Infinity is way up there...

If there's something like the ultimate infinity pool, I'm pretty sure it's located at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore. The hotel in itself is already quite bizarre: it's the most expensive hotel in the world at about 5,2 billion pounds (which is about double of the former record-breaking hotel, the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi).



The Marina Bay Sands has 2,560 rooms, costing from $500 a night upwards. That's quite impressive. Then, it has a casino, a museum, a theatre, a convention centre and indoor canals. Even more so impressive.
But the most impressive part of the hotel is, in my eyes, the so-called skypool, spanning the top of the three towers of the hotel, at the 55th floor. The pool itself is about three times as long as an olympic size pool, and seems to end in the air. That's because the water flows over the edge into a catchment, situated a bit lower. It's pretty spectacular to be able to swim on the 55th floor, with the skyline of Singapore in the back, and not to have a (visible) edge between you and the surrounding.

The complex is designed by Moshe Safdie, and I found it via the Daily Mail website.

The blue city

"Jodhpur is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, it was the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar. Jodhpur is a popular tourist destination, featuring many palaces, forts and temples, set in the stark landscape of the Thar desert."
At least, that's what wikipedia says.

But there's one thing that's remarkable enough in itself to draw huge crowds into town: large parts of the buildings around Mehrangarh Fort in the city are coloured in a bright blue. The city makes for quite an intriguing view, with the indigo colouration of the buildings in the desertous landscape.

At this point, you might be pondering "why on earth did they colour the place blue"? And surely, you are not alone in this. There's no conchise reason that is clearly stated, but there are plenty of theories, some of which are more believeable than others.
1) It is claimed to have started with blue as a symbol of a Brahmin living in that particular house. (makes me wonder: how many Brahmins could one city possible entail?)
2) It is claimed that blue works charms against mosquitos and other buggering bugs.
3) It is claimed that blue absorbs rather little of the heat of the sun.

I don't know which of this is true, and to be honest, I don't really mind too much. The thing is, it just looks spectacular, a blue city within the earth-coloured surroundings...



In case you want to see more images, the Boston Globe has a nice feature on Jodhpur.

Fly-overs done differently

When I look at many of the larger east-Asian cities, I am perplexed by infrastructure. Fly-overs are obiquous, swirling and curling through the city, and twisting and turning above it, just occupying whatever space it's able to take within the city - whether it's on the ground, or in the sky above.


In many ways, the new walkways in Telok Blangah Hill Park reminds me a lot of those infrastructural fly-overs. The walkways are respectfully woven throughout the park above the level of the trees, reaching a height up to 40 metres above the forrest floor, creating a spectacular way for the visitors to observe the stunning natural beauty of the area.



However, what I cannot quite put my finger on is the formal language of the bridges. Some are excessively curvy and flowy, others have a demure high-tech appearance, it's really a mix of things. But on the other hand, it also really offers a broad range of experiences. For instance, the narrow bridge is actually so narrow that one has to walk single file, with views not blurred by crowds standing on the edge of the bridge, while other areas offer luscious viewing platforms.
All in all, the new system of bridges and walkways offers a completely new perspective on the park.

The Spectacle of the Pool

Hotel Elan in Dallas, Texas, is a five star hotel. It will probably be really comfortable and all, but it's not quite spectacular, architecturally speaking. Except for the swimming pool. Almost every single trick in the book is used to make this pool the unique selling point of the hotel. Firstly, the outdoor pool is on the 10th floor of the building. Secondly, the pool is cantilevered about 2 metres off the edge of the building. And to even add to the experience: the cantilevered edge is made out of glass, so that you feel as if you are swimming over the edge of the building. And from the street, you can have a look into the pool. It's definitely a huge eye-catcher for the hotel: I'm pretty sure that every body in Dallas will be all like "the Elan Hotel? Dunno... Oh, the one with that crazy pool!" In case that's not clear: that's wonderful, in my book.

What to do with the railways?

It's a problem that many former industrial areas have to deal with. It's not just that the former factories have to be brought to a different use, but also the infrastructure that was used has become abandoned. What should be done with all that?

For instance in the Ruhrgebiet in Germany. The area was heavily dependant on coal and steel industry for decades. Most of the different factories and mining plants were shut down because production was simply not economicly sound anymore. Of course, this left an economic crisis to the area, that suffers from high unemployment. It also leads to urbanistic problems: massive sites need to be redeveloped or reprogrammed. But it's also infrastructural: coal, cokes, iron, steel and everything was transported by rail through the area and away from it. The tracks formed a web of dissections in the urban tissue of the densely populated area of the Ruhrgebiet.

Then, at a certain point in time, somebody had a smart idea: let's re-use those railtracks! Former industrial infrastructure graduately became (and becomes) recreational infrastructure. In place of the former railways, bicycle and pedestrian routes have been established, making place for recreational routes in an area that has otherwise trouble creating just those routes. Two problems - one solution for the both.

So right now, there are several routes crossing the Ruhr area, connecting the different sites of industrial heritage. For a map of the possible routes you can check the site of the route industriekultur. Personally, I'm pretty impressed with the structural solutions this brings. And, more importantly, it's great to ride these routes and see the different sites. For instance: the Erzbahn. It starts in Bochum, at the Jahrhunderthalle (the industrial steel-manufacturing hall that's transformed into an event space. And it runs straight through Bochum, to Herne and Gelsenkirchen, to end in Herten. Along the route there are several industrial monuments, such as Zeche Pluto, the Glückauf-Siedlung or the Malakow-tower, for instance. Other than that, the Erzbahn, which is several metres lifted from the ground, offers a great view of the cities and the landscape. Also, the former railway-bridges offer a special thrill, like the Pfeilerbrücke: a 45 metres high, 340 metres spanning bridge. In other places, new bridges have been constructed to connect "missing links" in the system. The entire trajectory gives the pedestrian or cyclist a whole new perspective on the area.

Bailong Elevator

Just imagine, for arguments' sake that you love standing on high mountainous cliffs, and that you are incredibly lazy - and as a result couldn't be bothered to climb up there. There would only be one thing left to do: travel to Zhangjiajie, China to go on up on the world's largest outdoor elevator - measuring 326 metres in total.

The thing is: it's insane - destroying the natural environment, wasting resources and all that. But's it's awesome at the same time...



I found this thing on Deputy Dog.

Parkhotel

If you happen to be looking for a place to stay in Oppensheim (near Linz in Austria), why not consider the parkhotel? The rooms are made out of standard concrete drainage-pipes and are situated in a public park. The facilities of the hotel are existing local amenities: you can shower in a nearby swimming pool, and have breakfast at the local gas station.
And if you wonder about the payment: the hotel functions on the principle of "pay as you wish": paying what you can afford - or paying what you think your stay was worth.

http://www.dasparkhotel.net