(And when I read that “vomit stars” I literally pictured stars throwing up in the sky).

Mojave Mark on June 1, 2007 at 12:39 AM

Some many one liners. Cannot…compute…

Will this have a landing strip for Muslim pilots on top or will the builiding be drive-through?

Doesn’t Michelin tires already own the copyright on this design?

Are there separate floors for all the 9 year old brides?

Truther.

True, but very few people credit the builders for amazing monuments/buildings after they are done. Especially as more time passes.

Well I am. Their Palm & World Islands are amazing feats of engineering. Its a shame that we’ve seemed to have lost our vision-thing. Hell we’re not even doing much to go to the moon again. Like I said before the eco-weenies and their buddies make having a vision a massive hassel.
Just imagine if Robert Moses tried to do today what he did last century. That guy invented Emminent Domain.

Their not building them, they are way too backwards for that. They are paying Westerners (mostly) to design and build it.

True, but very few people credit the builders for amazing monuments/buildings after they are done. Especially as more time passes.

I think we should break our dependence on foreign oil just so those oil sheiks in Dubai will be forced to stop building unnecessarily cool things like indoor ski mountains and rotating apartment buildings.

Does it bother anyone else that the only Modern Wonders of the World that the US got on the list were completed in 1931 (Empire State Building) and 1937 (Golden Gate Bridge)?

Sure, we were the only country to have two solid entries on the list (France is a close second with the Eiffel Tower and the Chunnel, but they’re only part owner of the Chunnel, so we win). Still, I’d like to think our creative energies and technical capabilities now are at least somewhat on par with our abilities in the 30s.

JadeNYU on May 31, 2007 at 2:26 PM

Their not building them, they are way too backwards for that. They are paying Westerners (mostly) to design and build it.

We need to cut taxes so we can build more. Oh and taking their oil fields as payment for 9/11 would help.

I suspect that assumption might be wrong. I’ll bet the apartments are designed for the ultra-rich, with price and square footage to match.

calbear on May 31, 2007 at 3:14 PM

In the video they showed how they attached each segment to the building. The walls of each segment were clear, and it looked like they were each supposed to be single tenant apartments.

other than for the novelty

Precisely.

Archi-stars of the past 100 years have debated (and almost unanimously concluded) that stationary structures are at the heart of good design, and that moving structures are a short-cut.

I too think this design to be tacky. But then again, architecture is for the people, and the people will decide what is good design.

The Holiday Inn in Hollywood has had a rotating restaurant on top for well over 40 years, and I would be shocked to find out it was the first, so rotating building parts are not new. EVERY floor rotating, that’s new. And if each floor is an independent dwelling owned by one family, why bother, other than for the novelty?

I THINK NOT!

the floors are all prefab so they’re dirt cheap to construct

Probably as compared to the space shuttle. I see a lot of warped/curved surfaces. Curves are not cheap. Standard building materials are planar.

80 people on site verses 2000? That doesn’t mean 1920 jobs are eliminated. That means 1920 jobs are at the various factories creating the prefabricated pieces. It’s a zero sum equation.

This concept of moving buildings has been around for a long time. The problem is that moving parts will eventually break down.

It’s hard to beat bricks/mortar and column/beam orthagonal construction for both cost and volume. In 25 years, those buildings will look as weird and dated as “The Future Of Tomorrow” stuff from the 1950′s. It has an aesthetic expiration date.

Also, “Green Technology” like wind turbines and solar panels typically have a huge initial purchase cost with a painfully long pay-back. Sure it makes you feel good to be eco-friendly, but your a$$ still aches from the price tag.

Iblis, do you know your screen name means “Satan” in Indoneisan?

Yes. Arabic as well. There is an Allah, so there is an Iblis. Just so. No secret.

Allah-”Look Ib, I need you to run a new spot called Hell for me. You’ll love it, great warm weather, interesting people, you can do whatever you want. It’ll be great, trust me.”
Iblis-”Sure thing MoonGod. Sounds good.”