Here are a few of the most amazing modern marvels!
9 - The National Stadium in Beijing Also known as “The Bird’s Nest”, if
you ever visit the national stadium in Beijing, you might think you’ve stumbled on a stadium
on another planet.
But, if you visit the stadium, you’ll actually be in Beijing at arguably the world’s coolest
looking stadium.
The stadium was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and construction first began in
2003.
As amazing as it looks, this stadium isn’t really all that close to being the largest
stadium in the world as it only holds up to 80,000 people.
Designed by the Swiss architect firm, Herzog & de Meuron, the building’s design implements
elements inspired by Chinese Ceramics.
It was built in such a way that none of the steel beams supporting the retractable roof
are visible, giving it the appearance of a bird’s nest, hence the stadium’s nickname.
And make no mistake, they used plenty of steel to build this stadium.
With more than 42,000 tons of steel, it’s actually the largest steel structure in the
world.
And this steel is as resistant to thermal expansion as can be, which is a natural phenomenon
that causes steel to expand as the temperature changes.
By creating a new grade of steel, The Bird’s Nest can withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake,
and also not be affected by temperature.
It’s estimated that this stadium can last at least 100 years, which is good, because
Beijing is supposed to host the Olympics again in 2022, except this time it’ll be the winter
olympics.
8 - Millau Viaduct For the most part, bridges are utilitarian
in nature.
Would we really even build them if we didn’t need them?
However, we do need bridges, and sometimes we need REALLY big bridges.
Obviously there’s a reason why the Millau Viaduct was built.
Now to say this is a large bridge would be a gross understatement.
This bridge is over 8,700 feet long and it’s 1,125 feet above the ground, which makes it
the tallest bridge on the planet.
First opened in 2004, this cable style bridge spans along the gorge valley of the Tarn River
in Southern France.
This amazing bridge was designed by architects Sir Norman Foster and Michel Virlogeux.
It’s widely considered to be one of the greatest architectural achievements of the
modern era.
In 2006, for instance it was given the Outstanding Structure Award from the International Association
for Bridge and Structural Engineering.
Now THAT’s a lot to fit on a plaque, but the achievement itself is nothing to sniff
at!
7 - Royal Ontario Museum It might look like a massive piece of abstract
art.
But in fact, it’s the Royal Ontario Museum.
As one of the largest museums in North America, it features all kinds of art and history exhibits.
Did I mention how cool it looks?!
The Museum actually opened all the way back in 1914, and over time amassed one of the
world’s most impressive collections.
However, the reason it made this video is because of the 2007 addition of “The Crystal”,
which cost approximately $22 million.
The crystal addition is truly a modern phenomenon.
Made of glass and aluminum, “The Crystal” is meant to be a link between the general
public and the private museum, as it’s now the main entrance to the museum.
Despite the fact that some of the public was against this addition, what everyone can agree
on is the fact that it at least looks interesting.
Whether you love or hate the design, once you make it inside, you’ll be greeted by
exhibits across many different disciplines.
Art, archaeology, paleontology, fossils, world cultures, zoology and so much more.
6 - Shanghai Tower Towering at over 2,700 feet above the ground,
the Shanghai tower ranks as the third tallest building in the world.
This impressive shrine to human ability features 127 floors above the ground, plus five more
below ground.
With it’s unique shape, this building looks futuristic especially with it twisting in
the air.
To put it simply, this modern marvel is basically 9 cylinder shaped buildings stacked on each
other, connected by an inner glass facade.
The really cool thing is that there’s a vertical transportation system which is essentially
a series of really cool double decker elevators that serve different places in the building.
Atriums, gardens, retail space, restaurants, a concert hall, swimming pools, and offices
make up the building.
Let’s not forget that the building has the best views of the city!
The Shanghai Tower is also doing its part to help reduce its carbon footprint.
Using green architecture elements, this building was designed to use less materials, which
seems crazy because it’s so tall.
But in fact, it used 25 percent less material than other buildings around its height.
The building will also receive about 10 percent of its electricity from wind turbines and
the glass facade allows the building to use less air conditioning than other buildings
of a similar size.
5 - Burj Khalifa You can find the tallest building in the world
in the gem of the United Arab Emirates, which is Dubai.
Looming over the city at 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa holds the distinction of being the
world’s tallest building.
Well, just for a bit longer anyways, until the Jeddah Tower is finished in Saudi Arabia
by its projected date of 2020.
Completed in 2010, the Burj Khalifa is where the old world meets the new.
Combining elements of old world islamic architecture and neo futuristic aspects, the building pays
homage to some of the great architectural wonders while embracing new advances in modern
construction.
The construction of the skyscraper was part of Dubai’s downtown revitalization and an
attempt to diversify their economy, which was traditionally rooted in oil and fishing.
