1.
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
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
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
4.
Sofitel
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Sofitel is a French hotel chain under AccorHotels. It opened its first property in Strasbourg in 1964 and its first overseas opening was in 1974. In 1995, Sofitel had 100 hotels in 40 countries and employed 12,500 people, two years later, Sofitel joined the Accor Group, founded in 1983 and in 2000, opened properties in Philadelphia and New York. In 2005, Sofitel continued its expansion with Sofitel Asia Pacific, in 2008, Sofitel became its own unit in the Accor group with 120 Hotels worldwide. The same magazine voted the Sofitel Berlin Gendarmenmarkt the Worlds Best Small City Hotel in 2009, the Sofitel Buenos Aires, Sofitel Cartagena Santa Clara, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort can be found on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2010. Sofitel London St. James was ranked the 8th in UK business hotels of the Readers Travel Awards 2010
5.
Emporis Skyscraper Award
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The Emporis Skyscraper Award is an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality. The award is presented annually by Emporis to the representing the Best new skyscraper for design. To qualify, nominated buildings must have completed during the year of the award. The award for each year is announced the following January and is presented at the following spring or summer. For 2000 and before, the award was known as the Skyscrapers. com Award, Emporis List of architecture prizes Emporis Awards Official Site
6.
Hotel
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A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities, Hotel rooms are usually numbered to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms, some hotels offer meals as part of a room and board arrangement. In the United Kingdom, a hotel is required by law to serve food, in Japan, capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities. The precursor to the hotel was the inn of medieval Europe. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, inns began to cater to richer clients in the mid-18th century. One of the first hotels in a sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, Hotel operations vary in size, function, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set standards to classify hotel types. Full service hotels often contain upscale full-service facilities with a number of full service accommodations, an on-site full service restaurant. Boutique hotels are independent, non-branded hotels that often contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer a limited amount of on-site amenities, economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer full service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel. Timeshare and destination clubs are a form of property ownership involving ownership of a unit of accommodation for seasonal usage. A motel is a small-sized low-rise lodging with direct access to rooms from the car park. Boutique hotels are typically hotels with an environment or intimate setting. A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, some hotels are built specifically as a destination in itself, for example at casinos and holiday resorts. The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by size, function and class
7.
44th Street (Manhattan)
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The New York City borough of Manhattan contains 228 numbered east–west streets, the majority of them created by the Commissioners Plan of 1811. These streets do not run exactly east–west, because the plan is aligned with the Hudson River, rather than with the cardinal direction. Thus, the grids west is approximately 29 degrees north of true west, the grid covers the length of the island from 14th Street north. All numbered streets carry an East or West prefix, which changes from one to the other at Broadway below 8th Street, the numbered streets carry crosstown traffic. In general, but with exceptions, even-numbered streets are one-way eastbound. Most wider streets, and a few of the narrow ones, some streets in that area that do continue farther west change direction before reaching the Hudson River. 220th Street is the highest numbered street on Manhattan Island, but Marble Hill is also within the borough of Manhattan, the numbering system continues in the Bronx, up to 263rd Street. The lowest numbered street in Manhattan is East First Street, which runs through Alphabet City near East Houston Street, there is also a First Place in Battery Park City. East 1st Street begins just north of East Houston Street at Avenue A, peretz Square, a small triangular sliver park where Houston Street, First Street and First Avenue meet marks the spot where the grid takes hold. East 2nd Street begins just north of East Houston Street at Avenue C, the East end of East 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th Streets is Avenue D, with East 6th Street continuing further Eastward and connecting to FDR Drive. The west end of these streets is the Bowery and Third Avenue, except for 3rd Street and 4th Street, great Jones Street connects East 3rd to West 3rd. For 4th Street, see 4th Street, East 5th Street goes west to Cooper Square, but is interrupted between Avenues B and C by The Earth School, Public School 364, and between First Avenue and Avenue A by the Village View Apartments. West 8th Street is an important local shopping street, 8th Street between Avenue A and Third Avenue is called St Marks Place, but it is counted in the length below. M8 bus route operates eastbound on 8th Street and westbound on 9th Street between Avenue A and Sixth Avenue, 10th Street begins at the FDR Drive and Avenue C. West of Sixth Avenue, it turns southward about 40 degrees to join the Greenwich Village street grid, because West 4th Street turns northward at Sixth Avenue, it intersects 10th, 11th and 12th and 13th Streets in the West Village. The M8 bus operates on 10th Street in both directions between Avenue D and Avenue A, and eastbound between West Street and Sixth Avenue, 10th Street has an eastbound bike lane from West Street to the East River. In 2009, the section of 10th Street between Avenue A and the East River had bicycle markings and sharrows installed, but it still has no dedicated bike lane. West 10th Street was previously named Amos Street for Charles Chistopher Amos, the end of West 10th Street toward the Hudson River was once the home of Newgate Prison, New York Citys first prison and the United States second
8.
Midtown Manhattan
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Midtown Manhattan, or Midtown, represents the central lengthwise portion of the borough and island of Manhattan in New York City. Along Manhattans north-south long axis, Midtown Manhattan separates Lower Manhattan from Upper Manhattan, the majority of New York Citys skyscrapers, including its tallest hotels and apartment towers, lie within Midtown. Midtown spans the island of Manhattan along an east-west axis, being bounded by the East River on its east. The Encyclopedia of New York City defines Midtown as being from 34th Street to 59th Street and it is sometimes broken into Midtown East and Midtown West, or north and south as in the New York City Police Departments Midtown North and Midtown South precincts. Midtown South can refer to the part of Midtown between 23rd Street and around 42nd Street, Midtown West can refer to the area between 34th and 59th Streets, and between 5th and 12th Avenues. Midtown East can refer to the area between 42nd and 59th Streets, and between 5th Avenue and the East River, in other sources these districts are referred to as separate central business districts. Midtown Manhattan, along with Lower Manhattan, is one of the leading financial centers. Midtown Manhattan is the countrys largest central business district and it has the headquarters of major companies, including 4Kids Entertainment, Barnes & Noble, Bloomberg L. P. The New York Institute of Finance is located in Midtown Manhattan, Haier operates its United States offices in the Haier Building at 1356 Broadway, the building used to be a building of the Greenwich Savings Bank. Haier held the ceremony on March 4,2002. Sumitomo Corporation operates its New York Office, the headquarters of the corporations United States operations, el Als North American headquarters are in Midtown. The Air France USA regional headquarters are in 125 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, hachette Book Group USA has its headquarters in 237 Park Avenue. In 1994 Alitalia considered moving its USA headquarters from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, global Infrastructure Partners has an office in Midtown Manhattan. Biotechnology is emerging in Midtown Manhattan, bolstered by the strength in academic scientific research and public. Aer Lingus had its United States offices in Midtown, in 1997, Aer Lingus announced that it was moving its North American headquarters to Melville, New York, in Suffolk County. New York City Department of Education public schools in Midtown Manhattan include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, private schools include The Beekman School, Rebecca School, and a number of private language and music centers. The La Scuola dItalia Guglielmo Marconi Italian international school will move to West Midtown in 2016, in addition to its well-known Main Branch research library—now known as the Stephen A. Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal are major railroad stations located in Midtown Manhattan, the Port Authority Bus Terminal is also in Midtown
9.
Bryant Park
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Bryant Park is a 9. 603-acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, even though it is part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Bryant Park is managed by the private not-for-profit corporation Bryant Park Corporation. The park is cited as a model for the success of public-private partnerships, in 1686, when the area was still a wilderness, New Yorks colonial governor, Thomas Dongan, designated the area now known as Bryant Park as a public space. George Washingtons troops crossed the area while retreating from the Battle of Long Island in 1776, beginning in 1823, Bryant Park was designated a potters field and remained so until 1840, when thousands of bodies were moved to Wards Island. The first park at this site opened in 1847 as Reservoir Square and it was named after its neighbor, the Croton Distributing Reservoir. In 1853, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations with the New York Crystal Palace, featuring thousands of exhibitors, the Crystal Palace]], also known as the Great Exhibition Hall, burned down in 1858. In 1884, Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor the New York Evening Post editor, in 1899, the Reservoir structure was removed and construction of the New York Public Library building began. Terrace gardens, public facilities, and kiosks were added to the park, the park was redesigned in 1933–4 as a Great Depression public works project under the leadership of Robert Moses. The new park featured a great lawn, and added hedges, the park was temporarily degraded in the late 1930s by the tearing down of the El and the construction of the New York City Subways underground Sixth Avenue line. On October 15,1969, a rally attended by 40,000 people was held in Bryant Park as part of the nationwide Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. Tony Conrad captured the event live from the window of his 42nd Street apartment, by the 1970s, Bryant Park had been taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes and the homeless and was considered a no-go area by ordinary citizens and visitors. The re-design was drafted by Hanna/Olin Ltd. and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation was founded in 1980 by Dan Biederman and Andrew Heiskell, chairman of Time Inc. and the New York Public Library. The BPRC immediately brought significant changes made the park once again a place that people wanted to visit. BPRC also created a security staff to confront unlawful behavior immediately. BPRC’s plan also included restoring of the monuments, and renovating its long-closed restrooms. In the effort, Biederman worked with William H. Whyte, an American sociologist, whyte’s influence led them to implement two decisions essential to making the park the successful public space that it is. The second decision was to lower the park itself, because Bryant Park had been elevated from the street and isolated by tall hedges prior to the 1988 redesign, the 1988 renovation lowered the park to nearly street level and tore out the hedges. The parks restrooms, which had closed for 35 years, were renovated as well
10.
