Tag Glass

Architecture

Tencent’s New Headquarter Building looks like an Architectural Vortex of Metal and Glass

hutan.uk 0 Comment

With a captivating design that would put most other tech parks to shame, Tencent’s latest headquarters is shaping up rather wonderfully. Located in China’s tech capital of Shenzhen with an opening date of 2028, this architectural marvel from Berlin-based Büro Ole Scheeren models itself on the shape of a vortex with a swirling quartet of intertwined towers that visually embody the dynamism of the company’s growth and the city’s burgeoning tech district.

Designer: Büro Ole Scheeren

The design, in philosophy too, is quite similar to Amazon’s Virginia headquarters which also boasts of a helical shape. Multiple twisting elements create pockets of greenery in between, allowing employees to relax and unwind during work breaks. Büro Ole Scheeren, the architectural firm behind the design, sees it as a symbol of the company’s rapid growth and a testament to the evolving nature of global headquarters. “Its well-structured social ecosystem is a testament to the evolving nature of global headquarters into a complex and interactive ensemble where functionality, sustainability, and community come together,” Ole Scheeren mentions.

Tencent Helix’s design is nothing short of revolutionary. Comprising four towers of varying heights, with the tallest reaching a height of 153 meters (501 feet), the complex is a structural ballet of curves and gradients. Its exteriors, clad with prismatic glazed panels, invite a flood of natural light, enhancing the workspaces within. The towers are thoughtfully arranged around the ‘Vortex Garden’ – a verdant, central area offering an oasis of greenery and fresh air amidst the urban landscape. This garden is not merely decorative; it’s a functional space, integral to the design, fostering a sense of community and well-being among the employees.

The Vortex Incubator stands as the collective heart of the headquarters. It is a dynamic space, seamlessly connecting the four office towers. This space is designed to be more than just a physical connector; it’s a social ecosystem, fostering interaction and collaboration among staff. Housing Tencent’s academy, recreational spaces, a health club, a conference center, and collaborative offices, the Incubator encourages cross-sector communication and teamwork. This area is crafted for interactive use, emphasizing three-dimensional connectivity and large-scale floors, providing an ideal environment for innovation and creativity.

Comprising four towers of varying heights, with the tallest reaching a height of 153 meters (501 feet), the complex is a structural ballet of curves and gradients. Its exteriors, adorned with prismatic glazed panels, invite a flood of natural light, enhancing the workspaces within. The towers are thoughtfully arranged around the ‘Vortex Garden’ – a verdant, central area offering an oasis of greenery and fresh air amidst the urban landscape. This garden acts as a functional space too, fostering a sense of community and well-being among the employees.

Founded in 1998, the Chinese conglomerate Tencent has grown to become one of the highest-grossing multimedia companies in the world, primarily due to the smashing success of its ‘everything’ chatting app WeChat. The headquarters, slated to open in 2028, will serve as a working space for the company’s 23,000 employees in the region.

Architecture

Tencent’s New Headquarter Building looks like an Architectural Vortex of Metal and Glass

hutan.uk 0 Comment

With a captivating design that would put most other tech parks to shame, Tencent’s latest headquarters is shaping up rather wonderfully. Located in China’s tech capital of Shenzhen with an opening date of 2028, this architectural marvel from Berlin-based Büro Ole Scheeren models itself on the shape of a vortex with a swirling quartet of intertwined towers that visually embody the dynamism of the company’s growth and the city’s burgeoning tech district.

Designer: Büro Ole Scheeren

The design, in philosophy too, is quite similar to Amazon’s Virginia headquarters which also boasts of a helical shape. Multiple twisting elements create pockets of greenery in between, allowing employees to relax and unwind during work breaks. Büro Ole Scheeren, the architectural firm behind the design, sees it as a symbol of the company’s rapid growth and a testament to the evolving nature of global headquarters. “Its well-structured social ecosystem is a testament to the evolving nature of global headquarters into a complex and interactive ensemble where functionality, sustainability, and community come together,” Ole Scheeren mentions.

Tencent Helix’s design is nothing short of revolutionary. Comprising four towers of varying heights, with the tallest reaching a height of 153 meters (501 feet), the complex is a structural ballet of curves and gradients. Its exteriors, clad with prismatic glazed panels, invite a flood of natural light, enhancing the workspaces within. The towers are thoughtfully arranged around the ‘Vortex Garden’ – a verdant, central area offering an oasis of greenery and fresh air amidst the urban landscape. This garden is not merely decorative; it’s a functional space, integral to the design, fostering a sense of community and well-being among the employees.

