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.

Read More »

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]

Anybody watching The New Inventors on the ABC last night will have spotted this fantastic local invention that essentially lets you build your own house out of a lego-like brick.

The Benex Blocks are a lightweight, fire- water- and salt-resistant building block that slot together using patented connectors, just like Lego. Unlike traditional bricks, which require a professional bricklayer to lay mortar between each layer of bricks and ensure the wall is built evenly and level, the Benex Blocks only require the bottom layer to be fastened with mortar - every subsequent layer slots together and is stuck together using a special Benex adhesive.

But not only can you build a wall yourself quickly and easily, you can also use regular handtools to cut holes or resize the blocks. You can even screw directly into the blocks themselves without weakening the product. Each large block weighs about 13kg, and measures in at 600 x 200 x 200mm. And if you're wondering about strength - the CSIRO has rated the blocks as one of the hardest masonry products available.

Hopefully it won't be too long before we see people making their own houses, brick by brick, using Benex Blocks, just like creating their own Lego homes.

[Benex Blocks - Thanks Mys!]

It's an unfortunately foggy morning in Shanghai, but from where I am, the crappy weather only adds to the feeling of standing in the middle of clouds. I'm towering almost half a kilometer over the rest of the city, on the highest man-made observation deck in the world, the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, which opened just two months ago. With cumulus on my right, stratus on my left and a mirrored ceiling reflecting their formations back at me—I feel myself getting dizzy. Have I developed a fear of heights, or is vertigo inevitable when you're this far up?

Read More »

We've long known about certain companies in China "borrowing inspiration" from more well known gadget makers, but it looks like architects aren't safe from copycat syndrome either. Check out this spa building in Chongqing, the capital of Sichuan (where the earthquakes happened), which looks a little like it may have been designed by someone with just a little bit of Beijing Olympics mania. Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? [Shanghaiist]

Read More »

Forget the 1,000 metre-high 200-floor Nakheel Tower because it's no longer going to be the highest skyscraper in the world. The new upcoming beast is this amazing 2.5km-high skyscraper planned for the Jumeirah City project in Dubai. The building is so tall that its main elevator is in fact a vertical 200kph bullet train. This city-in-a-skyscraper will consume 37,000MWH/year, with a 15MW peak usage, but as the plans show, it has been designed to generate most of it using wind, thermal, and solar power:

Read More »

We told you about the 460,000-brick, 29.48 metre Lego tower before, but here is the video showing how it was built by Lego experts with the help of 3,000 kids, who assembled 121 sections made with 2 x 4 Lego bricks to raise this titanic monolith--the highest ever in world. [460,000-Brick Lego Tower Breaks World Record]

The idea behind the Big Brother House, designed by Julien De Smedt Architects for the Ordos 100 Project in Inner Mongolia in China, is that it's "a place where one can watch and be watched." Essentially a Jenga-like configuration of window-walled blocks that surround an atrium, from which people can peer into any of the rooms—and or be gawked at themselves. Even the outer walls are windows, allowing passersby to see whatever disgusting things you're up to. Here's a few more shots to help you wrap your head around how it works:

Read More »

Another day, another spectacular tower in Dubai: The Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower, a curvy building "inspired by the geometrical order of a snowflake and the aerodynamics of a Formula 1", will not only appear in Dubai but in six other cities around the world. According to the architects--who worked in Beijing's Water Cube--the design will allow for an easy construction process and an efficient use of energy, all while making the building change its look through the day.

Read More »

When it's finished in ten years, Dubai's latest architectural monolith will be the tallest skyscraper in the world. At more than one kilometer high (3,280 feet), the Nakheel Tower will have around two hundred floors. Like always, the company behind the project is very secretive about the actual size of the leviathan, in order to beat other buildings for as long as possible, but you can see how it compares to Burj Dubai and other the rest of giant towers here:

Read More »