The 10 Most Amazing Buildings In The World

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Category: Americas, Asia, Commercial, Construction, Design, Europe, Features, Hotel, Middle East, Residential, Sustainability, Technology, Top Stories | TheUrbanDeveloper

The world is full of amazing and detailed architecture, which speaks volumes of the artists and architects behind the design.
From the thousands of unique and seemingly impossible designs worldwide we have picked a list of ten standout works of art in their own right.

1. Dynamic Tower – Dubai

Dynamic Tower, Dubai

Like a giant game of Jenga, the world’s first dynamic tower is to be built in Dubai for a whopping £355 million (AU$676 million) the 80-floor tower will inhibit a function allowing each of the 80 floors to rotate independently.
The speed in which the tower is expected to be built is setting records. Each floor will only take six days to assemble – thus the 80-floor building will be completed in a mere 480 days.
The 420-metre building’s apartments would spin a full 360-degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of power-generating wind turbines.
The first 20 floors will be for retail space, the next 15 for a hotel, the next 35 floors will have residential apartments and the top 10 floors will have luxury villa-style apartments.

2. Tower Infinity – Incheon, South Korea

Tower Infinity, South Korea

Ready to fade into the skyline of South Korea, Tower infinity is a proposed tower to be built near the Incheon Airport.
The tower is the world’s first invisible tower – the illusion will be achieved with a high-tech LED façade system. Spread over 145,500 square metres of land, the building is primarily for leisure activities.

3. Turning Torso – Malmo Sweden

Turning Torso, Sweden

You may feel queasy just looking at it, but the Turning Torso building is the tallest building in Scandinavia. This beauty features a 90-degree twist and stands 190 metres high.
With 54 storeys, 147 apartments, a lounge, spa, gym and wine cellar, the torso is one of the only buildings in the world to offer around-the-clock concierge service 365 days a year.

4. Capital Gate – Abu Dhabi, UAE

Capital Gate, UAE

No, it isn’t your eyes fooling you, this skyscraper in Abu Dhabi leans 18-degrees to the west. The Capital Gate skyscraper’s incline is countered by a technique called pre-cambered core, using a core of concrete reinforced with steel.
It is anchored to the ground by 490 piles, which are drilled 20-30 metres underground.
In June 2010, Guinness World Records certified Capital Gate as the “World’s furthest leaning man-made tower”.

5. The Kezmarska Hut

The Kezmarska Hut

A frozen rubix cube? No, the Kerzmarska Hut designed by Atelier 8000 may hold the record of the world’s largest ice cube. In seriousness, the mountain ski hut was designed as part of a competition in the Czech Republic.
The cube is designed to house an underground floor, with garage space for a snowmobile, staff entrance, ski storage and drying rooms. The ground floor has a restaurant and deck and the first and second floors house the sleeping accommodation. There is also accommodation in the attic.
The exterior is made from aluminium but the inside is made from laminated timber beams made from larch wood.

6. The Greenland Tower Chengdu – Southwestern China

Greenland Tower Chengdu

The Greenland Tower Chengdu was designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill.
At night, inset LED lighting will highlight the edges designed to create the impression of a shimmering glacier.
Due to complete in 2018, the 100-storey-high skyscraper will surpass the city’s current tallest building, the Chengdu IFS Towers, by over 200 metres.

7. Longaberger Headquarters – Newark, Ohio, USA

Longaberger Basket, USA

One of the most tongue in cheek buildings on the list and perhaps the world, the Longaberger Headquarters is shaped like a giant basket.
Make no mistake this was all on purpose as the Longaberger company is famous for their handcrafted maple wooden baskets and other home and lifestyle products.
The Longaberger Company designed the seven-story, 180,000-square-foot building. The basket handles weigh almost 150 tons and can be heated during cold weather to prevent ice damage.

8. Habitat 67 – Canada

Habitat 67, Canada

An eerie look into the future of housing communities, Habitat 67 is a model-housing complex in Montreal, Canada.
Designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Sadie, the property is considered an architectural landmark and one of the most recognisable buildings in Canada.
In 2012, the habitat won an online Lego Architecture Poll to inspire a special replica Lego set.

9. The Ryugyong Hotel – North Korea

Ryugyong Hotel, North Korea

Like the pyramids of Egypt, North Korea excels in their 105-storey pyramid shaped skyscraper. The tallest building in North Korea at 330 metres high is a prominent feature of Pyongyang’s skyline.
The building was one of the longest constructions in the world, being inactive for over 16 years and still to this day is considered incomplete.
The Ryugyong will not just be a hotel and will include a revolving restaurant, hotel accommodation, apartments and business facilities.

10. The Piano House – Anhui, China

The Piano House, China

Perhaps one of the most beautiful buildings in china, The Piano House and accompanying violin entrance are built on a true 50:1 scale, unfortunately you can’t play them.
This structure was designed by Hefei University of Technology in Huainan City.
At night the piano and violin light up with fluorescent lighting outlining the structures, making it one of China’s most popular tourist spots.

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Amazing macro-photography of individual snowflakes [10 Pictures]

November 18, 2013 | By Kalyn Wolfe | 28 Comments

Photographer Alexey Kljatov takes incredible close-up photos of snowflakes in his backyard in Moscow. How is he able to capture the detail? Kljatov discusses his shooting technique…

I capture snowflakes on the open balcony of my house, mostly on glass surface, lighted by an LED flashlight from the opposite side of the glass, and sometimes in natural light, using dark woolen fabrics as background.

