COMMERCIAL

PROPOSED PROJECT GALLERIES AND DESCRIPTIONS

Commercial buildings and entities should be strikingly appealing to arouse interest. This appeal must have substance and meaning for commerce. On the one hand, the commercial structures should place purpose, functional beauty, and structural daring to embody the timelessness that denotes permanence. It may be built today, but its life reaches through the veils of tomorrow. Its ability to anticipate the unexpected demands of tomorrow gives its owners confidence and vigor common to commercial endeavors.

If designed on genuine originality, such an item will exude this characteristic for as long as it exists: a building truly designed for commerce will forever embrace an aspect of daring, courage, and the right for freedom that is intrinsic to us all. Such a building will belong to all of us. It will become an icon of human aspiration with a life of its own, a living symbol endowed to each subsequent generation. It is your hallmark.

Amphibiaerro I, II, III

Amphibiaerro I, II, & III

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Future Transportation

Amphibearro II
Amphibiaerro II
Amphibiaerro II
Amphibiaerro III
Amphibiaerro III
Amphibiaerro III
Amphibiaerro III Book Image

The Amphibiaerro (amphibious + aeroplane) is a flying and floating traveling school and outreach center. There are three conceptual versions, the first has a revolutionary design which utilizes the Magnus effect of spinning helium balloons providing lift. The body lightweight carbon fiberglass and hydrogen gas engines provide lateral propulsion. The school can fly, float, hover, and land on any kind of terrain.

The second version has proportions that are a combination of ship and airplane and are apparent upon viewing. The elliptical form produces greater aerodynamic efficiency and directional speed. Propulsion is from the two large counter-rotating propellers in a screen casing which swivels vertically to produce a vertical take-off and landing mechanism. The version has far greater speed than the first and can land anywhere in any kind of terrain including water. It is the most seaworthy of the three.

Structural reinforcing exists only where needed. The surface is blue carbon reinforced fiberglass with pocky indentations to dispel wind turbulence. Blue color matches the sky and seas. Red and yellow propeller casing are for easy visual confirmation.

The third and final version is the ultimate design in aerodynamic shape, structural efficiency, and quick maneuverability. The disk shape is easy to build, structurally very strong, and easily adapts to any kind of terrain. It is powered by a single hydrogen gas engine that features two pairs of counter-rotating propellers. Hinged aero ducts direct forced air through the hallow center of the structure and direct the school laterally and vertically. Just as with the first two designs, the hollow core provides a low center of gravity to the outside areas of the structure, contributing to stability and also providing an open swimming area protected on all sides. A metal net can be lowered in water to protect swimmers from large sea animals.

Perspective view: This final version is the ultimate in aerodynamic design- a disk shape. Simple, compact, and easy to maneuver. A retractable circular titanium stand and inflatable plenum makes this design able to land in any type of terrain. Continuous viewing windows encircle every living and classroom level. Viewing balconies are at the upper level. Viewing balconies are on the upper level. A centralized hydrogen gas powered engine operates two counter-rotating propellers in its hollow center. Hinged “gates” provide lateral “steering.”

The disk shape, then, becomes the most efficient, aerodynamic and easy to maneuver shape. A titanium alloy landing support stand is set on hydraulic springs to cushion arrival on land. This concept is the ultimate in school buildings for it allows the school to travel anywhere in the world. Such an educational opportunity and experience could not be compared with anything existing today or in the future.

Crescent Moon

Crescent Moon

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This was a competition project for the City of Dubai, UAE. The challenge was to create a memorable symbolic building and site; something that would reflect the spirit of the city and its aspirations for the future. We wanted to create something fun, unexpected, and surprising; something that would bring together the native setting of the Arabic world with the unique flora and fauna of the world at large. The design evolved from the spirit of a country wanting to move forward. So the idea of movement and cyclic time came into view. Because of our previous work of independent energy sources, the building would create its own power and also preserve the site completely.

The building creates a unique method of travel from 20 meters in height to 170 meters by traveling the cycle of a moving ring. Up to 400 people can sit in the center of the oval floor. The floor is hinged in the center with a circular opening that allows the center to open and flip upside-down slowly. As the ring proceeds upward, the center floor gradually opens and remains level. The surrounding environment continues upward and ends up upside-down when the top is reached. Thus, the people sitting in their seats travel upward remaining upright but the environment around them flips completely upside-down; an experience unlike anything existing.

Other floors contain a cafe, a conference room, children’s library, lavatories, and viewing areas to a 20-meter tall interior waterfall of recycled water and acts as a natural cooling device for the interior. A series of windmills form a giant crescent moon form to one side of the ring to become an ecological symbol of the nation of Islam. The entire outer surface of the building is sheathed in gold-colored photovoltaic solar panels for electricity generating. Beneath the building in a valley area covered by ETFE membrane roof material that catches morning dew and drains it into underground catch basins. Underneath is the covered forest, plant habitat, biome area which surrounds a 50-meter diameter sphere immersed in water falling from the underside of the main “ring” building. The biome contains plants and tree species from around the world in a controlled temperature and humidity environment. This allows visitors to see other plant life without traveling great distances around the world.

At night, the cycling ring building becomes a laser light signage or movie that can depict a variety of images. In our case, we show the image of the founder of Dubai. The building and its site is an entrance into another concept of architecture- an architecture that moves and changes unexpectedly and introduces visitors to the wonders of nature.

Emeryville Nature Study Center

Emeryville Nature Study Center

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The city of Emeryville has experienced an impressive evolution of development physically and culturally. In the past 15 years, it has established itself as a regional center of economic strength. California often leads the nation in innovation, technology, social reform, and cultural enrichment. Emeryville can be a leader among California cities. It is the time to strengthen Emeryville as a cultural and ecological model regionally, nationally and internationally.

The Emeryville Marina Nature and Humanity Center is a project that developed from talks with city administration as a proposal to create a built environment that addresses the issues of public education, recreation, ecology, and architectural precedent and is a way to attract people to the Marina Park area. The building is designed to be a strikingly unique model of what happens when you combine ecology, technology, education, recreation, art and community involvement into one building.

ECOLOGY

The building is situated at the northernmost point of the Emeryville Marina Park on a mound of soil that is rarely used by visitors. Structurally, it is constructed of lime-based concrete that emits oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. It is insulated with recycled paper pulp and water-based glue. It has an internal water-cleaning system using native bacteria-eating water plants contained in a wetlands system within the building. Visitors can see and touch the system to experience how nature can act as a miraculous cleaning device. The dirty water from the Bay is drawn into the west side of the building, circulates in wetlands inside the building and then is pumped out as clean water to the east side marine area. In essence, the Nature and Humanity Center acts as a water cleaning “machine.”

To minimize the use of fossil fuels there will be only a minimum of car parking spaces available at the Center as required by building code. Tours are arranged by charter bus transportation. Primary arrival transportation is by Emery-Go-Round, bicycle and walking.

