The National Center for the Performing Arts was completed recently in Beijing, China. Designed by architect Paul Andreu, the first concert was held there December 2007.
The exterior of the theater is a titanium accented glass dome that is completely surrounded by a man-made lake. It is said to look like an egg floating on water. It was designed as an iconic feature, something that would be immediately recognizable, like the Sydney Opera House.
Continue reading ‘The National Grand Theater Beijing, China’
Dubai continues to grow at an astounding pace and these pictures show a planned bridge which will become the biggest, tallest arch bridge in the world when complete.
New York Architect, FXFOWLE’s proposal for the architectural design of a 1-mile long and 673-feet tall bridge in Dubai was selected by the country’s Roads & Transport Authority in a major international design competition. The firms winning bridge design is poised to join five existing Dubai Creek crossings (four bridges and one tunnel), further advancing the infrastructure and transportation initiatives in Dubai. Construction will begin next month.
Continue reading ‘The Sixth Crossing at Dubai Creek’
Brookfield Properties’ Hudson Yards proposal in New York “aims to bring New York into the 21st Century.”
The MTA, in co-operation with the State and City of new York, issued a request for Proposals to regenerate and rejuvenate the active rail yards on Manhattan’s far west side. Brookfield’s plans attempt to integrate Hudson Yards into the city proper whilst creating what they feel will be New York’s next great neighborhood.
The ambitious plans include Galleries, cafés, a soaring gateway, and rolling meadows. Also included is a cultural center with plans for public performances.
Continue reading ‘Hudson Yards New York’
ALDAR is slightly ahead of schedule and the first phase of it’s central market project and suggesting it will be finished by mid-2008.
Mushrif were awarded the 113 million dirham contract to complete Phase 1 of the project; the underground parking structures of Central Market. ALDAR’s strategy to secure early phase completion dates, using an integrated fast-track construction approach to this highly complex mixed-use development, was critical in choosing Mushrif, a multi-disciplined, civil and heavy engineering contractor.
The development’s massive excavation is now complete along with the majority of its substantial permanent pile foundations. The Souq foundations are complete, with the new construction works progressing upwards to the ground surface. One of the interesting facets of this construction project is the use of A DeltaBase 102, a double-head anchor drill rig for rotary and percussive drilling, featuring a special slewing-rotating mast operating in conjunction with the drill-feed carrier and swivel head via a scissor-action arrangement that enables the drill feed to deploy to the right or left of the machine body. The hydraulics are controlled using the latest load-sensing system.
Continue reading ‘Aldar Central Market Abu Dhabi’
The Chicago Spire is a supertall skyscraper under construction in Chicago, Illinois. The skyscraper will become North America’s tallest free-standing structure and the world’s tallest all-residential building, eventually standing taller than Chicago’s Sears Tower and New York’s upcoming Freedom Tower, as well as Toronto’s CN Tower. The building was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and is being developed by Garrett Kelleher of Shelbourne Development Group, Inc. The Chicago Spire is scheduled to be completed in 2011 with 150 floors.
Continue reading ‘Chicago Spire Caisson Construction’
Sustainable development is slowly becoming an important factor in the property development world, and whether we are prepared to accept it or not, sooner or later, one of the determining factors of whether a project goes forward or not will be the issue of sustainability.
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction promotes sustainable responses to the technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affecting building and construction.
Activities including Holcim Awards competitions, Holcim Forum symposiums, seed funding for building initiatives and grants for research projects encourage innovative approaches to sustainable construction.
Continue reading ‘Chongming Island’
Not content with building the largest building in the World, Russia has unveiled plans for an even more ambitious project in the black Sea.
Clearly, the Russians have decided that Dubai cannot have all the glory and are determined to show they can go one better than the World project.
Federation Island will be built in the shape of the Russian Federation and will attempt to re-create the country’s geographical features, including rivers and mountains.
The plan is to complete construction before the 2014 winter Olympics. Eventually, the accommodation available will include a wide variety of structures including luxury villas, beach houses, apartments, shops and offices. Plus, we assume, a few hotels. There are plans for dunes, grassland, small forests and of course, Oceanside properties.
Federation island has been designed by Dutch architect, Erick van Egeraat and will be overseen by M-Industries of St. Petersburg. The construction will be undertaken by Witteveen & Bos and the initial dredging by Van Oord Dredging and Marine. The Abu Dhabi company, Allied Business Consultants is investing somewhere in the region of $6.2 billion, although they might find working with Russian labor a little different to their previous experiences.
Sochi itself is a well established resort city with a humid subtropical climate - almost unheard of for Russia. It’s fair to say the infra structure is not quite up to Olympic requirements and the Russian government is scrambling to bring them up to date with an investment of over $1 billion on the electrical system alone
