A flying hotel has been proposed by Wimberley Allison Tong & Goo (but check out their space resort!), as part of a long-term campaign to design “entirely new kinds of destinations” – aka “successful destinations,” leaving me, perhaps alone, to wonder what exactly an unsuccessful destination would be (a place at which you can never fully arrive…?).
WATG has even published a PDF – made out to look like a manuscript illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci – explaining their vision of this and other surrealistically imaginative resorts: they’re creating the hotel of tomorrow.
(Can anyone say Archigram?)
Perhaps no one will be surprised by this, but I find the project totally fascinating – even if it is designed by an international tourism consultancy firm (an industry brilliantly satirized by Michel Houellebecq’s novel Platform [not for everyone]).
I’m still into this thing. In fact, BLDGBLOG could buy one of these hotels and move our offices permanently into the stratosphere. I’d look forward to it.
(Spotted at Interactive Architecture dot Org; see also Deep Space Hilton).
Looks like a version of Lockheed’s P-791, which just flew in earlier in ’06…
Lockheed Martin’s Secretly Built Airship Makes First Flight
…combined with the proposed idea from Worldwide Aeros Corporation…
Worldwide Aeros Announces Luxurious Airborne Cruise Ships – BornRich
Its sad that we live in a time where I think of mega-projects (like the airships or the ocean-going Freedom Ship) mainly as potential targets for terrorism, as opposed to the late-realized dreams past designers thought the future world would hold.
History of The Future is what comes to mind when I think of the hopes illustrators and designer had in mind back in the day of boundless ambition.
“Now that nigga’s crazy.” –Richard Pryor
I am far more captivated by the simple existence of this company, and how said existence implies that people are somehow getting paid to come up with notions like this.
I mean anyone can put words together like “blimp” and “hotel” and “glass floor,” but that these people are also financially compensated for doing so baffles me.
How does that work?
And BTW, “successful destination” means “resort for ridiculously rich people.”
Now mind you, I love airships like crazy, but I also recognize that there were a technology strictly made possible by the depression.
Airships needed the depression. They needed hyper-rich patrons and great hordes of skilled builders who would work for almost nothing. It’s the only way for the Venn-diagram circles of “supply” and “demand” to touch.
–Craig Meyer
CraigRMeyer.com
Craig…
Or, because of their low stress frame with many repeated components, airships could be the first primarily robot built aircraft.
Airship hotels in the stratosphere? Sounds as if there’d be a danger of them lacking atmosphere. LL
…is just a measure by which the divide between the wealthy and the poor can increase.
(who would be scared of the poor when they are thousands of metres below you)
PS yes i am on metric
A place at which you can never fully arrive is surely a perfect destination.
Did anybody else think, “Welcome to Phlosstonnnnnn Paradiiiiiiise!” when they saw this? Just me?