Pretty Cool Things

You’d never know from your first glance that this building in the district of Izola, Slovenia, is actually a public housing project. We’ve grown accustomed to the usual stale and oppressive concrete bunker-like structures when we think of public housing.

Enter a team of Slovenian designers, who’ve taken their cues from the modular honeycomb clusters of a beehive, putting together a structure of brightly colored shells, staggered balconies, and eco-friendly features.

The striking development boasts beautiful views and makes smart use of solar shading and natural ventilation to regulate its interiors all year-round.

Designed to mimic the rhythmic structure of honeycomb, the layout creates “dynamic elevations and offers privacy to the neighboring owners.”

Each of the balcony modules is topped with a colorful textile shade that provides for efficient solar shading and ventilation: “Textile elements fixed on the front of the balconies block direct sunlight and accumulate ‘air buffer’ zone. In the summer, hot air accumulated in the area behind the shadings is naturally ventilated through (10 cm holes) perforated side partitions of the balconies. In the winter the warm air stays in the area and provides additional heating to the apartments.”

Absolutely brilliant!

via

Mukesh Ambani, the world’s fifth richest man, is set to become a resident of the world’s most expensive home. Mr. Ambani is the head of Mumbai-based Reliance Industries, and has a net worth valued at over $43 billion. The Ambani family recruited Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates to draw up plans for the world’s most expensive and largest private residence. It will be a 27-story tower in downtown Mumbai, costing over $2 billion to build. When the residence is finished in January 2009, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.

The unique thing is that no two floors will be alike in plans or materials used; the idea will be to blend styles and architectural elements, so there is a feeling of consistency without repetition. The shape of the structure, dubbed “Antilla”, is based on the Indian tradition of Vaastu, which much link Feng Shui, is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.

Atop the first six stories which are comprised of parking lots, Antilla’s living quarters will begin at a lobby with nine elevators. There will also be a large ballroom with most of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for works of art, a slew of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as entertainment stages. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a “entourage room” for security guards and staff to relax.

There is an outdoor patio with a swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.

On more temperate days, the Ambanis will enjoy four-stories of open gardens, which are not only a critical part of the building’s exterior adornment, but will also serve as energy-savers by absorbing sunlight, and deflecting it from the living spaces thus making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. The garden level also contains rooms for entertaining, and balconies that offer views of downtown Mumbai.

The top of the tower will be capped off by entertaining space with panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.

Via Forbes

According to Adrian Smith, the architect who designed the Burj Dubai, no new habitable floors will be addedbeyond the completed 160 floors. The remaining work will be mainly ornamental, focusing on maxing out the height of the steel-framed spire which will cap off the tower.

“It should be topped out in another four or five months,” Smith said. “The spire is largely there to create a landmark that is a well-proportioned and elegant piece of architecture.”

Associates connected to the project say the steel spire may be at least 70 stories tall, lending credence to rumors that the Burj Dubai could reach more than 800 metres into the sky. Burj Dubai officially became the tallest freestanding structure on April 7 at 629 metres (2,064 feet) when it climbed past the KVLY-TV Mast in North Dakota, USA.

The completion date of the project has been pushed back to June 2009, from the original date of December 2008.

Via Xpress News

Legoland California has in interesting installation which recreates a large chunk of the Manhattan skyline comprised entirely of lego blocks (duh, what else could it be…)