CIVIL ROCKS

raster and vector gis

2010-10-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Geographic database management systems are more complex than database management systems used for banking, library searches, airline bookings, and medical records. Three general features of the data within a GIS must be maintained: (1) information on the position of the feature being stored, (2) topological information on the spatial relationships of the features (topology is the way in which geographic features are connected and provides a mechanism to identify the positional relationships among features), and (3) attributes of the feature (Burrough 1986). The spatial component of geographic data describes the location of a feature and the possible topological relationships among features. The attribute component describes various attributes of the feature.

Raster Data

Raster data are stored in the computer as a matrix. The cells are referenced by lines and elements . In the simplest form, each line is a computer record. Each record will contain the values for all elements in the line. Any cell not containing a feature would have the value of "0". In the simplest raster system, the value stored for each cell is the attribute component of the geographic data.

In more sophisticated raster systems, the cell value is a label that will link to records as an attribute file. In the above example, cells labeled as "1" could have many attributes, such as species composition, age of forest stand, and estimated volume of marketable timber.

-- Raster data are stored in computers as a matrix. Each cell is referenced by its line and element number. The example shown is for a small file with 10 lines and 10 elements. Cells A is located at line 3, elements 2. Cell B is located at line 6, element 8.

-- Land cover as represented in a simple raster system. Cells with a "1" are forests, cells with a "2" are croplands, and cells with a "3" are rangelands.

Because the raster system is strictly a two-dimensional matrix, various types of geographical data are stored as different layers or overlays in the GIS . One layer may contain land use/land cover, another layer may contain wetland data, and another layer may contain information on the transportation system.

-- Various types of geographic data may be stored as different layers or overlays in a GIS.

The user of a raster system must determine the size of the cells to be used. This size is referred to as spatial resolution . The cell size can vary tremendously depending upon the size of the study area and the objectives for the GIS. Cell sizes as large as 20 ha for state or regional planning may be adequate. For a wildlife management area, a cell size of 0.05 ha or smaller might be required, depending upon the application of the GIS and the size of the wildlife management area. Storage requirements increase drastically as the cell size is reduced. Reducing the cell size by one-half will increase the data storage requirements by a factor of four. Conversely, as cell size increases, the precision of the representation of the land feature is reduced. Choosing the appropriate cell size for a particular GIS application is a compromise between cost of data storage and computer time and reliability of the representation of the land feature.

Vector Data

Vector data provide for high precision in representing the location of features. Aronoff (1989) described how vector data can be used to define the location of a point, a line, and an area. A point is represented by a simple pair of coordinates. The line is represented by an ordered list of pairs of coordinates. The area is represented as a polygon with ordered pairs of coordinates that close the polygon (the first and last pair being the same).

The coordinates can be any arbitrary units but usually are stored as UTM, state plane, or latitude and longitude coordinates. The first vector system used simple techniques to store the X and Y coordinates for polygons. In this simple system the coordinates for the common boundary between two areas were stored twice, once for the first area and again for the adjacent area. These duplicate storage techniques simplified computations and plotting but wasted storage space and, more importantly, provided no information as to adjacency or connectivity of geographic features (topology). Most vector systems now use topological models (Aronoff 1989) for representing the location of areas.

In topological models (Fig. 6), a polygon is defined by a series of arcs. Arcs begin and end at nodes, which occur wherever two or more arcs meet. Each arc is defined by a series of coordinates, starting with the coordinates for the beginning node and ending with the coordinates for the ending node. Topological relationships are stored in three tables. The polygon topology table describes the arcs that bound each polygon, the node topology table describes the arcs that end at each of the nodes, and the arc topology table describes which end points (nodes) occur on each arc and which polygons are to the left and right of each arc. These three topology tables provide the tools required to efficiently determine the positional relationships of one feature to other features. A coordinate table defining the coordinates for each arc also is used in topological models. In addition to these topological databases, the attributes for the features are stored in an attribute database.

