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Lifehacker
In a dusty supply closet at 1 Times Square, a computer terminal hooked up to hordes of ethernet servers, RAID arrays and monitors humbly runs the largest LED sign in the world. The sign, a 3-sided, 17,000-square-foot Goliath, debuted last night at the opening of a Walgreens in New York City. Today, I got to see what makes it tick.
When we first wrote about this comically huge Walgreens LED sign — the largest of its kind in the world — construction was just getting under way. That was May, and now they're done. D3 LED, the firm behind the sign, finally turned on this 17,000 square foot, 100 metre tall, three-sided tribute to technical and commercial excess — and what timing! But before we start challenging the rationale behind displaying 100m moving Tampax ads, it's worth looking at the extraordinary tech inside this thing.
The Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world, is at 160 stories and counting, with the tower due to be complete next September. But it's not the only tower under construction in Dubai, not by a longshot. No, the city appears to be sprouting up from the ground like a bunch of weeds, with as many cranes as buildings. And now, The Big Picture has nearly 30 amazing shots of the city in transition. Hit the jump for another of my favourites and then head over to The Big Picture for the rest.
So modern treehouses aren't new, but the designers of this project in New Zealand have crafted something that blends fantastically with its host redwood tree. The fungus or chrysalis-shaped building—take your aesthetic pick—will be a smallish restaurant built by, of all people, the NZ Yellow Pages. It's currently under construction from laminated pine, plantation poplar and redwood thirty feet up a giant tree in a place north of Auckland. Getting there'll be fun when it's finished though: entry is via a 120-foot high treetop walkway. [Contemporist via Born Rich]
Created by LAVA architects--the people who designed the Beijing Water Cube and the spectacular Michael Schumacher tower--and the work organisation branch of the Fraunhofer Institute--who brought you the MP3 standard--this Future Hotel Room belongs to a set of a Kubrick movie full of monoliths and monkeys. It's not just looks, however: The room has been designed to "investigate the interfaces between architecture, technology and the human body." One of these interactions is the use of lighting.
The Colussus of Rhodes, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, is going to be rebuilt as an innovative light sculpture—the "world's largest light installation" according to its architect. And it'll be even bigger than the 120-foot original, which was destroyed in an earthquake in 226BC.
Something weird must be going on in the Alps, because alien structures keep popping up like circles in the English crops and people insist on doing jacuzzi parties at 15,700 feet. Take this shiny Alpine Capsule, a beautiful--if not eerie--26-feet in diameter mountain shelter designed by Studio Lovegrove that seems to be made of mercury.
This must take the record for the trippiest data-centre build anywhere, ever: It's an old nuclear bunker 30 metres below central Stockholm, and its new conversion for one of Sweden's biggest ISPs has made it truly 007-worthy. Check it: it has simulated daylight, greenhouses and waterfalls, there're German submarine engines rigged as emergency backup generators, plus there's 1.5 megawatts of cooling for the servers. Oh, and it can survive a hydrogen bomb attack.
This 130m skyscraper has been approved for building in London, but unlike "dead" conventional buildings, the Sky Garden includes plans for two three-story gardens to be built inside it. The idea is to "create a space for social interaction" and "foster micro communities," which sounds like a neat way of combining green eco-friendliness and dense urban buildings. The gardens will cover about 2,500 square metres in total: a significant proportion of the building to give up from your normal retail/accommodation space. And it's just going to be way cool to take a stroll in the "park" in your own building. [DesignBoom]
Even though Dubai's hunger for increasingly elaborate architectural designs is starting to border on the absurd, I still believe that pushing the envelope of design is ultimately a good thing. I mean, even Kazakhstan is reaping the rewards. Along these lines, architect Jean Nouvel created a mechanical facade in Paris 20 years ago that has inspired many followers since. OObject has compiled a list of 12 of the best examples of these moving facades—many of which are hard to take your eyes off of. [OObject]
