much larger ‘Guizhou-Shuibai Railway Project’.  Connecting 2 mountains over a deep ravine, at its highest point the bridge’s deck sits 918ft above the ground (to compare, at its highest point the Millau viaduct’s deck clears the river underneath by 890ft).  The bridge has succeeded in connecting 2 of the country’s poorest areas.

Henderson Waves, Southern Ridges, Singapore: ‘Henderson Waves’ is Wingapore’s highest pedestrian bridge and can be found at the southern ridges, a beautiful 9km stretch of gardens and parks which has frequently drawn comparisons to New York’s Central Park.  The bridge itself is absolutely stunning.  The deck is made from thousands of Balau wood slats, perfectly cut and arranged, and along the length of the deck a huge snaking, undulating shell cleverly forms sheltered seating areas on every upward curve.

Pont Gustave Flaubert, Rouen, France: This is the incredible, brand new vertical lift bridge in Rouen, France, a beast of a structure whose 2 bridge spans weigh 1’200tons each but can be hoisted 180ft vertically by the bridge’s lifting mechanism in an impressive 12 minutes.  Just the angular structures at the top of each tower weigh in at 450tons each, helping to support the lifting system as cruise ships sail through.

Hegigio Gorge Pipeline Bridge, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea: Technically, this is a bridge: it’s a structure which spans a gorge.  The only difference is, the bridge can’t be used by humans due to the fact that its purpose is to support 2 pipelines – 1 gas, 1 oil – across the extremely high gap in Papua New Guinea.  So high in fact that if this were to be officially recognised as a bridge it would rocket to the top of the ‘world’s highest bridge-span’ list at an impressive height of 1’290ft.  By comparison, the current highest bridge span belongs to the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, hanging a mere 1’053ft above ground level, while Manhattan’s Chrysler Building measures 1’047ft.

It was a thunder lightning night .hit the world talest tower
As long as half hour and the lighning was hitting the tower and the thunder sounded
all over the neighouring area something more then usual.