What's the story with the COBRA TOWER?

I have seen these renderings on countless of sites, all stating its of the COBRA TOWER proposed project in KUWAIT scheduled for completion in 2010.

Can you shed some light?

Is it real or is it hoax?

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Rooms with a changing view: Skyscraper that revolves

THE Dynamic Tower, a slender, shifting skyscraper of rotating, energy- self-sufficient luxury apartments, was presented in project- form in New York on Tuesday by Italian architect David Fisher (left), before it goes up in Dubai.

The innovative, 1,378- foot building features pre-fabricated apartments that spin a full 360 degrees, at voice command, around a central column by means of 79 power- generating wind turbines located between each floor. This building will have endless different shapes (artist’s rendering, above). The apartments, ranging from 124 to 1,335- 12,917 square feet, will take between one and three hours to make a rotation, and will cost from Rs 14.8 crore to Rs 144 crore. The skyscraper, which will cost Rs 2,800 crore to build, should be up and running by 2010.

SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY

The first official building to house Seattle's public library was built in 1891 on Pioneer Square, eventually moving to a block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Madison and Spring Streets. In 1998, Seattle voters embraced a $196.4m makeover of the library, dubbed 'Libraries for All'.

The initiative includes plans to double the square footage in Seattle's 22 libraries, including the building of new branches – but the icing on the cake is the new $169.2m Central Library at 1,000 Fourth Avenue, designed by Rem Koolhaas' Netherlands-headquartered Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in joint venture with local LMN Architects.

Partnering Koolhaas on the OMA team was another well-known name, Joshua Prince-Ramus, now of REX Architects in New York. 37 library staff groups and 11 public work groups were involved as well, according to a library statement.

SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY FEATURES

OMA / LMN's creation opened in 2004 after 2.5 years of construction as an 11-floor, 412,000ft² library.

It includes such innovative features as a 'book spiral' on levels 6-9 that displays the entire non-fiction collection in a continuous run, and a 50ft-high living room alongside Fifth Avenue, all housed in a distinctive diamond-shaped glass and steel skin.

4,644t of conventional steel columns not only carry the weight of the building but support lateral loads such as wind and earthquake movement and the weight of the exterior building skin or curtain wall. The diamond-grid 'smart glass' was made by Okalux and custom-made by Germany's Seele.

Five platform areas allow form to follow function, each corresponding with different aspects of the million-book Central Library programme. The interior has been described as awash with natural light and space, inspiring users to read and borrow actual books in today's world of online texts and multimedia presentations.

The 'Mixing Chamber' on level 5 hosts a customer help centre, including 132 of the building's 400 public computers.

The 'Living Room' on level 3 features a teen centre, family fiction collection, shop, coffee bar, auditorium, the Library Equal Access Project and spaces to read or study. 'Living Room' flooring uses a recycled product called Worthwood made by Oregon Lumber.

A 'Seattle Room' on level 10 houses Seattle history and genealogical services. This level also houses the reading room, which has panoramic city views. Level 9 hosts a map room and writers' room. A children's centre on level 1 has special reading rooms.

A cross section of the new Central Library shows the 'mixing chamber'
customer help area and several purpose-built reading rooms.

HIGH-RISE MODIFICATION

"By modifying the superposition of floors in the typical American high-rise, a building emerges that is at the same time sensitive (the slopes will admit unusual quantities of daylight where desirable), contextual (each side can react differently to specific urban conditions) and iconic. Its angular facets form a plausible bracketing of Seattle's new modernity," OMA wrote.

Black wall tiles were made from a porous bead foam sound silencer called EPP-ARPRP sold by Acoustical Surfaces. Carpets were designed by Petra Blaise of Inside / Outside in Amsterdam, using Ege carpet of recyclable nylon or polyamid, from the UK. Level 10's 'pillow' ceiling is acoustic panels wrapped with ripstop nylon.

There are 731 seats at study tables without computers and 190 lounge seats, not counting seats for meeting rooms, out of a total $6.4m furniture budget. It includes a 275-seat auditorium and parking for 143 vehicles. The Central Library now sees two million physical patrons a year.

