Aqua is an 82-story mixed-use residential skyscraper under construction in the Lakeshore East development in downtown Chicago. The name “Aqua” is in keeping with the nautical theme most of the buildings in the Lakeshore East development have: The Tides, The Shoreham, The Regatta, etc. It is currently topped-out at 819 ft (250 m), and will include six levels of parking below ground. The building’s eight-story, 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) base will be topped by a 82,550 sq ft (7,669 m2) terrace with gardens, gazebos, pools, hot tubs, a walking/running track and fire pit. Each floor will cover approximately 16,000 sq ft (1,500 m2). Of course construction technologies are advancing extremely fast. Lets see top ten strange and unique structures of the world which have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. some have already been partially constructed.
2. Chicago Spire, USA
Chicago spire will become America’s tallest building by the end of 2010. It has been designed by the well-known Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The 150-floor building is being developed by Garrett Kelleher of Shelbourne Development Group Inc and is expected to be completed in 2010. Access to the tower will be from Lower Lake Shore Drive to reduce the impact on traffic in the neighborhood – the tower is expected to add one car a minute to the local traffic pattern. Within three months of the building announcement, 800 people had contacted the developer wanting to buy apartments in the building.
3. CCTV Headquarters, China
The CCTV Headquarters is a skyscraper in the Beijing Central Business District. The building is the headquarters of China Central Television. Groundbreaking took place on September 22, 2004 and the building’s facade was completed in Jun 2008. Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren of OMA were the architects in charge for the building, while Arup provided the complex engineering design. It stands at 234 meters (768 ft) tall and has 54 floors.
4. Regatta Hotel, Jakarta
Taking on a nautical theme, the developers say the 10 smaller towers represent sailing boats whilst the larger building is ‘The Lighthouse’. It’s the lighthouse that steals the show for us, possibly the most incredible looking structure we’ve seen for a long time. If it ends up looking anything close to these pictures we’ll be impressed.
5. Songjiang Hotel, Shanghai
Atkins has won an international competition to design a five-star resort hotel set within a beautiful water-filled quarry in the Songjiang district close to Shanghai in China. Its stunning concept designs inspired by the natural water and landscape features of the quarry captured the imagination of judges to quash competition from two other international firms.
6. Russia Tower, Russia
The Russia Tower is an unfinished supertall skyscraper, the construction of which is cancelled, in the Moscow International Business Centre of Moscow, Russia. Construction began in September, 2007, and was planned to be completed in 2012. The total area of the structure would cover 520,000 m2 (5,600,000 sq ft), of which 38% (approximately 200,000 m2 (2,200,000 sq ft)) would be located underground. The tower would contain 118 floors, 101 elevators, and underground parking to accommodate 3,680 cars. Commercial retail shops would be located at the base of the building. The maximum capacity of the building was projected to be around 30,000.
7. Penang Global City Centre, Malaysia
Asymptote’s design for the PGCC complex is centered on the idea of creating a new and powerful image for the city of Penang and the new initatives associated with the development of the Northern Corridor of Malaysia. The design achieves its elegance and stature through the simultaneous embrace of natural landscapes and contemporary urbanism. The PGCC will become a vital new precinct that complements and enhances the unique characteristics that typify Penang as a remarkable island metropolis. The design of the iconic towers in particular draws inspiration from not only the lushness and drama of the surrounding mountains and seascapes, but also from the rich and diverse cultural heritage that makes up the Malaysian nation and Penang in particular.
8. Gazprom Headquarters, Russia
This gigantic, 300m tall glass flame of a building will house the Gazprom Headquarters in St. Petersburg , dwarfing all structures in its vicinity, it will apparently change color up to 10 times per day depending on the position of the sun. The building has already been nicknamed ‘corn on the cob’ by unhappy locals.
9. Burj Khalifa, Dubai
Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure in the world. The Burj Dubai had its name officially changed to Burj Khalifa during its grand opening in honor of the president of the U.A.E. H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. The condensation water collected from the A/C system equals to 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools per year and in turn, used for landscaping. Over 330,000 cubic meters of concrete and 31,400 metric tonnes of steel rebar was used at the completion of the tower. The tower is situated on a man-made lake which is designed to wrap around the tower and to provide dramatic views of it.
10. Residence Antilia, India
construction has begun on residence antilia despite opposition from those who see it as an ‘excessive’ design in a city where more than 65% of the population live in slums. politics aside and after you recover from the initial shock of seeing a skyscraper that resembles an ikea cd rack, the building actually looks like it may succeed as a stunning, unique, green piece of architecture.
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