Each year, on the first Friday in June, people in the US celebrate National Donut Day. The origins of this commemoration go back 100 years: soon after the US entrance into World War I in 1917, the Protestant Christian church and international charitable organization The Salvation Army sent a fact-finding mission to France. It was during that mission that volunteering women began serving free donuts to soldiers on the front lines with the aim to boost the troops’ morale. These women, dubbed “Donut Lassies,” are often credited with making donuts widely popular in the United States when troops returned home from war.
To celebrate this day, the Earth Observation company Deimos Imaging has released three images of donut-shaped buildings taken from space. These constructions, already impressive if you’re standing nearby, look even more astonishing when appreciated from space. Each of them is located in a different part of the world, but what they all have in common is their imposing proportions and innovative designs.
Phoenix International Media Center / BIAD
The first building, the Phoenix International Media Center, is a spheroid torus formed by several curves that convolute and involute on a turning lattice of steel. Despite its curved structure, the building’s design is simple: the torus functions as a shell that surrounds two conventionally structured buildings inside. Energy-saving and low-carbon concepts were also applied in the building design. The rainwater is collected by dropping naturally along the structural ribs into a collection tank located at the bottom of the building. After being filtered, it is recycled to water the artistic waterscape and irrigation for landscape. Moreover, the cone-shaped shared space generates a chimney effect that provides natural air ventilation to save energy during transitional seasons.
Diamond Light Source / Crispin Wride Architectural Design Studio
The second building, the Diamond Light Source, is the United Kingdom’s national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, near Oxford. The Diamond’s 561 meter-diameter ring, which gives the building its distinctive circular shape, covers an area in excess of 43,300 square meters. Diamond is one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world. It works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists can use to study anything from fossils to jet engines to viruses and vaccines.
Apple Park / Foster + Partners
Last but not least, the new Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, is marked for being the world’s largest piece of curved glass and for its awnings designed to prevent rain from dripping onto the building’s glass facades. Moreover, Apple Park also features the world’s largest naturally ventilated building and one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. It is expected to require no heating or air conditioning for nine months of the year and it will run entirely on renewable energy. Some of the energy will be produced on site as the building is outfitted with solar panels around its roof.
Thanks to Deimos Imaging. Images and project descriptions provided by Deimos Imaging.
