The gigantic glass Pyramid of
Luxor Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, popularly known as the Luxor Pyramid is
the largest modern day 'true pyramid'.
It may be noted that two more structures, namely
Ryugyong Hotel (under
construction, 330 m / 1087 ft), North Korea, and
Transamerica Pyramid
(260 m / 853 ft), San Francisco are often cited as the tallest pyramids but
these have lesser volume than the Luxor Pyramid and are also not 'true pyramids'. The base of Ryugyong hotel is large equilateral
"Y" with three wings gradually tapering as these go up. The base of Transamerica
tower, though squarish in shape has small width of about 45 m (148 ft) as
compared to its over all height and it looks more like a lean tower than a
pyramid. Moreover two of its side have lift well protruding out, with the result
it is not uniform on all its four sides. On the other hand the Luxor Pyramid
with a base width of 196.90 m (646 ft) and a height of 106.68 m (350 ft) is a
true pyramid with all its side as true isosceles triangles.
The Luxor Pyramid may be the largest pyramid of the modern
times, yet it is still smaller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, which has a base
of 230.4 m (756 ft) and height 146.5 m (481 ft).
Designed by architect Veldon Simpson and interior designer
Charles Silverman, the 30-story pyramid walls are made of black glass and the
sloping walls are lined with guest rooms which are reached by travelling in the
"inclinators" which travel at an angle of 39 degrees. The decor of the interior
of pyramid hotel and casino is based on ancient Egyptian theme and the frontage
has huge 34 m (110 ft) high sculpture of the Great Sphinx along with a 43 m
(140 ft)
tall
obelisk.
The atrium inside the pyramid with volume of 820,000 Cu.
Metres (29 million cubic feet) is the largest in the
world.
The top (tip) of the pyramid has powerful spotlight pointing
upward to the sky. Made up of 39 Xenon lamps and focussed into one intense,
narrow beam, it has a brightness of 42.3 billion candle power and is claimed to
be strongest man-made beam in the world. It is lit up in the night and draws thousands of
silvery moths giving the top an eerie silvery look.
Image from Flickr is by mmrtnt
Image from Flickr is by tonybaize
Image from Flickr is by Matthew Burpee
Image from Flickr is by gTarded
Image from Flickr is by Jan Tik
View location in Google Earth / Google Street View and Map
Main source of info and more info: Wikipedia / Emporis
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