This is an interesting plan, utilizing a vacated bull fighting ring, and convert it to a super cool drone racing arena...
HERE'S A PLAN TO TURN BULLFIGHTING ARENAS INTO DRONE HUBS


NO BULL.


http://www.popsci.com/bullfighting-drone-hub-transformation

Maurizio Ceo, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY 3.0

Plaza Monumental de Barcelona

The Plaza Monumental de Barcelona, built in 1914, held bullfighting until the activity was outlawed in 2012.

A bullfight is a deadly sort of acrobatics, a slaughter as spectacle. Catalonia outlawed the practice in 2011, which left Barcelona with a monumental problem: what, exactly, should the city do with its iconic La Monumental bullfighting arena, now that there would be no bullfights? An architecture student’s concept reimagines La Monumental as not just a relic of the past but a beacon of the future: he wants to turn it into a drone hub.

Frederick Ajjoub, who is currently working toward an Architect Masters at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, posted an open-source concept for his reimagination of La Monumental, centered around flying unmanned vehicles. To preserve the historic building, Ajjoub’s concept leaves the existing structure itself intact, and balances a multi-story apparatus on the causeway around the arena. Fitting the ambition of the concept, this mostly free-standing drone hub is designed to be a standard model, to put in parks or fields wherever a country might want to replicate the drone infrastructure.

The first layer of the hub is the bullfighting arena itself, this time repurposed, in Ajjoub’s words, for “drone shows, drone racing, prototype tests, workshops and competitions,” which he imagines as built and tested in the repurposed “Drone Fight Arena.”

Above the arena sit multiple rings and landing pads, linked by ramps and walkways. Partially covered rotating rings serve as launchpads and hangars for smaller machines, possibly resting and recharging between deliveries. With storage in the rest of the arena and road access to the building, cargo drones could be stocked and reloaded from the hub before flying out for last-mile deliveries. Hypothetical partners for the concept include Amazon, Uber, and DHL, so Ajjoub is envisioning a shared infrastructure as he is plotting a specific drone hub.

Explore the 3D model for the drone hub below, and check out Ajjoub’s full concept post, complete with Creative Commons-licensed files, over at LinkedIn. And, if the drone hub concept never materializes, last October Spain’s Constitutional Court overruled Catalonia’s ban on bullfighting. As a compromise sport, may I suggest replacing lethal matadors with nonlethal drone bullfighters instead.

RedHotPoker

Turning a Barcelona Bull Fighting Ring into a Drone Hub

An architect studying at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, has just released details of a design for the drone transportation hub of the future.

This project is unique for two reasons – the first is that the design repurposes a disused bullfighting ring from the early 1900s, and the second is that he has released the design and associated models to the community for comment, modification and sharing as a way to stimulate discussion about the role that drones will play in our lives.

“I wanted to make people feel part of the conversation…drones are such an incredible thing that we  sometimes feel afraid of, or don’t understand, and yet these days they are well within our reach.”    -       Frederick Ajjoub, Architect

The metier of the architect is the continual pursuit of a delicate balance between design and function; history and story; vision and realisation.  This project is the very thesis of such a challenge, fusing together the future of flight and robots with the earthy, sanguine world of the bullfighter in a manner that elicits new life whilst respecting the proud history of bull fighters.”

Full details of the project can be found here.

Frederick is calling for comments and feedback from the community.

Frederick Ajjoub, Architect - frederickajjoubarch@gmail.com

Rowland Marshall, Drone Consultant - rowland.dronearena@gmail.com

Teaming up with Rowland Marshall, an Australian drone consultant based in Paris, Frederick Ajjoub took great pains to infuse the function of the future whilst preserving the existing structure.

AlecW Posted at 2017-1-29 15:48
Drone fighting sounds fun, last drone flying wins

Hopefully it will become a popular venue... Ha


RedHotPoker

Jt's like the old Battle Bots, but strictly aerial.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-1-29 22:31
Jt's like the old Battle Bots, but strictly aerial.

It will be an interesting endeavor...

Some drone hubs I've seen look pretty amazing.
Even the drone delivery segment. ;-)


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