A Building That Makes Me Sick Just Looking At It: The Dynamic Rotating Tower in Dubai

Italian Architect David Fisher's latest building in Dubai makes me sick. Not because it's unattractive, but because it actually rotates. And I have severe motion sickness. Dramamine needs aside, The Dynamic Rotating Tower is no longer a potential project; it's begun construction and is soon to be a reality.


above: Architect David Fisher and his Dynamic Tower

With such wild land developments as The World shaped private islands, the Palm and ambitious unusual architecture like The Burj Al Arab luxury hotel, Dubai is fast becoming a looky loo's paradise of building and architecture design design.

The latest addition is the Dynamic Rotating Tower by David Fisher. It's the first rotating skyscraper to be self powered and completely prefabricated.




Rotating Tower Dubai Development Ltd headed by the Dynamic Group, announced the opening on June 24 of the reservations list for the first Dynamic Tower in Dubai.
Click here to put your name on the reservation list.

The company has also revealed the design and floor plans of the rotating building which will have 80 floors and be 420 meters (1,380 feet) tall.



Apartments will range in size from 124 square meters (1,334 SF), to Villas of 1,200 SM (12,916 SF) complete with a parking space inside the apartment.



Each floor rotates independently to create a building that constantly changes shape, resulting in a unique and ever evolving architectural structure.



The Dynamic Tower is environmentally friendly, with the ability to generate electricity for itself as well as other buildings nearby making it the first building designed to be self-powered, it achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor.


Above: An 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor, making it a true green power plant.

Each floor will rotate independently at different speeds, resulting in a unique and forever evolving shape.



The Dynamic Tower will continually reshape, allowing the sun to both rise and set from the same view. The buildings can also be adjusted to the season, the weather, or to capture a special moment.



Luxury penthouse villas, which will be over 1,000 square meters (11,000 square feet), will be completely custom-made to fulfill individual buyer's personal needs, they will also include an indoor swimming pool, voice activated features, demotic control systems, built in phone system and any other special desire, all custom made.


Above: Bathrooms will be pre-assembled at the Leonardo da Vinci factory in Italy, part of the Dynamic Group and will include precious Italian marble, a sauna, a Turkish bath, chromatography and sound therapy.


Above: Villa's residents have the possibility to drive directly into the building where a special elevator will take their car to their floor and park at the entrance to their Villa.

In addition to the ever changing views, the Dynamic Tower will offer a voice activated control system, state-of-the-art design details, high quality Italian made finishing, sophisticated electronic devices.

Want an apartment in this building? click here to put your name on the reservation list.

Dr. Fisher also announced that the second Dynamic Tower planned for Moscow is now in the advanced design phase, with preassembling of the units to start soon and completion scheduled for 2010. The developer is the Mirax Group, headed by leading international developer Sergei Polonsky, The Moscow tower, which will have 70 floors and be 400 meters (1,310 feet) tall, will be located in Moscow City area, the new prestigious part of the Russian capital.


Above: Moscow's Rotating Tower

“Our intention is to build the third Rotating Skyscraper in New York,” Dr. Fisher stated. “Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around the world, following an expression of interest from developers, governments, and public officials to construct a Dynamic Tower in Canada, Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland”.

Each Dynamic Tower throughout the world will be unique, becoming an iconic structure wherever it's built, together the Dynamic Towers will represent an era of a new architecture that will change the look of our cities and herald a new era of Dynamic Living.



learn all about it here.

Even better, to see the building in motion, go here.

Sutherland + Starck = Robinwood Deluxe. Great Outdoor Furniture With A Beautifully Illustrated Brochure.

Sutherland, the Texas-based outdoor furniture company has collaborated with designer Philippe Starck to create this collection of outdoor teak and aluminum furniture.



The Robinwood Deluxe collection, named after the rebel Robin Hood with each piece in the collection named after one of the members of the merry band of thieves, consists of 26 pieces.



Combining Philippe Starck's minimal style with outdoor materials results in a functional and beautiful line of furniture.




There are some real standouts and unexpected pieces like a canopied bed, rocking chair, one armed barstool and highback sofa:




as well as standards like tables, dining chairs and chaise-longues:








In addition to the actual furniture, the collection is promoted with a charming illustrated piece telling the 'story' of the furniture and the providence of the name. Here are a few images from the piece:






The wonderful illustrations were done by artist Kristian Donaldson.
Visit the microsite and learn more here.

The Paris Treasure Hunt - Ooh La La!

Talk about an interesting way to promote a city! This engaging Paris Treasure Hunt (trésors de paris) is a lot more interesting than your typical Tourism Board advertising. Last year, the 2007 event had more than 15,000 participants.