New York Public Library
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The New York Public Library is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States and it is a private, non-governmental, independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing. The library has branches in the boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island, the City of New Yorks other two boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens, are served by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library, respectively. The branch libraries are open to the public and consist of circulating libraries. The New York Public Library also has four libraries which are open to the general public as well. At the behest of Joseph Cogswell, John Jacob Astor placed a codicil in his will to bequeath $400,000 for the creation of a public library. After Astors death in 1848, the board of trustees executed the wills conditions. The library created was a reference library, its books were not permitted to circulate. An act of the New York State Legislature incorporated the Lenox Library in 1870, the library was built on Fifth Avenue, between 40th and 42nd streets, in 1877. Bibliophile and philanthropist James Lenox donated a vast collection of his Americana, art works, manuscripts, at its inception, the library charged admission and did not permit physical access to any literary items. Both the Astor and Lenox libraries were struggling financially, although New York City already had numerous libraries in the 19th century, almost all of them were privately funded and many charged admission or usage fees. On May 23,1895, Bigelow and representatives of the two agreed to create The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. The plan was hailed as an example of philanthropy for the public good. The newly established library consolidated with the grass-roots New York Free Circulating Library in February 1901, the trustees hired McKim, Mead & White, Carrère and Hastings, and Walter Cook to design all the branch libraries. The notable New York author Washington Irving was a friend of Astor for decades and had helped the philanthropist design the Astor Library. They saw their role as protecting the librarys autonomy from politicians as well as bestowing upon it status, resources, representative of many major board decisions was the purchase in 1931 of the private library of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, uncle of the last tsar. This was one of the largest acquisitions of Russian books and photographic materials, at the time, the military drew extensively from the librarys map and book collections in the world wars, including hiring its staff. For example, the Map Divisions chief Walter Ristow was appointed as head of the section of the War Departments New York Office of Military Intelligence from 1942 to 1945
11.
New York Yacht Club
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The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen, the members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. As of 2001, the organization was reported to have about 3,000 members, membership in the club is by invitation only. Its officers include a Commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, secretary, in 1845, the club’s first clubhouse was established — a modest, Gothic-revival building in Hoboken, New Jersey, on land donated by Commodore John Cox Stevens. After outgrowing its quarters, the club moved to several other locations, including Staten Island, Glen Cove, New York and Mystic. Its primary clubhouse is a six-storied Beaux-Arts landmark with a limestone facade. Opened in 1901, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters, located inland, the club maintains Harbour Court, the New York Yacht Club was founded on July 30,1844 by nine gentlemen. John Cox Stevens, the leader of group, and a prominent citizen of New York with a passion for sports, was elected commodore. Wilkes served as the club’s first vice-commodore, schuyler played a key role in the founding of the Americas Cup regatta, and served as its unofficial consultant until his death in 1890. In 1845, the club’s burgee was designed, the waters off Newport have been a key sailing venue for the NYYC since the beginning of its history. Indeed, the day the club was founded in 1844, its members resolved to sail from the Battery to Newport, two days later they did, with several stops on the way, and trials of speed. During the first decades of the history, racing for prize money was the objective among most members. In 1851, a syndicate of NYYC enthusiasts built and raced America, on July 8,1857, the coveted trophy was donated to the NYYC, to serve as a challenge cup for sportsmanlike competition between nations. The Americas Cup Race, named for its first winner, played a role in the history of the club. In 1865, the Club was incorporated, adopting the Latin motto, during this time, membership transformed from the old guard to a new generation of yachtsmen, who built large schooner yachts captained by professionals. Marking this transition was the 1866 resignation of Commodore Edwin Augustus Stevens, brother of founder John Cox Stevens, the year 1866 is remembered in club annals for the legendary Transatlantic Race. In December, the NYYC schooners Henrietta, Fleetwing, and Vesta raced from Sandy Hook to the Needles, Isle of Wight for a $90,000 winner-take-all prize
12.
International Monetary Fund
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The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
13.
Michael Graves
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Michael Graves was an American architect. His recognition grew through designing domestic products sold by premium Italian housewares maker Alessi and he was a representative of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture and formerly designed postmodern buildings, and was recognized as a major influence in all three movements. Graves was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and he attended Broad Ripple High School, receiving his diploma in 1952. He earned a degree from the University of Cincinnati where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He earned a degree in architecture from Harvard University in 1959. Graves won the Rome Prize in 1960 and spent the two years at the American Academy in Rome. From 2003, Graves was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a spinal cord infection and he died at his home in Princeton, New Jersey on March 12,2015 at the age of 80. From 1964 until the end of his life, Graves was an architect in practice in Princeton. He directed the firm Michael Graves & Associates, which has offices in Princeton, in contrast to his later career, Graves spent much of the 1970s designing modernist residences, such as the Snyderman House in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For most of his career, however, Graves shifted away from modernism toward postmodernism, one of his most famous works, the Portland Building, which opened in 1982 in Portland, Oregon, is regarded as the first major built example of postmodern architecture. The celebrated but controversial building, composed of offices, is subject to an ongoing preservation debate. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011, Graves subsequently received a number of major commissions. Some of his most notable completed buildings include the Humana Building, the Denver Public Library, in the 1980s, he also designed an expansion for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, but the highly contested design went unbuilt due to local opposition. Graves also received recognition for his renovation of his personal residence in Princeton. In 1985, Graves designed a stainless steel teakettle featuring a red whistle shaped like a bird for the Italian company Alessi, Graves designed the scaffolding used for the restoration of the Washington Monument in Washington DC. During that assignment, which Target Corp sponsored, he met a Target executive who appreciated his product design and he began designing consumer products for the mass market and Target sold his products through their stores. By 2009, however, he noted the house doesnt have a wow factor, the partnership went from less than a dozen objects in 1997 to more than 2,000 when the partnership with Target ended in 2012. By 2013, concerned about Targets partnerships with other designers with less-successful outcomes, when a former Target executive became CEO of J. C. Penney, Graves products began being sold exclusively through J. C. Penney
14.
New York v. Strauss-Kahn
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The People of the State of New York v. The charges were dismissed at the request of the prosecution which pointed out serious doubts in Diallos credibility and he said that Diallo had lied and that he had no intention of negotiating with her over a civil suit she had filed against him. The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount, subsequently reported to have been $1.5 million. On May 19,2011, Strauss-Kahn was indicted by a jury and after posting $1 million bail. On 1 July, prosecutors told the judge that they had reassessed the strength of their case in the light of the housekeepers diminished credibility, and the case against him was near collapse. At the time of the attack, Strauss-Kahn was the head of the International Monetary Fund. Four days after his arrest, he resigned his post at the IMF. There was widespread speculation in France after his arrest that he was the victim of a conspiracy, Strauss-Kahn was accused of four felony charges—two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse—plus three misdemeanor offences, including unlawful imprisonment. The U. S. State Department determined that Strauss Kahns diplomatic immunity did not apply to the case, Strauss-Kahn hired New York lawyer Benjamin Brafman to represent him. He was reported as having sought public relations advice from a Washington-based consulting firm and his defense team hired a private detective agency to investigate the housekeepers past. Nafissatou Diallo was represented by Kenneth Thompson and Douglas Wigdor of Thompson Wigdor LLP, Thompson hired a Paris lawyer to look for women in France who may have been victimized by Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn appeared in court on May 16 before New York City Criminal Court judge Melissa Jackson, Strauss-Kahn, who had earlier agreed to a forensic examination, pleaded not guilty. Judge Jackson denied his bail request stating that the fact that Strauss-Kahn was apprehended on a departing airplane rais some concerns, after Strauss-Kahn turned over his passport and posted an additional $5 million bail bond, he was placed under house arrest in a residence in Lower Manhattan. On 24 May, it was reported that DNA tests of the semen found on Diallos shirt had shown a match with the DNA sample from Strauss-Kahn and he was arraigned on June 6 and pleaded not guilty. Outside the court, lawyers for the parties made statements, Benjamin Brafman, for Strauss-Kahn, said, In our judgment, once the evidence has been reviewed, it will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case whatsoever. Any suggestion to the contrary is not credible. Kenneth Thompson, Diallos lawyer, said all of Strauss-Kahns power, money, on 30 June 2011, the district attorney sent a letter to Strauss-Kahns defense team disclosing information about the housekeeper. Prosecutors met with Strauss-Kahns defense team the same day, following Strauss-Kahns release on bail the following day, the same paper reported that Diallo had admitted she lied about the events immediately following her encounter with Strauss-Kahn
15.
