corporation street bridge :: photo source

there’s a sprawling shopping centre around the corner from my flat in manchester called the arndale centre and it’s generally a predictably horrible place, the one intriguing feature of the whole complex being the above bridge which acts as a decievingly attractive portal from shit-hole to shit-hole. as with most things that become a regular sight, i stopped even noticing it whenever i walked underneath, until last week when i snapped out of my trance and decided to find out the name given to its shape and why you don’t see more of them. thanks to cuil, turns out it’s called a hyperboloid structure and while there are a number of other such structures in the world, this happens to be the only known hyperboloid bridge/tunnel.

cottam power station: original photo source

the one hyperboloid structure everyone’s aware of is the cooling tower, seen above, but there are a number of more impressive examples across the globe, and i’m gonna show you some. to read more about the reasons behind this kind of shape for certain buildings, i’d recommend reading this. to summarise: hyperboloid lattice-frame structures (the most common application) offer a surprising amount of rigidity due to all the steel columns being straight, plus due to less materials being used they’re also a very economical construction technique, especially considering that resultant strength. and then there’s the visual aspect…

aspire tower, doha, qatar

photos’ source

during the 2006 asian games the top of this 1′050ft tower housed the olympic flame. see the protruding lip about 1/3 of the way up the tower? that’s an outdoor swimming pool.
more info here.

adziogol lighthouse, dneprovsky, ukraine

photo source

one of the oldest examples of a hyperboloid structure, this 230ft lighthouse was built in 1910 by vladimir shukhov, the engineer responsible for designing, amongst other things, the world’s first ever hyperboloid structure.

more info here.

kobe port tower, kobe, japan

photo sources: 1, 2

built in 1963, this beauty stands at kobe port and has a rotating observation deck at the top, 295ft from the ground, offering views across the bay. it’s also covered in lights, at night making this the area’s most famous landmark.

more info here.

jested tower, liberec, czech republic

photo sources: 1, 2

one of the world’s strangest looking television towers, jested tower also contains a hotel and restaurant at the base. the tower itself measures 308ft and sits on top of jested mountain, 3012ft above sea level.
more info here.

cathedral of brasilia, brasilia, brazil

photo sources: 1, 2

oscar niemeyer designed this cathedral, a striking building that was opened in 1970. apparently the 16 columns are meant to represent ‘two hands reaching up to heaven’.
more info here.

shabolovka radio tower, moscow, russia

photo sources: 1, 2

another tower built by shukhov, this one sits near the kremlin in russia and was completed in 1920.
more info here.

ciechanow water tower, ciechanow, poland

photos’ source

all i know about this incredible top-heavy water tower is that it was built in 1972 and designed by a guy called jan bogusławski.

more info, in polish, here.

guangzhou tv & sightseeing tower, guangzhou, china

photos’ source

when completed next year, this hyperboloid tower in china will measure 2′001ft from base to top of spire. that’s taller than every building in the world apart from the burj dubai. the photo on the right shows the tower’s the tower’s progress as of august 2008.
more info here.

sydney tower, sydney, australia

photos’ source

when this tower was opened in 1981 it was the world’s 4th tallest building at 1000ft (including spire) - nowadays it’s probably around the 30th mark. but it’s still an amazing looking tower supported by an incredibly thin hyperboloid lattice shell.

more info here.

shukhov tower on the oka river, nizhny, russia

photo source

the world’s only hyperboloid electricity pylon. back in 1927, when the pylon was built, it was one of 6 hyperboloid pylons in the area. approximately 20 years ago the 5th pylon was sold for scrap, leaving this one standing on its own.

more info here, in german.

that’s all folks.

there are a few more of these around, wikipedia has a list here worth checking out. also worth looking at is the shukhov tower foundation’s website here.

and the cuil thing was a joke.