Jigokudani Monkey Park is located in Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture.
Tag Archives: 2021
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.
Walks: ‘Tenerife – South Beaches’, Canary Islands
Tenerife is the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, off West Africa. It’s dominated by Mt. Teide, a dormant volcano that is Spain’s tallest peak. Tenerife may be best known for its Carnaval de Santa Cruz, a huge pre-Lent festival with parades, music, dancing and colorful costumes. The island has many beaches (with sands from yellow to black) and resort areas, including Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas.
Los Cristianos is a town on the southwest coast of Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands. A wide promenade skirts the harbor along Los Cristianos Beach, a hub for water sports. Vendors at the nearby Los Cristianos market sell crafts and clothes. To the northeast is Monkey Park, a hands-on zoo with various primates, plus parrots and iguanas. Whales swim offshore. ― Google
Top New Camper Vans: The ‘2021 Challenger’ (Video)
2060 – THE COMPACT INTEGRATED ONE WITH A UNIQUE SELLING POINT
The 2060 adopts the layout of the 260, our popular semi-integrated with a 160 cm wide electric fold-down bed that is accessible without a ladder. In addition, it impresses with its unbelievable spaciousness (living room, kitchen, bathroom, dressing room) with an exterior length of just 6.99 m.
3048XLB – ALL CURRENT TRENDS IN A SINGLE FLOOR PLAN
In addition to the large 160 cm wide middle bed and the height-adjustable garage, the fully integrated 3048 offers a bathroom with a double partition (for more space and better access) and a SMARTLOUNGE salon of the latest generation: A cozy salon that can easily be converted into two comfortable individual seats when you are out and about can. Certainly the most successful system on the market!
Wildlife: Big Horn Sheep In The Sapphire Mountains, Western Montana (Video)
“Sunday Morning” takes us to Big Sky Country, in Western Montana’s Sapphire Mountains. Videographer: Brad Markel.
The Sapphire Mountains are a range of mountains located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. From a point near the Clark Fork River and the city of Missoula, they run in a southerly direction for a distance of approximately 60 miles (100 km), making up much of the border between Ravalli County (to the west) and Granite County. To the west is the Bitterroot Valley, and to the east is Rock Creek. The southern end of the range meets the larger Anaconda Range at West Pintler Peak.
Work Innovation: ‘2021 Nissan Office Pod Van’
The Nissan Office Pod is more than a workstation: it’s a fully mobile van with just enough creature comforts to make a day at the office feel like a quiet vacation.
The van, a Nissan NV350 Caravan, features an office desk and chair, though it can slide in and out of the back of the van, giving workers an open-air working experience when it’s extended. It stows away inside when needed.
On top of the Office Pod is a balcony that’s accessible from the interior. Official video show off a large lounge space, a patio recliner, and a sizable umbrella. The van also features a golf ball-like exterior with a scallop-like pattern along its sides, which sits above the slightly widened fender extensions.
Electric Vehicle: ‘Mobilize EZ-1 Prototype By Renault’
Groupe Renault has revealed a new two-seat urban mobility vehicle designed called the EZ1-Prototype, which recalls the Twizy and will be the first machine offered under its new Mobilize mobility brand.
The Mobilize business venture is intended to help lead Groupe Renault’s efforts to break into new mobility, energy and data-related services, which it anticipates will become increasingly profitable in future years. It will focus on developing both hardware – with a range of purpose-built vehicles – software and services, such as car charging, subscription and finance schemes.
Mobilize is developing four purpose-built machines that will focus on ride-sharing and last-mile delivery services. The first is the EZ-1 Prototype, which “exemplifies the goals of the Mobilize brand” by putting “service at the heart of vehicle design”.
Designed as a shared-use urban mobility vehicle, it takes cues from mobility concepts previously shown by Groupe Renault but has been honed for real-world use. Users will be able to rent by time or distance on a pay-per-use basis.
2021 Tech: Digital Health, Household Automation & Transportation AI (Video)
Top technology at all-digital CES 2021.
Art: ‘Masterpieces From Buckingham Palace – A Curator’s Tour’ (Video)
Join exhibition curators Desmond Shawe-Taylor and Isabella Manning as they tour the highlights of the exhibition ‘Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace’. With an introduction from Director of the Royal Collection Tim Knox.
The exhibition brings together some of the most important paintings in the Royal Collection from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace. Usually on public view during the annual Summer Opening of the Palace, the paintings will be shown in The Queen’s Gallery while Reservicing works are carried out to protect the historic building for future generations. The Picture Gallery was originally designed by the architect John Nash for George IV to display his collection of Dutch, Flemish and Italian Old Master paintings. Artists represented in the exhibition include Titian, Guercino, Guido Reni, Vermeer, Rembrandt, van Dyck, Rubens, Jan Steen, Claude and Canaletto.
Smartphones: Samsung’s ‘2021 Galaxy S21 5G’ (Video)
During Samsung’s January 2021 Unpacked event, the company unveiled its line of S21 phones, including the S21, the S21 Plus and the S21 Ultra.