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Showing posts with label Recreation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recreation. Show all posts

Bogor palace | History and definition of the Bogor Palace

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Bogor palace is one of six Presidential Palace of the Republic of Indonesia, which has unique characteristics due to aspects of historical, cultural, and fauna. One is the existence of the deer imported directly from Nepal and maintained from the beginning until now.

There is now a trend Bogor and its surrounding residents every Saturday, Sunday and other holidays walk in around the Bogor Palace while feeding the deer that live in the beautiful palace in Bogor with carrots pages obtained from traditional farmers Bogor residents are always ready to peddle the carrots are every holiday. As the name suggests, this palace is located in Bogor, West Java.

Although various activities of state has not done anymore, the public were allowed to visit the troupe, with the previous permission to the Secretary of State, cq Head of Household Presidency.

Bogor Palace formerly Buitenzorg or Sans Souci, which means "no worries".

From 1870 to 1942, the Bogor Palace was the official residence of Governor-General of 38 Dutch and one British Governor-General.

In 1744 the Governor-General Baron Gustaaf Willem Van Imhoff struck for peace a small village in Bogor (New Village), a territory of the former Kingdom of Pajajaran located upstream of Batavia. Van Imhoff has plans to build the region as an agricultural area and resting place for the Governor-General.

Bogor Palace was built in August 1744 and shaped the three, was originally a cottage, he makes sketches and build from year 1745 to 1750, modeled after the architecture Blehheim Palace, residence of the Duke of Malborough, near the city of Oxford in England. Gradually gradually, over time the changes to the initial construction done during the Governor-General of the Dutch and English (Herman Willem Daendels and Sir Stamford Raffles), forms the building Bogor Palace has undergone various changes. so that was a vacation home turned into a palace building with spacious yard paladian 28.4 acres and building area of ​​14,892 m².

However, disaster struck on October 10, 1834 an earthquake shook the result of the eruption of Mount Salak so that palace of was badly damaged.

In 1850, the Bogor Palace was rebuilt, but did not rise again because it adapted to the situation of the region's frequent earthquakes. During the administration of Governor-General Jacob Duijmayer Albertus van Twist (1851-1856) the old building was demolished and the rest of the quake was built by taking European architecture of the 19th century.

In 1870, Buitenzorg palace used as the official residence of Governor General of Dutch East Indies. Buitenzorg palace's last occupant was the Governor-General van Starkenborg Tjarda Stachourwer who was forced to hand over the palace to General Imamura, pemeritah Japanese occupation.

In 1950, after independence, the Presidential Palace in Bogor began to be used by the Indonesian government, and officially became one of the Indonesian Presidential Palace.

In 1968 the Bogor Palace was officially opened for public visits on the blessing of President Suharto. Flow of visitors from outside and within the country annually reach about 10 thousand people.

On 15 November 1994, Bogor Palace became the annual meeting of economic ministers of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economy Cooperation), and there was issued the Bogor Declaration. [1] The Declaration is a commitment of 18 APEC member countries to hold free perdangangan and investment before 2020.

On August 16, 2002, during the reign of President Megawati, held a "glow of freedom" to commemorate the anniversary of the RI-57, and enlivened by the appearance of Twilite Orchestra, with conductor Addie MS

On July 9, 2005 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has married his son, Agus Yudhoyono in Bogor Palace Anisa Pohan.

On 20 November 2006 U.S. President George W. Bush establish a state visit to Bogor Palace and met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This brief visit lasted for six hours.

Previous Bogor Palace is equipped with a large garden, known as the Bogor Botanical Gardens, but according to the need for a center of science to tropical plants, the Bogor Botanical Gardens shade removed from palace of in 1817.

Bogor Palace has a main building with the left wing and right. The entire palace complex, reaching 1.5 hectares.

Bogor Palace main building consist of:
  1. The main building serves to hold palace of's official state events, meetings and ceremonies.
  2. Left wing of the building which has six bedrooms used to entertain foreign guests.
  3. The right wing of the building with four bedrooms only intended for heads of state who come to visit.
  4. In 1964 a specially constructed building known as the resting space Dyah Bayurini as president and his family, this building includes five separate pavilions.
  5. Private Office of the Head of State
  6. Library
  7. The dining room
  8. The courtroom ministers and screening room
  9. Space Garuda as the official ceremony
  10. Space lotus as a wing of the reception state guests.
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Space Needle | History and definition of the Space Needle

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The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet (184 m) high at its highest point and 138 feet (42 m) wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour (89 m/s) and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, which would protect the structure against an earthquake as powerful as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. The tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage.

The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet (160 m), and a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet (150 m). From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background. This occurs because the tower, which is equivalent in height to a 60-story building, stands more than a kilometer northwest of most downtown skyscrapers.

Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle via elevators that travel at 10 miles per hour (4.5 m/s). The trip takes 43 seconds, and some tourists wait in hour-long lines in order to ascend to the top of the tower. On windy days, the elevators are slowed down to a speed of 5 miles per hour (2.2 m/s). The Space Needle was designated a historic landmark on April 19, 1999 by the City's Landmarks Preservation Board.

