Kazakhstan to build giant transparent tent containing an indoor city!

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http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42334000/jpg/_42334919_tent203.jpg

"Kazakhstan has unveiled a new architectural project for its capital Astana - a giant transparent tent that will contain an indoor city.

The 150m-high (500ft) dome, designed by UK architect Norman Foster, will be built in just over a year.

The tent is being made from special material that absorbs sunlight to create the effect of summer inside.

...

Underneath, in an area larger than 10 football stadiums, will be a city with squares and cobbled streets, canals, shopping centres and golf courses.

The idea is to recreate summer, so that when the outside temperature is -30C, the residents of the Kazakh capital can play outdoor tennis, take boat rides or sip coffee on the pavement cafes."

Full text of story here.

This story raises a few questions from me. First, my gut reaction was to wonder how in the world this is supposed to be completed within a year. Next, I thought about about Borat and whether this project has anything to do with an attempt to repair Kazakhstan's image after that movie. Finally, is this going to be a ridiculous, one-off thing that we'll all make fun of in 20 years, or will this be the world's first tent city out of many more?

― Zachary Scott (Zachary S), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:25 (nineteen years ago)

how is this not in dubai?

― jhoshea (jhoshea), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:29 (nineteen years ago)

stupid, stupid idea.

how is a dome not just about the WORST shape possible for minimizing heat loss??

― vahid (vahid), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:37 (nineteen years ago)

is this gonna be like the ryugyong hotel in pyongyang, where they run out of money to complete it and it becomes an albatross and national shame?

― boo you whore (get bent), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:42 (nineteen years ago)

is this thing supposed to be a giant version of this?? you'll notice that design has a special fan on top to blow the warm air down at night. isn't this thing going to create a daily inversion layer? i dunno, maybe i am not smart enough to understand how this thing works but to me it seems completely ass-backwards.

it's interesting that they say who the architect in charge is, but not the civil engineer!

― vahid (vahid), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:46 (nineteen years ago)

i'm in ur government flushin ur oil money.

i kind of want to visit this place now:
"But the Astana skyline still looks more surreal than real - with its marble palaces, shining skyscrapers, metal structures and abstract statues, all surrounded by vast, snow covered emptiness."

― MAP (mattp), Sunday, 10 December 2006 02:57 (nineteen years ago)

how is a dome not just about the WORST shape possible for minimizing heat loss??

smallest surface area for largest volume? doesn't look like a dome, though.

― friday on the porch (lfam), Sunday, 10 December 2006 03:08 (nineteen years ago)

also, i don't think it's come to the point yet where foreign governments spend billions of dollars because cineplexes all across America show funny movie. but don't let that keep you from asking the tough ones on your blog.

x-post

― MAP (mattp), Sunday, 10 December 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

Looking forward to seeing this on Dictators Do the Funniest Things.

― Fat Lady Wrestler (Modal Fugue), Sunday, 10 December 2006 14:22 (nineteen years ago)

DEAR KAZAKHSTANI GOVERNMENT,

BIG CENTER PARCS NOT AS GOOD AS TURKMENISTANI PALACE OF ICE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. PLEASE TRY HARDER. LOTS OF LOVE MATT DC.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 10 December 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

I do imagine this is all a result of borat

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 10 December 2006 14:29 (nineteen years ago)

"Me and my wife, we live in tent after the gypsy burn down house. Nice!"

― Nice Esteban Buttez (King Esteban), Sunday, 10 December 2006 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

I hope the tent has zippers on on the side. Human-sized zippers for people and 50-foot tall zippers for boats with wheels, space shuttles being transported into the tent for the winter, and couches too wide and bulky to fit any other way.

― Zachary Scott (Zachary S), Sunday, 10 December 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

oh, it's norman foster

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 10 December 2006 19:47 (nineteen years ago)

I guess this will be useful once our atmosphere becomes completely replaced by poison gas.

― 31g (31g), Sunday, 10 December 2006 21:09 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://www.yugioh-cards.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/dr1/DR1-EN036.jpg

― 31g (31g), Sunday, 10 December 2006 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

do they use a dome b/c then there is not a large area at the top for the warm air to congregate - plus you get heating from all sides.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 10 December 2006 22:56 (nineteen years ago)

Look at that picture. Shit's already falling over.

― sgh (sgh), Monday, 11 December 2006 04:18 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.musicomh.com/dvds/daft-punk.jpg

― wogan lenin (doglatin), Monday, 11 December 2006 10:45 (nineteen years ago)

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