Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Top Ten Most Rainiest Places in the world


1# Crkvica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Although the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is devoid of coastline, save for a scant shore of the Adriatic, it nonetheless receives a fair amount of rain, most notably in Crkvica. 
The town in Bosnia, just northwest of Sarajevo, consistently receives the highest annual average precipitation in Europe. So much for London’s reputation.
2# Henderson Lake, British Colombia, Canada
People who live outside of British Columbia in Canada, especially those in Toronto and Montreal, where long winters are the norm, love to chide residents of the province for their temperate but rainy climate. 
There is no small amount of jealousy behind the tactic, because not only is Vancouver – the main city in British Columbia – a beautiful place to live, it also happens to be the only place in Canada where one can golf in February. However, the rain is not just a cliche here, but a meteorological reality. Just ask residents of Henderson Lake.
Stay dry in beautiful Vancouver with a great hotel deal.
3# Andagoya, Colombia
We seldom think of Colombia as a country so pluvial but it does in fact have several climactic challenges that pose real threats. In fact, the country is a world rarity, in that it belongs to a select few with a classification as megadiverse. This superpower-like designation insinuates that Colombia, because of geographic position, has crazy weather fluctuations. 
Indeed, with five natural regions that include high mountains, tropical deserts and steppes, the rainy season here is notorious. The town of Andagoya, with a position smack dab on the thermal equator, has a temperature that rarely shifts more than a few degrees from month to month and in turn, receives torrents of rain.
4# Bellenden Ker, Queensland, Australia
Another megadiverse country, perhaps more so than any other on the planet, is Australia. With desert, mountains, ocean and tropical rainforests, the country continent is unlike any other. 
The area of Bellenden Ker and indeed, the mountain of the same name, is a World Heritage Rainforest zone. A short drive from the city of Cairns, the region is lush, rife with exotic plant and animal life and indeed a victim of mass precipitation.
5# Quibdo, Colombia
Colombia proves to be wet all over once again with the town of Quibdo. Over 100,000 people live in the capital of the Choco Department, as the national divisions are known as. On the border of Panama and indeed, the gateway between South and Central America, the department and town receive some of the most zany weather in Colombia. 
Unfortunate because in addition – or perhaps because of which – Quidibo has some of the worst social conditions and economic track records in the country. In point of fact, despite record rainfall every year, the lowland town still manages to suffer from water shortages.
6# Debundscha, Cameroon
Cameroon has a reputation for being one of the most exotic and beautiful nations in Africa. Indeed, it encompasses the principal features of the continent on a small scale, with hyper diversity in a region about the size of California. As a result of course, parts of Cameroon receive super heavy rainfall. 
This tends to be the case when you have ocean coastline, tropical forests, grasslands, deserts and mountains within close proximity to each other. At the base of Mount Cameroon and within plain view of the Bight of Biafra, Debundscha receives over 400 inches of rain a year.
7# Cherrapunji, India
Another region with rainfall levels well above 400 inches, Cherrapunji shares another notorious distinction with other wet areas. In utter bewilderment and stark contrast to the weather, the town in the state of Meghalya confronts epic water shortage problems. 
Geography conspires to make Cherrapunji so wet and also devoid of potable water by the same token. At the confluence of the Kashi Hills and Bay of Bengal, the town receives both north and south monsoon showers that pound the area in a flash, only to flood down the plains of Bangladesh. No suprise then that Cherrapunji holds the record for most rainfall in one year at over 900 inches back in 1860-61.
8# Mount Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii, United States of America
Although not exactly a residential area, the region around Mount Waialeale and indeed the summit, receives a ton of precipitation on a habitual basis. Tourism officials in Hawaii love to boast that this is the wettest place on the planet, although some in India and Colombia take issue with the claim. 
Whatever the case may be, the rainfall in Kauai is notable for the fact that it occurs with such daily regularity. Mount Waialeale bears the brunt of the precipitation because of a conical shape and pure geographical position relative to the ocean and trade winds. Although open to tourism, there are obvious physical impediments here due to the amount of rain that falls every day. In other words, the ground is super wet.
9# Mawsynram, India
Another village in the Kashi Hills in the state of Meghalya, Mawsynram proves once again that India is a complex and diverse country. A quick drive from Cherrapunji, the town records indicate more annual rainfall, although disputes about data accuracy have been rife as both regions fight for rainfall supremacy. 
Whatever the case may be, Mawsynram appears to have a more favorable – or is that cursed? – position in terms of proximity to the Bay of Bengal and steep incline of the Kashi Hills, which allows humid, moist air to ascend and in turn, blanket the area with rain.
10# Lloro, Colombia
Lloro, Colombia-
The town and municipality of Lloro is another area within the Choco Department of Colombia prone to rain. A lot of rain. With coastlines on the Pacific and Caribbean, unique in the country, the area is an ecological freak of sorts and as a result, the victim of zany phenomena. Average annual precipitation in the town of Lloro is 523.6 inches, which ranks it first in terms of wet world zones. With over 7,000 inhabitants, one has to wonder how people here cope with almost 1.5 inches of rain a day.
Lloro Colombia Wettest Place on Earth Most Rain Fall

