Osaka Incineration Plant
Osaka's most bizarre tourist attraction looks more like a theme park than what it really is: a waste incineration plant. Built during the period when Osaka was going all out in its bid to host the 2008 Olympic games, Maishima was supposed to be an environmentally-friendly, aesthetically-pleasing facility that would fit in with the planned "Maishima Sports Island". It was designed by the world famous architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and is modelled after a similar plant in Austria. It looks unbelievably expensive, and the gold balls on the roof cost $4000 each, but according to the guide, the plant didn't cost any more than a traditional one because they cut corners in other areas.
Inside, visitors will see what must be the world's cleanest incineration plant. The whole place is spotless, high-tech, well-decorated and modern. Trucks pull up to a giant garbage pit, and two giant robotic hands (each 6m in circumference) pick up the garbage and dump it into a huge incinerator. The plant can handle 900 tons of garbage a day and is extremely impressive. (quirkyjapan.or)
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (December 15, 1928 – February 19, 2000) was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.
Hundertwasser's original and unruly artistic vision expressed itself in pictorial art, environmentalism, philosophy, and design of facades, postage stamps, flags, and clothing (among other areas). The common themes in his work utilised bright colours, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and a strong individualism, rejecting straight lines.
He remains sui generis, although his architectural work is comparable to Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) in its use of biomorphic forms and the use of tile. He was also inspired by the art of the Vienna Secession, and by the Austrian painters Egon Schiele (1890–1918) and Gustav Klimt (1862–1918).
He was fascinated by spirals, and called straight lines "the devil's tools". He called his theory of art "transautomatism", based on Surrealist automatism, but focusing on the experience of the viewer, rather than the artist. (Wikipedia)
Osaka Incineration Plant
Osaka's most bizarre tourist attraction looks more like a theme park than what it really is: a waste incineration plant. Built during the period when Osaka was going all out in its bid to host the 2008 Olympic games, Maishima was supposed to be an environmentally-friendly, aesthetically-pleasing facility that would fit in with the planned "Maishima Sports Island". It was designed by the world famous architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and is modelled after a similar plant in Austria. It looks unbelievably expensive, and the gold balls on the roof cost $4000 each, but according to the guide, the plant didn't cost any more than a traditional one because they cut corners in other areas.
Inside, visitors will see what must be the world's cleanest incineration plant. The whole place is spotless, high-tech, well-decorated and modern. Trucks pull up to a giant garbage pit, and two giant robotic hands (each 6m in circumference) pick up the garbage and dump it into a huge incinerator. The plant can handle 900 tons of garbage a day and is extremely impressive. (quirkyjapan.or)
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (December 15, 1928 – February 19, 2000) was an Austrian painter and architect. Born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna, he became one of the best-known contemporary Austrian artists, although controversial, by the end of the 20th century.
Hundertwasser's original and unruly artistic vision expressed itself in pictorial art, environmentalism, philosophy, and design of facades, postage stamps, flags, and clothing (among other areas). The common themes in his work utilised bright colours, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and a strong individualism, rejecting straight lines.
He remains sui generis, although his architectural work is comparable to Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) in its use of biomorphic forms and the use of tile. He was also inspired by the art of the Vienna Secession, and by the Austrian painters Egon Schiele (1890–1918) and Gustav Klimt (1862–1918).
He was fascinated by spirals, and called straight lines "the devil's tools". He called his theory of art "transautomatism", based on Surrealist automatism, but focusing on the experience of the viewer, rather than the artist. (Wikipedia)