Archive for the ‘tower’ tag

On Top of the Burj Dubai

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWVLzVhnYE0[/youtube]

This video is kind of horrifying – and that’s all I really have to say.

Posted: November 16th, 2009
at 10:30am by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,my ninja, please,towering pagodas,videos

Comments: 7 comments


Architectural Fantasies, 1925-1933

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Check out this collection of futuristic architectural visions by architect / artist Iakov Chernikhov. It’s always been really interesting to me that ‘futuristic’ architecture in the early 20th century was so focused on this idea of bridges between towers – especially since it’s something that we don’t really do that much, and still see [it seems] as progressive.

Anyways, Chernikhov’s images are DOPE. Enjoy.

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.:more via->ICIF [Iakov Chernikhov International Foundation]

Posted: November 6th, 2009
at 12:36pm by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,illustration

Comments: 1 comment


TV Ad: Say ‘No’ to Nouvel + MoMA

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPHwwRGQNUc[/youtube]

Really, I love the idea that people are passionate about their city and their surroundings, but let’s get real here – these ninjas live in New York. When people here in the Bean started to freak out about Renzo Piano designing a 1,400 feet-tall skyscraper downtown, I understood where they were coming from – the thing would’ve been about 600 feet taller than Boston’s current tallest structure. But let me say it again – these ninjas live in New York.

Is Nouvel’s proposal tall? Of course – but it’s also SICK. Those shadows they show it casting in the video look like they’ll be pretty lost within all the others – it’s not like this tower will suddenly block the sky. Will some people lose specific views, and some direct sun? Yes, obviously – but that’s been going on for the past century in NYC.

My suggestion: if you don’t want a new skyscraper going in across the street, move to Brooklyn.

Posted: October 7th, 2009
at 2:41pm by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,my ninja, please,towering pagodas,videos,news,starchitects

Comments: 1 comment


TPAC Proposal by NL Architects

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Now this thing right here is AWESOME. Designed by NL Architects, this project was submitted to the Taipei Performing Arts Center competition [which was actually won by OMA]. Nothing against the good ninjas over at OMA – but this proposal is dope.

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NL Architects’ scheme transforms the TPAC into much more than a performing arts center – starting at ground-level. The structure is, diagrammatically, a table with four legs – leaving a large open area within/underneath the structure, which can serve as open public space [see images below]. The three upper floors would contain more public functions, including cultural facilities such as a media library, retail space, restaurants, etc. Additional public areas, like swimming pools and parks, could also be scattered throughout the staggering volume.

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The performance spaces themselves are then located throughout the structure, distinguished by the variations in the projects massing.

The performing arts center structure will contain three theaters: a 1500 seat grand theater and two 800 seat theaters for repertory performances. The theaters are positioned on different altitudes. The proscenium playhouse is placed at the base of the southeast ‘leg’. The lobby is placed under this theater so that it is flush with the square activating the space around it. The multiform theater is connected to the southwest leg close to the top. The volume of the grand theater is suspended under the horizontal slab. It hovers over the square while being part of it.

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All this makes for an interesting exterior – essentially a cube from which spaces are carved-out. But what I find really incredible is the possibility of this ‘internal’ public space created underneath the ‘tabletop’ – both the stacking / staggering / hanging effects of these volumes, and the staircases connecting the varying levels look as if they would make for an incredibly dynamic space.

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An additional component that I haven’t mentioned but that I was really feeling is that the elevators have been pulled to the exterior face of the building – so they, and their passengers, will be seen going about their business from the outside. Additionally, these elevators don’t run vertically in the traditional sense – but instead follow an inverted-‘u’ shaped series of tracks on each of the building’s facades. Pretty sick…

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And I love the renderings – just to toss that out there.

.:NL Architects blog->

.:NL Architects website->

Posted: October 1st, 2009
at 1:17pm by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,my ninja, please,towering pagodas

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22nd Century Chi-Town

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[images: Chicago 1000011101, by Joe Valerioa of Valerioa Dewalt Train]

Really, who doesn’t like extraordinary visions of the future of our cities? For instance, how about a 22nd century city covered in a transparent, biologically engineered, thermochromatic skin – which traps heat, that then rises through solar towers to power wind turbines [seen in the two images here]. Like a city covered in plastic wrap.

What?

That’s what Joe Valerioa has proposed for Big. Bold. Visionary. – 22nd visions of Chicago, proposed in celebration of the centennial of the Burnham Plan. In considering the next century, contributors envisioned 22nd century big plans for the city, urban catalysts, public spaces, the Lakefront, towers, and transportation projects – all of which are on display through October 11th at 72 East Randolph Street, Chicago.

