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Posts Tagged ‘Skyscraper’

NYC’s iconic 101 Park Avenue skyscraper was turned into a giant camera last month

11 Jun

Photographer Brendan Barry, founder and director of Positive Light Projects and creator of numerous unusual cameras, recently transformed the 46th floor of NYC’s 101 Park Avenue skyscraper into a massive camera obscura. The camera was part of the larger Skyscraper Camera Project installation that was live from May 13 to 16 in the iconic Manhattan tower.

Barry, accompanied by photography students, looks over a negative captured as part of the Skyscraper Camera Project.

Barry has crafted different types of cameras out of a variety of unexpected materials, including a medium format camera built in a pineapple, a 4×5″ camera that incorporates a log and a 35mm ‘butternut squash camera.’

According to the CBS affiliate WLNY, Barry gathered with 20 photography students on Saturday, May 11, to blackout 160 windows in the 46th floor of 101 Park Avenue. Lenses were installed in the dark space, enabling the team to project large images onto screens inside of the skyscraper. Below is a short feature WLNY created on the project:

The project was conceived by Favorite Child Creative founder and director Nicholas Kalikow, according to The Phoblographer. The 46th floor of the skyscraper was available during that time, offering a 360-degree view of the Manhattan skyline and the unique opportunity for this installation.

One of the many images captured with the skyscraper camera obscura.

During the workshop, Barry and participants produced what may be the largest analog photographs of New York City; they measure up to 45″ x 93″. The photos were developed in an on-site darkroom. In addition to transforming the floor into a large camera, the team also created a functional camera replica of the skyscraper.

Below is a collection of behind-the-scene images from the project that Barry kindly shared with DPReview:

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Barry’s other work can be found on his website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Famed Chinese rooftopper falls to his death from 62-story skyscraper

15 Dec

Photo: Weibo

Editor’s Note: We have decided not to post the video of the tragedy, or even link to it. Please, if you value your life, do not engage in ‘rooftopping’ or other risky activities for the sake of a ‘cool’ photo. There are legal and safe ways to capture great photos from tall places.

Performing dangerous stunts to capture exciting photos has long been hotly debated, but that hasn’t stopped some people from continuing to do incredibly dangerous things for the sake of a few Instagram likes. “Rooftopping,” the act of climbing a very high structure to take images showing the distance to the ground, is one of the most popular of these activities, and it recently claimed the life of 26-year-old Chinese rooftopper Wu Yongning.

Yongning regularly engaged in risky photo shoots. Hanging off of tall buildings earned him more than 60,000 followers on Weibo and a portfolio of unique, if vertigo-inducing and deeply unsettling, images. In the end, it also claimed his life.

Photo: Weibo

According to Channel NewsAsia, Yongning fell from the 62-story Huayuan Hua Centre while filming an attempted stunt to win 100,000 CNY (about $ 15k USD / €13k EUR) from an unnamed sponsor. Yongning reportedly planned to use the money to fund his wedding and help pay his mother’s medical bills.

A camera that had been set up to record the stunt captured Yongning’s final moments, showing him performing a couple of pull-ups while hanging off the edge of the skyscraper. Tragically, Yongning didn’t have the strength to pull himself back onto the rooftop afterward, and without anyone there to help him back up, he eventually lost his grip and fell.

The incidence happened on November 8th.

Recent public awareness of the tragedy has prompted Chinese state media to warn against performing unsafe social media stunts for money and/or attention.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Risk-Taking Russian Rooftopper: Woman Takes Terrifying Skyscraper Selfies

09 May

[ By SA Rogers in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

If you’re afraid of heights, a mere glance at these photos taken by Russian daredevil photographer Angela Nikolau might be enough to give you the heebie-jeebies. The 23-year-old scales some of the tallest skyscrapers in Russia and Asia, either using a selfie stick, a drone, or bringing her boyfriend Ivan Kuzenetsov along to take the photos. And as if perching on the edges of structures at such extreme heights isn’t enough, she often does yoga poses or wears stilettos while doing so.

Sunset in Dubai. ?????? ???????? ?????????? ????? ? ????? ??????? ??????? ? ????? ? ?????? !!!?? 9 ??? !!! ?????? ?? ????????? ?? ?????? ? ??? ??? ? ?????? ????? ????? @adrionov! #9??? #????? #????? #????? #???? #????? #???????? #?????????????? #??????????