The architecture of the Space Needle is the result of a compromise between designs of two architects, Edward E. Carlson and John Graham, Jr. The two leading ideas for the World Fair involved businessman Edward Carlson's sketch of a giant balloon tethered to the ground (see the gently sloping base) and architect John Graham's concept of a flying saucer (see the halo that houses the restaurant and observation deck). Victor Steinbrueck introduced the hourglass profile of the tower. The Space Needle was built to withstand wind velocities of 200 mph, double the requirements in the building code of 1962. An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter Scale jolted the Needle enough in 2001 for water to slosh out of the toilets in the restrooms. The Space Needle can escape serious structural damage during earthquakes of magnitudes below 9. Also made to withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds, the Space Needle sways only 1 inch per 10 mph (16 mm per 10 km/h) of wind speed.

At approximately 605 feet (184 m), the Space Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built by Howard S. Wright Construction Co., but is now dwarfed by other structures along the Seattle skyline, among them the Columbia Center, at 967 feet (295 m). Unlike many other similar structures, such as the CN Tower in Toronto, the Space Needle is not used for broadcasting purposes.

Edward E. Carlson, chairman of the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, originally had an idea for erecting a tower with a restaurant at the World's Fair. Carlson was then president of a hotel company and not previously known for art or design, but he was inspired by a recent visit to the Stuttgart Tower of Germany.

John Graham, an architect who had won praise for designing Northgate Mall in Seattle soon became involved. Graham's first move was to make the restaurant featured in the plans revolve, in the same manner as a tower he had previously designed for the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu.

The proposed Space Needle had no land on which to be built. Since it was not financed by the city, land had to be purchased that was within the fairgrounds. The investors thought that there would be no land available to build a tower and the search for one was nearly dead when, in 1961, they discovered a plot, 120 by 120 feet (37 by 37 m), containing switching equipment for the fire and police alarm systems. The land sold for $75,000. At this point, only one year remained before the World's Fair would begin.

It was privately built and financed by the "Pentagram Corporation" which consisted of Bagley Wright, contractor Howard S. Wright, architect John Graham, Ned Skinner, and Norton Clapp. In 1977 Bagley, Skinner and Clapp sold their interest to Howard Wright who now controls it under the name of Space Needle Corporation.

The earthquake stability of the Space Needle was ensured when a hole was dug 30 feet (9.1 m) deep and 120 feet (37 m) across, and 467 concrete trucks took one full day to fill it. The foundation weighs 5850 tons, including 250 tons of reinforcing steel. With this concrete base weighing the same as the above-ground structure, the Needle's center of gravity is just 5 feet (1.5 m) above ground level. The structure is bolted to the foundation with 72 bolts, each one 30 feet (9.1 m) long.

With time an issue, the construction team worked around the clock. The top dome housing the top five levels (including the restaurants and observation deck) was perfectly balanced so that the restaurant could rotate with the help of one tiny electric motor, originally 0.8 kilowatts (1.1 hp), later replaced with a 1.1 kilowatts (1.5 hp) motor. With paint colors named Orbital Olive for the body, Astronaut White for the legs, Re-entry Red for the saucer, and Galaxy Gold for the roof, the Space Needle was finished in less than one year. It was completed in April 1962 at a cost of $4.5 million. The last elevator car was installed the day before the Fair opened on April 21. During the course of the Fair nearly 20,000 people a day rode the elevators to the Observation Deck. The 20,000 mark was never reached, missed by fewer than 50 people one day. At the time of construction, it was the tallest building in the West, taking the title from the Smith Tower across town that had held that title since 1914.

During the World's Fair, an imitation carillon was installed in the Space Needle, and played several times a day. The carillon recreated the tones of a total of 538 bells, and was built by the Schulmerich Company under the name "Carillon Americana". The operator's console was located in the base of the Space Needle, completely enclosed in glass to allow observation of the musician playing the instrument. It was also capable of being played from a roll, just as a player piano would be. The stentors of the carillon were located in the bottom part of the disc, and were audible over the entire fairgrounds, and beyond.

In 1974, author Stephen Cosgrove's children's book Wheedle on the Needle postulated a furry creature called a Wheedle who lived on top of the Space Needle and caused its light to flash. Its closing quatrain is: There's a Wheedle on the Needle/I know just what you're thinking/But if you look up late at night/You'll see his red nose blinking. The Wheedle had since become a fixture of Seattle, becoming for a time the mascot of the Seattle SuperSonics who played in nearby Key Arena (originally The Coliseum), before departing for Oklahoma City.

In 1982, the SkyLine level was added at a height of 100 feet (30 m). While this level had been depicted in the original plans for the Space Needle, it was not built until this time. Today, the SkyLine Banquet Facility can accommodate groups of 20–360 people.

Renovations were completed in 2000 that cost nearly five times the original price ($21 million). Renovations between 1999 and 2000 included the SkyCity restaurant, SpaceBase retail store, Skybeam installation, Observation Deck overhaul, lighting additions and repainting.

In 2000, celebrations and a fireworks show were canceled due to perceived terror threats against the structure.

On May 19, 2007, the Space Needle welcomed its 45 millionth visitor. The guest, Greg Novoa of San Francisco, received a free trip for two to Paris which included a VIP dinner at the Eiffel Tower.

Every year on New Year's Eve, the Space Needle celebrates with a fireworks show at midnight that is synchronized to music. The 2007/2008 show stopped, restarted, then stopped again with the rest of the pyrotechnics needing to be detonated by hand. The pyrotechnics crew blamed the problem on a corrupted file in the customized software they use to control the timed detonations.
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Canton Tower | History and definition of Canton Tower | The highest tower in the China

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Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower, is an observation tower near Chigang Pagoda, Haizhu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was topped-out in 2009 and became operational on September 29, 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. The tower briefly held the title of tallest completed tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, which had previously held the title for 34 years, before being surpassed by Tokyo Sky Tree in 2011. It is still the tallest structure in China (followed by Shanghai World Financial Center), the Canton Tower is the seventh tallest structure and the third tallest freestanding structure in the world. It is named after "Canton", the traditional European name of the city.

