Design for Despots

Tour a few of the most ambitious and audacious designs breaking ground in some of the world’s least free countries.

April 16, 2008, 12:00 AM

Foster Partners

Khan Shatyry Entertainment Center
Astana, Kazakhstan

Completion date: summer 2008

Cost: confidential

Specs: The transparent, tent-like exterior of this 500-foot-high structure is meant to absorb sunlight and create summer-like conditions for an indoor city within the capital, where residents can gather to swim, golf, and shop during the bitterly cold Kazakh winters.

Skidmore, Owings Merrill LLP

Burj Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Completion date: 2009

Cost: at least $1 billion

Specs: Burj Dubai is already the worlds tallest building, though its exact height remains a secret to delay rivals plans to top it. As of mid-April, 164 floors have been finished. The worlds fastest elevatorsclocking in at 40 mphwill eventually whiz guests to a height that one architect compared to Chicagos John Hancock Center sitting atop the Sears Tower.

RMJM Hillier

Okhta Center (Gazprom headquarters)
St. Petersburg, Russia

Completion date: 2012

Cost: $2.4 billion

Specs: At 1,300 feet (just taller than the Empire State Building), the new headquarters for Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom will dominate the St. Petersburg skyline, and its design has infuriated the citys preservationists. It isnt as though Gazprom needs the space: The company plans to occupy just 16 percent of the complex and rent the rest out for public functions and to businesses. The buildings twisting pentagram shape is inspired by a 17th-century Swedish fort that once occupied the site.

OMA

Waterfront City
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Completion date: 2018

Cost: billions

Specs: Dubais largest project to date, Waterfront will create an entirely new, 35,000-acre urban district on the citys western edge that includes an artificial island. Waterfront City, the developments centerpiece, will be a hybrid of nearly 150 generic skyscrapers and whimsical structures, such as the Death Star-like sphere balanced on the waterfront, the district will eventually house 90,000 residents.

Courtesy Photo/Reuters

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre
Baku, Azerbaijan

Completion date: still in design phase

Cost: unknown

Specs: Named for the former KGB honcho who ran Azerbaijan as his personal fiefdom for more than 30 years, the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre is to be the crown jewel in Bakus bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. Its little wonder Aliyev would receive such an honor: He handed the presidency to his son, Ilham, in 2003. The center will house a large conference hall, museum, and cultural library.

Foster Partners

Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 3
Beijing, China

Completion date: February 2008

Cost: $3.6 billion

Specs: At more than 2 miles long, Beijings new Terminal 3, the worlds largest building, boasts strategically placed skylights to give it the appearance of a dragon from the air.

AFP/Getty Images

The enormous interior, designed to accommodate 50 million passengers annually by 2020, is 17 percent bigger than all five terminals at Londons Heathrow Airport combined.

Zaha Hadid Architects

Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Completion date: to be announced

Cost: unknown

Specs: Hadids arts center, with five theater halls for concerts and plays, will be just one of four bold architectural statements in Abu Dhabis new Saadiyat Island Cultural District. Just down the waterfront will be the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim outpost, the Louvre Abu Dhabi by recent Pritzker winner Jean Nouvel, and a maritime museum by Tadao Ando.

Tag: Economics