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on May 8, 2017 at 8:12am PDT

Solar Bangkok #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #ssgkilleverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop #shanghai #hongkon

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Mar 1, 2017 at 8:39am PST

The self-taught climber is not too concerned about bypassing security and breaking trespassing laws to capture these incredible images, and virtually no building is too tall. Angela and Ivan climbed all 2,000 feet of the Golden Finance 117 building in Tianjin, China last fall.

What inspire you? ? ??? ??????????? ?????#chasingrooftops #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #killeverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #roof #roof_top #rooftop #china #guangzhou #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #ssgkilleverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop #shanghai #hongkong #selfietime #selfies #selfie #extreme

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Feb 19, 2017 at 6:27am PST

You often ask me "are you afraid?". Sometimes like on this photo I am afraid. ?? ????? ??????????? ???? "????? ?? ??". ??????, ??? ?? ???? ??????????, ? ??????. #artofvisuals #envisiontones #alphahype#shotzdelight #ourmoodydays #spacewheel#depthobsessed #streets_vision #agameoftones#fatalframes #theIMAGED #eclectic_zhotz#gramslayers #moodygrams #createandcapture#citykillerz #heater_central #streatdreamsmag#colors_of_day #urbanandstreet #thevisualones#way2ill #creativeoptic #themoodoflife#visualambassadors #vzcomacro #folksouls#createcommune #capturedconcepts #burjkhalifa

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Apr 21, 2017 at 7:09am PDT

Other illegal conquests include the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Shanghai Tower in China, the Tsing Ma bridge in Hong Kong and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Unsurprisingly, many of the photos have to be taken late at night to avoid being caught.

Do not stop! ?? ??????????????! #yimap #highwithyi #yi4k #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #ssgkilleverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop #shanghai #hongkong #selfietime #selfies #selfie #extreme

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Feb 12, 2017 at 8:16am PST

My life will never be the same Thanks to my dear @beerkus for the photo. ??? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? !) ?? ???? ??????? ????? ???????? @beerkus #yimap #highwithyi #yi4k #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #ssgkilleverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Dec 23, 2016 at 8:26am PST

Angela’s casual poses might be the most disconcerting aspect of the photos, especially for those of us who imagine death-gripping the edge if we managed to make it up that high. She’s often lounging dangerously close to certain death, holding on to a ladder with just one hand or hanging barefoot off cranes. In some images, she’s held aloft by her boyfriend, dangling hundreds of feet off the ground.

Dreamer ??????? ???????? ?? @to_be_bride Photo by @beerkus #shanghai #rooftop #roof #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #killeverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Oct 15, 2016 at 6:51am PDT

Always near. By @beerkus #hongkong #city #urban #china #girl ?? ???????? ??????? ???? ???????? ???????? @dr.2ch

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Aug 30, 2016 at 8:54am PDT

Check out my new video, full version by link in bio. My channel on YouTube Elevation_ia Thanks for support @cherehapa #cherehapa ??????????? ????? ???????? ?? ???? ?????? ? ????? ,?????? ? ????????. ??? ????? ?? ????? Elevation_ia ??????? ?? ????????? @cherehapa #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #ssgkilleverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop #shanghai #hongkong #selfietime #selfies #selfie #extreme

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Feb 9, 2017 at 9:35am PST

On a scale from one to ten, how happy are you now? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ??????, ????????? ?? ?????? ?????????? Thanks to my dear @beerkus for the photo. ?? ???? ??????? ????? ???????? @beerkus #yimap #highwithyi #yi4k #chasingrooftops #city_explore #rooftopping #neverstopexploring #killeverygram #killtheaboveground #urbanexploration #china #roof #rooftop

A post shared by Angela Nikolau (@angela_nikolau) on Nov 19, 2016 at 6:07am PST

Check out all of Angela’s images at her Instagram, @angela_nikolau.

[ By SA Rogers in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

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Visionary High-Rises: Winners of the 2017 eVolo Skyscraper Competition

20 Apr

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

The way we design and engage with our built environments will rapidly change as we grapple with climate change and develop new technological innovations, and in some cases, radical new ideas will be required. The annual skyscraper design competition held by eVolo recognizes visionary ideas for high-rise projects that challenge our understanding of vertical architecture and its relationship with both nature and existing cities. Here are this year’s winners along with 7 honorable mentions, including an Antarctic skyscraper attempting to reverse global warming, research facilities housed in the trunks of Sequoia trees, and vertically stacked factories sharing smart waste disposal and recycling techniques.