The tower is designed by the Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit of Information Based Architecture together with Arup, the international design, engineering and business consulting firm headquartered in London, UK. 2004, Information Based Architecture and Arup won the international competition, in which many internationally large architectural offices participated. The same year the IBA - Arup team in Amsterdam, developed the tower's concept design. In later stages, IBA cooperated mainly with the local Chinese office of Arup and a Local Design Institute. The tower, although not fully completed yet, is since 1 October 2010 open to the public.

For a long time, the city-government of Guangzhou wavered to decide on the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower's name. On 29 September 2010, it was officially announced that it was simply going to be called Canton Tower, after the city's traditional European name.

There had been a long discussion about the naming of the Canton Tower since its construction started in 2005. In September 2009, at the request of the tower's investor, Guangzhou Daily launched a contest calling for naming proposals. The contest attracted over 180,000 valid entries, among which "Haixin Tower" was awarded the first prize. The name alluded to the city's historical setting as the start of the Maritime Silk Road and the tower's geographical proximity to Haixinsha Island. However, this name was considered obscure to people unfamiliar with the history of the city. Local residents continued to the refer to the tower by various nicknames including "Slim Waist" , "Twisted Firewood" and "Yangdianfeng" .

The naming was reconsidered in 2010. After surveying a broad range of public opinions, "Canton Tower" was decided as the official name and announced at the end of September 2010. The new name, despite its lack of historical reference, was considered the most identifying and least ambiguous among the multitude of proposals.

The idea of the tower's design is simple. The form, volume and structure is generated by two ellipses, one at foundation level and the other at a horizontal plane at 450 metres. These two ellipses are rotated relative to another. The tightening caused by the rotation between the two ellipses forms a ‘waist’ and a densification of material half way the tower's height. This means that the lattice structure, which at the bottom of the tower is porous and spacious, becomes denser at waist level. The waist itself becomes tight, like a twisted rope; transparency is reduced and views to the outside are limited. Further up the tower the lattice opens again, accentuated here by the tapering of the structural column-tubes.

The Canton tower's twisted shape or hyperboloid structure corresponds to the Russian Empire patent No. 1896 dated March 12, 1899 received by Vladimir Shukhov, the Russian engineer and architect. In Ukraine in delta of Dnepr is located the Adziogol Lighthouse (1911, project of Vladimir Shukhov) similar to the Canton tower.

The tower was designed by Information Based Architecture and Arup. The Arup team led by structural engineer Prof. Dr. Joop Paul introduced near mass customisation to the joint design, in combination with parametric design methods, and applied a simple structural concept of three elements: columns, rings and braces, to this more complex geometry.

The waist of the tower contains a 180-metre long open-air skywalk where visitors can physically climb the tower. There are outdoor gardens set within the structure, and at the top, just above 450 metres, a large open-air observation deck.

The interior of the tower is subdivided into programmatic zones with various functions, including TV and radio transmission facilities, observatory decks, revolving restaurants, computer gaming, restaurants, exhibition spaces, conference rooms, shops, and 4D cinemas.

A deck at the base of the tower hides the tower's functional workings. All infrastructural connections – metro and bus stations – are situated underground. This level also includes exhibition spaces, a food court, a commercial space, a parking area for cars and coaches. There are two types of lifts, slow-speed panoramic and high-speed double-decker.

The zone from 80 to 170 metres consists of a 4D cinema, a play-hall area, restaurants, coffee shops and outdoor gardens with teahouses. An open-air staircase, the Skywalk, starts at the height of 170 metres and spirals almost 200 metres higher, all the way through the waist.

The top zone of the tower begins above the stairway, housing various technical functions as well as a two-storey rotating restaurant, a damper and the upper observation levels. From the upper observation levels it is possible to ascend even higher, via a further set of the stairs, to a terraced observation square rising above the tower's top ring.

At night, the tower glows and emits light, rather than being uplit. Every node in the lighting design is individually controllable to allow for animations and colour changes across the entire height of the tower. The concept lighting design was done by Rogier van der Heide. As all lighting is based on LED technology and all fixtures are located on the structure itself, the lighting scheme consumes only 15% of the allowed maximum for facade lighting.

An elliptical track is to be constructed around the periphery of the tower's roof, and 16 transparent "crystal" passenger cars, each with a diameter of 3.2 metres (10 ft) and able to carry four to six people, will take between 20 and 40 minutes to circumnavigate the track.

According to the New TV Tower Construction Company, which was responsible for construction of the project, the design was to be finalised in April 2009, construction begun by November 2009, installation finished by February 2010, and testing completed in August 2010. Opening to the public was scheduled for October 2010, ready for the 16th Asian Games, hosted by Guangzhou in November 2010.

The installation is described by the media as a Ferris wheel, however its passenger cars are not suspended from the rim of a wheel (in fact there is no wheel) and remain horizontal without being fully rotated, and the track, which follows the incline of the oblique roof, is closer to the horizontal than the vertical.

