Great Viewing Platforms in the World

Viewing Platforms have existed for thousands of years. these first structures were used for very practical purposes such as observing the enemy in battle or guiding ships along the coast. over time Viewing Platforms have come to gain new purposes. today, Viewing decks allow people to look at nature from unique vantage points or look skywards towards the constellations. these structures can be tall towers or tiny edifices all of which have their own function. this building typology is not something you see everyday, which explains part of its appeal. this collection of Viewing Platforms represents a wide range of sizes and styles all of which are designed to observe different things.

The Landscape Promontory, Ticino, Switzerland

the landscape promontory is a suspended viewing platform designed by paolo bürgi as part of the cardada project, a revitalisation of the cardada mountain that is expected to finish in 2010. as with 'il binocolo', the steel and titanium platform enables you to walk amongst the tree tops and experience a view of lake maggiore that was previously unattainable.

Dachstein Skywalk, Dachstein glacier,Austria

Nicknamed the 'balcony of the alps', the dachstein skywalk is perched above the 850ft vertical rockface of the hunerkogelin austria and offers views of both slovenia and the czech republic. in order to scare tourists as much as possible there's also a glass section of floor at the unsupported end of the cantilevered platform. a definite knee-trembler.

Top of Tyrol,Tyrol, Austria

'Top of Tyrol', Designed by Aste Architecture , is a spectacular cantilevered viewing platform overhanging a ridge of mount isidor in austria. admittedly the same view could've been gained without the steel platform but it definitely provides a decievingly safe area for tourists wanting a perfect view of stubai glacier. plus there's always the attraction of the thrill factor as you stand 9 metres away from the mountain

Aurland Lookout, Aurland, Norway

architects todd saunders and tommie wilhelmsen were commissioned to design a scenic rest-stop 2'000ft above aurland fjord in norway and came up with this beauty. the outermost end of the horizontal platform - which curves to form the structure's support - is closed off by a sheet of glass, offering an incredible view towards the ground for all those with the balls to make the trip to the end.

Il Binocolo,Meran,Italy

Within the gardens of trauttmansdorff castle in italy you'll find this charming steel platform poking out through the trees, its name (meaning 'the binoculars') coming from the shape of the platform's small roof and the view of the surrounding landscape. i've no idea of the platform's height - it doesn't look incredibly high - but i know i wouldn't like to fall off the edge. designed by architect matteo thun .

Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona,USA

This horseshoe-shaped pant-filler hangs approximately 4'000ft above the floor of the grand canyon. but... below the platform is not a sheer drop of that height - it's still extremely high, but not 4'000ft worth. also, the platform is located in a side canyon, not the main one, although it's pretty close. all that said, this is still a monster.Watch the video

Amazing European's Largest Water Bridge - Germany

It is an old story but still amazing.Taking six years to build and costing around half a billion euros, the massive undertaking to connect Berlin’s inland harbor with the ports along the Rhine river. At the center of the project is Europe’s longest water bridge measuring in just shy of a kilometer at 918 meters. The huge tub to transport ships over the Elbe took 24,000 metric tons of steel and 68,000 cubic meters of concrete to build.

The water bridge enables river barges to avoid a lengthy and sometimes unreliable passage along the Elbe. Shipping can often come to a halt on the stretch if the river’s water mark falls to unacceptably low levels.“It’s important to us to make the waterways attractive to industry as a safe and environmentally friendly transportation way,” German Transportation Minister Manfred Stolpe said at the opening ceremony, according to the Associated Press.

MVRDV Wins Gwanggyo City Center Competition in South Korea

The Daewoo Consortium and the municipality of Gwanggyo announced the MVRDV concept design for a dense city center winner of the developer’s competition for the future new town of Gwanggyo, located 35km south of the Korean capital Seoul.The design will be one of two centers envisioned, a self sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants located 35 km south of Seoul,which is a mix of housing, culture, office, retail, and leisure and education spaces. Various atriums are created in the towers catering to various categories, with box hedges being planted on the roofs and terraces which in turn improves ventilation and reduces usage of energy and water.

image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Aerial view day
“This diverse program has different needs for phasing, positioning and size,”say the architects. “To facilitate this all elements are designed as rings. By pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life.”
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Aerial view day
Since the beginning of the millennium local nodes with a high density concentration of mixed program are used in Korean town planning. These nodes consist of a mix of public, retail, culture, housing, offices and leisure generating life in new metropolitan areas and encouraging further developments around them: the Power Center strategy. The Gwanggyo Power Center will consist of 200,000m2 housing, 48,000m2 offices, 200,000m2 mix of culture, retail, leisure and education and 200,000m2 parking.image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Street view
This diverse program has different needs for phasing, positioning and size. To facilitate this all elements are designed as rings. By pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life. Plantations around the terraces with a floor to floor circulation system store water and irrigate the plants. The roofs of these hills and the terraces are planted with box hedges creating a strong, recognizable, cohesive park. This vertical park will improve the climate and ventilation, reduce energy and water usage. As a result a series of overgrown green ‘hills’ appear in the landscape.

image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Aerial view dusk
The site is surrounded by a beautiful lake and forested hills, the design aims to create a landscape on top of the new program that enlarges the green qualities and that links the surrounding parks by turning the site into a park.

