Paris city councilors have voted in favor of hotly-contested plans for a giant triangular tower that would be the capital's first modern skyscraper in more than 40 years. After construction 42-storey skyscraper "Tour Triangle" will be third tallest skyscraper in Paris conceding only 324 meter high Eiffel Tower and the 210 meters high Montparnasse Tower. The newest project was designed by Basel-based architects "Herzog & de Meuron", who were the creative brains behind the conversion of London's Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern art museum and Beijing's 'Bird's Nest' stadium for the 2008 Olympics. Europe's biggest listed property group "Unibail Rodamco" is investing US$ 555 million into the project, which is set to be completed in 2018. Inside, the tower will house a 120-room, four star hotel, a restaurant, a cultural center, and 70,000 square meters of office space. The project was first shown to the public in 2008. At that time the skyscraper construction was impossible, as the laws were restricting tall buildings in Paris. Over the years, laws have changed and the project "Tour Triangle" also a little changed. For example at first the office place was 80 thousand square meters, now it is 70 thousand square meters. According to France 24, Paris city council has approved the construction of a controversial tower block "Tour Triangle". On June 30 the project was given go-ahead after getting 87 votes for and 74 against. The project was rejected by the same body in November 2014 amid accusations that conservative councilors had voted against it merely to block the success of a project supported by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo. The second vote was carried out in private after Paris' mayor Anne Hidalgo dismissed November's ballot as invalid, claiming inter-party fighting influenced the outcome. Tour Triangle is set to be located in Porte de Versailles on the city's south-western fringe in the Porte de Versailles neighborhood, alongside vast convention halls. Many residents are unhappy, however, at the prospect of having to live next to the tower. Politicians have also criticized the project for not being in line with Paris' housing requirements, or being energy efficient enough. Despite skyscrapers being a common sight in many cities, residents in Paris have strongly opposed them, ever since the 324 meters high Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Universal Exposition. The first and last skyscraper to be built in inner Paris was the 210 meters tall Tour Montparnasse building in 1973.
According to ctbuh.org, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced the winners of its annual "Best Tall Building" awards for 2015. This year's winners will be recognized, and the awards conferred, at the CTBUH Annual Awards Ceremony on November 12. All the winning projects and finalists will be celebrated at this gala event. Additionally, from the four regional best tall building winners, one overall winner will be selected and bestowed with the "Best Tall Building Worldwide" award, to be announced on the night. This year's selection was the most competitive yet, with winners selected from a pool of 123 entries, which is up nearly 40% from 2014. Besides this year's winners and finalists are remarkable in that they show a strong commitment to sustainability, with some exemplifying dramatic progress in the use of greenery both to enhance the comfort of the building's users and reduce the environmental impact of the building. Others show dramatic sculptural form and urban presence. The Best Tall Buildings have been named from each of four competing regions in the world, from nominees representing a total of 33 countries. This year are awarded to: "One World Trade Center", New York (Americas); " CapitaGreen " tower, Singapore (Asia & Australasia); Bosco Verticale, Milan (Europe); and The Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower, Abu Dhabi (Middle East & Africa). "One World Trade Center" is a bold new icon for New York City built on the World Trade Center site, whose design acknowledges the adjacent memorial, and whose symbolic importance to the city and the country cannot be overstated. Its form calls to mind several classical New York skyscrapers for which the city is best recognized. The building had high design expectations which the jury felt were met and exceeded. United States and Western Hemisphere tallest skyscraper "One World Trade Center" is 546.2 meters tall, it has 94 over ground and 5 underground floors, 73 lifts and the total area of skyscraper is 325 thousand square meters 40 stories, 242 meters tall skyscraper "CapitaGreen" hasn't any records. It isn't the tallest; more it is only on the 175th place in skyscraper ranking. But Toyo Ito's skyscraper is the green island situated in the heart of Singapore. The building is designed like a plant growing towards the sky. Green living vegetation covers 55 percent of the perimeter of its facade, giving the landmark its iconic appearance. Its innovative double-skin facade features an outer layer of frameless glass and an inner envelope of double-glazed floor-to-ceiling glass that reduces solar heat gain by up to 26 percent. At the top of the tower, a petal-like structure serves as a wind scoop to draw in the cooler, cleaner air from above and channel it though a cool void that penetrates all 34 stories of the building delivering fresh air to tenants. World's first vertical forest "Bosco Verticale" comprises a fantastical pair of luxury high-rises that add nearly 10.2 thousand square meters of lush vegetation to the skyline of Milan, a city notorious for its air pollution. However, "Bosco Verticale", which translates in English as "vertical forest," is more than just a beautiful sight to behold--like a pair of green lungs, its forested facade of 21 thousand plants absorbs CO2 and particulate, dampens noise pollution, lessen the urban heat island effect, and creates oxygen and favorable microclimates. The towers, measuring 80 meters and 110 meters, house 800 trees between 3 and 9 meters tall, over 4 thousand shrubs, and 15 thousand ground cover plants including vines and perennials Middle East & Africa region winner 93-storey, 381 meters high The Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower was designed by Foster+Partners architectural company, and main contractor and developer was Aldar Properties. The Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower is located in the heart of Abu Dhabi at the site of the old Central Market, a traditional crossroads and meeting point in the city. A souk extends the marketplace into the building, facilitating a gentle transition between public and private spaces.