Apeiron Hotel – Dubai, UAE

The Apeiron Hotel Dubai - Statistics

Total Floors: 28 above ground

Total Suites: 438

Suite Sizes: 180m² - 750m²

Bbuilding Height: 185m

Gross Floor Area: 300,000m²

Site Footprint Area: 26,500m²

Passenger Lifts: 14

Service Lifts: 8

Distance off shore: 300m (building design as powerful within a landlocked site)

Wind Load Factor: 350km per hour

Construction Cost: $350m US Dollars est.

Structure: Steel, Reinforced Concrete

Hotel Rating: 5 Star Deluxe (7 Star Unofficially)

The Aperion - Floor Description & Breakdown

Level -3 Parking (optional road access via bridge or tunnel)

Level -2 Mechanical & Electrical Plant, Waste, Fire Pumps, Laundry, Parking

Level -1 Spa, Health Club, Sculpture Gallery, Restaurants, Bars, Club

(all double height spaces - views into arrival jetty, lagoon & pools)

Level 0 Ground Floor, Double Height Lobby & Luxury Boutiques

Level 1 Void from double height space below

Level 2 Luxury Boutiques & Bar

Level 3 - 7 16 Suites

Level 8 14 Suites, Double height Cinema & Bar

Level 9 14 Suites, Helipad + Sky Reception

Level 10 Mechanical & Electrical Plant, Restaurants & Art Gallery (under pools)

Level 11 16 Suites, Garden, Swimming Pools & Juice Bar

Level 12 - 19 24 Suites

Level 20 22 Suites

Level 21 20 Suites

Level 22 - 23 18 Suites

Level 24 12 Suites

Level 25 10 Suites

Level 26 8 Suites

Level 27 Restaurant & Bar

Level 28 Butterfly Jungle & Bar

  

The Apeiron Dubai - Key Facilities

Crescent Lagoon

An underwater sculpted landscape with colourful corals & sea water plant life cultivated to create a unique & surreal world. Fish and crustaceans will be introduced to complete the array of life and colours. At night, the lagoon will be lit with concealed underwater light sources to create a dramatic & different experience for the diver or snorkeller.

Level 00

Boat jetty in building atrium & access to private beach, gardens, fresh water pools & crescent lagoon. Building atrium is over 50m high.

Level 00 & -01 (under the beach)

A Health Club & Spa containing private saunas, steam rooms, treatment rooms, massage rooms, several fresh water pools at different temperatures located outside as well as inside with different lighting at night. Large windows from Level -01 Spa offer the opportunity to look into the lagoon and see the coral & fish; day and night.

Sculpture & art gallery lit by natural refracted light through pools above.

Level 09 

Helipad located 55m above the Arabian Gulf with bridge access across to the ninth floor of the hotel.

Level 11

Outdoor garden with views down the atrium through the building to the sea below & boat jetty as well as views out to sea. Dramatic surroundings with the remainder of the building lifting from the garden level, full size palm trees & fresh water pools. Pools in turn light the restaurant & art gallery below.

Level 28

Double height rooftop Butterfly Jungle level with a unique backdrop of the Arabian Gulf nearly 200m below. The temperature & humidity would be artificially controlled to make it a very relaxing & unique space. The introduction of colourful butterflies would add to the surreal surroundings.

Entertainment

The hotel will also contain a number of private clubs, private cinemas, luxury boutiques, conference rooms, restaurants with menus from all around the world. Restaurants & bars (alcoholic & non alcoholic) distributed throughout building from Level 28 to the underwater restaurant at Level -01.

Hotel Apeiron – DubaiAcesta will be the second (self-declared) 7 star hotel in Dubai, which is still under design. Apeiron Hotel will be built on an island that was located approximately 400 m from the coast of Dubai, he will be able to reach only boats and helicopters. The two towers in the shape of Apeiron’s wings can accommodate 350 luxury suites and first two floors above will contain a thicket of butterflies and other insects. The total area of ​​200,000 square meters will be the hotel and its height is 185 m. Apeiron’s going to be a luxurious resort, equipped with private lagoons and beaches, shops, cinemas, art galleries and a restaurant, spa and an underwater gym.

