ED

Great Architectural Designs

Architecture is the science (as well as art) of designing and constructing buildings. Every architect with a sense of competition and passion to excel in his/her field tries to be unique in his/her architectural designs and concepts. Uniqueness makes buildings attractive and architects know this fact well. Today’s world is filled with great architectural designs of buildings. In this article, I am going to tell you about some internationally famous unique and beautifully designed buildings. As there are innumerable matchless architectural designs spread in whole world, therefore it is difficult to choose few. Anyhow, I have chosen those with great architectural designs as well as beautiful looks.

1. Beijing National Stadium:

The National Stadium of Beijing was opened in 2008 and was especially designed for 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The construction cost of this building was $423 million. It has capacity for 80000 people. The architects that designed this wonderful building were China Architectural Design & Research Group, ArupSport, Herzog & de Meuron and AiWeiwei. Arup did the structural engineering.

This building is also known as Bird’s Nest. It is considered as world’s largest enclosed place as well as world’s largest steel structure for there is 26 km of unwrapped steel used in there. This building is constructed over 3 million cubic meters. As it is located in a high seismic zone, designers have worked hard to make it less prone to earthquake damages and distructions.

Photo by Where is Michi?

2. Burj Khalifa (former Burj Dubai):

As we all know, Dubai is filled with great architectural designs and eye catching buildings. Burj Dubai, dancing towers, metropolis etc are all examples of this dynamic architecture that is shown all over Dubai.

Burj Khalifa which was formerly known as Burj Dubai is world’s tallest building currently. This slim building is a great piece of extraordinary architecture. Adrian Smith designed this building. It was opened in January 2010.

The building’s overall cost was $ 1.5 billion. Burj Khalifa has made many records like tallest structure ever built, tallest free standing structure, world’s fastest and highest elevators, world’s highest mosque, world’s highest swimming pool and building with most floors etc.

This building has residential area, too. It has 160 floors.

3. Dancing House Prague:

It was completed in 1996 and possesses a strange design that makes it look like a house in dancing position. Vlado Miluni? and Frank Gehry were the architects for this unique building. The actual name of this building is Nationale-Nederlanden but has been named as Dancing House (and it is also called Drunk House).

Photo by jaime.silva

It was a controversial design, but the then president of Czech Republic supported it strongly hoping that it becomes a cultural activity hub. Inside, there are offices of multinational firms and on the roof rests a restaurant called Celeste Restaurant. Sitting in this restaurant, one can enjoy awesome view of the river as well as the city up to the Prague Castle. It is built by the river Vltava. The building looks like a dancing couple, and this is why the architects thought of naming it Astaire and Rogers Building after their celebrated dance duo.

4. Burj al Arab Dubai:

This is world only 7 star hotel located in Dubai, UAE. Tom Atkins designed the place and it is world second tallest hotel with height of 321 meters. It has 60 floors with 18 elevators.

According to the architect, the client needed a building that would be iconic for Dubai. Burj al Arab seems like sail of a sea vessel, only that it is huge. Another important fact about this building is that it is constructed on an artificial island which is 280 meters offshore. For safety and security purposes, 230 concrete piles with 40 meters length were drove into the sand.

202 bedroom suites have been constructed o 28 double storey floors. The restaurant Al Muntaha is situated 200 meters above the Persian Gulf. It offers a great view of the whole city of Dubai. Its chef (who also owns the restaurant) was awarded Chef of the Year in 2006. A replicated sub marine trip takes guests to Al Mahara which is another restaurant. This eating place features a great aquarium which adds to the beauty of the restaurant.

5. Sydney Opera House:

This is a performing arts complex situated in Sydney, Australia. It was constructed in 1973 in Expressionist architectural style. Jorn Utzon designed this world famous beautiful building.

This is one of the busiest performing arts centers globally. Over 1500 performances are hosted by Sydney Opera House every year. Around seven million visitors visit the place every year.

6. Walt Disney Concert Hall:

This uniquely designed concert hall was built in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. It has capacity for 2265 spectators. The overall construction cost for this concert hall was $240 million. Some outer portions were designed with highly polished mirror like panels, which were sanded afterwards due to complaints of unwanted glare and heat by neighboring residents. Patina; the restaurant serves Californian and French cuisine.

Photo en.wikipedia.org

7. 30 St. Mary Axe:

Located in the city of London, this building is also known as Gherkin and Swiss Re Building. The construction was completed in 2003. The building is 180 meters tall and has 40 floors. Foster and Partners designed it whereas structural engineering was done by Arup. Swiss Re (a global reinsurance company) uses most of the building and this is the reason the building is also called Swiss Re Building.

8. Turning Torso:

Located in Malmo, Sweden, this residential building was completed in 2006 with 54 floors. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and contractor was NCC. It is 190 meters tall and is the tallest residential building in European Union. Its architecture is based upon torso of a twisted human being. There are nine segments of five storey pentagons and the top segment has been twisted 90 degrees clockwise in respect to the ground floor. This is a private residential building featuring apartments.

Photo By Ronald Scherpenisse

There are a lot more buildings with nice and unique architectural designs in the world. Keep on seeking such entertaining information.