Luxury hotel to cruise in the sky
French designer Jean-Marie Massaud has come up with the idea of a vast, whale shaped airship that would function as a luxury hotel, which he is said to be developing with ONERA – the Office National d’Etudes et de Recherche Aérospatiale
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Named, “Manned Cloud”, it is intended to accommodate 40 passengers and 15 crew members and have a displacement of 520,000 m3. It would be 210m long, 82m wide and 52m high and have a range of 5,000 km at a maximum speed of 170 km/h, cruising speed 130 km/h. The first deck, area 500 m2, would have a restaurant, lounge, library and fitness suite while the second 600 m2 deck would have 20 rooms, terraces, a spa and a bar. There is also to be a sun deck on top of the double helium filled envelopes.
Massaud says of it: “Living in the sky, watching the Earth from above. Rediscovering the marvel of traveling, experiencing contemplation. Exploring the world without trace
Manned Cloud is an alternative project around leisure and travelling in all its form, economic and experimental, still with the idea of lightness, human experience and life scenarios as the guiding principles. The spiral of Archimedes is the driving force of this airship in the form of a whale that glides through the air.
Manned Cloud is a hotel with a capacity of 40 passengers and staffed with 15 persons, that on a 3-day cruise in 170 km/h permits man to explore the world without a trace: to re-experience travelling, timelessness and enhance the consciousness of the beauty of the world - and to experience spectacular and exotic places without being intrusive or exploitative. For me this project sums up a way of thinking that is the stake of tomorrow”.
For more information: http://www.dezeen.com/2008/01/10/manned-cloud-by-jean-marie-massaud