Status: Concept

Estimated cost of project: $ 400,000,000

Atomium – Brussels, Belgium

The Atomium is a monument in Brussels, originally built for Expo '58, the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by André Waterkeyn, it stands 102 metres (335 ft) tall. It has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

Tubes connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre. They enclose escalators connecting the spheres containing exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere provides a panoramic view of Brussels. Each sphere is 18 metres in diameter. Four spheres are currently (as of 2012) closed to visitors; others can be reached easily by escalators. The vertical vertex contains a lift which was very fast and advanced at the time of building (the speed is 5 m/s).

Renovation

Renovation on the Atomium began in March 2004; it was closed to the public in October, and remained closed until February 18 2006. The renovations included replacing the faded aluminium sheets on the spheres with stainless steel. To help pay for renovations, the old aluminium was sold to the public as souvenirs. A triangular piece about 2 m long sold for €1,000.

The renovation includes revamped exhibition spaces, a restaurant, and a dormitory for visiting schoolchildren called "Kids Sphere Hotel" which features suspended plastic sphere towers. A €2 commemorative coin depicting the sculpture was issued in March 2006 to celebrate the renovation.

Post renovation

The Atomium is one of the most visited attractions in Brussels today. In 2008, the Atomium celebrated its 50th anniversary, with activities planned all year, including free admission for those turning 50 between April and October.

Location

The Atomium is located at 50°53′41″N 4°20′28″E, on Boulevard du Centenaire, beside the King Baudouin Stadium in Heysel Park. Just next to it are the Mini-Europe park and the Heysel/Heizel metro station.

Safety features

Three of the four uppermost spheres lack vertical support and hence are not open to the public for safety reasons, although the sphere at the pinnacle is open to the public. The original design called for no supports; the structure was simply to rest on the spheres. Wind tunnel tests proved that the structure would have toppled in an 80 km/h wind (140 km/h winds have been recorded in Belgium). Support columns were added to achieve enough resistance against overturning.

Worldwide copyright claims

SABAM, Belgium's society for collecting copyrights, has claimed worldwide intellectual property rights on all reproductions of the image via the United States Artists Rights Society (ARS) . For example SABAM issued a demand that a United States website remove all images of them from its pages. The website responded by replacing all such images with a warning not to take photographs of the Atomium, and that Asbl Atomium will sue if you show them to anyone. Sabam confirmed that permission is required.

Ralf Ziegermann remarked on the complicated copyright instructions on Atomium's website specific to "private pictures". The organisers of Belgian heritage, Anno Expo (planning the 50th anniversary celebrations of Expo '58), in the city of Mechelen announced a "cultural guerrilla strike" by asking people to send in their old photographs of the Atomium and requested 100 photoshoppers to paint over the balls. SABAM responded that they would make an exception for 2008 and that people could publish private photographs for one year only on condition they were for non-commercial purposes.

Anno Expo later announced they had censored part of their own report due to "complications" and referred to a meeting they had with SABAM. Mechelen's Mayor, Bart Somers, called the Atomium copyright rules absurd.

On February 23, 2009 Axel Addington, Web Content Manager for Atomium, e-mailed a clarification to the Glass Steel and Stone web site, which some years earlier redacted its photographs of the Atomium after being threatened. He stated, "The royalties are perceived (sic) by the descendants of Andre Waterkeyn, the engineer who conceived Atomium in 1955, and not by the A.S.B.L Atomium. So, you've probably been sued by the SABAM (Belgian Copyright Company) because of the Waterkeyn Family."

From the Atomium's website, the current copyright restrictions exempt private individuals under the following conditions,

There are some cases however where use of the image of the Atomium is not restricted by any rights. This is the case where photographs are taken by private individuals and shown on private websites for no commercial purpose (the current trend for photo albums), as long as these pictures are displayed at a low resolution (600 pixels maximum, resolution of 72dpi) to avoid abusive usage and downloads. However, the words "© www.atomium.be - SABAM 2010 - photographers name" must be included next to the image.

The Atomium is located next to Mini-Europe park (which has miniatures of the famous monuments of EU at a scale of 1:25) beside the King Baudouin Stadium. It is a structure which represents a unit cell of an iron crystal. True to its representation, it has nine spheres made of steel (earlier it was made of aluminum) connected by tubes along the twelve edges of the cube. The structure is 334.6 ft. high with the spheres having diameter of 59 ft. Its stability is ensured by three bipods. The details of the spheres and the locations of the various attractions within the spheres are given in the image here. Please click on the image to enlarge.

