“the beginning is the most important part of the work.” – plato
all of us are really wanting a fresh new year! this video made in 2019 by tbwa/paris for the national society of french railways (sncf) captures what our mind’s eye was seeking: a celebration of new life, a feeling of hope and optimism. may all your plans bloom and blossom beyond your wildest dreams.
the video was a way for the sncf to give thanks to those “preserving the planet” by traveling by train. according to the sncf, trains give off 30 times less co2 than individual cars and 20 times less than planes. thus, the national railway body is positioning itself as a healthy alternative to other modes of transport.
to illustrate this sentiment, the successive blooming of flowers – a time lapse that covers 200 hours. to capture each one of the 50 varieties included, every flower was photographed once every five seconds, day and night, which accumulated in 14,000 images per flower.
in the film, every flower that blooms is accompanied by the wheezing bang of fireworks, to illustrate the celebratory nature of the campaign. the sncp aims to transition from diesel-powered rail to developing stations that are autonomously powered by 2035.
zoox is the first in the industry to showcase a driving, purpose-built robotaxi capable of operating up to 75 miles per hour.
an autonomous four-wheel drive fully electric vehicle is not breaking news anymore. but amazon announcing it’s new ride-sharing robotaxi along with its vision for the future of urban mobility concept certainly is.
as concept cars go the robotaxi offers pretty familiar features but she also has several unique laudable features: bidirectional driving capabilities and four-wheel steering, which enables maneuvering through compact spaces and changing directions without the need to reverse; a four-seat, face-to-face symmetrical seating configuration that eliminates the steering wheel.
the vehicle has one of the smallest footprints in the automotive industry, about a foot shorter than a standard mini cooper and features a 133 kwh battery, one of the largest available in electric vehicles today, allowing it to operate for up to 16 continuous hours on a single charge.
primarily envisioned for short rides in urban environments, passengers will have an app to hail the vehicle, much as they do with uber and lyft today. we’re led to believe that robotaxi should soon be in business in san francisco and las vegas as these cities are in the vehicles database. not sure how i feel about going 75 mph however.
the ability to maintain a vacuum in the tube, especially one hundreds of miles long, is one of the steepest challenges facing the hyperloop. every time a pod arrives at a station, it has to decelerate and stop.
two days after hyperloop-one sets a new speed record(*) of 240 mile per hour record company announces it has raised $50 million and richard branson is coming aboard as chairman.
the test took place at its development track in the nevada desert, north of las vegas. a 28-foot-long pod does this inside a 1,600-foot-long concrete test tube where air pressure is reduced to 200,000 feet above sea level. what’s new is magnetic levitation where the pod hovers above the test track to reduce friction.
the ability to maintain a vacuum in the tube, especially one hundreds of miles long, is one of the steepest challenges facing the hyperloop. every time a pod arrives at a station, it has to decelerate and stop. then the airlock will have to close, pressurize, and open again. then the pod has to clear the airlock before the next pod arrives. the speed in which this occurs will determine the distance between pods.
musk pitched an idea in 2013 for a massive vacuum tube that could whisk passengers in pressurized cabins from new york to los angeles in 45 minutes. he’s getting closer. musk is also working on a tunnel digging concept with the boring company. richard branson also runs spacex both musk and branson working together, innovative electric cars, space travel, and transportation, is scary in a very good way. fingers crossed.
video courtesy of virgin
(*) not sure in what category. my benchmark is craig breedlove going 555.485 miles per hour in 1965 driving spirt of america.
transport for london (tfl) has released a design manifesto for their tube called the london underground station design idiom. available to the public, the 225-page at-a-glance vision statement offers a glimpse into the future of the transport service.
designed by london-based [ studio egret west ] and described as a “revolutionary new design vision”, the idiom touches upon numerous aspects of design, including architecture, color palettes, lighting and materials.
david west from studio egret west, said: “we are delighted to be involved in the london underground station design idiom project at such a pivotal point in the network’s evolution and to receive recognition for it already.