TECHNOLOGY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Nature and Humanity Center building features a continuous roof of hexagonal-shaped photovoltaic solar panels placed at varying angles to the east, south and westerly sun. It also features two cylindrical truss structures that contain windmills for electrical power generation. The combined power generation of the photovoltaic panels and the windmills is enough to provide renewable electrical power to the building itself, the entire marina, the marina buildings, the park, the fire station, the police station and local businesses in the area.

A meandering, looping series of steel pipe sheathed in copper patina surrounds the building with an artistic sense of humor and playfulness. However, this green-colored piping is a passive solar water collector that supplies hot water to the building and its interior environments. Underground pipes, extending from the main green pipes, are placed at the west side of the building to warm the grassy areas in the spring and fall months and provide an envelope of warmth during open stage presentations.

Primarily constructed of reinforced concrete, the building is fireproof and features roof panels that open for smoke evacuation, and an exterior and interior water immersion system that engulfs the building’s walls in water, making it virtually fireproof and minimizing harm to the interior contents.

EDUCATION

The Nature and Humanity Center has a community education program involving an ongoing lecture series featuring prominent speakers whose work utilizes nature-based principles: scientists, artists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, architects, designers, musicians, authors, and many others. The Center has classes, which will be a part of the Emery School curriculum, for teaching nature’s processes, design, materials, habitats, and environmental issues. Seasonally changing exhibits explain the natural wonders of the region and the possibilities of applying nature’s principles to human endeavors. Guided tours will take persons through the workings of the building as well as the laboratory, classrooms, exhibits and lecture areas.

The construction of the building will involve students and interested members of the community. What better way to learn about ecological design than to be directly engaged in its use. An inflatable membrane procedure will be employed to create the form of the building. This will be the first use of this process in the Bay Area. Many new kinds of construction methods will be applied.

OPEN AIR STAGE

In the spring, summer and fall months, the west side of the building can be opened for outdoor lectures, music gatherings, and educational activities.

INTERIOR SPACES

The Center contains spaces for classrooms, a research and development laboratory, exhibition space, a lecture hall with 140 seats, two offices, lavatories, interior constructed wetlands, souvenir shop, storage, mechanical room for viewing ecological technologies in action, foyer with an information desk and lobby/entrance area. There are viewing areas for the windmills, constructed wetlands and passive solar pipes from within the building.

ADMINISTRATION

Staff consists of:

Director, secretary, 4 researchers/teachers, 2 education instructors, 2 tour guides, information receptionist, store attendant, custodian/mechanical maintenance monitor/AV person.

STATE STATUS

Telos Foundation: Non-profit foundation (501 C3) public education foundation.

General building concept and purpose have been preliminarily approved by BCDC, April 2006.

SYMBOL OF EMERYVILLE’S FUTURE

The Nature and Humanity Center is designed to be a symbol of architectural innovation, ecological sustainability, the sense of community between nature and humanity and human beings with one another. It is a vision of Emeryville’s future as a model for social, artistic and educational development in a way that promotes stewardship and learning from nature in a mutually beneficial and creative relationship. The Emeryville Marina Nature and Humanity Center is unlike anything that exists in the world today.

BUILDING DIMENSIONS

Height of building: 32 feet
Height of passive solar piping: 70 feet
Height of Windmills: 104 feet

Building width: 120 feet
Building length: 108 feet

Building square footage: approximately 8000 square feet

Emeryville Pedestrian Bridge

Tssui Architecture concept bridge city planning — Emeryville Pedestrian Bridge

Emeryville Pedestrian Bridge

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Emeryville Marina Nature Center
Emeryville, California, USA
SOUTH BAYFRONT PEDESTRIAN BICYCLE BRIDGE

OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY

In the city of Emeryville, a city of approximately one square mile in area and 8000 residents, at the edge of the San Francisco Bay between Oakland and Berkeley, California, was proposed a new kind of pedestrian bicycle bridge. At a site bordering eight north/south railroad tracks running through the center of town with a large shopping area to the west and a campus of biotechnology buildings on the east side, Tsui Design and Research, Inc., an architecture firm headed by Dr. Eugene Tsui, proposed a new pedestrian bicycle bridge unlike any bridge in the world. The bridge is much more than a bridge–more than a pass-through to get from one side to another–it is an aesthetic, cultural, educational and social destination for the people of the community.

The bridge structure would be made of structural steel with an iridescent, zinc-coated metal finish that is weather-proof and gives off a multi-colored reflective shimmer. This makes it very easy to clean and maintain. The pedestrian bicycling walkway is made of colored, fly-ash concrete that is textured and gives off no CO2 off-gassing to the environment. The concrete floor will have sandblasted poems and special designs to create an ambiance of profound human expression.

Pedestrian/Bicycling
The bridge would contain approximately 1400 linear feet of pedestrian/bicycling ramps and 100 linear feet of plaza area where built-in seating and a four-foot-high waterfall and glass-bottom fountain are located. The ramps and plaza are 14 feet wide, with eight feet of width for bicycling and six feet for pedestrians. The pedestrian walkway path is raised six inches higher than the bicycle level. Seating is 14 inches high, and the fountain would have a 12-inch-high seating curb surrounding it. The east side ramps, with a maximum slope of five degrees, contain a 33-foot-diameter ramped loop to comfortably accommodate bicyclists without inhibiting pedestrians. Spotlighted “totems” with unidirectional casing allows light to shine on the bridge without the source being seen by neighbors.

Social Community
The pedestrian bicycle bridge is a place where people congregate. It is a pass-through for persons traveling from two major neighborhoods of Emeryville, the Bay Street shopping area and the Novartis/Pixar office/residential neighborhood. Thousands of persons would cross the bridge at lunch hour and after hours. This makes the bridge a likely gathering destination for people to socialize, sit down for lunch (180 linear feet of built-in seating on the bridge) by the waterfall/fountain, gaze out at the panoramic views to the south and north, or study the “outdoor strolling museum” and the beautiful artistic surface designs and poetry as they pass by. The bridge becomes a social destination, an ambiance of art and inspiration.

Culture/Art … and Skateboarders
We intend to design the paved surface, built-in seating and railing walls of the bridge in such a way as to be a three-dimensional work of art. From the first entrance area, one side of the bridge wall will be made up of bas relief sculptures, porcelain enamel-covered photographs, and historical items embedded to give a visual and tactile sense of Emeryville-area history. Original pieces of baskets, fishing spears, arrowheads and pottery would be encased and preserved in ceramic or clear resin. Photographs, pieces of newspapers, ticket stubs, flyers from the past are integrated within the ceramic.
The textured and colored concrete surfaces of the paving could be sandblasted to create intricate designs and reflective words of poetry. These rough paving surfaces deter skateboarders. The serrated-edge seating is comfortable for seated visitors but impossible for skateboarding.