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In 1909, Daniel H. Burnham and Edward Bennett helped Chicagoans look at the rapidly industrializing city with new eyes. Their 165-page Plan of Chicago presented a comprehensive rethinking of the entire region – from Kenosha to Dekalb to Michigan City. It was a vision for Chicago in the 20th century. And it established a precedent of dreaming big and thinking boldly that every generation of Chicagoans since has firmly embraced. This exhibition taps current Chicago architects, planners, and landscape architects for their visions of the city and region in the 21st century and beyond.

Some are comprehensive – proposing radically different forms that might someday make Chicago a place unrecognizable to our contemporary eyes. Some are simply big – tall new towers and vast urban spaces that could transform the skyline and the neighborhoods in which they are proposed. Others are big ideas – seemingly small inventions that if implemented could catalyze the city and region’s way of life for the better.

These proposals represent the best thinking of Chicago today. The ideas are rich and diverse, representative of many cultures and ideas that have made this city the world capital of Architecture. All are fundamentally Big, Bold, and Visionary – in the mold of Daniel Hudson Burnham.

Lots of interesting, thought provoking work that you should definitely go check out – in person, if possible, but at least view the images featured online here.

.:view all the proposed futures-> Big. Bold. Visionary

Posted: September 15th, 2009
at 12:11pm by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,urban/master planning,towering pagodas,illustration

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BIG’s Origami in Shenzhen, China

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[click images for larger view]

Our ninjas over at BIG [in a collaboration with ARUP and Transsolar] have been awarded first prize in yet another international design competition – this time to design the new headquarters for the Shenzhen Energy Company [dubbed the ‘Shenzhen International Energy Mansion’]. The goal of the competition was to find a sustainable and energy efficient solution to the Shezhen Energy Company’s need for a new HQ – specifically dealing with the tropical climate of the region, and integrating the 96,000 square foot project with the surrounding environment.

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“We propose to make the Shenzhen Energy Mansion the first specimen of a new species of office buildings that exploits the buildings interface with the external elements – sun, daylight, humidity, wind as a source to create maximum comfort and quality inside. The Shenzhen Energy Mansion will appear as a subtle mutation of the classic skyscraper ? a natural evolution rather than a desperate revolution.”

~ Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG

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The towers [the taller of which reaches 200 meters] utilize “practical and efficient” floor plates, and get creative in the facade – which is envisioned as a folded, origami-like skin which both shades the interior spaces from the harshest sunlight while integrating solar thermal panels to reduce the structure’s energy consumption. While protecting the interior from the South/West solar exposure [click for diagram], this ‘folding’ facade opens view to the Northwest [click for diagram] – and allow for indirect natural light to penetrate into some of the interior.

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“By folding the facade in an origami like shape we achieve a structure with closed and open parts. The closed parts provide a highly-insulated facade, while blocking the direct sunlight. On the outside the closed parts are fitted with solar thermal heat panels that power the air conditioning and provide dehumidification for the working spaces.

The folded wall provides a free view through clear glass in one direction creating a condition with plenty of diffused daylight by reflecting the direct sunlight between the interior panels. Even with direct sun from east or west, the majority of the solar rays reflect off the glass, due to the flat angle of the window. The reflected rays increase the efficiency of solar thermal energy panels. The combination of minimal passive solar heating and active solar panels reduce the energy consumption by more than 60%.”

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Most noticeably ‘unique’ about the design [at first glance] seems to be the subtle bend in the curtain wall, created by floor plates that push out from the facade [seen in the model images, above]. I can only assume that those are some kind of public or lobby spaces – that, or some people are getting some ridiculously dope office space.

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::visit AMNP’s Flickr page for more images::

::all images, info, + quoted text courtesy of BIG::

Posted: September 10th, 2009
at 10:39am by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,green arch,towering pagodas

Comments: 2 comments


New Orleans Arcology

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My ninja, please!

Yes, that says New Orleans in the title – this building isn’t proposed for Dubai or China, but instead for a location right on the Mississippi riverfront. The 1,200 foot-tall, 30 million square-foot pyramid-like structure would house 20,000 residential units, three hotels, 1,000,000 square feet of commercial space, cultural facilities, offices, a 20,000 square-foot healthcare clinic, and three casinos.

