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Image source: Queensland State Archives Item ID ITM1102527 Expo 88 Fun Park rollercoaster, Brisbane.
Australia was approaching its bicentennial celebrations, and after Brisbane’s success hosting the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Brisbane City Council and the Queensland State Government were confident they could win the bid to hold the next World Exhibition.
Brisbane won the right to hold the event and Expo 88 was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 30 April 1988. By the time it closed, it had changed the way the world saw Brisbane and helped shaped the city as we know it today.
Starting with an estimated budget of $645 million, the Queensland State Government developed a World Expo that would recoup and support its own costs and promote international investment in Queensland, both during and after the event. South Bank, badly damaged in the 1973–74 floods, was chosen and the site acquired for $150 million. Developers completed construction on time and within budget. The targets set for ticket sales were reached 11 weeks before Expo 88 had even opened. It was off to a smashing start.
Celebrating ‘Leisure in the age of technology’, there was an incredible range of pavilions, performances, parades, comedy and artwork on show. Guests could experience over 50 restaurants filled with flavours from around the globe. Hosted over six months, it drew more than 18 million people to the renewed South Bank parklands district. An average of 100,000 people a day entered the gates.
An influx of royalty, celebrities and international visitors came to Brisbane for the exhibition, but it was Queensland residents who attended the most often, purchasing 500,000 season tickets. Expo 88 provided something the city needed: an easy-to-access recreational facility with exciting things to do, see and experience. Brisbanites returned again and again to socialise and enjoy the festival atmosphere.
The monorail was one of the most popular attractions. Giving travellers a view of the entertainments from above, it operated along a 2.3-kilometre track during Expo 88, taking up to 44,000 visitors a day from one side of Expo to the other, along the Brisbane River. Built by Swedish manufacturer Von Roll, the monorail cost $12 million and comprised four MkII trains with nine carriages each. The idea of keeping the monorail operating after Expo and extending it into the Brisbane CBD was discussed. Ultimately, the existing monorail wasn’t a feasible long-term people-moving solution and it was disbursed. Three trains were sold back to Von Roll and were used in Germany’s Europa-Park. The remaining train and some tracks were incorporated into the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast.
Some of the most significant installations, exhibitions and artworks from Expo 88 were relocated and continue to be enjoyed today. Ken Done AM, a prominent Australian artist and designer, was commissioned to produce the entry and exit statement art pieces for the Australia Pavilion. Using the word ‘Australia’, Done produced a sign nearly six metres tall that could not be missed by anyone who attended Expo 88. The letters have since been restored and are on display at the Caboolture Heritage Village. The Nepal Peace Pagoda was the only international pavilion that remained on-site, after a petition asking that it remain attracted about 70,000 signatures. The Japan Garden and Pond were gifted to the city of Brisbane and moved to the Botanic Gardens at Mt Coot-Tha.
The buzz of activity, the investment in South Bank’s infrastructure and the spotlight on Brisbane transformed the city. The physical legacy left by Expo 88 turned South Bank into a thriving social space and prominent cultural hotspot: 42 hectares was dedicated to the construction of the South Bank Parklands.
Story source: Queensland State Archives Blog: When the world comes to town: Expo 88
View to SE of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Transamerica Pyramid, Presidio, Sutro Tower, San Francisco Bay, from Marin Headlands
John Rice, Vice-Chairman, GE, Hong Kong SAR; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, Picture taken at the World Economic Forum on the MENA Region, Jordan 2015. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
um 1977. Leipzig. Blick vom City-Hochhaus (Uni-Hochhaus) auf die Innenstadt.
ORWOCHROM UT 18, Scan vom Dia.
Ore conveyors near an abandoned steel plant.
Convoyeurs de minerai à proximité d'une aciérie désaffectée
See full album here:
Deganwy is a small town in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,700. It lies in the Creuddyn Peninsula alongside Llandudno and Rhos-on-Sea. Historically part of Caernarfonshire, it is in a more English-speaking region of north Wales, with only 1 in 4 residents speaking Welsh as a first language. It is located south of Llandudno and to the east of Conwy, which is on the opposite side of the River Conwy, and with which it forms the Conwy community. Indeed, the name Deganwy has been interpreted in modern times as Din-Gonwy, which would mean "Fort on the River Conwy", but the historical spellings make it impossible for this to be the actual origin of the name although mentioned in Domesday Book is "the territory of the Decanae tribe". The original wooden castle was rebuilt in stone after 1210. Deganwy is in the ecclesiastical parish of Llanrhos, and has a Victorian era Gothic parish church dedicated to All Saints.
Deganwy has one bilingual primary school, Ysgol Deganwy.