Guinea
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Guinea /ˈɡɪni/, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a country on the West coast of Africa. Guinea has a population of 10.5 million and an area of 245,860 square kilometres, the president is directly elected by the people and is head of state and head of government. The unicameral Guinean National Assembly is the body of the country. The judicial branch is led by the Guinea Supreme Court, the highest, the country is named after the Guinea region. Guinea is a name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the tropical regions and ends at the Sahel. Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85 percent of the population, Guineas people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media. Guineas economy is dependent on agriculture and mineral production. It is the second largest producer of bauxite, and has rich deposits of diamonds. The country was at the core of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, human rights in Guinea remain a controversial issue. In 2011 the United States government claimed that torture by security forces, the land that is now Guinea belonged to a series of African empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and made it part of French West Africa. Guinea declared its independence from France on 2 October 1958, from independence until the presidential election of 2010, Guinea was governed by a number of autocratic rulers. What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires, the Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in period that Islam first arrived in the region. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa, the most famous being Kankou Moussa, shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century. The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, which expanded its power from about 1460 and it continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just three years later, the Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms
16.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
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He is often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK. He sought the nomination in the Socialist Party presidential primary of 2006, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was born on 25 April 1949 in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is the son of lawyer Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, Strauss-Kahns father was born to an Alsatian Jewish father and a Catholic mother from Lorraine, Strauss-Kahns mother is from a Sephardic Jewish family in Tunisia. He and his parents settled in Agadir, Morocco, in 1951, but after the 1960 earthquake moved to Monaco, while the family was living in Monaco, Strauss-Kahn went to school at the Lycee Albert 1er. The family later returned to Paris, where he attended classes préparatoires at the Lycée Carnot and he graduated from HEC Paris in 1971 and from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and the Paris Institute of Statistics in 1972. From 1977 to 1981, Strauss-Kahn lectured at the University of Nancy-II, first as an assistant, and later as assistant professor, before taking a position at the University of Nanterre. In 1982, he was appointed to the Plan Commission as head of the department, and later as Deputy Commissioner. After his ousting in the 1993 parliamentary elections, Strauss-Kahn founded DSK Consultants, upon resigning from the Jospin government, he resumed his academic duties, teaching economics at Sciences Po from 2000 until his appointment to the IMF in 2007. There, he befriended the future Prime Minister of France Lionel Jospin, after the election of President François Mitterrand in 1981, he decided to stay out of government. He got involved in the Socialist Party, which was led by Lionel Jospin, the next year, he was appointed to the Commissariat au plan as commissaire-adjoint. In 1986 he was elected Member of Parliament for the first time in the Haute-Savoie department and he became chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Finances, famously exchanging heated words with the Finance Minister Pierre Bérégovoy. In 1991, he was nominated by Mitterrand to be Junior Minister for Industry and he kept his position in Pierre Bérégovoys government until the 1993 general elections. After the electoral defeat of 1993, Strauss-Kahn was appointed by former Prime Minister Michel Rocard chairman of the groupe des experts du PS, the same year, he founded the law firm DSK Consultants and worked as a business lawyer. This lobbyist activity earned him criticism from the alter-globalization left, in June 1995, he was elected mayor of Sarcelles and married Anne Sinclair, a famous television journalist working for the private channel TF1 and in charge of a political show, Sept sur Sept. In 1997, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin appointed Strauss-Kahn as Minister for Economics, Finance and Industry, the French economy achieved an excellent performance during his term of office, the GDP increased, whereas unemployment and public debt decreased. Strauss-Kahn was a proponent of reducing the working week to 35 hours. In 1998 he became one of the leaders of the Socialist Party for the elections in the Ile-de-France region. But as Strauss-Kahn refused to swap his ministry for the leadership of the Ile-de-France
17.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
18.
Glass
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Glass is a non-crystalline amorphous solid that is often transparent and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optoelectronics. The most familiar, and historically the oldest, types of glass are silicate glasses based on the chemical compound silica, the primary constituent of sand. The term glass, in usage, is often used to refer only to this type of material. Many applications of silicate glasses derive from their optical transparency, giving rise to their use as window panes. Glass can be coloured by adding metallic salts, and can also be painted and printed with vitreous enamels and these qualities have led to the extensive use of glass in the manufacture of art objects and in particular, stained glass windows. Although brittle, silicate glass is extremely durable, and many examples of glass fragments exist from early glass-making cultures, because glass can be formed or moulded into any shape, it has been traditionally used for vessels, bowls, vases, bottles, jars and drinking glasses. In its most solid forms it has also used for paperweights, marbles. Some objects historically were so commonly made of glass that they are simply called by the name of the material, such as drinking glasses. Porcelains and many polymer thermoplastics familiar from everyday use are glasses and these sorts of glasses can be made of quite different kinds of materials than silica, metallic alloys, ionic melts, aqueous solutions, molecular liquids, and polymers. For many applications, like glass bottles or eyewear, polymer glasses are a lighter alternative than traditional glass, silica is a common fundamental constituent of glass. In nature, vitrification of quartz occurs when lightning strikes sand, forming hollow, fused quartz is a glass made from chemically-pure SiO2. It has excellent resistance to shock, being able to survive immersion in water while red hot. However, its high melting-temperature and viscosity make it difficult to work with, normally, other substances are added to simplify processing. One is sodium carbonate, which lowers the transition temperature. The soda makes the glass water-soluble, which is undesirable, so lime, some magnesium oxide. The resulting glass contains about 70 to 74% silica by weight and is called a soda-lime glass, soda-lime glasses account for about 90% of manufactured glass. Most common glass contains other ingredients to change its properties, lead glass or flint glass is more brilliant because the increased refractive index causes noticeably more specular reflection and increased optical dispersion. Adding barium also increases the refractive index, iron can be incorporated into glass to absorb infrared energy, for example in heat absorbing filters for movie projectors, while cerium oxide can be used for glass that absorbs UV wavelengths
19.
Facade
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A façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. It is a loan word from the French façade, which means frontage or face. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect from a design standpoint, from the engineering perspective of a building, the façade is also of great importance due to its impact on energy efficiency. For historical façades, many local zoning regulations or other laws restrict or even forbid their alteration. The word comes from the French foreign loan word façade, which in turn comes from the Italian facciata, from faccia meaning face, the earliest usage recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is 1656. It was quite common in the Georgian period for existing houses in English towns to be given a fashionable new façade, in modern highrise building, the exterior walls are often suspended from the concrete floor slabs. Examples include curtain walls and precast concrete walls, the façade can at times be required to have a fire-resistance rating, for instance, if two buildings are very close together, to lower the likelihood of fire spreading from one building to another. In general, the systems that are suspended or attached to the precast concrete slabs will be made from aluminium or stainless steel. In recent years more lavish materials such as titanium have sometimes been used, whether rated or not, fire protection is always a design consideration. The melting point of aluminium,660 °C, is reached within minutes of the start of a fire. Firestops for such building joints can be qualified, too, putting fire sprinkler systems on each floor has a profoundly positive effect on the fire safety of buildings with curtain walls. Some building codes also limit the percentage of area in exterior walls. When the exterior wall is not rated, the slab edge becomes a junction where rated slabs are abutting an unrated wall. For rated walls, one may also choose rated windows and fire doors, on a film set and within most themed attractions, many of the buildings are only façades, which are far cheaper than actual buildings, and not subject to building codes. In film sets, they are held up with supports from behind. Within theme parks, they are usually decoration for the interior ride/attraction/restaurant, by Ulrich Knaack, Tillmann Klein, Marcel Bilow and Thomas Auer. ISBN 978-3-7643-7961-2 ISBN 978-3-7643-7962-9 Giving buildings an illusion of grandeur Poole, the article outlines the development of the façade in ecclesiastical architecture from the early Christian period to the Renaissance
20.
