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Building Up Iraq: World’s Tallest Skyscraper Planned for Basra

27 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

worlds tallest

An ambitious proposal for a country in turmoil, this 3,780-foot building would be not only the tallest in the world but also taller than all structures currently in planning or under construction.

tallest building iraq

Composed of four connected towers, The Bride by AMBS Architects aims to exceed the Kingdom Tower slated for construction in Saudi Arabia as well as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

sweeping veil

The mixed-use commercial, housing and office project includes a sweep veil providing shade for outdoor public spaces, parks, gardens and smaller buildings below. A net-zero structure, it is designed to produce more renewable energy than it consumes.

tallest building diagram

Its designers boast that the 1.5 million square foot structure will break new ground in engineering and vertical transportation. They also emphasize that its horizontality makes an intentional statement about inclusivity – the building is meant to serve more than just those who occupy its heights.

diagramatic

“Super-tall towers are perceived as an object in the distance,” said AMBS. “An alien planted in the city, disconnected from the urban scale at ground level. The Bride, on the other hand, will be conceived as a city itself both vertically but also horizontally from the ground.”

skyscraper basra

“It will be enjoyed by thousands of people in endless ways, within it, on it or under it, from walking in the vast shaded parks and promenades at ground level, to having lunch or shopping in a sky-square hundreds of metres above sea level.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Dubai Commissions Fleet of Jetpacks to Fight Skyscraper Fires

25 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

dubai skyscraper

Well known for its high-tech aspirations as well as architectural exuberance, the city of Dubai has begun ordering jetpacks for use by emergency services personnel in combating elevated blazes in its tall mixed-use towers.

Dubai Civil Defence is making the move in response to fires like the one that recently took place in its unfortunately-named Torch Tower, the world’s tallest residential building when it was completed.

dubai fire

The Martin Aircraft Company is adapting its existing models of commercial jetpacks to better suit the needs of flying firefighters. A standing platform will be added between the propeller engines, to allow pilots to let go of the controls (engaging a default hover mode) and move around more freely, as well as carry equipment.

hover mode

“Dubai is leading the world in high-rises, and sometimes we have challenges or difficulties reaching those buildings,” Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa told the Khaleej Times.

“Sometimes we also find it difficult to communicate with people in those high-rises, especially when people are panicking from windows or balconies. With the jetpack we can go there and communicate physically with them and give them instructions.” Authorities in Dubai aim to secure and deploy their new array of flying machines by early next year.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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World’s Littlest Skyscraper Scam: Con Man Used Inches, Not Feet

23 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Culture & History & Travel. ]

world smallest high rise

Perhaps the greatest cons of all time are those that manage to hold up in court, like the case of the world’s smallest skyscraper, a building sold to investors at 480 inches tall on a blueprint that did not convert those units back into feet.

worlds smallest skyscraper texas

Built during an oil boom in Wichita Falls, Texas, the Newby-McMahon Building measures just 40 feet tall, 18 feet deep and 10 feet wide, initially featuring neither stairs nor elevators, forcing occupants to climb ladders to access upper floors. Completed in 1919, the structure was the brainchild of J.D. McMahon, petroleum landman and structural engineer, who collected $ 200,000 of investments (over $ 2 million in today’s dollars) to build a skyscraper in an area of rapid regional growth in great need of highrise office space.

plaque smallest skyscraper

The subtle genius that won his defense in the ensuing lawsuit: his floor plans, sections and elevations were all drawn to scale and clearly labeled in inches rather than feet, resulting in a building that was precisely one twelfth what its investors were expecting on all sides. McMahon began construction and before long the other stakeholders realized they were being swindled but found they had no recourse, having explicitly signed off on the drawings. The company responsible for installing an elevator backed out when they realized they were part of the scam, leaving the building without any means of transit between floors as well.

worlds littlest skyscraper con

Despite it being a folly in the eyes of its investors and being boarded up for years during the Great Depression, the structure was saved time and time again from demolition by local activists and has since housed a series of businesses within its modest-sized walls. Today it remains a historic landmark, though due to its size it does not meet classification criteria as even a highrise, let alone an atual skyscraper. Images by Chuck Coker, Nicolas Henderson and Solomon Chaim.