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall --Burj In Dubai

World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall

2004 The construction of what will become the world's tallest building - the Burj Tower in Dubai - will commence in January, 2005, with plans for the 800 metre tall, 160 floor skyscraper to be completed by 2008. The building will also contain residential, commercial, hotel and entertainment facilities, including the largest shopping mall in the world. Located on Sheikh Zayed Road, the complex will contain a city within a city - a planned Old Town with intimate streets and architectural detail to create a special ambience with the mystery of yesterdays Arabia, in what is expected to be the centrepiece of the Gulf region's most prestigious urban development.
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall
Burj Dubai Tower was commissioned by Emaar Properties, as part of its US $8 billion Downtown Dubai development project. Built of glass, aluminium, concrete and steel, Burj Tower will be the tallest building in the world at 800 metres (2,640 feet), with a total floor space of 500,000 sq m (5.35 million sq ft). Taipei 101 in Taiwan (509 metres), Petronas Towers in Malaysia (452 metres) and the Chicago's Sears Tower (442 metres) are currently the world's highest man made towers. Recently China and the New York World Trade Centre redevelopment have announced plans to exceed these records, but the Burj Tower has anticipated challengers and will dig extra-deep foundations to enable more storeys to be added later if needed.
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall
Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architectural consultants have drawn their inspiration from the historical influences of the Gulf. The tower's base and geometry reflects the six-petal desert flower of the region as well as indigenous Islamic patterns. The base of the Burj Dubai blossoms to allow the tower a graceful transition from the ground and to maximise views, while the dome shaped plan profile accentuates a series of steps up the vertical height of the building. The top of the Tower will contain a public observation deck and a private club will be situated above that.
The Burj Dubai Tower will be constructed by South Korea's Samsung Corporation and should be completed by November, 2008.
Word's largest Mall
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall
In the shadow of the Burj Tower will be another ambitious development - the Dubai Mall - the largest shopping space in the world with over nine million feet of retail, residential and entertainment facilities, including the world's largest gold souq market and an ice rink. The mall will also host over 1,000 specialty shops located within the ten to fifteen distinct 'malls-within-a-mall'. It will offer an array of leisure pursuits, including a three storey aquarium featuring glass tunnels where you can slide right through and come face to face with sharks, sting rays and other exotic marine life. It will also feature an 850,000 square feet fashion island comprising high and mid-fashion that will pay homage to haute couture and host just about every major fashion brand in the world. When finished in 2006, Dubai Mall will be larger than 50 international soccer pitches and is expected to attract over 35 million visitors in the first year of operations.
The Burj Dubai Boulevard will open out at intervals in four main piazzas (named Piazza of Water, Wind, Fire and Earth) that leads to Tower Park, surrounding Dubai Tower. Tower Park will contain 15 hectares of land containing water cascades, manicured lawns and exotic plant terraces. There will also be 16,000 underground car parking spaces, with more parking above ground.
The Residences
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall
The Residences comprises 6 exclusive towers at the world's most prestigious address - the Burj Dubai. The Residences is an integrated development within the 20 acres of land embracing a spectacular man-made lake, the world's tallest tower and world's largest shopping centre. Construction is already underway and the Residences will feature one, two and three bedroom luxury apartments.
The homes at the Residences feature two distinct design themes, elegantly expressed in sculpted woodwork and rich finishes. The interiors of the Andalucia style bring a modern interpretation of Arabic culture through Islamic patterns and details. The cool refinement of the Metropolitan style is also offered in sleek contemporary fittings and designs. Those making the Residences their home will have immediate access to hotels, entertainment and shopping plus exceptional amenities - such as fitness centres, guest suites and exclusive resident concierge services.
Development in Dubai
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall
Real estate development in Dubai is rapidly transforming the Gulf state with innovative and breathtaking projects like 'The World", an artificial archipelago that replicates a scale model of the world with all major land masses, as well as replicas of lost cities from different parts of the ancient world. Two visionary artificial island environments have also been created just off the coast of Dubai - the "Palm, Jebel Ali" and the "Palm Jumeirah", both palm tree shaped land masses surrounded by hemispherical reefs, customised and developed for luxury living, with five star hotels and exclusive retail outlets dotted along the trunk of the palm. Together with the Burj Dubai Tower and the Dubai Mall, these ambitious urban redevelopments show the face of the United Aab Emirates is rapidly changing and leading the way in 21st century design and modern living.
World's Tallest Building and Largest Shopping Mall

