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A Lockheed P-3C Orion, assigned to Patrol Squadron 47 "The Golden Swordsmen", sits on the ramp at Moffett Federal Airfield while a Patrol Squadron 10 "Red Lancers" Boeing P-8A Poseidon departs for NAS Jacksonville.
The sun is setting on the P-3's lifetime while the P-8 is being integrated into the US Navy, and she will ultimately replace the P-3 in the maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare roles.
Both aircraft were in town as part of the VP-50 memorial 25th anniversary. On 21 March, 1991, two Moffett-based P-3s from Patrol Squadron (VP) 50 collided in mid-air, claiming the lives of the 27 crewmembers aboard both aircraft.
Both Project Nadir and Project Zenith continued with their mission to apprehend the terrorist cell responsible for the oil platform attack through the arms dealer "Cobalt" and the financier "Cerium". As Project Zenith continued their surveillance on Cerium, Project Nadir continued to hunt for Cobalt which the teams believed will eventually lead them to the terrorist cell.
Based on the information provided by Cobalt's lieutenant, who was captured in Europe, the intelligence officer from Project Nadir setup a meeting with Cobalt's courier. The courier requested that they meet at a secluded restaurant at an African border town to avoid arousing suspicion. To ensure the meeting was not an ambush, the intelligence officer met with this potential asset under the covert close protection of the special operations team.
The precaution was not necessary, however, as the courier was cooperative and willing to become and asset. He revealed the location of Cobalt's safe house.
To be continued...
Construction work continues on the hull of the cargo ship ‘Northbank’ at the shipyard of William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland, 27 September 1956 (TWAM ref. DS.DOX/4/PH/1/819/1/4)
This album documents the construction of the cargo ship ‘Northbank’ by the famous shipbuilding firm William Doxford & Sons at its Pallion yard, Sunderland. Most of these images are progress photographs, taken a week apart between September 1956 and January 1957 from approximately the same spot. They give a fascinating insight into how the vessel was built.
(Copyright) We're happy for you to share this digital image within the spirit of The Commons. Please cite 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' when reusing. Certain restrictions on high quality reproductions and commercial use of the original physical version apply though; if you're unsure please email archives@twmuseums.org.uk.
Delivered to the MoD(Procurement Executive) on the last day of 1974, XX889 began her RAF career with 16 Squadron at RAF Laarbruch and went on to serve with 15, 12 and 208 Squadrons. By 1986 she had been upgraded to carry Sea Eagle missiles and was transferred to 237 OCU in December of that year, returning to 12 Squadron in May 1987. She took part in the 1991 Gulf War, painted in desert pink colours and named 'Longmorn' (no nose art). She had lost her desert pink scheme by October 1991 and in August 1992 gained new grey colours. She ended her career with 208 Squadron, and her last flight was on 7th April 1994 to 19 MU at RAF St. Athan for storage prior to disposal. Bought by Gary Spoors and Dave Prive, they put her on loan to the Jet Age Museum at Gloucestershire (Staverton) Airport. Work there concentrated on the cockpit - the front cockpit was fairly complete, but the rear cockpit had over 90% of the instrumentation missing. Work by Buccaneer Engineering began in April 2003 and quite a lot of instrumentation was re-installed. The aircraft was repainted in her current scheme for static display at RIAT 2003 at RAF Fairford - part of the '100 years of flight' exhibition. She then moved to storage at Staverton while the Jet Age Museum looked for another home, but as this has yet to happen, she was moved once again, in April 2007, to Kemble and the care of the Buccaneer Society. Work on her restoration continued and a repaint into her Gulf War colours was completed in early 2008. Sadly her welcome at Kemble was outstayed and in May 2011 she moved to Bruntingthorpe, where she is now the fourth Buccaneer on site!
Blinman.
Blinman has some distinctions in its story. It is the highest surveyed town in South Australia at 615 metres and the first town settled in the Flinders Ranges and the only town within the Flinders Ranges and not on the edge like Hawker, Beltana, Leigh Creek etc. It is located in the Hundred of Carr which was declared in 1877. The first white settlement in this region began in the early 1850s when a pastoral leasehold called Angorichina was taken out by Mr Boord but that soon passed to the Hayward brothers. It was one of his shepherds Robert Blinman who discovered some copper in December 1859. Blinman, Frost, Mole and Alfred got a mining lease in January 1861. A year later they sold their mine, at great profit, to the Yudanamutana Mining Company which carted the ore through the Ranges to Port Augusta. Cobb and Co coaches travelled from Burra to Blinman for travellers and miners. In 1864 the government surveyed a town named Blinman and another called North Blinman in 1867. By 1868 Blinman had a
school, hotel, Post Office, stores, a water supply and houses for 1,500 residents. The town had its own smelters to reduce the ores to copper which was lighter for the long transportation haul through the Ranges. This was shortened when the mine reopened in 1882 as ore could then be carted to the railway at Parachilna via Angorichina Gorge. Copper mining continued until 1918 when the international price for copper slumped causing Blinman to cease operations as did Moonta and other mines around 1920. In the five years before 1918 Blinman had a population of around 2,000 people but that quickly dropped with the closing of the mine. The copper mine was successful and profitable in its day. Apart from the old mine entrance the town has a heritage listed mine manager’s house. There is a stone police station as built in 1874, a quaint pine and pug miner’s cottage erected in 1862, the Blinman Hall built in 1896 and an historic cemetery. Around 1880 a new stone school was built and it closed in 1980. The old galvanised iron Methodist Church closed around 1943 and became the library. The first Wesleyan church services began in 1874. A minister was based here from 1911 and marriages were solemnised between 1914 and 1943. It has been reclad and is now the Information Centre. The town now has a population of about 25 adults and no children.
After dropping their helpers at MO, 21V gets underway again on a warm August evening. Quite a crowd had gathered at the pumphouse for the afternoon and were rewarded with 8 trains in a short period of time, including Amtrak 07T.
Continuing the northbound chase here was the eleventh spot I photographed this Mass Bay special.
Granite State Scenic Railway SW1000 105 leads the Mass Bay RRE rare mileage special along the little used middle portion of the line at about MP 12.3 on the old Boston and Maine Pemigewasset Valley Branch. They are paralleling Route 3, the Daniel Webster Highway as 1500 ft Blake Mountain rises a couple miles to the south.
Behind 105 are three demotored RDCs two of which are ex B&M and right at home here along with a third of Reading heritage. The fourth car is first class parlor car 103, 'Determination' (built 1954 by Pullman for the Canadian National) which looks sharp in fresh new matching paint after wearing blue and yellow Bangor and Aroostook colors for over three decades dating from the days when Iron Road Railways owned the BAR. Bringing up the rear is 1590, an EMD SW1001 blt. Nov. 1973 for the Reading as number 2618 it passed to Conrail and Norfolk Southern before being sold. It was repainted in 2021 from the bright CIT blue paint with white stripes its worn since coming to the Granite State in 2016.
To read the full story of this day and some history of the line check out the caption with the earlier photo at Plymouth station.