The Atomium was built for Expo’1958 – the 1958 Brussels World fair in Belgium. It was designed by Andre Waterkeyn. (the central sphere has been named after him after his demise). The architects were Andre and Jean Polak. It was meant to last just for the Expo (from 17th April to 19th October 1958) but its popularity resulted in it being made permanent.  The structure is quite impressive. 

It is all the more impressive since the skyline is not spoiled by other tall structures. Inside, the tubes which connect the spheres contain escalators, exhibit halls et al. The top sphere affords an excellent panoramic view of the city including an aerial view of the stadium. Three of the upper spheres are closed to public for safety reasons – since they lack the requisite vertical support.

About the Spheres-

The top and central spheres are accessible only by lift. The others spheres can be accessed by the steep escalators and these cannot be accessed by people on wheelchairs. The base sphere (called Henri Storck sphere) has permanent exhibition dedicated to the fifties.  The central sphere has a bar. The kids sphere is meant for sleep overs for children from school. This is not open to the public. 

The Atomium was closed for nearly two years between 2004 and 2006 for renovation. This was when the aluminium sheets were replaced with steel ones. The interiors were also redone.

More about the Atomium (Atomium Statistics):

DIMENSION OF ATOMIUM:

Height – 102 metres

Weight – 2400 tons

SPHERES:

Surface – 1082 sq. metres / 240 sq. metres per level

Diametre – 18m

TUBES BETWEEN SPHERES:

20 Tubes

Diameter – 3m

Length – 18m or 23m

BIPODS:

Height – 35m

Steps -200

GROUNDFOOR:

Diameter – 26m

STEPS:

Steps up – 84

Steps Down – 187

Lift Speed – 5m/sec

Construction – 1958

Renovation – 2003-2006

How to get to the Atomium in Brussels –

By metro (subway) –  Get down at the Haysel/Heizal metro station on line 1A. This can taken from Station Brussels Central.

By Coach – Take the Brussels Ring Road, then to exit 8 and then follow the direction to Atomium. It’s well marked.

By car –  For GPS – Eeuwfeestlaan/Blvd. de Centenaire or Atomium Square

                                     B-1020 Brussels (Laken-Laeken)

Information about getting around in Brussels can be obtained from the following Link. 

Opening Hours – Open daily from 10 A.M to  6 P.M.

                              Atomium and Pavilion of Happiness – April – Oct. timings – 10 A.M to 7 P.M. (Thursdays – open till 10 P.M)

The 50th anniversary celebrations of Expo 58 will take place between April – October 2008.

Ticket Price – Ranges from Free (for Children less than 12 years, Bus drivers & Disabled persons) to € 9 for Adults. Seniors (over 65 years) – €  6.  The rates differ for groups. Minimum persons required to qualify as a group is 20. Pavilion of Happiness rate is € 5 for everyone. Combo tickets are also available for Pavilion of Temporary Happiness and Atomium.

For the 50th year commemoration of Expo’58, a number of activities based on the Theme “Brussels Happiness” is taking place.

 Atomium address – Atomium Square

                                          B-1020 Brussel (Laken)

                                          Tel. +32 (0) 2/475-47-75

Related Article: Pavilion of Temporary  Happiness ;

Tourist info and Transportation in Brussels, Belgium ;

Tourist spots in Bruges

Reference: Official site

Azadi Tower – Tehran, Iran

The Azadi Tower (Persian: برج آزادی‎, Borj-e Āzādi; translated: Freedom Tower), previously known as the Shahyād Āryāmehr (Persian: شهیاد آریامهر‎; English: King Memorial Tower), is the symbol of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and marks the entrance to the city.

Construction

The architect, Hossein Amanat, won a competition to design the monument, which combines elements of Sassanid and Islamic architecture. Amanat, a Baha'i, was driven from the country by the revolution against the Shah of Iran and the removal of religious pluralism. It is part of the Azadi cultural complex, located in Tehran's Azadi Square in an area of some 50,000 m². There are several fountains around the base of the tower and a museum underground. The iconic Monument des Martyrs in Algiers (built, 1982) shows a strong influence by this monument, in its general design as well as its details.