[ By WebUrbanist in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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‘Death Ray’ Skyscraper Stands Accused of Blowing People Over

28 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

walkie talkie construction progress

Already infamous for its curved facade that ignited fires in adjacent buildings and melted nearby cars basking in its reflected sunlight, the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in London is now being blamed for toppling signs, overturning food carts and even knocking passers-by off their feet. Dubbed ‘Walkie Scorchie’ as well as the ‘Death Ray’ during its last public debacle, critics may need a new name for this building more suited to its fresh source of infamy.

wind tunnel heat

Local business owners, employees and residents have reported a dramatic increase in downdraughts since the completion of the 36-story downtown structure, suggesting its completion coincides with an upsurge of urban wind tunnel effects on surrounding streets.

skyscraper london downtown

A worker at a local retail outlet told The Times: “It has only really been windy since the Walkie Talkie has been here. When they were building it and there were the building works going on, it was fine. But ever since they’ve completed it, the wind really picked up.”

Walkie Talkie rips

A temporary screen erected at street level, eventually replaced with permanent shades hung from its concave side, solved the previous heat-generating problems tied to light reflection; it is unclear if something analogous can be done to address current wind-related concerns. For now, local food trolleys have been instructed to carry warning signs indicating they could tumble over and crush customers or pedestrians, a very incomplete and unsatisfactory solution for all potentially impacted parties.

urban curved building

Meanwhile, officials suggest there will be stricter reviews for new construction. According to Gwyn Richards, the City of London Corporation’s head of design, “The wind outcome at street level experienced post-construction on a number of projects differs somewhat to the conditions we were expecting from the one outlined in the planning application wind assessments. This is why we are asking for an independent verification of the wind studies on a number of new schemes to ensure as rigorous and resilient an approach as possible.” (images via Matt Brown and Duncan H).

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Curvaceous Skyscraper: Beyoncé Inspires High-Rise Down Under

08 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

curved skyscraper shapely tower

Architects in Melbourne cite the cloth-clad dancers in the music video for Ghost by singer, songwriter and performer Beyoncé as the source of this newly-approved building, tall, slender and full of curves. Indeed, the whole building looks like an undulating figure on a pedestal, rectilinear below and organic above.

beyonce ghost video

curved vertical skyscraper design

A skyline-shaping and head-turning structure, the mixed-use Premier Tower was designed by local firm Elenberg Fraser and boasts structural as well as aesthetic reasons for its complex appearance. The architects explain that “the twists and turns of this new project belie its pure and simple, first principles rationale,” representing the “culmination of our significant research into how to best work with individual site and climatic constraints, brought together using our new parametric modelling techniques.”

beyonce skyscraper

beyonce building

curved skyscraper square base

Structurally, the cantilever helps redistribute the mass to deal with frequency oscillation and wind loads needed to deal with local environmental conditions and meet building codes. At the same time, watching the music video (above) shows the visual source of inspiration that drove this design direction in the first place (arguably also influenced by the work of Zaha Hadid).

curved skyscraper lobby level

curved view building melbourne

curved columns in tower

curved lobby ceiling

The distinctively exterior curviness is carried into various interior elements as well, from wavy ceilings to complex cylindrical columns, repeating the same curvilinear theme throughout various indoor spaces both communal and private.

curved dinner seating chart

curved apartment unit view

curved night view

curved skyscraper appearance

The finished complex will house over 600 apartments and 100 hotel rooms, sitting next to Southern Cross station, anchoring a western progression within the city “heralded by the regeneration of Docklands, Fishermen’s Bend and Southbank.” Significantly taller than structures on all sides, the bold design sets a new precedent for the neighborhood. Creating a direct connection to a public figure in the entertainment industry is also a daring move, and likely to brand the building going forward, for better or worse.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Triangle Tower Approved: First New Paris Skyscraper in 42 Years

