#Bitexco #Financial #Tower (Vietnamese: Tháp Tài chính Bitexco) is a 68-Storey, 262.5 m #skyscraper in #Ho #Chi #Minh #City, #Vietnam. At completion in 2010, it became the tallest building in Vietnam and kept this status until January 2011, when it was surpassed by Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower. Bitexco Financial Tower is owned by Bitexco Group, a Vietnamese company. With 68 floors above ground and three basements, the building has a height of 262.5 metres (861 ft), making it the tallest building in the city, the 3rd tallest in Vietnam, and the 124th tallest in the world[citation needed], as of the beginning of 2016.
The tower is owned by Bitexco Group, a multi-industry corporation, with a focus on real estate development. The building also houses the Ho Chi Minh City office of Bitexco Group, while its headquarters are in Hanoi.
The tower was designed by Carlos Zapata, Design Principal and Founder of Carlos Zapata Studio (www.cz-studio.com), with French company AREP as architect of record. Designer Zapata, who was born in Venezuela but is based in New York City, drew inspiration for this skyscraper’s unique shape from Vietnam’s national flower, the Lotus.
The tower was officially inaugurated on October 31, 2010. In 2013, CNN.com named the Bitexco Financial Tower one of the 25 Great Skyscraper Icons of Construction. And in 2015, Thrillist.com named the Bitexco Financial Tower the #2 Coolest Skyscraper in the World.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held in September 2005. Two years later, in June 2007, construction of the tower started. The tower topped out in mid-2010 and had its inauguration ceremony on 31 October 2010.
Amongst other international awards and recognitions, on November 30, 2011, Bitexco Financial Tower received the “Excellence in structure engineering awards 2011” in the “International structure over $100 million” category. NCSEA
Bitexco Financial Tower is an international standard mixed use project which includes office, retail, F&B and entertainment space. The tower has around 38,000 square metres of premium Grade A office space, from 7th to 65th floors, and a five-storey retail podium, Icon68, including food court and seven screen multiplex cinema with around 10,000 square metres from Ground to 4th Floors. At Floor 49, at height around 178 metres, there is an observation deck, Saigon Skydeck, open to the public daily and offering 360 degree panoramic views of Ho Chi Minh City. From floors 50 to 52, there are further F&B and entertainment offerings, including a fine dining restaurant and bar/nightclub.
Vietnam’s first non-rooftop helipad is on the 52nd floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower. The helipad extends 22 meters out from the main structure. It is strong enough to carry a helicopter up to 3 tons of weight.
The glass from Belgium was purchased and shipped to China for manufacturing. Once in China the low iron heat strengthened glass was cut into 6,000 individual panels. Each panel is double glazed with the outside layer being 8mm thick and internal air space of 12mm and an internal panel of 8mm. Finally the glass was shipped to Ho Chi Minh City and the panels were installed as the building grew higher. Each of the 6,000 sleek glass panels enveloping the Bitexco Financial Tower is individually cut to unique specifications because each floor is unique, giving the building its eye-catching shape.
Helipad
Located on the southern side of the Bitexco Financial Tower, the helipad cantilevers from the 52nd floor and resembles a blossoming lotus bud.
Constructed from more than 250 tons of structural steel and requiring 4,000 ultra-strong bolts to hold it together, the helipad took almost a year to plan, build and coordinate before it could be hoisted to its place at height around 191 meters. Its installation alone took about two months.
Most of the materials used to construct the helipad were purchased from Europe and South Korea and the manufacturing took place in Bu Gang, a city near Seoul. Once the fabrication of the helipad was completed, it was shipped to Vietnam.
To ensure proper assembly, the entire helipad was pre-assembled on the ground of a factory in Đồng Nai Province in Vietnam – a process that took about three weeks.
When the helipad was ready to be lifted into place, the roads surrounding the southern face of the Bitexco Financial Tower were closed for safety reasons and the helipad was transported into the centre of District 1. The massive yet delicate operation of lifting the helipad began. It was lifted in parts and attached to the 52nd storey of the Bitexco Financial Tower, 191 meters above Ho Chi Minh City.
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https://youtu.be/e0bDPLYYHJk
‘Drift Away’ (Grey)
1 of 16 videos!
Copyright Titus Acoustic Session 07/04/14.
The Brighton Acoustic Folk Music Session
Now at the Prince Albert, 48 Trafalgar Street, Brighton, Sussex on the first Monday of the month.
Given that there is no PA setup, most of the regular performers have a folk / bluegrass / country background, whether performing traditional or original material.
Admission is free – with collection.
https://www.brightonacoustic.com/
Comments / Feedback Appreciated!
Nerdy Videography Rant:
Why do I bother? Well, I am working towards learning ultra-portable videography /archiving on a tight budget and there is no substitute for doing!
I recorded 24 times PAL WVGA = 480p, 30 frames per second videos because they upload in the real world (not fast, industry web-connection speeds), also that is the maximum frame rate for free YouTube accounts. 1 of 16 videos! If each video takes 14 minutes to upload then I spend 224 minutes, or 3.7 hours just doing that for free! That does not include editing videos and writing / corresponding and updating comments etc.
The stereo microphone needs to be nearer and in-between the performers to get a better sound, where the lead is likely to get yanked and the stands knocked over, equipment wrecked, etc! Should I have looked for a microphone stand and used a stereo 3.5 mm extension lead? The +20dB boost on the microphone distorts slightly on the double bass and adds background noise. The tripod stand is microphonic, picking up the stereo downstairs through the floorboards (I need to isolate that)! I was slightly too near and too far to the side to get a good viewing angle on the banjo type instrument and could not zoom out more.
N.B. Piss poor lighting… worse than last time… I am glad I brought two LED lights. I used a 05 heat resistant rose filter on the 9W Cool White LED COB G10 Bulb, (my first experimental use of new, not too hot, budget technology from toolstation.com). It was mounted on the flash bar. Perhaps, I should have used a matt white disco diffuser too (see shiny scalp), that might melt though (probably OK in front of bulb)! Dazzling annoys the performers. Maybe, I shall try illuminating the side wall drape indigo/blue (behind the performers another time) as black is rather dull!
The stage lighting would not swivel (the venue needs loose, nylon insert ‘locking nuts’ from Namrick Portland Rd and also to loosen the bolts to allow lamp tilt… use ‘nylon washers’)! I could not see a stepladder to enable adjustment either… (can nobody be bothered to do stage lighting these days)?
I wish that someone was there to volunteer to set up lights… push a few faders, learn very gradual, laid-back DMX mixer wash-lighting with permission! …A regular punter or Music Technology or BIMM student for course credits?
Blow cool white! …I want to try warm, golden/rose lighting again… to give a slight sun-tan feel and a contrasting cool-blue background! It means trouble… adrenalin makes the ‘macho man’ kick-in… some performers don’t like generic A36 Pink stage wash!
Regards…
‘His Nibbs’