Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Gazprom, though, has certain advantages that make a skyscraper appear inevitable despite the public outcry. Not least are its ties to the Kremlin and the fact it is the world’s fourth largest company, with a capitalization of more than $250 billion.
...That the city’s zoning laws forbid anything in that area higher than 48 meters, or 157 feet, appears to be no obstacle, recalling a Russian aphorism. “It is forbidden,” it goes, “but if you really want it, then it is possible.” Gazprom officials said they would have the law changed.
EDIT:
From The Energy Bulletin -
The photos at the original article are jaw-dropping - visions of modern-day Pyramids hastily thrown up, marking the end of the Age of Oil. One thinks of Britain's Millenium Dome, the largest dome in the world, constructed just about the time that the UK was moving from an fuel-exporting to an fuel-importing country. Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" also comes to mind:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said -- "two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert ... near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lips, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
--Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) _________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
Last edited by Zardoz on Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:00 am Post subject: Re: Gazprom City: If you've got it, flaunt it
Such architectural extravaganza is bewildering. One would think that at least the managers of Gazprom knew how pointless it is to build huge skyscrapers when even the Russians are going to face the oil and gas peaks in the years to come.
Some part of me would like to believe that they are doing this because they have enormous unrevealed reserves. Not very realistic, though.
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:05 am Post subject: Re: Gazprom City: If you've got it, flaunt it
do you remember the movie "blade runner" with the illuminated, towering buildings of the allmighty tyrell corporation reaching so high, that from the top floor, the sun was barely visible through all the smog, wow. ("The light ist too bright" was the blade runner's comment ...)
the rest of the megacity, however lay forever in darkness and dirt.
the pictures just reminded me of that vision. one of the best movies ever imho, btw. _________________ The mouse, i`ve been sure for years, limps home from the site of the burning ferris wheel with a brand new, airtight plan for killing the cat.
Joined: Feb 16, 2005 Posts: 251 Location: Siberia of Canada
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: Gazprom City: If you've got it, flaunt it
Zardoz wrote:
Apparently they feel the need to indulge themselves in some heavy-handed symbolism:
St.Petersburg has been built on a swampy quicksand and this makes it impossible to erect mega-skyscrapers in the city. Besides this, skyscrapers are obsolete in the age of Interent. _________________ We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, but borrow it from our children - Antoine Saint Exupery
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: Re: Gazprom City: If you've got it, flaunt it
Build it while you can, in 20-50 years projects like these may not be viable. No point in telling the pple with money not to spend it. Let them be happy as long as they can, there headed for the same fall all of us are. If they are not aware of the situation, it will be a harder fall for them, oh well. If I had any kind of money, I would be blowing it left and right as it seems its not gunna be worth the paper its printed on in a few years. Being relatively poor has its advantages, I wont miss much as I never had much to miss. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
Joined: Dec 02, 2005 Posts: 6785 Location: Oil-addicted Southern Californucopia
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:11 pm Post subject: Re: Gazprom City: If you've got it, flaunt it
This will help pay for it:
Gazprom Plans “Aggressive” Price Hikes for European Customers _________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
For a company that has a market capitalization about the size of Microsoft or Citigroup and natural gas reserves that would make most OPEC members blush, Gazprom still finds itself with a lot of explaining to do.
_________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
Russia's controversial state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom has said that its export revenues soared 43% last year to a record $37.2bn (£19bn).
The firm, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas needs, benefited from higher gas wholesale prices in 2006.
Looking ahead, Gazprom said it expects fresh record revenues in 2007.
_________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
Twisting as it rises 77 stories, the planned office development known as Gazprom City is testament to the muscle of Russia's richest company. A flickering gas flame captured in soaring glass, the design is also an ode to the country's energy-driven boom.
_________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural gas export monopoly, aims to quadruple its market value to $1 trillion within a decade and become the world's biggest company.
``We will reach a $1 trillion market capitalization in a period of seven to 10 years,'' Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev, 51, said in a Moscow interview on April 6. ``We'd like to be the most valued and most capitalized company in the world.''
The goal would be more than twice today's $439.6 billion market value of Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded company, and would exceed Russia's 2006 economic output of $975 billion. It would also surpass the gross domestic product of countries including the Netherlands, Australia and South Korea.
Gazprom Nation, indeed. _________________ "Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight." - seldom_seen
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