-- In vector systems that use topological models, polygons are represented by a list of arcs (adopted from Aronoff 1989). The arcs required to defing each polygon are shown in the polygon topology table. The node topology table defines the arcs associated with each node. The arc topology table describes the starting and end nodes for each arc and defines the polygons to the left and right of each arc.

amazing building

2010-09-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

TENERIFE CONCERT HALL

This concert hall is designed by Santiago Calatrava, which is known for such landmarks as the City of Arts (Valencia), the Montjuic Communications Tower (Barcelona) and BCE Place (Toronto). The auditorium is located on the waterfront in the port area of Santa Cruz, tenerife and connects the city to the ocean, creates a significant urban landmark. The concert hall features the architect’s signature wing effect – a single wing that seems to enfold the building without covering it entirely.The all-concrete building is characterized by the dramatic sweep of its roof. Rising off the base like a crashing wave, the roof soars to a height of 58 meters over the main auditorium before curving downward and narrowing to a point. The building's plinth forms a public plaza covering the site and allows for changes in grade between the different levels of the adjacent roads.

The complex contains of 6,741 m² auditorium and administrative building with a public plaza and parking below. The auditorium includes two concert venues. The main hall seats 1,800 with features a stage area 14 m deep and a proscenium 15 m high. There is also a chamber music hall with seating for 400 . Wide arches, spanning 50 meters on each side, serve as the artists' entrance. The main public access to the auditorium is placed on the raised plaza to the northeast, beneath the curved and sculpted concrete shell of the roof. Although administrative and service areas and the central auditorium are air-conditioned, public foyers and circulation areas profit from the island's pleasant climate; as it is naturally ventilated airflow through the glazed areas beneath and between the building's concrete shells.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION:

Wing Construction

The overhanging wing was prefabricated in Seville and shipped to the island in 17 pieces, the largest weighing 60 tons (54,000 kilograms). They were similar to components more commonly used in bridges. The wing was lifted into place by a specially made crane from Valencia, which has a capacity of 2,400 tons (two million kilograms).

The wing was designed to be supported on only five points. Once in place, it was filled with white concrete made locally from a combination of river sand brought from the Spanish peninsula and the coarser Tenerife sand. In all, 2000 tons (1.8 million kilograms) of concrete went into the building.

During construction, temporary ramparts supported the workers as they fastened triangular sheets of glass onto a hall ceiling. At the height of construction, there were four 150-foot- (45-meter-) high cranes and four 33-foot- (10-meter-) high cranes in operation.

Hall Interiors

The smaller hall, ideal for chamber music, has seating for an audience of 410; the larger symphonic hall seats 1668. The original design for the symphonic stage was expanded to include 22-square-foot (2-square-meter) modules that are individually movable by a hydraulic system.

The symphony hall has a "variable" acoustic system. Surface materials are solid pressed wood covered with fiberglass. This assembly has "windows" that open and close, exposing either the fiberglass material or the wood, depending on the acoustical requirements of the event. The back walls of the chamber music hall are covered with horizontal wood slats, with fiberglass behind them.

The two performance halls are equipped with air-conditioning outlets below the seats. Cool air comes up from spaces below, eliminating the need for HVAC installations that would disturb the clean lines of the halls. The two halls are separated by a shared, open lobby that creates an acoustical separation so events can be held simultaneously in both.

After the building's official opening in September, 2003, events already scheduled are as diverse as Handel's opera Julius Caesar and the International Water Association Conference. In time, the building itself may become an event, bringing architectural sightseers to Tenerife.

2010-09-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

A Bering Strait crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the relatively narrow and shallow Bering Strait between the Chukotka Peninsula in Russia and the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. In principle, the bridge or tunnel would provide an overland connection linking Asia with North America, although there is little infrastructure in the nearby parts of ASince the two Diomede Islands are between the peninsulas, the Bering Strait could be spanned by three bridges. Two long bridges, each almost 40-km long, would connect the mainland on each side to one island, and a third much shorter one between the two islands, giving a total distance of about 80 km (50 miles). The two long bridges would each be longer than the 35-km Hangzhou Ba Bridge, currently the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world. The construction of such a bridge or tunnel would face unprecedented engineering, political, and financial challengelaska and Russia.It proposes a series of artificial islands that form two archipelagos extending the two continents, and three tunnels connecting the two Diomede islands and the archipelagos.The depth of the waters themselves offer little challenge, as the strait runs no deeper than 180 ft (55 m). The tides and currents in the area are not severe.However, the route would lie just south of the Arctic Circle, subject to long, dark winters and extreme weather (average winter lows −20 °C (−4 °F) with possible lows approaching −50 °C (−58 °F)), and so building activity is restricted to five months out of the year.The weather also poses challenges to exposed steel. In Lin's design, concrete covers all structures, both to simplify maintenance and to offer additional stiffening.

