Re: Lord Foster in a moonscape of caked earth puts pomp first

Architexturez. wrote:
> > Architecture: One steppe beyond
>
>
> > ....
> > As I left, all of this was set in a moonscape of caked earth, whipped up 
> > into dust storms in the wind by the huge tyres of Kamaz trucks. 

Kazakhstan's new architecture puts pomp first

By Michael Steen

ASTANA (Reuters) - Oh, and we want an opera house in the basement.

That was the message given to British architect Lord Norman Foster by 
the president of Kazakhstan four months into designing a pyramid in the 
Central Asian state's capital, Astana.

The resulting 62-metre (203-feet) high Pyramid of Peace and Accord, 
constructed in less than two years, juts out into the barren plain 
behind President Nursultan Nazarbayev's palace.

cont'd....
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1531292006