THURSDAY: Ar(t)chitecture

I think I now reached the conclusion that when architects meet in Asia and think of what new project to undertake, they simply go totally crazy and come up with the craziest (and coolest!) ideas ever! If you don’t believe me, look at this:

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Infinity Pool

This majestic infinity pool sits 55 floors up on top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino complex in Singapore. The high-rise pool stretches for 150 metres, three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool (!!!!!!) and lies in the hotel’s “Sky Park” like a plank across the roof of the resort’s three towers. The platform itself is longer than the Eiffel tower laid down and is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

This infinity pool is the world’s largest outdoor pool at that height. Perched 191 metres above the ground, the pools are made up of 422,000 pounds of stainless steel and can hold 376,500 gallons (1424 cubic metres) of water. Infinity pools give the effect that the water extends to the horizon. In reality, the water spills over the edge into a catchment below, and is then pumped back into the pool. The pools have two circulation systems. The first functions like that of a regular pool, filtering and heating the water in the main pool. The second filters the water in the catch basin and returns it to the upper pool.

The complex was designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, who said he based it on a deck of playing cards. The Marina Bay Sands, currently the biggest hotel in Singapore, has 2,560 rooms and is expected to provide 10,000 jobs and generate about £48m a year for the local economy.