“not since the days of frank pick has there been such an opportunity to holistically rethink the network’s design approach.”
tfl says its ultimate goal is to provide travelers with “welcoming, comfortable and straightforward journeys”, and has outlined nine key principles of design.
achieve balance across the network
look beyond the bostwick gate
consider wholeness
prioritise comfort for staff and customers
delight and surprise
use materials to create atmospheric spaces
create ambience with lighting
integrate products and services
prepare for the future
click on image to engage lightbox | 10 images courtesy of studio egret west
the london underground station design idiom has been shortlisted for the [ london design awards ] in the category of architecture – proposed. an exhibition of the idiom is on at the platform gallery behind southwark underground station. [ the london underground station design idiom ]
pininfarina is best known for designing ferraris and other italian cars. but it has also done objects and other vehicles. the company recently designed coca-cola’s high tech vending machine and has now done a new eurostar high-speed train. pininfarina has also designed high-speed trains for spanish railways and cars for swiss, danish and norwegian railroads as well as trams and light rail.
[ pininfarina expertise in the rail industry ] together with eurostar, pininfarina has created a new design for trains that focuses on a great travel experience, thus mixing the pininfarina style and outstanding functionality with a clear vision of future train travel. pininfarina has extensive experience in the rail industry, having designed the interiors and exteriors of italy’s high-speed trains.
the etr 500 was the first italian project for a high speed train, appeared in 1985 as the result of a joint project by ferrovie dello stato, breda and pininfarina. it was a demanding project, all the more so in view of the characteristics of the rail infrastructure of the day.
it was a challenge that pininfarina responded to with far-reaching stylistic and aerodynamic research, which led to the creation of a model with a high technological impact, that was extremely flexible in terms of operating requirements and could transport up to 700 people on each train.
along the years pininfarina has also designed high speed trains for spanish railways; rolling stock for swiss, danish and norwegian railways; automated light rail cars in lille, northern france; and trams for cities in italy, greece, sweden and turkey.
Sky Reflector-Net (2013) | an integrated artwork, is an artist, architect, engineer collaboration with James Carpenter Design Associates, Grimshaw Architects, and Arup, commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design and MTA Capital Construction Company (MTACC) | photo> (c)David Sundberg, ESTO
You might call it a skylight or oculus, more technically. But Jamie Carpenter’s piece called Sky Reflector-Net is also a sculptural work commissioned by New York’ Metropolitan transit Authority Arts for Transit and Urban Design.
It will open next year in New York’s Fulton Street transit facility near the World Trade Center. The work of a decade in collaboration with Grimshaw architects and engineering firm Arup, the piece is formally known as a “tensioned cable-net structure clad in perforated optical-aluminum panels,”It folds the image of the sky down into this new transit center atrium, enhancing travelers’ daily commute with a remarkably expansive sense of the dynamic change in light over the course of the seasons.”
A railway tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait has been opened (29 October 2013) in Turkey, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul. The Marmaray tunnel is the world’s first connecting two continents. It was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. [ story ]
fatih sultan mehmet bridge looking from asian side to europe. tunnel crossing near this landmark
over 40,000 artifacts discovered during excavation
Work began in 2004, but archaeological excavations delayed construction. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long championed the undersea project, first conceived by an Ottoman sultan in 1860. The underwater section runs for 0.8 miles (1.4 km), but in total the tunnel is 8.5 miles (13.6 km) long and and is designed to withstand earthquakes. [ 40,000 artifacts ]
installing tunnel into bosphorus seemingly easiest phase of project
Parsons Brinckerhoff, who’s role was design/construction supervision and D-B contract administration provides an enlightening video of lowering the tunnel into the Bosphorus. [ video ]
Most recent videos below…
The latest installment of Audi’s Urban Future Initiative saw a presentation of urban planning ideas by Höweler+Yoon Architecture. The Boston based firm won a competition among firms last year with its vision of a new multimode transportation corridor for the northeast US, the sprawl from Boston to Washington abbreviated as “Boswash.” That corridor contains some 53 million people and one-third of the country’s gross domestic product. In the so called Shareway, high speed rail, autos and bicycles (giant futuristic bicycles, to judge from the drawings) would be bundled together.
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