NASA is plotting a return to the moon, the Las Vegas Sphere may just be the future of live entertainment, and Alexander McQueen’s longtime creative director takes her final bow. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
NASA plans to build houses on the moon by 2040
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
NASA is plotting its return to the moon, this time with a more longterm stay in mind, writes The New York Times. By 2040, NASA is hoping to build houses on the moon that can be used by astronauts and ordinary people alike. Teaming up with ICON, a construction technology company based in Austin, the space agency will blast a 3D printer up to the moon and build structures out of specialized lunar concrete created from rock chips, mineral fragments, and dust that sits on the top layer of the moon’s surface. So far, the plans are only renderings, but NASA is enlisting the input of notable architects at Bjarke Ingels Group and SEArch+ to help with the concepts and design. There’s still a long way to go before the idea can take shape, but NASA scientists are already thinking ahead. The next frontier is Mars.
Las Vegas’ Sphere is the future of entertainment
The Sphere at the Venetian Resort came to life via architecture by Populus, interiors from ICRAVE, and procurement by the Parker Company; photo courtesy of Sphere Entertainment
Last weekend, U2 was the first band to play at the Sphere, the massive, dome-shaped venue in Las Vegas that is being touted as the future of live entertainment. The five-year-long project—designed by architectural firm Populous and connected to the Venetian hotel—was the brainchild of billionaire James Dolan, CEO of the Madison Square Garden Company, and came with a price tag of $2.3 billion, writes Business Insider. The technological advancements of the Sphere are second to none: It’s 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, housing 168,000 speakers and a wraparound LED screen that can be lit up as different objects, including a blinking eyeball. Just as attention grabbing are the sky-high advertising costs, charging as much as $450,000 for one day of advertising and $650,000 for the week.
Sarah Burton steps down from Alexander McQueen
Photo courtesy of Sandor Szmutko/Adobe Stock
Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, stepped down from the fashion house after last week’s Paris Fashion Week. Burton became creative director in 2010 shortly after McQueen’s death, helping raise the brand’s sales eightfold, thanks to the brand’s ready-to-wear collections. Her final collection, inspired by female anatomy, Queen Elizabeth I, and the blood red rose and Magdalena Abakanowicz, “was a tour de force of McQueen tailoring,” writes The Cut. “It didn’t concede any ground to trends or empty marketing concepts like ‘quiet luxury.’ On the contrary, it charged forward, as if to say, in the expert cuts and considered details, ‘This is who we are.’”
Zaha Hadid Architects’ crystalline skyscraper rises in Neom
An aerial shot of what will become Trojena, a futuristic ski resort in NEOM’s mountain region; photo courtesy of NEOM
UK studio Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed renderings of its supertall skyscraper for the Trojena ski resort at NEOM in Saudi Arabia, writes Dezeen. Named Discovery Tower and soaring 1,082 feet into the air, the building is designed to stand on top of a mountain overlooking an artificial lake at the center of the development. Plans for the tower, which will be made of numerous columns that taper toward the peak, include observation decks and restaurants. Trojena is one of four regions of NEOM that has been announced and is expected to be complete before the region hosts the Asian Winter Games in 2029.
Don’t miss the party of the year!
Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York, a project by 2023 Platinum Circle honoree Martin Brudnizki; photo by Matthieu Salvaing
HD’s 34th annual Platinum Circle Awards gala is only a few short weeks away. Join us as we honor the lifetime achievements of six hospitality and design visionaries at our black-tie creative affair. Come celebrate the industry and the start of BDNY at what is sure to be a night to remember. Hear the inspirational stories of our remarkable honorees and mingle and network with new and old friends during cocktails and dinner. Meet this year’s honorees and buy tickets today.
