Monocle Magazine (September 2023) – The new issue is a survey the world of transport, from the leading presidential jets and futuristic sea gliders to Europe’s bike-building capital and the appeal of the mini Microlino. Plus: Mongolia’s geopolitical balancing act, Fendi’s artisanal investment and America’s poet laureate.
ArchiPro Films (August 16, 2023) – The lifeguard tower is an essential facility that enables observation, patrolling and protection at North Piha – one of New Zealand’s most beautiful but dangerous surf beaches. The tower is to serve the club and the community providing a functional and durable building to replace the existing dated structure.
The brief was for a robust, low-maintenance building that would withstand the severe North Piha coastal environment. It needed to provide accommodation for four lifeguards with excellent visibility along the beach – a building that was functional and responded to its context.
Piha is a part of the rohe (territory) of Te Kawerau ā Maki (the indigenous Māori tribe) who gifted the name Te Pae, meaning ‘to perch’ – a place to sit, look, and observe. It was a privilege to be able to incorporate this narrative into the concept for the tower.
The form offers a softness and quiet presence in this powerful coastal location. The site is remote, and so prefabricated concrete sections were factory-made and assembled on site. This minimised dune and planting disturbance on this fragile beach. North Piha is unusual in that the sand is black. The black oxidised concrete references this and the curved form reflects the undulating dunes that the building sits amongst. The tower is modest in scale and recessive, respecting its setting. At the same time, as a beacon for visitors to the beach, it requires easy recognition, and the distinctive form sits in contrast to the beautiful, rugged backdrop. This is a piece of coastal sculpture with a nod to traditional maritime observation structures around the New Zealand coast.
The tower is sustainable, utilising operable windows for ventilation, with high levels of insulation, sun protection, thermal mass, and natural light. It provides shelter and protection for the lifeguards. The placement of the windows was carefully determined with the club to provide optimum beach surveillance and a connection back to the clubhouse.
The new tower is a vital addition to safety at North Piha. It delivers a facility that supports the extraordinary volunteers who run it and meets the needs of its community now and into the future.
Kraig Adams Films (August 13, 2023) – Timberline Trail is a hiking trail around Mount Hood in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is mostly in wilderness but also goes near Timberline Lodge, Cloud Cap Inn, and Mount Hood Meadows ski area.
Video timeline: 00:00 Timberline Lodge 1:12 Ramona Falls – Day 1 (28 miles) 7:33 Cloud Cap – Day 2 (14 miles) 10:28 Panorama Ridge 12:36 Vancouver13:23 Timberline Trail behind the scenes 15:56 Portland
DW Travel (August 13, 2023) – DW reporter Meggin Leigh tours Trieste, the capital city of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. A port city, it occupies a thin strip of land between the Adriatic coast and Slovenia’s border on the limestone-dominated Karst Plateau.
Video timeline:00:00 Intro 00:22 Coffee at Antico Caffé Torinese 00:54 Piazza Unità d’Italia 01:16 Piazza della Borsa 01:32 Teatro Romano di Trieste 02:52 Arco di Riccardo 03:43 Old Town 04:18 Lunch at Buffet da Pepi restaurant 05:39 Grand Canal and the memorial of James Joyce 06:52 La Bomboniera pastry shop 07:47 Miramare castle
Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Slovenian influences are all evident in its layout, which encompasses a medieval old city and a neoclassical Austrian quarter.
CBS Sunday Morning (August 13, 2023) – Putting together the first authorized exhibition in 14 years of works by the anonymous street artist Banksy required extensive planning and a cover story to hide its true identity until it opened, unannounced, in Glasgow this summer.
Photo Credit Banksy
The show will feature work from across his career titled CUT & RUN: 25 years card labour! Stencils from 2008 until 2023 are on display at this historic event.
Correspondent Seth Doane explores the art and the mysteries of Banksy’s world, including the continued speculation about the artist’s true identity, a closely-held secret for decades.
touropia (August 11, 2023) – A travel guide to the top 16 places to visit in Norway including:
Geirangerfjord
Lofoten Islands
Bergen
Jotunheimen National Park
Svalbard
Stavanger
Sognefjord
Oslo
Trondheim
Tromso
Norway is a Scandinavian country encompassing mountains, glaciers and deep coastal fjords. Oslo, the capital, is a city of green spaces and museums. Preserved 9th-century Viking ships are displayed at Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum. Bergen, with colorful wooden houses, is the starting point for cruises to the dramatic Sognefjord. Norway is also known for fishing, hiking and skiing, notably at Lillehammer’s Olympic resort.
Clairmont Films (August 10, 2023) – Cambodia is a Southeast Asian nation whose landscape spans low-lying plains, the Mekong Delta, mountains and Gulf of Thailand coastline.
Phnom Penh, its capital, is home to the art deco Central Market, glittering Royal Palace and the National Museum’s historical and archaeological exhibits. In the country’s northwest are the ruins of Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire.
National Geographic(August 9, 2023) – From mountain biking to experiencing the northern lights, join National Geographic Photographer Michael George as he explores Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Upper Peninsula is a forested region in Michigan bordering 3 of the Great Lakes and extending outward from Wisconsin. It’s connected to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula by the roughly 5-miles-long Mackinac Bridge, which spans the Straits of Mackinac.
Sandwiched between the 2 peninsulas is Mackinac Island, a car-free vacation destination with the iconic 1887 Grand Hotel and the Victorian-era Fort Mackinac.
Stockholm Walks Films (August 9, 2023) – A summer walk by a cottage on the Baltic Sea. Many Swedes have summer homes, and actually prefer them to be rather old fashioned without modern comfort.
Hang up your hand washed clothes outside and take a morning swim instead of a shower no matter the temperature and forget about indoor plumbing. A traditional sauna is what saves you those cold summers when the rain keeps pouring.
Natural History Museum (August 8, 2023) – The Isle of Wight is a traditional British holiday resort. It’s well-known for its beautiful sandy beaches, dramatic cliffs, stunning countryside and many tourist attractions.
Video timeline:0:00 A brief history of the Isle of Wight 1:13 Theo Vickers tells us about the geology of the island 1:35 Jack Wonfor talks about the diversity of fossil remains and how it is the best place in Europe for dinosaur discovery 2:02 Dr Susannah Maidment explains as to why the island is so good for dinosaur finds 2:35 Over 20 dinosaur species so far have been discovered on the Isle of Wight 2:52 Prof Paul Barrett tells us about the early palaeontologists, including William Fox and Sir Richard Owen 3:15 The Isle of Wight early dinosaur discoveries helped form much of what we know about dinosaurs today. 3:50 Original dinosaur discoveries are still relevant today. 4:15 New dinosaurs still being found today. 4:33 The dinosaurs found on the Isle of Wight. Iguanodon, Polacanthus, Omithopods, Sauropods, Neovenator and Eotyrannus. 5:26 How could you make your own discovery? 5:34 Techniques for finding dinosaur remains. 6:06 Dinosaur Island, the Isle of Wight’s excellent museum of geology, where there are many dinosaurs and fossils. 6:52 Why the Isle of Wight is a lovely place to visit. 7:08 how it is so easy to find a fossil on the beach.
But did you know that it is also the best place in Europe to find dinosaurs and the fossils of numerous other prehistoric animals, from ammonites to alligators?
Join our palaeontologists Dr Susannah Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett, as well as local experts, to discover what makes the Isle of Wight so special to them.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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Kraig Adams
touropia
Clairmont
Stockholm Walks
Natural History Museum
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