History and Education
Emeryville has a fascinating history and the area has historical artifacts and information that take us back centuries in time. That distinctive history ought to be a feature of the bridge. The bridge is an opportunity for thousands of people a day to learn about Emeryville’s past and to put the present and future into perspective. We propose to have an outdoor history museum as a permanent feature of the bridge, telling the stories of life 500 to 1000 years ago to the present day, through “day-in-the-life” vignettes to give visitors a real sense of life in those times.
The remarkable stories of the past century, the Shellmound Amusement Park, the New California Jockey Club, Double Steam Motor Company, the Greyhound Racing Track, the Emeryville Speed Racing track, the Oaks Ball Park and many other historical places and events would be included in a kind of stroll through the history of the area.
We have had discussions with Emeryville artist/sculptor Mr. Scott Donahue and with Superintendent of the Emeryville School District, Dr. Tony Smith, who have both given conceptual and logistical scenarios regarding how the outdoor museum could be a part of the school curriculum whereby students and teachers help local artists with creating this exhibit/museum and work with the community to determine events that would be preserved forever on the bridge as a permanent record of Emeryville’s future. The bridge then might hold an annual event of installing the new portions of the museum, preserving Emeryville’s present and future.

The bridge structure itself is an educative device for showing visitors how the stress and strain of a structure works. Every aspect of the bridge is meant to reveal itself to demonstrate its intrinsic tension and dynamics. Even the cables would be anchored in such a way that visitors can sit next to them and touch them really getting a feeling of how the bridge works. In this light, the bridge is not just a big structure to pass over, it is a work of art to learn from, to understand something extraordinary. Dr. Tony Smith, Superintendent of the Emeryville Unified School District has stated that he would develop programs for students and teachers to research and monitor the bioremediation aspects of the bridge and to study its renewable energy and engineering features. The bridge becomes an educative destination for everyone.

Renewable Energy
A series of photovoltaic solar panels at the top of the bridge parabola create 10,000 watts of renewable electricity. A lateral bank of windmills can also be placed onto the apex of the parabola to produce another 20,000 watts of renewable electricity. A portion of the electricity powers the lights of the bridge and the landscaped park and street areas. The residual electricity could be sold back to the state’s utility grid by the City of Emeryville. A times sprinkler system at the surface of the PV panels would prevent dirt and soot buildup and preserve maximum solar exposure.

Ecology/Bioremediation
The bridge contains a plant-based bioremediation system where rainwater is directed through specially designed swales that guide water through a plant filtration strip on the bridge. Rainwater is filtered and cleaned before flowing into Temescal Creek, and from there into San Francisco Bay, as clean water. Thus, the bridge is a water-cleaning device for the public to see and experience. We are also researching materials that would prevent soot-staining of the bridge over time.

Civic Aspirations
The South Bayfront Pedestrian Bicycle Bridge is an acknowledgment of Emeryville’s past, an affirmation of Emeryville’s present and a catalyst for its future. It is an expression of a community that is informed by issues of ecological sustainability, social leadership, and civic vision. This project sets a precedent a bold and relevant statement of a city and its council that took up the challenge to reach high and take a step forward, to show that Emeryville is a city where community initiative and civic leadership can create vitality and imagination that enriches its citizens and shows them the possibilities of a creative future.

Gateway to the Bay

Gateway to the Bay

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GATEWAY TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY: ARCHITECTURE AS ECOLOGICAL SYMBOL

The ONNI Corporation of Vancouver, Canada, and Los Angeles, USA, has proposed a 54 story building, 1.5 city blocks wide, in the tiny city (12,000 population) of Emeryville, California, across the San
Francisco Bay from San Francisco and next-door to Berkeley and Oakland, California.

When I calculated, using two different calculation methods, the amount of CO2 production this proposed building will inject into the community’s atmosphere is 2.1 tonnes of toxic gas every day! The amount of interior temperatures transmitted through the building’s glass window surfaces, is 60%+. When you consider the imbedded energy required to create the concrete, steel, and glass for this building, the overall picture is one of significant environmental destruction, a destruction that we cannot afford if we are to survive our future!

When you put these two issues together, you have a proposed building that is a lethal contribution to the destruction of our atmosphere and the wasted energy used to heat and cool this building.

When I discussed this with the City’s mayor and planning commission members, it was suggested that I propose an alternative to this proposal that addressed the various environmental issues in question. The sketched rendering above illustrates my solution and has a link attached further detailing my stance or, alternatively, click here: The Emeryville Tattler.

It shows a building that is half the height, 27 stories, and designed in the shape of a parabolic arch, a naturally very stable and very strong form against wind and earthquake forces. The building contains the same amount of square footage as the original, 54 story high proposal, but with much less vulnerability to earthquakes, much less visual obstruction in the landscape, and much more compact to accommodate an efficient use of heating, cooling, and ventilation in the building. The building also features opening/closing windows and a much more aerodynamic shape for natural air movement to and from the building.

Men and women’s locker rooms and showering facilities, near the main entrance, encourage the building’s workers to run and bicycle to the building, take showers, change, and be ready for work every morning or at night. All elevators are positioned away from the main entrances, and all stairways are large and visible to encourage users of the building to walk the stairs and not use elevators. The building has an anti-obesity program as a part of its day-to-day functioning and this is supported in its design.

The main building materials of this new alternative design are wood, Gigacrete, glass, and small pieces of metal. These materials, taken as a whole, are much less environmentally destructive and energy intensive than steel and concrete, so the amount of destruction to the environment created by the alternative design is far less that the original ONNI proposal. The amounts of glass and structural materials is far less than the ONNI proposal yet the amount of square footage has not changed. It has been re-configured in a much more compact and aerodynamic form.

In addition, the new building becomes a symbol of the San Francisco Bay area; it becomes the gateway to the east bay, both in form, and in location, as Emeryville is the central hub city of the entire San Francisco Bay with the Walnut Creek region to its east, Sacramento to its north, San Francisco to its west, and Oakland and San Jose to its
south.

This gateway arch, utilizes the simplest structural form–the arch–to create a timeless symbol that becomes a door to the central hub of northern California.

VISIT “WHY THE BUILDING SECTOR?“ TO LEARN MORE

Global Health Community

Global Health Community (Termite's Nest-Based Apartment Complex Design)

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Guangzhou, China

OVERVIEW
Every year the consequences of our human consumptive behavior are becoming more clear and urgent. The mega-sized projects we create destroys the natural environment to feed our seemingly insatiable demand for comfort, convenience, and quickness- the American Dream- and this attitude produces more projects that obliterate forests and fields, cause radioactive leaks into our drinking water supply, oceanic oil spills, and electricity-generating dams that wipe out ancient cultures and produce gigantic cesspool-like dead zones where nothing lives. The acceleration and intensification of natural disasters worldwide have made the development of disaster-resistant structural and architectural systems a critical priority. We seem blinded by the mad grab for acceptance into the status quo and the “good life” which only contributes to the ongoing dangers and continual depletion of our planet’s resources and biodiversity necessary for the future of human survival.

We must develop architectural answers to the imminent dangers of the times and make serious efforts to safeguard humanity’s future. This project, begun in October 2009, at South China University of Science and Technology, is an attempt to begin a new approach to architecture; a new language for the social and environmental future of humanity.

