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Sydney's Darling Harbour Gets Construction Work

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]

Tags: T5 at JFK / JetBlue / JFK / New Terminals / Buildings / Architecture / → All Tags

JetBlue T5 at JFK Officially Opens

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]

Tags: Dubai Travel / Buildings / Technology / → All Tags

Excessive Travel: *Yawn* Another World's First for Dubai

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]

Tags: Architecture / Buildings / Frank Gehry / Dance / → All Tags

Dance Travel: Softshoeing on Gehry

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]

Tags: Dubai Travel / Buildings / Big Things / → All Tags

World Record Travel: Dubai Tower to Break Own Record

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]

Tags: Architecture / Buildings / Design Travel / → All Tags

Architectural Travel: Tokyo's Playground Lofts

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]

Tags: Airports / Architecture / JFK / Jetblue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / → All Tags

JetBlue Terminal 5 Opening Pushed Back!

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]

Tags: Airports / Architecture / JFK / Jetblue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / David Neeleman / Dave Barger / Videos / → All Tags

Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party

Our ever-stylish correspondent JetSetCD was on-hand for JetBlue's ribbon cutting bash yesterday...

Yesterday's shindig out at JetBlue's new Terminal 5 was no boring, corporate ribbon-cutting, nossir it was not. Instead, the carrier threw a straight-up block party to celebrate more than just a new address; the festivities and congratulations all centered on JetBlue's employees, many of whom turned out to spend half the day cavorting in their future workplace.

Getting business out of the way with a packed-to-the-gills press conference at 2 pm, where JetBlue founder (and current Azul airline mogul) David Neeleman entered to an immediate standing ovation, the day slowly progressed into pure fun with a performance by Estelle and free booze.

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Tags: Airports / Architecture / JFK / JetBlue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / Videos / → All Tags

First Video of JetBlue's Terminal 5 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

JetBlue's new Terminal 5 may not be open to the public yet, but there seem to be approximately 17 billion people on hand for the ribbon cutting today, as seen in this video starring CEO Dave Barger.

In the crowd are David Neeleman (just in from Brazil?), New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and The Rockettes.

Also on view at the new terminal are some fancy seats from Lufthansa, which owns 19 percent of JetBlue. And our spy on the scene says they're serving "T5-tinis," which sounds nice!

Related Stories:
· T5 Live Blog [Official Site]
· There Will Be Live Blogging: JetBlue's T5 Grand Opening Already Underway [Jaunted]

Tags: Airports / Architecture / JFK / JetBlue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / → All Tags

There Will Be Live Blogging: JetBlue's T5 Grand Opening Already Underway

JetBlue is hosting a day-long "ceremonial opening" of its new T5 at JFK today, but the media--including our correspondent--aren't supposed to show up until about 2 pm.

But if you have to know what's happening at T5 right this second, you can tune into JetBlue's official blog about the terminal, which already has a few of posts from corporate PR and marketing people hyping the day's festivities.

Later today, the carrier promises:

Ribbon cutting with world-famous New York City dance troupe [and a] performance by [a] popular singer with one of this summer's Top 10 hits.

One thing to remember: T5 doesn't actually open to passengers until October 1.

Related Stories:
· T508 Live Blog [Official Site, via]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Trial Run [Jaunted]
· T5 at JFK coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Airports / IND / Architecture / Buildings / → All Tags

New Terminals Travel: Indy's New Airport Opens November 11

Now that we've gushed about JFK's newest terminal, shouldn't we check on what's happening in Indianapolis? The brand-new building there will open to arriving flights on November 11, just a few days later than the originally planned date of October 28. Outbound passengers will check in at the new terminal beginning November 12.

Parking and getting around will likely be a mess those first couple days, but airport officials say they have plans to alleviate the stress. (And you can always mellow out with some public art.)

But on the heels of the Heathrow meltdown and JetBlue's own trial run, when can we expect a sneak peak inside the new IND?

Related Stories:
· Architecture Travel: The New Indianapolis Airport [Jaunted]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Trial Run [Jaunted]

Tags: Airports / Architecture / JFK / JetBlue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / → All Tags

Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Trial Run

It was a beautiful day for a fake flight: The sky was blue, the sun was bright and the Airtrain was quickly depositing 1,000 people onto JetBlue's new turf behind Eero Saarinen's iconic TWA Terminal at JFK.

Saturday's event, the JetBlue T5 Trial Run, involved groups of New York-area TrueBlue members (us), JetBlue family and press who would put the terminal through the paces without actually flying anyone anywhere.

Last week when we received the email confirming our place in Group A--scheduled to start the first run-through at 9 am--our stomach sank at the thought of having to be out on the A train to JFK in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. But to the airport we went!

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