Floating stage

The marvelous floating stage of the Bregenz Festival in Austria!

Ultimate Beach House

Ultimate Beach House, Bora Bora!

woodland house

Low impact woodland house (Wales, UK)

Location: Wales, UK

Architect: Simon Dale

Purpose: private house

More info: From the author: “You are looking at pictures of a house I built for our family in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).”

“The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature.” he says.

This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology.

When asked why he is doing this, he gave this answer: “ It’s fun. Living your own life, in your own way is rewarding. Following our dreams keeps our souls alive.”

Some key points of the design and construction:

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring…)
• Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring
• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.

(image credits: Simon)

The Hanging Houses

The Hanging Houses are the most popular attractions of Cuenca, Spain

Island Hideaway

Island Hideaway, Maldives !

Transparent Balcony

Transparent Balcony on 103 Floor Skyscraper the Sears Tower in Chicago. Scary...

Amazing Swimingpool

Amazing Swimingpool - Great Creativity

Rotating Tower

Rotating Tower, Dubai, UAE

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Date: scheduled on 2010

Architect: Dr. David Fisher

Purpose: multipurpose (offices, hotel, residential apartments)

More info:Have you seen buildings in motion that actually change their shape? Sounds unbelievable but not to Dr. David Fisher.

Visionary architect Dr. David Fisher is the creator of the world’s first building in motion - the revolutionary Dynamic Tower. It will adjust itself to the sun, wind, weather and views by rotating each floor separately.

This building will never appear exactly the same twice.

It is amazing but you will have the choice of waking up to sunrise in your bedroom and enjoying sunsets over the ocean at dinner.

In addition to being such an incredible engineering miracle it will produce energy for itself and even for other buildings because it will have wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor (picture 2). So an 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.

The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be 1,380 feet (420 meters) tall, 80 floors, apartments will range in size from 1,330 square feet (124 square meters), to Villas of 12,900 square feet (1,200 square meters) complete with a parking space inside the apartment. It will consist of offices, a luxury hotel,  residential apartments, and the top 10 floors will be for luxury villas located in a prime location in Dubai.

The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be the first skyscraper to be entirely constructed in a factory from prefabricated parts. So instead of some 2000 workers, only 680 will be sufficient. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

Image: Dynamic Architecture ™ all rights reserved to Dr. David Fisher

Website: http://www.dynamicarchitecture.net

Lotus Temple

Lotus Temple (Delhi, India)

The Crooked House

The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)

Image credits: brocha, Andrzej W and arekolek

Public Library in Missouri

Extraordinary Kansas City Public Library in Missouri

Building of the Public Library was one of the most significant events influencing leap of Kansas City from a small country town to a metropolis. It was established as the Public School Library in 1873. It became a cultural center providing both educational resources and entertainment. This library enhanced image of the city and made it more attractive for the East Coast promoters. Otherwise, the beginning of the library was rather humble.

A set of American Encyclopedia was its first collection. By the way, the oak bookcase where this set was placed is still in the library. Only in 1889 the library moved to the new building which cost $10,000. The building was located on the 8th Oak Street. But in 10 years, the library outgrew this simple building and in 1897 the library moved again. This time the building was both an architectural and economic achievement. It cost about $200,000 and was located at 9th Street and Locust Street.

The building had a grand rotunda. Its reference rooms were decorated with murals and wonderful framed paintings. Its design was a real artistic inspiration. During first two days of its operation about 20,000 people visited it. It should be said, in 1901 William Rockhill Nelson presented an amazing collection of paintings from the Western Gallery of Art to Kansas Library.

Some time later, the gallery was separated from the library and was called the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. As for the library, it outgrew its building again and in 1960s it moved 12th Street where it was until 1990s. In 2004 the new Kansas City Public Library opened its doors. This time it was located at 10th and Baltimore Streets.

Today Kansas City Public Library in Missouri is a large system consisting of the central library and nine branches. It provides services to 250,000 people in Kansas City, Missouri, and 1.7 million people living in greater Kansas City. There are about 2, 326, 922 materials in it, including books, audios, CDs, videos, etc.

The building of the central library is made using state-of-the-art technology. It has a screening room, meeting rooms, a coffee shop and a lot of other facilities. The library offers its visitors plenty of both educational and entertaining events including exhibits of paintings.

Source: Kclibrary