Any tourist who's visited Sydney has spent time in Darling Harbour, but if you go back again in a couple of years it's going to look a little different. There's some major redevelopment going on along Darling Walk and come 2011, Sydney's hoping it will attract a bunch of extra tourists down to the harbor.

Much of the construction work will take place on the old site of Sega World, the short-lived amusement park that closed down in 2000 (after only four years of not-so-thrilling rides). The redevelopment will cost A$500m ($400m) and includes a huge bank building plus more exciting stuff like retail shops, cafés, a water play area and a children's theater.

According to the local Planning Minister, the new design connects this part of the harbor to the city much better and they hope this will help bring more tourists and locals down to Darling Harbour. We think it's usually too busy as it is, so we're not sure if we're for or against this development, but it's only two years until we'll be able to find out.

Related Stories:
· $500m Project to Transform Sydney Site [The West]
· Sydney Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Chewy Chua] ]]> amandak 2009-07-09T17:29:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/22/83036/125

The lights are off at Terminal 6, and JetBlue has switched all its operations at JFK over to the brand-new Terminal 5. The first flight in was a red eye from Burbank that pulled up to gate 11 at 5 am.

CEO Dave Barger, who's been at the terminal with his employees since the wee hours, waved off the first outbound flight, which left for San Juan at 5:59 am. Also on the scene are members of the carrier's PR team, who are live blogging like whoa at t508.wordpress.com.

One thing we haven't heard about yet is the status of the much-anticipated sit-down dining areas--which held up the opening of T5 earlier this month.

Related Stories:
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party [Jaunted]
· First Video of JetBlue's T5 Ribbon Cutting [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetblueflickr]]]> pbb 2008-10-22T08:35:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/8/91159/4329

Dubai is once again going to be home to a world's first. Not satisfied with being home to the tallest building on the planet--or the future tallest building on the planet--the city's going for the world's biggest LED screen.

Designed to cover the entire facade of a 33-story building, this insanely oversized advertising space will be keeping people awake at night up to a mile away.

Amazingly, the firm behind this project, Dactronics, has designed the LED screen so that light will still be able to enter the building.

Related Stories:
· Largest LED Screen Coming.... [Tastemakers Society]
· World Record Travel: Dubai Tower to Break Own Record [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> Dan Gould 2008-10-08T13:15:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/6/82838/8163

A Canadian choreographer and crafty ambassador for modern dance, Noémie Lafrance, has found a ready-made world stage for her shows by exhibiting them on architect Frank Gehry's buildings.

Dancers, equipped with bungy chords, harnesses, and ropes, leap and bounced all over a Gehry structure at Bard College in New York two weeks ago. With the architect’s blessing, Lafrance has eight more performances planned.

Next up? The Guggenheim museum in Northern Spain and the Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. (No dates have been announced.) The whole thing projects an air of pretentiousness, but watching spidermen and women legally climb around on some of the world's most revered modern buildings holds a decent amount of appeal.

Related Stories:
· Dancers on a Hot Gehry Roof [IHT]
· Alain Robert's Climbing Stunts Map [Jaunted]

]]> ced138 2008-10-07T10:00:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/7/42810/6249

We are kind of over Dubai and its endless artificial constructions. And we're wondering, if you've already built the world's tallest building, why would you feel the need to go and build yet another one?

In case we're missing something, we thought we should let you know that the new one will be called the Nakheel Tower, and with 200 floors it'll reach something like two-thirds of a mile into the sky--the kind of building even Superman probably can't leap over. It'll take at least ten years to build the Nakheel--and the forty "small" 90-floor towers that will surround it.

Given that world bragging rights for tallest towers are apparently pretty valuable, the developers won't say exactly how high it'll be... only that it'll be more than 3,281 feet. Perhaps whoever guesses the correct height wins a jar of jellybeans?

Related Stories:
· Dubai Plans to Top Its World's Tallest Tower [Fox News]
· The Incredible Morphing Skyscraper [Jaunted]
· Dubai Screaming Out for More Bridges [Jaunted]

[Photo: Michael Foley]]]> amandak 2008-10-07T09:30:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/26/81359/6669

Located in the Mitaka area of western Tokyo, the colorful Reversible Destiny Lofts look more like a children's playground than any kind of modern day luxury condo. Reversible Destiny is the of product of New York-based architect-poet-philosophers Arakawa & Gins who believe that comfort should only play a small role in the home--and that by encountering perpetual challenges, residents will stay young and healthy.

Each loft is designed to:

Stimulate the senses and force inhabitants to use balance, physical strength and imagination.

A jumble of weird features like bright colors, tiny doors, oddly placed power outlets and rooms with concave floors will indeed have people feeling like they've stepped into a big-kids playground.

If you're up for the challenge, two rental units are now available. They go for $2,000-$2,400 a month, and short term stays can be arranged.

Related Stories:
· Reversible Destiny Lofts [Official Site]
· ARAKAWA + GINS [Official Site]
· Tokyo Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> Dan Gould 2008-09-26T15:00:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/26/93423/5418

Crisis at JFK! The new JetBlue terminal will not--repeat, will not--open on October 1!

While the carrier insists that construction is on schedule, a spokeswoman tells the Associated Press:

The operational opening was delayed to give [our] Marketplace vendors more time to complete necessary work.

Hey, we like fully operational wine-and-tapas bars as much as the next guy, but we're definitely not happy that we'll have to wait until October 22 to check 'em out.

Related Stories:
· JetBlue Delays Opening of Terminal [AP, via BW]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party [Jaunted]
· There Will Be Live Blogging: JetBlue's T5 Grand Opening Already Underway [Jaunted]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Trial Run [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-09-26T09:35:11-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/