Posted on 11/18/2012 8:36:39 AM PST by Rebelbase
Some years ago, a British engineering firm Atkins proposed an extravagant design for a five-star hotel located deep within a 100-meter, abandoned and half flooded pit near the base of Tianmashan Mountain in the Songjiang District of Shanghai. Construction on the 19-story, 380-room Shimao Intercontinental Hotel finally is already underway. Initially the hotel was expected to be completed by May, 2009, but construction commenced only in March early this year.
The innovative design of the luxury resort hotel stands two levels higher than the rock face of the 100 meter deep quarry and includes underwater public areas and guestrooms. Instead of draining what water there is in the quarry, it will be flooded to become a sunken artificial lake. Two of the hotels floors housing guest rooms and a restaurant are to be situated underwater. An artificial waterfall will plunge down in front of the hotel's facade and into the quarry, at least, according to the concept images. Curved wings of the main body of the guestrooms enclose a naturally lit internal atrium, which uses the existing rock face with its waterfalls and green vegetation. There will also be sports facilities and a ten-meter deep aquarium. Among other things, the hotel will feature an extreme sports center for activities like rock climbing and bungee jumping will be cantilevered over the quarry.
Artist’s concept of the Songjiang Hotel
The entire hotel is to be covered in a green roof, while the building will use geothermal energy for it’s electrical supply and heating. The quarry will also provide a good source of heat control and shelter from the environment.
“We drew our inspiration from the quarry setting itself, adopting the image of a green hill cascading down the natural rock face as a series of terraced landscaped hanging gardens.” said Martin Jochman.
The Shanghai Shimao Property Group has so far invested US$555 million into the entire resort, and hotel rooms are expected to start at $320 per night. The hotel is scheduled to open in late 2014 to early 2015.
View of the pit where a five-star hotel will be built in Tianmashan, Songjiang, Shanghai, China, 13 March 2012.
China has recently become one of GM's key markets, mainly on the strength of the Buick marque. They build various models there under the Buick badge, some of which are similar to US models, and some of which are marketed in other parts of the world under other names in the GM stable.
Durant's story is almost as curious and interesting as Henry Ford's. After founding GM, Durant lost control of it to the moneymen; went off on his own and founded Chevrolet; fought his way back into the head position of GM bringing Chevy with him; got ousted again; retired from the auto business; owned and operated a bowling alley in Detroit for many years; then died in 1947 within weeks of Henry Ford.
There have been disappearances of small cars. Finally someone saw it happen back in the 80s. A VW rabbit or something took flight.
I was wrong, truck speed is always 20 mph and its only 200 feet.
http://www.mackinacbridge.org/facts—figures-16/
-——All that thanks to the fact that...... wanted to pay $20 less for their DVD players.———
There is a more compelling force at work. The Chinese folks with the cars and other stuff wanted a better life and worked for it. They have transformed themselves from serfs to middle class
Of course, the rest of the world did help by purchasing what they made
Re: the conceptual rendering.........would there be enough wind in that hole to move a sailboat?
OK,that too.
“maybe we could learn from them. If we tried free-market capitalism for twenty years, imagine what this country could do”
well, O.K., but “free-market capitalism” is not the functional or functioning economic model of the Chinese economy;
it is state-Capitalism, whether it be through the principles in a “partnership”, the majority shareholder(s) in the voting shares of a company whose stocks are sold on a Chinese stock exchange, the only allowed members of a board of directors, direct government owned outfit, secretly-government-controlled outfit (like 2/3 of the companies in the travel industry are directly or indirectly controlled by the NPA), and whether or not the state interest is held in some fashion by the state or by state-approved party members, or by party members the state is told to use.
Are there completely “private” companies? Yes. But, from the largest sources of capital investment, the largest sources of bank loans, the lions share of the direction of either, it is the state and a nationalistic state agenda, not “free enterprise” that is the driver.
FRiend #2: "It was the pits."
Exactly. Will the hotel's nickname be New Orleans or Titanic?
I didn’t bother to see how close this is to the 3 Gorges Dam, but the construction there isn’t very reassuring.
I didn’t bother to see how close this is to the 3 Gorges Dam, but the construction there isn’t very reassuring.
>http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/provinces/shanghai/simple-map.html<
Just a bit too much water, upstream and nearby, for my taste.
The emperor has no clothes. What a dump. 5 stars? How about 5 lumps of coal!
Mankind must be extinguished. We are a pox on the universe.
“OK,that too.”
Classy answer - I’m used to the Union-Apologists coming out and saying that unions have NOTHING AT ALL to do with the fact that it’s next to impossible to make anything, anymore, at least in the Rust Belt (and there is a reason for that name).
So just throw up some import restrictions and all will be well? The chinese are getting rich because they sell us really cheap electronics? Or are they getting rich because they work hard, exploit their natural resources...and all the other resources they can get their hands on...and actually understand how to conduct commerce?
Agreed. But it’s pretty sad when their state capitalism can out-produce our socialist republic.
maybe that’s only so long as EU & US central banks keep printing money
very interesting... THX
I was thinking the same thing.
A woman in a small car got blown off the Mackinaw Bridge. I think it was in the 90s.
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