Death Star in Dubai?

OMA's Ras al Khaimah Convention and Exhibition Centre





Note: gravestmor suggests that it is not modeled on the deathstar, but on a Panasonic radio from 1972, five years before the first Star Wars movie, calling it "the little Japanese radio that could."

My yacht is better than your yacht

IN a shipyard in Germany, Blohm & Voss workers are building a mammoth yacht called the Eclipse.

Like many things in the secretive world of superyachts, its exact length is hard to pin down. So is the name of its owner, and the cost of building it.

But according to the Web site of The Yacht Report, one of several publications that track yachting with the same intensity that gossip magazines cover Hollywood hunks, the Eclipse is 531.5 feet long.

That’s six and a half feet longer than the Dubai, an 11,600-ton behemoth that now holds the record as the world’s largest yacht. Its owner is the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

The extra length on the Eclipse isn’t an accident. Supersized yachts are the latest examples of one-upmanship among billionaires, many of whom already own a private jet, a Rolls-Royce or two, and multiple mansions.

Despite fear of an economic recession and unrelenting job pressures among those who remain yachtless, there’s still a lot of money floating around the world. And as the superrich get richer, the size of yachts grows bigger and bigger, too.

“When a yacht is over 328 feet, it’s so big that you lose the intimacy,” says Tork Buckley, editor of The Yacht Report. “On the other hand, you’ve got bragging rights. No question, that’s a very strong part of the motivation.”

Read the entire article in the New York Times.

Maya Hotel Floating Pyramid Island In Caribbean Sea

If you think an extravagant five-star skyscraper, beach side resort or cliff-side villa is the ultimate hotel experience, then think again. Prepare for a new dimension in luxury lodging ... floating pyramids.

Oceanic-Creations, a Swedish based company, has unveiled plans to build floating commercial and residential buildings around the world with the help of a new composite material.

The company's first major project -- the Maya Hotel -- is estimated to cost around $209 million and will be located south of Cancun, Mexico, on the Caribbean Sea.

"We have a lot of hopes about the future. We have more customers than actual production right now," said Ronny Nordell, an engineer and co-founder of the project, which plans to construct hotels, casinos, island cities and even movable vacation villages.

The floating buildings will be built with an unique plastic composite material, which is normally used in the defense industry and will feature built-in insulation that makes the constructions suitable for all types of climate, from the freezing cold to extreme heat. The material, which the maker says is up to six times lighter and 10 times stronger than steel depending on the reinforcement material, can also cut maintenance costs by 30 to 40 percent.

"They don't break easily and are much easier to maintain," said Ronny Nordell.

There are already plans underway to build student housing with the technology especially in congested places where there is a lack of space to build. The company is set to focus on emerging markets such as the United Arab Emirates where the interest for the technology has been very strong.

"This material will prove very cost-effective for places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi who work a lot with landscaping and usually use sand and mud to build," said Stefan Holmgren, head of international marketing.

"The good thing for us is that there are many cities that don't have a real solution to what do with their water. We will give them those solutions," he said, adding that the company has received interest for the material from as far as China and the Far East.

Nordell, who previously worked for Kockums, a Swedish marine company that invented the technology, said he tried to get permission to use the special composite technology as early as 1986 but got rejected by the Swedish government because it was considered a defense secret and used for military purposes.

"I tried again in 2002, thinking the Cold War is over now and it worked," he said.

Oceanic-Creations struck a deal with Kockums last autumn, which gives the company the exclusive rights to use Kockums' composite technology to build the floating constructions and similar products for 20 years.

To date, $6.5 million has been invested in the venture and the company is currently planning how to finance its future operations. The fact that the recipe for the composite material is secret gives Oceanic-Creations a significant competitive advantage, said Ronny Nordell.

He added, the production will initially kick-off from facilities in Varna, Bulgaria, which is strategically located on the Black Sea to make it easy to transport everything.

In addition to the Maya Hotel in Mexico, the ventures other projects will also include a floating wind tunnel that will be placed outside New York. The wind tunnel will enable people to recreate skydives without actually jumping out of an airplane.

"We have big aspirations," said Nordell. "There are a lot of people interested in us now compared to when we started. There weren't many who believed in it then," he said.