DESIGN IMPERATIVE
1) Develop a multi-housing apartment complex, for approximately 2000+ persons, that provides a safe, comfortable, accommodating environment that eliminates the need for electrical energy to power ventilation, heating and cooling- eliminate electrically powered HVACC system completely.
2) A living complex that provides a quiet and safe environment.
3) Use locally available materials for construction.
4) Use locally available soil and plants for constructed wetlands, planting, fruit trees, and landscaping.
5) The design and construction should withstand high natural disaster forces, be aerodynamic, very durable, fireproof, and vermin-proof.
6) A design that encourages social interaction and a healthy, creative lifestyle.
7) Enhance the sense of connectedness and reliance on nature.
8) Provide a socially supportive environment that encourages self-sustainability and personal creativity.

DESIGN STRATEGY
Utilize the resources and materials of its locale. In our case, the region is hot, with intermittent rains, full of insects, plants, and animals. The first consideration is how to create a comfortable, cool, and airy environment from the natural materials existing in the area? Dirt provides an excellent, inexpensive, and easy to obtain material that is insulative, stable, and fireproof. The initial concept is to create a great cave mound environment at a sub-ground level that would be cool and insulated. The diameter of this structure is 500 meters wide and 120 meters in height. To create a passive heating/cooling environment with an ambient temperature of 18 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius, digging to a depth of 15 meters is crucial. Since the Guangzhou region water table depth is between 1.5 to 2.5 meters, an underground casement structure must be designed and fabricated. In other areas of the world, where water table depths are far deeper, case structures could be eliminated altogether. Sunlight is abundant because almost the entire roof structure is made of layered insulated glass creating a transparent roof.

The Global Health Community structure is a passive, water-cooled design that functions on gravity and the temperature differential and behavioral interaction between cool and hot air. The working principle is simple; the termites burrow deep down into the ground creating a multiple linear shafts which become water lines from an underground source- usually an aquifer. The existing underground water pressure from the aquifer pushes water upward to a series of holding pools or cisterns. Water-filled catch pools are the cooling source for the entire structure. The cool air rises as it encounters the body heat of the inhabitants and the higher temperature of the various upper chambers. A series of concentric circular walls are suspended from the ceilings of the internal chambers and operate as cooling “fins” that catch humidity and condense it to cool the air. This internal heat naturally rises and exits through a series of ventilation chimneys at the uppermost portion of the structure.

San Leandro/DNA Tower

Tssui architecture concept DNA tower — aka DNA Tower

San Leandro/DNA Tower

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The San Leandro Tower was a proposal to the City of San Leandro, California, to accommodate the City’s vision of incubator facilities for start-up businesses, non-profit organizations, and new government offices, and to give the city a new symbolic image to aspire to; an image of innovation, of transformation, of environmental protection, and human behavioral change.

Reaching a height of 1200 feet, the building would become the tallest building in California, and the seventh tallest building in the USA. The beauty and efficiency of this double helix design, is that it has open areas for wind to pass through the structure and power 35 horizontal windmills rotating every 33 feet. These 35 windmills can generate 5 million kwh each in a year, or a total of 175 million kwh generated by the building in one year. That is equivalent to the power needs of 42,000 homes in one year, or, nearly the electrical needs of all the residences of the city. The building this becomes not only the headquarters of its government but also its technical power source. The building becomes a functional symbol of supporting the community both technically and motivationally.

The exterior cladding of the building is dimpled gold anodized stainless steel requiring very little maintenance and very able to resist high winds and rains. The dimpling creates a lower resistance
factor to wind allowing high winds to pass around the building effortlessly and also release built-up wind pressure.

Every floor has rooms that surround a central garden and yard area letting natural sunlight and fresh air into every space. The rotating windmills also produce a breeze to naturally cool the interior spaces without costly and environmentally destructive heating and air-conditioning machinery. Ventilation is also naturally supplied by simply opening windows and yard entrance doors. All offices can grow their own food. Interior work spaces feature self-generating electricity work-stations using stationary bicycles and arm crank systems. Gravity powered lights generate lighting as the units fall very slowly from the ceiling to head-height levels.

Entrances to the building are through 4 inclined exterior ramps with a 100 foot high recycling waterfall as an air-cooling feature and as a congregating feature. All persons using the building are encouraged not to drive cars so a bus system will be created to shuttle working, near and far, to work and back home, every day and evening. Further, everyone is encourage to walk, ride bicycles, and run to work. Showers and changing rooms are well integrated into the building and a gym areas are used for workers to engage in regular exercise every day.

Shenzhen Ecological Theme Park

Shenzhen Ecological Theme Park

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The Shenzhen Ecological Theme Park was a concept created by the former vice mayor of Shenzhen, China, Mr. Wang Zhu. (It is often referred to as “The China Seaside Ecological Theme Park” within some of the publications I have produced.) The first section of the gallery shows renderings of the Ecological Theme Park, followed by images of the House of the Future. The goal was to create an environment that taught visitors about the intelligence of plants, trees, and a wide variety of agricultural species of southern China. The challenge of the design was focused on how to encourage visitors to experience the teachings of nature in a first-hand way that was fun, memorable, educational and exciting in ways that make visitors want to come back over and over again.

The Vice-Mayor had put me in-charge of the overall plan of the project and the locations of all buildings. Unfortunately, within a half-year’s time, the Vice Mayor was jailed for embezzlement, and I suddenly did not have a high ranking government official to support my leadership in the project. Senior project designers, because they were older than me, became the Principal designers and took over planning of the 400 acre site.

I designed a series of spectacular “experience” buildings for the site and only The Ecological House of the Future was built. This building was the first residential scale building in the world to have a transparent glass pool roof so that rain water could be caught and directed towards an interior waterfall. This waterfall falls into an exterior pond of water hyacinths, mugwort, cattails, and other water cleaning plants. This water is used for sinks and showers. Showers are saw dust-filled, for water-conservation, and the organic matter is composted for growing gardens for vegetables and fruits.

The building, designed in 1999/2000, was designed to be constructed of spray-on, reinforced concrete, and water-proofed with spray-on fiberglass resin. Floors are native flagstone with recycled hot water radiant heating. Up to the year 2000, there existed no circular kitchens in China, and this design was the first constructed circular kitchen, allowing the cook to relate and converse with guests in the house. A 5-meter long, roll-out kitchen buffet table contracts and expands from the kitchen counter wall.

All lighting in all the rooms are built into the wall and ceiling surfaces so the walls themselves are the setting for individual lights. The walls and ceiling of the home are continuously curving, undulating, as if to live inside a giant meandering sculpture. The house is an expression of bridging humanity and nature to share life’s functional efficiency and inspire a creative dimension to everyday living.

Shenzhen Tower

Shenzhen Tower

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The creation of the city of Shenzhen is one of the most remarkable stories in modern times. It is the story of the vision of a political body and the industriousness of a nation and its people. Never before has there been created a thriving metropolis of 12 million people from a tiny hamlet of 3000 persons in just 26 years. This is an incredible feat. Shenzhen is unique in that it is a collection of many people from all over China who are given the chance to create a new culture, identity, and future. What will be the expression of this new character and identity?
Shenzhen’s geographical location makes it truly a southern gateway to China and its ability to create a spirit of innovation, originality, and pride makes it a destination showcase and benchmark of the future.
Up to now, the remarkable city of Shenzhen, though well known throughout China, is hardly recognized elsewhere in the world. Some world maps do not include its name. Shenzhen’s advancements in planning, ecology, safety, environmental protection, immigration, and land use are barely known on the global stage. The spirit of its people and the resolutions of the city leaders continue to go unappreciated by much of the world at large. This must change.
It is time for Shenzhen to acknowledge its special place in the world and let it be known to all nations and people.
We must create an original and timeless emblem, which expresses the aspirations of Shenzhen City and the noble aims of the nation. Many great cities of the world have their icons of instant recognition; the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids of Giza, the Sydney Opera House, the Great Wall of China, the Seattle Space Needle, the Golden Gate Bridge, all are instant benchmarks representing cities and nations of the world—and the special circumstances of the times. Now it is Shenzhen’s time to place itself in the world.