Thornton, New Hampshire
Saturday May 18, 2024
"Your welcome for saving your life!" Mystic quips. "Yeah, thanks... But, it is not a good feeling to think your favorite wrestler is in jail... Kinda sucks." Jen explains. "Oh, I'm sorry." Mystic replies. "Stop right there, good doing... Persons!" Someone yells out...
~Scarecrow
I will continue my efforts shooting under the light of the Moon with a new 4x5 kit. It was fitting that I shoot my new setup with my the Pentax 67 as it has been my primary kit for over ten years.
Large format, so far has been a revelation. The ability of ultimate resolution and tonality.
Pentax 67 45mm f/4 @ f/4 Fuji Acros 100 6 Minutes exposure under moonlight.
Here we see 1450 waiting for the signal to continue north from Crowcombe Heathfield one stop on the autocoach to Stogumber. This was on the West Somerset Railway's Autumn Steam Gala on 8th October 2016
Life continues to move on and I am now sixty…how did I get there so fast?…the reality is I have! I moved into my sixth decade of life earlier this year and it has given me a renewed outlook on my cross-dressing. I do have regrets in my life, the biggest being my self imposed suppression of my transgender self. Why did I hold back? The answer is I was not brave enough. I feared the reaction of others, I feared losing my family life and I feared losing my income. I just caved in and tried to ignore it.
Well, back in the year 2000, 19 tears ago, at the age of forty one I began to cross-dress as a woman. I could no longer suppress my inner desire to appear as a woman. It caused a lot of upset with my family and though I am now fortunate enough to engage in cross0dressing, it is a compromise in regard to the opportunities I have. My family tolerate it but my moments as my female alter-ego are rare. I have no wish to jeopardise my family life and work so I accepted the limited opportunities. I do adore becoming Helene and though it is rare it is always an amazing and rather emotional experience.
Now I am older and less hung up about my cross-dressing I find myself being more confident and at ease with it and having more fun when I do dress up as a woman. Last night I had a sudden opportunity to become Helene again ad I totally went for it. i was somewhat tired and not quite as focused as I would have liked, not to mention very much out of practice, but I intended to enjoy my time en femme.
Having emerged from the bath with freshly shaved, legs, chest and arms I enjoyed plucking my eyebrows into a better shape and excitedly sat down to start putting on my make-up. Part of my excitement was a new piece of equipment I purchased in December purely for my make-up application. I’m sure many of us struggle with getting a real world foundation coverage because of our beard shadows. The dreaded beard shadow , even after a super close shave, can feel smooth but the skin is bumpy due to the underlying hair follicles and this also leaves a visible shadow (unless you are fortunate enough to have light hair colour).
I usually employ all the techniques to neutralise the beard shadow cover then several layers of heavy foundation and can usually get a successful coverage result but it is rather heavy looking compared to real women. I had been looking into trying to get smoother coverage but without the thick layer result. On my male face after decades of shaving I could never get the look I hoped for ski coverage on my face.
I have new aspirations to spend more time out in the real world as a woman. I do love make-up and enjoy wearing it but to be amongst women and men in public in daylight had me wanting nice smooth makeup coverage that successfully disguised my shadows but did not look like a heavy coating on my face. As I say, I love wearing make-up and when I cross-dress in private I have no issue with wearing heavy coatings of foundation at all. For the real world though, I realised I need to up my game if I was to be perceived as a female when out and about.
This led me to look at applying foundation using an airbrush with a small air compressor. The look and finish from foundation applied with an airbrush is very good. I bought a kit and some silicone foundation for use with the airbrush and I have been biding my time to give it a go.
Last night was my chance. I set it all p, watched the manufacturers tutorials and set about spraying the foundation onto my face. It is a very different feel to the traditional method of applying foundation. It is a far more subtle approach. as you gradually build up the coverage using a light misted spray and moving in small circular motions.
I had to laugh when I began as I soon realised this required a degree of practice and my initial spraying efforts were somewhat inept. I was getting the hang of it but I definitely need a lot more practice and..patience! You cannot rush it. I think once one gets competent with it it is possible to apply the foundation considerably faster than my first effort.
Despite my poor technique I was amazed by the coverage, your skin looks amazing! It’s like a flexible, durable, long lasting coverage but none of the thick make up appearance. My skin is unavoidably bumpy around my upper lip, cheeks, chin and neck area but this cover was unlike any previous efforts and the realisation that this was going to work for real world trips in public made me dizzy with excitement. Even on m y sixty year old skin it was as smooth as I was ever going to look.
I bought the Airbase HD kit, which is bigger than I expected. In hindsight I may have been better with the compressor and airbrush alone. The HD kit comes in a se with a lighted mirror. There are alternative kits from other manufacturers such as DInair and Luminess.
If you are serious about trying to look female and avoiding the heavy coverage look during the day then I can recommend using airbrush foundation application. I will admit I have decided to book myself onto a one day training course in the late Spring in order to learn how to use it well. As I am obsessed with trying to look as female as I possibly can I think the cost of the training is a god personal investment as was purchasing the airbrush kit.
I took a lot of selfies last night and one accompanies this narrative. It was rather fabulous to be appearing as a woman once more :-)
As Network Rail continue work on the STAR project through the area, the level crossing replacement service at Northumberland Park operated by Panther Travel continues in daily service.
Operating the routing today was Plaxton Primo SB07PAN, as it lays over on the industrial side of the former crossing approach 16/06/18
Care Tips: Tulips continue to grow in water and will curve towards the light. Make allowances for this when putting them in a vase or wrap the stems tightly in newspaper and stand them in water directly beneath a light for a few hours. Tulips have a vase life of just over a week, and buy flowers in bud but with colour showing.
Please see here the compleet Keukenhof Gardens Set ❁
In 2017 the Keukenhof Gardens in Spring open from March 23 until May 21.
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Photographed at the 65th Secretary of State Vehicle Show in Springfield, Illinois on September 6, 2014.
Please visit my collection of Motor Vehicles on Flickr where you will find more than 10,000 photographs thoughtfully organized into albums, and presented by model year, manufacturer, vehicle type, and more. This project, which began in 2008, continues to expand with new material added daily.
Continuing my look back at some Alder Valley bus depot visits from the 1980s and early 1990s.
Here we see the Woking depot in January 1987.
Upnor Castle is an Elizabethan artillery fort located in the village of Upnor Kent. Its purpose was to defend ships moored "in ordinary" on the River Medway outside Chatham Dockyard.
The property is owned by English Heritage and managed by Medway Council.
Due to its sheltered position, close to London, the River Medway was used to build and repair warships, and to moor them in ordinary, that is with the rigging sails removed. To protect this fleet, Queen Elizabeth and her Privy council ordered in 1559, that a bulwark be built on the river at Upnor in the parish of Frindsbury for the protection of our navy. Six 'indifferent persons' selected a site opposite St Mary's Creek and 6 acres of land was purchased for £25 from Mr Thomas Devinisshe of Frindsbury. The bulwark was designed by Sir Richard Lee, but the building was supervised by Humphrey Locke and Richard Watts. Stage one was finished in 1564. In 1564 twenty three of the Queen largest ships were moored in Bridge Reach.