2010-09-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Bishop Rock Lighthouse stands on a rock ledge 46m long by 16m wide, 4 miles west of the Scilly Isles. The rocks rise sheer from a depth of 45m and are exposed to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean making this one of the most hazardous and difficult sites for the building of a lighthouse.The rocks around the Scilly Isles caused the wreck of many ships over the years including the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron of the British Fleet in 1707 in which 2,000 men died. The Elder Brethren of Trinity House decided that the lighting of the Scilly Isles, which at that time consisted of only the old lighthouse at St. Agnes, was inadequate, and resolved to build a lighthouse on the most westerly danger, the Bishop Rock.James Walker, Engineer in Chief to Trinity House, was against building a solid granite tower arguing that the rock ledge was too small and the elements too powerful, being exposed as it was to the full force of the Atlantic ocean. Walker demonstrated that the wind pressures at times exceeded 7,000 lb per sq.ft, and as many as 30 gales a year were not unusual in the area.Thus in 1847, it was decided to erect a screw-pile lighthouse at a cost of £12,000. The first task was to sink cast iron legs into the solid granite, braced and stayed with wrought iron rods. The designer maintained that the waves would be able to roll freely among the piles instead of being obstructed by the solid mass of masonry tower. When work was suspended at the end of 1849 the building was complete all but the installation of the lighting apparatus. Before it could be completed the following season, a heavy gale swept away the whole structure on the evening of 5th February 1850.Undismayed by the failure of the first lighthouse, James Walker once again turned to the idea of a granite tower based upon Smeaton's Eddystone. After surveying the site, he finally chose a small but solid mass giving room for a base 10m in diameter. The surface waves constantly swept over the site, and indeed the lowest blocks had to be laid a third of a metre beneath low water mark. A heavy coffer dam was erected around the site and the water within pumped out, so that the masons might be able to work on a dry rock face. Each granite block, weighing from one to two tons, was set into its preselected position, and each course dovetailed and keyed into position at the sides, top and the bottom thus forming an immovable mass. The workmen were housed on a small nearby uninhabited islet, where living quarters and workshops were erected. The men were carried to and from the site as the weather permitted. Working spells were brief, as well as being few and far between, and after seven years labour the tower was finally completed. All the granite was despatched from the mainland to the island depot where it was shaped and numbered before being sent to the rock. In all the 35 m tower contained 2,500 tons of dressed granite and cost £34,560. The light was first exhibited on 1st September 1858. During one particularly powerful storm, waves rolled up on the side of the lighthouse and tore away the 550lb fog bell from its fastenings on the gallery.

worlds longest bridge

2010-09-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

Tallest in the world and taller than the Eiffel Tower, slung across the valley of the river Tarn, the Viaduct de Millau (Viaduc de Millau) is the chosen solution for taking the A75 motorway from Clermont-Ferraud south to Beziers. This is cheaper than the alternative of tunnelling through the hills flanking the river, and will shorten the journey by 100 km and by up to 4 hours in the holiday season, as well as removing much traffic pollution caused by continual traffic jams for local inhabitants in Millau. The Millau Viaduct is currently the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.

It has a steel deck, rather than the more usual concrete roadbed.The bridge is now sometimes being used for extreme sports such as base jumping or rapelling..The Millau viaduct consists of an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete pylons. The roadway weighs 36,000 tonnes (40,000 short tons) and is 2,460 m (8,070 ft) long, measuring 32 m (105 ft) wide by 4.2 m (14 ft) deep, making it the world's longest cable-stayed deck. The six central spans each measure 342 m (1,122 ft) with the two outer spans measuring 204 m (669 ft). The roadway has a slope of 3% descending from south to north and curves in a plane section with a 20 km (12 mi) radius to give drivers better visibility. The pylons range in height from 77 m (253 ft) to 246 m (807 ft), and taper in their longitudinal section from 24.5 m (80 ft) at the base to 11 m (36 ft) at the deck. Each pylon is composed of 16 framework sections, each weighing

2,230 tonnes (2,460 short tons).