Canton Tower has architectural lighting that was designed by Rogier van der Heide. The architectural feature lighting is based on the principle that the tower should not be "lit up" but "radiate a glow" at night. 7,000 LED light fixtures light the rings of the tower's structure each from underneath, to form a continuous glow.
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Tokyo Sky Tree | History and definition of Tokyo Sky Tree | The highest tower in the Tokyo

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The Tokyo Sky Tree, formerly known as New Tokyo Tower, is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower under construction in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It has been the tallest artificial structure in Japan since 2010. The tower reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011 but will not be finished until at least late 2011.

The project is being led by Tobu Railway and a group of six terrestrial broadcasters (headed by public broadcaster NHK). Construction of the tower is scheduled to be completed by December 2011, with the public opening on 22 May 2012. The completed structure will be the centrepiece of a massive commercial development located equidistant from Narihirabashi Station and Oshiage Station.

One of Tokyo Sky Tree's main purposes is as a television and radio broadcasting tower. Tokyo's current broadcasting tower, Tokyo Tower, is at 333 m (1,093 ft), and is no longer tall enough to give complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage because it is surrounded by many high-rise buildings.

The Tokyo Sky Tree is currently the tallest tower in the world. It is taller than Canton Tower (600 m (1,969 ft)); the tallest structure on an island, taller than Taipei 101; and the second tallest structure in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Design was published on 24 November 2006, based on the following three concepts.
  1. Fusion of futuristic design and traditional beauty of Japan
  2. Catalyst for revitalization of the city
  3. Contribution to disaster prevention "Safety and Security"
The base of the tower has a structure similar to a "tripod", but from a height of about 350 m and above, the tower's structure is cylindrical to withstand very strong winds.

The tower also has state-of-the-art seismic proofing, including a central shaft made of reinforced concrete.

The exterior lattice is painted a colour officially called "Sky Tree White". This is an original colour based on a bluish white Japanese traditional colour called aijiro

The illumination design was published on 16 October 2009. Two different illumination patterns (Sky blue and Purple) will be used, alternately daily. The tower will be illuminated using LED lights.

From 26 October to 25 November 2007, suggestions were collected from the general public for the name to be given to the new tower. On 19 March 2008, a committee chose six final candidate names: Tokyo Edo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree, Mirai Tree, Yumemi Yagura, Rising East Tower, and Rising Tower, with the official name to be decided in a nationwide vote. On 10 June 2008 the official name of the tower was announced as "Tokyo Sky Tree". The name received around 33,000 votes (30%) out of 110,000 cast, with the second most popular name being "Tokyo Edo Tower".

The height of 634 m was selected to have a height that is easy to be remembered. The figures 6 (mu), 3 (sa), 4 (shi) stand for "Musashi" an old name of the region where the Tokyo Sky Tree stands.
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Armani | History and definition of Armani | International Italian fashion house | Symbols of Armani

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Armani
Giorgio Armani S.P.A. is an international Italian fashion house that designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and home interiors. The brand markets these products under several, highly specialized sub-labels including Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, AJ | Armani Jeans, AX | Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, and Armani/Casa. The Armani name has become synonymous with high-fashion and couture worldwide and is considered one of the most prestigious names in the fashion industry. End of year sales for 2005 were $1.69 billion.

Armani is planning in collaboration with Emaar Properties a chain of luxury hotels and resorts in several big cities including Milan, Paris, New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Dubai. The company already operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar, restaurant, and nightclub.

Giorgio Armani is a high-end label specializing in men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, glasses, cosmetics, and perfumes. It is considered one of the most prestigious clothing labels in the world and is available only in Giorgio Armani boutiques, specialty clothiers and select high-end department stores. The logo is a curved "G" completing a curved "A" letter, the all forming a circle logo.

Armani Collezioni (formerly Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni) is another high-end Armani sub-label. The line is more expensive than Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans, Armani Exchange lines, but less expensive than the high-end, ready-to-wear line, Giorgio Armani and the haute couture line, Armani Privé. It is also less fashioned than the others labels, leaning toward atemporal formal clothes. The logo is a small "A" letter which is intricated in a bigger "G" letter, the "A" being part of the "G". This logo is rarely visible outside the clothes. It provides made-to-measure tailored suits and shirts where every element can be chosen. In addition to being sold in the two freestanding boutiques (which feature the Collezioni line exclusively) in Milan and Paris, Armani Collezioni is sold in high-end department stores including Holt Renfrew, Bloomingdale's, David Jones, Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Last year, a sporty line of this label has appeared named "Armani Collezioni Active" in the same way as the EA7 line from Emporio Armani line.

The label features ready-to-wear and accessories. Emporio Armani is available in its 13 stores in the U.S. and over 140 worldwide,and on the brand's website. In January 2010, famed football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Hollywood movie star Megan Fox became the male and female face and body of Emporio Armani. Emporio Armani has teamed up with Reebok to create high-end fashion shoes under the label called EA7.

Armani Jeans is a bridge-line collection of denim-related clothing created in 1981 by Giorgio Armani. Armani Jeans is mainly sold in department stores, although there are 15 freestanding Armani Jeans stores in the world, in addition to an Armani Jeans Cafe in Milan. Some Armani Jeans items are sold in Emporio Armani Stores, and Armani Jeans stores sell Emporio Armani items in the Asian Market.

In terms of design, the clothing from this line does not feature Giorgio Armani's signature simplicity and often has larger logos than the clothing in any of his other collections. The colors used for Armani Jeans are more diverse than those found in his higher end lines or Armani Exchange, which feature monochromatic color schemes and focus on cut and material over color.

