Covid Vaccination Spots: ‘Disneyland To Vacci’Bus’ Around The World (Video)

As the rollout of #Covid​-19 vaccinations gathers pace, the mammoth task of inoculating billions of people across the globe has seen a number of unusual sites and buildings converted into #vaccination​ centres, from Disneyland in California, to an ancient UK cathedral and a bus converted into a mobile vaccination unit.

City Views: ‘Taipei, Taiwan’

Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is a modern metropolis with Japanese colonial lanes, busy shopping streets and contemporary buildings. The skyline is crowned by the 509m-tall, bamboo-shaped Taipei 101 skyscraper, with upscale shops at the base and a rapid elevator to an observatory near the top. Taipei is also known for its lively street-food scene and many night markets, including expansive Shilin market.

Morning News Podcast: Stimulus Plan, Snow In Northeast, New Covid Test

President Biden meets Republicans to discuss stimulus plan, snow, wind hammer U.S. Northeast, and investor puts GameStop gains to good use at Texas children’s hospital.

Views: ‘Cherry Blossoms’ At The ‘Temple Of Heaven’ In Taipei, Taiwan (Jan 2021)

Cherry blossoms in Taiwan – They blossom in late March to early April, when the weather in the scenic area have shifted from the chilly winter mode to a lovely spring. Among the cities in Taiwan, Taipei is the first to witness the pink of the beauty of the flowers every mid-January and will continue until March.

The 200 meter tall Tian-Yuan Temple, “Temple of Heaven” pagoda, paired with the cherry blossoms that surround it on all sides and on the mountain behind it is what separates this area from all the other sakura viewing spots around the country. The temple has five floors and each floor has a giant shrine dedicated to different Taoist gods. The temple is open year-round but it usually enjoys the most visitors between late February and April when the sakura are in bloom.  

Aerial Views: Untouched Nature Of New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and more than 700 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres. 

Video timeline: 00:57​ – Purakaunui Bay 02:26​ – Mount Taranaki 04:21​ – Mount Cook 05:41​ – Roaring Billy Falls 07:44​ – Omarama Clay Cliffs 11:06​ – Lake Pukaki 12:26​ – Lion Rock and Piha Beach 15:49​ – Arthur’s Pass 17:40​ – Castlepoint Lighthouse 21:21​ – Lake Hawea 23:30​ – Skippers Road 26:26​ – Glacial valley in Southern Alps 27:52​ – Kaikoura Seal Colony 29:04​ – Ninety Mile Beach 31:16​ – Whakarewarewa geothermal area 36:38​ – Queenstown 38:37​ – Whangarei Falls

Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On A Bipartisanship Deal (Video)

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including the challenges of bipartisanship under President Biden, Biden’s economic relief package, and cooperation in the Democratic Party.

Landscapes: ‘Seasons Of Denmark – Autumn’ (Video)

Filmed and Edited by: Casper Rolsted

Every season has its own beauty. This is the second of four shortfilms that will showcase the seasons of Denmark. The focus in these films will be on the landscapes – primerely the changing nature.

Autumn in Denmark is characterized by lot of gray and rainy days – but the nature is beautiful with lovely warm colors.

In this timelapse film from Denmark you will experience the following locations:

Svanninge Bakker
This is a large area of woodland and hilly natural landscapes on Funen.

Mandemarke Bakker, Møns Klint and Liselund park.
These beautiful areas on the island Møn are remarkable and a must-see for all nature lovers. The white chalk slopes is unique in the Danish nature and the surrounding area has a unique nature and wildlife.

Skjoldungernes Land National Park
This national park is located in central Zealand, 30 km from Copenhagen. It is characterized by large deciduous forests and the Roskilde Fjord with islands, islets and a unique birdlife.

Design: 20 Ft. Wide ‘Pencil Tower Hotel’ In Sydney

An improbably narrow, six meter wide site is envisaged for a 100m tower in the downtown area of Sydney near its central station. 

Our proposal embraces this extraordinary attenuated quality, proposing a ‘column’ tower on a low scale podium. 

The podium references the delicacy and detail of its heritage neighbours, using the language of grand arching brickwork. A three story urban room houses multiple levels of lobby, cafe & lounge, visible through a large scale keyhole window. A walled courtyard garden for shared use overlooks the street. 

The tower simulates the compression and extension of a column, through a continuous abstraction of the elements of a column: base, shaft and capital.
 

The facade begins with compressed horizontal screening, slowly transforming into exaggerated verticals at the top. Horizontals begin wide and flush with the outside frame, slowly thinning and receding at the height of the tower. Each horizontal is at the height of the slab, handrail and door head height. 

The capital is joyfully expressed as a flying balcony and shell curves of a rooftop sundeck, pool and “hammam” spa. The soffit of the curved ceiling  is brightly tiled, visible from both the street below and the city beyond.
 
Each floor houses compact hotel rooms, gathering light from the street, rear court or internal shapely voids. The voids are tiled to reflect light and colour into the rooms. Key hole windows provide a framed vignette of the seamless tiled surface.

Testing the boundaries of construction and design, the ‘pencil’ tower adds both a generous street room and  a heroic skyline to its neighbourhood.

Read and see more

Views: ‘Winter In The French Alps’ (Video)

The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif, are shared with Switzerland and Italy.

International Art: ‘Apollo Magazine’ (February 2021)

FEATURES | Matthew P. Canepa on the art of ancient Iran; Lisa Yuskavage interviewed by Jonathan GriffinRosamund Bartlett on how Russia fell for French impressionism; Will Wiles offers up an elegy for the VHS

REVIEWS | Tim Smith-Laing on drawings of Dante’s Divine ComedyRobert Hanks on an exhibition about touch at the Fitzwilliam; Diana Evans on Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Tate Britain; Kathryn Murphy on the enigmas of Aby Warburg’s image atlas; Isabelle Kent on the life of Goya; Adriano Aymonino on the history of marble; Thomas Marks on the art of TV chefs

PLUS | Nicholas PennyVictoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh on blockbuster shows after CovidBen Street rifles through his postcards of paintings; Andrew Russeth moves to Seoul and heads straight to a museumEdwin Heathcote defends the modern architectural frieze; Robert O’Byrne on the fickleness of taste