26 November 2007

China - Shanghai


View of Shanghai skyline from the Captain Hostel, 37 Fuzhou Road, just off the Bund



Wedding photography on the Bund



People's Square



East Nanjing Road - Shanghai's 42nd Street



The infamous skyline of the Pudong district



The equally infamous Bund district



Competing to be Shanghai's tallest: SOM's Jinmao tower (completed 1999) on the left and the World Finance Tower on the right, currently under construction, by Kohn Pedersen Fox. Here's a graphic showing the world's 10 tallest buildings - Jinmao Tower is #7 and World Finance is #4, from left to right.



The Jinmao tower is by far my favorite, and really beautiful up close:





The tallest atrium in the world - the Hyatt in the Jinmao Tower.



The Pudong district with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the background



Longtang, Shanghai's version of Beijing's hutong, or traditional, now backstreet, housing for urban communities.



Don't remember the name of this park



Temple of the Gods



Field trip



Shanghai Museum



Shanghai Grand Theatre



To get to the airport, take the MagLev - the world's first levitating train. The cars are suspended above the tracks by a magnetic field instead of sitting on the tracks with wheels, and reaches up to a speed of 430 km/hour, or 267 mph.

The top speed of the MagLev during my trip was 300 km/h, or 186 mph.

21 November 2007

New York Sun on PBDW

Awesome article - had to share. See here for the online version, a bit more clear for reading, but doesn't include the lovely photos. See also the PBDW website or the PBDW monograph (in the links section to the right) for more photos of the Reece School project!

Among other things, you'll read: "For New Yorkers who care about architecture, the Reece School should confirm how worthy an outfit Platt Byard Dovell White really is. They may not have the highest profile in the city, but one can say of them — as of few other firms — that they are consistently interesting, and always good."



17 November 2007

China - Beijing


Air quality, or lack thereof



Suburban Beijing



Forbidden City in panorama



Sunset over the Forbidden City



Outside the Forbidden City



Sunday afternoons in parks are the place to be - musicians, singers, dancers and calligraphers go to work



Pointing and miming and laughter = dinner



Night market near the Novotel Peace Hotel


Same night market (photo by Alex)



Inside a Catholic church



Lama Temple



The bird's nest / new Olympic Stadium



Roast duck dinner - thank you Philip for the recommendation!!



Pedestrian overpass on the way back to the hotel

China - Hong Kong


A view of Hong Kong airport when we landed for refueling, before we were told the Beijing airport had closed and we were in HK for the night.



Free room, courtesy Qantas



Regal Airport Hotel, from the Hong Kong airport

08 November 2007

Furry friends in Hobart


Babies! (Tasmanian Devils)


Baby wombat


Tasmanian Devil


Tovah communicates with a Roo


Banjo the Koala


Baby Roo hiding out



For some reason as soon as the camera is on, this cockatoo stops talking!
You can hear him say "hello mate" as he's climbing down.

Movements

Something I'm working on for my portfolio -


above: dance in plan



above and below: dance in elevation




01 October 2007

Canberra in September

Arriving a day early for the Rotary 9750 District Conference gave me a bit of time to wander around the city and take some photos:


The Australian Academy of Science in Canberra built as their first home the Shine Dome, completed in 1959 and designed by Melbourne firm Grounds, Romberg and Boyd. Go to the AAS website here to read more.




The New Parliament House (completed 1988) sits slightly uphill to the Old Parliament House (completed 1927), which was built as a provisional building meant to hold government for approximately 50 years. The city of Canberra was specially planned (by an American!) and constructed as the Australian capital due to an intense rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.



The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has the most severe water restrictions of any Australian state.


Entry to the New Parliament House on the right.


Rooftop cafe


by Italian artist George Baldesin (1929-1978);
National Gallery of Australia in Canberra