LOCATION
The Shenzhen Tower and its accompanying facilities are located in Shenzhen Bay on a 1-kilometer diameter, circular, human-made island called, Dream Island, 2 kilometers east of Shekou and 1 kilometer south of the Redwood (Mangrove) Forest coastline. It is at a point out in the Shenzhen Bay, which can be seen from any coast edge, or high point in Shenzhen city. The South China Sea waters of Shenzhen Bay and Hong Kong to the south surround the island.
An outstanding feature of this island is that it is surrounded by a 1.5-kilometer diameter ring of floating trees and plants that have been specially selected to eat up water bacteria and act as a natural cleaning device for cleaning all of the polluted water of the Shenzhen Bay. This system acts like a giant floating wetland and has proven itself to work miracles in many areas of the world. In China, it has been used to clean up and beautify the Bai Ma Canal of Fuzhou, China with amazing results. In Fuzhou what was once an unapproachable cesspool is now a beautiful floating garden park full of birds and wildlife.
This ecological water cleaning system can also clean all of the raw sewage coming from Dream Island and Shenzhen city and the only thing visitors will see is a floating forest garden of beautiful plants, flowers, and trees. On the water’s surface, the island is heaven on earth. Underwater, it is a remarkable sewage cleaning system, letting nature clean itself.

DREAM ISLAND
The island, from which Shenzhen Tower rises, is raised 10 meters above the Bay bottom or about 7 to 8 meters above the Bay’s water surface. The Bay is only 2 to 3 meters deep. From the north, Shun Wan Wu Lu extends southward from the existing ecological park, 1 kilometer, out into the Bay to connect onto Dream Island. From the west, in Shekou, Gong Yi Ba Lu extends eastward out into the bay 2 kilometers to reach the island. Each of these two water routes features unique and artistic bridge structures that allow water vessels to pass through uninterrupted. These bridges also artistically introduce visitors to the spectacular ambiance of Dream Island.
Automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians can all reach the island through the two entrance roads. All motor vehicles reach the island through side ports traveling directly underground inside the island. Seven levels of security-patrolled parking accommodate automobiles, buses, taxis, motorcycles, and bicycles. From this underground area, visitors can walk or take elevators to the surface.
The surface of the island is divided into seven areas; 1) Large, grassy hills 2) Forested picnicking rest area 3) 12 ramped platforms down to the sea 4) Sunken waterfall plaza 5) Giant waterfall and swimming pool 6) Museum and outdoor exhibition plaza 7) Einstein Universe walkway.
Dream Island is both a highly functional ecological water catch and purification system and a beautiful educational, recreational park for visitors from every nation of the world. Surrounded by the waters of the South China Sea and the glittering forms of Shenzhen city it is the perfect setting for the southern gateway to China.

DREAM ISLAND MARINA

Surrounded by beautiful Mangrove trees and native water plants a circular marina floats at the water’s edge of Dream Island. This floating marina platform connects with 24 inclined ramps from the park and walkway areas of the upper level and leads to the water’s surface. This floating marina accommodates all sizes of boats to dock and park at the island; up to 1000 mid-sized passenger boats, making Dream Island a destination by land or sea.

BOAT RIDES

Paddle-boats and small motorboats can be rented by visitors to explore the Mangrove and floating plants forest and to freely drive around the Shenzhen Bay. Imagine the incredible views of Shenzhen’s city skyline from the waters of the bay! Tours of the Bay would travel from the water’s edge at Shenzhen’s Fu Tien district and travel all the way to Shekou Mountain—not to mention the panoramic views of the distant Hong Kong mountains. All public touring and recreation boats will have a special design unique to Dream island and the Shenzhen Tower.

SHENZHEN TOWER: THE GOLDEN, COSMIC DRAGON

Imagine an inclined tower 600 meters high, shimmering in reflective gold—the tallest building in the world—angled 7.5 degrees into the wind, with 92 windmills and 70,000 square meters of photovoltaic solar panels altogether producing 471 megawatts of pollution-free, renewable electrical energy. Imagine this tower facing into the wind, its spinning windmills glistening in the sunlight like the scales of a giant, golden, cosmic dragon overseeing the South China Sea, standing at the geographical gateway to China from the south. The tower itself, by far, the largest, single renewable energy structure in the world and Shenzhen will be the capital of renewable energy.
The Shenzhen Tower is sheathed in gold anodized iridescent aluminum, which is weatherproof and requires little maintenance. The photovoltaic panels on the south side are angled to maximize exposure to the sun and this angling makes the tower look like a giant dragon with angled scales on its back—the dragon-like look is the perfect symbol of the power, creativity, and tenacity of the southern region and of China as a nation.
At the north side of the Shenzhen Tower is a Great Crystal Hall at ground level—looking like an exploding mineral crystal—consisting of large, angled, pyramidal polygons whose peaks soar up to 136 meters into the sky. The hall is made of translucent, iridescent glass that reflects heat away from the building and creates a fantastic multi-colored effect. Each of the “crystal” peaks forms a heat chimney effect that sweeps warm air from the interior of the building and funnels it up and out of the building naturally without mechanical systems. This funneling effect is used to turn fans to create electricity within the building.
Near the Great Crystal Hall is a 7-meter deep sunken plaza for dining and recreation. Inclined ramps lead down to the lower level where several restaurants, teahouses, and a children’s play park provide a relaxed environment surrounded by 7-meter high waterfalls and pools on three sides.
On the south side of the tower, hovering 73 meters above the ground, is a giant glass, aluminum and stainless steel globe with water spilling out from the globe’s equator to form a huge waterfall which acts as an outdoor cooling device to escape Shenzhen’s hot, humid weather. Inside the waterfall is a swimming pool and lounging plaza protected from the scorching sun. A giant curtain of falling water 73 meters above 4656 square meters surrounds the area. The upper surface of the globe features a variety of curling stainless steel sunshades that swirl and twist in all directions. These are each hinged and can be electronically opened and closed during hot and cold seasons. They act as sunshades and ventilation louvers. Visitors enter the enclosed waterfall and pool area through protected archways that lead to the inner water wonderland.
The waterfall has another use; it is a part of a water recycling and cleaning system using special water plants to turn raw sewage into clean water. This globally proven system requires only 20 acres of shallow pond, .5 meters deep, to serve the sewage needs of 7000 persons. The system is called “constructed wetlands” or “living systems,” and exists throughout the world.
Large native trees surround the architectural structure. Circular tables and seats wrap around each tree trunk creating a shaded and peaceful place to rest and take in the beauty and peace of the surroundings.