Built with white marble stone from the Esfahan region, there are eight thousand blocks of stone. The stones were all located and supplied by Ghanbar Rahimi, whose knowledge of the quarries was second to none and who was known as "Soltan-e Sang-e Iran" (Iran's Sultan of stone). The shape of each block was calculated by a computer, and programmed to include all the instructions for the building's work. The actual construction of the tower was carried out, and supervised by Iran's finest master stonemason, Ghaffar Davarpanah Varnosfaderani. The main financing was provided by a group of five hundred Iranian industrialists. The inauguration took place on October 16, 1971.

History

Built in 1971 in commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire, this "Gateway into Iran" was named the Shahyad Tower, meaning "Kings' Memorial", but was dubbed Azadi (Freedom) after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It is 50 meters (148 ft) tall and completely clad in cut marble.

If you ever visit Iran then you must go and see the landmark of Iran’s capital -Tehran which is the Azadi Tower. It is situated at the entrance of the city and stands there like a watch tower that guards the whole city from above. It was designed by Hossein Amanat, a Canadian of Iranian origins who actually fled the country after the Revolution in 1979 and who won a contest organized for that occasion. The tower was supposed to be built in celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire, but it actually meant the end of the Pahlavi dynasty that was then ruling Iran. So the original name of the tower, “King’s memorial” changed into Azadi meaning Freedom.

The tower is 50 metres tall and it was finished in 1971, under the close surveillance of one of the best people in the field -Iran’s finest master stonemason, Ghaffar Davarpanah Varnosfaderani. The monument id made of huge blocks of white marble whose dimensions were calculated with the help of a computer, so that they could match perfectly. They used eight thousand blocks of marble that was brought from the Esfahan region, famous for its quarries.

Baj Pomorski Theatre – Torun, Poland

History

The Baj Pomorski Theater was started thanks to Irena Pikiel-Samorewiczowa – an artist, painter, and repatriate from Vilnius who had come to Bydgoszcz in April 1945 possessing a document from The Ministry of Arts and Culture (dated April 1, 1945), entitling her to organize the first puppet theater in Pomerania. It was supposed to be a younger brother of Warsaw's Baj Theater, hence the name Baj Pomorski. The Bydgoszcz theater was situated in the city's slaughterhouse, which had functioned as a German marionette theater during Nazi occupation. On October 28, 1945 it performed its premiere for children – Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina's Little Wandering Taylor. The conditions of Bydgoszcz's stage did not, however, meet the needs of the young puppet theater. Therefore, I. Pikiel very willingly accepted the proposal for moving the headquarters of Baj Pomorski to Toruń. As early as April 1946 the Theater had been granted a building at 9 Piernikarska Street, which had previously belonged to the German Castle Theater during the war. It is in this beautiful location near the ruins of the Castle of The Teutonic Knights that the Theater has been performing till today – extending to the past sixty years.

The first actors of Baj Pomorski were students from The University of Nicholas Copernicus who, under the guidance of experienced actors and directors, took part in theatrical clinics and thereby unearthed the arcana of puppet animation. Work conditions were not easy. The theater had humble equipment at its disposal, yet it was actively involved in on-the-road performances not only in Pomerania, but also throughout nearly all over Poland. By then Baj Pomorski had already achieved its first success. In 1947, Joanna Piekarska, an artist and director, became the theater's artistic manager. She directed the performance entitled She-Cat's House which received 3rd prize at the 1st Festival of Russian and Soviet Plays in Warsaw in 1950. This achievement, as well as the theater's extensive activity, contributed to the nationalization of Toruń's puppet stage. At that time this meant that, on one hand, the institution would gain financial stability, while on the other, certain liberties for creativity, so inherent in pioneering activities, would have to cease.

Theater in 1960-1990

All the directors have left their ineffaceable expressions upon Toruń's puppet stage. It was when Stapf was the theater's acting director that the days of Baj Pomorski's artistic adolescence occurred. He was the one responsible for helping modernize the theater, making it into one of the best equipped stages in Poland; he displayed a premiere for adults (the first of its kind for the theater – a Polish preview puppet show of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; he initiated the North Poland Puppet Theater Festival held in Toruń -- Pomerania's first event of this caliber.