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Largest Mosque in Pakistan


The Largest Mosque in Pakistan

The Faisal Mosque is the largest mosque in Pakistan and is located in the national capital city of Islamabad.
Faisal Mosque is conceived as the National Mosque of Pakistan. It is the largest mosque in South Asia and one of the largest mosques in the world.
The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

History

Panorama of the Faisal Mosque with the Margalla Hills in the background.
Interior of the mosque.
The impetus for the mosque began in 1966 when the late King Faisal bin Abdul-Azizsupported the initiative of the Pakistani Government to build a national mosque in Islamabad during an official visit to Pakistan. In 1969, an international competition was held in which architects from 17 countries submitted 43 proposals. After four days of deliberation, Turkish architect Vedat Dalokay's design was chosen. Construction of the mosque began in 1976 by National Construction of Pakistan, led by Azim Khan and was funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, at a cost of over 130 million Saudi riyals(approximately 120 million USD today). King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was instrumental in the funding, and both the mosque and the road leading to it were named after him after his assassination in 1975. The mosque was completed in 1986, and used to house the International Islamic University. Many conservative Muslims criticised the design at first for its non-conventional design and lack of the traditional dome structure, but virtually all criticism was eventually silenced by the mosque's scale, form, and setting against the Margalla Hills upon completion.

Location

Aerial from the Faisal Masjid dominating the Islamabad skyline. In the foreground a U.S Army Chinook helicopter delivering relief supplies to earthquake stricken Kashmir (2005).
The mosque is located in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. It is situated at the north end of Faisal Avenue, putting it at the northernmost end of the city and at the foot of Margalla Hills, the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas.

Design

The Faisal Mosque is the work of famous Turkish architect, Vedat Dalokay who won the Aga Khan Architectural Award with this project. The mosque's relatively unusual design fuses contemporary lines with the more traditional look of an Arab Bedouin's tent, with its large triangular prayer hall and four minarets. However, unlike traditional masjid design, it lacks a dome. The minarets borrow their design from Turkish tradition and are thin and pencil like. The interior of this prayer hall holds a very large chandelier and its walls are decorated with mosaics and calligraphy by the famous Pakistani artist Sadequain. The mosaic pattern adorns the west wall, and has the kalimah written in early Kufic script, repeated in mirror image pattern.
The mosque's architecture is a departure from the long history of South Asian Islamic architecture. It is one of the most outstanding and modern Islamic architecture examples in the world.

Size

The Faisal Mosque was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 until 1993, when it was overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in CasablancaMorocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in MedinaSaudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.
It has a covered area of 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft). It can accommodate 10,000 worshipers in its main prayer hall, 24,000 in its porticoes,[1] 40,000 in its courtyard, and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds. Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshipers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of Mecca, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance

Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance
Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance

Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance

Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance is located in New York City and is the headquarter to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Martha Graham Dance Company, which is the oldest continually performing dance company in the world.
The center was founded in the 1926 by Martha Graham. Its first headquarters consisted of a small dance studio on Broadway. The center later moved to a two story building at 316 East 63rd Street, New York, right off of 2nd Avenue.
After Martha Graham's death in 1991, the center's true directorial direction was in debate. In her will, Martha Graham left heir Ron Protas as sole proprietor of her dances. For a time, Protas actually attempted to deny the Martha Graham Dance Company the right to perform Graham's work. After years of legal battles, the Martha Graham Dance Company was ruled the true owner of the Graham repertoire.
In 2005, the center was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance has the distinction of being the longest continuously operating school of dance in America and is a charter member of the accrediting organization, the National Association of Schools of Dance. Students come from around the world to study at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, the only school primarily focused upon teaching the Martha Graham Technique and Repertory.
Classes are taught by faculty members who worked with Martha Graham and who are or have been members of the Martha Graham Dance Company. The course structure culminates in the professional training of young dancers, who perform locally and nationally as Graham II.
Martha Graham students and dancers represent a broad range of cultures and backgrounds, and they take this unique American art form around the world to teach and perform.