Burj, Dubai Skyscraper

2010-09-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

The Burj Dubai Skyscraper, also called the Dubai Tower, is currently the tallest building in

the world, located in the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The building’s construction started in September 2004, and the exterior finishes were in place by October 2009. The building was officially opened for public use on the 4th of January 2010.

Burj Dubai stands at a staggering 825 meters (2705 feet), making it the tallest man-made building ever to be constructed. The tower holds spaces for residential, commercial, and office usage, divided into zones spread out over 160 floors (the largest number of floors in any building of the world, another record for the Burj Dubai). The building also holds the record for the longest running elevator shafts, the world’s highest installation of elevators, and the fastest elevators in the world, at a speed of 18 meters per second (59 feet per second), or 64 km per hour (40 miles per hour).Burj Dubai was designed by the renowned architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the designers of some of the world’s finest skyscrapers, like the World Trade Center 1 and the Willis Tower. The design of the tower is derived from the generative and repetitive patterns found within Islamic architecture. Adrian Smith, the primary design consultant, also commented that the cross section at the base of the tower is inspired by the tri-lobed Hymenocallis flower.

The Burj Dubai Skyscraper is no doubt one of the most expensive buildings ever to be built. It contains the most luxurious furnishings and interior finishes, tile work, and ornamentations. As of now, the prices for purchasing office or residential space in the tower are consistently high – office space at US$ 4000 per square foot.

Empire State Building

2010-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York, The Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Empire State Building once again became the tallest building in New York City and New York State.

The Empire State Building has been named by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA. The building is owned and managed by W&H Properties.

The Empire State Building is the third tallest skyscraper in the Americas (after the Willis Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower both in Chicago), and the 15th tallest in the world. It is also the fourth tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. The Empire State building is currently undergoing a $550 million renovation, with $120 million to be utilized in an effort to transform the building into a more energy efficient and eco-friendly structure.

Design and construction

The Empire State Building was designed by William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, which produced the building drawings in just two weeks, using its earlier designs for the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio (designed by the architectural firm W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates) as a basis.[citation needed] Every year the staff of the Empire State Building sends a Father's Day card to the staff at the Reynolds Building in Winston-Salem to pay homage to its role as predecessor to the Empire State Building. The building was designed from the top down. The general contractors were The Starrett Brothers and Eken, and the project was financed primarily by John J. Raskob and Pierre S. du Pont. The construction company was chaired by Alfred E. Smith, a former Governor of New York and James Farley's General Builders Supply Corporation supplied the building materials. John W. Bowser was project construction superintendent.

Excavation of the site began on January 22, 1930, and construction on the building itself started symbolically on March 17—St.Patrick's Day—per Al Smith's influence as Empire State, Inc. president. The project involved 3,400 workers, mostly immigrants from Europe, along with hundreds of Mohawk iron workers, many from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. According to official accounts, five workers died during the construction. Governor Smith's grandchildren cut the ribbon on May 1, 1931. Lewis Wickes Hine's photography of the construction provides not only invaluable documentation of the construction, but also a glimpse into common day life of workers in that era. In particular the photo of a worker climbing a stay cable is talismanic of the era and the building itself.

The construction was part of an intense competition in New York for the title of "world's tallest building". Two other projects fighting for the title, 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, were still under construction when work began on the Empire State Building. Each held the title for less than a year, as the Empire State Building surpassed them upon its completion, just 410 days after construction commenced. The building was officially opened

on May 1, 1931 in dramatic fashion, when United States President Herbert Hoover turned on the building's lights with the push of a button from Washington, D.C. Ironically, the first use of tower lights atop the Empire State Building, the following year, was for the purpose of signalling the victory of Franklin D. Roosevelt over Hoover in the presidential election of November 1932.