The Vortex Incubator stands as the collective heart of the headquarters. It is a dynamic space, seamlessly connecting the four office towers. This space is designed to be more than just a physical connector; it’s a social ecosystem, fostering interaction and collaboration among staff. Housing Tencent’s academy, recreational spaces, a health club, a conference center, and collaborative offices, the Incubator encourages cross-sector communication and teamwork. This area is crafted for interactive use, emphasizing three-dimensional connectivity and large-scale floors, providing an ideal environment for innovation and creativity.

Comprising four towers of varying heights, with the tallest reaching a height of 153 meters (501 feet), the complex is a structural ballet of curves and gradients. Its exteriors, adorned with prismatic glazed panels, invite a flood of natural light, enhancing the workspaces within. The towers are thoughtfully arranged around the ‘Vortex Garden’ – a verdant, central area offering an oasis of greenery and fresh air amidst the urban landscape. This garden acts as a functional space too, fostering a sense of community and well-being among the employees.

Founded in 1998, the Chinese conglomerate Tencent has grown to become one of the highest-grossing multimedia companies in the world, primarily due to the smashing success of its ‘everything’ chatting app WeChat. The headquarters, slated to open in 2028, will serve as a working space for the company’s 23,000 employees in the region.

Architecture

Red glass house on top of catamaran gives you an amazing aquatic view

hutan.uk 0 Comment

If I had the money and the means to have a semi-permanent home on the seas, I probably would want to have a yacht where I can bring my loved ones too whenever they would want to just get away from the concrete jungle and chill. Alas, that will probably remain a dream but that doesn’t mean I cannot daydream through these concepts and designs that show what life on water can look like.

Designer: Jacopo Leoni

The Cube Houseboat is a concept for a floating luxury house that is inspired by the Modernist movement and Swiss-French designer Le Corbusier. The red glass house is made from a fusion of alloy and reinforced glass built on top of an aluminum catamaran. The main star is something called the Fly Deck which is a single, superstructure deck that can be accessed through external stairs. You’ll be able to get a good view of the surrounding waters as well as a custom pool. Inside the main bedroom, there is also a Commercial Jacuzzi in case you need somewhere to relax even more.


The Semi Hulls that is located just below the main deck is where you’ll be able to see the machinery spaces, tanks, and chain lockers. In other words, you’ll get all the functional stuff in that section of the boat. And in case you have your other “sea toys” on board, they’ll be housed in the stern area for easy access in case you need to play. The Bow Area is for mooring and the entire boathouse has two propellers for propulsion and they’re powered by a diesel engine.

While it’s considered to be a red glass house, it can also be changed to a different color if red is not your vibe. The glass house on top of a catamaran seems a pretty minimalist but luxurious space to stay in when you just want to relax on top of water and enjoy the view surrounded by aquatic life. This is actually the third vessel concept that the Leoni Design Workshop has come up with for the Beyond Horizons: A Voyage through Yacht Design event.

Architecture

Red glass house on top of catamaran gives you an amazing aquatic view

hutan.uk 0 Comment

If I had the money and the means to have a semi-permanent home on the seas, I probably would want to have a yacht where I can bring my loved ones too whenever they would want to just get away from the concrete jungle and chill. Alas, that will probably remain a dream but that doesn’t mean I cannot daydream through these concepts and designs that show what life on water can look like.

Designer: Jacopo Leoni

The Cube Houseboat is a concept for a floating luxury house that is inspired by the Modernist movement and Swiss-French designer Le Corbusier. The red glass house is made from a fusion of alloy and reinforced glass built on top of an aluminum catamaran. The main star is something called the Fly Deck which is a single, superstructure deck that can be accessed through external stairs. You’ll be able to get a good view of the surrounding waters as well as a custom pool. Inside the main bedroom, there is also a Commercial Jacuzzi in case you need somewhere to relax even more.


The Semi Hulls that is located just below the main deck is where you’ll be able to see the machinery spaces, tanks, and chain lockers. In other words, you’ll get all the functional stuff in that section of the boat. And in case you have your other “sea toys” on board, they’ll be housed in the stern area for easy access in case you need to play. The Bow Area is for mooring and the entire boathouse has two propellers for propulsion and they’re powered by a diesel engine.

While it’s considered to be a red glass house, it can also be changed to a different color if red is not your vibe. The glass house on top of a catamaran seems a pretty minimalist but luxurious space to stay in when you just want to relax on top of water and enjoy the view surrounded by aquatic life. This is actually the third vessel concept that the Leoni Design Workshop has come up with for the Beyond Horizons: A Voyage through Yacht Design event.

