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Dubai ‘Torch’ Tower Catches Fire, Extinguished with No Deaths

22 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

torch tower fires

A multistory fire raged up the side of this 1,105-foot skyscraper last night, one of the tallest in Dubai, exacerbated by high winds and casting molten glass and charred masonry from the so-called Torch tower down to the ground below. A few people were treated on the scene for minor injuries and smoke inhalation but no serious casualties have been reported.

torch building fire dubai

The blaze appears to have begun around the 50th floor at 2 AM local time before progressing up the side of the building and ultimately igniting other parts of the facade thanks to windswept debris – arson is not suspected at this time. Remarkably, firefighters managed to catch the fire relatively quickly and put out the inferno in a matter of hours despite unfavorable conditions.

Fire engulfs one of Dubai's highest residential towers #TorchTower pic.twitter.com/OyFVC78w85

— Asma (@LibyanBentBladi) February 21, 2015

#????_??????_??? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ?????? .. ???? ???? ????? .. #????_???????? pic.twitter.com/er7YmaiKkK

— ????? ??? (@Humanfirst_) February 21, 2015

Home to over 600 residential units, occupants of the Marina Torch are being temporarily relocated by its building managers (Kingfield Owner Association Management Services) while damage is assessed. At this time it is not certain when, how or even whether the structure will be restored.

dubai torch building before

Marina's #TorchTower after the fire http://t.co/zfY0CsRYvC pic.twitter.com/Bpk1INSNAa

— Gulf News (@gulf_news) February 21, 2015

Salute to heroes @DCDDubai @DubaiPoliceHQ @DCAS_Ambulance for getting everyone out safe #TorchTower #DubaiMarina pic.twitter.com/6SblKogXs9

— megha merani (@dxbmaven) February 21, 2015

While not unheard of historically, skyscraper fires (especially serious ones) are quite rare today, particularly in developed nations where strict building codes and appropriate material usage helps mitigate their risk. Generally they are caused either during construction or due to significant external factors, such as plane crashes (intentional but also accidental) or earthquakes. Images via the AP, EPA, Reuters and WikiMedia.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Jenga-Like Twisting Tower Won’t Leave Neighbors in the Shade

12 Feb

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

twisting tower 1

In order to get around strict city zoning regulations that forbid new structures from putting neighbors in the shade for more than two hours a day, architecture firm MVRDV devised a tower that twists upon itself to the point of seeming as if it could snap and fall over at any time. The twist creates an ultra-narrow profile right at the section of the building that would cast a shadow on nearby buildings.

twisting tower 2

twisting tower 3

From certain angles, it seems like chunks of the Hochhaus Tower have been taken right out near the base in a Jenga-like effect. Not only does this mean the bottom ten floors won’t cut off sunlight, it also routes strong winds away from the building’s plaza.

twisting tower 4

The twisting floors have outdoor terraces, while the rest feature glazed walls and 12-foot ceilings for sweeping views of Vienna and lots of natural daylight. The steel and glass facade will also have operable windows and full-height French doors.

twisting tower 5

Designed to be multifunctional for residential units, offices or other businesses, the Hochhaus Tower won three-stage international competition. Construction will begin in 2016, with an expected completion date of 2018.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Recycled Skylines: 8 Green Urban Tower Typologies for 2050

28 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

panoramic green city view

Exploring eco-friendly strategies for cities, this series of conceptual ‘Smart Tower’ skyscrapers and mid-rise structures incorporates design elements to reduce pollution, create renewable energy and yet also integrate with existing built environments.

green path smart towers

Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architectures, each of these typologies is set in Paris – many draw on local elements in practice, but in theory all are conceived of as having broader potential applications in urban contexts around the world. The idea, in essence, is to work with what is already in place, tapping underutilized elements for structural support or to provide a basis for further development.

green addition rooftop architecture

The proposals, named and detailed below, vary in their realism but are intended to provoke discussion and brainstorm possibilities, helping planners consider new ways to adapt existing buildings and infrastructure for cleaner and greener use in the near future.

