Asian Cobra
In March, Monaco-based Russian architect, writer and tycoon Vasily Klyukin presented a skyscraper shaped like a giant cobra rising up from the ground. The image of a snake conjures an array of interpretations depending on the culture and community of the place, but its powerful presence and perception is universally acknowledged. In Japan telling someone that he is a snake means a compliment. In China snakes and dragons often mean the same. The symbol of wisdom and eternal life, this tower would embellish any Eastern city.
“Snakes and dragons are custodians of threshold, temples, treasure, esoteric knowledge and all lunar gods. If this skyscraper is built in a city this city will become eternal in its resurrections,” says Klyukin. The diamond-shaped gold-plated pattern on the back of the snake is the symbol of Yang and Yin, duality and reunification of the Sun and the Moon, male and female principles, conciliation of opposites, and androgyny.
Snakes change their skin, as this skyscraper can change its coloring. In the project of Asian Cobra Tower similar effect is achieved by means of lighting. The façade of the skyscraper changes color by night, subtly shifting through a spectrum of hues. Tourists, fascinated, would look at this immense cobra, its jaws serving a terrace would be a restaurant or a night club and its body could contain offices or apartments.
The businessman and former banker claims his work is ‘predicting the future’, and believes that his snake tower would most likely entice developers in cities in the Middle East and Asia, where snakes are reportedly seen as a sign of wisdom. He has dedicated the concept of Cobra Tower to the release of his debut fiction book, a sci-fi thriller Collective Mind. This is an absorbing novel about the near future and about what is going to happen with creative people then.
Klyukin Design