Rubik’s 360

Rubik’s cube inventor,  Ernő Rubik, has come up with a new puzzle called Rubik’s 360.

The 360 is spherical as opposed to cube-shaped, transparent rather than solid, but it’s very, very Rubik’s.

It will take a clever mind to solve it, it has the original 6 Rubik’s colours but it’s more than a logic challenge, you’ve got to develop some skill as well.

When you actually put your hands around the Rubik’s 360 for the first time you can’t let go. You instinctively understand what the game is about and immediately want to start solving it, but first you have to find out how it actually works and how you can defy gravity.

Ernő Rubik with a Rubik's Cube between fingers

• Ernő Rubik invented the Cube in the spring of 1974 in his home town of Budapest, Hungary. He wanted a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry and ended up creating the world’s best selling toy.
• Rubik’s inspiration for the Cube’s internal mechanism came from pebbles in the River Danube whose edges had been smoothed away.
• Rubik called his invention the ‘Magic Cube’. It was renamed the Rubik’s Cube by the Ideal Toy Corporation in 1980.

• In May 2007, Thibaut Jacquinot of France became the first person to complete the Cube in under 10 seconds in open competition, setting a world record time of 9.86 seconds. The current world record for a single solve was set by Erik Akkersdijk at the 2008 Czech Open with a time of 7.08 seconds.

• In 2007 the Rubik’s Cube beat stiff competition to be recognised in the annual CoolBrands list by the Superbrands organisation.

HOW TO SOLVE THE RUBIK’S 360

source: rubiks.com

an iconic building soon to rise in manila

I was browsing over the web when i encounter this soon to be built residential building / condominium in Metro Manila particularly in Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.  The design looks like a stack of colorful books, and for me it is something really very innovative and iconic compared to the very dull buildings in the metro. It can be our version of the rotating Dynamic Tower in Dubai. The project seems ambitious. Hopefully, this would push through, so it would put eventually Manila in the architectural map of the world (hehe).

Quoting the project’s website (see link below), some exceptional features & amenities include:

Double glazed insulated glass building façade to filter heat, noise and radiation.
Dedicated engineering floors for reliable utility provision and waste management.
Air-conditioning in all condominium units via liquid cooling system.
Reliable and efficient European central cooling system which recovers heat for domestic hot water usage.
Centralized domestic hot water system in lieu of tenant-provided electric water heater.
Ventilation system provides high quality air thru efficient filtration system.
Fully addressable fire detection and alarm system.
Automatic switching on of smoke exhaust system in case of fire.
24/7 state-of-the-art security cameras (CCTV).
Key card access system.

It also states in their website that it is strategically located between 32nd Street and 5th Avenue, with ideal access to FBGC’s major gateways: Kalayaan Flyover, C-5 Upper East Gate and McKinley Road. It is very near to major establishments at The Fort such as the new St. Luke’s Hospital.

The builders and architects of the building are :

Hart and Haring, Neumann + Partner, and BEHF

I just wish that this building will not be put on-hold because of the crisis.But if it will be constructed, I hope it will be a catalyst to change the trend in our architecture wherein practicality is always the priority, but the aesthetics, innovativeness, and creativity sometimes being compromised.

If you want to know more about this project, please click on the links below.

sources of  photos : www.behf.at/the-waltz-manila/ www.the-waltz.com