In 1585, at the instigation of William Bourne the Master Gunner, a chain was laid across the river, as this was more effective than gunfire in sinking enemy ships. The castle however was inadequately manned, and further modifications were planned. In October 1599, Sir John Leveson's estimate for new works was accepted. A timber palisade was placed in the river, the water bastion was raised to a greater height with a parapet of good height and an enclosing ditch 18 ft deep and 32 ft wide dug to protect the castle from the landward side. 612 tons of rag-stone and 223 tons of ashlar was removed from Rochester Castle. Altered in 1625, and again in 1653. In 1623, Upnor had 18 guns of various sizes.
During the Civil War The castle was surrendered to the Parliament in 1642. A Royalist rebellion in 1648 seized the castle. It was returned to the Parliament, and following a visit by General Fairfax (Parliament) further repairs were planned. It was used as a prison
The Dutch Republic during the Second Anglo-Dutch War had suffered a severe setback in the St James's Day Battle in August 1666. Believing the Dutch would therefore be more inclined to remain inactive, Charles II of England delayed the peace negotiations at Breda though he hadn't the money in 1667 to put out a fleet. To the surprise of the Admiralty, in June of that year, a Dutch fleet, under Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, came up the Thames to Gravesend. It turned towards Chatham and burnt down the fort at Sheerness. The chain was in place between Hoo Ness and Gillingham. On the 12 June 1667 either a Dutch ship broke the chain or a landing party cast it loose. The Dutch had been piloted up the channel by disaffected English sailors, and the Dutch Captain of the Marines, Colonel Dolman, was also English. There was limited resistance from Chatham or the dockyard as the workers had not been paid for two years.Mr Wilson reported to Pepys that there were many Englishmen on board the Dutch ships speaking English to one another. HMS Royal Charles was taken to be carried to the Republic and many ships that were lying along the dockyard wall were destroyed, such as the HMS Royal Oak. The Dutch anchored when the tide turned and didn't resume the attack until the next day. The Duke of Albemarle arrived and put an eight gun battery (Middleton's Battery) alongside the castle. Pepys wrote I do not see that Upnor Castle hath received any hurt by them though they played long against it: and they themselves shot till they had hardly a gun left upon the carriages, so badly provided they were. So lack of munitions was Upnor's failing. On the 24 July 1667 a Royal Warrant ordered that Upnor be strengthened. On 14 August 1667 terms were ratified at the Peace of Breda; hostilities ended 26 August 1667.
Pepys, who knew all the principal players wrote a contemporary diary, reading it allows one to feel his frustration at the incompetencies of others and his own ability to ascertain the truth. The King was bankrupt. He was related to the French King. He had opened secret negotiations with France in 1666. He thus issued instructions to lay up his big ships. The Royal Charles was unmanned and the dockyard didn't even have boats to reach her. With that Upnor's career as a castle finished.
In 1668 the defences of Chatham were revised. New batteries were built at Cockham Wood 1-mile seaward of Upnor and at Gillingham. The chain was no longer used. In 1668 it was converted into a place of stores. Hundreds of barrels of gunpowder were shipped here from Tower of London Wharf, later there is mention of barrels of cornpowder being taken from Upnor to the fleet anchored at the Nore. In 1718 barracks were built. Life followed a regular uneventful pattern for the two officers and 64 soldiers. The Magazine closed in 1827 and by 1840 there was no gunpowder left. It became an Ordnance Laboratory. New magazines were built at Chattenden away from the river, and in 1872 a Military railway was laid connecting Chattenden and the river.
In 1891 the Castle was transferred from the War Office to the Admiralty. It continued in service until 1945 when it was declared a museu
MEWFO-13 continues south down the Angleton Sub in fantastic summer evening light. This train is mostly made up of empty FPAX plastic pellet hoppers headed to be loaded at Formosa's plant in Point Comfort, TX. 8/13/2019
Continuing a series of experimental photos with a No. 2 Folding Pocket Brownie, Model B (circa 1912). All settings are mentioned as they appear on the camera. If you are lost, I suggest starting with the first photo in the corresponding album.
I wanted to really give the Pocket Brownie a good spin, so a close friend of mine and I toured Chicago with a hand-full of cameras. Since the Pocket Brownie has a slow shutter, it worried me because all the exposures ran the risk of being too bright, which they almost are. Honestly, I'm shocked at how well these images came out! I cracked the F/stop all the way to the right, hence "3+" and hoped for the best.
They really do, in some capacity, seem very timeless.
Shutter: I
Focus: 100ft
Aperture: 3+
Ilford 124
Continuing this short little Disney break are the elephants in the Hollywood and Highland Center, themed to the movie 'Intolerance.' I would have liked to have taken this shot without so many people and signs and crap in it but there was literally no way around it.
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9x12"
acrylic/graphite/charcoal on panel
I made this painting for "Get Lucky" at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Saturday, January 29, 2011 - 7pm - 11pm
Advance Tickets $40 Members: $35
Tickets at the Door: $45
Brearley Lower Lock, (also known as Edward Kilner's Lock), on the Rochdale Canal, in Luddenden Foot, outside Hebden Bridge, Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. As built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on the relocated locks, the canal now has 91. Locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock, Tuel Lane Lock, which is numbered 3/4.
The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, when a group of 48 men from Rochdale raised £237 and commissioned James Brindley to conduct a survey of possible routes between Sowerby Bridge and Manchester. Brindley proposed a route similar to the one built, and another more expensive route via Bury. Further progress was not made until 1791, when John Rennie was asked to make a new survey in June, and two months later to make surveys for branches to Rochdale, Oldham and to a limeworks near Todmorden. Rennie at the time had no experience of building canals.
The promoters, unsure as to whether to build a wide or a narrow canal, postponed the decision until an Act of Parliament had been obtained. The first attempt to obtain an act was made in 1792, but was opposed by mill owners, concerned about water supply. Rennie proposed using steam pumping engines, three in Yorkshire, eight in Lancashire, and one on the Burnley Branch, but the mill owners argued that 59 mills would be affected by the scheme, resulting in unemployment, and the bill was defeated. In September 1792, William Crosley and John Longbotham surveyed the area in an attempt to find locations for reservoirs which would not affect water supplies to the mills. A second bill was presented to Parliament, for a canal which would have a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) tunnel and 11 reservoirs. Again the bill was defeated, this time by one vote. The promoters, in an attempt to understand the mill owners' position, asked William Jessop to survey the parts of the proposed canal that were causing most concern. Jessop gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee, and on 4 April 1794 an act was obtained which created the Rochdale Canal Company and authorised construction.
Rennie's estimated cost in the second bill was £291,000, and the company was empowered to raise the money by issuing shares, with powers to raise a further £100,000 if required. The estimate was for a narrow canal, whereas the act authorised a broad canal, and so the capital was never going to be adequate. The summit tunnel was abandoned in favour of 14 additional locks saving £20,000. Jessop proposed constructing each lock with a drop of 10 feet (3.0 m), resulting in efficient use of water and the need to manufacture only one size of lock gate.
