The indoor city is said to have an area larger than 10 football stadiums. It will include 10 super skyscrapers, squares and cobbled streets, shopping centres, pavement cafes and golf courses. The entire city will be adorned with Venetian-style canals and Italianate architecture.
To recreate summer and keep Astana warm during the -30 degree winter months, the entire city will be covered in a giant transparent tent designed by the British architect Norman Foster. The tent is made from a special material that absorbs sunlight to create the effect of summer inside. Nearly 500 feet high, the tent is scheduled to be completed in a year.
Turkish architecture firm Sembol is building a smaller climate-controlled tent mall for the city that includes an indoor park, shopping and entertainment complex. Its upper zone has a tropical climate with an indoor beach, water slides, a wave machine and tropical garden. Lower zones have a monorail system, a running track, a small amusement park and a shopping complex.
Top architects have been commissioned for this project which includes UK’s Norman Foster, Italy’s Manfredi Nicoletti and Japan’s Kisho Kurokawa, to design a series of plans and buildings.
