At first, they look like rooms in a palace. However, they are simply stations of the subway network in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Moscow’s metro system is the second busiest in the world (the first being Tokyo), so for a lot of people that means that a part of their daily lives is spent on luxury spaces, underground.
Oddee, the oddities blog, has an excellent aptly named “10 Homes that Defy Gravity“. If you’re an architect and you’re running out of ideas, this may be a refreshment. Every single entry on the post is far from what we are used to, but my favorite one is the second: the floating castle in Ukraine. The blogger comment on the entry is also spot on. 
If you’re out of business ideas, this guy certainly isn’t. Stepan Pyrnyak is a local undertaker at Truskavets, Ukraine. The city is an ecologically clean zone and a well known spa resort, remarkable for its mineral waters. The most famous is Naftusya, a curative water with unique medical properties. You can check some research on the subject here, here and here.
Well, the inhabitants of the city must be very healthy because they drink those waters every day. That means “no business” to an undertaker. But what can you do when you’re out of customers and your area of expertise is funerals? This guy came up with a somehow strange idea: build a giant coffin (20 meters long, 6 meters wide, 6 meters tall) using 30 cubic meters of wood. Apart from the obvious effort to get this into the Guinness Book of World Records, he wisely carved a door on one of the coffin’s extremes and decided to install a bar inside it. Its name: “Eternity”!
I’m with Vasili Gutnov, a local resident, when he says “it more resembles Noah’s Ark than a coffin”. But inside, that’s a different story: dark ambiance, floral wreaths, candles, funeral music and black-dressed waitstaff. The youngsters are already adding new features to their vernacular, such as: “I saw you in the coffin yesterday” or “Let’s meet tonight at the coffin”. Older people, however, are not so open-minded. After all a coffin is a coffin and it’s made to bury dead people.
Here are some photos of the place (I got them here, but I didn’t understand a word…):
Finally, here’s a video where you can see there’s life inside after all!
Whether you’ve been to Dubai or not, you must have heard about its exotic real estate developments: innovative architecture, sumptuous resorts, gorgeous marinas, man-made islands, rotating buildings, underwater hotels and, of course, skyscrapers. All this in a city, not a theme park!
I don’t usually read about what’s going on Dubai. Like everyone else, I receive e-mails from friends with PowerPoint slideshows depicting amazing structures the city is planning to build. However, a couple of years ago I read about the construction of Burj Dubai which, they were saying, would be the tallest building on Earth. If you read something on New York’s Freedom Tower lately, you know there are still some critical issues regarding its construction that need to be addressed. After all, these are major engineering works and nothing can be left to chance.
Still, after visiting the Burj Dubai webpage, I was surprised to see how fast they have been working on it. In fact, the standing structure is almost finished and from the pictures you can see it’s a lot higher than the surrounding buildings.
It’s a bit difficult to know what will be its final height upon completion, as it aims to be the world’s tallest structure, so they have to keep this secret hidden from the competition. However, rumors abound saying it will be somewhere between 818 m (2,684 ft), its initial projected height, and 940 m (3,084 ft). Even at its projected height it will be considerably higher than any other building in existence. It should reign for some time to come, or so I thought. But how wrong I was! This race seems to have just started. Burj Dubai will be completed in 2009 but there are already several proposals for higher buildings, all of them in the Middle East:
I know there’s a big difference between a proposal and real execution, as these height levels pose enormous engineering challenges to construction. However, all these are on-going projects which means they are more than a mere proposal to the people behind them. I can only wonder if they can really sell/lease all this immense floor space taking into account the enormous costs involved…
Looking around Dubai alone, there’s an immense unoccupied landmass so there’s no real justification for buildings this high (I know no one thought there was) other than this “mine’s bigger than yours” non-sense war. I mean, millions if not billions are spent building these towers. I know it attracts tourism and it sure makes a great background for pictures. However, there’s always a dark side to all of this, such as the talk that dates back to 2006 on riots over low wages for construction workers, who were being paid something like $4/day. Last week, news have shown another wave of riots protesting against living conditions. It’s not that I don’t like these great buildings and I do know that challenges like this will only take our knowledge further but, what’s the point when the only reason for their existence is pride, self-achievement and self-gratification?
So, if you are planning to build/design the next Everest of towers, don’t aim at the 1 km mark as it will most likely be taken by then. To be on the safe side, I recommend you at least 1 mile (Frank Lloyd Wright proposed The Illinois back in 1956), but don’t forget the purpose. It really should have a greater purpose other than only a “higher” purpose, if you understand what I mean. When billions are spent there needs to be a valid reason and, at least, it should take into account the interest of those involved. As someone posted on one of those riot news: “You can’t build a dream on someone else’s curse”. What a great thought!
Stephen Wiltshire is a British architectural artist who happens to be an autistic savant. The savant syndrome first received worldwide attention with the award winning film Rain Man, more specifically with the character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman. In the words of Darold A. Treffert, a researcher who studied it for years: “Savant syndrome is a rare, but extraordinary, condition in which persons with serious mental disabilities, including autistic disorder, have some ‘island of genius’ that stands in marked, incongruous contrast to overall handicap.” He also states that a common trait among savants is a remarkable memory he describes as “exceedingly deep but very, very narrow”. You can read more about this condition on Dr. Treffert’s website.
Although Stephen Wiltshire possesses great painting and drawing skills, his most uncommon prowess is to draw entire landscapes just by looking at them, once! In May 2005 he did a 30 minute helicopter flight over Tokyo. After that he spent the following days working on a giant canvas drawing a panoramic view of the city completely from memory. The result was astonishing! He has since been invited to do the same on other cities across the world, namely: Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem and London. Everything from memory with exceptional detail. Undoubtedly an amazing feat of the mind! It’s easy to understand why he has been nicknamed “the living camera”.
I checked on YouTube for some videos on this and, as usual, they’re easy to find. I selected one from Tokyo and other from Rome, but there’s more to watch. I also recommend you to visit his website to find additional information together with galleries displaying his work. I personally find the oil on canvas paintings stunning. If you happen to be in London and wish to see his work live and with greater detail you can visit the Royal Opera Arcade where he opened a permanent gallery in 2006.
Tokyo:
Rome:
