Slalom House: Ski slope could be built on top of apartment block
Updated 1258 GMT (2058 HKT) December 14, 2015
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| cnn.com |
(CNN)It's not quite a cozy chalet ensconced in the Swiss Alps' snow-peaked caps, but for residents of Kazakhstan's capital Astana the Slalom House residential project -- an eye-catching new winter sports facility -- could bring the slopes to their front door.
Despite suffering bitterly cold winters where temperatures regularly fall below minus 15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit), Astana has few places where local ski and snowboard enthusiasts can hone their skills.
A group of local residents have even been reduced to fashioning their own mini-slopes in public parks by packing snow together during the winter months, according to the Astana Times.
Skiing to the rescue is Slalom House, a 21-storey apartment block with a 326-meter (1,000-foot) artificial slope descending from its roof -- if it is given the go-ahead.
The project has been proposed by avid skier Shokhan Mataibekov of the Union of Architects of Kazakhstan.
Mataibekov told CNN via email that the project will cost roughly $70 million and that there are already parties interested in taking the design proposals further.
The idea of an artificial slalom track mounted on a building came to Mataibekov because it takes four hours by car to reach the nearest ski slopes.
Slalom House's ambitious multi-purpose design saw it nominated in the residential future projects category at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore last month.
A document submitted for the WAF reveals the lower floors of the building would provide space for retailers and food outlets with 421 two-bedroom residential apartments above them.
A separate entrance which gives access to the slope would be serviced with "panoramic elevators" taking visitors to the top of the building.
Although there are no plans to commence construction, Slalom House is unlikely to look out of place in Astana, given the city's spectacular skyline.
Its skyline is dotted by futuristic buildings which cater for museums, retail spaces and Kazakhstan's national government, while local residents' nicknames for the buildings -- "dog bowl," "flying saucer" and "lollipop" -- hint at the city's architectural ambition.
Despite the existing dearth of ski facilities around Astana, the country has more than a passing interest in winter sports.
The southern Kazakh city of Almaty -- which was the country's capital up until 1997 -- bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics but was beaten by Beijing in July.
A large contingent of Kazakh athletes also competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, including alpine skiers, freestyle skiers and snowboarders, though the country could only bring home one bronze medal courtesy of figure skater Denis Ten.
Most of Kazakhstan's best-known winter sport facilities are situated close to Almaty, including the world famous Medeu speed skating rink.
Almaty will host the Winter Universiade, a biannual winter-sports competition for student athletes, in 2017.
這不是蓋在瑞士阿爾卑斯山上的閒適小屋，而是哈薩克首都阿斯塔納一個環繞飯店，有滑雪坡道可以直達飯店正門，吸睛的全新冬景設施。
儘管阿斯塔納終年受寒，均溫都在攝氏5度上下，但這裡還是少數幾個地方會讓熱愛滑雪的遊客喜歡在這鑽研技巧。
根據阿斯坦納時報表示，當地居民在入冬這幾個月內，已經逐漸減少在公園裡用雪堆自製迷你滑雪道了。
環繞飯店共21層高，並在屋頂設置了長326公尺的人工滑雪道，暢行無阻。
這個構想是由一個當地熱衷滑雪的人Shokhan Mataibekov提出的。
他用e-mail告訴CNN將花費7000萬美金，已經有對象對這計劃設計有興趣了。
他會想把滑雪道蓋在飯店上主要是因為他開車到最近的滑雪場要4個小時。
而環繞飯店的多重設計在上個月新加坡的世界建築展（WAF）中，被認為在未來有相當主導地位。
提交給WAF的資料中顯示這間飯店會在較低樓層提供多達421個雙人房及美食廣場。
而要到滑雪道，飯店也在兩處入口設計了全景電梯供遊客直達屋頂。
即使目前尚未興建，飯店受限於阿斯塔納壯觀的天際線，不太可能在當地找得到地方興建。
天際線被極其新潮的建築散佈著，博物館，零售空間和哈薩克政府，這些建物在當地都有小名，分別是狗碗，飛碟和棒棒糖，隱約透露出這個城市對建築的野心。
儘管在阿斯塔納存在著滑雪設施的短缺問題，哈薩克對冬季運動仍有很大的興趣。
哈薩克南方的城市阿拉木圖在1997年曾是首都，該城市極力爭取2022年冬季奧運主辦權但卻在7月時被北京打敗。
哈薩克運動選手團也在2014年俄羅斯索契主辦的冬季奧運上比賽高山滑雪，花式滑雪及雪板等項目，不過只帶回了一面銅牌。
而為哈薩克人所眾知的冬季運動地點很靠近阿拉木圖，包括世界著名的麥迪奧高速溜冰場。
阿拉木圖也將在2017年主辦由學生選手參加，一年兩次的冬季大學運動會。
cozy (adj.) 舒適的
chalet (n.) 小屋
ensconce (v.) 安置
avid (adj.) 熱衷的
panoramic (adj.) 全景的
futuristic (adj.) 極其新潮的
cater (v.) 迎合
dearth (n.) 缺乏
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