green mountain tower additions

Mountain Towers: supported by the unused chimneys of existing buildings below, these power-generating additions draw solar energy and use a reversible hydro-electrical pumped storage system to pull up and send down hot water.

green antismog bike path

Antismog Towers: set along disused rail lines, this piece of the project combines cycling paths and urban gardens with cyclonic towers to clean the air and wind turbines to generate electricity.

green photosynthesis towers

Photosynthesis Towers: incorporating green algae bioreactors into existing tall buildings (a particular extant set deemed visually unfit by city officials), this conversion project turns adjacent open space into a phyto-purification lagoon for graywater runoff but also transforms an eyesore into an eye-catching hybrid of landscape and architecture.

green future bridge architecture

green bridge from above

Bridge Towers: connecting across urban waterways, these river-spanning structures provide a combination of water power, bridge infrastructure and living space, organically morphing between energy-generating apparatus and livable buildings.

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Recycled Skylines 8 Green Urban Tower Typologies For 2050

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Afterglow: Luma Tower, Glasgow’s Shining Art Deco Icon

25 Jan

[ By Steve in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Rising from the trashes of vandalism and neglect, Glasgow‘s former Luma Light Bulb Factory has recaptured its Art Deco glory as the residential Luma Tower.

The “Dirty Thirties” were especially gritty in Scotland but as the dark clouds of war gathered, from Glasgow’s mighty Sheildhall Manufacturing Complex there emanated a brief shining moment of brilliant light. The British Luma Co-Operative Lamp Company was the source – opening in 1938 in conjunction (though not part of) the Empire Exhibition held in nearby Bellahouston Park, the Anglo-Swedish joint venture company was housed in a strikingly beautiful Art Deco edifice which featured a glazed “conning tower” soaring 84 feet into the Scottish sky. Kudos to Flickr user Andrew Lynch for our lead image and the Glasgow City Archives for the circa-1939 photo above..

The combined factory/office building was designed by Cornelius Armour, an architect employed by the Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society. Armour’s signature flourish was the tower: a visually riveting architectural feature that powerfully melded form and function. Flickr user Ben Allison captures the restored glory of the Luma building in the above series of shots.

Mounted inside the windowed room were a plethora of testing equipment that allowed employees to test light bulbs of all types. That each bulb glowed with superior brilliance was no accident: testing was conducted using electrical voltages above and beyond the lamps’ designed capacity in order to explore longevity issues.

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Afterglow Luma Tower Glasgows Shining Art Deco Icon

[ By Steve in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Town in a Tower: 14-Floor Highrise Houses Whole Alaskan Hamlet

14 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

town tower copy

High-minded Modernists of the mid-1900s envisioned futuristic all-in-one cities in the sky where we would work, place, live and love, but would have been surprised to learn that their ideal has perhaps been mostly closely realized in the remote village of Whittier, Alaska, where virtually everything happens under one roof.

town in tower thumbnails

A fourteen-story structure known as Begich Towers, formerly an army barracks, is host to most of the town’s residents as well as its post office, grocery store, health clinic, laundromat and church. Writer Erin Sheehy and photographer Reed Young (montage shown above) visited and photographed this remote village, traveling sixty miles from Anchorage, Alaska and through a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel to get to there.

town buckner building exterior

This is a place of extremes, which helps explain why its occupants are happy to stay indoors as much as possible – average snowfalls of 250 inches (up to 400 inches some years) and glass-shattering winds make using underground tunnels a preferred means of getting to the few other buildings in town, including the local school. The other large structure in the area is the Buckner Building, abandoned but favored by youth who need to get out and go somewhere.

town abandoned buckner building

Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation comes to mind, a Brutalist village-in-the-sky concept with alternating floors and complex sections designed to accommodate layers of living, working, shopping and recreating throughout. Ultimately its realization devolved into a typical apartment complex, but the external factors simply weren’t there to reinforce it as an internally self-sufficient community.

town glacier ice water

More from Young about the town year-round: “In the summertime Whittier is bustling. Seasonal workers come for jobs on fishing boats, charter boats, or in the cannery, and cruise ships bring hundreds of thousands of tourists to the harbor. But thriving harbor industries—freight, fishing, tourism—don’t seem to translate into growth for the city.”