Monday, April 25, 2011

John James Audubon Bridge

John James Audubon Bridge

Cost:$348 million
Client:Louisiana Department of Transportation and Infrastructure
Location:St. Francisville, LA
Markets:Bridges
Flatiron is designing and building a new cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River. The bridge, to be formally called the John James Audubon Bridge, will replace the ferry system currently in place and will connect St. Francisville with New Roads just north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Work for the project includes 12 miles of roadway approaches that tie the bridge into US 61 and Louisiana Route 10. The main cable-stayed span will stretch 1,583 feet across the Mississippi River to become the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. The project broke ground on May 11, 2006 and the bridge is slated to open in early 2010.
The bridge is part of Louisiana's Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development (TIMED) Program, a $4 billion program to construct 16 transportation projects, including highway improvements, three major bridges, and New Orleans port and airport improvements.
John James Audubon Bridge Pictures Gallery
John James Audubon Bridge
John James Audubon Bridge
John James Audubon Bridge
John James Audubon Bridge
John James Audubon Bridge
John James Audubon Bridge

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Most Expensive Washrooms/Toilets/Bathrooms In the world

3D-GOLD Jewelry Store, Hong Kong: Back in 2001, this jewelry store earned two spots in the Guinness Book of World Records. With a bathroom almost totally made out of gold, it scored "most expensive bathroom" and "most expensive toilet."

Limestone gallery in London offer bespoke bathrooms and other interior décor made from a variety of natural materials. This particular bathroom features a solid Ivory Stone bathtub carved from a single piece of stone. Possibly the most exceptional bathroom fittings I have ever seen.
Price – this one is at the lower end of their range and sells for around $70,000 for the entire bathroom. A single bath tub can cost as much as $140,000 – just for the bath tub.
most-expensive-hotel-rooms-in-the-world-Imperial-Suite-Park-Hyatt-Vendome-Paris-France-The-Bathroom
World's most expensive toilet made of 24 karat goldThe Japanese love playing with words, and if you ask a Japanese what the 3Ks are in Japan they will tell you it stands for the words Kitanai (dirty), Kitsui (demeaning) and Kiken (dangerous). The 3Ks commonly refer to work that Japanese do not want to do.
But for Shanghai World Expo, Japan has come up with another 3Ks. This time the 3Ks are Kirei (pretty), Kawai (cute) and Kimochiii (sensibility) - and these buzzwords that sum up the spirit of modern-day Japan are part of the theme of "Better Life from Japan" that is being presented by one of the nation's three pavilions present at the 2010 exposition.

The Japan Industry Pavilion, like the Osaka Pavilion, is situated in the Best Urban Practices area of the Expo Park, and it is well worth a visit.
Around the pavilion you will find food shops selling mainly Osaka specialties, such as tako-yaki (fried octopus balls), yaki-soba (friend noodles) and okonomiyaki (savoury pancake). There is even a large red squid decoration above one of the food stalls, somewhat reminiscent of the large red squid that can be seen on the Dotonbori in the heart of Japan's second city. The Dotonbori is renowned for its gastronomical pleasures, especially for those on a tight budget.
Certainly, if you are feeling particularly flushed you may want to try Murasaki, an exclusive restaurant at the Japan Industry Pavilion, where for 3,000 RMB per person you can enjoy a seasonal menu of kaiseki-ryori (traditional Japanese haute-cuisine). Chefs have been especially flown in from the renowned Kyoto restaurants Kikunoi, Tankuma Kitamise and Uosaburo to prepare the finest of meals. The restaurant has five dining rooms, all private, and the large windows offer beautiful views of a spacious neo-Zen garden. The pond sparkles with light filtering in through a bamboo hedge. Dinner here is likely to be an experience that you won't forget.