Above: The poster for last year's treasure hunt

So, what is it?
The treasure hunt is free and open to all (yes, the site is available in english as well as french). You can enroll here or in front of the town hall of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts on July 5th. The surreal adventure organized by Paris City Hall (Mairie de Paris and Jean-Bernard Bros) is a unique way to discover the city, its secrets and its inhabitants.



You can hunt for the treasures alone or with friends (6 max). On your way, you will need to use your brain, your intuition, your observation skills, and you'll have to be brave. Navigating in the maze of Paris streets, the treasure hunters will have to ask mysterious Paris characters for some clues.



The treasure hunters will also get a feel for the authentic heart of Paris: meeting shop keepers, craftsmen and artists or discovering little-known places like hidden gardens, narrow streets and secret passages.


Above: The landing page of the website

trésors de paris gives visitors (and even locals) a chance to discover secret passages, unknown streets and hidden gardens in the 3e, 6e, 13e and 18e arrondissements. just sign up (it's free) with up to six of your friends, and receive clues and mysteries to help you navigate the maze of Paris streets. Lost? Stop and ask the paris "characters" for help. There are fabulous prizes for the winner: access to a secret cabaret, a night in a five-star hotel and dinner at a top restaurant. With many treasure hunts throughout the year, each one is themed to fit your interests. The theme on july 5th is ecology and sustainable development.


The rules:
Come and hunt Paris treasures. The treasure hunt is free and open to all. You can enrol here or in front of the town hall of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts on July 5th. The surreal adventure organized by Paris City Hall will be a unique way to discover the city, its secrets and its inhabitants.

You can hunt for the treasures alone or with friends (6 max). On your way, you will need to use your brain, your intuition, your observation skills, and you'll have to be brave. Navigating in the maze of Paris streets, the treasure hunters will have to ask mysterious Paris characters for some clues.

The treasure hunters will also get a feel for the authentic heart of Paris: meeting shop keepers, craftsmen and artists or discovering little-known places like hidden gardens, narrow streets and secret passages.

Paris treasure hunt will start at 10 AM and will end at 3.30 PM, on the 5th of July 2008. In order to play the contestants have to register on this website in advance or in front of the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 18th, 19th districts town halls.
Registration is free and open to everyone.
The enigmas (clues in the form of questions) will be given to the treasure hunters, the 5th of July 2008 between 10 AM and 1 PM. There will be a treasure hunt with different winners in each of the districts.The treasure will not be timed. However, the closing time of the game is set at 3.30 PM. The winners will be determined at random by drawing lots amongst the teams that finish before closing time.
Game Mechanics :
Several enigmas (clues/ questions), following different itineraries, will be distributed at random to the contestants. All the courses of a district will converge toward the same ending. Every member of a team will receive the same enigmas. By following the enigma, the contestants will be guided toward several neighbourhood of Paris where strange characters will be awaiting them to challenge them to trials of wits, humour, taste, scent and who knows what? If they succeed they will win clues that will take the form of bits of paper.At the end, the contestants will have to use their clues to solve a final enigma, which will lead them to the arrival place. There, the contestants will be asked to put a coupon with their name and the phone number where they can be reached in France, in a ballot box.
The final challenge :
At the arrival point, in order to increase their chances to win, the contestants will have to answer a question about the course they just finished. If they answer it right, they will be able to put extra coupons in the ballot box.
Prizes:
There will be winners in each of the five districts.The prizes include :an access to the secret Paris Cabaret, which opens only once a year, dinners in top Paris restaurants, nights in chic Paris hotels, special “Paris tours” showing the mysterious side of the city.
Pour plus d'informations (For more information)
Contactez Ma Langue Au Chat –
Tel. : 33.1.44 92.93.94 – facteur@tresorsdeparis.fr

This event was organized by Mairie De Paris.

An Insurance Company Lures Customers With 24k Gold Plated Bike

To promote ETA’s cycle insurance in the U.K., Nick Larsen of Charge bikes came up with the idea of gold plating one in 24 karat.



The bicycle started its life as a Charge Plug, which is a single-speed model of the kind made popular by cycle couriers.

Very little of the bike is now standard. The frame has been stripped, polished, plated in copper and then finished in 24ct gold. The wheels have been re-built using deep-v rims and the chain, seat and bars are custom. The machine is one of a kind.






Everyone (where ETA is offered) who gets a quote for cycle insurance on the ETA website has the chance to win the gold bike. Get a quote and enter the competition here.


Learn about Charge Plug Bikes here.