The Reasons Behind My Passion

I got into architecture when I was younger. I was looking up at buildings and wondering "How did they do that?" A couple years later, I determined I had the mind to do what I thought was my career path: architecture and engineering. After some time, I just so happened to create this blog to inspire future generations to pursue their passion, architecture or not. It does not matter what your passion is , it's if it drives you. If your passion drives you to make the goal, that is all that matters. My passion drives me to achieve my dreams, to carve out my life. That is why I pursue my passion, because it makes me strive to be better. 

The reason why I got into this is because I like how people can come up with these designs and make them real. I felt like I have the mind to do this. I feel like this is what I want to do. I want to pursue this dream like it's my destiny, because I believe it is. 

I want to get the best grades in middle and high school, go to Cal Poly for college, get a major in architecture, and go to grad school and get a Masters Degree in the same subject, and go work for a great firm or start my own firm.  

Stratosphere Hotel and Its Things to Do

The Stratosphere Las Vegas Hotel is a 24 story hotel with 2,427 rooms with a 1,149 ft tower with a revolving restaurant called "Top of the World" and four thrill rides on top of the tower. Yeah, you heard me, on TOP of the tower! They are: Big Shot, Insanity, SkyJump Las Vegas, and X-Scream. These are enough to get you screaming your head off and your heart pounding. The tower is just a tall, narrow slab with a huge observatory with a revolving restaurant in it and four off the wall thrill rides on top! How are they able to design and be able to construct this?! If you go to Vegas, make sure to go there. Photos are courtesy of www.stratospherehotel.com and www.hotels.com.

Insanity

Big Shot

SkyJump Las Vegas

X-Scream

The Stratosphere Hotel and Tower

The Two Tallest Radio Towers

The two tallest TV and radio broadcasting towers are in Guangzhou, China, and Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo Skytree and the Canton Tower are both at or just over 2,000 ft tall. The Canton Tower is at 2,000 ft, while the Tokyo Skytree is 2,080 ft tall. The two towers represent the neofuturistic architectural style. The retrofuturistic architectural style is more wacky, unreal, and artistic. The two towers depicted here are more realistic of what the future will hold for us all. Photos courtesy of Wikipedia.


Top: Tokyo Skytree

Bottom: Canton Tower

Earthquakes...Why San Francisco is Changing Its Buildings

San Francisco is such a beautiful city. But there's just one flaw: earthquakes cause major damage, taking away that beauty. Retrofittings in old buildings and building new ones that are seismically safe reduce the damage caused by a XII intensity earthquake. The retrofittings in the buildings don't change the look of the building, however, because people are so attached to the architecture. Here is what happened in two major earthquakes in the city's history: The 1906 Earthquake, aka "The Great Shake" and the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Photos courtesy of Wikipedia.

A house in the Marina after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.





The collapsed Bay Bridge after the same earthquake.

San Francisco after The Great Shake.

Why An Over 3,000 Ft Building?

The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is 3,280 ft (1 km). But why a building so tall? I think it's because people want to show what they are capable of. But I think that people can't breathe when you're building over 3,000 ft in the air. But anyways, it's a great building. Here's a rendering from Wikipedia.

Salesforce Tower: My Opinions and Comments

Do you think that it's about time San Francisco had a building that is over 1,000 ft tall? I think so. Why didn't they build this back in the '60s? If New York City built the Chrysler Building back in 1930, why couldn't San Francisco follow with a building like that 30 years later? But however, it's going to be taller than the Chrysler Building, so that makes a difference. The building is great because it has zing, it stands out, it has the wow factor, it's original. The Transbay Transit Center and the building gives people fast access to street and underground transportation. Here are two photos of the Salesforce Tower and the Chrysler Building. Photographs courtesy of Wikipedia. 


Top right: Chrysler Building 


Bottom: Salesforce Tower

Comments: One57 and the Chicago Spire

The reason I like One57 is because it is multiple structures in one. It is very futuristic and is a great example of an out of the ordinary skyscraper. The Chicago Spire is a straight-up tower and the first building in the United States to reach 2,000 ft. I am proud of this country to make this milestone, and I'd like to see it in real life. Renderings courtesy of www.skyscrapercenter.com and Wikipedia.

Top: Chicago Spire

Bottom: One57 

Comments: Federal Courthouse and The Broad Museum in Los Angeles

The reasons why I like the Federal Courthouse in LA is because it looks anything but ordinary. Instead of pillars and Ionic capitals it's a cube and a stone base. Also, it's environmentally friendly. This is the future people! Embrace it! The Broad,named after billionaire philantrophist Eli Broad, is an art museum to be complete this year.  It also embraces the future like the new

courthouse. The only thing different is the look. Compare and contrast the buildings. Renderings courtesy of the Huffington Post.

Bottom: Federal Courthouse

Right: The Broad Art Museum

The Tower Verre and Other Buildings in the Big Apple

The Tower Verre in New York City is a 1,050 ft tower also known as the MoMa Expansion Tower. It is approved and slated for completion in 2018, according to the Huffington Post. The 82-story skyscraper will house galleries, a hotel, and residential condos. 30 Park Place looks somewhat similar, but it's straight up, not curvy like the Tower Verre. The tower will house condos and a hotel like the Tower Verre. However, it is shorter being 926 ft tall but it is also an 82-story building. One57 is a 1,005 ft, 75-story mixed-use skyscraper housing condos and a hotel. It is complete and is to open  in fall this year. Renderings are courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Tower Verre

30 Park Place

One57

World's Largest Shopping Mall

The world's largest shopping mall opened in 2005 and is called the South China Mall. It had a large vacancy rate in its early years but has grown more popular over the years. It will be ten years old next year.  Here is a photo of it, courtesy of www.caribwall.com.