A|X Armani Exchange was launched in 1991 in the U.S. The label created by Giorgio Armani is known for its provocative ad campaigns and popularity among young Hollywood pop culture. Armani Exchange designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails fashion and lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewelry, and music. It is inspired by street-chic culture and fashionable dance music. Considered the most accessible Armani brand, Armani Exchange is moderately priced in the general market, with average prices under $100.

Armani Exchange products are available exclusively in 203 stores in 26 countries and on the brand's website.

In 2011, Armani Exchange will continue its expansion with stores opening in: Mall of America (Minneapolis, MN) on May 10, Lakeside Shopping Center (New Orleans, LA) on May 17, Stamford Town Center (Stamford, CT) on June 21, International Plaza (Tampa, FL) on June 28, West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, AB) on June 30, South Shore Plaza (Braintree, MA) on August 3, Northshore Mall (Peabody, MA) on September 13, Water Tower Place (Chicago, IL), Square One (Toronto, ON), Queensborough Landing (New Westminster, BC), Palm Beach Gardens (Palm Beach,FL), CambridgeSide (Boston, MA), Mall del Norte (Laredo, TX), and many more international locations.

The beauty brand by Armani features cosmetics, skin care, perfumes, and colognes. It is produced and distributed by the luxury division of L'Oreal, with which Armani has a long-term partnership agreement. It is available at many department stores worldwide and has very few boutiques. Armani also invests in the fine dining industry. Throughout the world, he has 14 Emporio Armani and Armani Jeans cafes. There is also an Armani Bar in Hong Kong and his two new restaurants, NoBu & Prive, are found worldwide. Armani also has a bookshop (Armani Libri) and a florist (Armani Fiori) under the Armani name and a confectionery company known as Armani Dolci. These smaller brands are mostly sold within larger Armani shops, like the Milan flagship, 31 via Manzoni, and at the Armani/Chater House at 11 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong. He also created 4 lucky Cds "Emporio Armani Caffè" with the famous Italian sound designer Matteo Ceccarini.

Armani and Emaar Properties signed an agreement in 2004 for Emaar Hotels to build and operate at least seven luxury hotels and three vacation resorts under the Armani name. Armani would be responsible for overseeing all aspects the interior design and style of the hotels. One of these hotels is located in Dubai.

The bottom 39 floors of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, house an Armani Hotel with 160 guest rooms and suites, and 144 residences. Giorgio Armani is also designing the interiors of the Armani Residences, also within the skyscraper, and its specially designed line of products from the Armani/Casa home furnishings collection.

The Burj Khalifa Armani Residences Road Show toured Milan, London, Jeddah, Moscow and Delhi. The exhibition was designed by Brash Brands winning an International Design Award for its Signs, Exhibits and Point of Purchase (POP) Displays. The London event was housed in the Armani Casa Showroom in New Bond Street.
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Taipei 101 | History and definition of Taipei 101 | The highest tower in the Asia

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Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by Samsung C&T who participated lately as the original main contractor KTRT Joint Venture couldn't finish the construction on time. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening, and received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.

Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition (see Symbolism). Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.

Taipei 101 is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation (TFCC) and managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago. The name originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, until 2003, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was literally, Taipei International Financial Center.

The Petronas Towers are skyscrapers and twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 until surpassed by Taipei 101, but remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.The building is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.

The Taipei 101 tower has 101 stories above ground and five underground. Upon its completion Taipei 101 claimed the official records for:
* Ground to highest architectural structure (spire): 509.2 metres (1,671 ft). Previously held by the Petronas Towers 452 m (1,483 ft).
* Ground to roof: 449.2 m (1,474 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 442 m (1,450 ft).
* Ground to highest occupied floor: 439.2 m (1,441 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 412.4 m (1,353 ft).
* Fastest ascending elevator speed: designed to be 1010 meters per minute, which is 16.83 m/s (55.22 ft/s) (60.6 km/h, 37.7 mi/h). Now it has been succeeded by Burj Khalifa's elevator whose speed of ascending is 18 m/s (64 km/h).
* Largest countdown clock: Displayed on New Year's Eve.
* Tallest sundial. (See 'Symbolism' below.)

Taipei 101 was the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height and the first record-setting skyscraper constructed in the new millennium - 3rd millennium.

The record it claimed for greatest height from ground to pen pinnacle now rests with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (UAE): 828 m (2,717 ft). Taipei 101's records for roof height and highest occupied floor briefly passed to the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2009, which in turn yielded these records as well to the Burj.

Taipei 101 displaced the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as the tallest building in the world by 57.2 m (188 ft). It also displaced the 85-story, 347.5 m (1,140 ft) Tuntex Sky Tower in Kaohsiung as the tallest building in Taiwan and the 51-story, 244.2 m (801 ft) Shin Kong Life Tower as the tallest building in Taipei.

Various sources, including the building's owners, give the height of Taipei 101 as 508.0 m (1,667 ft), roof height and top floor height as 448.0 m (1,470 ft) and 438.0 m (1,437 ft). This lower figure is derived by measuring from the top of a 1.2 m (4 ft) platform at the base. CTBUH standards, though, include the height of the platform in calculating the overall height, as it represents part of the man-made structure and is above the level of the surrounding pavement.

Taipei 101 is designed to withstand the typhoon winds and earthquake tremors common in its area of the Asia-Pacific. Planners aimed for a structure that could withstand gale winds of 60 m/s (197 ft/s, 216 km/h, 134 mph) and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.

Skyscrapers must be flexible in strong winds yet remain rigid enough to prevent large sideways movement (lateral drift). Flexibility prevents structural damage while resistance ensures comfort for the occupants and protection of glass, curtain walls and other features. Most designs achieve the necessary strength by enlarging critical structural elements such as bracing. The extraordinary height of Taipei 101 combined with the demands of its environment called for additional innovations. The design achieves both strength and flexibility for the tower through the use of high-performance steel construction. Thirty-six columns support Taipei 101, including eight "mega-columns" packed with 10,000 psi (69 MPa) concrete. Every eight floors, outrigger trusses connect the columns in the building's core to those on the exterior.

These features combine with the solidity of its foundation to make Taipei 101 one of the most stable buildings ever constructed. The foundation is reinforced by 380 piles driven 80 m (262 ft) into the ground, extending as far as 30 m (98 ft) into the bedrock. Each pile is 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter and can bear a load of 1,000–1,320 tonnes (1,100–1,460 short tons). The stability of the design became evident during construction when, on March 31, 2002, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Taipei. The tremor was strong enough to topple two construction cranes from the 56th floor, then the highest. Five people died in the accident, but an inspection showed no structural damage to the building, and construction soon resumed.

Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers along with Evergreen Consulting Engineering designed a 660 tonnes (728 short tons) steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper, at a cost of NT$132 million (US$4 million). Suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. Its sphere, the largest damper sphere in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates, each with a height of 125 mm (4.92 in) being welded together to form a 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter sphere. Another two tuned mass dampers, each weighing 6 tonnes (7 short tons), sit at the tip of the spire. These prevent damage to the structure due to strong wind loads.

Taipei 101's characteristic blue-green glass curtain walls are double paned and glazed, offer heat and UV protection sufficient to block external heat by 50 percent, and can sustain impacts of 7 tonnes (8 short tons). Recycled water meets 20-30 percent of the building's water needs. Upgrades are currently under way to make Taipei 101 "the world's tallest green building" by LEED standards by summer 2011.

Two restaurants have opened on the 85th floor: Diamond Tony's, which offers European-style seafood and steak, and Shin Yeh 101, which offers Taiwanese-style cuisine. Occupying all of the 86th floor is Japanese restaurant XEX.

The multi-story retail mall adjoining the tower is home to hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants, clubs and other attractions. The mall's interior is modern in design even as it makes use of traditional elements. The curled ruyi symbol is a recurring motif inside the mall. Many features of the interior also observe feng shui traditions.

Taipei 101 features an Indoor Observatory (89th floor) and an Outdoor Observatory (91st floor). Both offer 360-degree views and attract visitors from around the world.

The Indoor Observatory stands 383.4 m (1,258 ft) above ground, offering a comfortable environment, large windows with UV protection, recorded voice tours in eight languages, and informative displays and special exhibits. Here one may view the skyscraper's main damper, which is the world's largest and heaviest visible damper, and buy food, drinks and gift items.

Two more flights of stairs take visitors up to the Outdoor Observatory. The Outdoor Observatory, at 391.8 m (1,285 ft) above ground, is the second-highest observation deck ever provided in a skyscraper and the highest such platform in Taiwan.

The Indoor Observatory is open twelve hours a day (10:00 am–10:00 pm) throughout the week as well as on special occasions; the Outdoor Observatory is open during the same hours as weather permits. Tickets may be purchased on site in the shopping mall (5th floor) or in advance through the Observatory's web site. Tickets cost NT$400 (US$13) and allow access to the 88th through 91st floors via high-speed elevator.

Planning for Taipei 101 began in 1997 during Chen Shui-bian's term as Taipei mayor. Talks between merchants and city government officials initially centered on a proposal for a 66-story tower to serve as an anchor for new development in Taipei's 101 business district. Planners were considering taking the new structure to a more ambitious height only after an expat suggested it, along with many of the other features used in the design of the building. It wasn't until the summer of 2001 that the city granted a license for the construction of a 101-story tower on the site. In the meantime, construction proceeded and the first tower column was erected in the summer of 2000.

Taipei 101's roof was completed three years later on July 1, 2003. Ma Ying-jeou, in his first term as Taipei mayor, fastened a golden bolt to signify the achievement.

The formal opening of the tower took place on New Year's Eve 2004. President Chen Shui-bian, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng cut the ribbon. Open-air concerts featured a number of popular performers, including singers A-Mei and Sun Yan Zi. Visitors rode the elevators to the Observatory for the first time. A few hours later the first fireworks show at Taipei 101 heralded the arrival of a new year.

The 101st floor is also divided into three levels: 101F (lower), 101MF (mezzanine) and 101RF (roof). It is not known what is actually on these levels, or whether the VIP club actually exists, except that 101RF provides access to the 60-metre tall spire, which has 24 levels (numbered R1 through R24) that can only be accessed via ladder.

The 92nd through 100th floors are officially designated as "communication floors," although it's unknown if there are any radio or TV stations currently broadcasting from the top of Taipei 101. The 91st floor observatory is the highest floor that is open to the public (albeit for a hefty fee), but unlike the leased/private floors from 7~90F, there is no sign of even a visible access point to the topmost floors on Level 91. The top 10 floors have never been mentioned anywhere outside of the observatory brochure.