THE OBSERVATION EYE

To reach any one of five observation floors of Shenzhen Tower a five level vertical train allows passengers to stop at five levels simultaneously. The train can travel from ground level to the top five floors in one minute. The vertical “trains” are made of structural safety glass so visitors can see the ground giving away under their feet and shooting them skyward to the lofty blue skies with breathtaking speed—visitors see the entire southern region of China and the islands of the South China Sea; the shimmering waters and receding peaks of distant islands. At the top, every significant natural and human-made feature of the region can be viewed and is labeled. Maps and audio tours will point the visitor in the direction of each place such as the birthplace of Sun Yat Sen, Guilin, the Ming Wall, Macao, Hong Kong, Dru Hai, and other special places of the region.
Each floor of the observation area is made of transparent and translucent structural glass so that towards the edge of each floor visitors can see downward and upward with minimal visual interference.
Several restaurants are located on each of the five observation floors featuring indigenous cuisine of the area. Local musicians, poets, and artists perform and exhibit their works. The melodic sounds of music and human voice reverberate throughout the spaces with pleasing tones and mysterious qualities. Each floor contains souvenir shops, bookstore, small theatre, and audio guided tours which talk about the special places, history, and attitudes of the region as well as future plans.
The Observation Eye structure features a rain and wind catch system that captures rainwater for grey water use and wind funneling for interior cooling. The aerodynamic shape maximizes smooth airflow while minimizing stress and strain to the structure.
A circular antennae, 50 meters in diameter, transmits television, radio and multiple frequency waves across the region. Capping these antennae is a 50-meter high lighting rod that grounds the entire structure for safety during lightning and thunderstorms.

THE GREAT CRYSTAL HALL

At the base of the tower is a great mass of iridescent, translucent, giant pinnacles forming an explosion of crystalline glass containing 40,000 total square meters of exhibition halls, museum, outdoor exhibition patio, and interior garden/waterfall/wetlands. Visitors meander through large and smaller intimate spaces with the roof peaks reaching 130 meters high. One of the main galleries shows the ancient history of Shenzhen going back thousands of years to the first evidence of human existence. A second gallery shows the first evidence of human presence in the Shenzhen area to 1980 when Shenzhen was a village of 3000 persons. A third gallery presents the history of Shenzhen from 1980 to the present and details its decision making process and planning evolution, its goals and achievements. A fourth gallery presents the present day planning issues that are currently being attended to; issues such as ecological applications and the protection of the natural environment and resources, how to keep the natural and human-made environment clean, resolving and maintaining a practical traffic circulation, improving existing buildings and underground infrastructure, the development of science and technology and more. Another gallery displays the future of Shenzhen with presentations that address the new uses of city spaces, the integration of native Shenzhen persons with new immigrants, the imaginative and best use of available land, the planning of disaster emergencies, creating a safer environment for people and protecting the natural environment.
In other words, a permanent display and interactive series of galleries presents Shenzhen’s history; (a) Before humanity, (b) The arrival of humanity, (c) Beginning of Chinese culture to the time of Pu Yi, (d) Pu Yi to 1949, (e) 1949 to 1977, (f) 1977 to 2006, and (g) 2006 and reaching into the future.

SHENZHEN CITY MODEL

A scale model of Shenzhen will be on display and it will be 7 acres in size. The model will be constantly updated to record and display the changes that occur in the city from year-to-year. The model will visually present the important physical issues of the city traffic circulation, pollution, residential and industrial areas, green spaces, recreation areas, bodies of water, mountains, water circulation and sewage treatment, the location of schools and important public buildings. It will be the most detailed three-dimensional model of Shenzhen ever built.

CHINA NATION MODEL

A scale model of China showing all of its terrain and important buildings will also be displayed. This model reaches 14 acres in size–the biggest scale model in China—and will allow viewers to understand the workings of the water, electricity, agriculture, shipping, transportation, telecommunication and educational systems in the country. Visitors will view the model from a series of suspended walkways above the model to give the feeling of flying over China from one area to another. This model will feature the main features of the terrain including mountains, valleys, fields, and deserts, bodies of water, waterfalls, river and coastal features.

EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Another area of the Great Gallery features “changing design” experiential areas. These are specially designed environments developed by selected architects and designers from every nation of the world who are, by committee selection, invited to design and construct approximately 4500 square meters of interior and exterior space for visitors to enjoy just for the chance to experience something totally new and different; the more imaginative and unique the better.
This provides a way for Shenzhen natives and visitors from all over China and other nations, to experience the most extraordinary design ideas in the world. No need for the Chinese to go elsewhere when the most revolutionary and imaginative designers come to Shenzhen every year to show their best ideas.
As one Design Experience gallery is open to the public another Design Experience gallery is under construction. In this way, every year a new “experience” opens up and every year people visit radically innovative and bold designs. This also encourages each designer to “out-design” the previous designer—in the spirit of encouragement and competition. The visitors are the final judges. Everything is left to personal taste and feeling.
Where in the world could anybody experience such a thing? Only in Shenzhen and only at the Shenzhen Tower.

FUTURE SHENZHEN

Here is an exhibition that allows any person, regardless of their background, to present their ideas of the future of Shenzhen—what the future of Shenzhen ought to be. 30,000 RMB, or more, grants would be available to help offset the costs of providing drawings, color renderings, scale models, writings, sketches, films, videos, computer graphics, dramatic plays, and other mediums to depict the life and image of Shenzhen in the future. At last, an unlimited forum for persons to express their ideas and vision for a new city.
The exhibition area is 2100 square meters that divides into three shared areas so that three persons can show their visions simultaneously.

ANATOMY OF THE CITY

This permanent exhibit shows how Shenzhen city works and answers fundamental questions of the technical workings of the city. Where does the sewage go? How is sewage treated? Where do we get our food? Where does our garbage go? What happens to the water we use? How do the traffic lights work? How is traffic coordinated? What is it like to be a policeman or firefighter? How is pollution created? All of the characteristics and activities of the city that we take for granted display and explain their functions.

IF YOU WERE SHENZHEN’S MAYOR, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Here is a chance for everybody to exhibit their ideas for improving the city and presenting solutions to the city’s problem issues. Every year 100 people would give their written opinions as to how to lead the city if they were the Mayor. This is open to persons of all ages, from first graders to retirees—anybody with practical and innovative ideas—ideas that can well be taken seriously by the present Mayor.

OPEN DISCUSSION FORUM

Inside the Great Gallery are three auditoriums that accommodate small, medium and large-sized gatherings up to 10,000 persons. The smallest of the auditoriums is an auditorium-in-the-round with three levels of seven tiers so that every person in the auditorium can see the face and hear the words of everyone seated. This design allows for heated discussions on a variety of subjects of relevance to the everyday life of people living in Shenzhen and neighboring territories. This auditorium would also be a perfect setting for regional and national communist party conferences.