Deganwy North Wales 2015
Maxisweg 13/06/2014 11h49
The expansion of the A10 in Amsterdam East is part of a huge infrastructural project to improve the road connection between Schiphol, Amsterdam and Almere. This includes the A9, A10 (East), A1 and A6 highways. The A1 is a highway which has roughly 2x3 to 2x4 lanes plus 1 to 2 reversible lanes for rush hours. In the year 2020 the A1 will have 2x5 lanes plus 2 reversible lanes for rush hours (wisselstrook). In 2013 the preparatory works started which can be seen here next to the exit 3 ("Muiden | Weesp"). This means the shifting of cables and pipes and installing pipelines for the supply of sand. But also some pylons for the electricity supply need to be relocated which is happening here. New pylons have to be built and connected and the old ones will have to be demolished afterwards to make room for the A1. Three men high above the ground at work to install the cables and its insulators.
More about this huge road project in the Netherlands:
Photography from a flight over the North American prairies: the journey was from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan into the province of Alberta. A snow-covered landscape shows an interplay of light and shadows.
Known as Lyndhurst Road till 1997, Ashurst is on the line from Southampton to Poole. It was opened in 1847 by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway and is the next station after Totton, going south.
Weathering steel pylons replaced the previous aged timber pylons and all the insulators have been replaced.
One of the truly remarkable things about the High Line is when it gets near the Hudson and suddenly you look out over something totally unexpected in Manhattan - open space!
This is especially true in the latest portion which goes all the way to 34th Street. We're directly over 11th Avenue here.
It's not the prettiest part of Manhattan, with 17 parked garbage trucks, train cars in the Hudson Yards, and huge construction projects all around. But it's old-skool beauty, with a great city's infrastructure at work.
Besides, it's big. Big is something you don't get much in this part of NYC.
Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands (LVS), it is billed as the world's most expensive stand-alone casino property at US$ 5.7 billion, including the cost of the prime land.
Marina Bay Sands is situated on 15.5 hectares of land with the gross floor area of 581,000 square metres. The iconic design has transformed Singapore's skyline and tourism landscape since it opened on 27 April, 2010. The property has a hotel, convention and exhibition facilities, theatres, entertainment venues, retailers, and restaurants.
Marina Bay Sands was one of two winning proposals for Singapore's first integrated resorts, the other being the Resorts World Sentosa, which incorporates Universal Studios Theme Park. The two resorts aimed to meet Singapore's economic and tourism objectives, and have 30-year casino licenses, exclusively for the first ten years.
Bidders were assessed based on four criteria:
tourism appeal and contribution
architectural concept and design
development investment
strength of the consortium and partners
On 27 May, 2006, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) was declared as the winner to develop the Marina Bay site in the prime new business district of Marina South. LVS highlighted its forte in Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions (MICE). LVS's founder Sheldon Adelson is a pioneer in Las Vegas and the key to his early business success.[3] In the Design Evaluation portion of the tender, a panel of local and international architects commended Sands' design as superior to other bids in terms of pedestrian circulation and layout, and it also fit in with the Marina Bay landscape best. They liked that the hotel towers were set back from the waterfront to open up expansive views of the city and the entire Marina Bay, making the skyline for Singapore's downtown more attractive and distinctive.Construction of the property commenced in early 2007 and was expected to be completed by 2009.
Singapore Tourism Board highlighted Sands' line-up of six celebrity chefs, such as Tetsuya Wakuda, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud and Mario Batali.
LVS submitted its winning bid on its own. Its original partner City Developments Limited (CDL), with a proposed 15% equity stake, pulled out of the partnership in the second phase of the tender process. CDL's CEO, Kwek Leng Beng said his company's pullout was a combination of factors – such as difficulties in getting numerous companies he owns to comply in time, as well as reluctance of some parties to disclose certain private information in probity checks required by the Singapore government. However, Kwek was retained as an advisor for Sands' bid.
Las Vegas Sands initially committed to invest S$3.85 billion in the project, not including the fixed S$1.2 billion cost of the 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) site itself. With the escalating costs of materials, such as sand and steel, and labour shortages owing to other major infrastructure and property development in the country, Sheldon Adelson placed the total cost of the development at S$8 billion as of July 2009.
Las Vegas Sands declared the undertaking as "one of the world's most challenging construction projects and certainly the most expensive stand-alone integrated resort property ever built". It expects the casino to generate at least $1 billion in annual profit. Two months after the initial phased opening, the casino attracts around 25,000 visitors daily, about a third being Singaporeans and permanent residents who pay a $100 daily entry levy or $2,000 for annual unlimited access. Half a million gamblers passed through the casino in June 2010. In the third quarter of 2012, the revenues of the Marina Bay Sands fell almost 28 per cent from a year earlier.
For the economy, Marina Bay Sands is projected to stimulate an addition of $2.7 billion or 0.8% to Singapore's Gross Domestic Product by 2015, employing 10,000 people directly and 20,000 jobs being created in other industries.
