Russia Challenges UAE With Crystal Island & Federation Island Mega Projects!

This really surprised me!! I didn't think the UAE/Gulf Region would ever see any real competition to the spectacular Mega Projects being built there. Then I heard about The Crystal Island and The Federation Island Mega Projects that Russia plans to build!

Crystal Island will be the biggest building in the entire world-- so massive that it will house an ENTIRE CITY within its walls! The architects for this Mega Project are Foster + Partners of London, the same architects who designed The Blue City, Oman.

Federation Island is a gigantic man-made island Mega Project that, once completed, will resemble a small version of Russia. I guess they got the idea from Nakheel, who is building The World Islands, which resemble a small version of the entire world. Federation Island is being developed by M Industries of Russia and designed by Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects.

CRYSTAL ISLAND:

Crystal Island will have four times the floor space of the Pentagon in Washington D.C., more floor space than any other structure on Earth....this includes any structure in the UAE. The building will stretch almost 1,500 feet into the sky and will be a multi-use structure. Crystal Island will include 900 apartments, 3,000 hotel rooms, business offices, a school for 500 students, a movie theater, a museum, a sports complex and loads of shops and restaurants....an entire city....all in one building!

Crystal Island is located in Moscow only 7.5km from the Kremlin. Like so many of the incredible UAE Mega Projects, Crystal Island is a truly amazing looking structure. Here is a quote from Norman Foster of Foster + Partners:

"Crystal Island is one of the world’s most ambitious building projects and it represents a milestone in the 40 year history of the practice. It is the largest single building in the world, creating a year-round destination for Moscow and a sustainable, dynamic new urban quarter. It is a paradigm of compact, mixed-use, sustainable city planning, with an innovative energy strategy and ‘smart’ skin which buffers against climate extremes."

FEDERATION ISLAND:

Federation Island is being developed in the Black Sea off of Sochi, Russia, at a cost of $6.2Billion and will eventually house an estimated 25,000 residents. Sochi is where the 2014 Winter Olympics will be held and Federation Island is scheduled to be finished in time for this event. Here is part of a press release about Federation Island from Erick van Egeraat Associated Architects:

'The archipelago offers residences, hotels, cultural, leisure and recreational facilities. Federation Island will be built in the shape of the Russian Federation and reflects the country’s major geographical features. The Russian river network is used as a reference for the island’s waterlines; the big mountains inspire the island relief.

'Federation Island comprises seven main, more than a dozen private and three breakwater islands. Sandy beaches, dunes, grasslands, bushes, small forests and riverside offer enough variety for accommodation ranging from beach residences, luxury villas and apartments to dune, river and cliff houses.'

It looks like the rest of the world is finally starting to realize the huge potential of developing spectacular Mega Projects like those being built in the UAE/Gulf Region. The Gulf has such a lead, and is developing so many incredible Mega Projects, that I do not think any other region on Earth will even come close to developing what is being built in the Gulf. In my opinion, the Gulf will always be the world leader in Mega Project development....

....and even though The Crystal Island is touted as being the largest building ever built, I would guess that RIGHT NOW in some office at Emaar, or Nakheel, or one of the other great UAE Mega Developers.....they are planning to build something even BIGGER!!

This link takes you to The Crystal Island section of the Foster + Partners website, where you can see The Crystal Island for yourself:

http://www.fosterandpartners.com/News/324/Default.aspx

This link takes you to The Federation Island website:

http://federationisland.com/

...and this link takes you to The Federation Island section of the Erik van Egeraat website:

http://www.eea-architects.com/news/federationisland.shtml