Streamline Moderne
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Streamline Moderne, or Art Moderne, is a late type of the Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Its architectural style emphasized curving forms, long lines. The first streamline buildings evolved from the work of New Objectivity artists, a movement connected to the German Werkbund, as the Great Depression of the 1930s progressed, Americans saw a new aspect of Art Deco—i. e. Cylindrical forms and long horizontal windowing also may be influenced by constructivism, as a result, an array of designers quickly ultra-modernized and streamlined the designs of everyday objects. Manufacturers of clocks, radios, telephones, cars, furniture, the style was the first to incorporate electric light into architectural structure. In the first-class dining room of the SS Normandie, fitted out 1933–35, twelve pillars of Lalique glass. The Streamline Moderne was both a reaction to Art Deco and a reflection of austere economic times, Sharp angles were replaced with simple, exotic woods and stone were replaced with cement and glass. Art Deco and Streamline Moderne were not necessarily opposites, the Sterling Streamliner Diners were diners designed like streamlined trains. Although Streamline Moderne houses are less common than streamline commercial buildings, the Lydecker House in Los Angeles, built by Howard Lydecker, is an example of Streamline Moderne design in residential architecture. In tract development, elements of the style were used as a variation in postwar row housing in San Franciscos Sunset District. The style was applied to such as electric clocks, sewing machines, small radio receivers. Their manufacturing processes exploited developments in science including aluminium and bakelite. Compared to Europe, the United States in the 1930s had a focus on design as a means to increase sales of consumer products. Streamlining was associated with prosperity and an exciting future and this hope resonated with the American middle class, the major market for consumer products. A wide range of goods from refrigerators to pencil sharpeners was produced in streamlined designs, streamlining became a widespread design practice for automobiles, railroad cars, buses, and other vehicles in the 1930s. Streamline style can be contrasted with functionalism, which was a design style in Europe at the same time. One reason for the designs in functionalism was to lower the production costs of the items. Streamlining and functionalism represent two different schools in modernistic industrial design, but both reflecting the intended consumer
21.
Croissant
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A croissant is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie-pastry named for its well-known crescent shape. Croissants and other viennoiserie are made of a layered yeast-leavened dough, the dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry, crescent-shaped food breads have been made since the renaissance, and crescent-shaped cakes possibly since antiquity. Croissants have long been a staple of Austrian and French bakeries and pâtisseries, in the late 1970s, the development of factory-made, frozen, pre-formed but unbaked dough made them into a fast food which can be freshly baked by unskilled labor. The croissanterie was explicitly a French response to American-style fast food, croissants are a common part of continental breakfast. The Kipferl, ancestor of the croissant, has documented in Austria going back at least as far as the 13th century. The Kipferl can be plain or with nuts or other fillings. This bakery, which served Viennese specialities including the Kipferl and the Vienna loaf, quickly became popular, the French version of the Kipferl was named for its crescent shape and has become an identifiable shape across the world. However, early recipes for non-laminated croissants can be found in the 19th century and it was typically used not on its own but for shells holding other ingredients. It does not appear to be mentioned in relation to the croissant until the 20th century, stories of how the Kipferl — and so, ultimately, the croissant — was created are widespread and persistent culinary legends, going back to the 19th century. However, there are no sources for any of these stories. The baker asked no reward other than the right to bake crescent-shaped pastries commemorating the incident. He was duly rewarded in this way, and the croissant was born and this has led to croissants being banned by some Islamic fundamentalists. Uncooked croissant dough can also be wrapped around any praline, almond paste, or chocolate before it is baked and it may be flavoured with dried fruit such as sultanas or raisins, or other fruits such as apples. In France and Spain, croissants are sold without filling and eaten without added butter. In the United States, sweet fillings or toppings are sometimes used, in the Levant, croissants are sold plain or filled with chocolate, cheese, almonds, or zaatar. In Germany, croissants are sometimes filled with Nutella or persipan, in southern Germany, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the croissant is typically called a Gipfeli, this usually has a crisper crust and is less buttery than the French-style croissant. Croissants are commonly served alongside coffee as a breakfast or merienda and these are referred to as medialunas because of their famous shape and are typically coated with a sweet glaze
22.
Art Deco
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Art Deco, sometimes simply referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. It took its name, short for Arts Decorators, from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925 and it combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. It featured rare and expensive materials such as ebony and ivory, the Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York were the most visible monuments of the new style. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the became more subdued. New materials arrived, including chrome plating, stainless steel and plastic, a more sleek form of the style, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s, it featured curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces. Art Deco became one of the first truly international architectural styles, with examples found in European cities, the style came to an end with the beginning of World War II. Deco was replaced as the dominant global style by the functional and unadorned styles of modernism. The term arts décoratifs was first used in France in 1858, in 1868, Le Figaro newspaper used the term art décoratifs with respect to objects for stage scenery created for the Théâtre de lOpéra. In 1875, furniture designers, textile, jewelry and glass designers and it took its present name of ENSAD in 1927. The term Art déco was then used in a 1966 newspaper article by Hillary Gelson in the Times, describing the different styles at the exhibit. Art Deco gained currency as a broadly applied stylistic label in 1968 when historian Bevis Hillier published the first major book on the style. Hillier noted that the term was already being used by art dealers and cites The Times, in 1971, Hillier organized an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which he details in his book about it, The World of Art Deco. The emergence of Art Deco was closely connected with the rise in status of decorative artists, the term arts décoratifs had been invented in 1875, giving the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration official status. The Société des artistes décorateurs, or SAD, was founded in 1901, a similar movement developed in Italy. The first international exhibition devoted entirely to the arts, the Esposizione international dArte decorative moderna, was held in Turin in 1902. Several new magazines devoted to decorative arts were founded in Paris, including Arts et décoration, Decorative arts sections were introduced into the annual salons of the Sociéte des artistes français, and later in the Salon dautomne. French nationalism also played a part in the resurgence of decorative arts, in 1911 the SAD proposed the holding of a major new international exposition of decorative arts in 1912
23.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
24.
Central Park
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Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City. Central Park is the most visited park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013. The park was established in 1857 on 778 acres of city-owned land, construction began the same year and the parks first area was opened to the public in the winter of 1858. Construction continued during the American Civil War farther north, and was expanded to its current size of 843 acres in 1873, Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1962. The Conservancy is a organization that contributes 75 percent of Central Parks $65 million annual budget and is responsible for all basic care of the 843-acre park. Between 1821 and 1855, New York City nearly quadrupled in population, as the city expanded northward up Manhattan, people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, to get away from the noise and chaotic life in the city. Since Central Park was not part of the original Commissioners Plan of 1811, John Randel, Jr. surveyed the grounds. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is still visible, it is embedded in a rock just north of the present Dairy and the 65th Street Transverse, the bolt marks the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue. The state appointed a Central Park Commission to oversee the development of the park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux developed what came to be known as the Greensward Plan, which was selected as the winning design. The Greensward Plan called for some 36 bridges, all designed by Vaux, ranging from rugged spans of Manhattan schist or granite, to lacy Neo-Gothic cast iron, several influences came together in the design. Landscaped cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn and Green-Wood had set examples of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes, the most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the separate circulation systems for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The crosstown commercial traffic was entirely concealed in sunken roadways, screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a rustic ambiance, before the construction of the park could start, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants. Most lived in villages, such as Harsenville, the Piggery District, or Seneca Village, or in the school. Approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under the rule of eminent domain during 1857, Seneca Village and parts of the other communities were razed to make room for the park. During the parks construction, Olmsted fought constant battles with the park commissioners, between 1860 and 1873, most of the major hurdles to construction were overcome and the park was substantially completed. The work was documented with technical drawings and photographs. More gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the parks commissioners assigned a name to each of the original 18 gates in 1862. The names were chosen to represent the diversity of New York Citys trades, for example, Mariners Gate for the entrance at 85th Street
25.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Frommer's
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Frommers is a travel guidebook series created by Arthur Frommer. Frommers has expanded to more than 350 guidebooks across 14 series. In 2007, Frommers celebrated its 50th anniversary of guidebook publishing, since May 2007, Arthur Frommer has been actively blogging about travel on the Frommers. com website. In 1957, Arthur Frommer, a corporal in the U. S. Army, wrote a travel guide for American GIs in Europe. The book ranked popular landmarks and sights in order of importance and it was the first travel guide to show Americans that they could afford to travel in Europe. Arthur Frommer returned to the United States and began practicing law, during that time, he continued to write and also began to self-publish guidebooks to additional destinations, including New York, Mexico, Hawaii, Japan and the Caribbean. In 1977, Frommer’s trademark was sold to Simon & Schuster, Inc. Pearson bought the division of Simon & Schuster in 1998. John Wiley & Sons acquired IDG Books in 2001, arthur’s daughter, Pauline Frommer, is now writing her own series of travel guidebooks and continuing the Frommer’s travel legacy. On August 13,2012, it was announced that Google will be acquiring Frommers for a sum of money. On March 2013, it was reported that Google ended the manufacturing of Frommers guidebooks, on April 2013, it was announced that the Frommers brand has been reacquired by Arthur Frommer and his daughter Pauline Frommer. He scheduled October that year to release the next batch of guidebooks, as of July 2013, Arthur Frommer struck a deal with Publishers Group West to distribute and promote Frommers books. More than 75 million books have sold since Frommer’s inception in 1957. Jamie later gets a job with Frommers at the end of EuroTrip, in the opening scene of 2003s Charlies Angels, Full Throttle, Cameron Diaz enters a Mongolian beer shack holding a Frommers guidebook. A copy can also be seen near the beginning of the 2008 film Jumper, complete references from the Frommers Guide book for Traveling around the world can be seen in the movie Last Stop for Paul. Notes Frommers. com – official site Frommers. com/Podcast – travel podcasts
27.
