1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Residential area
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A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas and these include single-family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit some services or work opportunities or may totally exclude business and it may permit high density land use or only permit low density uses. Residential zoning usually includes a smaller FAR than business, commercial or industrial/manufacturing zoning, the area may be large or small. Development patterns may be regulated by restrictive covenants contained in the deeds to the properties in the development, restrictive covenants are not easily changed when the agreement of all property owners is required. The area so restricted may be large or small, residential areas may be subcategorized in the concentric zone model and other schemes of urban geography. Residential development is real estate development for residential purposes, some such developments are called a subdivision, when the land is divided into lots with houses constructed on each lot. Such developments became common during the nineteenth century, particularly in the form of streetcar suburbs. In previous centuries, residential development was mainly of two kinds, rich people bought a townlot, hired an architect and/or contractor, and built a bespoke / customized house or mansion for their family. Poor urban people lived in shantytowns or in tenements built for rental, single-family houses were seldom built on speculation, that is for future sale to residents not yet identified. When cities and the class expanded greatly and mortgage loans became commonplace. Its large-scale practitioners disliked the term property speculator and coined the new residential development for their activity. Entire farms and ranches were subdivided and developed, often one individual or company controlling all aspects of entitlement, land development, infrastructure. Communities like Levittown, Long Island or Lakewood south of Los Angeles saw new homes sold at unprecedented rates—more than one a day. Many techniques which had made the automobile affordable made housing affordable, standardization of design and small, repetitive tasks, advertising. Mass production resulted in a similar uniformity of product, and a comfortable lifestyle than cramped apartments in the cities. With the advent of government-backed mortgages, it could actually be cheaper to own a house in a new residential development than to rent, as with other products, continual refinements appeared. Curving streets, greenbelt parks, neighborhood pools, and community entry monumentation appeared, diverse floor plans with differing room counts, and multiple elevations appeared
3.
Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan)
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Eleventh Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the far West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, located near the Hudson River. Eleventh Avenue originates in the Meatpacking District in the Greenwich Village/West Village neighborhoods at Gansevoort Street, where Eleventh Avenue, Tenth Avenue and it is considered part of the West Side Highway between 22nd and Gansevoort Streets. Between 59th and 107th Streets, the avenue is known as West End Avenue, both West End Avenue and Eleventh Avenue are considered to be part of the same road. Between Gansevoort Street and West 22nd Street, Eleventh Avenue is part of the West Side Highway, at a split with Twelfth Avenue/West Side Highway at West 22nd Street, Eleventh Avenue continues as a standard-width avenue. Following the split, Eleventh Avenue is two-way traffic for access to 23rd Street, north of 24th Street, Eleventh Avenue is one-way southbound from 24th to 44th Streets, where two-way traffic resumes. The segment between approximately 39th and 59th Streets is home to the largest concentration of auto dealerships in Manhattan, two-way traffic resumes at 44th Street. The portion north of 59th Street is called West End Avenue, the northern 2 miles are a sedate Upper West Side residential street ending at Straus Park, 107th Street, and Broadway. Traffic is bidirectional, except for the northernmost block, north of 106th Street, in 1934, a bill was passed for the Henry Hudson Parkway to be constructed, meant to be an alternative route to Death Avenue. Seeking to distinguish the area from the factories and tenements below 59th Street, portions of both West End Avenue and Eleventh Avenue were run down in the mid-20th century, with single room occupancy hotels, prostitutes and drug addicts a common sight. The citys economic comeback in the 1980s brought recovery and gentrification, the near total absence of retail on that part of the street marks its quiet, residential character, as opposed to the high-traffic, noisy character of Eleventh Avenue. The architecture of buildings on Eleventh and West End Avenues differs significantly, Manhattan Motorcars at 270 Eleventh Avenue sells many brands of luxury and sports cars. Other companies with dealerships on the avenue include Audi, Honda, Jaguar, Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge, Mazda, Nissan, as well, numerous vehicle service stations, car washes, and car rental lots are found along this stretch. It is not uncommon to hear the clip clop of horses in the vicinity, as horses always have in densely populated urban areas, the carriage horses live upstairs in their stables while the carriages are parked below on the ground floor. One historic district lies on Eleventh Avenue, the West Chelsea Historic District, the High Line The Hudson River Park IAC Building The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center Michael J. The New York City Buss M12 route has served the avenue since September 2014, notable current and former residents include, Judy Collins, folk singer and song writer resides at 845 West End Avenue. Domenico Dolce is a resident of 200 Eleventh Avenue. Tina Fey, former SNL cast member and creator of NBCs 30 Rock lives on West End Avenue near 80th Street Joseph Heller, elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, grew up on West End Avenue and 75th Street. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban live at 200 Eleventh Avenue, economist Ludwig von Mises lived at 777 West End Avenue
4.
Manhattan
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Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City, its economic and administrative center, and the citys historical birthplace. The borough is coextensive with New York County, founded on November 1,1683, Manhattan is often described as the cultural and financial capital of the world and hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough and it is historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for 60 guilders which equals US$1062 today. New York County is the United States second-smallest county by land area, on business days, the influx of commuters increases that number to over 3.9 million, or more than 170,000 people per square mile. Manhattan has the third-largest population of New York Citys five boroughs, after Brooklyn and Queens, the City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan, and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the citys government. The name Manhattan derives from the word Manna-hata, as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, a 1610 map depicts the name as Manna-hata, twice, on both the west and east sides of the Mauritius River. The word Manhattan has been translated as island of hills from the Lenape language. The United States Postal Service prefers that mail addressed to Manhattan use New York, NY rather than Manhattan, the area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of King Francis I of France – was the first European to visit the area that would become New York City. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, a permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624 with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam, the 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 to US$23, variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars, as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director General of the colony, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1653. In 1664, the English conquered New Netherland and renamed it New York after the English Duke of York and Albany, the Dutch Republic regained it in August 1673 with a fleet of 21 ships, renaming the city New Orange. Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of battles in the early American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16,1776. The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British political, British occupation lasted until November 25,1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, as the last British forces left the city
5.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
6.
The Related Companies
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Related is currently developing the 28 acres Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Manhattan’s Chelsea and Hells Kitchen neighborhoods. Related also manages approximately $1.5 billion of equity capital on behalf of sovereign wealth funds, public pension plans, multi-managers, endowments, Taft Hartley plans and family offices. Related also owns Equinox Fitness clubs and a partnership interest in Union Square Events, the catering, culture, sports, in 1972, Stephen M. Ross founded Related Companies, known then as Related Housing Companies. The Emerson apartment building in Los Angeles has 271 units, of which 216 are leased at market rates. The other 55 units are at subsidized rates to tenants whose annual incomes are less than 50% of the local median, in 2017, Fast Company named The Related Companies as one of The Most Innovative Companies of 2017. Their work for turning over 28 acres of Manhattan’s far west side was accredited to the award
7.
Oxford Properties
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Oxford Properties, established in 1960 is a global real estate owner, investor, developer and property manager with a portfolio of office, retail, industrial, multi-residential and hotel assets. Wholly owned by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System since 2003, the organization has 2,000 employees and over $40 billion of real assets that it manages for itself and on behalf of its co-owners and investment partners. Oxford’s portfolio of properties represents more than 50 million square feet of office, retail, hotel, industrial, land and multi-residential assets in key markets across Canada, the US and Europe. Some of its most recognized assets include Royal Bank Plaza, The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Olympic Tower and The Leadenhall Building. Oxford also owns seven Canadian Fairmont luxury hotels which were acquired in 2006, Oxford Leaseholds was established in 1960 in Edmonton by Don Love and John and George Poole, founders of PCL Construction. In the early days of the formation the partners decided there was a need for a medical clinic. Seven years and a few later, Great-West Life, Confederation Life Insurance Co. To reflect its growing desire to develop towers as well as operate them, the firm entered the 1970s as a publicly traded company, with an offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with its assets surpassing $1 billion. At the time, large acquisitions included Y&R Properties portfolio and 25 shopping centres from Cambridge Leaseholds, a decade later, a new ownership structure was introduced as Oxford went private in 1980 in a management-led leveraged buyout. To pay for the deal, it sold its shopping centres, the decade didnt pass quietly however, with assets rising above $3 billion. Oxford Properties set up its headquarters in Torontos Richmond-Adelaide Centre, eight years later, the two companies merged and once again went public with help from a $60 million investment from a Hong Kong investor. The company made significant real estate investments buying entire portfolios from Marathon, Greiner-Pacaud, Hammerson Canada, Royal Bank, Don Love had arrived in Edmonton in 1955 as an enterprising young stockbroker working for a national securities firm. A physician client approached him about building a clinic in Edmonton. He knew E. E. Poole, another one of his clients, and when Don made the proposal Ernest Poole declined, the three young men started a new company called “POLO” – PO for Poole, and LO for Love. Don provided the imagination, while John and George provided the capital, the trio secured a mortgage and built the Baker Clinic, which they then sold back to the doctors of the practice. They were officially in the development business, GRESB is an industry-driven organization committed to assessing the ESG performance of real assets globally, including real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets. Oxford Properties has measured a 26 per cent improvement in the efficiency of their managed portfolio, on a per square foot basis. RBC WaterPark Place was the first LEED Core and Shell Platinum Office Tower in Toronto
8.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
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Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates is an American architecture firm which provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. KPF is one of the largest architecture firms in the world and is one of the largest in New York City. KPF’s projects over the last 10 years include Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Unilever House in London, the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, the Stephen M. In New York, KPF is presently designing the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, KPF recently completed One Jackson Square and served as Executive Architect for the 10-year phased expansion and renovation of New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. Current projects around the world include the Midfield Terminal Complex at the Abu Dhabi International Airport, kPFs philosophy is firmly rooted in the belief that success is the result of collaboration and dialogue. KPF explains, “A similar sentiment is central to the manner in which we weave our buildings into the environmental fabric, for a firm of its size, KPF takes on an unusually large number of restoration and renovation projects. Examples of this work include The World Bank Headquarters, Unilever House, KPF has been recognized for workplace collaboration. Shortly after its founding in 1976, the American Broadcasting Company chose KPF to redevelop a former building on Manhattan’s West Side to house TV studios. This experience led to 14 more projects for ABC over the next 11 years, as well as commissions from major corporations across the country, including the AT&T, by the mid-1980s, KPF had nearly 250 architects working on projects in cities throughout the United States. It remains a Chicago landmark, and was voted “Favorite Building” by the readers of the Chicago Tribune in both 1995 and 1997. In 1986, KPF’s Procter & Gamble Headquarters in Cincinnati, which included an open plan interior design by Patricia Conway, was recognized for its design with the AIA National Honor Award. In the 1990s, KPF also took on a number of government and civic projects. Courthouse in New York, the Mark O. Hatfield U. S, courthouse in Portland, OR, the U. S. Courthouse of Minneapolis, the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and the multiple award-winning redevelopment of The World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D. C. KPF’s winning entry in the competition for the World Bank Headquarters. KPF’s sensitive design solution for the World Bank, its first D. C. project, KPF completed the design for two blocks of the large-scale Canary Wharf redevelopment and the Goldman Sachs Headquarters on Fleet Street. KPF has been selected for projects in the Canary Wharf area through the present day, KPF’s subsequent work in the U. K. includes Thames Court in London, the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University and the master plan for the London School of Economics. KPFs introduction to the Asian market began with the 4,500, within 10 years, KPF had projects in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China
9.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
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Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by three partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, and Charles Renfro – who work with a staff of architects, artists, and administrators. The studio was founded by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in 1979, Charles Renfro joined in 1997, Elizabeth Diller attended The Cooper Union School of Art and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Cooper Union School of Architecture. She is a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University, Ricardo Scofidio attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture and received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. Mr. Scofidio is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cooper Union, Charles Renfro attended Rice University and received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Mr. Renfro has served as visiting professor at Rice University and Columbia University and their work explores how space functions in our culture and illustrates that architecture, when understood as the physical manifestation of social relationships, is everywhere, not just in buildings. Diller Scofidio + Renfro completed the Perry and Marty Granoff Creative Arts Center for Brown University in Providence, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the first new museum to be built in Boston in 100 years, opened in 2006. Slither, a complex in Gifu, Japan was completed in 2003, and Blur. Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently won the design competition for Zaryadye Park. For the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Turin, and Action Painting for the Beyeler Museum in Basel, in 1999, the MacArthur Foundation presented Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio with Fellowships for their commitment to integrating architecture with issues of contemporary culture. They were recently made fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects and were inducted into the American Academy of Arts, in 2012, Elizabeth Diller was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and selected as an Aspen Institute Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence. In 2013, she was honored with the Barnard Medal of Distinction, in 2003, the Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of the studio’s work, recognizing the firm’s unorthodox practice. In 2009, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio were named among Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World, in 2010, Fast Company named Diller Scofidio + Renfro the most innovative design practice in the profession and among the 50 most innovative companies in the world. Books by Diller Scofidio + Renfro include Back to the Front, Tourisms of War, Flesh, architectural probes, and Blur, the studios most recent book, Lincoln Center Inside Out, An Architectural Account, chronicles a decade of work redesigning a New York City icon. From Designers Pen to the Plaza at Lincoln Center, “Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Masters of Space, Viewed through the Rear View Mirror. ”With Hirshhorn Bubble, Smithsonian Could Break D. C. from Stagnation. “Liz Diller, ‘We thought we would have fired a long time ago’. ”“New York’s High Line
10.
WSP Global
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WSP Global Inc. is a Canadian-based business providing management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, ltd and Les Consultants Dupuis, Côté Inc. began operating in Quebec City in 1959. In 1969 in England, WSP was established by Chris Cole, in 1976, it was a founder member of the Building Services Research and Information Association. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1987, after acquiring three firms and geographical expansion in 1993, the name of the Canadian firm GBGM was changed to GENIVAR. On 7 June 2012, Genivar Inc. announced that it made a friendly takeover offer of £278 million for WSP Group plc. The offer was backed by WSPs board of directors as well as investors holding 37% of the companys shares and this merger created a professional services firm with approximately 15,000 employees, working in over 300 offices worldwide. The company reorganised its structure on 1 January 2014, to create a parent company named WSP Global Inc. On 31 October 2014, WSP Global announced that it had completed the purchase of New York-headquartered professional services firm Parsons Brinckerhoff from Balfour Beatty plc for USD$1.24 billion. The company has a network of approximately 170 offices and nearly 13,500 employees on five continents, together, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is one the largest professional services firms in the world with approximately 32,000 employees in 500 offices serving 39 countries. In early 2015, WSP Global announced the engineering consultancy firms plans to expand to 45,000 employees by 2020, in October 2016, WSP purchased Mouchel Consulting from Kier for approximately £75 million. In January 2017, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff announced that it will assume the name WSP, the company is organised into the following main service areas, Buildings, Energy, Environment, Industry, Mining, and Transport and Infrastructure. Notable projects in progress Centre hospitalier de lUniversité de Montréal, WSP is providing management services. Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, WSP CBP is providing management services. The City Line in Sweden, WSP is providing management services. MGM MIRAGE CityCenter in Las Vegas, Nevada Notable completed projects One World Trade Center in New York, NY. The Shard in London, UK.7 World Trade Center in New York, NY.8 Spruce Street in New York, NY.30 The Bond in Sydney, Australia. 60 Wall Street in New York, NY.277 Park Avenue in New York, NY.383 Madison Avenue in New York, NY.1585 Broadway in New York, arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Headquarters, in Melbourne, Australia, the largest single-tenanted commercial office building in the Southern Hemisphere
