A Dutch architectural firm says its design for a South Korean housing complex is simply meant to convey the feeling of being in the clouds, but others see something they’d rather not remember: the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2011.

“A real media storm has started and we receive threatening emails and calls of angry people calling us Al Qaeda lovers or worse,” the firm, MVRDV, posted on its Facebook page on Friday after a Dutch newspaper, the Algemeen Dagblad, published a front-page architectural rendition of the project and the headline: “Inspired by Twin Towers?”

“MVRDV regrets deeply any connotations The Cloud project evokes regarding 9/11, it was not our intention,” MVRDV added. “The Cloud was designed based on parameters such as sunlight, outside spaces, living quality for inhabitants and the city. It is one of many projects in which MVRDV experiments with a raised city level to reinvent the often solitary typology of the skyscraper.

The cloud structure is used to connect the two towers with corridors that also serve as meeting places. The complex is set to open in Seoul in 2015.

The towers are part of a bigger project, called the Yongsan Dream Hub, whose designer is Daniel Libeskind – the master plan architect for reconstruction at New York’s Ground Zero.

“It was not our intention to create an image resembling the attacks nor did we see the resemblance during the design process,” the firm stated. “We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt, the design was not meant to provoke this.”

The firm said a better visualization of the project is an image, seen here at left, showing a more abstract feel.

A retired New York Fire Department deputy chief whose son was killed on 9/11 said he didn’t believe the architects.

“I think it’s a total lie and they have no respect for the people who died that day,” Jim Riches told the New York Daily News. “They’re crossing a line.

“I think they’re trying to sensationalize it. It’s a cheap way to get publicity.”

On MVRDV’s Facebook page, some people rallied to its defense.

“9/11 was horrible and an atrocity, we all agree,” said one person. “However, this does not mean that nobody can build two similar rectangle shaped buildings (I hear those are quite the fad in architecture) anymore.”

And MVRDV elaborated on its earlier apology with a post after several dozen comments were made on its Facebook page.

“Dear all, honestly we did not see the connection in 3 months of design process … We take these feelings quite serious but we never intended to design a project looking like an exploding building, why on earth would we? This is quite shocking in this discussion that people think we might have done this on purpose. No!”

Read More > Some see Twin Towers blast in architect’s design.

A customer who killed his barber after being teased about his haircut was shot dead by the victim’s brother, according to reports in the Philippines.

The Cebu Daily News said Benjie Lozada was killed Tuesday inside a police station where he was being held. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head.

Senior police inspector Aron Palomo told the paper that Nonito Agustino, the slain barber’s brother, used a homemade shotgun in the attack. The paper said his older brother Charlie Agustino had been hacked to death last week.

Palomo added that police had been preparing to file the murder complaint against Lozada when the shooting occurred. Agustino was arrested at the scene, Palomo said.

The Associated Press reported that Lozada was taking medication for mental illness.

Mayor Alex Centina, of central Calinog town, said Nonito Agustino had pretended to bring food to Lozada before the shooting, which happened in front of Lozada’s mother.

The AP said relatives had teased Lozada about his haircut.

The town’s police chief was fired for security lapses. Police said they were busy with preparations for the town’s fiesta.

Read Article > Teasing over haircut ends with 2 slain.

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 An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup — smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

At least 3 dead and scores injured as Indonesia’s ‘Golden Gate Bridge’ collapses.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A busy bridge collapsed Saturday in central Indonesia, killing at least three people and injuring many more as a bus, cars and motorcycles crashed into the river below, police and witnesses said.

Capt. Syafii Nafsikin said search and rescue teams rushed to the scene.

The death toll could climb, he said, adding that many people were believed to be injured.

The bridge linking the towns of Tenggarong and Samarinda in East Kalimantan province was clogged with traffic when the accident occurred, Syaiful, a witness, told local TV station TVOne.

‘Screaming’
He said he saw at least one bus and a dozen motorcycles plunge into the Mahakam river and survivors swimming to the shore in panic. Several cars were mangled.

“Everyone was screaming,” said Syaiful, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the 10-year-old bridge collapsed.

Read More > At least 3 dead and scores injured as Indonesia’s ‘Golden Gate Bridge’ collapses.

It’s as big as a bus and weighs 6 tons, but officials probably will never be able to pinpoint exactly where a massive NASA satellite plummeted to Earth.

NASA space junk scientists believe that all — or nearly all — of the parts of their 20-year-old dead satellite safely plunged into the Pacific Ocean, likely missing land. But if their estimates are off, by only five minutes or so, fiery pieces could have fallen on parts of northwestern North America.

Read More Here Satellite likely in ocean, but may have hit US – Technology & science – Space – msnbc.com.

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China closes schools for migrant children
Schools for the children of migrant workers are being shut down and demolished across Beijing. Thousands of students are affected, many of them stranded without a school to attend with the academic year just days away from beginning. NBC’s Adrienne Mong reports.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44204603#44204603

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Teacher praised for calming kids during shootout
The Mexican government honored a kindergarten teacher who became a hero after she posted a YouTube video showing the children as they took cover from a gun battle. NBC’s George Lewis reports.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/43218814#43218814

Adam Cathcart from Sinologistical Violoncellist looks into the commercial deals between China and North Korea and predicts that a new status quo is setting up in Northeast Asia.

Sourced from: Global Voices in English

A Donetsk businessman posts hidden camera footage of threats and harassment by a competitor, as well as an appeal for help to the Ukrainian president, on YouTube; the video (RUS) has generated over 56,000 views so far. (A detailed Kyiv Post story by Peter Byrne is here (ENG); Vadim Isakov’s GV translation on a similar case in Russia is here.)

Sourced from: Global Voices in English