One Wall Centre
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The tower was designed by Perkins+Will Canada, and completed in 2001, and went on to win the Emporis Skyscraper Award for the Best New Skyscraper the same year. As of November 2012 it is the third-tallest completed building in the city, the first 27 floors of the building are the 4 Diamond Sheraton Hotel. Floors 28,29, and 30 are the Club Intrawest Resort floors, floors 31 to 48 are residential condominiums. The One Wall Centre tower is part of the Wall Centre complex owned by Wall Financial Corporation and was largely the vision of Peter Wall. These tanks are designed so that the frequency of the sloshing of the water in the tanks counteracts the harmonic frequency of the swaying of the building. The tower exterior has a two-tone appearance, the glass on the lower levels is a dark glass, while the glass on the upper levels is light coloured glass. After the design was approved, an amendment was requested to change it to a significantly darker glass. This was approved by a low level staff member in the department who apparently did not realize the significance of this change. When the glass started to be put on the building the city noted that this did not meet design that was reviewed by the public. The end result is the two toned structure that many consider would have been more architecturally stimulating if the single dark glazing had been allowed. The attempt to maintain the blue appearance did not end there. If all blinds were to be drawn at once, the building would achieve the intended dark blue appearance, however, a fogging effect put the long-term safety of these windows into question and the non-reflective nature of the light glass led to very high air-conditioning costs for residents. In 2010 the strata council for the owners of the portion of the One Wall building approved a major project to replace all of the windows in all of the residential units. The cost of replacement was estimated at $6.5 million, in 2012 the strata council received approval from the City to replace the light-coloured windows with matching dark windows. The Sheraton Wall Centre required a 23 m deep excavation — the deepest excavation prior to Living Shangri-La for a building in the city, the installation features 10 elevators,8 of which are high speed geared machines. The hotel is served by four 1,400 kg traction elevators at 244 m/min, with a group of 3 for public usage, there are also two hotel service elevators with 1,800 kg capacity each at 213 m/min. The apartments are served by 2 elevators, each with a capacity of 1,600 kg at 305 m/min, there are also 2 roped hydraulic elevators, the 1,400 kg to serve the parking garage, and the 2,300 kg to serve the banquet floors. There are 6 escalators installed by Fujitec and this building was featured in the movie X-Men, The Last Stand as one of the buildings they used to give the cure to the mutants
28.
Kingdom Centre
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Kingdom Centre, is a 99-storey,302.3 m skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Besides the shopping mall, Kingdom Tower contains the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, there is a 56 m skybridge atop the skyscraper. The building is situated on 100,000 square metres site with carparking for 3,000 vehicles, the upper third of the tower features an inverted parabolic arch. The building utilises butt jointed glazing combined with the lack of both distinguished floor lines and other buildings around it. The lower two thirds were constructed with a concrete frame while the top third has a tubular steel frame. The architectural model maker of the Center was Richard Tenguerian, al Faisaliyah Center List of tallest buildings in Saudi Arabia Jeddah Tower Kingdom Centre official website Omrania official website Kingdom Centre at Ellerbe Becket
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30 St Mary Axe
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30 St Mary Axe is a commercial skyscraper in Londons primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004, after plans to build the 92-storey Millennium Tower were dropped,30 St Mary Axe was designed by Norman Foster and Arup Group and it was erected by Skanska, with construction commencing in 2001. The building has become a feature of London and is one of the citys most widely recognised examples of contemporary architecture. The building stands on the sites of the Baltic Exchange, the headquarters of a global marketplace for ship sales and shipping information. On 10 April 1992 the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb close to the Exchange, the Exchange Hall was a celebrated fixture of the ship trading market. The Baltic Exchange and the Chamber of Shipping sold the land to Trafalgar House in 1995, the salvaged material was eventually sold for £800,000 and moved to Tallinn, Estonia, where it awaits reconstruction as the centrepiece of the citys commercial sector. In 1996, Trafalgar House submitted plans for the Millennium Tower, the Gherkin nickname was applied to the current building at least as long ago as 1999, referring to that plans highly unorthodox layout and appearance. On 23 August 2000, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott granted planning permission to construct a much larger than the old Exchange on the site. The site was special because it needed development, was not on any of the sight lines, the plan for the site was to reconstruct the Baltic Exchange. GMW Architects proposed a new rectangular building surrounding a restored exchange—the square shape would have the type of floor plan that banks liked. This gave the architect a free hand in the design, it eliminated the restrictive demands for a large, capital-efficient, money-making building, Swiss Res low level plan met the planning authoritys desire to maintain Londons traditional streetscape with its relatively narrow streets. The mass of the Swiss Re tower was not too imposing, like Barclays Banks former City headquarters in Lombard Street, the idea was that the passer-by in neighbouring streets would be nearly oblivious to the towers existence until directly underneath it. The building was constructed by Skanska, completed in December 2003, the primary occupant of the building is Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, which had the building commissioned as the head office for its UK operation. The building uses energy-saving methods, which allow it to use half the power that a tower would typically consume. Gaps in each floor create six shafts that serve as a ventilation system for the entire building. The shafts create a giant double glazing effect, air is sandwiched between two layers of glazing and insulates the office space inside. Architects promote double glazing in residential houses, which avoids the inefficient convection of heat across the narrow gap between the panes, but the tower exploits this effect. The shafts pull warm air out of the building during the summer, the shafts also allow sunlight to pass through the building, making the work environment more pleasing, and keeping the lighting costs down
30.
Taipei 101
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Taipei 101 – stylized as TAIPEI101 and formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center – is a landmark supertall skyscraper in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was classified as the worlds tallest in 2004. It used to have the fastest elevator in the world, traveling at 60.6 km/h, in 2016, the title for the fastest elevator was given to one in Shanghai Tower. Construction on the 101-story tower started in 1999 and finished in 2004, the tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening. The building was created as a symbol of the evolution of technology. Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments, the tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of stores, restaurants, fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Years Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media. Taipei 101 is primarily owned by pan-government shareholders, the name that was originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, until 2003, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was Taipei International Financial Center, Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground, as well as 5 basement levels. It was not only the first building in the world to break the mark in height. As of 28 July 2011, it is still the worlds largest and highest-use green building. It also surpassed the 85-story,347.5 m Tuntex Sky Tower in Kaohsiung as the tallest building in Taiwan, Taipei 101 claimed the official records for the worlds tallest sundial and the worlds largest New Years Eve countdown clock. Various sources, including the owners, give the height of Taipei 101 as 508 m, roof height. This lower figure is derived by measuring from the top of a 1.2 m platform at the base. CTBUH standards, though, include the height of the platform in calculating the overall height, Taipei 101 displaced the Petronas Towers as the tallest building in the world by 57.3 m. The record it claimed for greatest height from ground to pinnacle was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which is 829.8 m in height. Taipei 101s records for roof height and highest occupied floor briefly passed to the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2008, Taipei 101 is designed to withstand the typhoon winds and earthquake tremors that are common in the area east of Taiwan. Evergreen Consulting Engineering, the engineer, designed Taipei 101 to withstand gale winds of 60 metres per second, as well as the strongest earthquakes in a 2
31.
Turning Torso
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Turning Torso is a neo-futurist residential skyscraper in Sweden and the tallest building in Scandinavia. Located in Malmö on the Swedish side of the strait, it was built and is owned by HSB Sweden. It is regarded as the first twisted skyscraper in the world, the project was designed by Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 metres with 54 storeys and 147 apartments, in August 2015, it was announced that the building was the winner of the 10 Year Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. It won the 2005 Gold Emporis Skyscraper Award, Turning Torso is based on a sculpture by Calatrava, called Twisting Torso, which is a white marble piece based on the form of a twisting human being. It is the first twisting tower and it was on this occasion that Örbäck was inspired to build HSB Turning Torso. Shortly afterwards he travelled to Zurich to meet Calatrava, and ask him to design a building based on the idea of a structure of twisting cubes. Each floor consists of a pentagonal shape rotating around the vertical core. The two bottom segments are intended as office space, segments three to nine house 147 apartments. Construction started in the summer of 2001, the construction of part of this building was featured on Discovery Channel Extreme Engineering TV programme which showed how a floor of the building was constructed. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the 86-metre Kronprinsen had been the citys tallest building, the apartments were initially supposed to be sold, but insufficient interest resulted in the apartments being let. The owner has several times tried to sell the building. The construction costs were almost double the estimate, on 18 August 2006, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner parachuted onto the Turning Torso, and then jumped off it. Floor 53 and 54 in the Turning Torso are conference floors booked and managed by Sky High Meetings, since 2009 the owner HSB has decided to let the public visit floor 53/54 - only on special scheduled days and pre-booking is required
32.
