Archinect - News

Bosnian man builds rotating house to give his wife diversified views

2021-10-15T13:50:00-04:00

To appease his wife wanting more diversified views from their home, 72-year-old Vojin Kusic designed and built a fully operational rotating house.

The unique project was born through the couple’s former home, which Kusic routinely remodeled to meet wife Ljubica’s desires. After altering the home so that the family’s bedrooms faced the sun, Kusic says his wife grew frustrated at not being able to see people entering the front yard, which faced away from the road because of the previous remodel.

As reported by Associated Press News, Kusic said, “I had to tear down the wall between our two bedrooms to turn them into a living room and move all (electrical) installations. It was a very demanding task, it took a lot from me, but I did what she wanted.”

With more desired remodeling, Kusic decided to build an entirely new house that could adapt to Ljubica’s needs.

“Once again, this time on the ground floor, I had to start tearing down some walls, at which point, to not wait for her to ch...

Seattle's Space Needle reopens after major renovation—now sporting a rotating glass floor

2018-08-08T14:52:00-04:00

Those who have a fear of heights might not want to look down next time you go up to the Space Needle. One of the centerpieces of the landmark’s massive remodel, designed by Olson Kundig, is now complete: a rotating glass floor, allowing visitors to look down at the 500 feet between them and the ground.

After receiving a massive $100 million Olson Kundig-designed makeover, the 55-year-old Seattle icon recently reopened to the public with an improved visitor experience, enhanced views (floor-to-ceiling glass panels further opened up the 360-degree views of the Puget Sound), and, what it claims to be, the world's first and only revolving glass floor.

"Oh look, there's our car!" Photo courtesy of John Lok and Space Needle LLC.

"Through the glass floor, guests are able to see the mechanics of the turntable, which consist of a series of 12 motors," explains the project description. "The power transmission relies on rolling peg gears to minimize friction and wear."

Taking your pad for a spin: Dubai's rotating tower proposal is back

2016-02-03T14:20:00-05:00

An 80-storey ‘Dynamic Tower’ will be standing in Dubai by 2020 is everything goes to plan, architectural firm Dynamic Group has told us. When built it will be the world’s first skyscraper consisting of separate rotating floors attached to a central column, and inside there will be luxury apartments (natch). If you’re wondering what a rotating skyscraper actually is, it’s very much as the name suggests. [...] control the rotation speed and direction of their apartment through voice activation.

"Proposed back in 2008 by architect David Fisher, the tower aims to be 420m tall, which would make it the second tallest building in Dubai, as well as the second tallest residential tower in the world behind New York’s 432 Park Avenue (which stands at 425.5m)."

See Artists Experiment with Compact Living in a Rotating Wheel

2014-03-07T15:38:00-05:00

The way it works is each loop, outside and in, is equipped with a bed, study, kitchen, bathroom, and little dresser, arranged so that when the wheel stops the matching item is available to each person at the same time. To switch over to a new activity, they both have to walk in tandem...

Faulty tower: Glasgow's £10m white elephant

2013-06-03T11:43:00-04:00

When it was built, it held the Guinness World Record for the "tallest fully-rotating tower" - although to be fair, there was not much competition for that particular accolade. The 127m-tall (416 ft) steel and glass tower, the highest building in Scotland, was the only structure in the world able to rotate fully through 360 degrees from base to top. Neil Baxter, secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland says the idea was unique: "Nobody had ever tried to do that."

The problem, however, is that it doesn't work.

The tower has now been closed since August 2010 and the science centre recently announced it had settled a lengthy court action with the contractors.

Science centre bosses said they had received "substantial" compensation but there seems to be very little prospect of the tower ever turning again.

Architect Peter Wilson, of Edinburgh Napier University, is one of the critics of the project.

"The fundamental thing about this is that when it was initially designed, it was never meant to be built," he says.

"It was intended for an 'ideas' competition."