03 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

paris new skyscraper tower

At nearly 600 feet (180 meters) tall, this structure was narrowly granted permission to be the first skyscraper to grace the Parisian skyline in nearly half a century. Designed by Herzog & De Meuron, the Tour Triangle will be the third tallest building in the city, shorter only than one other skyscraper and the Eiffel Tower.

paris new architecture skyscraper

The triangular tower (already nicknamed simply ‘Triangle’) is slightly pyramidal in shape, tapering toward the top on all sides but most dramatically along two of its facades. An affair of steel and glass, it is starkly modern with respect to its neighboring buildings. Perhaps like the Eiffel Tower, originally widely hated, or the Centre Pompidou, a structurally-inverted museum, it can become an icon within the city over time.

paris skyscraper city limits

Despite being located at 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, right on the edge of the central ring road surrounding the innermost part of the city (and arguably reinforcing a key nexus point), critics are concerned about the building overshadowing the surrounding urban landscape. The measure to approve its construction barely passed.

paris tour triangle tower

Advocates are quick to point out that the building will create thousands of jobs both as it is constructed and once it is completed, as well as creating much-needed residential and office space in the city. For decades, the city limited new structures to around 100 feet, curbing development inside the city limits and forcing developers into suburban spaces.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Two World Trade Center: BIG Redesign Deconstructs Skyscraper

24 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

two wtc stacked boxes

A long-standing design proposal from Foster + Partners has been scrapped by developers in favor of a new scheme from BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) that presents a different face to viewers depending on their approach or view within the city, rejecting conventional skyscraper typology and cultivating visual transitions between neighborhoods on all sides.

two world trade stack

As the last project slated to be built on the World Trade Center site, the would-be 2 WTC skyscraper is a critical piece of the Lower Manhattan landscape, but its future tenants wanted something that stood apart from the more straightforward tall buildings associated with finance and Wall Street.

two tower foster partners

The prior scheme, shown above, featured four connected verticals, each terminating in an angled plane at the top, essentially a tower with slots centrally located along each face. The new scheme, endorsed by occupants including 21st Century Fox and News Corp and shown below, intentionally shies away from the skyscraper aesthetic and creates space for greenery on a series of platforms created by recessed sections of structure.

two memorial site view

two box tower view

Its facade shows off a slim and modest structure when viewed from the memorial site on one side below but creates a stacked-box effect when seen from adjacent lower-rise parts of the city above like Tribeca: “From Tribeca, it will appear like a vertical village of singular buildings each tailored to their individual activities stacked on top of each other, forming parks and plazas in the sky.”

two platforms gardens levels

two interior exterior bridge

two wtc interior

two news media studio

two news broadcast pit

two newsroom open space

By keeping larger boxes at the base and similar overall square footage (nearly 3,000,000 square feet), the building also is designed to accommodate sizable studio spaces for the aforementioned media companies. Lower levels will be occupied by these giants while upper floors will be rented out to smaller commercial clients. Set alongside One, Three and Four World Trade Center, this structure will stand apart, its broken-down scale visually bridging the gap between the southern tip of the island and the rest of the city to the north.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Scaffolding Skyscraper: Very Public Urban Artist-in-Residence

17 Apr

[ By Steph in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

scaffolding skyscraper 1

The scaffolding used by a street artist to complete large murals becomes a tiny, less-than-private home away from home in a literal sense with ’24/7,’ an installation at the Memorie Urbane Street Art Festival in Gaeta, Italy. Playing on the concept of an artist-in-residence, the project by Milan-based Fra.Biancoshock highlights the stark difference in the working environments of street artists versus studio artists, and makes a statement on the living conditions of artists in general.

scaffolding skyscraper 2

scaffolding skyscraper 3

Street artists work in public by necessity, every stage of their work on display for passersby. Privacy isn’t really an option when you’re painting urban surfaces. Some artists spend so much time on scaffolding, it can start to feel like a second home.

scaffolding skyscraper 5

scaffolding skyscraper 6

Fra.Biancoshock decided to run with that idea and create his own four-story residence including a small studio, dining area, bedroom and rooftop terrace within just a few square meters.

scaffolding skyscraper 3

livable billboard

Open to the elements and to prying eyes, this temporary artist residence makes the livable billboard created by the paper company Scribe in Mexico City look luxurious by comparison. That project offered an elevated living space for artists mounted to the back of the billboard they were painting as an ad for the company.