Much like the city as a whole, this building utilizes a concept known as mixed-use development,
meaning it mixes residential and commercial space.
Let’s see, there’s an 11 acre park surrounding the building, an observation deck where people
can marvel at the modern wonder that’s Dubai, and also the world famous Dubai Fountain.
It’s even a popular destination for BASE Jumpers, which isn’t always strictly legal.
4 - Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity
dam.
I think the words are pretty self-explanatory, but another description could be that it’s
a super cool, really modern marvel of human architecture.
Located in the Yiling District of China, this massive dam spans the the Yangtze River.
Without getting too scientific with you guys here, all you guys need to know is that it’s
the largest power station in the world.
Not only does this dam provide an astonishing amount of electricity, it also helps reduce
flooding in the area and it’s use of large turbines helps reduce greenhouse emissions,
which is an increasingly important aspect of any modern development.
However, as is often the case with big, audacious development projects, there’s often a side
effect.
In this case, the dam flooded important cultural and archaeological sites, such as the Shen
Nong Gorge.
The construction also displaced around 1.3 million people, who likely aren't sharing
our fascination with this dam.
Still, the Chinese government hopes the long term effects will outweigh some of the negative
impacts the dam has had in the region.
3 - San Alfonso del mar Resort Found just west of Santiago, Chile, the San
Alfonso del mar Resort is home to the world’s LARGEST swimming pool.
Spanning an absolutely ridiculous 3,323 feet, this pool holds more than 66 MILLION gallons
of water!
The pool is so long it’s more than 20 acres.
I mean, let’s be for real, even michael phelps would have a hard time swimming laps
in this thing.
In fact, they need so much water just to keep this pool full, they pump it in from the Pacific
Ocean, filter and treat it before letting visitors splash around in it.
Just the filtration system itself cost more than $3.5 million.
The pool is the work of a Chilean company called Crystal Lagoons and a real estate developer
named Fernando Fischmann, who’s known for designing artificial lagoons around the world.
His breakthrough technologies allow huge bodies of artificial waters to be treated at a low
cost without using a bunch of chlorine, which is actually a huge plus swimming in this pool,
in addition to its ridiculous size.
Because water is pumped in from the ocean, it actually has the same transparency and
turquoise color as the ocean.
Better yet, it’s usually several degrees warmer than the ocean.
Add in a beach club, a spa, scuba diving and all kinds of food and drink, and you have
an amazing experience on hand!
2 - Palm Islands If Dubai doesn’t have something, they just
build it.
Need some islands?
No problem, just make em!
These artificially made islands sit off the coast of Dubai, and as their name would suggest,
they take on the form of palm trees.
Of the three islands, only one is complete, that’s Palm Jumeirah.
The other two, Palm Jebel Ali and Deira Island are still a work in progress.
Each of these man made, crazy looking islands will host an array of luxury houses, entertainment
centers and private beaches.
Of course an island is generally a natural phenomenon that sometimes takes a long time
to form.
So in expediting that process without using any concrete, steel, or anything like that
is truly impressive.
Each of these islands is made completely from sand, limestone and rock, per the orders of
the Prince of Dubai.
That’s a massive amount of resources, and by that I mean 5.5 MILLION cubic meters of
rock from 16 different quarries, 94 MILLION cubic meters of sand extracted from deep sea
beds, and an ADDITIONAL 210 MILLION cubic meters of rock and limestone.
Seriously?
The downside of these islands is that it’s caused massive amounts of erosion and has
thoroughly disrupted the marine ecology around, as well as the shipping and fishing industries.
The construction of the islands is so significant that it’s changed wave patterns along the
coast, which has actually changed the shape of the coast.
However, the fact that these islands were able to be built is still quite amazing.
1 - Floating Ecopolis The floating ecopolis is the brainchild of
an ecological architect from Belgium named Vincent Callebaut, with the aim of helping
people who’re displaced by climate change.
The earth has been through several cycles of warming and freezing, and another cycle
will happen sooner or later.
Even though these structures haven’t actually been built, it’s definitely an interesting
solution if a lot of land gets covered in water.
What Vincent is suggesting here is building a massive floating structure that can provide
a home for people displaces.
Also known as the Lilypad, these proposed floating structures are still just that….a
proposal.
The proposed Lilypads would be able to house up to 50,000 people and have the usual features
such as mountains and marinas that surround a central lagoon what collects and purifies
drinking water.
By utilizing advanced methods of renewable energy, the Lilypads will supposedly produce
no carbon emissions, while producing its own energy.
Even better, it would be encased in a thick skin of titanium dioxide skin that could absorb
air pollution.
This all sounds great, but let’s not actually get too excited just yet.
This artificial floating cities aren’t even close to actually being implemented, but just
knowing that these things could theoretically exist is pretty cool.
Here’s what’s next!