Bamberg is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, laid out over 7 hills where the Regnitz and Main rivers meet. Its old town preserves structures from the 11th to 19th centuries including the muraled Altes Rathaus (town hall), which occupies an island in the Regnitz reached by arched bridges. The Romanesque Bamberg Cathedral, begun in the 11th century, features 4 towers and numerous stone carvings.
Daily Archives: December 29, 2020
Walks: ‘Montevideo In Coastal Uruguay’ (Video)
Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, is a major city along Montevideo Bay. It revolves around the Plaza de la Independencia, once home to a Spanish citadel. This plaza leads to Ciudad Vieja (the old town), with art deco buildings, colonial homes and landmarks including the towering Palacio Salvo and neoclassical performance hall Solís Theatre. Mercado del Puerto is an old port market filled with many steakhouses.
Urban Architecture: ‘2 Murray Road’, Hong Kong “$3 Billion Mega-Project”
Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed its design for the 2 Murray Road project for $3 billion Henderson Land, in the heart of Hong Kong’s central business district. Creating new civic plazas enveloped by nature, the urban oasis is located in proximity other iconic Hong Kong skyscrapers.
Replacing a multi-story car park, the development is connected to adjacent public gardens and parks, through an elevated base sheltering courtyards cultivated with trees and plants. These outdoor areas seamlessly flow into the communal spaces of the interior. Inspired by the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud about to blossom, known as the Hong Kong orchid tree, the design generates a very wide span of naturally lit, column-free, Grade A office space with a 5-meter floor-to-floor height giving maximum flexibility.
The façade, designed to withstand summer typhoons, includes 4-ply of double-laminated, double-curved insulated glass units, in order to insulate effectively the building and reduce its cooling load as well as build resilience. Moreover, “hybrid ventilation is controlled by the building’s automated management system and enables all office levels to be naturally ventilated”. In fact, smart systems learn to accurately predict daily occupancy trends to optimize energy demand, ensuring increased efficiencies with lower energy consumption.
Aerial Travel: The ‘Grand Canyon – Arizona’ (Video)
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.
Infographic: ‘Vaccination Innovation – 1880 To 2020’
Aerial Travel: ‘Istanbul – Turkey’ (8K UHD Video)
Istanbul is a major city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. Its Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics.
Morning News Podcast: Stimulus Bill Analysis & A Historic 1911 Shootout
After months of deadlock, a covid-19 relief package has passed, but the battles continue. We ask how things got so dire and what President-elect Joe Biden will inherit.
A deadly shootout in London more than a century ago still resonates today; we examine one of the world’s first breaking-news stories. And the colour black reaches new depths in art.
Travel & Culture Tours: ‘South Iwate, Japan’ (Video)
Iwate Prefecture may be known as a place devastated by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, but it’s coming back better and stronger than ever.
Iwate is a large prefecture on the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island. The southern city of Hiraizumi contains a rich architectural legacy from its period as a political center in the 11th and 12th centuries, including Chūson-ji Temple and the adjacent Mōtsū-ji Temple. Northeast, the city of Tōno was the birthplace of many folk tales, now recounted in traditional surrounds at its Old Tales Village.
Aerial Travel: ‘Lovatnet Lake – Norway’ (4K Video)
Lovatnet is a lake in the municipality of Stryn in Vestland county, Norway. It is located about 2 kilometers southeast of the village of Loen and about 6 kilometers east of the village of Olden. The lake lies just 2 kilometers southwest of the mountain Skåla.
Boomers Daily 