According to a statement from OMA, the library seems threatened, a fortification ready to be taken by potential enemies. "New libraries don't reinvent or even modernise the traditional institution; they merely package it in a new way," the architects wrote.

OMA's vision was to redefine the library as no longer exclusively dedicated to books but as more of an information store, where all media can be presented. "In an age where information can be accessed anywhere, it is the simultaneity of all media and the professionalism of their presentation and interaction that will make the library new," OMA wrote.

LIBRARY AWARDS

Seattle's new Central Library has won various awards, including the American Institute of Architects 2005 Honor Award, the American Council of Engineering Companies' 2005 Platinum Award for Innovation and Engineering and achieved a silver rating from the US Green Building Council.

Green Design and Earth-Friendly Architecture

Green Design is a term used to describe economical, energy-saving, environmental friendly, sustainable development. These resources explore the relationship between architecture and ecology, and show how you can use concepts of green design in your own home.

Green building-
Green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources — energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better sitting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle.

A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. Other commonly used terms include sustainable design and green architecture.

Green building materials-
Building materials typically considered to be 'green' include rapidly renewable plant materials like bamboo and straw, lumber from forests certified to be sustainably managed, dimension stone, recycled stone, recycled metal, and other products that are non-toxic, reusable, renewable, and/or recyclable (e.g. Trass, Linoleum, sheep wool, panels made from paper flakes, baked earth, rammed earth, clay, vermiculite, flax linen, sisal, seagrass, cork, expanded clay grains, coconut, wood fiber plates, calcium sand stone. Building materials should be extracted and manufactured locally to the building site to minimize the energy embedded in their transportation.

Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Chicago

Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park, Chicago. The sculpture is shaped like an ellipse, and its legume-like appearance has caused it to be nicknamed “The Bean”. It is made of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates, and stands at 33 feet high, 66 feet long, and 42 feet wide, weighing 110 tons. From a distance it could be mistaken for a huge drop of mercury, while up close its highly reflective surface captures and transforms the skyline, the downtown cityscape and even the passers-by into a wonderfully warped new vista.

The artist, Anish Kapoor, has referred to the sculpture as “a gate to Chicago, a poetic idea about the city it reflects.” The 12-foot underbelly is called the "omphalos" or navel and multiplies reflections in a vortex.

National Grand Theater, Beijing, China

Designed by Paul Andreu Architect, the National Grand Theater of China is Located near Tiananmen Square , the 490,485-square-foot glass-and-titanium National Grand Theater, scheduled to open in 2008, seems to float above a man-made lake.

Intended to stand out amid the Chinese capital's bustling streets and ancient buildings, the structure has garnered criticism among Bejing's citizens for clashing with classic landmarks like the Monument to the People's Heroes (dedicated to revolutionary martyrs), the vast home of the National People's Congress, or Tiananmen Gate itself (the Gate of Heavenly Peace).

The project located in Beijing with area of 149,500 m2. According to the project description, this theater is composed by an opera, a concert hall and 2 theater. It is also mentioned as a city of theaters, and as you can seen on the picture above, the complex is look like a transparent island in an artificial lake.

French architect Paul Andreu is no stranger to controversy -- or to innovative forms.

A generation ago, in 1974, his untraditional design for Terminal 1 of Paris 's Charles de Gaulle airport was criticized for its unusual curves, yet Andreu's groundbreaking, futuristic building later was seen to distinguish de Gaulle from more generic European and international air hubs. (The same airport's Terminal 2E, also designed by Andreu, gained attention in 2004 when it collapsed, tragically killing four people.)

Beijing 's daring National Grand Theater is as much a spectacle as the productions that will be staged inside in the 2,416-seat opera house, the 2,017-seat concert hall, and the 1,040-seat theater. At night, the semi-transparent skin will give passersby a glimpse at the performance inside one of three auditoriums, a feature that highlights the building's public nature.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, North America

St. Patrick's Cathedral is the largest decorated Neo-Gothic-style Catholic cathedral in North America. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and a parish church, located at 50th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, just across the street from Rockefeller Center.

Can Green buildings save India from going grey?

A layman is very likely to show little interest in a speech or a discussion on green buildings. But, when the same person learns that there are only eight years left for us to save Mother Earth from the throes of emissions induced destruction, sitting up and taking notice is the only way out.