During the Sixties, under Śmigielski's management, a further change was brought about in Baj Pomorski's image, from that of a traditional puppet stage to one of a theater seeking new forms of expression, open to Toruń's artistic life. It was during this time that the largest numbers of preview shows within the history of the theater were staged; ambitious spectacles (influenced by traditional folk theater) were created, and innovatory stage productions by contemporary regional authors were shown. The Club of Creative Circles Azyl, formed during that time, was a unique artistic phenomenon in Poland, making Baj Pomorski the center of cultural life and the venue for many a theatric initiative.

Thanks to Tadeusz Petrykowski the theater reanimated its cooperation with theater groups abroad, including those from the Czech Republic and Romania; it also increased its participation in Polish puppet festivals.

Konrad Szachnowski made his name in Baj's past by coming up with a modern concept for staging theatrical classics. His preview puppet show of Fernando de Rojas’ Celestine found its place in Polish puppet theater's historic lore by using an amazingly creative theatrical idea involving supermarionnette and trashy theater.

The eight years of Antoni Słociński's management resulted in the development of theatrical education programs for children; besides this the theater began to mark its presence at international festivals, with cooperation with German (mainly in Göttingen – one of Toruń's partner cities) and Czech theaters, growing stronger in the process.

The following directors – Krzysztof Arciszewski and Wojciech Olejnik – presumably continued to expand upon programs based upon previously developed images of the theater. An important modification introduced during that time was the transformation of the theater into an institution financed by the City of Toruń.

Theater after 1990

Further development of Baj Pomorski occurred under the management of Czesław Sieńko. This was the era democracy being stabilized in Poland, the executive branch of the government undergoing structural changes, and transformation sweeping throughout all areas of economy, culture and social life. The repertoire included stage productions of the most interesting novels for children and teenagers which had up until then been absent from thespian arts. The theater took its first steps in promoting new European literature for children. Innovatory scenographic suggestions taught audiences based on one's involvement in the performance. Never before in its history had Baj Pomorski spectacles received so many awards and honors. In 1994 Sieńko initiated Toruń's Meetings of Puppet Theaters. In 1999 this evolved to become Toruń's International Meetings of Puppet Theaters which has become a perpetual event in Toruń's puppet stage activity. Toruń's International Meetings of Puppet Theaters is one of the few events of this type and size in Poland. It is held in October on a yearly basis. Throughout this week of contests and challenges one can see the most interesting theaters from around the world--masters of puppetry, artists nurturing the tradition of the puppet theater, and groups searching and experimenting within the nature of the loosely termed animation theater. Eleven events have been held thus far, confirming the high rank of the festival from a list of theatrical events both within and beyond Poland.

The present director of Baj Pomorski has since made Toruń's puppet stage into an open theater, vividly responding to the city's needs and present-day trends. Its message, though targeted mostly at children and teenagers, is intended to reach every student and adult. Hopes for the coming years are for the modernization and development of the theater's main building. Planned on a wide scale it will change its look, making it one of Poland's most modern and interesting stages, and not only from the architectural point of view. By giving the building the characteristics of an enormous, magical, theatrical wardrobe it will be transformed into a place where, for both Toruń's residents and tourists alike, it can serve as the locale for interplay, wherein the mysteries of its theater and the beauty of its architecture enwrap together the Old and New Town settings.

Bank Office – Hannover, Germany

The Norddeutche Landesbank in Hannover, Germany employs gardens, solar chimneys and light reflectors to deal with temperature, light and the enjoyment of the inhabitants. While the building is dramatic and extremely powerful from a visual standpoint, one has to wonder at what point do the architectural complexities and structural acrobatics eradicate the environmental achievements.

The subject of low-tech vs. high-tech was discusses and Jantzen showed several very good examples of low-tech, dumb structures that are actually very intelligent in terms of their environmental design. These included pueblos, tepees, trullis, igloos and yurts

More than anything the lecture made it clear (to us) that Europe is taking environmental measures quite seriously in building design; whereas the industry in the United States seems to be responding to environmental design out of fashion and/or political correctness. 