MINATURE WORLD

Imagine entering a world where everything that is very small is suddenly huge and we humans become the size of insects exploring a seemingly alien world of nature. Blades of grass are 6m meters high. A snail is as big as a villa. A grain of sand is the size of a boulder. Discover the world of nature; climb up spider webs. Slide down ant nests. Explore the world of mineral crystals, microscopic organisms and nature’s hidden world. The ground is a series of hidden foam mats that persons, young and old, can play and roll around without injury. Everyone is encouraged to rediscover his or her curiosity and youth and to learn about the natural world we live in but do not usually see.

ENTERTAINMENT THEATRES

The medium and large-sized theatres of the Great Gallery, designated for entertainment use include music, theater, circus, dance, and opera events. The building also houses symphonic and small music group performances, lectures, movies, and multi-media presentations. Shenzhen can very well become the entertainment destination of southern China

THE GREAT PEARL BALL

With its 22,680 square meters of enclosed area, “The pearl ball” is a spherical aluminum and glass structure of 65 meters in diameter with a 50-meter exterior waterfall dropping from the equator of the pearl ball. It features a rotating, perforated skylight system, not unlike a saltshaker top that turns to open and turns to shut, to let in direct sunlight and fresh air. This allows stale interior air to escape through the ceiling where it naturally wants to go. The glass surface panels feature sandblasted distinctive patterns unlike anything seen before.
The pearl ball also features a variety of swirling, curling stainless steel hinged panels that open and close to let air through. The stainless steel panels act as sunshades to control the intense south China sun.

PLANETARIUM

Inside the pearl ball is an inner sphere housing the Planetarium, a spherical room that allows visitors to “see” the galactic universe of stars, planets, solar systems and galaxies that surround our earth. Every hour a Planetarium show presents exhilarating travels through the universe which show how planets were formed, how stars explode, the birth of the earth, black holes, the theories of time and space travel, the principles of relativity and the thoughts of Einstein and so much more! Imagine what you would see if you were riding on a beam of light? How would the world change if you traveled into space at the speed of light and then came back? Would the earth have changed? Would you be older or younger? These and so many other questions are answered as visitors “travel” into space inside the Planetarium. The Planetarium is a great forum for young and old to understand the incredible world beyond the sky.

EXPLORATORIUM

The pearl ball contains educationally-based activities; an Exploratorium/Nature World Experience where persons of all ages can interact with natural phenomena and learn about nature’s processes and products; a leadership-training program for children to develop life long interest in nature, social causes and public issues.
An indoor greenhouse displays the varieties of plants and trees unique to Shenzhen and the surrounding areas. Local flora and fauna, displayed in a dramatic and artistic way, show how the ecology of the local natural environment had formed from millions of years ago to the present. Visitors learn about how nature has evolved in the area over millions and millions of years.

THE ANNUAL SHENZHEN TOWER STAIR RUN

The tower contains 4000 stairs to the top observation level. An annual international stair run competition determines who can run up and down the 4000 stairs in the fastest time. The top three finalists receive trophies and the fastest person deemed the World’s Greatest Stair Runner since the Shenzhen Tower is the highest building in the world with the greatest amount of stairs.

UNDULATING WALKWAY ACCORDING TO EINSTEIN

The outdoor areas surrounding the tower all feature undulating sidewalks, grassy knolls, flowers, and large trees. Areas of the main walkway wend and heave in spectacular ways giving this two square block area a tremendous distinction and fun-loving ambiance. Nothing is regular and uniform. It is as if gravity went berserk. It would be unlike any place in the world. It is a spatial universe according to Einstein come alive for everyone to experience.

OUTDOOR MOVIES-ON-THE-WALL

Surrounding the plaza area is a curved wall where movies can be projected and shown to the public at night. During the winter, spring and fall months, the Tower Plaza shows movies three times a week attracting huge, curious crowds and possibly becoming the most popular gathering place in Shenzhen for those who like to be outdoors on cool nights.

GOOD TIMES PLAZA

A curving sunken plaza is located near the Great Crystal Hall featuring three walls of waterfalls and two outdoor restaurants. It is a place of music, outdoor cafes and good time fun. Musicians play softly into the night and the young and old gather in merriment and relaxation. Waterfalls create a cool outdoor space of moving air.

CONCLUSION

A remarkable city deserves a remarkable symbol to elevate it into the realm of immortality. The Shenzhen Tower is not just a signature for Shenzhen it is a standard of collective vision and achievement for all of China and represents many of the values of Chinese culture that made China endure as the oldest civilization in human history. China’s mutually dependent relationship of nature and humanity, the preservation and protection of the environment, and the bold expression of human invention and ingenuity reflect the desire to reach into the sky and to dare to go beyond the realm of possibility. The spirit of coaxing the unknown with an intensity of collective effort to create great works proves the characteristics of the Chinese spirit inherent in such an artful structure. The Shenzhen Tower becomes the modern symbol of China entering a new era on the global stage. It is a symbol of leadership, daring, culture and environmental conscience. Let all nations take notice that China is coming!

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Height: Rises to 600 meters.
Incline 7.5 degrees into direction of greatest and most consistent annual wind.
Antennae: 50 meter diameter, circular antennae, for all frequencies, with lightning rod spire.
Elevators: Four glass elevators with five decks stopping at five floors simultaneously
Structural Materials: High strength steel, structural glass anodized reflective aluminum, stamped stainless steel, safety glass, reinforced concrete, ceramic tile, and native stone.
Construction Method: Prefabrication on a level-by-level crane lifts system.
Windmills: 92 “Eggbeater” windmills made by Chinese manufacturers producing 5 megawatts of power each for a total of 460 megawatts (460, 000, 000 watts).
Photovoltaics: Uses 50 panels of 1400 square meters producing 11, 000, 000 watts of continuous renewable electricity.
Total Electricity Production: Produces 471 megawatts per day.
Lookout Area: Five levels with structural glass totaling 9600 square meters.
The Great Crystal Hall: Total enclosed area: 27,000 square meters and rising 136 meters in height.
The pearl ball: 22,680 square meters total and 77 meters in diameter
The Heavenly Pool: 9700 square meters
The Heavenly Plaza: 4000 square meters
Sunken Outdoor Plaza: 4000 square meters
Public Sidewalk and Plaza area: 11, 000 square meters
Total size of the building site: 785, 500 square meters at 1 kilometer diameter
Newly Planted Trees: 164 large-sized trees at the sidewalk
Underground Parking: 460,000 square meters on 12 levels
Floating Wetlands Water Cleaning System: Provides 1.5-kilometer diameter and 30, 000 square meters of Mangrove, Cattails, Water Hyacinth and other species of water plants.

Strait of Gibraltar Floating Bridge

Tssui Strait of Gibraltar poster art concept — Eugene Tssui Strait of Gibraltar poster 2014

Tssui concept design Strait of Gibraltar Floating Bridge

Strait of Gibraltar Floating Bridge

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United States architect, Eugene Tsui, has designed the longest bridge in the world spanning the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the continents of Europe and Africa. This revolutionary design does not resemble any existing bridge and features an original floating and submerging concept while creating a three mile wide floating island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. From this newly created island a person could view both the European and African continents for the first time in human history. When construction begins it would be the biggest architectural project in the world—and the most ecological—dwarfing Three Gorges Dam in China and Ground Zero in New York City– and would instantly become the greatest tourist destination on Earth. Spanning about 9 miles the 14.5 kilometer floating bridge contains 150 windmills and 80 underwater tidal turbines generating 12 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. Windmills and turbines can be easily added to the design as needed.