Dubbed ‘NOAH’ [New Orleans Arcology Habitat], is essentially a city within a city – functioning as a completely self-sustaining [supposedly] urban environment [hence the term ‘arcology’]. From the project’s YouTube page:

Tangram 3DS, a firm specializing in visualization and computer animation, announced its collaboration with E. Kevin Schopfer AIA, RIBA. Together, the companies have designed and presented a bold new urban platform. New Orleans Arcology Habitat (NOAH) is a proposed urban Arcology (architecture and ecology), whose philosophic underpinnings rest in combining large scale sustainability with concentrated urban structures, and in this case a floating city.

Tangram 3DS worked with Schopfer to visualize this unique concept and structure. Starting from basic sketches, Tangram 3DS transformed Schopfers ideas into visuals and an animation. Our work helps Kevin convey his concept to the City of New Orleans, investors, the media, and public, said Stefan Vittori, president and founder of Tangram 3DS, LLC. To be able to visualize a design project in 3D and through animation is absolutely vital when attempting to sell a design concept that may at first glance be hard to grasp, adds Vittori.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Flnbn53dY[/youtube]

This is obviously an example of ‘paper architecture’, but I wonder – should we believe in a future for these kinds of projects? For starters, I find it hard to believe that a ‘post 9-11’ US will even seriously consider a project of this size for quite a long time. But all that aside, are these types of mega-structures a good idea? My having read Ballard‘s High Rise makes me think definitely not – but at some point, in order to preserve land and reduce sprawl, with these kind of projects be necessary? Will cities look like something out of Star Wars or the Fifth Element – so large and tall that people are unaware of the ‘natural’ ground level?

Anyways – ridiculous, nonetheless.

.:first seen via-> DVICE

Posted: September 3rd, 2009
at 10:18am by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,my ninja, please,urban/master planning,towering pagodas,videos

Comments: 10 comments


ADOC: University Housing

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Designed by ADOC [Arquitectura Design Ordenamento Consultores], what we’ve got here today is a proposal for university housing in Zaragoza, Spain. Say it with me now: my ninjas, please… Now, I warned readers in my post on KKA’s fishmarket project that I had a collection of projects that utilize the iconic gable-roofed home shape – and this university housing project is definitely the most extreme / strangest use of the form I’ve come across so far.

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The project starts out with a simplistic, minimalist take on the gabled roof house form, creating a single volume to house the university students in an individual module. This module is then multiplied, stacked and arrayed – creating 5 storey housing blocks, seemingly connected by the long central hallways familiar to a typical apartment building.

ADOC likens each floor to a street – individual homes, connected by a shared pathway. We can see this idea in the section best – where the drawing shows not just a narrow hallway, but what looks like a small, two-storey, space that connects the individual volumes to the shared path. Now, I have no idea how big this space is – but it looks to be at least the width of the hallway itself.

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That said, if the ‘outdoor’ space is also as long as the individual volume itself and double-height – does this create a useable, individual, ‘outdoor’ emulating space within the structure created by the amalgamation of these individual ‘houses’? It’s definitely a fascinating idea – combining forms we associated with the things we like about single-family homes to create structures that use the land more efficiently, and achieve a higher density without depriving residents of a sense of individual, private space.

Assuming any of this is the case, I think we need to imagine this type of project post-occupancy -where I would expect to find that residents had really taken ownership of their personal volume. Painting, personalizing, decorating, planting – I wonder if you could really achieve the diversity found on an actual street in a project such as this one. I would argue that it may even have to capacity to exceed the individuality found on many streets – as so much single-family residential construction looks so so similar, and the simple fact that single-family homes having clear owners/residents and addresses/land seems to reduce the occupants’ desire to personalize the exterior of the building in additional ways.

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Thanks to our ninja Manuel for the link – don’t hesitate to hit me up if you come across something that you think ninjas should know about. Email me at architecture@myninjaplease.com – or drop me a DM on Twitter @ArchitectureMNP.

This project was also covered a while back by our ninjas over at plusmood, which you can read here.

.:info+images->via ADOC

Posted: August 25th, 2009
at 11:01am by orangemenace

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Categories: architecture,my ninja, please,housing,featured ninjas,towering pagodas

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Capsule Tower

The NY Times looks back at the history of Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, and discusses the project’s importance / impact as the building’s life [most likely] draws to an end.

Posted: July 10th, 2009
at 10:59pm by orangemenace

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Categories: sidenote

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Best Tall Building

Steven Holl’s recently completed ‘Linked Hybrid’ building named ‘Best Tall Building’ by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat [CTBUH].
.:via->Bustler

Posted: July 9th, 2009
at 9:46am by orangemenace

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Categories: sidenote

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