What's New for the City of Angels

With the over 3 million people living in Los Angeles, the city has become quite congested and car addicted. But it has gone through some remarkable changes over the last few decades. With the high-speed rail that will connect the City of Angels to the City By the Bay already in development there are eight major projects destined to change the face of LA. I will be counting down from the smallest project to the greatest.  At number eight, Union Station will get a remodeling. The design will look like this, courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.

At number seven is Greenway 2020. It will be a 51-mile long continuous corridor with numerous shops along the way. It will be built in 2020 and will run along a restored LA River. Photo courtesy of www.la.curbed.com

Seismic safety technology put this new bridge into the number six spot. The old Sixth Street Viaduct is weak and risks collapsing in an earthquake. The new one fixes that problem and will cross the LA River, which will be restored in 2020 as part of the Greenway project. The new viaduct will start being constructed next year, and is slated for completion in 2019. Rendering courtesy of www.archdaily.com.

Floating at number five is the new Federal Courthouse. It will look like a shimmering cube hovering over a base made out of stone. The futuristic building is to be completed in 2016 and designed to meet the LEED Platinum environmental standard. Rendering courtesy of www.som.com.

Getting a lift at number four is the new Columbia Square. It will be an indoor/outdoor 22-story residential tower, formerly the historic CBS Studios in Hollywood. It's slated for completion in 2016. Photo courtesy of www.buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com.

Doubling up at the number three is the Millenium Hollywood. The twin mixed use towers' construction is currently being stalled because of lawsuits from residents concerning traffic and blocked views. Rendering courtesy of www.ctbuh.org. 

Looking flashy at number two is Century City. The 37-story office tower is destined to be the first high-rise to achieve the LEED Platinum standard. Completion date is unknown. Photo courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.

Standing tall at number one is the Wilshire Grand Center. The 1,099
ft, 73-story tower is expected to become the tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon completion in 2017. The second tallest will be the Salesforce Tower (San Francisco). There will be restaurants and retail on the first three floors, 30 floors of offices, and the rest will be for hotel use, and a 70th floor "sky lobby", where people can check in to one of its 900 hotel rooms on floors 34-73. Rendering courtesy of www.buildinglosangeles.blogspot.com.

Solar Streets...The Future of Roadways?

Our roads today are made of concrete and take a lot to maintain, but what if we can take away all that work with...solar roadways?
They will be paved out of solar panels instead of concrete. And all that paint striping and signage work? GONE! Solar panels do it all for you! Anything made out of concrete will be replaced with solar panels. And the panels will light up wherever obstacles are, making the roads safer. Lastly, it can withstand even the heaviest of trucks. Here is a rendering of a future solar roadway in Sandpoint, Idaho. Photo courtesy of www.solarroadways.com.

 

My other photo is courtesy of www.autonet.ca, and it depicts how the roads will be safer.

The Chicago Spire

The 2,000 ft, 150 story Chicago Spire has been no more than a hole 
in the ground since 2008. However, there have been efforts to resume the project, and that resulted in the developer reorganizing and taking back control of the property so that the residential skyscraper may actually be built. They intend to resume the project, promising a final plan by the end of August of this year. The building is estimated to be completed in 2017 and then opened in 2018. The below rendering of the Spire is courtesy of www.ChicagoArchitecture.info.

Construction Boom in San Francisco

There is a ton of construction going on in San Francisco. It seems like the economy is great in the city, and construction cranes are popping up like weeds in the South of Market (SOMA) area. Here are some of the highlights: The Salesforce Tower, a 1,070 ft, 61 story office tower to be completed in 2017. The building is in the middle of the photograph above, courtesy of www.ctbuh.org.

181 Fremont Street is an 802 ft, 54 story mixed use skyscraper under construction adjacent to the Salesforce Tower and will be complete come early 2016. Photo courtesy of www.181sanfrancisco.com.

45 Lansing is a 430 ft, 320 unit, 39 story condo tower whose construction started in 2013 and is to be completed next year. Photo above courtesy of www.socketsite.com.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is closed until 2016 for an expansion to have enough room for the rapidly expanding collection of art that the museum has. The SFMOMA says that it has outgrown its current home in every way. Photo courtesy of www.sfmoma.org.








  

Two World Trade Center Estimated to be Complete in 2020!

Two World Trade Center, at 200 Greenwich Street in New York City, has been on hold since August of 2012, is now being estimated to be completed in 2020, courtesy of Wikipedia. Tower 2's construction will wait until the economy improves. The following photo is a rendering of the future 1,350 ft, 79 story tower with the other buildings of the new World Trade Center. Tower 2 is in the middle of the rendering. 

Rendering courtesy of urbanfile.org.

Welcome to Architect's Digest!

Architect's Digest was created on the day of August 11th, 2014 to bring you information on the latest construction projects across the globe. I hope the world enjoys the content I have in my new blog. I am excited to share information around the world with you all. Enjoy!