Because tumbling downwind hurts
If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll know about my obsession with Dubai. So, that said, there’s really no surprise that these photogravures taken by Martin Becka cataloging the fantasyland would end up on this blog. The creepy stillness of each shot make them seems as though they were scenes from The Day the Earth Stood Still. (via)
Continuing my obsession with ‘Dubai being a fantasyland’, The Plaazzo Versace hotel will be the world’s first to have a refrigerated beach. The Versace hotel “will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.” Thank god somebody researched this and figured out a solution.
No word from Ini Kamoze on how he feels about ‘hot stepping’ finally being defeated.
Recently it was discovered that the tallest building in the world - the Burj Dubai - had been the scene for a world record (and highly illegal) BASE jump. 1 British man attempted the jump and was successful, while a second man, a Frenchman, was caught before he could jump. They were both arrested and held in Dubai.
What is not known to either the authorities or the world in general, is that 2 men had already succeeded in climbing the tower and base jumping from it without being caught: another Brit and the same Frenchman who was later caught attempting a second jump. They were the first and have gone down as legends in their sport, for claiming the latest jewel in the crown of the sport. This is the story of that jump.
In Dutch architech Rem Koolhaas’s mind, modern cities tend toward The Generic City. The Generic City emerges unplanned; it is soulless devoid of life and individuality. It is “a city without qualities”. It “will work — that’s all”. There is no urbanism, or so he says, there is only ideology. Peter Lindberg summarizes:
The Generic City is a fractal, Koolhaas writes, repeating its shape from laptops up to skyscrapers. Buildings are torn down as they cease to fulfil its purpose. There’s no architecture in the traditional sense: everybody can be an architect. The city has no history, save for one or a few districts where all history has been concentrated. Therefore, in the Generic City everybody is a tourist. Hotels have everything you need – there’s no reason to leave.The generic city is a copy of a copy. It copies itself to become more authentic, making it less so.
Now he’s building one.
“The Generic City”, the essay, was published in a book infamous for its weight and its 1,344 pages. I don’t think I’ll be reading it anytime soon.
I don’t usually just reblog something without comment but I really have nothing to add here. This is just an incredible story if it actually gets built. It’s a unique experiment. Imagine if Le Corbusier’s Radiant City, Frank Llyod Wright’s Broadacre City, or anything Sant’Elia imagined was actually created. That’s what’s going on in Dubai. Pretty amazing.
I’m your host here at tumblingupwind™. I own a design firm that works with some of the most fun and innovative companies around. I live in Detroit, which I know isn't all that glamorous but, with previous stops in Washington DC and Chicago, I'm proud to still call it home. Odds are within the first three posts you'll see something about the University of Michigan, music or web design. I'm married to my best friend and I couldn't be happier.
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In my spare time I also contribute to the Detroit Tigers fan blog Restore the Roar of '84.
