Google Earth recently relaunched with a host of new features to help people explore the world in even more detail without ever having to leave the air-conditioned comforts of their homes.
One of the most fascinating new features is known as Voyager and it allows people to “experience interactive stories from around the world.” Anyone can now take guided, interactive tours of famous cities, cultural landmarks, and lost civilizations. These tours have been curated by entities such as BBC Earth, DigitalGlobe, and The Ocean Agency.
Two tours, specifically, will be of interest to anyone with a passion for architecture: Frank Gehry Buildings and Architecture by Zaha Hadid.
Frank Gehry Buildings showcases eight of the architect’s designs from around the world such as the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, Dancing House in Prague Czech Republic, and Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle Wash. Each building comes with a short blurb explaining the building’s main function.
Frank Gehry's Dancing House. Courtesy Google Earth.
Architecture by Zaha Hadid features six of the late architect’s buildings such as the London Aquatics Center, the Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruch Austria, and Havenhuis in Antwerp, Belgium.
As one moves from building to building, the map zooms out, moves over the globe to the next landmark’s location, and then zooms back in. Once at the site, one is free to move around and zoom in and out as one pleases, or allow Google Earth to automatically pan slowly around the building. Building’s can be viewed in either 2D or 3D. Each building can be explored in Street View, as well.
Voyager allows people to view these often times very familiar structures in a more macro context. Instead of the professional pictures everyone has come to associate with a building like Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall or Hadid’s MAXXI, people can now gain a better understanding of how the buildings fit into their site and the overall city.
Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum. Courtesy Google Earth.
Other current Voyager tours include Museums Around the World, Lost Civilizations from Above, Hemingway’s Hangouts, and Following Charles Dickens.
Related Stories
Architects | Nov 11, 2016
Six finalists selected for London’s Illuminated River competition
The competition is searching for the best design for lighting the bridges of central London.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 10, 2016
Prescription for success: Managing technology in the design of healthcare facilities
While the benefits of intelligently deployed technology are abundantly clear to both designers and healthcare end-users, it’s no simple task to manage the integration of technology into a building program.
Industry Research | Nov 4, 2016
New survey exposes achievement gap between men and women designers
Female architects still feel disadvantaged when it comes to career advancement.
Architects | Nov 2, 2016
NCARB launches ARE 5.0
The newest version of the exam required for an architecture license, ARE 5.0, launched on Nov. 1.
Architects | Oct 24, 2016
Winners of the 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize announced
The AAP recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide across three disciplines: architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
A process of analysis and synthesis gives architects and designers the information they need to create
Sometimes people look only for the simple answer and don’t understand that there is a calculated process to get there, writes HDR’s Lynn Mignola.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
The AIA Innovation Award Recipients have been selected
The program honors projects that highlight collaboration between design and construction teams to create better process efficiencies and overall costs savings.
Architects | Oct 21, 2016
NASA Orbit Pavilion to debut at The Huntington Library at the end of October
The pavilion uses sound to represent the movement of the International Space Station and 19 earth satellites.
Higher Education | Oct 20, 2016
Designing innovative campuses for tomorrow's students
Planning for places that foster effective innovation is still an emerging process, but the constant pressure on universities to do so continues from two of their key institutional constituencies—students and employers, writes Perkins+Will's Ken Higa and Josh Vel.
Data Centers | Oct 14, 2016
Where data centers meet design
As technology continues to evolve, we have to simultaneously adapt and help our clients think beyond the short term, writes Gensler's Martin Gollwitzer.
