5 of the World's Most Unique But Lesser Known Architectural Marvels

truth be told most of us recognize the name of sports stars trashy reality television personalities and mass murderers far more than we do those of internationally acclaimed architects at least in the united states frank lloyd wright may be the most well-known architect but most americans probably know more about handsome 70s serial killer ted bundy than they know about him that said one need only gaze at some of these relatively obscure architect's most impressive works to appreciate their splendor regardless of whether we know or care who designed them in the first place we've all heard of the empire state building in new york big ben in london the petronas towers in kuala lumpur but though the lesser-known architectural marvels on this list may not match them in terms of history or scale their innovative designs put them in a class onto themselves let's take a look the dubois frame is an architectural landmark in the city's zabeel park that's often referred to as the world's biggest picture frame unlike traditional buildings that are solid throughout the aptly named dubai frame does resemble a large picture frame but instead of a painting or photograph residing between its sides top and bottom there's nothing but empty space through which viewers are able to gaze at the impressive city spread beyond standing nearly 500 feet tall and 310 feet wide the glass clad aluminium steel and reinforced concrete structure frames approximately 160 000 square feet of prime dubai skyline and it's positioned in such a way to include numerous icons that represent both the city's traditional and contemporary sides the frame was the brainchild of globally renowned architect fernando doniz founder of an architectural firm that bears his name with officers in multiple countries donis and his team have designed some of the world's most noteworthy buildings over the last few decades including the cctv headquarters in beijing in 2002 the new jeddah international airport in saudi arabia and the dubai renaissance tower for which they won a number of prestigious awards dolly's design for the dubai frame was the winner of a competition initiated by german elevator manufacturer this and krupp and the government of dubai in 2009 primarily to create a new face for dubai and fill the large void which the open structure now occupies according to donnas early on in the design phase he realized that the city was already full of iconic structures and rather than adding yet another that could end up getting lost in the crowd he proposed a unique one that wouldn't compete with the others directly but rather pull them all together in addition donnis's design would celebrate the thriving desert city while simultaneously and subtly constraining its propensity towards unchecked sprawl the groundbreaking design was selected from more than 900 entries by a jury of 11 judges ranging from well-known international architects and the chairman of the international union of architects to a regional executive from seism krupp a local government official and a wealthy sheik according to the terms of the contest donnis was supposed to win 100 thousand dollars but as late as 2016 when construction was well underway he still had been paid and therefore filed suit against the city of dubai and thyssenkrupp elevator donna suit claimed that he hadn't received a contract or due compensation for his design and that in essence it had his services and intellectual property stolen by the time the frame officially opened in january of 2018 donnis still hadn't been paid which led to the new moniker being coined the biggest stolen building of all time [Music] when piet blom died in 1999 he was lauded as one of 20th century europe's most influential architects born in amsterdam in 1934 blom studied at the city's academy of art and spent most of his working life designing eye-catching non-traditional sculptures that turned much of what everyone thought they knew about architecture on its head so descriptions of blom's cube houses or cuba's one and can range from kitschy must miss tourist traps to far-reaching architectural breakthroughs even now they're often cited to some of the continent's most recognizable structures despite being designed and built four decades ago the cubers won again are located in the oldhaven one of rotterdam's most historic neighborhoods near the capital city's port that was largely destroyed during the early years of the second world war even as late as the 1970s much of the port was in dire need of rebuilding when blom was enlisted to help redevelop the area and give it a decidedly less utilitarian and more contemporary feel to this end he strove to shatter the myth that a house needed to look like a house but though he was excited to put his concepts into action in rotterdam the project's scale prominence and construction challenges were a constant source of concern as were ever-present bureaucratic issues a recession and delays resulting from archaeological sites discovered while digging the foundations nonetheless the undertaking which in part consisted of more than three dozen bright yellow houses set on point like diamonds tilted forward at more than 50 degrees was completed in 1984. each skew house was positioned atop a hexagonal pillar representing a trunk whereas the living portion of the structure itself mimicked the upper foliage of a tree which when viewed together made a kind of urban forest that bore stark contrasts to other nearby structures in form texture and colour the units themselves were built with traditional masonry windows roofing and siding but the unique design gave the project a surprisingly small footprint which left expansive open areas underneath the apartment that made everything seem much more spacious than it really was each cube house or apartment contains a ground level entrance three floors and a small open rooftop area that many residents used for gardening or sunbathing at just 1 100 square feet 102 square meters the homes are generally large enough for minimalist families though due to the steeply angled ceilings and walls some of this area isn't particularly usable alternately characterized as surrealist and cubist the entire development consists of two other distinct sections including a 13-story apartment tower and other less dramatic cube-inspired buildings all told the project contains 270 dwellings dozens of shops abundant walkways and public spaces and parking for 300 cars the interlace in singapore is an expansive cutting-edge residential development projects spread across nearly 2 million square feet 180 000 square meters of some of the world's most prime real estate comprised of more than a thousand departments of varying sizes when it was built more than a decade ago the project incorporated a number of innovative features not typically found in the area including abundant green spaces with ample seating and plush landscaping as well as bike and walking paths spread over an extensive greenbelt connecting both business residential retail and recreation areas designed by german urbanist architect ol sheeran the interlace won a coveted award from the council on tall buildings in urban habitat's inaugural worldwide urban habitat award in 2014 in recognition for its contributions in social and urban sustainability