The canal opened in stages as sections were completed, with the Rochdale Branch the first in 1798 and further sections in 1799. The bottom nine locks opened in 1800 and boats using the Ashton Canal could reach Manchester. Officially, the canal opened in 1804, but construction work continued for more three years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) branch from Heywood to Castleton opened in 1834.
Apart from a short profitable section in Manchester linking the Bridgewater and Ashton Canals, most of the length was closed in 1952 when an act of parliament was obtained to ban public navigation. The last complete journey had taken place in 1937, and by the mid 1960s the remainder was almost unusable. Construction of the M62 motorway in the late 1960s took no account of the canal, cutting it in two.
When an Act of Parliament was sought in 1965, to authorise the abandonment of the canal, the Inland Waterways Association petitioned against it, and when it was finally passed, it contained a clause that ensured the owners would maintain it until the adjacent Ashton Canal was abandoned. Discussion of the relative merits of restoring the canal or the Huddersfield Narrow Canal in 1973 led the formation of societies to promote both schemes in 1974. The Rochdale Canal Society wanted to see the canal fully re-opened, as part of a proposed Pennine Park
The Rochdale Canal Society worked hard both to protect the line of the canal and to begin the process of refurbishing it. A new organisational structure was created in 1984, with the formation of the Rochdale Canal Trust Ltd, who leased the canal from the owning company. The MSC-funded restoration was approaching Sowerby Bridge, where planners were proposing a tunnel and deep lock to negotiate a difficult road junction at Tuel Lane, so that a connection could be made with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The entire eastern section from Sowerby Bridge to the summit at Longlees was open by 1990, although it remained isolated from the canal network.
In 1997, the Rochdale Canal Trust was restructured, in response to announcements that there might be large grants available as part of the millennium celebrations. The canal was still at this point owned by a private company, and the Millennium Commission would not make grants to a scheme which was for private profit, rather than public benefit. The restructuring would allow the Trust to take over responsibility for the canal from the Rochdale Canal Company. However, the plan was rejected by the Commission, and in order to access the grant of £11.3 million, the Waterways Trust took over ownership of the canal. As restoration proceeded, boats could travel further and further west, and the restoration of the sections through Failsworth and Ancoats were a significant part of the re-development of the north Manchester districts. The restored sections joined up with the section in Manchester below the Ashton Canal junction, which had never been closed, and on 1 July 2002 the canal was open for navigation along its entire length.
Another Lego store visit at Freehold Raceway Mall to promote the event and brought one of the hangar bays as a preview to the store staff.
and condenses on every chilly surface, then gathers into drops which fall and plop loudly - it's really quite unpleasant outside today !
The grey behind is fog - I took this with lots of Dof and there should be a conifer a few paces behind the birch twigs !Do try larger -
Amtrak's Maple Leaf has just crossed over the Niagara Gorge from Canada and is making an extended station stop at the new station in Niagara Falls where customs and immigration work will be completed for passengers before the train continues east.
Locomotives:
AMTK 95 P42DC
Even as Mother Nature screams out in agony, our species continues to destroy that which nurtures life on this planet.
This image was taken by a KИEB-60 medium format film camera and MC BOЛHA-3 2.8/80 lens with a Zenza Bronica SY48•2C(Y2) filter using Fomapan Ultra 400 (Action) film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
Hello everyone!
I’d like to present my final entry for the Eurobricks Architecture Contest. My entry is a micro scale model of the University of Waterloo Mathematics and Computer Science building. The base is 57x 34 studs. The building consists of 1600 bricks.
The MOC is the same size as the TLG set- Robie House.
Some facts:
Location: ............................... Waterloo, Ontario
Date: ..................................... --- to 1968
Building Type: .......................university building
Style: ..............................................brutalism
Materials ...............................stone, glass, wood, concrete
Why I chose this building?
I was browsing the Internet for an idea but couldn’t decide on anything. It was my elder brother who gave me a tip. He suggested that I should make one of the campus buildings of WU, where he’d got his diploma. I liked Maths and Computer Science building, which is a typical example of brutalism, most of all and immediately got to work. Few days ago I found True Dimensions's creation. This was gorgeous! And I solved, that I must finish entry. I ordered necessary bricks from Bricklink and continued work. Hope you like it!
Why Brutalism?
Most people strongly criticize Brutalism, calling it ugly piles of steel and concrete. But I don’t think it is so harsh and hostile after all. Aesthetics of Brutalism appeals to me. I am fond of clean lines and simple geometric forms. Of course I wouldn’t call Brutalist buildings beautiful. What I like them for is the fact they reflect our life style. We tend to choose functional things at reasonable prices nowаdays, don’t we? I agree with a French architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier, who considered all buildings to be tools and said: “A house is a machine for living in." And brutalist buildings are cheap and functional.
The Danube city was only in 1954 from the 1938 from Floridsdorf (21st district) separated communities Stadlau, Kagran, Hirschstetten, Aspern and Lobau, the former Lower Austrian municipalities Süßenbrunn, Breitenlee and Essling, as well as the from the 2nd district separated Kaisermuehlen formed. Another 15 Marchfeld townships, which in 1938 during the formation of the 22nd district "Grossenzersdorf" also came to Vienna were again returned to Lower Austria in the same year. The district, which initially after 1945 was listening to the name of Stadlau, was now called Danube city (Donaustadt).
Today's 22nd district is geographically by far the largest district with 102.34 km2 and was for a long time also the least populated; in the last decades as a result of intensive urbanization (residential buildings of the Municipality of Vienna in Aspern, Hirschstetten, Kagran and Kaisermühlen) rapidly rising population numbers have been recorded (1951: 53,000; 2002: 136,000 inhabitants). However, there are still areas predominantly used for agricultural purposes.
In the modern Danube City are situated the 1964 at the Vienna International Garden Show laid out Danube Park with the 252 m high Danube Tower, the in 1975 opened Danube center, Vienna's biggest shopping center, the UNO-City (1979) and the Austria Center (1987), the Social Medical Center East (1984), the OMV, the Opel Austria (on the site of the former airfield Aspern) and the Danube power plant Freudenau (1998). By covering over of the Danube bank highway and the construction of office and residential towers, currently arises an entirely new urban center in the Danube city.
The Danube city with the at the beginning of the 20th century arosen beach area at the Old Danube and the Danube Island also has some of the most popular leisure and recreation centers of Vienna.
Erection of the Danube Tower 1962 / Photo: media wien
Danube Island / Photo: SPÖ / Dimko
The Lobau, in which the Danube city also has its share, in 1977 was elevated into the rank of a nature-sanctuary and in 1996, into the rank of National Park "Danube Floodplains".
Large parts of today's Danube city in the First Republic still belonged to Floridsdorf; the early history of the social democratic movement of the Danube city therefore with that of the 21 district is largely identical.
Goethehof 1934 / Photo: SPÖ
Memorial plaque Danube Park / Photo: Bauer
In February 1934 also in the Danube city it came to fierce fightings. The headquarters of the Republican Defense League (Schutzbund) of Kagran was located in Komzak alley/Mälzel square (memorial plaque). Actually, Kagran was the only area where even aircrafts of the Heimwehr (right-wing para-military organization) were used. Hard-fought was also the Goethe court where in memory of February 1934 on 10 Febraury 1983 also a commemorative plaque was unveiled; another memorial plaque at the subway station Kagran center remembers the fallen tram workers of 15th February.