Moshe Safdie was approached to lead the design on this massive project. Taking inspiration from the form of card decks, led to the unique design of the three hotel towers. Other key structures of the property include the 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) ArtScience Museum, The Shoppes, Expo and Convention center and the casino. During the resort's planning and construction phases, feng shui consultants, the late Master Chong Swan Lek and Master Louisa Ong-Lee were consulted in regards to divination.
The engineering for the project was headed by Arup and Parsons Brinkerhoff (MEP/ELV). Arup had originally worked on prestigious projects such as the Beijing National Aquatics Centre and the Sydney Opera House. In spite of their experience in constructing challenging designs, the Marina Bay Sands project was described as the 'most difficult to carry out in the whole world' due to the amount of integration of the varied and advanced technologies needed to complete the project.
The extensive background music system was installed by Singapore based contractor Electronics & Engineering Pte Ltd
The Marina Bay Sands hotel has three 55-story towers with 2,561 luxury rooms and suites, which is capped by the Sands SkyPark, which offers 360-degree views of Singapore's skyline. The SkyPark is home to restaurants, gardens, a 150-metre vanishing edge and the world's largest public cantilever housing an observation deck. This architectural marvel stands at the height of 200 metres and boasts 12,400 square metres of space. Dining options at the Skypark include local celebrity chef restaurant, Sky on 57 (by Justin Quek), restaurant and nightclub KU DÉ TA, and executive club lounge The Club at Marina Bay Sands.
To help the Skypark withstand the natural motion of the towers caused by wind, engineers designed and constructed four movement joints beneath the main pools, each possessing a unique range of motion. The total range of motion is 500 millimetres (19.68 inches). In addition to wind, the hotel towers are also subject to settlement in the earth over time, hence custom jack legs were built and installed to allow for future adjustment at more than 500 points beneath the pool system. This jacking system is important primarily to ensure the infinity edge of the pool continues to function properly.[citation needed]
Connected to the hotel towers are the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands Casino and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
The Sands Expo and Convention Centre has more than 120,000 square metres or 1.3 million square feet of meeting space, making it one of the largest and most flexible locations in Asia. It is also the biggest MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions) facility in Singapore, and the ballroom is the largest in Southeast Asia, capable of hosting up to 11,000 delegates. The Sands Expo and Convention Centre has five floors of exhibition and convention space, with up to 2,000 exhibition booths and 250 meeting rooms. It has hosted events ranging from banquets, theater-style conventions, to exhibitions and roadshows.
Located near the Sands Expo and Convention Centre is the Marina Bay Sands Casino. Spanning 15,000 square metres over four levels of gaming, the casino features over 600 gaming tables and 1,500 slot machines along with two noodle bars, The Nest and Tong Dim, and local Chinese eatery, Fatt Choi Express.
Another attraction found at Marina Bay Sands is The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. With close to 800,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is Singapore's first large-scale luxury shopping mall in the Central Business District with boutiques such as Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Cartier and Prada. Other luxury stores include Salon by Surrender, Gucci, Hermès, Emporio Armani, Chopard, REDValentino, Dior, Dunhill, Vertu, Miu Miu, Saint Laurent Paris, Salvatore Ferragamo, Montblanc, Blancpain, and an Hermès Watch Boutique. Also housed within the Shoppes are the five of the six Celebrity Chef Restaurants – Cut (by Wolfgang Puck), Waku Ghin (by Tetsuya Wakuda), Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza (by Mario Batali), Guy Savoy (by Guy Savoy), and DB Bistro Moderne (by Daniel Boulud).
Other attractions within The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands include a canal which runs through the length of the Shoppes, in the same style as the Venetian in Las Vegas, two Crystal Pavilions, one housing renowned nightclubs – Avalon and Pangaea and the other the world's largest Louis Vuitton boutique. An indoor skating rink (synthetic ice) measuring 6,500 square feet (600 m2) as well as the MasterCard Theatres, compromising of the Sands Theatre and Grand Theatre which seat 1,680 people and 2,155 people respectively can also be found at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.
The MasterCard Theatres has played host to many international acts and plays since its opening, with Broadway smash musicals like The Lion King, Wicked, Annie, and The Phantom of the Opera. Other acts such as Cirque Éloize and A. R. Rahman's Jai Ho, located in the latter during their world tours.
Visitors to the Event Plaza at The Shoppes can enjoy the nightly Wonder Full show, a 13-minute light and water show featuring lasers, lights, water movements and graphics, set against the backdrop of Marina Bay Sands.
Marina Bay Sands is also home to the ArtScience Museum, With a form reminiscent of the lotus, the ArtScience Museum has been called "The Welcoming Hand of Singapore". It features an adjustable roof waterfall which uses rainwater collected when the roof is sealed in the day.