4 is considered an unlucky number in chinese culture, so what would have been Level 44 has been replaced by Level 43, with 42A replacing the actual 43 to compensate for the skipped floor number.

There is a freight elevator that facilitates access to every level from B5 to 91, with a button for every floor.

A tenant directory is posted in the first floor lobby (from the Xinyi entrance.) As of 1 January 2011, the highest occupied office floor (excluding the observatory and restaurants) is 75. The building appears to be at least 70% occupied at this point.
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Abraj Al Bait Towers | History and definition of Abraj Al Bait Towers | The highest tower in the Middle East

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The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower is a complex under construction in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The building holds and will break several world records in the construction world, including: the tallest hotel in the world, constructed with the tallest clock tower in the world and displaying the world's largest clock face, the world's largest building floor area, and will become the second tallest building in the world upon completion, surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The building complex is meters away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Masjid al Haram.

Upon completion, the tallest tower in the complex would stand as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, and the tallest and largest hotel in the world, with a planned height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). It is the fourth tallest building under construction. Upon completion, the structure would have the largest floor area of any structure in the world with 1,500,000 m2 (16,150,000 sq ft) of floorspace. This is the same as Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates which is also under construction. It will also surpass the Emirates Park Towers in Dubai as the world's tallest hotel.

The site of the complex is located across the street to the south from an entrance to the Masjid al Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba. In order to start construction, the historic Ottoman Ajyad Fortress had to be first completely demolished. To accommodate worshipers visiting the Kaaba, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a large prayer room capable of holding nearly ten thousand people. The tallest tower in the complex will also contain a seven-star hotel to help provide lodging for the over five million pilgrims who travel to Mecca annually to participate in hajj.

In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a four-story shopping mall and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles. Residential towers will house permanent residents while two heliports and a conference center are to accommodate business travelers. In total, up to 100,000 people could be housed inside the towers. The project will use clock faces for each side of the hotel tower. The highest residential floor will be at 450 metres (1,480 feet), just below the clocks. The clock faces will be 43 × 43 m (141 × 141 ft), the largest in the world. The roof of the clocks will be 530 metres (1,740 feet) above the ground, making them the world's most elevated architectural clocks. A 71 metres (233 feet) tall spire will be added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 metres (1,972 feet), which will make it the second tallest building in the world when completed, surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

The tower will also include an Islamic Museum and a Lunar Observation Center which will also be used to sight the moon during the holy months.

The complex is being built by the Bin Laden Group, Saudi Arabia's largest construction company. The clock tower is being designed by the German company Premiere Composite Technologies, the clock by the Swiss engineering firm Straintec. According to the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowments, the project will cost $800 million.

The New York Times′ architecture critic called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower “kitsch” and “an architectural absurdity”.

The hotel tower is topped by a four-faced clock, visible from more than 25 kilometres (16 miles), which is billed by Saudi Arabia as the largest clock in the world. The clock will dwarf London's Westminster Clock, once the largest four-faced clock in the world, as well as the current title holder, the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The dials are more than five times greater in area. The clock's dials are also bigger than the current world champion at the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul, which has a 36 metres (118 feet) face with 3 metres (9.8 feet) high digits set in the transparent roof of the shopping complex.

Each of the clock's four faces are 46 metres (151 feet) in diameter and will be illuminated by 2 million LED lights, along with huge Arabic script reading: “Allah is the Greatest”. Another 21,000 white and green colored lights, fitted at the top of the clock, will flash to signal Islam's five-times daily prayers as far as 29 kilometres (18 miles). On special occasions, 16 bands of vertical lights will shoot some 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) up into the sky. The clock's four faces will be covered with 98 million pieces of glass mosaics. The Saudi coat of arms is displayed at the center of each clock behind the dials.

An observatory deck is planned at the base of the clock. Elevators will take visitors up to a huge viewing balcony just underneath the faces.

The Abraj-al-bait complex has seen two fire incidents during construction. The first fire struck the Hajar Tower on 28 October 2008. It took 400 firefighters to put out the fire, which burned for 10 hours, consuming nine floors of the tower. According to eyewitness reports, the blaze erupted shortly after midnight, and spread rapidly because of wood used for construction stored in the premises. Soon, the entire building was engulfed in smoke. Hospitals were put on high alert, but no injuries were reported. A civil defence spokesman said the fire started on the 32nd floor of Hajar Tower.

The second fire struck Safa tower on 1 May 2009. No deaths or injuries were reported in the blaze that was quickly contained by Civil Defense. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out soon after Asr prayer while some workers in the building were welding iron rods on wooden scaffoldings. The fire damaged a large part of the under-construction tower. According to Major General Adel Zamzami, director general of Civil Defense in the Makkah province, the fire broke out at the 14th floor and reached up to the 20th floor of the tower.
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Milad Tower | History and definition of Milad Tower | The highest tower in the Middle East

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Milad Tower is the tallest tower in Iran. Built in between the Shahrak-e Gharb and Gisha districts of Tehran, it stands 435 m (1,427 ft) high from base to tip of the antenna. The head consists of a large pod with 12 floors, the roof of which is at 315 m (1,033 ft). Below this is a staircase and elevators to reach the area. Milad Tower is the sixth tallest tower in the world after the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower in Guangzhou, CN Tower in Toronto, Ostankino Tower in Moscow, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, and the Tokyo Sky Tree, still under construction. It is also currently (in early 2010) the 14th tallest freestanding structure in the world.