Hearst Tower (Manhattan)
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The Hearst Tower is a building with the addresses of 300 West 57th Street and 959 Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The six-story base of the building was commissioned by the founder, William Randolph Hearst. The building was completed in 1928 at a cost of $2 million, the original cast stone facade has been preserved in the new design as a designated Landmark site. Originally built as the base for a skyscraper, the construction of the tower was postponed due to the Great Depression. The new tower addition was completed nearly eighty years later, and 2,000 Hearst employees moved in on June 26,2006, the uncommon triangular framing pattern required 9,500 metric tons of structural steel—reportedly about 20% less than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower was the first skyscraper to break ground in New York City after September 11,2001, the building received the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award, citing it as the best skyscraper in the world completed that year. Hearst Tower is the first green high-rise office building completed in New York City, the floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer, rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. 85% of the structural steel contains recycled material. The atrium features escalators which run through a 3-story water sculpture titled Icefall, a wide waterfall built with thousands of glass panels, the water element is complemented by a 70-foot-tall fresco painting titled Riverlines by artist Richard Long. The layout of the Hearst Tower is such that the facade is very jagged, plans for a rig, designed by Tractel-Swingstage, to hold window cleaners, took 3 years and 3 million dollars because of the buildings concave windows, referred to as birds mouths. The device was installed in April 2005 on 420 feet of elevated steel track looping the roof of the tower, on June 12,2013, two window cleaners were trapped on the window cleaning crane partway down from the top of the tower. The unique zigzag grid on the exterior and birds mouth divots on its corners necessitated development of a special scaffold for window washers. Tokyo Ginko Kyokai Building Diagrid Notes Sources Up to the Sky, Hearst Tower, Documentary by Sabine Pollmeier and Joachim Haupt. Hearst Tower Documentary produced by Treasures of New York Stichweh, Dirk, prestel Publishing, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-7913-4054-9. Luxis, Hearst Tower New York, NY Hearst Magazine Tower at Structurae in-Arch. net, The Hearst Magazine Building background New York Architect Images
33.
Het Strijkijzer
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Het Strijkijzer is a residential and office skyscraper in The Hague, Netherlands. It is 132 metres with 42 floors, making it the third tallest building. Inspired by the Flatiron Building in New York City, its name is the Dutch word for the ironing appliance, the building contains 300 studio flats for students and first-time property owners, and 51 luxury flats, accessible by a separate lift. There are also furnished flats for rental on a weekly or monthly basis, below is space for catering, a laundromat, ironing facilities and office space. Since 2011, there is a terrace on the 42nd floor. From the terrace, one can see the ships on the North Sea, construction of Het Strijkijzer started in 2005. The contractor, Boele & van Eesteren, thus had to pay attention to the safety aspect and to the minimising of noise. The lower floors were made of concrete poured on-site and the floors were completely constructed with precast concrete. Construction progressed with an average of two floors per week, Het Strijkijzer was topped off in March 2007. In June 2007 the building was capped with a crown which was mentioned in the news shortly after installation because in high winds it emitted a high-pitched whistling sound. Hoftoren and Prinsenhof Tower in The Hague have also had problems because of the nature of their tops. In the short term, the problem has been alleviated by affixing 380 plywood sheets to the crown, a visually more pleasing, permanent solution to replace this temporary measure is being sought. The corners of the triangle are rounded, and each has its own lobby, pair of lifts, the southern entrance, at the end of the longer wing, is for the residents of the studio flats. Both at the base of the building and at six floors higher up, on the small north-eastern side of these six floors, a display was attached in 2011. Measuring 19x14 metres, this LED display features Twitter messages, photos of local events, advertisements and, regularly, residents also receive a keycard which gives them access to their apartment and storage
34.
Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower
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Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower is a 204-metre, 50-story educational facility located in the Nishi-Shinjuku district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The building is home to three institutions, Tokyo Mode Gakuen, HAL Tokyo, and Shuto Ikō. Completed in October 2008, the tower is the second-tallest educational building in the world and is the 17th-tallest building in Tokyo and it was awarded the 2008 Skyscraper of the Year by Emporis. com. Before selecting a design for its new Tokyo location, Mode Gakuen held a competition asking architects to submit proposals for the building. The only condition was that the building could not be rectangular, Mode Gakuen received more than 150 proposals by approximately 50 architects. The winning proposal was a structure designed by Tange Associates. According to Tange Associates the buildings cocoon shape symbolizes a building that nurtures the students inside, white aluminum and dark blue glass exterior form the structures curved shell, which is criss-crossed by a web of white diagonal lines earning it the name Cocoon Tower. The buildings design earned the firm the Emporis. com 2008 Skyscraper of the year award, built on the former site of the now demolished Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Company headquarters, construction of the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower began in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008. The 204-metre-tall, 50-story tower is the second-tallest educational building in the world and is the 17th-tallest building in Tokyo, the vertical campus can accommodate 10,000 students for the three vocational schools that occupy the building. Tokyo Mode Gakuen, for which the building in named after, is a fashion school, the other schools, HAL Tokyo and Shuto Ikō, are information technology and medical schools, respectively, that are operated by Mode Gakuen University. Each floor of the tower contains three rectangular classrooms that surround an inner core, the inner core consists of an elevator, a staircase and a support shaft. Every three floors, a student lounge is located between the classrooms and faces three directions, east, southwest and northwest. Mode Gakuen Spiral Towers 30 St Mary Axe Media related to Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Aqua (skyscraper)
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Aqua is an 82-story mixed-use residential skyscraper in the Lakeshore East development in downtown Chicago, Illinois. Designed by a led by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, with James Loewenberg of Loewenberg & Associates as the Architect of Record. The buildings eighty-story,140,000 sq ft base is topped by a 82,550 sq ft terrace with gardens, gazebos, pools, hot tubs, a walking/running track, each floor covers approximately 16,000 sq ft. The Aqua was awarded the Emporis Skyscraper Award as 2009 skyscraper of the year, Aqua was designed by Jeanne Gang, principal and founder of Studio Gang Architects, and it was her first skyscraper project. The project was the largest ever awarded to an American firm headed by a woman, Loewenberg & Associates are the architects of record, led by James Loewenberg. The Aqua Tower is located at 225 North Columbus Drive, and is surrounded by high-rises, to capture views of nearby landmarks for Aquas residents, Gang stretched its balconies outward by as much as 12 ft. The result is a composed of irregularly shaped concrete floor slabs which lend the facade an undulating. Gang cites the striated limestone outcroppings that are a topographic feature of the Great Lakes region as inspiration for these slabs. The building contains 55,000 sq ft of retail and office space, in addition to 215 hotel rooms,476 rental residential units, Aqua is the first downtown building to combine condos, apartments and a hotel. Carlson Hotels Worldwide announced May 12,2010, that it agreed to spend $125 million to open the first Radisson Blu hotel in the United States on 18 vacant floors of the highrise, the name Aqua was assigned to the building by Magellan Development Group LLC. Sustainability was an important factor in Aquas design, Gang and her team refined the terrace extensions to maximize solar shading, and other sustainable features will include rainwater collection systems and energy-efficient lighting. The green roof on top of the base will be the largest in Chicago. The tower will seek LEED certification. construction. com/people/awards/2009/0107-PaulTreacy. asp
36.
8 Spruce Street
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8 Spruce Street is one of the tallest residential towers in the world, and it was the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere at the time of opening in February 2011. The building was developed by Forest City Ratner, designed by Frank Gehry Architects and WSP Cantor Seinuk Structural Engineers and it contains a public elementary school owned by the Department of Education. Above that and grade-level retail, the tower contains only residential rental units, the school is sheathed in reddish-tan brick, and covers 100,000 square feet of the first five floors of the building. It hosts over 600 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade classes, a fourth floor roof deck holds 5,000 square feet of outdoor play space. Above the elementary school is a 904-unit luxury residential tower clad in stainless steel, the apartments range from 500 square feet to 1,600 square feet, and consist of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. All units are priced at market-rate, with no low or moderate income-restricted apartments, all units are rental-only, none are available for purchase. The building originally included space for New York Downtown Hospital next door, the hospital was allocated 25,000 square feet, of parking below ground. As of 2016, it is a valet parking garage. There are public plazas on both the east and west sides of the building, one 11,000 square feet, street-level retail, totaling approximately 1,300 to 2,500 square feet, is included as part of the project. Early reviews of the 8 Spruce Street tower have been favorable, New Yorker magazines Paul Goldberger described it as one of the most beautiful towers downtown. Comparing Gehrys tower to the nearby Woolworth Building, completed in 1913, Goldberger said, even so, it is as majestic as its cross-town rival, the great neo-Gothic Woolworth Building designed by Cass Gilbert at 233 Broadway on the other side of City Hall Park. Gehry designed both the exterior, interiors and amenities spaces, along with all 20 model apartments, the building received the Emporis Skyscraper Award for 2011
37.