Behnisch has 2 offices in the U.S. and 1 office in Europe – the data from their website suggests that they have completed 19 projects in Europe since 1996 and 1 project in the U.S. in the same time period.

....." Some critics find the work of the Behnisch office too chaotic and imperfect, too unmonumental. Yet the advantage of their responsive approach most visible here is that a big building can be treated like lots of small ones, almost like a mini-city. 

This holds the scale down and allows flexibility, for without a great preconceived plan, there is room to incorporate site influences, existing buildings-Siemens House quietly absorbed-and to allow for growth and change. Most important of all, human scale is retained throughout and numbing repetition avoided. Every floor gains a different character: in the tower the lobby changes shape or an office wing cantilevers further. There are frequent views out for orientation. It was wise to give the ground floor back to the city with shops and cafes to animate the public realm, while the protected water court marks the beginning of the larger institution as well as helping the environmental strategy. 

Lively and memorable, the tower as landmark is different from each side. Its appearance is enhanced by areas of special colour-coated glass added for their reflective effect, part of a colour design policy which is another late Behnisch trademark. The high-tech brigade may fume about the catholic variety of details in this architecture, but professionalism does not necessarily entail the perfection of the machine. 

The issue is more profound : Mies's 'God is in the details' reflects a monumental architecture striving for the eternal in its perfection, and flexible only through its sheer indifference to change. 

Behnisch's situational architecture accepts a state of flux, always open and always developing, allowing for growth, interacting with life...."

Peter Blundell Jones- Architectural Review 2002

The Blue Building (Netherlands)

The borough of Delfshaven, Rotterdam, asked Schildersbedrijf N&F Hijnen to come up with a plan for a block of derelict buildings, which will eventually be demolished. The agreement with the neighbourhood is that the block will remain blue as long as there isn't a new plan for the area. 

This was once one of the most unseen blocks of houses in Rotterdam, and by applying a layer of only 2 micron of blue paint onto it, it became Rotterdam's most photographed one. 

Robot Building

The Robot Building, located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank's Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking; its architecture is a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture. The building's features, such as progressively receding walls, antennas, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance and to its practical function. Completed in 1986, the building is one of the last examples of modern architecture in Bangkok.

Design

Thai architect Sumet Jumsai designed the Robot Building for the Bank of Asia, which was acquired by United Overseas Bank in 2005. He had been asked by the Bank of Asia's directors to design a building that reflected the modernization and computerization of banking and found inspiration in his son's toy robot.

Sumet designed the building in conscious opposition to postmodern styles of the era, particularly classical revivalism and high-tech architecture as embodied in the Centre Pompidou. While Sumet praised the inception of postmodernism as a protest against puritanical, bland modern design, he called it "a protest movement which seeks to replace without offering a replacement". Sumet dismissed mid-1980s classical revivalism as "intellectual[ly] bankrupt[]" and criticized the "catalogue[s] of meaningless architectural motifs" that characterized classical revivalism in Bangkok. He further dismissed high-tech architecture, "which engrosses itself in the machine while at the same time secretly...lov[ing]...handmade artifacts and honest manual labor", as a movement without a future.

Sumet wrote that his building "need not be a robot" and that a "host of other metamorphoses" would suffice, so long as they could "free the spirit from the present intellectual impasse and propel it forward into the next century". He wrote that his design might be considered post-high-tech: rather than exhibiting the building's inner workings, he chose to adorn a finished product with the abstractions of mechanical parts. His building, he argued, struck against the 20th century vision of the machine as a "separate entity" often "elevated on a pedestal for worship" and, by becoming "a part of our daily lives, a friend, ourselves", cleared the way for the 21st century amalgam of machine and man.

The building was completed in 1987 at a cost of US$10 million. By the mid-1980s, architectural modernism had faded in Bangkok; this building is one of the last examples of the style.

Characteristics

The building is 20 stories tall and has a total floor area of 23,506 m² (253,016 ft²). The floor areas decrease progressively at the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 18th floors; the staggered shape both contributes to the robot's appearance and is an efficient solution to setback regulations requiring an 18 degree incline from each side of the property line. The building's ground floor is a double-height banking hall. The hall's interior architecture, designed in association with the firm 7 Associates, was designed to further the robotic appearance of the building; four sculptures by Thai artist Thaveechai Nitiprabha stand at the main door. Mezzanine floors located on each side of the banking hall contain offices and meeting rooms. The building's second floor features a large multipurpose hall, offices, and training rooms, and its upper floors contain general office space. An eight-story parking garage is located behind the main building.