Height records and comparisons

The Empire State Building remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for 23 years before it was surpassed by the Griffin Television Tower Oklahoma (KWTV Mast) in 1954. It was also the tallest free-standing structure in the world for 36 years before it was surpassed by the Ostankino Tower in 1967.

The longest world record held by the Empire State Building was for the tallest skyscraper (to structural height), which it held for 42 years until it was surpassed by the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1973. With the destruction of the World Trade Center in the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City, and the second-tallest building in the Americas, currently surpassed only by the Willis Tower in Chicago. When measured by pinnacle height, the Empire State Building is currently the third-tallest building in the Americas, surpassed only by the Willis Tower and the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

One World Trade Center, currently under construction in New York City, is expected to exceed the height of the Empire State Building upon completion. It will be 1,776 feet (541 m) tall, becoming the tallest building in the city, the country and the Americas.

Architecture

The Empire State Building rises to 1,250 ft (381 m) at the 102nd floor, and including the 203 ft (62 m) pinnacle, its full height reaches 1,453 ft–89⁄16 in (443.09 m). The building has 85 stories of commercial and office space representing 2,158,000 sq ft (200,500 m2). It has an indoor and outdoor observation deck on the 86th floor. The remaining 16 stories represent the Art Deco tower, which is capped by a 102nd-floor observatory. Atop the tower is the 203 ft (62 m) pinnacle, much of which is covered by broadcast antennas, with a lightning rod at the very top.

The Empire State Building was the first building to have more than 100 floors. It has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and there are 1,860 steps from street level to the 103rd floor. It has a total floor area of 2,768,591 sq ft (257,211 m2); the base of the Empire State Building is about 2 acres (8,094 m2). The building houses 1,000 businesses, and has its own zip code, 10118. As of 2007, approximately 21,000 employees work in the building each day, making the Empire State Building the second-largest single office complex in America, after the Pentagon. The building was completed in one year and 45 days. Its original 64 elevators are located in a central core; today, the Empire State Building has 73 elevators in all, including service elevators. It takes less than one minute by elevator to get to the 86th floor, where an observation deck is located. The building has 70 mi (113 km) of pipe, 2,500,000 ft (760,000 m) of electrical wire,[44] and about 9,000 faucets.[citation needed] It is heated by low-pressure steam; despite its height, the building only requires between 2 and 3 psi (14 and 21 kPa) of steam pressure for heating. It weighs approximately 370,000 short tons (340,000 t). The exterior of the building was built using Indiana limestone panels.
The Empire State Building cost $40,948,900 to build.

Unlike most of today's skyscrapers, the Empire State Building features an art deco design, typical of pre-World War II architecture in New York. The modernistic stainless steel canopies of the entrances on 33rd and 34th Streets lead to two story-high corridors around the elevator core, crossed by stainless steel and glass-enclosed bridges at the second-floor level. The elevator core contains 67 elevators.

The lobby is three stories high and features an aluminum relief of the skyscraper without the antenna, which was not added to the spire until 1952. The north corridor contains eight illuminated panels, created by Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov in 1963, depicting the building as the Eighth Wonder of the World, alongside the traditional seven.

Long-term forecasting of the life cycle of the structure was implemented at the design phase to ensure that the building's future intended uses were not restricted by the requirements of previous generations. This is particularly evident in the over-design of the building's electrical system.

Hydropolis Underwater Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2010-08-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

Currently under construction in Dubai, Hydropolis will be the world's first luxury underwater hotel. It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex. It is one of the largest contemporary construction projects in the world, covering an area of 260 hectares, about the size of London's Hyde Park.

"Hydropolis is not a project; it's a passion," enthuses Joachim Hauser, the developer and designer of the hotel. His futuristic vision is about to take shape 20m below the surface of the Persian Gulf, just off the Jumeirah Beach coastline in Dubai.
There are only a few locations in the world where such a grandiose dream could be realised. A high proportion of today's architectural marvels are materialising like fanciful mirages from the desert sands. We have come to expect extravagant enterprises to be mounted in the Middle East, and especially in Dubai. "This venture could only be born here in Dubai," says Hauser. "It [has] a very open-minded, international community - and that's what makes it so special."

