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.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
3.
EC postcode area
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The EC postcode area, also known as the London EC postal area, is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London and parts of the London Boroughs of Islington, Camden, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, the area covered is of very high density development. Deliveries for the EC postcode area are made from Mount Pleasant Mail Centre, the current postcode districts are relatively recent divisions of the EC1, EC2, EC3 and EC4 districts established in 1917. Where the districts are used for other than the sorting of mail, such as use as a geographic reference and on street signs. Postcode Address File List of postcode areas in the United Kingdom London postal district Royal Mails Postcode Address File A quick introduction to Royal Mails Postcode Address File
4.
Kohn Pedersen Fox
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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
5.
Arup Group
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The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
6.
Skanska
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Skanska AB is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth largest construction company in the according to the Construction Global magazine. Notable Skanska projects include the World Trade Center Transportation Hub project,30 St Mary Axe, MetLife Stadium, Mater Dei Hospital, aktiebolaget Skånska Cementgjuteriet was established in Malmö, Sweden, in 1887 by Rudolf Fredrik Berg and started by manufacturing concrete products. It quickly diversified into a company and within 10 years the company received its first international order. The company played an important role in building Sweden’s infrastructure including its roads, power plants, offices, growth in Sweden was followed by international expansion. In the mid-1950s Skånska Cementgjuteriet made a move into international markets. During the next decades it entered South America, Africa and Asia, and in 1971 the United States market, the company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange A-list in 1965. In 1984 the name “Skanska, ” already in use internationally. During the latter part of the 1990s, Skanska expanded substantially both organically and by acquisition, in August 2000 it bought the construction division of Kvaerner. In mid-2004, Skanska decided to divest its Asian investments and sold its Indian subsidiary to the Thailand based construction firm Italian Thai Development Company, in 2005, Skanska was awarded a gas pipeline contract in Argentina. Later, suspicions were raised that government corruption had been involved, Skanska performed its own investigation, dismissed seven managers, and worked closely with the authorities concerning the inquiry. In 2011, Skanska acquired Industrial Contractors, Inc of Evansville, Indiana, in December 2013 the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic confirmed that Skanska DS a. s. participated in a bid rigging cartel of construction companies in 2004. Illegal conduct was associated with the tender for the execution of works for the construction of the D1 highway from Mengusovce to Jánovce in Eastern Slovakia, Skanska divides its operations into four business streams, Construction is the largest business stream by revenue and number of employees. The operations of the other business streams involve investments in projects that are developed, with regard to infrastructure development, this often involves public–private partnerships. Geographically, the group based on local business units. Skanska was the No.1 “Green Builder” in the United States in 2007 and was ranked No.3 Green Contractor in the United States 2008. In 2011, Skanska was ranked the greenest company in the United Kingdom, in 2014, Skanska won the Financial Times and ArcelorMittal “Boldness in Business Award” in the category “corporate responsibility/environment. An official vision stated by Skanska is “the five zeros”, zero loss-making projects, work accidents, environmental incidents, ethical breaches
7.
Skyscraper
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A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
8.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
9.
The Shard
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Standing 309.7 metres high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the fourth-tallest building in Europe and the 107th-tallest building in the world. It is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, the Shards construction began in March 2009, it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 6 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012, the towers privately operated observation deck, The View from The Shard, was opened to the public on 1 February 2013. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor. It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and replaced Southwark Towers, the Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the State of Qatar. Sellar flew to Berlin in the spring of 2000 to meet the Italian architect Renzo Piano for lunch, the inquiry took place in April and May 2003, and on 19 November 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that planning consent had been approved. The government stated that, Mr Prescott would only approve skyscrapers of exceptional design, for a building of this size to be acceptable, the quality of its design is critical. He is satisfied that the tower is of the highest architectural quality. This enabled them to pay off the costs incurred and to buy out the Southwark Towers occupational lease from the buildings tenants. Vacant possession of the site was secured a year later, after PricewaterhouseCoopers completed the relocation of their operations, in September 2007, preparations for the demolition of Southwark Towers began. However, later that month, turbulence in the financial markets reportedly put the Shards construction in jeopardy. In November 2007, building contractor Mace was awarded the contract to build the Shard for a price of no more than £350 million. However, this increased to almost £435 million in October 2008. In April 2008, demolition of Southwark Towers was visibly under way, and by October, the building had been reduced in height. The demolition was completed in early 2009, and site preparation began for the construction of the Shard, in late 2007, the gathering uncertainty in the global financial markets sparked concerns about the viability of the Shard. However, in January 2008, Sellar announced that it had secured funding from a consortium of Qatari investors, the consortium included Qatar National Bank, QInvest, Qatari Islamic Bank and the Qatari property developer Barwa Real Estate, as well as Sellar Property. The deal involved a buyout of the Halabi and CLS Holdings stakes, the new owners promised to provide the first tranche of finance, allowing construction of the tower to begin. In 2009, the State of Qatar consolidated its ownership of London Bridge Quarter, including the Shard, London Bridge Quarter is today jointly owned by the State of Qatar and Sellar Property
10.
Southwark
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Southwark is a district of Central London and part of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated 1.5 miles east of Charing Cross, it one of the oldest parts of London. It historically formed an ancient borough in the county of Surrey, made up of a number of parishes, as an inner district of London, Southwark experienced rapid depopulation during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It is now at a stage of regeneration and is the county town of Greater London which is the location of the City Hall offices of the Greater London Authority. Southwark had a population of 30,119 in 2011, Southwark is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Sudweca. The name means southern defensive work and is formed from the Old English sūth, the southern location is in reference to the City of London to the north, Southwark being at the southern end of London Bridge. The ancient borough of Southwark was also simply as The Borough—or Borough—and this name. Southwark was also referred to as the Ward of Bridge Without when administered by the City. Southwark is on a marshy area south of the River Thames. Recent excavation has revealed prehistoric activity including evidence of ploughing, burial mounds. The area was originally a series of islands in the River Thames and this formed the best place to bridge the Thames and the area became an important part of Londinium owing its importance to its position as the endpoint of the Roman London Bridge. Two Roman roads, Stane Street and Watling Street, met at Southwark in what is now Borough High Street, archaeological work at Tabard Street in 2004 discovered a plaque with the earliest reference to London from the Roman period on it. Londinium was abandoned at the end of the Roman occupation in the fifth century. Archaeologically, evidence of settlement is replaced by a largely featureless soil called the Dark Earth which probably represents an urban area abandoned, Southwark appears to recover only during the time of King Alfred and his successors. Sometime about 886 AD, the burh of Southwark was created and it was probably fortified to defend the bridge and hence the re-emerging City of London to the north. He failed to force the bridge during the Norman conquest of England, Southwark appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by several Surrey manors. Southwarks value to the King was £16, much of Southwark was originally owned by the church—the greatest reminder of monastic London is Southwark Cathedral, originally the priory of St Mary Overie. During the early Middle Ages, Southwark developed and was one of the four Surrey towns which returned Members of Parliament for the first commons assembly in 1295