The building's decorative exterior contributes its building's robotic appearance, though it often serves practical functions as well. Two antennas on the building's roof are used for communications and as lightning rods. On the building's upper facade, in front of the main meeting and dining rooms of the top executive suites, are two 6 m (19.7 ft) lidded eyeballs that serve as windows. The eyeballs are made of reflective glass; the lids are made of metallic louvers. Nuts made of glass-reinforced concrete adorn the building's sides; the building's largest nuts measure 3.8 m (12.5 ft) in diameter and were the largest in the world at the time of their construction. The building's east and west walls (the robot's sides) have few apertures to shield its interior from the sun and to increase energy efficiency, and its north and south sides (the robot's front and back) are tinted curtain walls whose bright blue color was chosen because it was the symbol of the Bank of Asia.

Recognition

The Robot Building was selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles as one of the 50 seminal buildings of the century. The building also earned Sumet an award from Chicago's Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the first such award given to a Thai designer. According to Stephen Sennott's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture, the building "enhanced the world's recognition of modern Thai architecture".

Kansas City Library (United States)

Kansas City Library has one seriously cool façade. Local residents were asked to nominate influential books that represent Kansas City, humungous versions of the winning nominations were then used as the exterior of the library car-park. 

The Dancing House (Czech Republic)

The Dancing House or Dancing Building or Ginger & Fred (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic at Rašínovo nábřeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2. It was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry in co-operation with Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.

Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – the house resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous.

The Dancing House is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunic in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The construction started in 1994 and was finished in 1996. 

The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Vaclav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house vaguely resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous.

Origin
The “Dancing House” is set on a property of great historical significance. In its place a house was destroyed by a bomb during World War II. The plot and structure lay decrepit until 1960 when the area was cleared. The neighboring plot was co-owned by Czech ex-president Vaclav Havel. Havel spent his childhood next door and eventually decided to have a survey taken of the site by future designer Vlado Milunic, hoping for it to be the site of a cultural center. ING Bank (previously called Nationale Nederland) soon agreed to sponsor the building of a house on site. The “super bank” soon chose Milunic as the lead designer and asked him to partner with another world-renowned architect to approach the process. Jean Nouvel turned down the idea because of the minute square footage. Well known American architect Frank Gehry accepted the invitation. Because of the bank's excellent financial state at the time, it was able to offer almost unlimited funding for the project.

Structure
Known as deconstructivist (“new-baroque” to the designers) architecture due to its unusual shape. The “dancing” shape is supported by 99 concrete panels, each a different shape and dimension. On the top of the building is a large twisted structure of metal nick named “Medusa”. “In the interior of a square of buildings in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Dancing House has two central bodies. The first is a tower of glass that is close to half height and is supported by curved pillars, the second runs parallel to the river, which is characterized by the moldings that follow a wavy motion and distributed through the windows so the non-aligned. This solution has been driven mainly by a kind of aesthetic consideration: the windows lined evidenciarían that the building has two windows, although they have the same height as the two adjacent buildings of the nineteenth century. They also do not have to be perceived in the will of the designer, as simple forms on a flat surface, but must achieve the effect of three-dimensionality, hence the idea of frames as outgoing frames of paintings. Also the winding moldings on the facade make it more confusing perspective, diminishing the contrast with the buildings that surround it.”

Windows of the Dancing House

Controversy
The site is centered in a densely built section of Prague; nearly all of the structures in the area are of a Baroque or Art Noveau in style, making the Gehry-Vlado design stand out. The once stirring debate has recently calmed down and the building is now seen as a work of art adding value to the cityscape of Prague.

Awards
The general shape of the building is now featured on a gold coin issued by the Czech National Bank. The coin is the final make in a series entitled “Ten Centuries of Architecture”.

Fred and Ginger
Known to be one of the greatest duos in the history of dance. Gehry used the grace and form with which they performed as a basis for the shape of the façade.