Buildings arise in an instant

Short post tonight due to time constraints, but it's a continuation of my budding interest in architecture.

This is a collection of time-lapsed video of skyscrapers and other modern structures undergoing assembly. Of particular interest are the Al-Hamra Tower in Kuwait City, the Luxor in Las Vegas, and One World Trade Center in New York City. Oh yeah, there's that stupid golf ball thing at Disney's Epcot, too. Like organic decay in reverse, you see the structures go from the skeletal frames of bare steel girders, to adding "flesh," and then ultimately the design and shape becomes fully realized.

It does rather make me wonder about design and construction. While these videos are obviously greatly sped up, the buildings involved still underwent rapid assembly. As someone pointed out in the comments, that compressed time frame may be due to parts of the building being pre-assembled in a modular fashion and then added to the whole once on site. Still, I have to wonder. Next time I'm in a tall building, I'm going to be thinking about how fast it went up and just how many mistakes might have been made in the haste. I mean that as no brickbat towards architects and construction workers, rather against corporate greed and rushed timetables.

Also in the comments section is a nifty time-lapse of U2 building the stage for their 360 tour. While it didn't do much for me as a musical presentation, the design was impressive.




Like ESE on Facebook



Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets