archive for March, 2008
airmarks: road-signs for planes
in the late 1920s, early 1930s, before radio navigation was widely used, pilots of small planes were forced to use familiar landmarks on the ground as a way to find the runway they would hopefully land safely on. there was even a campaign started by the 99s in the early 1930s, the objective being to paint directions to the nearest airport on buildings and structures across the u.s., the result being thousands of enormous ‘road-signs’ for pilots scattered across the nation.
the world’s most astounding agricultural engineering project
the rice terraces of the philippine cordilleras, if laid out end to end, would stretch halfway round the globe. if this ingenious feat had been accomplished in recent times the clearly enormous task would have seemed more than impressive, however the fact that it was completed thousands of years ago without the use of modern apparatus and machinery takes the terraces and integrated irrigation systems to a whole new level.
an unlikely hollywood export
the hollywood sign is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world.
unsurprisingly, this kind of exposure was always going to lead to imitations of the 50ft high structure all over the world…
old aged computers, submissions are open & chicago at night
my computer gasped its last breath 4 days ago.
i realised it was coming when the need to re-install windows became a fortnightly affair and the husky sound of the pc itself became louder than the washing machine downstairs. it ended messily: the little bastard wouldn’t even entertain another fresh start, stubbornly throwing lines of delibrately confusing code in my face instead of the oh-so familiar re-install options page, whilst making noises similar to the sound of a ferry’s horn as it approaches port. anyway, punches were thrown (by me) and i ended up terminating its life altogether using human force and screaming.
the most dramatic chapel on earth
if god was real and happened to be a sci-fi fan i reckon the cadet chapel at the air force academy in colorado would be his chapel of choice. it looks like no place of worship you’ve ever seen and from the outside resembles a row of 17 angular spacecraft sitting on their back-ends, ready to shoot off at any minute. the chapel and its surrounding complex was designed by walter netsch of architectural firm skidmore, owings & merrill and construction was completed in 1963. no sooner had the spire-fest been announced than the public outcry began…
extremely impressive shiny balls
the enormous 34ft diameter shiny ball pictured above goes by the name of ‘la géode’. this stunning metallic structure houses a 1000m² hemispheric imax screen at the ‘cité des sciences et de l’industrie’ in paris. it was designed in 1983 by french architect adrien fainsilber and then realised by engineer gérard chamaillou. it’s apparently one of the largest geodesic domes on earth.
2 stunning and surreal gasometer conversions
the reason for this post is to show you 2 incredible converted gasometers and illustrate that demolition shouldn’t always be the answer when industrial structures come to the end of their career. with a bit of imagination even an enormous disused gas container can look incredibly inviting whilst also serving a new purpose.
man vs mountain: avalanche control structures
one of the places i’d refuse to set up home would have to be at the bottom of a mountain with a history of avalanche activity. unfortunately for some that choice doesn’t seem to exist and after reading a post over at the highly recommended blog pruned yesterday the frightening world of avalanche survival systems nearly became an obsession, for a couple of reasons.
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- look at this
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- pruned
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