The resort also features an Art Path designed by Moshe Safdie, incorporating 11 installations by five artists including Zheng Chongbin, Antony Gormley, and Sol LeWitt. The 11 art installations were commissioned to integrate seamlessly with Moshe Safdie's iconic architecture. These art installations form the largest art commissions ever completed as part of an integrated architectual proccess
Track replacement work progresses on the 13th Incline.
These tracks once were the only path out of the State Street Subway on its south end, from 1943 when the subway opened until the early 1990s. As for where trains from the South Side used to go, all trains from the Dan Ryan line operated to Harlem/Lake via the Loop 'L', while all trains from the two branches of today's South Side Green Line went into the subway and up to Howard (basically, the south halves of the Red and Green Lines were once inverted).
During the Red Line South Reconstruction Project, this incline will be put back in regular passenger service when Red Line trains use the incline to ascend from the State Street Subway onto the South Side 'L' (normally used only by the Green Line), to operate to Ashland/63rd. Red Line service will operate 24/7 between Howard and Ashland/63rd, and free shuttle buses will connect riders from the elevated Garfield station (served by Red and Green Lines through the project) to stations south of 63rd.
Olympus OM-1 with Kodak 5075 safety film. I added a slight purplish tint to enhance the coolness - this was taken in the height of winter. Much grain with this film in the darker areas, I guess. Lost too much detail when trying to edit out - left in for "atmosphere." Wish I had paid more attention to the top of the frame instead of cutting off the wires. Oh well, it was taken about 30 years ago - hopefully I have learned something since then.
As in the previous posting, what you see no longer exists - replaced by drab square apartment blocks. The name of this roller coaster was "Atom Smasher." Very impressive name! If one of those wooden supports failed, I guess the passengers would be smashed to atoms. I am not sure about that house on the bottom. Could people have actually lived there? Must have been a little noisy in season.
The skylight-covered loading dock at the James A. Farley Building will be a pedestrian walkway connecting 34th Street and 31st Street in the planned Moynihan Station.
The James A. Farley Building, New York City's General Post Office (Zip Code 10001), located at 421 Eighth Avenue and occupying eight acres across two full city blocks, consists of the old general post office building and its western annex. The Farley Post Office holds the distinction of being the only Post Office in New York City that is open to the public 24 hours/7 days a week.
The James A. Farley Building was constructed in two stages. The original monumental front half, boasting the longest giantr order Corinthian colonnade in the world, was built by William M. Kendall of McKim, Mead & White from 1908-1913 and opened for postal business as the Pennsylvania Terminal in 1914. The imposing design was meant to match in strength the colonnade of Pennsylvania Station that originally faced it across the avenue. An unbroken flight of steps the full length of the colonnade provides access, for the main floor devoted to customer services is above a functional basement level that rises out of a dry moat giving light and air to workspaces below. Each of the square end pavilions is capped with a low saucer dome, expressed on the exterior as a low stepped pyramid.
In July 1918, the building was renamed the General Post Office Building and was doubled in space in 1934 by James Farley, replacing the 1878 Post Office at Park Row and Broadway. In 1982, the building was renamed once more as the James A. Farley Building. Farley was the nation's 53rd Postmaster General and served from 1933 to 1940. As a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 1940, he was only the second Roman Catholic to receive delegates towards such a nomination after Alfred E. Smith. Farley also served as a campain manager to both Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and is considered the finest Athletic Commissioner/Boxing Commissioner in New York State history.
The building prominently bears the inscription: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Commonly mistaken as an official motto of the United States Postal Service, it is actually taken from Herodotus' Histories (Book 8, Ch. 98) and describes the faithful service of the Persian system of mounted postal messengers under Xerxes I of Persia.
Moynihan Station, a planned train terminal, would expand Penn Station into the Farley Post Office Building. Plans for the expansion of the the busiest train station in the country, serving more than 550,000 daily passengers, the busiest train station in the country with more than 550,000 daily passengers. It has since gone through a portracted series of delays and redesigns over the years. Phase I of the current plan, "Moynihan Moving Forward", broke ground in 2010 and, with work occuring only on nights and weekends, is expected to be complete by 2016. The phase consists of mostly below-grade, transportation infrastructure improvements including the expansion of the Long Island Rail Road West End Concourse under the Farley building steps to serve Amtrak and New Jersey Transit platforms, new entrances through the Farley Building, and improved ventilation. The second phase includes a sky-lit grand hall with 1 million square feet of retail space. The Farley Building's facade will remain untouched, and it will retain retail postal lobby services . However, all mail processing operations will be relocated one block away to the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center.
The United States General Post Office was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966.
National Register #73002257 (1973)