Absolute World
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Absolute World is a Residential condominiums twin tower skyscraper complex in the five tower Absolute City Centre development in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The project was built by Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group, with the first three towers completed, the last two towers were topped off at 50 and 56 storeys. Over six hundred registrants and ninety-two submissions from architects in seventy countries took part in this competition. On January 30,1995, an announcement was made at Atrium at BCE Place in downtown Toronto at 12,00 PM informing the public who the six finalists were along with seven honorary mentions. Submissions were judged by a panel which included architects, civic leaders, the public was invited to vote for the favourite designs which were on display at the Square One Shopping Centre as well as online, along with the judging panel. The voting was to stop on March 22,2007 with the winning design announced from CN Tower on March 28,2007 at 10,30 AM. On March 28, at 10,30 AM, Yansong Ma, founder of the MAD office, sales were to start in May 2007 with construction beginning later that year, and anticipated completion in 2009. Within days of the announcement, the building had been nicknamed the Marilyn Monroe tower due to its curvaceous. Burka Varacalli Architects, a Toronto firm, was hired as MADs local partner in April 2007. On June 14,2012, the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the larger of the two towers twists 209 degrees from the base to the top, making it very similar to Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden. The structural design was done by Sigmund Soudack & Associates Inc, the tower has six levels of underground parking. The following table lists the amount of rotation for each floor of Tower 1, List of tallest buildings in Mississauga List of twisted buildings Absolute Condos official website Skyscrapernews article on the building Absolute World images gallery at Urban Toronto
38.
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
39.
Wangjing SOHO
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Wangjing SOHO is a complex of three curvilinear asymmetric skyscrapers in Wangjing, a suburb of Beijing, China between central Beijing and Beijing Capital International Airport. According to Zaha Hadid, the architect, it is a welcome. The towers contain both office and retail space, originally the SOHO was designed as a two-tower complex but due to height concerns it was redesigned as a three-tower project featuring towers of lower maximum height. One of the more than a dozen properties developed by SOHO China, the structure was designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Architecture News Daily describes it as three curved towers whose “shimmering”, metallic skin unifies the complex as each volume appears to “dance” around each other. According to Der Spiegel, the design of the Wangjing SOHO has been pirated, satoshi Ohashi of Zaha Hadid Architects mentioned that the Chongqing project may have obtained details of the SOHO project in digital form. Ohashi mentioned that Zaha Hadid Architects had taken measures against Chongqing Meiquan Properties Ltd. He also mentioned that, But even if the rules in favor of SOHO. But it could order the payment of compensation, during the press conference the Chinese Intellectual Property commission was present and issued a report at the end of the event. The developer of the Chongqing Meiquan project later wrote in the blog, “Never meant to copy. Koolhaas calls these architects Photoshop designers and says, Photoshop allows us to make collages of photographs -- this is the essence of architectural, design today becomes as easy as Photoshop, even on the scale of a city. Zaha Hadids reaction was more philosophical, she said that it would be exciting if the cloned designs came up in the future with innovative design mutations
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Shanghai Tower
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The Shanghai Tower is a 632-metre, 128-story megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. As of 2015, it is the worlds tallest building, by height to highest usable floor and it also has the worlds highest observation deck within a building or structure, and the worlds fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 m/s. It is the worlds second-tallest building by height to architectural top and its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine separate zones divided between office, retail and leisure use. Construction work on the began in November 2008 and topped out on 3 August 2013. The exterior was completed in summer 2015, and work was considered complete in September 2015, although the building was originally scheduled to open to the public in November 2014, the actual public-use date slipped considerably. The observation deck was opened to visitors in July 2016, the period from July through September 2016 was termed a test run or commissioning period, planning models for the Lujiazui financial district dating back to 1993 show plans for a close group of three supertall skyscrapers. The first of these, the Jin Mao Tower, was completed in 1999, the Shanghai Tower is owned by Yeti Construction and Development, a consortium of state-owned development companies which includes Shanghai Chengtou Corp. Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development Co. and Shanghai Construction Group, funding for the towers construction was obtained from shareholders, bank loans and Shanghais municipal government. The tower had a construction cost of US$2.4 billion. The Shanghai Tower was designed by the American architectural firm Gensler, the tower takes the form of nine cylindrical buildings stacked atop each other, totalling 127 floors, all enclosed by the inner layer of the glass façade. Between that and the layer, which twists as it rises. Each of these nine areas has its own atrium, featuring gardens, cafés, restaurants and retail space, both layers of the façade are transparent, and retail and event spaces are provided at the towers base. The tower is able to accommodate as many as 16,000 people on a daily basis, the Shanghai Tower joins the Jin Mao Tower and SWFC to form the worlds first adjacent grouping of three supertall buildings. The tower will also incorporate a museum, the towers sub-levels provide parking spaces for 1,800 vehicles. The vertical transportation system for Shanghai Tower was designed by an American consultant, access to the hotel is through a fifth sky lobby at levels 101/102. Each two-level sky lobby serves as a community center for that zone of the building, with such amenities as food and beverage and these three shuttle elevators are supplemented by three fireman’s elevators which will significantly increase the visitor throughput to the observation deck at peak usage periods. In September 2011, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced that it had won a bid to construct the Shanghai Towers elevator system, Mitsubishi supplied all of the towers 149 elevators, including three high-speed models capable of travelling at 1,080 metres per minute. When they were installed, they were the worlds fastest single-deck elevators, the building also broke the record for the worlds furthest-travelling single elevator, at 578.5 metres, surpassing the record held by the Burj Khalifa
41.
VIA 57 West
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VIA57 West is the name of a residential building designed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group. The pyramid shaped tower block or tetrahedron rises 467 ft and 35 stories tall and is located on West 57th Street in Hells Kitchen, Manhattan, Bjarke Ingels met the New York developer Douglas Durst in the early 2000s when he was in Denmark with his Danish wife. In spring 2010, Durst Fetner Residential commissioned BIG to bring a new residential typology to Manhattan, in 2011, BIG opened an office in New York to supervise W57s development and construction. By mid-2012, the office had a staff of about 50, West 57 is Ingelss first New York project. The 709-unit building resembles a pyramid with a steeply sloped facade. The triangular structure has been described as a hybrid between a European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, the building has a floor area of 80,000 square metres, including residential and retail programming. The northern façade of the features a number of balconies skewed at a 45-degree angle. Landmark Theatres will operate an eight screen theatre on the floor of the building. 2016 CTBUH Tall Building Awards, Best Tall Building Americas 2016 International Highrise Award Capps, BIG Architects, Bjarke Ingels Group Projects 2001–2010, Design Media Publishing Ltd,2011
42.
Four Seasons Hotel New York
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Four Seasons Hotel New York is a luxury hotel in New York that opened in 1993. Guest rooms begin at $950 per night, the Ty Warner Penthouse Suite, billed at US$50,000 per night, is listed at number 3 on Worlds 15 most expensive hotel suites compiled by CNN Go in 2012. In the 1980s, William Zeckendorf, a prominent American real estate developer, robert H. Burns, founder of Regent International Hotels, approached Harunori Takahashi, owner of EIE International Corporation company to build a luxurious hotel on the property. When the hotel was announced in January 1989, it was to have a tower of 46 stories. Completion was planned for late 1991, construction was financed by a loan from a consortium of six Japanese banks, led by the Long-Term Credit Bank. The others were the Ashikaga Bank, Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation, Mitsui Trust and Banking Company, Nippon Credit Bank, the hotel was named Regent New York Hotel and managed by Regent International Hotels of Hong Kong, in which EIE International had a 30 percent interest. The cost of construction was more than US$1 million per room. When the Japanese real estate market imploded in 1990, the hotel was sold to the Four Seasons group to recover bad loans. Today, the hotel is owned by Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, L. L. C. at 682 feet tall and 52 stories, it is the second tallest hotel in New York City, and the fourth tallest in the U. S. In 2006, the Four Seasons New York opened the Michelin star restaurant, the hotel is noted for its luxurious interiors which have an art moderne quality. I. M. Pei and Frank Williams collaborated as the architects, I. M. Pei was also the responsible for the interiors of the public spaces in the hotel. The building has more in common with the Waldorf Astoria and other hotels of the 1920s than it does with Peis other works, in 2004, in collaboration with Peter Marino, Pei came out of retirement to re-design the 52nd Penthouse Suite floor. This is especially significant since Peter Marino is known to refuse collaboration in any hotel or resort development projects, the hotel maintained a spot on the Conde Nast Traveler Gold List for ten consecutive years. Also the hotel has a reputation for appearing on both the AAA Five Diamond Award list and the Mobil Travel Guide Five Star list every year since its opening in 1994. Four Seasons Hotels List of tallest buildings in New York City Four Seasons New York Website Design notices in-Arch. net, The Four Seasons Hotel
43.
Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
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The Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, also known as 30 Park Place, is a hotel and residential skyscraper in Tribeca, Manhattan, New York City. At 937 feet, the property is the tallest residential building Downtown, offering panoramic views of the Midtown skyline. Below is a 185-room Four Seasons Hotel, with its own lobby on Barclay Street, the property was purchased in 2006, but funding for construction was not secured until 2013. Developed by Silverstein Properties, the tower was designed by Robert A. M. Stern Architects, in May 2013, Silverstein Properties secured $660 million for construction financing. Tishman Construction is managing the project, Construction began in the fall of 2013 and is expected to be complete in 2016. The building topped out in early 2015, and installation of the exterior, the hotel celebrated its grand opening on September 19,2016. It is the second tallest residential building in Downtown Manhattan, after 70 Pine Street
44.