town cruise ship port

Like a college town times a few thousand, with visitors far outnumbering actual residents – hundreds of thousand visit the area annually but most drop off for just part of a day then get back on their train or cruise ship and leave town again.

town in a tower

It is, in a way, a company town, but it can also be claustrophobic for those used to warmer climates and more private spaces. “The Alaska Railroad Corporation is the majority landowner in Whittier, but it doesn’t pay property taxes, and it employs few residents. A supply barge comes into town once a week, but most of the workers who unload the freight commute from Anchorage. Not everyone who tries to live in Begich Towers can take it—a newcomer from Florida compared it to jail—and there simply isn’t much space on which to build alternate housing” Aside from the four-image montage, additional images for this story by Travis, nate’sgirl, davidd, Frank Kovalchek, Ross Fowler and Brian Digital.

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Social Structure: Apartment Tower Fosters Community Creation

24 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Tall residential complexes often share very little common space, leading to a relatively solitary living experience despite the density of dwellings – this design aims to change that paradigm dramatically.

Indeed, helping people get to know their neighbors the driving concept behind this building in Antwerp, Belgium, where similar units are clustered around shared balconies and gardens.

Communal dining, rooftop deck, bike repair and indoor green spaces also encourage further interaction, increasing opportunities for chance encounters. As Black Swan author Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes, “This makes living in big cities invaluable because you increase the odds of serendipitous encounters — you gain exposure to the envelope of serendipity”

Designed by C.F. Møller Architects and Brut Architecture and Urban Design, the idea is to increase interactions both within smaller sets of apartments and throughout the complex.

All of this is meant to help residents form bonds more quickly, beyond the one-off greetings in elevators and periodic meetings in one-per-building community rooms.

The conceptual intent is also cleverly legible on the exterior of the building, with a facade that is broken down into different sections to create a series of scales showing small individual units and collections thereof within the framework of the larger structure.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Bloodswept Lands: Poppies Pour out of the Tower of London

08 Aug

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Tower of London Poppies 1

Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red is the appropriately dramatic name for this incredible installation of red ceramic poppies pouring from an upper window into the dry moat around the Tower of London. A striking visual representation of loss, the work will ultimately consist of 888,246 blooms, each representing a British or Colonial military fatality.

Tower of London Poppies 2

Seen from a distance, the installation could be perceived as either a profusion of vitality in the form of out-of-control flowers, or a macabre river of blood.

Tower of London Poppies 3

Tower of London Poppies 4

Commemorating the centennial of Britain’s involvement in World War I, the installation continues to evolve as members of the public show their support by purchasing individual poppies.

Tower of London Poppies 5

Proceeds from the sale of each poppy will be shared among six service charities, including several that support the mental health and physical needs of veterans in the UK.

Tower of London Poppies 6

Tower of London Poppies 8

The flowers are being placed one at a time by volunteers, the process not set to be complete until November 11th. Progress on the installation can be tracked using the #TowerPoppies hashtag on Twitter.

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Caught on Video: Illegal BASE Jump Off NYC Freedom Tower

07 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

skydiving illegal 1 wtc

Breaking into One World Trade Center and scaling to its top was just the beginning for this daring trio, who then not only parachuted from close to the peak but also had to navigate nearby structures on the way down and ultimately land in the street.

If you are not one for suspense, skip to the two minute and thirty second mark in the first video above to watch as the first jumper takes the plunge from the 1,776-foot tower, followed shortly thereafter by the man behind the camera.

amazing building jump

After months of hiding their identities, James Brady, Marco Markovich and Kyle Hartwell have turned themselves in and are already raising legal funds for their defense. They are charged with burglary, reckless endangerment and jumping from a structure.

base jump caught video

nyc street landing strip

skydiving street landing

According to the New York Times, the trio have been “described by their lawyers as experienced, amateur sky divers who also sought thrills leaping from buildings, bridges and other structures.” As for how they got in and up in this case: apparently, they simply slipped through a hole in the fence, scaled the stairs and did not encounter any security along the way to the top of the tower above. A similar stunt was pulled by a teenager not too long ago, but reporters who tried to follow suit found themselves caught and arrested.