In many large companies, most of all in the transport companies, the gas and electric plants, but also in the fire service, the railways, the post office and the police, there were from 1934 to 1945 anti-fascist resistance groups. In the Danube Park a memorial plaque remembers that on the military firing range Kagran (in present-day park area) on October 31, 1944 the two firefighters Hermann Plackholm and Johann Zak were executed before the eyes of 600 of their colleagues. Two lanes in the Danube city were named after the two men.
In the Wurmbrand alley 12 a memorial plaque remembers the machinist Franz Stelzel who lived in this house; he also was a member of a resistance group, was arrested in 1941 and beheaded on November 10, 1942 in the Provincial Court (Landesgericht).
On May 2, 1945, the district organization was re-established in Aspern. First head of district of the 22nd district became Leopold Horacek (1946-1959), after which a residential complex is named in the Lenk alley 1-3. 1947 moved the district organization into the former Kagraner school, Donaufelder street 259.
Yet in the fifties and sixties, emerged thousands of new apartments in the hitherto sparsely populated Danube City.
1972 finally on the Racecourse grounds one of the largest municipal construction projects was tackled - the 1977 populated residential complex Rennbahnweg with 2,440 dwellings; a little later emerged the Dr. Josef Bohmann court south of Aderklaaer street with 1,600 apartments.
In parallel, also in infrastructure was invested. As early as 1978, the leading to Stadlau Südosttangente could be opened to traffic, since September 1982, the U1 runs to the center Kagran, and 1985, followed the ground-breaking ceremony for the hospital SMZ-Ost.
The Danube city today is the district of Vienna which by far continues to grow the strongest. In the municipal housing policy, however, towards the end of the eighties it came to renunciation from the large buildings of the former decades, which as an urban experiment by many are considered as failed.
Rennbahnweg / Photo: SPÖ
Stundlgasse / Photo: Bauer
An excellent example for a modern continuation of tradition of dwelling is the in 1990 completed residential complex in the Stundl alley.
Riding Court Farm Quarry, Datchet
From early summer 2018, archaeological fieldwork continued at CEMEX UK’s Riding Court Farm Quarry, Datchet. The team from Wessex Archaeology were kept busy excavating an Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure discovered during fieldwork in 2017.
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Seoul – officially the Seoul Special City – is the capital and largest metropolis of the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea), forming the heart of the Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, the world's 16th largest city. It is home to over half of all South Koreans along with 678,102 international residents.
Situated on the Han River, Seoul's history stretches back more than two thousand years when it was founded in 18 BCE by Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It continued as the capital of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty. The Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan, the world's most visited national park per square foot. Modern landmarks include the iconic N Seoul Tower, the gold-clad 63 Building, the neofuturistic Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, the world's second largest indoor theme park, Moonlight Rainbow Fountain, the world's longest bridge fountain and the Sevit Floating Islands. The birthplace of K-pop and the Korean Wave, Seoul received over 10 million international visitors in 2014, making it the world's 9th most visited city and 4th largest earner in tourism.
Today, Seoul is considered a leading and rising global city, resulting from an economic boom called the Miracle on the Han River which transformed it to the world's 4th largest metropolitan economy with a GDP of US$845.9 billion in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. In 2015, it was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis. A world leading technology hub centered on Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area boasts 15 Fortune Global 500 companies such as Samsung, the world's largest technology company, as well as LG and Hyundai-Kia. In 2014, the city's GDP per capita (PPP) of $39,786 was comparable to that of France and Finland. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences.
Seoul is the world's most wired city and ranked first in technology readiness by PwC's Cities of Opportunity report. It is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, providing 4G LTE, WiFi and DMB inside subway cars. Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport, rated the world's best airport nine years in a row (2005–2013) by Airports Council International. Lotte World Tower, a 556-metre supertall skyscraper with 123 floors, has been built in Seoul and become the OECD's tallest in 2016, with the world's tallest art gallery. Its Lotte Cinema houses the world's largest cinema screen. Seoul's COEX Mall is the world's largest underground shopping mall.
Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, and the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. A UNESCO City of Design, Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital.
ETYMOLOGY
The city has been known in the past by the names Wirye-seong (Hangul: 위례성; Hanja: 慰禮城, during the Baekje era), Hanju (Hangul: 한주; Hanja: 漢州, during the Silla era), Namgyeong (Hangul: 남경; Hanja: 南京, during the Goryeo era), Hanseong (Hangul: 한성; Hanja: 漢城, during both the Baekje and Joseon eras), Hanyang (Hangul: 한양; Hanja: 漢陽, during the Joseon era), Gyeongseong (京城, during the colonial era).
During Japan's annexation in Korea, "Hanseong" (Hangul: 한성; Hanja: 漢城) was renamed to "Keijō" (京城, or Template:Korean 한국, Gyeongseong) by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja '漢', as it also refers to the Han Chinese. In reality, the ancient name of Seoul, Hanseong (Hangul: 한성; Hanja: 漢城), originally had the meaning of "big" or "vast".
Its current name originated from the Korean word meaning "capital city," which is believed to be derived from the word Seorabeol (Hangul: 서라벌; Hanja: 徐羅伐), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.
Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding hanja (Chinese characters used in the Korean language). On January 18, 2005, Seoul government officially changed its official Chinese language name to Shou'er (simplified Chinese: 首尔; traditional Chinese: 首爾; pinyin: Shǒu'ěr) from the historic Hancheng (simplified Chinese: 汉城; traditional Chinese: 漢城; pinyin: Hànchéng), of which use is becoming less common.
HISTOY
Settlement of the Han River area, where present-day Seoul is located, began around 4000 BC.
Seoul is first recorded as Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje (founded in 18 BC) in the northeastern Seoul area. There are several city walls remaining in the area that date from this time. Pungnaptoseong, an earthen wall just outside Seoul, is widely believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site. As the Three Kingdoms competed for this strategic region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century, and from Goguryeo to Silla in the 6th century.
In the 11th century Goryeo, which succeeded Unified Silla, built a summer palace in Seoul, which was referred to as the "Southern Capital". It was only from this period that Seoul became a larger settlement. When Joseon replaced Goryeo, the capital was moved to Seoul (also known as Hanyang and later as Hanseong), where it remained until the fall of the dynasty. The Gyeongbok Palace, built in the 14th century, served as the royal residence until 1592. The other large palace, Changdeokgung, constructed in 1405, served as the main royal palace from 1611 to 1872.
Originally, the city was entirely surrounded by a massive circular stone wall to provide its citizens security from wild animals, thieves and attacks. The city has grown beyond those walls and although the wall no longer stands (except along Bugaksan Mountain (Hangul: 북악산; Hanja: 北岳山), north of the downtown area), the gates remain near the downtown district of Seoul, including most notably Sungnyemun (commonly known as Namdaemun) and Heunginjimun (commonly known as Dongdaemun). During the Joseon dynasty, the gates were opened and closed each day, accompanied by the ringing of large bells at the Bosingak belfry. In the late 19th century, after hundreds of years of isolation, Seoul opened its gates to foreigners and began to modernize. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to introduce electricity in the royal palace, built by the Edison Illuminating Company and a decade later Seoul also implemented electrical street lights.
