Oil Rigs The Next Dubai?

There's been some recent speculation about what to do with 4,000 abandoned oil rigs in the Mexican gulf. The traditional approach is to blow up the rigs, which costs millions in explosives and safety measures, as well as being highly detrimental to the surrounding sea life. Morris Architects offers an alternative solution:

If a deck on one of these rigs is about 20,000 square feet, then there is potentially 80 million square feet of programmable space just off the coast of the United States...

What if these rigs were recommissioned as exclusive resort islands? Could the Gulf be America’s “Dubai” and the rig the artificial island on which to build it? This project examines the possibilities of creating a self-sufficient, eco-friendly high-end resort experience in our own backyard – the Gulf of Mexico.

(H/T: BLDBLOG)

The rooms would be pre-fabricated and stacked, cargo-container-style, on large ships and assembled on the rigs at sea. It's currently unclear whether the project will take off or not, but the idea of potentially bolstering Mexican and U.S. tourism is welcome suggestion in this economic climate.

Kylie Minogue Headlines $23 Million Party to Celebrate Opening of Atlantis in Dubai

Have you seen the Atlantis hotels around the world? If not, you should at least consider checking them out on PTG -- the Cove in the Bahamas is an absolutely ridiculous site to behold -- if only to be amazed at how intricate and dominate they are in their various landscapes.

Well, a new Atlantis opened in Dubai last night, and it opened in style. Like, big style. As in, "Kylie Minogue hosting a $23 million party" big.

The world’s rich and famous gathered for the most expensive private party ever thrown - costing some £20 million - to open Atlantis Palm Jumeirah, a £1 billion resort on a man-made island shaped like a palm tree in the Persian Gulf.

Two thousand film stars, popstars, supermodels and billionaires were flown in from around the world for the all-expenses paid one-night party with many of them staying for four days.

Of course, Ms. Minogue wasn't just there because the Atlantis is one of the sickest hotels on the planet ... she was getting paid a little bit of cash too.

The highlight last night was a one-off gig by Kylie Minogue and her 113-strong dance troupe on the beach.

Apart from getting a free holiday, Miss Minogue was also paid £1.5million for a 10-song 45-minute medley of her hits – which works out at some £33,333 a minute.

The gig was followed at midnight local time by a 1million-rocket firework display with 100 computer-guided rockets costing £7million which was seven times bigger than the largest display to date - for the Beijing Olympics.

Yeah. That sounds like a decent party. Plus, when you consider that the list of celebs includes: Robert De Niro, Charlize Theron, Denzel Washington, Mischa Barton and Lindsay Lohan, supermodels Agyness Deyn, Petra Nemcova and Yasmin Le Bon, musicans Janet Jackson, Lily Allen and Shirley Bassey, sports legends like Michael Jordan and Boris Becker and some local royalty - the Royal Family of Dubai (...whew) then you have to consider that, yes, this is a pretty high end event.

Also, Oprah was supposed to show up, but canceled her last second reservation of a suite that costs about $33k per night. Pretty decent digs. And apparently, the Atlantis in Dubai is going to be mildly popular among the rich and famous.

Image via Getty