Err…Why does this ferris wheel in Kg. Baru look so familiar?

OMG ugaiz, Malaysia is building its very own Eye of Sauron! By that we mean the first ever ferris wheel ON A ROOF in Malaysia. It hasn’t been built yet, so what we’re seeing is an artist impression. C’mon, tell us that it doesn’t remind you of the freaky flaming eyeball from Lord of the Rings?

It will be a 70-storey skyscraper with a two-tower M101 SkyWheel at the top, located near Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz in Kampung Baru, KL. This RM1.4 billion-mega project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

We’re not the first ones to point out that it looks like Eye of Sauron… couple of people were already commented online.

Actually, Malaysia is not the first in the world to have an Eye of Sauron…

The AT&T building in Nashville, in the US has been compared to the Eye of Sauron and more popularly Batman Building. In the daytime it doesn’t really look like it, but at night, it’s creepily uncanny. Locals call it that because of it’s pointy ‘ears’ which resembles the comic book character. This 33-storey office tower was completed in August 1994.

Another Eye of Sauron lookalike is Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 41-storey building is the third tallest skyscraper in the country, and the world’s third tallest building with a hole (after the Shanghai World Financial Center and Tuntex Sky Tower).

Also, there would have been a third one in Moscow, Russia, which might possibly have been the most realistic looking Eye of Sauron, but the plans got cancelled. A property company initially wanted to build a 1 metre sphere on top of a 21-storey building, and use light show projection from behind to create a 3D effect. People protested against the stunt, so it got canned.

At the same time, the new Kampung Baru landmark is not the first rooftop ferris wheel in the world. One opened in Shanghai recently, named Sky Ring. This ferris wheel sits on the rooftop of a shopping mall. Another one is the Kaohsiung Eye Ferris Wheel in Taiwan. It is the rooftop amusement park at Dream Mall. There is a smaller ferris wheel at this really cool museum in St. Louis, Missouri. It was originally made in 1940 and discovered in a barn. The museum restored it and placed it up on their roof.

Apart from the Eye of Sauron, the whole of Kampung Baru is getting a facelift

Over the next 10 to 20 years, this old residential area is going to see some dramatic changes. Some of the main projects include the Kampong Bharu City Centre (KBCC), which will become the area’s focal point. Twelve iconic buildings with four signature towers will be built there as well, with gorgeous walkways and pocket parks connecting the towers! Work already began since the Government launched the Kampung Baru Detailed Development Master Plan early last year.

They will also improve Kg. Baru’s infrastructure like pedestrian walkways, widened roads and mini parks. The Government plans to make it the new Malay cultural centre and the city’s new economic hub with 1,900 hotel rooms, 30mil sq ft of office space, 17,500 residential units and 12% green and water feature space.

“The design will be modern contemporary with traditional motifs. The original design was very Arabic, but after we showed it to the Prime Minister, he asked ‘Why Arabic? Why not Malay?’. So we had that changed to reflect the Malay traditions based on a songket theme.”  – Datuk Affendi Zahari, Kampong Bharu Development Corporation (PKB) Chairman, Star Metro

As for the giant ferris wheel, Minister of Federal Territories Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor called it a “crown jewel on its own”. Uhmm, more like it’s looking for a jewel ring which it can find on a certain someone’s finger. 😉