This is from CNN

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The Maya Hotel, a vast floating pyramidal resort, is on the drawing board at Oceanic Creations, a Swedish-based company.

Oceanic Creations intends to construct hotels, casinos, island cities and even movable vacation villages. The secret ingredient for all of these projects is a unique plastic composite material which offers built-in insulation that makes the constructions suitable for all types of climate, from the freezing cold to extreme heat. This remarkable material is reportedly up to six times lighter and 10 times stronger than steel (depending on the reinforcement material used). It is also claimed that it can cut maintenance costs by 30 to 40 percent.

"This material will prove very cost-effective for places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi who work a lot with landscaping and usually use sand and mud to build," said Stefan Holmgren, head of international marketing for Oceanic Creations.

"The good thing for us is that there are many cities that don't have a real solution to what do with their water. We will give them those solutions."

Burj Al Arab- World's Largest Cross?

This comes from Mirage Studio7. Visit them for more architectural news.



This is probably an outdated news and it is all over the internet, anyway, Burj al Arab was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC, during the designing stage, the world was told that it was built to resemble a sail, but critics are claiming that Wright designed the cross after he had a dream to have a Christian influence in a Muslim country.

Some locals claim that this was an intentional move on the part of the British architects. This issue is more ironic when one considers that the Tower of the Arabs is widely considered to be Dubai’s most important landmark. A Conspiracy indeed, but no words yet from the architect himself. The real question is, does it matter if it looks like a cross?

In the year 2001, Dubai introduced the 4th series number plate. It has the Burj al Arab symbol, due to conspiracy theories and controversies surrounding Burj Al Arab’s resemblance to the Christian cross, the Burj Al Arab symbol was removed without any explanation in the year 2004.

An interesting story is told back to back which says that apparently any cars registered in Dubai, that have one of the older license plates which have an image of the Burj Al Arab on them, aren’t allowed to drive into Saudi Arabia.

Coming from a country that the official religion is Islam, I find it hard to digest the fact that Malaysian of other faith such as Buddhist, Christian, Hindus and others are not allowed (unofficially) to built any religious structure or building that exceed the height of any mosque in their respective towns, except for a few temples and churches like the Batu Caves temple and Kek Loh Si temple. It is not a written law, don’t believe me? Ask any senior draftsperson or architects.

Bias it may be but when the British disapproved the Mega-Mosque in London, the British Muslim was pissed, the mega mosque is believed to be so huge that it will dwarf many of Britain’s Christian cathedrals.

Councilor Craig, who lives in a city with 300 mosques and 500 madrassahs, suggests that Britain not allow any more mosques until Muslims allow churches in Saudi Arabia. Craig said, “Why should the Saudis pay for a mosque in the UK when there is not one single church, temple, goodwara, synagogue in Saudi at all?” - CBN

What goes around comes around, and if you need to look for a guilty then you only need to look into a mirror. After all, Burj al Arab is on Muslim soil, some minor renovation can be done to rectify this whole Christian cross issue, now, the real question is why don’t they do it? What say you?

Another 7 star hotel in Dubai?

Hotel designed by Sybarite Architects would feature a two-storey jungle at the top of the 28-storey building.

Developers are said to be hovering over this unique 7-star hotel in Dubai designed by Sybarite Architects after a major hotel group showed interest in putting up the funds.

The US$350m (£173m) 28-floor Aperiron building would be 300m from the Dubai coast and accessible only by boat or helicopter.

As well as 438 luxury suites, it would contain a spa, an art gallery, and an underwater restaurant with views into a surrounding lagoon.

To top it off, the top two floors would house a temperature-controlled butterfly jungle with tropical species.

Its unique structural design has not yet garnered a nickname, but Building staff have variously named it ‘The Rollmop’, ‘The Pringle’ and ‘The Funnel’. Any better suggestions should be posted below.

Read more at the Building

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Imagine a funnel-shaped, 7-star hotel 300m off Dubai’s coast, accessible only by boat or helicopter, complete with temperature-controlled butterfly jungle on the top two floors…

Sounds more like fantasy than reality, huh? Apparently, such a hotel could be on the cards, though. The 28-floor Aperiron building has been designed by Sybarite Architects and is said to have a major hotel group interested in putting up the funds to make it all happen.

Read more in A Luxury Travel Blog