The Yas Hotel in Dubai's sister Emirate, Abu Dhabi, has earned the impressive (though weirdly categorized) title of the world's largest LED project, which, given that it's comprised of about 5,300 steel panels adorned with over 5000 lighting fixtures, I don't doubt it for a second. The lighting grid can change colors and display patterns, and, though it's a stretch, play low-res video.

Underneath this curvilinear shell is a typically extravagant 500-room hotel, which, bizarrely, is divided by a Formula 1 race track, meaning that this egregious phallic symbol is regularly entered and exited by other compensatory phallic symbols, raced in competition to win yet more phallic symbols, which is a bit too much for me to process, now or ever. [Inhabitat via Flavorwire]

What you're seeing is a tiny section of the 7.5 miles of cooling pipes inside Microsoft's new 700,000-foot Chicago data center, which is one of the—if not the—largest in the world.

It's a mesmerizing place, simultaneously industrio-scary and dreamy, eerily glowing and searingly lit. But for all the painted piping, shimmering server racks and retro-futuristic control panels, the blood running through this place's veins couldn't be more benign: we're talking Windows Live Mail, My Phone, and Messenger; WGA activation servers and Windows Update; Windows Live Office, Xbox Live and Azure, but interestingly, not Sidekick.

And amazingly massive as it is, data centers like this are the undeniable future of the biggest names in tech. Where do you think the Google searches come from? The iTunes music? The Xbox Live games? Full gallery at [CNET]

Fortunately for those of us who can never get all the blanks filled in, the answers to this 100 foot puzzle appear at night thanks to some fluorescent paint. That's a neat feature and all, but where are the clues?

[English Russia]

We don't know much about the actual gloves, seemingly built from plywood and a couple of dustbusters, so we've got a bit of doubt about the whole enterprise, especially as it's described by the BBC itself as a "stunt." But whatever: There's a guy climbing the side of a building! [BBC News via Geekologie]

Sprouting between buildings, the Sky-Terra (another entrant in the 2009 eVolo Skyscraper Competition) hopes to create a neuron-like network of parks, pools, amphitheaters and bathhouses in the sky.

So far, so good.

But what happens to those poor souls living their lives under the Sky-Terra? What about those millions of people not on holiday, who'd just like to walk to work with some shard of sun on their face?

Have you ever seen those glowing fish from way deep in the ocean, with fluorescent skin you can see in complete absence of light? That will be the human race. So really, it's not all bad. [Inhabitat]

The Danfoss Universe was designed by J. Mayer H. Architects and, according to our friend David at Archdaily, the "buildings rise up from the ground and provide spaces which articulate the fusion of outdoor landscape and indoor exhibition." Whatever that means, he's probably right. [Archdaily]

The inventor, going by the name Advanced Engineering, is selling 4- and 8-story kits that both support rebuild and re-implosion. He says he's run out of funding to ship the product, but before his site went down due probably to intense interest, he was still selling a few kits for around $60. We hope he gets enough cash money to keep making these toys, it's a great idea and we're sure he'd have a market for it. [Boing Boing Gadgets]

In reality, it's an art museum and alpine ice research station that will be completed next year in the Swiss alps. The construction of the building will use a computer numerical control drilling machine, which will manufacture 180 pieces out of 2,000 cubic meters of wood. The pieces will be assembled on site.

Head to Archdaily to read all the details and see more images. [Archdaily]

SmartBolts, designed for industrial and medical applications, feature a simple color-coded indicator on their tops: If they're red, the bolt is loose. If they're green, nice job, everything's locked down. And if they're black, you may over-tightened things a bit, Mr. Look How Strong I Am.

Each bolt also promise 20 years of durability (which actually seems a bit low for many applications) as SmartBolts use simple fluid compression to measure and produce the chromatic indication in real time. That means there are no moving parts, and we fucking hate moving parts. [SmartBolts via medgadget]

The new architectural piece will be between 200 and 320 feet tall, and instead of being a recreation of the original—risking inflaming Greek public opinion on heritage issues, apparently—it'll be a building visitors can enter, covered with light effects so that it can "tell" stories throughout the day.

There's no word on whether it'll stand astride the harbor like the original is sometimes thought to have, but with planning and funding already underway it may be standing within six years, half the time the original took. [Guardian]

My guess is that it is oriented in such a way that the sun doesn't project shadows over the buildings around it. That or it's made of cloned cells from the Invisible Girl. Architects Herzog & de Meuron say that their stunning structure's shape will also allow for "optimum solar and wind power generation."

Le Projet Triangle, Porte de Versailles
Paris, France
2006 –, planned completion 2014

“Le Projet Triangle” is primarily perceived on the metropolitan scale of the city of Paris. Its elevated stature will lend major visibility to the Porte de Versailles and the Parc des Expositions site within the overall conurbation. It will also permit its integration in the system of axes and perspectives that constitute the urban fabric of Paris.

On the scale of the Porte de Versailles site, the project will also play a significant role in the reorganization of flows and perception of urban space. The Parc des Expositions site currently forms a break between the Haussmanian fabric of the 15th district of Paris and the communities of Issy-les-Moulineaux and Vanves, emphasised by the visual impact of the peripheral boulevard.

The construction of an ambitious building on the Porte de Versailles site will mark its opening and restore the historical axis formed by the rue de Vaugirard and avenue Ernest Renan.