previously design and architecture in singapore was generally characterized by tall yet relatively isolated apartment towers that tend to exist semi-autonomously and restrict movement rather than promote it by comparison the interlace's non-traditional layout explores more cohesive and well-rounded approaches to metropolitan habitation that include elements of the natural and man-made world together they're located on a slightly elevated 20-acre tract bordered by some of the city's busiest roads and expressways the interlaced project is comprised of 31 individual apartment not time available its nature the design creates numerous protrusions and overhangs that result in inviting spaces both above below and amidst the units themselves together the blocks are arranged hexagonally around eight expansive courtyard and in many respects resemble what a child would do with wooden building blocks depending on the distance and angle from which they're viewed interlaces individual blocks are often shrouded in shade or wash in sunlight or seemingly floating unsupported in space though standard apartment designs are more utilitarian and use space more efficiently interlaces residents enjoy lifestyles that are the envy of many of their neighbors in towering buildings nearby of his own design sheeran said that it addressed shared social concerns in contemporary society while preserving elements of cohabitation and requisite privacy and what does all of this add up to well a super hefty price tag of about 5 million per unit by most standards new york's hudson yards sports some pretty impressive numbers tucked away in approximately 30 southern manhattan acres between times square to the north greenwich village to the south and the hudson river in new jersey to the west and the empire state building to the east it's a relatively new development project with a price tag reportedly north of 25 billion dollars when land acquisition design and construction costs are packed in a figure that has even some of the most priced jaded new yorkers scratching their heads hudson yards features more than a dozen buildings although nearly all of them are taller and were designed by more well-known architects it's the vessel the unique structure located on a five-acre plot near the development's epicenter that's stolen the spotlight in recent years built according to plans created by british designer thomas heatherwig the intricate bronze hued glass and steel inverted honeycomb buildings non-corrosive sheeting is naturally reflective and even mirror-like when polished making it a particularly majestic site on sunny days the vessel rises 16 storeys above the ground below and includes more than 150 flights of stairs 80 landings and 2 500 steps that visitors can climb all the way to the top if the elevator is already full it's been described by casual observers architects locals and tourists in both flattering and unflattering terms ranging from contemporary interactive sculpture to donna kebab and alien rib cage but though the vessel alone cost around 200 million dollars even before construction began it was shrouded in mystery and misinformation heatherwick beat out a number of other prominent designers during the initial phases of the project but even after his plan was announced as the winner the vessel's developer went to great lengths to keep it a secret to that end most of its largest component steelworks were fabricated thousands of miles away in northwest italy in a construction yard surrounded by a massive fence to thwart gazers from nosy passers-by when the pieces were completed they were then shipped to new york's port and ultimately by tugging barge down the hudson to the construction site but though construction was similarly obscured in new york early on eventually the form began to reveal itself the vessel resides squarely at hudson yard's focal point to which the eyes of all visitors are instantly drawn forcing them to take stock of what they're seeing and spend a moment or two contemplating its splendor or lack thereof depending on your opinion perhaps heatherwick group leader stuart wood summed the vessel at best when he said it expands upwards the inversion of all the buildings around it and most agree that this inversion to which he refers creates a pleasant balance that probably would have been glaringly absent had the space been filled with yet another skyscraper sadly due to its height and open construction it's been the site of multiple suicides over the past few years and was temporarily closed in january of 2021 when another young man jumped to his [Music] death designed by architect parabore saba the baha'i house of worship more commonly known as the lotus temple is widely regarded as one of india's most noteworthy examples of contemporary architecture but ironically saba isn't an indian but an iranian who in 1976 was selected by the baha'i faith's international governing body to design the lotus temple and undertaking that along with his role as project manager took more than a decade the lotus temple is far from a household name in most corners of the globe but as one of the world's most visited religious sites it attracts over 3 million visitors annually from all nationalities races faiths and castes located on a nearly 24 acre plot near south delhi's nero palace the colossal house of worship's lotus-like form symbolizes a number of the baha'i faith's major tenets namely simplicity clarity harmony and unity with his design shabba sought to make a temple that was both acceptable and familiar to indians without relying on traditional architecture simplify this approach he settled on the elements of light water and the ubiquitous yet beautiful lotus flowers that are ever-present symbols of tranquility and peace all across the east the temple comprises three distinct rows of massive white petals that tower more than 110 feet over the plain below the concrete petals are clad by textured white marble panels the innermost two rows of which curve inward forming a dome over the temple's cavernous interior while the outermost petals arch outward creating multiple porticos or canopies that ring the structure and mark each of its nine entrances the structure was designed with multiple translucent glazed skylights through which sunlight passes much like it does through lotus petals bathing the interior in soft warming light the temple is also surrounded by nine vast reflecting pools over which visitors can approach from various directions on elevated walkways when viewed from a distance these pools create the illusion that the temple itself is actually floating on the surface of a quiet pond which lotus plants do in nature inside the temple has seating capacity of 2200 but unlike other houses of worship on the subcontinent it's free from statues carvings idols photographs and priests world-renowned canadian architect arthur erickson described the lotus temple as one of the most remarkable achievements of our time proving that the drive and vision of spirit can achieve miracles so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe thank you for watching [Music] you

Channel: Sideprojects

Views: 133,101

Rating: 4.9384432 out of 5

Keywords: megaprojects, construction, engineering, projects

Id: TjoM9cXmDkk

Length: 13min 27sec (807 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 27 2021