[ By Steph in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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Jungle in the City: Wild Urban Biome Skyscraper Design

11 Apr

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

jungle skyscraper 1

Suspended aquariums, snowy landscapes, jungles and caves can all be found in the heart of the city, steps away from dense urban housing, in the middle of this wild skyscraper concept. Winner of eVolo magazine’s 2015 skyscraper competition, ‘Essence’ by BOMP re-introduces nature to heavily developed areas with eleven diverse landscapes built right into its core.

jungle skyscraper 3

The futuristic urban tower design aims to be a secret garden in the middle of the city, combining architecture and nature within an environment where wildlife and greenery are rarely found outside of parks. “The main goal of this project is to position non-architectural phenomena in an urban fabric,” say the designers.

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 11.00.49 AM

The eleven natural landscapes overlap each other within the vertical structure, including a jungle, a cave, a waterfall and even an ‘ocean.’ The landscapes were chosen for their complex range of “visual, acoustic, thermal, olfactory and kinesthetic experiences.”

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 11.00.41 AM

Open to the public, this series of natural spaces includes fish tanks lifted 30 meters above the floor and other natural features, with different paths offering different adventures. Each is positioned beside large glazed walls overlooking the city, offering a strange juxtaposition of environments. See the rest of the contest entries at eVolo.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Mini Sky City: 57-Story Chinese Skyscraper Built in 19 Days

29 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

sky city speed

The world’s tallest prefab building has just been constructed at a rate of 3 stories per day, showcasing the power of modular design and industrial prefabrication operating at scale. Located in Changsha, China, the record-breaking building is designed to be connected by sky bridges to a larger Sky City complex yet to be completed.

fast

This first step in the grand scheme is this mixed-use structure featuring 800 apartments and office space for 4,000 workers with a total of over 2,000,000 square feet as well as 19 giant atrium spaces.

Producing many of the component parts in advance in factories, including entire truss systems, saves time and energy on site and also reduces pollution associated with busy construction sites and cast-on-site concrete. Its builders at BSB estimate a reduction in output of carbon dioxide by 12,000 tons thanks to these techniques as well as other environmental benefits, including a decrease in dust and particulates in the air around the building site.

sky city interior

Mini Sky City, as the tower is titled, is to be part of a larger Sky City series of interconnected skyscrapers that will include vertical farming spaces. One of the less-obvious byproducts of building at such speeds: China is able to effectively rapid-prototype urban design experiments at scale, testing novel strategies for vertical interaction and horizontal integration across structures.

sky city interiors

The country recently saw the successful completion of the world’s first 3D-printed apartment complex as well as the rapid creation of 10 houses 3D-printed from scrap materials put together in just one day.

sky city progress

If you have ever driven past a skyscraper in progress day after day, you will know from experience just how fast this assembly really is compared to industry standards around the world – the precision of parts and management of contractors involved would be staggering in a situation with less-tight coordination as well.

sky city part one

Whether this will all become part of China’s ultimate bust in real estate, the technologies, techniques and principles on display here can and should be studied by architects from around the world.

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Posts Tagged ‘Skyscraper’

Building Up Iraq: World’s Tallest Skyscraper Planned for Basra

Dubai Commissions Fleet of Jetpacks to Fight Skyscraper Fires

World’s Littlest Skyscraper Scam: Con Man Used Inches, Not Feet

‘Death Ray’ Skyscraper Stands Accused of Blowing People Over

Curvaceous Skyscraper: Beyoncé Inspires High-Rise Down Under

Triangle Tower Approved: First New Paris Skyscraper in 42 Years

Two World Trade Center: BIG Redesign Deconstructs Skyscraper

Scaffolding Skyscraper: Very Public Urban Artist-in-Residence

Jungle in the City: Wild Urban Biome Skyscraper Design

Mini Sky City: 57-Story Chinese Skyscraper Built in 19 Days

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