First Place: Mashambas Skyscraper

Based on the Swahili word for ‘an area of cultivated land’ often including the dwelling of the farmer, ‘Mashambas’ by Polish designers Pawel Lipinksi and Mateusz Frankowski aims to bring the green revolution of expanded harvests to the poorest people so they can produce surplus food for themselves and their neighbors, helping to eradicate poverty and hunger in their communities. The skyscraper itself is a “movable educational center” providing education, training on agricultural techniques, cheap fertilizers, modern tools and a local trading area, and it’s made of simple modular elements that can expand or disassemble as needed.

Second Place: Vertical Factories in Megacities

In decades past, prior to a round of improvements that made them far less noisy and polluting, factories were often relegated to land outside cities, requiring workers to commute long distances or move to suburban areas. But we don’t exactly want them taking up valuable square footage in urban areas, either. This concept by Tianshu Liu and Linshen Xie stacks them on top of each other like a towering sandwich so they can all take advantage of the same modern technologies for waste removal, potentially even transforming those waste products into clean heat, electricity, fertilizer and water.

Third Place: Espiral3500

In ‘La Albufera,’ a coastal area of Spain located within a natural agricultural park, a rapid increase in tourism during the summer has led to speculation-based development, threatening the very characteristics that make it so attractive in the first place. Population increases up to 1000% in some areas during high tourist season, and they empty out in winter. The Espiral3500 concept aims to meet the needs of tourists while protecting the natural resources of the territory via vertical growth, packing private and public spaces into a skyscraper with an ‘inverted street’ system. Visitors can wind their way up to the top, enjoying a wide range of shops, restaurants and hotels while taking in the view.

Honorable Mention: Arch Skyscraper

The basis of the Arch Skyscraper is envisioned as “an arch that undergoes transformations through the changes of light, human behavior, and other factors to form different spaces/units, which overlap one another vertically to form the final design.” Double-layer arches inspired by those found in medieval cathedrals and ancient Chinese pagodas are combined with vertical transportation, creating a series of vaulted spaces that are fun to explore.

Honorable Mention: The Forgotten Memorials

Noting that in the past, older architecture was often demolished to make way for the new in the constant cycle of urbanization, the designers of The Forgotten Memorials skyscraper concept propose requiring every generation to construct new buildings underneath the older ones. This could help preserve the past while accommodating the future on limited land. “They gradually, generation by generation, penetrate the clouds and become memorials beyond the sky.”

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Visionary High Rises Winners Of The 2017 Evolo Skyscraper Competition

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Taking Competition to New Heights: This Skyscraper Dangles from an Asteroid

30 Mar

[ By SA Rogers in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

dangling skyscraper 1

That tongue-in-cheek ‘world’s longest skyscraper’ design we highlighted last week seems totally reasonable compared to a new proposal taking the competition for the world’s tallest structure to absurd heights: The Analemma Tower literally dangles a skyscraper from an asteroid. An actual asteroid, orbiting the Earth. The design is firmly in sci-fi territory, with the renderings resembling matte paintings made for ‘70s and ‘80s movies set in space, but the architects offer details as to how this could actually work.

dangling skyscraper 2

Clouds architecture Office envisions a space-based supporting foundation, noting that NASA has planned a 2021 mission to capture and redirect an asteroid. Of course, NASA’s budget is up in the air right now, and who knows what’ll happen to the United States’ space-related endeavors by then. The asteroid would be located about 31,000 miles above the Earth’s surface, with the tower using what the firm calls the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS) to hang the multi-use tower via super-strong cables.

dangling skyscraper 4

The portion of the tower that sticks up above the Earth’s atmosphere will host an extraterrestrial cemetery, with the three sections below it designated for ‘devotional activities.’ The architects say these portions of the tower wouldn’t be attractive to live in due to “extreme conditions,” though they’d benefit from an extra 45 minutes of daylight each day. The residential area is fairly small in comparison, set just above the garden and agricultural section, an area for offices and business activities, and a transfer station with dining, shopping and entertainment options.

