Heerim Architects has attempted to reinvent the skyscraper beyond the traditional with two lunar inspired projects in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan.
The Korean firm has dreamed up Full Moon Bay and Caspian Plus that includes Crescent Place on neighbouring peninsulas in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku that look on to the Caspian Sea – the two projects on opposite extremes of the same bay acting as gateway markers.
Hotel Full Moon is essentially a disc with rounded edges and a hole in one of the top corners that appears radically different to the view depending on the angle it is seen from. The frontage thanks to the bulging centre makes it appear more like a glass death star whilst the side profile is more than a little gherkinesque.
Single Hauz – a specific manifest, a suggestion of a house/shelter for contemporary Western Man. The Wedlock, a fundamental family unit, now ceased to be the only way of life. As a free-standing one-person housing unit it fills a certain gap: lack of such propositions for so-called “singles”. Inspired by a billboard it is designed as an object that can easily fit into almost any place on Earth. Particularly recommended to locations with extra-ordinary landscape conditions: forest, sea, lake, mountains, meadows; yet a sideway of a city thoroughfare.
What’s not to love about this undulating bridge designed by Toronto-based architecture firm Ja Studio? At 492 feet long (150 meters), the Lent-Tabor Bridgeis is nestled within Maribor’s historic city district and provides walkers, runners, and cyclists with their own exclusive crossing of the Drava river. The winding bridge has a reflective metallic red underside and a crisp white walkway.
Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia and the footbridge is part of the city’s attempt to revive its riverfront area. The competition to build the footbridge arises as Maribor prepares to become the European Capital of Culture in 2012.
The ArcelorMittal Orbit is a planned steel tower to be located in East London as part of the London 2012 Olympic Park. Billed as “Britain’s answer to the Eiffel Tower”, the tower will be the largest public work of art in the United Kingdom. At around 400 feet (120 m) it will be some 21m taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Eiffel Tower, by comparison, is 1,063 feet (324 m) tall.
The tower has been designed by sculptor Anish Kapoor and is named after the steel company ArcelorMittal in recognition of owner Lakshmi Mittal’s donation of appoximately 1,400 tonnes of steel for constuction.[1] The £19.1m design incorporates the five Olympic rings and will offer visitors panoramic views of London. Plans for the tower were announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson on 31 March 2010.