Shrink Your Car to Fit in Small Parking Spaces

• Article

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/16/shrink-your-car-to-fit-in-small-parking-spaces/?mod=e2fb&mg=blogs-wsj&url=http%253A%252F%252Fblogs.wsj.com%252Fdigits%252F2013%252F10%252F16%252Fshrink-your-car-to-fit-in-small-parking-spaces%253Fmod%253De2fb

Waylon Jennings & Hank Williams Jr - The Conversation

Honda’s fire-spitting lawnmower speeds to 130 mph

By Alex Lloyd | Motoramic – 19 hours ago

A Honda that can sprint from 0-60 mph in four seconds? Unless you're talking about a Honda race car, or the upcoming Acura NSX, that machine doesn't exist. So what did Honda do? They created a flame-spitting monster that achieves just that, while powering to an ultimate speed of over 130 mph. But it's not a car. Or even a motorbike. It's a lawnmower.

This is perhaps the most extreme case of overkill since the resurrection of New Kids On The Block.
How much overkill? 532 hp per ton. A 6-speed paddle shift gearbox. A custom-made Cobra racing seat. A steering wheel straight from a race car. And a Scorpion exhaust that makes the grass-cutter sound like a miniature SRT Viper. Oh, and it has the steering rack from a Morris Minor. That part's perhaps not so special.

The project began as a re-engineered Honda HF2620 Lawn Tractor, sporting a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR Firestorm. Honda calls it the Mean Mower, and it was designed in part with the automaker's British Touring Car race team. Despite its lunacy, it still cuts grass at speeds of up to 15 mph, and will do so while consuming fuel at a rate of 40 mpg. Housing the necessary juice becomes a job for the grass bag, which moonlights as a fuel tank. Honda claims the Mean Mower is the fastest lawnmower in the world.

While it's easy to ridicule such a silly concept, watching the video, it's impossible not to want one. It looks exquisitely engineered and promises to make the hateful task of mowing the lawn exciting. Let's just hope Honda's favorable showing of overkill doesn't encourage N Sync to make a return.

 

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Pool table made to look like the classic ’65 Mustang

Pool table made to look like the classic ’65 Mustang

The 1965 Ford Mustang replica Pool Table is just what it is, a pool table made to look like the classic. The car’s body is made out of fiberglass painted with quality auto paint, while the top is quite the standard you’d expect from a pool table. The muscle car’s length has been decreased to go along with the size of the table, but its front and rear are the original size. To add more flair to the table, it has also received working lights, chrome decals, alloy rims and tires.

mustang pool table

The pool table is licensed from Ford, and it will make its debut at the 2010 Barret-Jackson Auto Auction. The pool table is available for pre-orders for $14995.

Mobile Hydraulic Tips

When hydraulics is the star — the Mantis walking robot

Posted by Paul Heney+ on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment  

The last time we wrote something about a multi-legged robot—the Plustech Walking Forest Machine—the post went viral. Maybe because the thing looked like it was straight out of the movie Avatar.
Well, maybe the world is getting a little more like James Cameron’s future every day … because some interesting news just surfaced about the use of hydraulics in Mantis, the largest operational all-terrain hexapod robot. Mantis is making an appearance at a forestry expo in Sweden this month. The 9-ft robot, which can be driven remotely or piloted from the machine’s cockpit, took four years to develop and features Bosch Rexroth fluid power components.
The company says that 18 Rexroth 4WREE6 valves provide the integral function of controlling the hydraulic cylinders that operate Mantis’ six legs. Each leg features three independent closed-loop axes—one at the knee and two at the hip—with feedback provided by sensors installed on the outside of the leg.
Mantis is the brainchild of chief designer Matt Denton, managing director of Micromagic Systems, who created the computer controls that give the machine its high functionality. These include the ability to move omni-directionally (forwards/backwards, crab left/right, turn left/right), climb over uneven ground and raise and lower on command.
“I’d been making smaller hexapod robots for a number of years for use in the film and TV industries as well as for private collectors,” Denton said. “I felt that if I could scale up the machine to the point where it could carry a person that, as well as demonstrating what is possible with current technologies and British engineering, there could be further applications both in the film industry and other sectors, such as unmanned subsea exploration, and work in environments that are sensitive to terrain damage.”
“I was aware of Bosch Rexroth valves from their use in special effects on films I’d worked on in the past. … [sector manager Nigel Hart] provided assistance and advice on the hydraulic design of circuits, safety considerations, reducing the reservoir size and cooling. What impressed me most about the Bosch Rexroth valves, and proved essential to the functionality of the machine, was the smooth and accurate control they provide.”
Mantis also features a Rexroth A10VO63DFR pump, typically used in booms and cranes that supplies the robot’s hydraulic power. Fitted with load sensing, the pump ensures only the right flow and pressure is delivered, reducing overall power consumption.
“Mantis is a fantastic demonstration of what can be achieved with today’s technology. It is also indicative of the significant changes that have happened throughout the industry over the past 10-15 years,” said Nigel Hart, sector manager for Marine and Offshore at Bosch Rexroth U.K. “Now even the most simple of components come with intelligence that allows it to perform a variety of functions and adapt to a number of applications.”
Bosch Rexroth
www.boschrexroth.com
Mantis
www.mantisrobot.com