I can’t really explain what amazes me about them. They are, quite litterally the biggest thing that is is possible for humans to make. They contain the highest technology availeable and will be around for many, many years.

They have reached a skale now where they can be seen from space and are the most imposing thing that we can do to out planet. But at the same time, there is no reason why they can’t be beautifull. Architects create these huge buildings to house, home, provide work, provide storage and befefit thousands of people. They are, quite simply, the best we can offer as human beings.

Taipei remains the worlds tallest builting untill work has finnished on Burj tower in Dubai. The most interesting thing about the tower is the 660 tonne weight that sits neer the top of the tower that keeps all 508 metres of the tower stable during hurricanes, earthquakes and anything else that mother nature can throw at it during the next 2500 years.

The 660 tonne ball acts as something called a mass dampner.. and is basically a giant pendulum that reduces the amount of sway in the massive construction.. when combined with the 10,00 psi concrete and 8 mega-columns you have a building that is claimed to be the most stable in the world.. Though I guess it needs to be with all the earthquakes, typhoons and other natural disasters that batter Taiwan regularly.

I’m not a huge fan of this complex of Towers situated in Mecca, the holiest place in the Islaam religion. Its mainly down to the styling of the mega structure, which is due to be the 2nd tallest building when completed.

Its situated just over the road from one of the main entrances to the site that holds the Kaaba, the holiest site in islaam, millions of people flock to the site every year to participate in hajj.. it just seems bad taste to dump this monstrosity of a structure, complete with Mall, massive parking areas and a 7 star hotel right on the edge of what should be a really holy place.

This rather lovely collection of towers in India are the exceptionally beautiful creation by Indian architects aiming to create the worlds largest financial hub.. and lets just be clear here, by largest we absolutly epic. Think a whole city dedicated to the worlds financial comings and goings.

I wish them the best of luck and hope the project goes well, but I cant help but think the artists pictures and renderings will probably be more wishful thinking than factual probability. The fact that they think they can catch up to Dubai where there is a seriously large amount of skyscrapers going up all the time.

One of the areas of architecure that are often overlooked is town planning and city design. Because cities and towns are rarely planned and built all in one anymore this art form is dying out, but there are still some striking examples of beautifull city design that can be seen only from the air.

Paris is often thought to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This doesn’t really help with the cities crippling traffic problems (although nothing compared to London). The layout of the city, with it’s elegant angular streets and central squares (more like stars with roads pointing out everywhere).

One of the most important aspects of achitecture is selecting the right materials to build a building or part of a building. There are some rather exciting new materials that have cropped up that are showing some promise and are already being used in the most modern buildings around the world.

Transparent Concrete: OK, so its not really transparent, but this stuff is pretty impressive. They lace normal concrete with optic fibers to make a concrete wall that looks solid as anything, but lets light through.

Transparent Aluminum: Still in its early stages an much too difficult to make in large enough quantities for anything other than military vehicles, but if they figure it out, transparent aluminium is much stronger than bullet proof glass at a fraction of the thickness. You could build transparent skyscrapers.

Aerogel: Aerogel is the least dense solid ever created. Because of this it is one of the most efficient insulation you can get. If you have ever played around with the stuff, it feels a bit like the floral foam people use to put flowers in, but it weighs so little, its like its not there at all. It messes with your head a little.

Solar Windows: Solar Windows are designed to soak up a small amout of light that passes through and convert it into energy. The Gherkin uses something very similar and ends up generating enough power to make it one of the most cost efective sky scrapers in the world.

Ryugyong Hotel: One of the great trajedies of modern architecture, this monster hotel was started way back in the early 80s, just before North Korea had all those sanctions placed on it. The situation in North Korea deteriorated until construction finally ground to a halt due to budget cuts in 1992 where this fantastic looking building sat, half constructed. There is evidence that the building was badly built from the start (crappy concrete mixes etc) and will probably be useless if it ever is finished. Its not like the North Koreans are going to let anybody in to visit the hotel anyways.

Burj Dubai: The current tallest building in the world. My previous post goes into greater detail on this 800m super skyscraper.

The Gherkin: No where near as tall as the other buildings but this buildings fantastic shape and superb finish makes the Gherkin a favorite of Londoners.

Rose Tower: One of the most beautiful towers I have seen, this is an absolute credit to the architect and anyone who had any input into designing this gorgeous building’s slender curves and lines.

Bank of America Plaza: At the opposite end of the spectrum to the Rose tower is this monstrously imposing tower blog in Atlanta. There is nothing sleder about this tower, but that probably why it looks so striking.

Burj Al Arab Hotel: The only 6 star hotel in the world with a tenis court ontop of the world with no safety rails this is truily an amazing building. It is shaped and styled to look like a boat sail and caters only to the most rich and powerfull people in the world.

I talked briefly in my last post about the burj dubai tower in Dubai. It really is a credit to Adrian Smith (the architect) who designed one of the most stunning and beautiful super tall high rise skyscrapers the world has ever seen. The tower was topped of earlier this year at 818 metres with a total floor area of 334 killometres. If that doesn’t impress you then the fact that the development cost over 4 billion pounds and holds 8 world records for everything from the highest free standing building to the worlds fastest elevators. 110,000 tonnes of concrete were used in the foundations of this behemoth alone.. I can’t wait for it to be finnished and to see it on Google Earth.

A lot of the most interesting and powerful happenings in the architecture world are no longer happening in the western world. Over in Dubai there are scores of skyscrapers going up.. including 2 that claim they will be the tallest in the world. Meanwhile in China experts are predicting there is going to be 50,000 new skyscrapers built in the next 20 years… thats roughly 200 per month.. 50 per week and, if they don’t work weekends, 10 new skyscrapers per day.

It’s a shame that most of the big architectural projects have moved away from the west, but sure looks like some exciting things will be happening over the other side of the word. Anyone fancy learning Chinese?

Some of my favorite statues are the relly unusual ones (often with a really dodgy sense of humor) This collection of really wierd ones from around the world:

This rather fantastic example really shows the architects sense of quirky humour. I am pleased that the the officials in charge allowed them to put up this rather fantastic statue of a man riding an upside down hoarse.

This one in LA really captures that “one of those days” feelings we all get form time to time. This is a really good statue by a really talanted artist.

No explanation is given for this statue in norway, because i honestly dont think there is one. I think it’s utterly brilliant.