[ By WebUrbanist in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

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Tree-Inspired Tower: Condo Balconies Unfurl Like Leaves

23 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

tree shaped tower balconies

An iconic new mixed-use development in the heart of Montpellier in southern France, L’Arbre Blanc (The White Tree) grew out of a design concept tied to the outdoor traditions of this temperate region along the Mediterranean Sea.

tree tower city views

tree tower building detail

Spinning out from a central core, the design-defining balconies unfold brilliantly to offer upper-level residents an array of amazing panoramic views while providing shade for units below.

tree tower exterior view

This collaborative project by Sou Fujimoto Architects, Nicolas Laisné Associés and Manal Rachdi Oxo Architects (via ArchDaily with images by RSI Studio) includes a restaurant, bar, offices and art gallery in addition to dwellings.

tree towers and surrounds

tree tower urban context

Set in the fastest-growing city in France, the building is designed as a transition point between the heart of the old city and a series of faster-growing neighborhoods surrounding the existing center.

tree tower bar restaurant

tree tower street level

A series of passive heating and cooling strategies, including wind and solar usage, reinforce the tree concept with practical and sustainable solutions for everyday occupants.

tree tower interior designs

tree tower artificial lake

In terms of the housing units themselves: “The architects sought to encourage free-choice architecture, which they see as underpinning tomorrow’s housing trend where everyone starts with a ‘housing stock’ when they buy their flat and are not confined to manufactured articles, regimented layouts, turnkey spaces. Instead they are given possibilities, modular interior spaces they can choose from a catalogue of optional features and floor plans.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Crowdfunded Skyscraper: Record-Breaking Tower in Bogotá

21 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

crowdfunded skyscraper

With over $ 200 million from more than 3,500 supporters, the world’s largest crowdfunding campaign has generated the means to create the highest skyscraper in Colombia (and the first new one in 40 years).

crowd build columbia bogata

The communal nature of the stake puts both the property and power in the hands of the contributors, who in turn receive stake in the finished structure being built in downtown Bogotá. This approach, facilitated by the Prodigy Network, also distributes the risk of this bold venture between those with the motivation to see it made a reality – primarily locals and others with a vested interest in the city’s future.

crowd plaza rendering detail

The structure will address a lack of dense vertical growth in a city that has suffered from sprawl, on the one hand, and too-busy streets on the other. It aims to create a residential, commercial and institutional focal point in a location “where tourism, culture, education and shopping are all together, but also where traffic and congestion demand different means of development.”

crowd buildings top

Green strategies include advanced water collection systems with graywater reuse, green roof elements, advanced natural lighting optimization and supplemental passive heating and cooling systems.

More statistics on the finished project: “When complete the BD Bacatá will be 66-stories high and 1.2 million square feet. Development will include office and retail space, apartments and a hotel. The 364-room hotel, located in the tallest tower of the complex will be operated by Eurostars, and feature such amenities as a business center, restaurant, cafeteria, and full-service gym providing hotel guests with above-and-beyond service to ensure their experience will be worth remembering.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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360Photography

Posts Tagged ‘Tower’

Dubai ‘Torch’ Tower Catches Fire, Extinguished with No Deaths

Jenga-Like Twisting Tower Won’t Leave Neighbors in the Shade

Recycled Skylines: 8 Green Urban Tower Typologies for 2050

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Recycled Skylines 8 Green Urban Tower Typologies For 2050

Afterglow: Luma Tower, Glasgow’s Shining Art Deco Icon

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Afterglow Luma Tower Glasgows Shining Art Deco Icon

Town in a Tower: 14-Floor Highrise Houses Whole Alaskan Hamlet

Bloodswept Lands: Poppies Pour out of the Tower of London

Caught on Video: Illegal BASE Jump Off NYC Freedom Tower

Tree-Inspired Tower: Condo Balconies Unfurl Like Leaves

Crowdfunded Skyscraper: Record-Breaking Tower in Bogotá

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