Technology

Microsoft’s Project Silica glass storage system looks right out of sci-fi

hutan.uk 0 Comment

Storing massive amounts of data in the modern world is a lot more complicated and expensive than it would seem, given the persistence of the internet, which now dates back almost 40 years. Hard disk drives are relatively easy to break due to regular usage, and they only last an average of five years before becoming inoperable – making the information stored within disappear forever. Keeping the internet alive over the years requires a ton of electricity, and not just in terms of manufacturing and shipping new storage drives. Simply operating the massive arrays of computers where data is stored creates a tremendous carbon footprint, contributing significantly to climate destruction.

Microsoft’s Project Silica wants to solve one piece of that puzzle: data archival. The team behind Project Silica has been busy figuring out how to archive impressive quantities of data away in a physical vault that requires minimal amounts of electricity to maintain. In the automated vault, shelves of individual glass sheets storing up to 7 terabytes each (that’s over 1.75 million songs, according to Microsoft) are accessible by robotic servos that can track down a given sheet, then bring it back to a physical reader that transmits the data inside over the cloud. The only catch: once data is written to a glass sheet, that sheet can never be written over again.

Designer: Microsoft

An “ultrafast femtosecond laser” modifies the shape of the glass plates as it writes, storing information in voxels – 3D pixels that can store volumetric information. These voxels are encoded into the body of the glass, and can only be read with a quick-moving microscope that works similarly to a CD or DVD reader albeit at a much larger scale. Somewhere between those two interactions, robotic servos shuffle up and down steel rows, storing data away on shelves that look straight out of the Minority Report or The Expanse.

The entire four-step process is powered by Microsoft Azure AI, which makes sense given how complex it must be to make a foolproof automated system integrating digital and physical interactions, which is exactly what’s going on inside of the Project Silica library. Its robotic servos “climb the shelves, fetch the glass, and then zip back to the reader” before stopping to self-charge.

Each glass slab is designed to last for 10,000 years, which is evidently twice as long as it’s been since humanity’s oldest recorded writing was created about 5000 years ago. Even more shockingly, the entire library is “passive, with no electricity in any of the storage units” according to Microsoft.

Elire is already collaborating with Project Silica to store music in the Global Music Vault, but the technology isn’t quite ready for widespread use. Microsoft says there are about “3-4 more developmental stages” before these glass-based libraries become the norm for long-term data storage on a commercial level, but the benefits are clear. Project Silica could represent a massive step forward in minimizing humanity’s carbon footprint while ensuring its achievements live on through the ages.

Architecture

The Glass House In Tasmania Is A Surrealist Modern Architecture Lover’s Dream Come True

hutan.uk 0 Comment

An hour and a half away from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania is a rural locality called Koonya which provides picture-perfect views over Norfolk Bay and lush greenery. The picturesque location deserves a picturesque home that does true justice to it. And, this resulting structure by local architectural practice Room 11 is truly as impressive as its surroundings. Architect Thomas Bailey and associate director Kate Philips worked together to design the concrete home, ensuring it is in complete tandem with its surroundings vistas, and curvaceous site.

Designer: Room 11

The studio’s director Thomas Bailey’s family had a beach shack in the area, so he is quite familiar with it. He was cycling past the site, when he noticed a ‘Sold’ sticker on the sales board, and within twelve hours received a call from the client, asking Room 11 to build a home for him on it! Dubbed Glass House, this latest house is the third home on the property. It is preceded by a ‘glass house’ and a concrete retreat. The pre-existing structures are quite impressive as well, but the new home is truly the star, as it cantilevers and floats ethereally above the undulating ground.

The home is almost 35m in length, and the entrance has been outfitted at the cantilevered end of it. The front door leads to a set of stairs, that take you to the home’s single level, where an impressive corridor opens up to a stunning window view at the other end. “Our client, like us, admires the work of Donald Judd (the eminent American sculptor), in particular the way he works with the landscape,” said Bailey. Hence cues were taken from Judd’s work and incorporated into the Glass House.

The home by Room 11 is quite expansive and well-equipped. It features three bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a mesmerizing mirrored bathroom that is attached to the master bedroom. It also houses an open-plan kitchen, living, and dining area. The kitchen is quite recessive and subtle marked by black laminated joinery and a black stone splashback, allowing the surreal vistas to take front and center in the home. A mirrored insert also works hard to accentuate the views. All in all, the vibrant and spacious Tasmanian house is an excellent abode for someone who loves to wake up and fall sleep to exquisite views!