The land on which Hydropolis is being built belongs to His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. It was his last free beach property on this stretch of coast. The project is a fantastic one, yet Sheikh Mohammed's success record with comparable schemes instils confidence that science fiction can become fact. With his support, several companies have been formed to kick-start this phenomenal project, and around 150 firms are currently involved.

"There have been many visions of colonising the sea – Jules Verne, Jean Gusto and several Japanese architects – but no one has ever managed to realise this dream," says Hauser. "That was the most challenging factor, and that's what makes it so fascinating. Despite being a dream of mankind for centuries, nobody has ever been able to make living underwater possible."

UNDERWATER HOTEL DESIGN

The original idea for Hydropolis developed out of Hauser's passion for water and the sea, and goes much deeper than just building a hotel underwater. More than just curiosity, it is a commitment to a more far-reaching philosophy. "Once you start digging deeper and deeper into the subject, you can't help being fascinated and you start caring about all the associated issues," he explains. "Humans consist of 80% water, the earth consists of 80% water; without water there is no life."

Hydropolis reproduces the human organism in an architectural design. There is a direct analogy between the physiology of man and the architecture. The geometrical element is a figure eight lying on its side and inscribed in a circle. The spaces created in the basin will contain function areas, such as restaurants, bars, meeting rooms and theme suites. These can be compared to the components of the human organism: the motor functions and the nervous and cardiovascular systems, with the central sinus knot representing the pulse of all life.

The ballroom, located at this nerve centre, will have asymmetrical pathways connecting the different storeys along ramps. A large, petal-like retracting roof will enable the staging of open-sky events. Staircases, lifts and ramps will provide access to the ballroom, while flanking catering areas will supply banquets and receptions.

HYDROPOLIS LAND STATION

In order to enter this surreal space, visitors will begin at the land station. This 120m woven, semicircular cylinder will arch over a multi-storey building. On the lowest level passengers board a noiseless train propelled by fully automated cable along a modular, self-supporting steel guideway to Hydropolis. A just-in-time and on-demand logistical system will facilitate efficient supply of goods to the hotel.

"The £300m, 220-suite hotel is scheduled to open in 2009."

The upper storeys of the land station house a variety of facilities, including a cosmetic surgery clinic, a marine biological research laboratory and conference facilities. On the lower levels are the staff rooms, goods storage and loading areas, and hotel and parking areas.

The land station also includes a restaurant and high-tech cinema screening the evolution of life in the ocean and the history of underwater architecture. As a finale, the screen will open to reveal the real-life Hydropolis. A viewing platform at the front opening of the spanning roof will allow views of the architecture as well as the light shows of Hydropolis.

MARINE ARCHITECTURE

This structure promises to be a conceptual as well as a physical landmark. While human beings accept the existence of water, we have only a superficial appreciation of its significance. "We waste it, go swimming in it and generally take it for granted," says Hauser. "Humans could actually live self-sufficiently underwater, generating energy, nurturing food supplies and so on. This is why we are starting a foundation to demonstrate something of the importance of water in our lives.

"My general plan was to create a living space in the sea. My initial proposal was a deep-sea project, which looked very different. I had to adjust to the local reality of the natural surroundings and change to a shallow-water construction.

"We want to create the first ever faculty for marine architecture because I believe that the future lies in the sea, including the future of city planning. I am certain that one day a whole city will be built in the sea. Our aim is to lay the first mosaic by colonising the sea."

Hauser plans to incorporate many different elements associated with the sea. The cosmetics will be ocean-based, the cinemas will screen films that focus on aquatic themes and a children's seaworld will educate as well as entertain.

He views his creation as a place where those who do not dive – or do not even swim – can experience the tranquillity and inspiration of the underwater world. "We are expecting around 3,000 visitors a day in addition to the hotel guests. The aim is to inspire people to develop a new awareness of the sea."

As well as emphasising the positive aspects of water, Hauser also believes we are systematically destroying marine life, and thus wishes to draw attention to various dangers and problems, such as the loss of algae and the destruction of the coral reefs.