Gizmodo Australia » buildings

This Video From The Tip Top Of The Burj Dubai Makes Me Sick

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:59:55 +0000

Hold me, I feel like puking after watching this video from the top of the Burj Dubai, the tallest man-made point on Earth. The shaking? That’s because the tower’s wobbling. Vertigo, uggghhhhh. [YouTube via Skyscraper Forums via Mahoney's Playground]

Gigantic LED Funnels Will Light Up 2010 Expo And Suck Rain

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:40:00 +0000

See that enormous blue funnel in the middle of those buildings? It’s just one of the six canopies that will light up the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. As the close-ups show, the scale of these things defies belief.

They are not just light sources, however. These LED towers also collect rainwater and funnel sunlight to the multiple levels of the 1km long Expo Boulevard. [World Architecture News via Inhabitat]

Spherical “Cloud” Structure Proposed For London Skyline

Danny Allen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:50:00 +0000

An international team of architects and designers has created this stunning centrepiece for London’s 2012 summer Olympics village. Dubbed The Cloud, three 122m towers would be joined by giant plastic spheres that serve as both observation decks and projection screens.

The giant bubbles would be structural, decorative and be used to project weather info, spectator numbers and race results. They’d be constructed from of a type of plastic called ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), the same stuff used to build the Beijing Aquatic Centre.

The Cloud has been shortlisted in the competition set up by London’s Mayor, and has been called “a sculptural spectacle, and a celebration of technology” by the senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The designers intend to build The Cloud using micro-donations from millions of people. One of the architects, who’s from MIT told the BBC: “We can build our Cloud with £5m or £50m. The flexibility of the structural system will allow us to tune the size of the Cloud to the level of funding that is reached.”

I hope they get all the cash they need, because that design is straight out of my sci-fi dreams. [The Cloud via BBC] Thanks Tom!

Office Building Or Home To A Super Heroine?

Rosa Golijan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:25:42 +0000

Switzerland gets all the cool offices. This particular one’s dubbed “Cocoon” and acts as headquarters for an architecture firm. I prefer to imagine it as home to a super heroine who zoom-zoom-zips down that spiral and saves the day.

Such gorgeous design. When I snuggle up in my own cocoon of blankets tonight, I’m going to dream of being in that building and of being that particular super heroine. Right after I figure out a proper alter ego name that is. [WAN]

I’ve Always Wanted To Live In A Stealth Plane

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:20:27 +0000

The Klein Bottle House. According to the World Architecture Festival Awards, it’s the best home of 2009. F-117 pilots, dorky Tron fanboys and aliens all through the galaxy would agree. I’m in one of those categories.

The Klein Bottle House — located in Rye in Australia’s Mornington Peninsula — is made of concrete sheets and black metal, surrounded by trees and next to a beach. I like it, but if I had to choose something, I would rather get Ben Rose Home, Cameron’s house in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Or if you want to get all freaky funky nerdy with me, I’d pick Rem Koolhaas’s Maison à Bordeaux. [McBride Charles Ryan via Design Boom]

Starship-Like Exhibition Space Will Set Sail In 2012

Danny Allen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:06:49 +0000

Here are the best images yet of “Fluid”: the stunning whale-inspired floating pavilion being built for World Expo 2012 in Yeosu, South Korea. Designed by Australian architects, Peddle Thorp, Fluid will sail onto other Asian cities after the show.

The architects hope the design will draw attention to the preservation of oceans and ecosystems, and encourage greater collaboration between Asian and Pacific countries. [Peddle Thrope via MyModernMet via DVICE]

Air Conditioning Bill Too High? Should’ve Moved Into This Building

Rosa Golijan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:50:00 +0000

Apparently the oddly arranged 600mm diameter circular windows on this building in India are not a hidden message from aliens, but a clever way to create ambiance indoors while saving up to 25 per cent on air-conditioning costs.

Those opaque windows combined with the concrete “fins” on the side of the building act as a heat barrier and reduce cooling costs dramatically. I just don’t know if the savings are worth the mockery for living in a chunk of Swiss cheese, even if it’s a pretty chunk of Swiss cheese. [WAN]

Projectors Morph Boring Building Into Giant Pinball Machine

Mark Wilson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Urban Screen, the same group behind insane 555 Kubik illusion, built a humongous, functioning pinball machine through facade projection way back in 2007. Why more architecture isn’t decorated with multi-storey video games, we do not know.

[Urban Screen via MAKE]

Dubai’s Technosphere Would Fit Right Into A Disney Park

Rosa Golijan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:40:00 +0000

I think they ran out of weird building designs, because the centrepiece of Dubai’s Technopark looks like it was copied from Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. Whatever happened to architecture proposals for Dubai being completely nuts?

Granted, the resemblance to Spaceship Earth might be unavoidable when the Technosphere is meant to represent the state of Earth’s ecosystem, now and in the future. But considering that everything in the building will be solar-powered with minimal waste due to water recycling, it’s definitely a few steps ahead of the real thing. [WAN]

The Most Epic Treehouse Ever Constructed

Adam Frucci — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

My childhood self just passed out from excitement. This thing is 11 storeys and 27 metres tall, and it’s growing ever-larger. Seriously, I want to live here so badly.

Be sure to follow the link for more pictures of this crazy thing. [ZuZu Top via Make]