Beauty of Annecy France - Pictorial Tour

Beauty of Annecy France - Pictorial Tour

Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhone-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy (Lac d'Annecy), 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Geneva.

World's Largest Building In China

World's Largest Building In China

The New Century Global Center officially opens in China — The building is so large it is capable housing 20 Sydney Opera Houses and is almost three times the size of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The numbers are little short of staggering; at 500 metres long, 400 metres wide and 100 metres high a 1.76-million-square-metre-mega-building has been opened in Sichuan province in southwestern China.

The New Century Global Center, officially the largest freestanding building in the world, took three years to complete and will house offices, shopping malls, a Mediterranean village, a 14-screen IMAX Cineplex and an ice-skating rink large enough to hold international skating competitions.

The building is so large it is capable of housing the equivalent of 20 Sydney Opera Houses and is almost three times the size of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. At the centre of the building is a huge water park called Paradise Island. Around 400,000 square metres of the building are dedicated to shopping.

The building sits directly opposite the Chengdu Contemporary Arts Centre, designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. The New Century Global Center is at the heart of a new planned area of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China. Its opening has been timed to coincide with the expansion of a new subway line for the area and the planned construction of a new airport set for completion in 2020.

Suite Vollard – A spinning building

Moving skyscrapers are tall buildings in which individual floors can rotate on its axis. The world's first such building, the Suite Vollard, is a futuristic residential building in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.

Opened in 2001, the Suite Vollard was constructed by Moro Construções Civis LTDA, and Fritz Georg Gehbauer. The architect was Bruno de Franco. It was built in the Ecoville District in Curitiba, and has since became a famous, well-known building in the city.
The floors each have double sheets of glass on the façade, tinted silver, gold, or blue, depending on the floor. This provides "a spectacular effect" as the floors rotate in opposite directions. The bottom floors of the building are mostly an executive center.

Each of the 11 floors, comprising the majority of the building, can rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise, with a full revolution of 360 degrees taking an hour. The building was a case study that was used to gather data for more than thirty companies in Brazil, as well as one in Germany. The Suite Vollard apartment complex is named after Pablo Picasso's collection of etchings, the Vollard Suite, which was held on display when the building was inaugurated.
The concept of this proposal is to spin a metallic platform rolling over a rigid concrete structure. To get the best visual appeal the glass walls rotate together with the platform being visible from outside. The roof can rotate together with the structure depending on the project demands.

Each apartment can rotate individually in both directions with its own control and timing.
The time for one complete turn is according to the needs of the customer. The Suite Vollard completes a turn in one hour.

All mobile parts are under the floor with easy access for inspection and maintenance.

The concept building Suite Vollard is the first in the world to propose a rotational living space that con be further used as, commercial space or hotel.
- The generic solution is to revolve a metallic platform around a concrete fixed core.
- This solution is very versatile and can be adjusted to different sizes, shapes, combinations and applications.

- For such a project the localization is utmost importance, as the main appeal is the all-around view.

In the case of multiple apartments per floor, like hotels, where the external view is not a complete turn (360º), the view can be artificially complemented by creation of material environments like gardens, aquarium, LCD screens, panels etc ...
- Besides the external view, also internally there are amazing possibilities as to position the bedroom, living room or the bar in front of a home cinema fixed in the concrete core.
Externally the rotating movement can be persecuted by the different shapes and colors of each floor.
Live in a spinning apartment is amazing.
- Searching the sun wherever it will be,
- Taking one's armchair to contemplate the preferred skyline,
- To take one's family or friends until the terrace in the summertime,
- Having supper in any place,
- Attending its preferred movie,
- and much more...
Source: Wikipedia.org & worldbuildingsdirectory.com

Tatra Mountains - Poland Beauty - Images n Detail

Tatra Mountains - Poland Beauty - Images n Detail

The Tatra Mountains are a mountain range that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.