8 Fascinating Design Spots From Around The World
While engineering and building construction is serious work, there’s something to be said for architectural designs that take an artistic approach. Not only can it display imaginative ingenuity on the designer’s behalf, but actually building these structures is a whole new challenge in itself.
We’re going to look at 8 of the most fascinating architectural designs from around the world, where artwork and engineering met to create truly beautiful modern wonders of the world.
Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik
This concert wall was designed by Danish-Icelandig artist Olafur Eliasson. The crystalline shell structure emits lights and colours that create a kaleidoscope effect, which is visually stunning as you enter the building. Furthermore, the building’s location couldn’t be a more fascinating choice, as it sits on the shoreline creating a beautiful link between sky and sea.
The Venetian Macao, Macau
This Venice-themed casino resort was designed to imitate northern Italy architecture, and it certainly came out beautifully. The ceiling features hand-painted cherubs, reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel, and the casino’s entrance is lined with shops in Venetian style. It also has gondolas that were designed and imported from Italy.
The casino also features over 1,740 slot machines and 640 game tables, which is quite an impressive array. It’s possible the only larger selection of slot machines you could find would be at an online casino, such as Casumo online casino.
The Dancing House, Prague
This building was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunic, and Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. It is called The Dancing House because of its new-baroque architectural style, which features a unique curving shape, as if the building was caught in a dance. This is thanks to 99 concrete panels of different shapes and dimensions.
Lotus Temple, New Delhi
This house of worship in New Delhi is a total of 27 structures, all shaped to resemble the blossoming petals of a lotus flower, which open into a central hall that stands around 40m high. The central hall can accommodate 2,500 people, and has 9 doors for each of its 9 sides.
The surface of the structure is white marble from Mount Pentelicus in Greece, which was also used to build the Parthenon. The Lotus Temple has attracted over 100 million visitors since its completion in 1986.
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur
An iconic landmark in Malaysia’s capital city, the Petronas Towers are twin skyscrapers which previously held the title of tallest buildings in the world (from 1998-2004), standing at 451.9 metres tall. Their post-modern style was created by architects Achmad Murdijat and Cesar Pelli, designer Dominic Saibo, and engineer Deejay Cerico.
Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi, UAE
This leaning tower stands at 160m tall, a total of 35 stories, and has an 18 degrees incline to the west. It was certified in 2010 by the Guinness World Records as the “World’s Furthest Leaning Man-Made Tower”, and was proven to lean more than four times the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen.
To counter the gravitational pressure caused by the incline, the engineers used a technique called pre-cambered core, which means the core of concrete is reinforced with steel that is purposely built a little off-center. The building is also anchored to the earth by 490 piles, drilled to a depth of around 20-30 meters below.
The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore
The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino consists of three towers, topped by a huge boat-like structure which acts as a top floor. On this top floor, guests will find an infinity pool that overlooks the entire Central District. There’s also a restaurant and bar, and the famous Ku De Ta Club.
Not only is this architecturally fascinating, but it is also the most expensive stand-alone casino property in the world, valued at $8 billion USD. It was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie.
Nagoya Science Museum and Planetarium, Aichi, Japan
Located in Sakae, Nagoya, in the heart of Nagoya City in central Japan, this building was formed to resemble a giant ball between rectangular holders. It houses the world’s largest planetarium, with is equipped with a 35-meter projection dome.
The upper floor of the building also houses a museum display of space and future technologies.