There is such a joke: During the Cold War, the CIA received intelligence and discovered that there were many large and small round buildings in the coastal mountains of Fujian, China. Because the nuclear threat was serious at that time and nuclear war was imminent, the United States suspected these It's a nuclear bomb silo. After a long period of research and taking countless photos with spy satellites, no further information could be obtained, which once made the US military very nervous. In 1985, the CIA sent a couple of spies disguised as tourists to Yongding County in western Fujian for in-depth investigation, only to discover that these "launch silos" turned out to be earth buildings built by the Hakka people in Fujian, a country with a long history in China. The military insiders who knew the truth were laughing and laughing. .
It is no wonder that they would cause such an own incident. After all, in our impression, most buildings are square, and there are very few round buildings. However, there are still some distinctive round buildings that have left a deep impression on the architectural world.
As the saying goes, "existence is reasonable," there is a reason why these round buildings (or halo-shaped buildings) are designed like this.
For example, the earth buildings of the Hakka people are designed in the shape of a circular bunker to protect them from wild beasts and robbers in the mountains and forests, and to meet the needs of large families living together.
In addition, it can also create a distinct sense of the future. After all, it is very similar to a UFO. The most representative one is the new headquarters built by Apple, which regards style as its life.
The reason why there are relatively few halo-shaped buildings may be due to the following comprehensive analysis:
1. The space utilization rate is relatively low. In terms of external land use, the area is too large and it is not as compact as a square building that can be laid out. It is also not conducive to the layout of the internal space and causes a lot of waste.
2. The halo-shaped building is relatively closed and is not conducive to communication with the outside.
3. From an architectural engineering point of view, it is difficult to build floors and the construction cost is too high.
4. Due to its structure, once a fire breaks out, it is easy to burn the whole camp, and the losses will be huge.
Therefore, these factors determine that halo-shaped buildings are niche but extremely mysteriously attractive. Below we will introduce two classic "UFOs" to you in detail.
The first thing to bear the brunt is naturally the Fujian Tulou, which has a long history and has been listed as an "intangible cultural heritage". The reason why the Tulou got its name is because its main material is soil. However, it is not ordinary soil, but a mixture of sandy clay and yellow mud. The walls are rammed with sandwich panels, and the columns, beams and other structures are all made of wood. Making it into a bunker-like shape is not only convenient for groups to live together, but also highly defensive. It is also easy to use local materials for construction. In this way, it is quite feasible in terms of economic cost and material acquisition.
Although earth buildings have the word earth, they are not earthy at all in terms of function and appearance. This extremely practical design helped the Hakka people who were forced to migrate to other places during the turmoil to withstand many external risks during the bloody storm, and tenaciously established their roots in the foreign land and continued to do so.
The next thing I want to introduce to you is the Apple headquarters, which is attractive enough around the world and can be said to lead the trend in design.
Apple Park, the famous new Apple headquarters building, is about to be officially put into use. This is a project that Mr. Joe attaches great importance to and is personally involved in. The cost is as high as 5 billion US dollars.
The chief architect of Apple Park was Norman Foster, and his team of 250 people worked on the project. When he visited Jobs' office and home, he found that Jobs had very specific imagination and plans for the use of trees, glass and stone in the new headquarters project. He then drew on some on-campus designs from Stanford University to complete the initial design sketches for Apple Park.
This building has been described as "like a spaceship landing on the earth" because of its distinctive ring structure. Starting in 2004, Jobs personally participated in the design and promotion. It has attracted much attention since its construction began.
The appearance is naturally cool enough, so what kind of experience will you have when you walk inside? The following are some details about Apple Park brought to you by the famous reporter after an exclusive interview.
1. First of all, it is definitely a continuation of Apple’s pursuit of details.
To give a very simple example, Jobs made it clear to the architect that he hoped that all the wood used for the office walls would be cut down in winter. The ideal time is January, because the wood at that time contains the lowest leaves and sugar content. This demanding attention to detail is exactly the same as the fussiness he used when building mobile phones.
2. Before entering the ring of Apple headquarters, you need to drive through a tunnel of more than 200 meters. The tunnel walls are entirely covered in white tiles that gleam like the walls of a high-end bathroom. As you drive along the perimeter, the sun shines through the protruding glass on each floor, giving it an exotic and retro-futuristic feel.
3. In terms of materials, the giant glass panels, door handles, fitness center, and even the stones on the walls of the yoga room are all shipped from the best quarries in Kansas. It looks exactly like the rocks in the luxury hotel in Yosemite National Park.
4. As a ring-shaped building, there is naturally no lobby entrance, but 9 entrances leading to different areas. In the coffee shop, there is a large atrium-like space with stairs that can directly reach the fourth floor. The number of people here can reach an exaggerated 4,000, and they can dine in the vast first-floor lobby and balcony.
5. Considering the need to withstand earthquakes, Apple Park was built on a huge steel isolator. It can ensure that even if the entire building moves 1.5 meters in any direction, the internal functions can still be used normally.
6. The stairs are made of light concrete, showing an almost perfect white color. The handrails look like they are carved into the wall, not obtrusive. In addition, Jobs was inspired by the fire-proof staircases on yachts and decided to install high-pressure sprinklers in the stairwells. Once a fire breaks out, the high-density water mist produced by the sprinkler head is enough to quickly suppress the fire. This design finally passed the evaluation of the fire department, and is a beautiful and practical detail.
7. When looking out from inside the building, one feels calm and far away from the hustle and bustle outside. When looking at this building from a distance, people feel a very imposing and magnificent power, as well as the cohesion displayed by the enterprise.
8. The height of each desk can be adjusted. The adjustment button is at the bottom of the desk, and the buttons are thoughtfully designed in a concave and convex shape. The convex buttons are used to raise the desk, and the recessed buttons are the opposite. This way you don’t have to bend down to confirm, this kind of silly and thoughtful design can be seen everywhere.
9. The entire Apple park has natural indoor ventilation. There is a building called "Breathing Building" in the park that serves as an indoor ventilation regulator. To keep the room temperature between 20-25 degrees, temperature-controlled water pipes are built into the floors and ceilings. This has also been Steve Jobs's long-standing intention: to break the boundaries between indoors and outdoors and awaken every employee's senses.
10. The Apple Park cafe specially designed a pizza box for employees. This perforated and breathable packaging can maintain the good taste of the pizza. It also successfully applied for a patent.
11. The door handle is not fixed with screws, but integrated with the door frame, and must have the same aluminum alloy texture as the MacBook Pro.
In fact, this design has also caused some controversy. In contrast, the headquarters buildings of other companies such as Amazon and Google are open and integrated with the cities where they are located, while Apple Park appears to be more closed. But Norman Foster believes that this building comes from Jobs' passion and is more like a utopian vision, so they are willing to fight these critical voices, just like other Apple products, and can persuade with a confident attitude Others accept the beauty of Apple's daring to be the first in the world.
To put it bluntly, it is difficult to enumerate and describe the beauty of various classic designs one by one. The most detailed and true beauty can only be obtained through on-site experience. I hope everyone can Have the opportunity to experience it personally.