• What is a green building and what are the key requisites for constructing a green building?
  

A green building is the one that makes the greatest possible use of natural light and air and least possible utilization of energy and water. It uses industrial byproducts, emphasizes on recycling of waste water, harvesting of rain water, least use of air-conditioning, less production of carbon dioxide and tries to safeguard the environment in every possible way. Making a building green begins at the planning stage. The aim has to be kept in mind throughout. Secondly, safety is paramount in case of a green building. If a labourer dies while the construction is on, the building is never given a green certification.

After the construction is over, it is not possible to make a building green. There are various requisites for planning and constructing a green building.

Firstly, identifying a site for the construction of the building is very crucial. Ideally the site should be located in a centralized place so that the inhabitants can use public transport and less or no fossil fuel run vehicles.

Energy utilization should be optimum in a green building. Care should be taken to reduce the load of air conditioning on the power system.

Water discharge should be zero in a green building. Good green architecture reduces wastage of water in a big way. A green building should ideally have all waste water biologically treated and recycled. Ample structural specifications are incorporated in green buildings for harvesting rainwater. Grey water (water left after washing utensils and clothes) can be used for gardening and flushing purposes.

Maximum effort should be made in use of recycled materials in the construction of the building. Effort should be made to use fly ash Ready Mixed Concrete (20% fly ash + 100% cement) in construction. Aerated concrete blocks can be used instead of bricks for better insulation and heat rejection. Roof insulation should be done with clay rather than chemicals. Maximum bamboo products should be used for flooring.

• What is THE primary consideration while making a green building?
  

Though the term ‘green building’ says that it is about taking care of the environment, the comfort and considerations of the occupant is paramount. There is a standard to determine how good the Indoor Air Quality is, Carbon Dioxide content inside the building should be 400ppm over the ambient CO2 level.

Green buildings have the option of fresh air on demand. Coupled with effective and efficient cooling mechanism, green buildings can let occupants have a wonderful experience.

Frank Gehry's architectural designs in Lehi to be unveiled in August.

The public will finally be able to see what the much-anticipated Frank Gehry-designed project in Lehi will resemble when the famed American architect's artistic renderings are unveiled in early August.

"The designs will show what the hotel looks like, what the (10,000-seat) arena will look like, how retail plays in, and what some of the homes will look like," Provo entrepreneur and owner Brandt Andersen told the Daily Herald on Tuesday.

Public interest in the multi-billion-dollar mixed-use project, which showcases what is potentially Utah's tallest building -- a 450-foot tall hotel -- has been strong since it was first announced last February because of Gehry's involvement. Gehry is the creative genius behind architectural icons like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

An unexpected discovery of thermal water beneath the 80-acre site, in addition to ample wind and solar energy sources, provided the inspiration for an architectural design with a new "green" emphasis, Andersen said. About 30 percent of the project could be fueled by green energy, he said.

Inspired by the natural architecture found in Utah's slot canyons such as The Narrows at Zion National Park, the Lehi project will include the 250-room hotel; a signature 500,000-square-foot, 10,000-seat arena; an amphitheater; 3.6 million square feet of residential space or 2,500 condo and multi-floor residential units, and 1.12 million square feet of retail space. The project also includes a boating lake, a wakeboard cable water park and 61 acres of open space.

"Pending final approvals by the city, we will also disclose some letters of intent from national and local tenants for the project by the end of summer. Retail interest is strong because they know of Frank's involvement, the specialized nature of the project and its proximity to the ski resorts," Andersen said.

Once the final project approvals are given this summer, construction will begin on the hotel, the arena as well as the two wakeboarding lakes, Andersen said.

As a precursor of the Gehry project, Andersen, also the owner of Utah Flash, will also be remodelling the Open Court, an 80,000 square foot recreational center in Lehi that he bought a month ago to be the new headquarters of the NBA affiliate. The building, which cost between $5 million and $10 million, will be renamed The Factory and will resemble what he called a "postmodern luminescent cube."

The Factory, located on 4425 N. Thanksgiving Way in Lehi, will also be used as a practice space by the Utah Flash, and will host community basketball camps.