Noah's Ark carried two specimens (one male, one female) of each species on the huge boat-like structure when God decided to destroy the world due to mankind's evil deeds. While that boat was supposedly 300 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 50 cubits wide, Ark Nova, a modern day ark looks nothing less than a giant plum.
Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki joined forces with Indian-born Anish Kapoor to build 'Ark Nova' or 'New Ark', a giant, inflatable, mobile concert hall, which will host the famous Lucerne Festival, the great international Swiss music event. The project was initiated by the Lucerne Music Festival in association with a Japanese concert management company, Kajimoto, after the 2011 earthquake hit the country, reports Designboom.
But why are the architects calling it Ark Nova?
The creative duo hope that the cultural event restores back lost hope in the region.
"We named the Project Ark Nova, or 'new ark', with the hope that it will become a symbol of recovery immediately after the great earthquake disaster," said the designers to Dezeen.
"Ark Nova obviously can't carry people and animals to escape from disaster, but we conceived the ark to travel packed with music and various arts, from the perspective of long-term rebuilding of culture and spirit," they added.
The first concert of the event will be held in Matsushima, the area hit hard by the massive earthquake and tsunami two years ago.
The structure is basically made of stretchy plastic which can be easily erected and dismantled (yeah, the venue will travel with the musicians!). The elastic structure of the hall is based on Kapoor's orb-like Leviathan sculptures. The large-plastic concert-hall will have a 500-seater capacity. Its vital stats are: 30 meters in width, 36 meters in length and 18 meters in height.
Check out more pictures of Ark Nova, here.
The March 2011 earthquake or the Great East Japan Earthquake was the strongest tremor to ever have hit the country and the world's fifth largest earthquake. The quake and a tsunami accompanying it caused severe infrastructure and life damage, leaving about 4.4 million Japanese households without electricity and water.