The square of the Porte de Versailles is a complex space in its current configuration. Its initial semi-circular organisation is difficult to interpret given the many visual impediments and lack of clearly identified public spaces between the Parc des Expositions and the buildings opposite.

Building on the square itself would intensify this problem of perception: our project therefore proposes to free this space by positioning itself along the avenue Ernest Renan.

This move offers three major advantages :

it permits the creation of a public square between the boulevard Victor and Hall 1 of the Parc des Expositions, by reorganising logistic flows.
It creates a strong link between what are known as the “petit” and “grand” parcs, the two parts of the Parc des Expositions.
It marks the Paris / Issy-les-Moulineaux axis, allowing the urban space to cross the peripheral boulevard by activating the entire facade of the avenue Ernest Renan.
Situated along the avenue, the project is located at the heart of the Parc des Expositions site, set back from the surrounding residential areas. Its volumetry also takes into account the impact of a high building on its environment. Its triangular shape actually means that it does not cast shadows on adjacent buildings. The environmental approach of the project is also perceptible in this simple, compact volumetry which limits its ground impact and allows the optimum utilisation of solar and wind power due to its excellent positioning.

Apart from its structural and technical qualities, the filigree, crystalline nature of the project permits its integration in the system of perspectives formed by the Hausmannian axes. This dialogue with the city is not however limited to its silhouette, but also defines the internal organisation and texture of the project.

The Triangle is conceived as a piece of the city that could be pivoted and positioned vertically. It is carved by a network of vertical and horizontal traffic flows of variable capacities and speeds. Like the boulevards, streets and more intimate passages of a city, these traffic flows carve the construction into islets of varying shapes and sizes.

This evocation of the urban fabric of Paris, at once classic and coherent in its entirety and varied and intriguing in its details, is encountered in the façade of the Triangle. Like that of a classical building, this one features two levels of interpretation: an easily recognisable overall form and a fine, crystalline silhouette of its façade which allows it to be perceived variously.

This “vertical city” district stands in close relation to its environment and is accessible to a highly diverse public. Taking up the analogy of urban squares, it offers each individual the opportunity to enter a complex of spaces open to all on its levels.

The base of the project is open to all, from the square of the Porte de Versailles and along the avenue Ernest Renan which regains the appearance of a Parisian street, with its shops and restaurants. An elevated square, on level with the roofs of Paris, will offer everyone a unique view of the district and the whole city. This visit might then be extended in the higher reaches of the Triangle, from where the entire metropolis can be discovered.

The Triangle will thus become one of the scenes of metropolitan Paris. It will not only be a landmark from which the urban panorama can be viewed, but also an outstanding silhouette in the system of axes and monuments of the city.

Herzog & de Meuron, 2008

[Dezeen]

The guy in the video keeps asking whether it's an earthquake, in case you were wondering.

Deputy Dog dug up this clip, which I then found via DVICE. It reminded me of my own visit to the Taipei 101 last year (see my photos in the gallery above). The ginormous ball, of which the Burj Dubai has nine, was installed on in-place from 41 discrete steel plates because the combined weight of 730 tons would have been too heavy to lift by crane. The people even came up with a nickname for it: the Damper Baby. Don't look at me. The best I could come up with is some combination of "stabilizer" and "testicle".

The architects were forced to install it because of high winds and the fact that the Taipei 101 is only 600 feet from a fault line. In order to get up to the observation floor where you can see the top of the ball, you have to ride in the world's fastest elevator. I actually might have my own video of my ride up somewhere, but it's possible that it was deleted shortly after the world's fastest elevator ride turned into the world's stinkiest elevator ride. I had a lot of good food.

One of the commenters on Deputy Dog wondered why there haven't been reports of people climbing over the barrier and trying to sit on it or swing it manually. To which another commenter responded, "perhaps it just says that the Chinese are able to restrain themselves from such boneheaded acts, while too many Brits just go crazy and can’t act with appropriate restraint." No, I don't think it's that, although Brits are pretty nutty. I think it's because nobody wants to be crushed to death by a 730 ton ball. [Deputy Dog via DVice]

[Flickr Credit for lead photo]

It's going to be built in a new city near Jeddah on the Red Sea and is funded by billionaire Prince al-Walid bin Talal. He bought London's Savoy hotel for a cool $2.5 billion in 2005. So you can suspect that there'll be a hotel in the building somewhere. By my calculations, the tower will have somewhere between 320 and 350 floors, so perhaps that should be "several hotels".

Not much is known about the details yet, other than the fact that it'll have two supporting flying-buttress towers to help keep it up (both more than 800 feet high). It will also have advanced damping systems to stop the swaying at high floors from making people sick, and it's going to need amazing engineering to cope with freezing wind at the top and desert heat at the bottom.

It's so tall that much of the ferrying of material and construction workers will have to be by helicopter. And that's just cool. [Daily Mail]

Hit the jump to see it in action. But at $89, it's actually much cheaper than LEGOs are now compared with when we were kids. What are they, like $250 a brick? They actually cut babies open when they swallow them now.

Product Page [Thinkgeek via Random Good Stuff]

Should you find your house destroyed by high winds, there may be hope. USC's Contour Crafting Device can construct a new home out of dense liquid materials in as little as 24 hours. Two story dwellings seem out of the question, but beggars can't be choosers. In the meantime, we strongly advise you take immediate shelter at the Denny's Unlimited Bacon Breakfast Buffet, just off Route 49. Thank-you.

Video transmission after the jump.

Print Your House [core77]