Much of the development was due to trade with foreign countries like France and United States. For example, the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all joint Korean–American owned enterprises. In 1904, an American by the name of Angus Hamilton visited the city and said, "The streets of Seoul are magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well-drained. The narrow, dirty lanes have been widened, gutters have been covered, roadways broadened. Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the highest, most interesting and cleanest city in the East.
"After the annexation treaty in 1910, the Empire of Japan annexed Korea and renamed the city Gyeongseong ("Kyongsong" in Korean and "Keijo" in Japanese). Japanese technology was imported, the city walls were removed, some of the gates demolished. Roads became paved and Western-style buildings were constructed. The city was liberated at the end of World War II.
In 1945, the city was officially named Seoul, and was designated as a special city in 1949.
During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the Russian/Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the American-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged after the war. The capital was temporarily relocated to Busan. One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of the city and its metropolitan area to an estimated 1.5 million by 1955.
Following the war, Seoul began to focus on reconstruction and modernization. As Korea's economy started to grow rapidly from the 1960s, urbanization also accelerated and workers began to move to Seoul and other larger cities. From the 1970s, the size of Seoul administrative area greatly expanded as it annexed a number of towns and villages from several surrounding counties.
According to 2012 census data, the population of the Seoul area makes up around 20% of the total population of South Korea, Seoul has become the economic, political and cultural hub of the country, with several Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, SK Holdings, Hyundai, POSCO and LG Group headquartered there.
Seoul was the host city of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Summer Olympics as well as one of the venues of the Football World Cup 2002.
GEOGRAPHY
Seoul is in the northwest of South Korea. Seoul proper comprises 605.25 km2, with a radius of approximately 15 km, roughly bisected into northern and southern halves by the Han River. The Han River and its surrounding area played an important role in Korean history. The Three Kingdoms of Korea strove to take control of this land, where the river was used as a trade route to China (via the Yellow Sea). The river is no longer actively used for navigation, because its estuary is located at the borders of the two Koreas, with civilian entry barred. Historically, the city was during the Joseon Dynasty bounded by the Seoul Fortress Wall, which stretched between the four main mountains in central Seoul: Namsan, Naksan, Bukaksan and Inwangsan. The city is bordered by eight mountains, as well as the more level lands of the Han River plain and western areas. Due to its geography and to economic development policies, Seoul is a very polycentric city. The area that was the old capital in the Joseon Dynasty, and mostly comprises Jongno District and Jung District, constitutes the historical and political center of the city. However, for example, the city's financial capital is widely considered to be in Yeouido, while its economic capital is Gangnam District.
CLIMATE
Seoul is either classified as a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), using the −3 °C isotherm of the original Köppen scheme, or a humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa), using the 0 °C isotherm preferred by some climatologists. Summers are generally hot and humid, with the East Asian monsoon taking place from June until September. August, the warmest month, has average high and low temperatures of 29.6 and 22.4 °C with higher temperatures possible. Winters are often cold to freezing with average January high and low temperatures of 1.5 and −5.9 °C and are generally much drier than summers, with an average of 28 days of snow annually. Sometimes, temperatures do drop dramatically to below −10.0 °C, in odd occasions rarely as low as −15.0 °C in the mid winter period between January and February.
ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS
Seoul is divided into 25 gu (Hangul: 구; Hanja: 區) (district). The gu vary greatly in area (from 10 to 47 km2) and population (from fewer than 140,000 to 630,000). Songpa has the most people, while Seocho has the largest area. The government of each gu handles many of the functions that are handled by city governments in other jurisdictions. Each gu is divided into "dong" (Hangul: 동; Hanja: 洞) or neighbourhoods. Some gu have only a few dong while others like Jongno District have a very large number of distinct neighbourhoods. Gu of Seoul consist of 423 administrative dongs (Hangul: 행정동) in total. Dong are also sub-divided into 13,787 tong (Hangul: 통; Hanja: 統), which are further divided into 102,796 ban in total.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Seoul proper is noted for its population density, which is almost twice that of New York and eight times greater than Rome. Its metropolitan area was the most densely populated in the OECD in Asia in 2012, and second worldwide after that of Paris. As of December 2013, the population was 10.14 million, in 2012, it was 10,442,426. As of the end of June 2011, 10.29 million Republic of Korea citizens lived in the city. This was a 24% decrease from the end of 2010. The population of Seoul has been dropping since the early 1990s, the reasons being the high costs of living and an aging population.
The number of foreigners living in Seoul is 255,501 in 2010 according to Seoul officials. As of June 2011, 281,780 foreigners were located in Seoul. Of them, 186,631 foreigners (66%) were Chinese citizens of Korean ancestry. This was an 8.84% increase from the end of 2010 and a 12.85% increase from June 2010. The next largest group was Chinese citizens who are not of Korean ethnicity; 29,901 of them resided in Seoul. The next highest group consisted of the 9,999 United States citizens who were not of Korean ancestry. The next highest group were the Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens, at 8,717.
The two major religions in Seoul are Christianity and Buddhism. Other religions include Muism (indigenous religion) and Confucianism. Seoul is home to one of the world's largest Christians congregations, Yoido Full Gospel Church , which has around 830,000 members. Seoul is home to the world's largest modern university founded by a Buddhist Order, Dongguk University. Other Christian faiths like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) maintains a presence in the city.
ECONOMY
Seoul is the business and financial hub of South Korea. Although it accounts for only 0.6 percent of the nation's land area, 48.3 percent of South Korea's bank deposits were held in Seoul in 2003, and the city generated 23 percent of the country's GDP overall in 2012. In 2008 the Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index ranked Seoul No.9. The Global Financial Centres Index in 2015 listed Seoul as the 6th financially most competitive city in the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Seoul 15th in the list of "Overall 2025 City Competitiveness" regarding future competitiveness of cities.
MANUFACTURING
The traditional, labour-intensive manufacturing industries have been continuously replaced by information technology, electronics and assembly-type of industries; however, food and beverage production, as well as printing and publishing remained among the core industries. Major manufacturers are headquartered in the city, including Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia and SK. Notable food and beverage companies include Jinro, whose soju is the most sold alcoholic drink in the world, beating out Smirnoff vodka; top selling beer producers Hite (merged with Jinro) and Oriental Brewery. It also hosts food giants like Seoul Dairy Cooperative, Nongshim Group, Ottogi, CJ, Orion, Maeil Dairy, Namyang dairy and Lotte.
FINANCE
Seoul hosts large concentration of headquarters of International companies and banks, including 15 companies on fortune 500 list such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai. Most bank headquarters and the Korea Exchange are located in Yeouido (Yeoui island), which is often called "Korea's Wall Street" and has been serving as the financial center of the city since the 1980s. The Seoul international finance center & SIFC MALL, Hanhwa 63 building, the Hanhwa insurance company head office. Hanhwa is one of the three largest Korean insurance companies, along with Samsung Life and Gangnam & Kyob life insurance group.
