sasailuv

Rabu, 29 April 2009

Minggu, 26 April 2009

The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Eiffel originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal Exposition of 1888, but those responsible at the Barcelona city hall thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit into the design of the city. After the refusal of the Consistory of Barcelona, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he would build his tower a year later, in 1889. The tower was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, and opened on 6 May. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. The risk of accident was great, for unlike modern skyscrapers the tower is an open frame without any intermediate floors except the two platforms. However, because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died.The tower was met with much criticism from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. Newspapers of the day were filled with angry letters from the arts community of Paris. One is quoted extensively in William Watson's US Government Printing Office publication of 1892 Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture. “And during twenty years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.” Signers of this letter included Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Charles Gounod, Charles Garnier, Jean-Léon Gérôme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Alexandre Dumas.

Novelist Guy de Maupassant who claimed to hate the tower supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.

One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 stories, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years, meaning it would have had to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiration of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line during the First Battle of the Marne, and it therefore became a victory statue of that battle.
By: Wikipedia.com

Sabtu, 25 April 2009

Hawaii beaches

Makapuu Beach Park

Hawaii beach picture 2 - Sandy Beach in Hawaii (President Obama's favorite!).

Waimea Beach

Waimea Beach, Hawaii, Usa. Aerial view.

Oahu Hawaii

Oahu east coast.

Oahu

Oahu Hawaii Sunset

Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

Minggu, 19 April 2009

Former Hokkaidō government office building

The Former Hokkaidō Government Office Building (,Hokkaidōchō kyūhonchōsha) is an American-neo-baroque structure constructed in 1888 as a base of the Hokkaidō administration. The nickname is Akarenga or "Red Brick." It is the symbol of Hokkaidō and was designated a Japanese Important Cultural Properties in 1969. Behind the current Hokkaidō Government building, the building is located in North 3 West 6, Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan.

Currently, the facilities inside the building include a conference room, a museum shop, a tourist information office, and a few historical exhibition rooms and libraries. Visitors can enter the building for free. Flower gardens and a pond are located in front of the building, which occasionally are designated as some event venues.

By : Wikipedia.com

Sabtu, 18 April 2009

Sapporo in Japan Travel Gallery

Sapporo (Sapporo-shi) ja-Sapporo.ogg listen (help·info) is the fifth-largest city in Japan by population. It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan.

Sapporo is best known outside Japan for hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics, the first ever held in Asia and the annual Yuki Matsuri in the city, internationally referred to as the Sapporo Snow Festival, which draws more than 2 million tourists from around the world. The city is also home to the eponymous Sapporo Brewery.