Extranet
/
Select the country:
En Fr De Nl Es It Pl Cz Pt

Latest news

Check archive ‹ Previous page


Top 5: Rollercoaster architecture

Following the announcement that Dreamland in Kent will be renovated, the AJ looks at the most extreme and inventive architecture-themed rollercoasters in the world
 
1 - ‘New York New York’
Las Vegas, USA
The rollercoaster incorporates a re-modelled New York skyline, complete with barrel roll, ‘heartline’ twist and 203ft drop. The 67mph skyline rollercoaster, formerly known as the ‘Manhattan Express’, even features NY checkered taxi cabs as train carriages. It sits above the New York New York Hotel and Casino, owned by MSM Mirage. In true Vegas style you can get married on the ride from $600.
 
 
2 - ‘Thunder Dolphin’
Tokyo Japan
Why go round a building when you can go through it? At over 1km long and 26 storeys high Thunder Dolphin, in Tokyo’s Dome City theme park, is the fifth highest rollercoaster in the world and reaches 81mph. However the ride gains extra kudos for passing through both a hole in a building and the ‘big O’ - a spoke-less ferris wheel, also at the park.
 
 
3 - Big Ben Tower
No fixed location
This ride is a traditional drop tower with, you guessed it, Big Ben’s glowing face on top. This movable carnival ride recently changed hands and is currently touring around the UK. Sadly the clock is not functioning but it gets coaster-points for an impressive bell ‘clang’ and being so ruthlessly patriotic.
 
 
4 - X-Scream
Las Vegas, USA
Not just a rollercoaster; it’s a rollercoaster, on top of a skyscraper, in the middle of a desert. The X-Scream ride sits almost 900ft above the Las Vegas strip, on top of the Stratosphere Tower, making it the third highest ride in the world. X-Scream projects passenger vehicles 27ft over the edge of the building at 30mph. The tower forms part of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino which also features the highest and second highest rides in the world.
 
 
5 - ‘Vanish’
Yokohama, Japan
Mysteriously diving underground, no one knows where the ride reappears…This 115ft high steel rollercoaster is one of the central attractions at Cosmoworld theme park in Japan which opened in 1999. The 240m track also incorporates an intense downwards helix spiral, then wraps around the theme park’s ‘Cosmo Clock’.
 
 
 
source: Architects' Journal


 
Headlines
12-03 Cities of Tomorrow – Will Rio lead the way?
11-03 Brazil: Oscar Niemeyer unveiled the world's biggest suspended concrete building (text FR)
10-03 Architect behind Sears Tower dies
09-03 eVolo Announces Winners of 2010 Skyscraper Competition
08-03 Fumihiko Maki’s Media Lab officially opens
05-03 Christian de Portzamparc awarded in Belgium (text FR)
05-03 Dutch Cultural Center Shanghai opens (Text NL)
04-03 Bach-pavilion Hadid at Holland Festival (Text NL)
03-03 'Daylight Architect' receives 100.000 euro (Text NL)
02-03 Miapolis LEED Eco-City Could Be Next World’s Tallest Building
01-03 La Oasis Tower, une ferme verticale en spirale pour Dubai (texte EN)
14-03 The movie Last Call for Planet Earth screened in Moscow (text EN)
26-02 Zaha Hadid hollows out a building like a canyon (text FR)
25-02 Hong Kong Pavilion For Shanghai 2010 By Ida and Billy
24-02 Kieran Timberlake to design new US Embassy
23-02 Floating Garden Spa Offers a Relaxing Eco Retreat
22-02 Oppenheim’s Sloping Beach Tower Hides a Green Oasis Inside
19-02 Wave-Wrapped Solar Monaco Pavilion Unveiled for the 2010 Shanghai Expo
19-02 MVRDV Unveils Mesmerizing Water Cube Pavilion for 2012 World Expo

Archi-Europe Archi-Europe Group Building Solutions Press Releases Links
Premium partners
                                        
                         
Partners
                        
                  
designed by infoweb