dangling skyscraper 5

Analemma would get its power from space-based solar panels, with water filtered and recycled in a semi-closed loop system and replenished with condensation captured from clouds and rain. It could be placed in an orbit allowing it to travel between the northern and southern hemispheres on a daily loop, with its slowest trajectory occurring over New York City so people can get on and off. They go into some detail on these technicalities on their website.

dangling skyscraper 3

“Manipulating asteroids is no longer relegated to science fiction. In 2015 the European Space Agency sparked a new round of investment in asteroid mining concerns by proving with its Rosetta mission that it’s possible to rendezvous and land on a spinning comet. NASA has scheduled an asteroid retrieval mission for 2021 which aims to prove the feasability of capturing and relocating an asteroid…”

“Analemma Tower is a proposal for the world’s tallest building ever. Harnessing the power of planetary design thinking, it taps into the desire for extreme height, seclusion and constant mobility. If the recent boom in residential towers proves that sales price per square foot rises with floor elevation, then Analemma Tower will command record prices, justifying its high cost of construction.”

[ By SA Rogers in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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The Big Bend: U-Shaped ‘World’s Longest Skyscraper’ is Intentionally Absurd

24 Mar

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

the big bend

There’s lots of competition for the title of world’s tallest skyscraper, but does anyone care about the world’s longest – even when it extends vertically into an upside-down U shape? If you were to take ‘The Big Bend’ and straighten it out to stand on one end, it would extend impossibly high into the air, especially for how skinny it is. But architecture studio Oiio seems to be poking some fun at architectural norms and ‘luxury’ at the same time with this fictional structure.

the big bend 2

Designed to fit into New York City’s Billionaire’s Row, a controversial set of super tall, ultra-luxury residential skyscrapers that tend to block views and cast shadows into Central Park, The Big Bend wonders whether the prestige of an absurdly high structure still exists when it’s bent in half. It maintains roughly the same dimensions as a super tall structure, so does that mean the developers can charge as much for the apartments inside as they would if it extended all the way up into the clouds?

big bend gif

The tongue-in-cheek design repeatedly references the Monopoly-style, top-hatted caricature of a billionaire in its renderings, and the firm’s statements about their proposal reveal a frustration with the way buildings in this echelon are designed, regulated and priced.

the big bend 5 the big bend 4

“There is an undeniable obsession that resides in Manhattan,” says the firm. “It is undeniable because it is made to be seen. There are many different ways that can make a building stand out, but in order to do so the building has to literally stand out. We have become familiar with building height measurements. We usually learn about the tallest building and we are always impressed by its price per square foot. It seems that a property’s height operates as a license for it to be expensive. New York City’s zoning laws have created a peculiar set of tricks through which developers try to maximize their property’s height in order to infuse it with the prestige of a high rise structure.”

the big bend 3

“But what if we substituted height with length? What if our buildings were long instead of tall? If we manage to bend our structure instead of bending the zoning rules in New York, we would be able to create one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. The longest building in the world. The Big Bend can become a modest architectural solution to the height limitations of Manhattan. We can now provide our structures with the measurements that will make them stand out without worrying about the limits of the sky.”

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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World’s Tallest Wood-Framed Skyscraper Proposed for London

15 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

wood tower for london

An angular affair of wood and glass, this proposed skyscraper is designed to reach nearly 1,000 feet in the air and, if it goes forward, will be the first timber-framed tower in London and tallest such structure on Earth.

wood skyscraper design

Stick-framed houses are standard in many parts of the world, but using wood for skyscrapers has a lot of potential advantages, including: lower costs, less embedded energy, more renewable resources and a look and feel scaled to human occupancy.

wood skyscraper skyline

The obvious worry for most people is, of course, fire. However, timber buildings are famously good at standing up to flames – columns and beams will char in an inferno, and that charred surface can actually stand up longer to heat than exposed steel. While steel heats up and buckles, wood first loses its water weight, then chars and resists the flames.

wooden architecture tower

As it turns out, “Wood is one of nature’s most innovative building materials: the production has no waste products and it binds CO2. Wood has low weight, but is a very strong load-bearing structure compared to its lightness.”

wood human factors

Rising 80 stories above the city and providing 1,000 housing units, the London stick tower project is a collaboration between PLP Architecture and Cambridge University’s Department of Architecture. Completed, it would be the second-tallest building in the city next to The Shard.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Modular Skyline: Pixelated Skyscraper Takes Shape in Bangkok