Mandarin Oriental, New York
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Mandarin Oriental, New York, is a five-star hotel located in Manhattans Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in New York City, managed by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. A part of the multi-use Time Warner Center development, the hotel opened its doors in December 2003, in addition to the 248 guestrooms and suites, the hotel provides services for 64 residences. The hotel has received national and international awards, and operates the only Forbes Five-Star spa in Manhattan. The Mandarin Oriental is located more than 280 feet above ground in the tower of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The Time Warner Center contains 2,800,000 sq ft of space and is to date the largest such development in New York City history. The AAA Five-Diamond awarded hotel contains 202 guestrooms and 46 suites on floors 35 to 54 of the Time Warner Center with views of Central Park, vivienne Tam, a noted New York fashion designer, designed the hotel’s signature fan, a modern fan displayed in the hotel lobby. Dale Chihuly created two glass pieces installed in the hotel, the first is a chandelier, created in a unique collaboration with Waterford Crystal, weighing approximately 2,100 pounds and comprising 683 hand blown glass and crystal pieces. The second installation, located in the 35th floor lobby, is Chihuly’s first foray into glass gardens, the individual units range from 1,000 sq ft to full-floor apartments with over 8,000 sq ft of private space. The full-service apartments have complete access to the hotel’s amenities & services – including the concierge, housekeeping, room service, Top 50 Large Hotels in US/Canada Top Mainland US Hotels One of the Best Hotels in the World One of the World’s Best Places to Stay Asiate selected No
45.
One57
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Upon completion in 2014, it stood at 1,005 feet tall, making it the tallest residential building in the city for a few months until the completion of 432 Park Avenue. The building has 92 condominium units on top of a new Park Hyatt Hotel with 210 rooms, Extell Development Company’s founder and President, Gary Barnett, spent 15 years assembling the property and air rights on 57th Street. At first, he said he wanted to build a 300,000 square-foot building, foundation work started in January 2010. In May 2012, it was announced a buyer had agreed to pay a price in New York of more than $90 million for the 10. Just two months later, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, after the sales offices had been open for six months, Extell announced One57 was 50% sold with $1 billion in transactions. On June 20,2012, it was announced that framework for the top floor had been completed, shortly after, it was revealed the 13, 550-square-foot “Winter Garden” duplex penthouse, located on the 75th and 76th floors, had gone into contract for an undisclosed amount. In October 2012, entrepreneur Michael Hirtenstein and One57 developer Gary Barnett had a public clash regarding a unit Hirtenstein agreed to purchase in the building. Hirtenstein claimed he would not spend $16 million for a unit without seeing it, by November 5, the crane was secured and through traffic in the surrounding area was allowed. The New York City Department of Buildings also stated they had received complaints about the work site. However, the crane was inspected a week earlier and considered in good shape, City officials called the failure of the boom a freakish occurrence. In May 2013, Extell announced plans to hoist a new crane on May 10–11, the plans endorsed by the New York City Buildings Department involved a mandatory evacuation of the neighboring Alwyn Court as well as the Briarcliff Apartment Building during the process. The residents of the building would receive up to $1,500. The coop board at Alwyn Court announced that it would seek an order against the forced evacuation. The crane was hoisted on May 11 as planned after Extell and its tasks completed, the replacement crane was removed on November 11,2013. Neither Extell nor Lend Lease has ever offered any explanation of the fire, the cause of the fire remains a mystery. The tower was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc, the interiors are by New York-based designer Thomas Juul-Hansen. The use of dark and light glass on the building’s exterior creates vertical stripes, while also manipulating sunlight, the tower is characterized by its rippled canopies and numerous setbacks on 57th Street, its mottled fenestration, curved tops, scoops and accentuated verticality. One57 is currently the tallest mid-block building in New York City, having succeeded 40 Wall Street, One57 was named Worst Building of the Year in 2014 by Curbed. com, whose review said, Pretty much everyone agrees that its wavy blue facade is ugly
46.
The Peninsula New York
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The Peninsula New York is a luxury hotel located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street. The hotel is part of the Peninsula Hotel Group who are based in Hong Kong and owned and operated by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, the hotel was bought in 1988 by the Peninsula group for a price of $127 million. The Peninsula New York has received the AAA Five Diamond Award for thirteen consecutive years, the Peninsula Hotel is located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street. This being the most expensive street in the world, a number of stores are nearby. These include De Beers, Fendi, Armani, Prada and Abercrombie & Fitch, some tourist attractions near the hotel include Rockefeller center, St. Patricks Cathedral, Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall. The closest Subway station to the hotel is the Fifth Ave Avenue Station located on East 53rd street, the hotel was built in 1905 as the Gotham Hotel. It is designed in the neo-classical style, regis just across the street from the Gotham. The hotel was acquired in the 1930s by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, as they needed the maximum amount of leasable retail floor area, the company tore out many of the hotels public rooms. In 1979, the Swiss hotel owner Rene Hatt took over the hotel and started a renovation process. It was this renovation added the hotels rooftop pool and fitness centre. The Nova Park plan failed, and the hotel was reopened in 1987, after $200 million in work, as the Hotel Maxims de Paris. That enterprise quickly failed, and the hotel was again in 1988 to its current owners. They spent $45 million on a renovation in 1999. John William Warde was a 26-year-old native of Southampton, New York who committed suicide on July 26,1938 and he leaped from a window ledge of the 17th floor of the Gotham Hotel. This case of suicide is famous because a crowd of 10,000 gathered below to watch the events and 400 police officers were also present to try. The 1951 motion picture Fourteen Hours is based on the events of that day, the hotel offers a limousine transfer service to New Yorks three main airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. For these transfers there is a choice between limousines or Mini Clubmans, the six function rooms have a combined floor area of 3,500 sq ft. The Fitness Centre at the Peninsula New York is located at the top floor, the pool is in a glass-enclosed room and during the summer a sundeck is available
47.
The Pierre
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The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze & Weaver, the hotel opened in 1930, during 2005, the hotel was acquired by Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces of India. Standing 525.01 feet tall, it is located within the Upper East Side Historic District as designated in 1981 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Charles Pierre went on to study cuisine in Paris, and he later traveled to London where he met the American restaurateur, Louis Sherry. Kahn, Finley J. Shepherd, Edward F. Hutton, Walter P. Chrysler, the 714-room hotel that rose forty-one stories on the site of the Gerry mansion at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 61st Street allowed for unrestricted views of Central Park. It cost $15 million to build and opened to grand fanfare in October 1930 as The Pierre, the building was designed by the New York firm of Schultze and Weaver as a skyscraper that rises in a blond-brick shaft from a limestone-fronted Louis XVI base. As markets continued to collapse during the Great Depression, The Pierre went into bankruptcy in 1932, the oilman, J. Paul Getty, bought it for about $2.5 million in 1938 and subsequently sold many cooperative apartments in the building. Beginning in 1948, New York Citys ABC television and FM radio station broadcast from a tower atop The Pierre, president-elect Richard M. Nixon stayed at The Pierre for several months in 1968-69 before moving to Washington. The Pierre was the scene of the Pierre Hotel Robbery in 1972, today, the hotel contains 189 guest accommodations, including forty-nine suites, and eleven of which are grand suites. Dining options in the include the restaurants Perrine, The Rotunda. The Pierre came under the management of the Four Seasons Hotels, in its 75th anniversary year in 2005, The Pierre became a Taj Hotel as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, a global chain of fine luxury hotels and resorts, succeeded as the new lessee and operator. Taj Hotels is part of Indias Tata Group, in 1959, seventy-five apartments were sold to a cooperative of private residents, while The Pierres owner at that time, John Paul Getty, retained control of the hotels services and guest rooms. Thirteen of the apartments have since become grand suites, a triplex co-op that occupies the top three floors was placed on the market in 2003, with a pricetag of $70 million. This 11, 000-square-foot apartment features five bedrooms, four terraces, a library, a wine cellar, a black Belgian-marble staircase. It was originally purchased by the hedge-fund manager Martin Zweig, from publishing heiress Mary Fairfax and it was again put on the market in 2013 at the asking price of $125 million. The board of directors has turned-down two would-be buyers, the penthouse returned to the market in March 2013 for an asking price of $125 million. The price was adjusted to $95 million later that year, frequently, The Pierre appeared as a setting in novels, films and in television series. The Pierre provided the backdrop for the awards ceremony scene in the movie Trainwreck, in her 1956 novel Chocolates for Breakfast, Pamela Moore has the character Anthony Neville living out of a luxury suite at The Pierre, where Courtney and Janet often visit him
