KHANTY-MANSIISK, SIBERIA | Diamond Tower | 919 FT / 280 M | 56 FLOORS

Citrus-Fruit · #1 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 2:24 PM**

Foster Proposes `Diamond' Tower for Siberian Oil City

By Garfield Reynolds

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Norman Foster, who designed the London office tower dubbed ``the Gherkin,'' has proposed a 56- story ``diamond crystal'' tower in Khanty-Mansiisk, the capital of the Siberian region that extracts more than half of Russia's oil.

Plans for the 280-meter (919-foot) high, glass-covered spire were presented yesterday to the governor of the region by Foster and Russian millionaire Shalva Tchigrinski, the regional government said on its Web site.

The tower will house a 161,000 square-meter business center, along with a hotel. The hotel would aid the city's plans to hold the 2010 world chess ``Olympiad,'' Khanty-Mansiisk regional Governor Alexander Filipenko said in the statement. The project would be funded by investors.

Josephine Cutts, a spokeswoman for Fosters & Partners, the London-based architectural design company Foster heads, confirmed it was involved in the project. Cutts declined to elaborate further.

The skyscraper would be Foster's fourth Russian project. Foster & Partners is designing the Zaryadye project close to Moscow's Red Square, the Moscow City Towers and the $320 million New Holland project in St. Petersburg.

Foster's design for New Holland, the redevelopment of a navy complex that was initially built by Peter the Great in the 18th century, was also commissioned by Tchigrinski's ST Group, a real-estate development company.

Khanty-Mansiisk is the capital of the autonomous region of the same name, a west Siberian oil province that extracted 5.5 million barrels a day of crude last year. That represents about 57 percent of the oil produced in Russia, the world's second- biggest supplier of the fuel behind Saudi Arabia.

canucklehead2 · #2 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 5:20 PM**

Damn, Siberia's getting a skyscraper? Sweet! Here's hoping it gets built, but with oil prices the way they are, I wouldn't be surprised. BTW, how large is Khanty-Mansiisk?

tdawg · #3 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 5:52 PM**

this is strange. that city only has about 60,000 people! World Chess Olympiad?

Citrus-Fruit · #4 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 6:18 PM**

It seems strange but even this was mooted ... not sure of its current status however.

Quote:

Three-billion-dollar Chess City planned for Dubai
(dpa)

14 October 2004

MOSCOW — Clusters of hotels built in the shape of giant chess pieces will rise on the skyline of Dubai, according to a three-billion-dollar project outlined in Moscow yesterday by World Chess Federation (Fide) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Up to 16 black and 16 white hotels will sit on a 64-hectare plot of land resembling a chessboard, depending on which game configuration is chosen as a blueprint, said Ilyumzhinov, who is also president of the Russian republic of Kalmykia.

Pawn-shaped hotels
“So far we plan either to copy a Bobby Fischer game or possibly one of (Russian chess master Garry) Kasparov’s,” he told journalists.

According to the plans, 50-storey pawn-shaped hotels will offer 3- to 4-star class accommodation; rooks, knights and bishops will be 60- storey with five stars, while four super-luxury hotels representing kings and queens will tower 70 storeys high. The complex will also house the headquarters of the International Chess Association.

trvlr70 · #5 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 6:46 PM**

What's next? The Amazon jungle?

Alliance · #6 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 7:56 PM**

be careful...it just might happen.

Aleks · #7 Posted **Apr 13, 2007, 8:19 PM**

once the oil runs out that building would be useless
and seein how people are using oil these days i say it wont be long till the earth completely runs out
and Dubai stop being dumbasses i cant imagine a building in the shape of chess pieces?!?!
oh and i wanna see a rendering of this new proposal

Scruffy · #8 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 5:01 AM**

a 900 footer in a city of 60,000!!!

SlatsGrobnik · #9 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 8:15 AM**

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. A 280M building in a city of 60,000? That's not a skyscraper, that's a bizarre statue in honor of extreme wealth and ego.

BANKofMANHATTAN · #10 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 1:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlatsGrobnik

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. A 280M building in a city of 60,000? That's not a skyscraper, that's a bizarre statue in honor of extreme wealth and ego.

I pretty sure that's how Dubai got started.

Alliance · #11 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 2:05 PM**

Yeah. Big egos are all the rage nowadays. It gives the illusion of urbanism.

zaphod · #12 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 5:41 PM**

Sounds like midland, texas(population ~100,000) in the 80's

They were going to build a bunch of skyscrapers over 500 feet including one designed by IM Pei but they got cancelled when the oil boom slowed down. The place still has an impressive skyline for a small town though.

Lecom · #13 Posted **Apr 16, 2007, 8:56 PM**

Wow. THis one sure came out of nowhere. It's one of the last places where I could expect a tower like this with a big name designer like Foster, but then again apparently the city is indeed one of the world's economic powerhouses (producing half the oil in the world's second oil-richest region).

And all the ignorant posters (ex. "Damn, Siberia's getting a skyscraper?", "What's next? The Amazon jungle?" etc) need to shut the hell up and do some research before making such bigoted statements. A 900-footer in a city of 60,000 is understandably surprising anywhere in the world, yet don't say ridiculous stuff like that Siberia is devoid of any first world achievements whatsoever.

kalmia · #14 Posted **Apr 17, 2007, 5:34 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleks0o01

once the oil runs out that building would be useless
and seein how people are using oil these days i say it wont be long till the earth completely runs out
and Dubai stop being dumbasses i cant imagine a building in the shape of chess pieces?!?!
oh and i wanna see a rendering of this new proposal

There are many places in the world where there is a lot of government spending due to the oil wealth. These high profits on oil will come to an end one way or another. I think those that have more of a hands off state will be able to quickly adjust to make profits in other ways.

Lecom · #15 Posted **Apr 17, 2007, 6:59 AM**

Khanty-Mansiisk

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=464185

Citrus-Fruit · #16 Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 9:12 AM**

Fosters + Partners reveal Siberian eco tower
11 June, 2007

Reflected and refracted light will illuminate the interior of mxed used tower

Fosters + Partners has unveiled designs for a mixed used tower rising above the skyline of Khanty Mansiysk in Siberia. Set on a hill, the tower will rise above two podium buildings each facetted to reflect light to illuminate its interior.

Fosters + Partners has not revealed the sustainable energy strategies it will be using for the development but it has said: "key to the energy performance of the building are its atria, designed to facilitate solar gain and to encourgae daylight to permeate the complex."

NYC2ATX · #17 Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 1:20 PM**

..um...

Alliance · #18 Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 3:00 PM**

Thats a big base...

Coldrsx · #19 Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 3:09 PM**

why do i think north korean unfinished 100 storey tower part deux.

ardecila · #20 Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 3:39 PM**

Wow.... that's absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Foster gets another home-run. Lately his stuff has become a little repetitive... glassy, diagrids, etc. It's a very solid design system, of course, but with the sheer number of buildings Foster is doing right now, you'd expect a little more improvisation.

The unique chance to build a tower as a monument in the middle of a vast tundra/taiga must have really brought out the best in his design.