02 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

pixelated tower

A joint project of Büro Ole Scheeren and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, this skyscraper nearing completion in Bangkok, Thailand, features shifted box elements that break up its surface to create balconies and terraces.

deconstructivist skyscraper bangkok

Located downtown, the 77-story building features hundreds of apartments, a hotel and other mixed-use functions, including, plazas, shops, bars and restaurants. It is also the tallest building in the city. Originally scheduled for completion in 2010, the structure will now be finished this year (recent photographs above and below by Simon Rawlings, benstinyplanet and tsa.p).

modern glass tower deconstructed copy

Renderings below illustrate the street-level entrances, an aerial perspective and close-up views of the pixelation effects, as well as showing how the design evolved from concept to reality (as compared to photographs of its current state above).

pixelated tower renderings

pixelated tower detail

From the architects: “The design moves beyond the traditional formula of a seamless, inert, glossy totem, and instead actively engages the city: MahaNakhon’s pixilated and carved presence embraces and connects to the surrounding urban fabric rather than overpowering it.”

pixelated tower from above

“Its glittering stacked surfaces, terraces and protrusions will simultaneously create the impression of digital pixilation and echo the irregularity of ancient mountain topography.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Cyberpunk Sunset: Artificial Sun Lights Up Warsaw Skyscraper

31 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

warsaw downturn fake cyberpunk sun

The developers behind a new tower rising in downtown Warsaw, Poland, have added a sunny surprise to the side of the building, aiming to brighten the moods of citizens during dark and cold months of winter construction.

polish skyscraper warsaw sun

A temporary installation, set to stay in place until the floors are occupied, was made to “brighten up the lives of people during this depressing winter time, when the days are short and you miss the sun.” It was intentionally lit on Blue Monday, thought to be the most depressing day of the year.

warsaw artificial sunlight installation

The 42-story Q22 tower is a neomodern office building developed by Polish firm Echo Investment and designed by APA Kury?owicz & Associates with collaboration from Buro Happold Polska.

80s cyberpunk

Intentionally or otherwise, the entire project evokes images of retro gaming graphics and vintage cyberpunk films like Bladerunner, in a way (perhaps depressingly) reminding residents of just how much winter they still have lying in wait.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Sculptural Skyscraper: Ornate NYC Design Redefines Tower Decor

11 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

ornate manhattan skyscraper concept

Architect Mark Foster Gage has unveiled stunning plans for this 100-story, skyline-defining structure for Midtown Manhattan with views of Central Park. Commissioned by a developer to explore a statement-making skyscraper, the work includes carved figures and ornate balconies.

ornate midtown tower design

No expense was spared, at least in this conceptual stage: limestone-tinted concrete cladding and hydroformed sheet-bronze details are accompanied by brass-tinted alloy wrapping structural extrusions and enclosures. The program features ballrooms and restaurants at various heights as well as a mid-structure retail ‘sky lobby’.

ornate facade balcony level

Early skyscrapers puzzled architects initially, and many were envisaged as lower-height buildings (featuring a plinth at the base and crowned with decorative roofs) with the central portion stretched vertically. Then Modernists came along, smoothing out lines and discarding sculptural effects for glass and steel. This design goes a step behind recalling early towers, including iterative and undulating embellishments from top to bottom.

ornate street view building

Of course, there was a logic to architectural predecessors with elongated central zones – they were street-friendly at the bottom, and sky-friendly at the top, saving cost and complexity in the middle.

Whether such an extravegant reinterpretation of skyscrapers as this represents is indeed desirable or even feasible remains an open question. Still, there is something to be said for attempting to bring non-minimalist beauty back to tall buildings.

ornate towering structure nyc

In many ways, this approach represents a hybrid of old skyscrapers and new city-in-the-sky attitudes championed by contemporary architects, mixing programs at various levels to create a sort of self-contained structure for living, working and recreating.

360Photography

Posts Tagged ‘Skyscraper’

NYC’s iconic 101 Park Avenue skyscraper was turned into a giant camera last month

Famed Chinese rooftopper falls to his death from 62-story skyscraper

Risk-Taking Russian Rooftopper: Woman Takes Terrifying Skyscraper Selfies