image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Section
The shifting of the floors causes as a counter effect hollow cores that form large atriums. They serve as lobbies for the housing and offices, plazas for the shopping center and halls for the museum and leisure functions. In each tower a number of voids connect to the atrium providing for light and ventilation and creating semi-public spaces. On the lower floors the atriums are connected through a series of public spaces on various levels linking the towers and serving the outdoor facilities of the culture, retail and leisure program. The Power Center creates a dense urban program with a green regard.

image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)
The concept plan is currently at the Gyeonggi provincial authority’s Urban Innovation Corporation for further development and feasibility study, the entire new town will be a self sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants. The estimated budget and timeframe are still in the process of being established, completion is envisioned for 2011. A consortium lead by Daewoo develops the project with local firm DA Group, which commissioned MVRDV to design the scheme. British firm Arup is involved as engineer.
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Aerial view day
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)- Aerial view night
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Interior

image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Scheme
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Atrium
image(copyright MVRDV),(click 2 enlarge)-Model

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By Peter Rowe

Amazing Cross - Highway Thru High rise

''Gate Tower'' is one of the wonderful buildings in Osaka. The Place of crossing High way and High rise.In Osaka, Japan’s “second city” , space for offices is severely limited. So limited that the 16 story ‘Gate Tower Building’ had to lose the 5th, 6th and 7th floors to a high way.The elevator passes through the floors without stopping. The floors through which the highway passes consist primarily of elevators, stairways and similar things without stopping and also it has heliport on roof.

The company building deteriorated and owners decided to reconstruct in 1983 also it has been decided which a highway passes due to city at the same time. Negotiation between owners and Osaka highway public corporation was taken approximately 5 years and at the end it did by the fact that Highway passes thru the building. Portion of road method, city planning method, urban renewal method and construction standard method was amended in 1989. The ''Gate tower'' is the first building which utilizes the three-dimensional road system in Japan.

• Address: The Osaka prefecture Osaka city Fukushima Ku Fukushima 5-4-21
• Completion: 1992
• Site area: 2,353 m²
• Construction area: 760 m²
• Total floor area: 7,956 m²
• Structure: Steel-frame reinforced concrete structure and part cage
• Height: 71.9 m
• Rank: Terrestrial 16 floors, underground 2 floors and tower house 1 floors
• Main use: Office
• Designer: Catalpa design and Yamamoto Nishihara architectural design office
• Builder: Sato industry

Take a look at google sightseeing to find its location

Tallest Tower in China - Shanghai Tower by Gensler

The 632-meter building designed by Gensler, a leading global architectural design firm, advances sustainable design strategies and gives prominence to public spaces.Shanghai Tower is located in the Luijiazui Finance and Trade Zone, an area of Shanghai that was farmland eighteen years ago. The district is poised to become China’s first super-tall district, as Shanghai Tower rises to complete a trio of towers including the adjacent Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center (WFC). Together, these three will form a new icon on Shanghai’s skyline. While the design of the Jin Mao Tower pays homage to China’s past, and the WFC’s design signifies China’s recent economic growth, Shanghai Tower’s design is a beacon of China’s future.

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
Shanghai Tower will join and rise above the recently appraised ‘Best Tall Building Overall’ by the CTBUH.“This tower is symbolic of a nation whose future is filled with limitless opportunities,” said Qingwei Kong, President of Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd. “With Shanghai Tower we celebrate not only China’s economic success and increasing connection to the global community, but also our company’s commitment to developing properties that demonstrate the highest, noblest and most exquisite design achievements possible.”

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
The tower, commissioned by Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co., Ltd, will be the tallest in China with the highest open air observation deck in the world. Consisting of office space, a luxury hotel, retail and cultural venues the building will also hold connections to the Shanghai Metro and three floors of parking below ground level.

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
“We hope Shanghai Tower inspires new ideas about what sustainable tall buildings can be,” said Art Gensler, FAIA, Chairman of Gensler. “We’ve lined the perimeter of the tower, top to bottom, with public spaces, and we’ve integrated strategic environmental thinking into every move. The tower is a stage that comes to life through the presence of people.”

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
Shanghai Tower is organized as nine cylindrical buildings stacked one atop another. The inner layer of the double-skin facade encloses the stacked buildings, while a triangular exterior layer creates the second skin, or building envelope, which gently rotates as it rises. The spaces between the two facade layers create nine atrium sky gardens. Much like plazas and civic squares in traditional cities, the sky atria offer spaces within Shanghai Tower for interaction and community with restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and convenience stores, as well as lush landscaping.

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
With sky gardens lining the tower’s perimeter, Shanghai Tower is literally wrapped in public spaces. Both interior and exterior skins are transparent, establishing a visual connection between the tower’s interiors and Shanghai’s urban fabric. At night the building’s glowing translucent form further highlights interior public spaces.

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
The facade's taper, texture and asymmetry work in partnership to reduce wind loads on the building by 24 percent, offering considerable savings overall in both building materials and construction costs. In addition, the building’s spiraling parapet collects rainwater, which is used for the tower’s heating and air conditioning systems. Wind turbines located directly beneath the parapet generate on-site power. The landscaped atria improve indoor air quality and create comfortable places for people to linger. Shanghai Tower’s owners aim to register for a high level of building certification from the China Green Building Committee and the U.S. Green Building Council.

Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
Image(copyright Gensler),(click2 enlarge)
Source:www.Gensler.com

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