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II may be forced to move out of Buckingham Palace to allow millions of dollars of renovations to be carried out. The 775-room building - which has not been renovated since she became monarch in 1952 - needs around US$ 237 million of reconstruction work. The repair cost has soared from the previous estimate made by royal officials two years ago, when nearly US$ 78 million was predicted to cover the cost of repairing all the royal palaces. The Queen may also have to find somewhere else. The palace, which has not been redecorated for more than 60 years, has fallen into such a state of disrepair that the wiring and plumbing will have to be entirely replaced and the works could take ten years. Most of the state rooms have not been decorated since the Queen came to the throne, while large parts of the building are in such a state of disrepair that Princess Anne was almost hit by falling masonry a few years ago. And the palace's ancient electrics and plumbing systems both need a top-to-toe overhaul. As well as having to hold garden parties in a different location, any major closure of the palace could force its closure to the public for at least one summer season, meaning a huge loss of income for the Royal Collection, which looks after its priceless artefacts on behalf of the nation. Officials are now seriously exploring the possibility that the Queen and her staff will be forced to move out, either all at once, or in stages with the work being done around them. If Queen leaves, it will be the first time a monarch has been forced out since Queen Victoria designated it as an official residence in 1837. At first the palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site which had been in private ownership. Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch.
The US and Cuban authorities have announced a project to restore American Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway's home near Havana, where he penned one of his most famous and last pieces of fiction, "The Old Man and the Sea". Hemingway stayed in Cuba for a long period of time, from 1939 until just before he committed suicide on July 2, 1961. The famous writer originally stayed in the Ambos Mundos hotel in Havana and then moved out to his colonial-style residence, Finca Vigia. An American foundation, restoring the legendary writer's home in Cuba, signed an agreement with the Cuban government to import construction material directly from the US to aid the preservation efforts, CNN reported on June 21. The joint US-Cuban project will build a workshop adjacent to Hemingway's home in Cuba to restore and maintain thousands of the famed writer's documents, rough drafts and letters. Mary-Jo Adams, the executive director of the Boston-based Finca Vigia Foundation, named after the writer's house, said the foundation has received approval from the American and Cuban governments to bring US$ 860,000 worth of supplies from the US for the new construction. In January, as part of a shift in the US policy towards Cuba, President Barack Obama authorized the exportation of building materials to the island for the first time since the US broke relations with the island following the 1959 revolution. His widow, Mary, donated the house to the Cuban government, which displays Hemingway's books, clothing and even a collection of fermented lizards. Many of Hemingway's works are considered classics of American literature. Some of the most famous include "A Farewell to Arms" (1929), "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940) and "The Old Man and the Sea" (1951) for which he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.
Having trouble deciding between a luxury yacht and a waterfront resort for your next vacation? Then this floating hotel, created by Serbian yacht designers Salt & Water, is your answer. The hotel design, which recently won the 2015 Millennium Yacht Design Awards, allows visitors to check into their own personal Catamaran apartment units, which can be detached from the floating hotel and sailed away. The Catamaran apartments each feature a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and upstairs sleeping area, floor-to-ceiling windows as well as an open-air front deck. The oddly shaped yacht rooms are designed to move slowly through the inland waters of landlocked Serbia, allowing visitors to enjoy uninterrupted views of the natural beauty around them. According to the designers, the apartments "can be considered as frames of the nature, connecting the guests with the water and the sky and isolating them from everyday stresses." When guests tire of the solitude of their private yacht pods, they can return to the central structure of the floating hotel, which contains the reception area, a restaurant, an events hall, offices and a cafe. There is also a "flying bridge" and a beach platform for swimming, sunbathing, and enjoying a cocktail by the water. Though it's just a concept at the moment, Salt & Water describe the hotel as "a perfect solution for tourism without any violation of the natural harmony of the place itself."