The bridge can generate enough electricity to power the southern Spanish province of Cadiz and the entire nation of Morocco making it the largest wind and water power farm in the world. This feature allows the bridge to pay for itself many times over in electrical generation not to mention tourist dollars. This is the first truly viable design in a long history of attempting to connect both continents. The design utilizes the natural current flow of the Strait and its constant winds and does not disturb the existing ecology and marine life of the site. Cost to build the bridge is ten billion U.S. dollars and would be a joint governmental partnership between Morocco, France and Spain.

The bridge is designed to float gracefully on and under the water like a giant, elegant serpent anchored to the cities of Tarifa on the southern coast of Spain to Point Cires on the northern tip of Morocco. The first mile of the bridge extends out from the coast line and then gradually slopes under the Mediterranean for two miles at a maximum depth of 200 meters or 658 feet. The bridge then slopes upward to a center floating island of three miles in length and continues down underwater again to slope up and come out onto the neighboring continent. The design allows very large ships to pass unimpeded within a four mile width where the bridge is submerged and leaves marine currents undisturbed.

Eugene Tsui’s Strait of Gibraltar Floating Bridge, as a tourist attraction, would potentially double Spain’s 50 million annual tourists and significantly increase Morocco’s current 2.3 million annual tourists to a whopping 60 million, a potential increase of 2600% or 26 times the current annual influx. This amounts to over 8 billion U.S. dollars to each country annually not to mention the significant increase in tourism to both continents. In other words, Tsui’s bridge design has the potential to jump start the entire economy of north Africa and possibly the entire African continent in one project. No doubt it would be the Eighth Wonder Of The World.

What about traffic congestion for the 60 or more million travelers who will cross the bridge? There are 24 lanes total for motor vehicle traffic; 8 lanes for automobile traffic in each direction and 4 lanes for trucks and buses. 4 standard train tracks and 2 high speed trains complete the motor vehicle accommodations. In addition, 5 elevated 30 meter wide pedestrian lanes accommodate people who wish to walk, bicycle, ride camels and horses. Lush gardens, trees, flowers, waterfalls, rest areas and drinking fountains surround all pedestrian areas which are raised one meter above motor vehicle lanes for safety. The bridge is designed to be an experience and destination in itself with an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 traveling daily and 500,000 persons at peak seasons and special days of the year.

At the three mile wide center of the bridge is a floating island which contains 150 windmills, the world’s largest enclosed convention and exhibition area 2 kilometers long (a little over a mile long), 140 meters high, 250 meters wide with 23 floors at 20 meter ceiling height with 500,000 meters squared on each floor and 1 million square meters of total parking space. The island is a veritable city flanked by 120 meter high light houses, outdoor performance plazas, theatres, giant outdoor bazaars and food markets, rolling hills of grass, flowers, trees, parks, water lagoons, bays, 50 meter high waterfalls and fountains, drinking and feeding troughs for animals, bathrooms, giant tented markets and kiosks, two large marinas for boats and tourist ships, photovoltaic solar electricity farms, constructed wetlands for raw sewage and grey water and ecological desalination plants. Similar accommodations are located at the bridge ends as it joins Tarifa and Point Cires.

The structure of the bridge is a series of fish-shaped sections, like the vertebrae of a spinal column, which are attached and locked, in overlapping fashion, to one another by giant water-proof cris-crossing cables in four directions. The sections are prefabricated on land and floated out in sections to their position. Certain sections have a water ballast area that fills with water and sinks to a calculated depth. When the bridge is set in place the cables are tightened and the entire bridge is locked in place to form an arch in plan and an undulating tube in section. The Island portion of the bridge floats on a series of hexagonally braced floating pontoons 60 meters wide. The specially design lattice system allows the island to absorb wave and wind action. It is flexible to diffuse stresses pushing upon it. A triple cable system is employed in case a single cable breaks which would be highly improbable. So far, no cable bridges have ever broken. There will be a period of tightening and adjusting and then the bridge will be in place forever.

The bridge is made of waterproof concrete, electrolytic concrete, stainless steel and anodized aluminum. Air passes rapidly through the underwater sections through a phenomenon called the Venturi effect where higher air is attracted to closed spaces and accelerates through these spaces to create a natural airflow and constant exchange of air with no mechanical power needed. All along the bridge are many areas for rest, music and dance performances, kiosks and open market bazaars. Flowers, trees, pools and waterfalls separate pedestrians from motor vehicles. It is a true extension of both African and European cultures come together on a road 14.5 kilometers long (9 miles) in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. A spectacular setting with the smells, sights and sounds of European and African cultures stir the imagination.

The last attempt at a bridge designed to span the Strait of Gibraltar was a design by U.S. engineer T.Y.Lin in 1986 which would require three support pylons one mile high and footings that plunge to the sea bottom one half mile down underwater and then sink an additional quarter of a mile destroying the existing ecology of the sea bottom surrounding it significantly disturbing the marine environment of the area. Lin’s design was based on previous traditional bridge concepts and was similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco enlarged to five times its original size. Currently, the longest existing bridge is the Seto Ohashi Kojima bridge 13.22 kilometers long and built in 1988 for $8.3 billion dollars. It does not float.

Tsui’s design is revolutionary in that it floats, completely eliminating the need for and cost of, giant support pylons and the tremendous and dangerous labor cost of constructing giant footings in place. His bridge design is also held together in tension instead of compression making it much more able to absorb and dissipate stresses pushing and pulling on it. When asked about how he developed the concept he states, “I asked myself how nature would create a bridge to span the Strait of Gibraltar and this is the result. I have formed a partnership with nature and discovered nature’s power to design and problem solve far surpasses all the computers on earth.”

Telos

Tssui architecture Telos Weed concept office building — Telos in Weed, California

Telos/Interlangua Interdisciplinary Underground Office and Exhibition Building, Spring Hill Drive, Mount Shasta, California, USA

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With soils and structural engineering about to take place, the Telos/Interlangua, 20,000 square foot underground office and exhibition building is a historical benchmark for true zero, self-generated energy buildings. With no HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning) systems, no water toilets, human-generated electricity systems, silent windmill back-up mechanisms, and a spring-fed water well, this building is TRUE ZERO architecture that is the touchstone for generating a new definition of modern architecture. Water-proof, fire-proof, mold and mildew-proof, and unaffected by natural disasters, this building exceeds the commonplace assumptions of architecture as we know it.

When landscaping is fully developed the building will become nearly invisible to freeway traffic and viewing from a distance. It is located about 50 meters from the California north/south I5 freeway, which begins in Mexico, and ends in Canada. It’s invisibility creates it’s mystery and character that will become a global enigma and fulfills the strange world-renown legend of Telos that is peculiar and unique to the area.

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