COMMERCE
The largest wholesale and retail market in South Korea, the Dongdaemun Market, is located in Seoul. Myeongdong is a shopping and entertainment area in downtown Seoul with mid- to high-end stores, fashion boutiques and international brand outlets. The nearby Namdaemun Market, named after the Namdaemun Gate, is the oldest continually running market in Seoul.
Insadong is the cultural art market of Seoul, where traditional and modern Korean artworks, such as paintings, sculptures and calligraphy are sold. Hwanghak-dong Flea Market and Janganpyeong Antique Market also offer antique products. Some shops for local designers have opened in Samcheong-dong, where numerous small art galleries are located. Itaewon caters mainly to foreign tourists and American soldiers based in the city. The Gangnam district is one of the most affluent areas in Seoul and is noted for the fashionable and upscale Apgujeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong areas and the COEX Mall. Wholesale markets include Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market and Garak Market.
The Yongsan Electronics Market is the largest electronics market in Asia. Electronics markets are Gangbyeon station metro line 2 Techno mart, ENTER6 MALL & Shindorim station Technomart mall complex.
Times Square is one of Seoul's largest shopping malls featuring the CGV Starium, the world's largest permanent 35 mm cinema screen.
KOREA WORLD TRADE CENTER COMPLEX which comprises COEX mall, congress center, 3 Inter-continental hotels, Business tower (Asem tower), Residence hotel,Casino and City airport terminal was established in 1988 Seoul Olympic . 2nd World trade trade center is planning at Seoul Olympic stadium complex as MICE HUB by Seoul city. Ex-Kepco head office building was purchased by Hyundai motor group with 9billion USD to build 115-storey Hyundai GBC & hotel complex until 2021. Now ex-kepco 25-storey building is under demolition.
ARCHITECTURE
The traditional heart of Seoul is the old Joseon Dynasty city, now the downtown area, where most palaces, government offices, corporate headquarters, hotels, and traditional markets are located. Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs from west to east through the valley before emptying into the Han River, was for many years covered with concrete, but was recently restored by an urban revival project in 2005. Jongno street, meaning "Bell Street," has been a principal street and one of the earliest commercial steets of the city, on which one can find Bosingak, a pavilion containing a large bell. The bell signaled the different times of the day and controlled the four major gates to the city. North of downtown is Bukhan Mountain, and to the south is the smaller Namsan. Further south are the old suburbs, Yongsan District and Mapo District. Across the Han River are the newer and wealthier areas of Gangnam District, Seocho District and surrounding neighborhoods.
HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE
Seoul has many historical and cultural landmarks. In Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement Site, Gangdong District, neolithic remains were excavated and accidentally discovered by a flood in 1925.
Urban and civil planning was a key concept when Seoul was first designed to serve as a capital in the late 14th century. The Joseon Dynasty built the "Five Grand Palaces" in Seoul – Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Gyeongbokgung and Gyeonghuigung – all of which are located in the district of Jongno District and Jung District. Among them, Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 as an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design". The main palace, Gyeongbokgung, underwent a large-scale restoration project. The palaces are considered exemplary architecture of the Joseon period. Beside the palaces, Unhyeongung is known for being the royal residence of Regent Daewongun, the father of Emperor Gojong at the end of the Joseon Dynasty.
Seoul has been surrounded by walls that were built to regulate visitors from other regions and protect the city in case of an invasion. Pungnap Toseong is a flat earthen wall built at the edge of the Han River which is widely believed to be the site of Wiryeseong. Mongchon Toseong (Hangul: 몽촌토성; Hanja: 蒙村土城) is another earthen wall built during the Baekje period which is now located inside the Olympic Park. The Fortress Wall of Seoul was built early in the Joseon Dynasty for protection of the city. After many centuries of destruction and rebuilding, approximately ⅔ of the wall remains, as well as six of the original eight gates. These gates include Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun, commonly known as Namdaemun (South Great Gate) and Dongdaemun (East Great Gate). Namdaemun was the oldest wooden gate until a 2008 arson attack, and was re-opened after complete restoration in 2013. Situated near the gates are the traditional markets and largest shopping center, Namdaemun Market and Dongdaemun Market.
There are also many buildings constructed with international styles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Independence Gate was built in 1897 to inspire an independent spirit. Seoul Station was opened in 1900 as Gyeongseong Station.
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
Various high-rise office buildings and residential buildings, like the Gangnam Finance Center, the Tower Palace, N Seoul Tower and Jongno Tower, dominate the city's skyline. A series of new high rises are under construction, including the Lotte World Tower, scheduled to be completed by 2016. As of July 2016, and excluding the still unopened Lotte World Tower, the tallest building in the city is the 279-metre-high Three International Finance Center.
The World Trade Center Seoul, located in Gangnam District, hosts various expositions and conferences. Also in Gangnam District is the COEX Mall, a large indoor shopping and entertainment complex. Downstream from Gangnam District is Yeouido, an island that is home to the National Assembly, major broadcasting studios, and a number of large office buildings, as well as the Korea Finance Building and the Yoido Full Gospel Church. The Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, and Lotte World are located in Songpa District, on the south side of the Han River, upstream from Gangnam District. Two new modern landmarks of Seoul are Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park, designed by Zaha Hadid, and the new wave-shaped Seoul City Hall, by Yoo Kerl of iArc.
In 2010 Seoul was designated the World Design Capital for the year.
CULTURE
TECHNOLOGY
Seoul has a very technologically advanced infrastructure. It has the world's highest fibre-optic broadband penetration, resulting in the world's fastest internet connections with speeds up to 1 Gbps. Seoul provides free Wi-Fi access in outdoor spaces. This 47.7 billion won ($44 million) project will give residents and visitors Internet access at 10,430 parks, streets and other public places by 2015.
MUSEUMS
Seoul is home to 115 museums, including four national and nine official municipal museums. Amongst the city's national museum, The National Museum of Korea is the most representative of museums in not only Seoul but all of South Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has built a collection of 220,000 artifacts. In October 2005, the museum moved to a new building in Yongsan Family Park. The National Folk Museum is situated on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the district of Jongno District and uses replicas of historical objects to illustrate the folk history of the Korean people. The National Palace Museum of Korea is also located on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Finally, the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, whose main museum is located in Gwacheon, opened in 2013, in Sogyeok-dong.
Bukchon Hanok Village and Namsangol Hanok Village are old residential districts consisting of hanok Korean traditional houses, parks, and museums that allows visitors to experience traditional Korean culture.
The War Memorial, one of nine municipal museums in Seoul, offers visitors an educational and emotional experience of various wars in which Korea was involved, including Korean War themes. The Seodaemun Prison is a former prison built during the Japanese occupation, and is currently used as a historic museum.The Seoul Museum of Art and Ilmin Museum of Art have preserved the appearance of the old building that is visually unique from the neighboring tall, modern buildings. The former is operated by Seoul City Council and sits adjacent to Gyeonghuigung Palace, a Joseon dynasty royal palace. Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, is widely regarded as one of Seoul's largest private museum. For many Korean film lovers from all over the world, the Korean Film Archive is running the Korean Film Museum and Cinematheque KOFA in its main center located in Digital Media City (DMC), Sangam-dong. The Tteok & Kitchen Utensil Museum and Kimchi Field Museum provide information regarding Korean culinary history.
RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS
There are also religious buildings that take important roles in Korean society and politics. The Wongudan altar was a sacrificial place where Korean rulers held heavenly rituals since the Three Kingdoms period. Since the Joseon Dynasty adopted Confucianism as its national ideology in the 14th century, the state built many Confucian shrines. The descendants of the Joseon royal family still continue to hold ceremonies to commemorate ancestors at Jongmyo. It is the oldest royal Confucian shrine preserved and the ritual ceremonies continue a tradition established in the 14th century. Munmyo and Dongmyo were built during the same period. Although Buddhism was suppressed by the Joseon state, it has continued its existence. Jogyesa is the headquarters of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Hwagyesa and Bongeunsa are also major Buddhist temples in Seoul.
The Myeongdong Cathedral is a landmark of the Myeongdong, Jung District and the biggest Catholic church established in 1883. It is a symbol of Catholicism in Korea. It was also a focus for political dissent in the 1980s. In this way the Roman Catholic Church has a very strong influence in Korean society.
There are many Protestant churches in Seoul. The most numerous are Presbyterian, but there are also many Methodist, Baptist, and Lutheran churches. Yoido Full Gospel Church is a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God on Yeouido in Seoul. With approximately 830,000 members (2007), it is the largest Pentecostal Christian congregation in the world, which has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
FESTIVALS
In October 2012 KBS Hall in Seoul hosted major international music festivals – First ABU TV and Radio Song Festivals within frameworks of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union 49th General Assembly. Hi! Seoul Festival is a seasonal cultural festival held four times a year every spring, summer, autumn, and winter in Seoul, South Korea since 2003. It is based on the "Seoul Citizens' Day" held on every October since 1994 to commemorate the 600 years history of Seoul as the capital of the country. The festival is arranged under the Seoul Metropolitan Government. As of 2012, Seoul has hosted Ultra Music Festival Korea, an annual dance music festival that takes place on the 2nd weekend of June.
TRANSPORTATION
Seoul features one of the world's most advanced transportation infrastructures that is constantly under expansion. Its system dates back to the era of the Korean Empire, when the first streetcar lines were laid and a railroad linking Seoul and Incheon was completed. Seoul's most important streetcar line ran along Jongno until it was replaced by Line 1 of the subway system in the early 1970s. Other notable streets in downtown Seoul include Euljiro, Teheranno, Sejongno, Chungmuro, Yulgongno, and Toegyero. There are nine major subway lines stretching for more than 250 km, with one additional line planned. As of 2010, 25% of the population has a commute time of an hour or more.
BUS
Seoul's bus system is operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (S.M.G.), with four primary bus configurations available servicing most of the city. Seoul has many large intercity/express bus terminals. These buses connect Seoul with cities throughout South Korea. The Seoul Express Bus Terminal, Central City Terminal and Seoul Nambu Terminal are located in the district of Seocho District. In addition, East Seoul Bus Terminal in Gwangjin District and Sangbong Terminal in Jungnang District operate in the east of the city.
SUBWAY
Seoul has a comprehensive urban railway network that interconnects every district of the city and the surrounding areas. With more than 8 million passengers per day, Seoul has one of the busiest subway systems in the world. The Seoul Metropolitan Subway has 19 total lines which serve Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi province, western Gangwon province, and northern Chungnam province. In addition, in order to cope with the various modes of transport, Seoul's metropolitan government employs several mathematicians to coordinate the subway, bus, and traffic schedules into one timetable. The various lines are run by Korail, Seoul Metro, Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation, NeoTrans Co. Ltd., AREX, and Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation.
TRAIN
Seoul is connected to every major city in South Korea by rail. Seoul is also linked to most major South Korean cities by the KTX high-speed train, which has a normal operation speed of more than 300 km/h. Major railroad stations include:
Seoul Station, Yongsan District: Gyeongbu line (KTX/Saemaul/Mugunghwa-ho), Gyeongui line (Saemaul/Commuter)
Yongsan Station, Yongsan District: Honam line (KTX/Saemaul/Mugunghwa), Jeolla/Janghang lines (Saemaul/Mugunghwa)
Yeongdeungpo Station, Yeongdeungpo District: Gyeongbu/Honam/Janghang lines (Saemaul/Mugunghwa)
Cheongnyangni Station, Dongdaemun District: Gyeongchun/Jungang/Yeongdong/Taebaek lines (Mugunghwa)
In addition, Suseo Station,in Gangnam District, is scheduled to open in late 2016, and offer KTX service on the newly built Suseo High Speed Railway.
AIRPORTS
Two international airports serve Seoul. Gimpo International Airport, formerly in Gimpo but annexed to Seoul in 1963, was for many years (since its original construction during the Korean War) the only international airport serving Seoul. Other domestic airports were also built around the time of the war, including Yeouido.
When it opened in March 2001, Incheon International Airport on Yeongjong island in Incheon changed the role of Gimpo Airport significantly. Incheon is now responsible for almost all international flights and some domestic flights, while Gimpo serves only domestic flights with the exception of flights to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Osaka Kansai International Airport, Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, and Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. This has led to a significant drop in flights from Gimpo Airport, though it remains one of South Korea's busiest airports.
Meanwhile, Incheon International Airport has become, along with Hong Kong, a major transportation center for East Asia.
Incheon and Gimpo are linked to Seoul by highways, and to each other by the Incheon International Airport Railroad, which is also linked to Incheon line #1. Gimpo is also linked by subway (line No. 5 and #9). The Incheon International Airport Railroad, connecting the airport directly to Seoul Station in central Seoul, was recently opened. Shuttle buses also transfer passengers between Incheon and Gimpo airports.
CYCLING
Cycling is becoming increasingly popular in Seoul and in the entire country. Both banks of the Han River have cycling paths that run all the way across the city along the river. In addition, Seoul introduced in 2015 a bicycle-sharing system named Ddareungi.
EDUCATION
UNICERSITIES
Seoul is home to the majority of South Korea's most prestigious universities, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, Sogang University, Hanyang University, Chung-Ang University, Ewha Womans University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Hongik University, Kyung Hee University, Soongsil University, Sookmyung Women's University, Korea Military Academy, and the University of Seoul.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Education from grades 1–12 is compulsory. Students spend six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school. Secondary schools generally require that the students wear uniforms. There is an exit exam for graduating from high school and many students proceeding to the university level are required to take the College Scholastic Ability Test that is held every November. Although there is a test for non-high school graduates, called school qualification exam, most of Koreans take the test
Seoul is home to various specialized schools, including three science high schools (Hansung Science High School, Sejong Science High School and Seoul Science High School), and six foreign language High Schools (Daewon Foreign Language High School, Daeil Foreign Language High School, Ewha Girls' Foreign Language High School, Hanyoung Foreign Language High School, Myungduk Foreign Language High School and Seoul Foreign Language High School). Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education comprises 235 College-Preparatory High Schools, 80 Vocational Schools, 377 Middle Schools, and 33 Special Education Schools as of 2009.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Seoul is a member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
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