Milad Tower is part of The Tehran International Trade and Convention Center. The project includes the Milad telecommunication tower offering restaurants at the top with panoramic views of Tehran, a five-star hotel, a convention center, a world trade center, and an IT park. The complex seeks to respond to the needs of business in the globalized world of the 21st century by offering facilities combining trade, information, communication, convention and accommodation all in one place.

Furthermore, the complex features a parking area of 27,000 square meters, a large computer and telecommunications unit, a cultural and scientific unit, a commercial transaction center, a temporary showroom for exhibiting products, a specialized library, an exhibition hall, and an administrative unit. Milad Tower has an octagonal base, symbolizing traditional Persian architecture.

Milad Tower, with its height of 435 meters, is the fourth tallest telecommunication tower in the world. Milad Tower consists of five main parts: foundation, transition (lobby) structure, shaft, head structure and antenna mast. The lobby structure consists of six floors. The first three floors consist of 63 trade units, 11 food courts, a cafeteria and a commercial products exhibition, which is supposed to be 260 square meters.

The first and second floors underground consist of official and installing sections and data center. The ground floor is devoted to the entrance and visitors reception. The shaft is a concrete structure which is 315 meters high from ground floor. In three different sides of it 6 elevators are designed to transfer the visitors to the head of the tower at the speed of 7 meters per second and an emergency staircase exists at the fourth side.

The head of the tower is a steel structure weighing about 25,000 tons and consisting of 12 floors. This structure is the biggest and the tallest multi-story structure among all the telecommunication towers in the world. In the top floors of the tower, there are the fire-immune area as a refuge zone, closed observation deck, cafeteria, public art gallery, open observation deck, a revolving restaurant, telecommunication floors, a VIP restaurant, Mechanical floors, and a sky dome. The 4-stage antenna mast is 120 meters high. The lower floor of the mast is for the adjustment of public users' telecommunication antennas and the three upper floors are devoted to the antenna of radio and television organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Client was Yadman Sazeh Co. a representative of Tehran Municipality. The tower has been designed by Dr.M.R.Hafezi, Built By Boland Payeh co.,

The center's main parts are 7 conference salons and an exhibition space with an area of 700 square meters, and its other features are a lobby, a training room, two powder rooms, a radio and television studio, and reception services.

A five-star hotel with 52,000 square metres (560,000 sq ft) area has been established in order to provide local and global tourists and the guests attending the conventions with accommodation and reception services.

This center with 40,000 square metres (430,000 sq ft) area has been established with different sections for national and global commercial business transactions, exhibitions for products and services, technical and scientific conventions.
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Burj Khalifa | History and definition of Burj Khalifa | The highest tower in the Middle East

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Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest structure ever built, at 828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) flagship development called Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district.

The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea.

The total cost for the project was about US $1.5 billion; and for the entire "Downtown Dubai" development, US $20 billion. In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US $4,000 per sq ft (over US $43,000 per m²) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US $3,500 per sq ft (over US $37,500 per m²).

The project's completion coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007–2010, and with vast overbuilding in the country, led to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion dollar bailouts from its oil rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support.

Due to the slumping demand in Dubai's property market, the rents in the Burj Khalifa plummeted 40% some ten months after its opening. Out of 900 apartments in the tower around 825 were still empty at that time.

Burj Khalifa has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that would include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as The Address Downtown Dubai, 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare (30-acre) man-made Burj Khalifa Lake.

The building has returned the location of Earth's tallest freestanding structure to the Middle East where the Great Pyramid of Giza claimed this achievement for almost four millennia before being surpassed in 1311 by Lincoln Cathedral in England.

The decision to build Burj Khalifa is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil based economy to one that is service and tourism based. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Khalifa to be built in the city to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.

There are unconfirmed reports of several planned height increases since its inception. Originally proposed as a virtual clone of the 560 m (1,837 ft) Grollo Tower proposal for Melbourne, Australia's Docklands waterfront development, the tower was redesigned by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Marshall Strabala, an SOM architect who worked on the project until 2006, in late 2008 said that Burj Khalifa was designed to be 808 m (2,651 ft) tall.

The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. According to the structural engineer, Bill Baker of SOM, the building's design incorporates cultural and historical elements particular to the region. The Y-shaped plan is ideal for residential and hotel usage, with the wings allowing maximum outward views and inward natural light. The design architect, Adrian Smith, has said the triple lobed footprint of the building was inspired by the flower Hymenocallis. The tower is composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiralling pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky. There are 27 terraces in Burj Khalifa. At the top, the central core emerges and is sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the Persian Gulf. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes the onion domes of Islamic architecture. During the design process, engineers rotated the building 120 degrees from its original layout to reduce stress from prevailing winds. At its tallest point, the tower sways a total of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).

The spire of Burj Khalifa is composed of more than 4,000 tonnes (4,400 ST; 3,900 LT) of structural steel. The central pinnacle pipe weighing 350 tonnes (390 ST; 340 LT) was constructed from inside the building and jacked to its full height of over 200 m (660 ft) using a strand jack system. The spire also houses communications equipment.

The exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa consists of 142,000 m2 (1,528,000 sq ft) of reflective glazing, and aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with vertical tubular fins. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's extreme summer temperatures. Additionally, the exterior temperature at the top of the building is thought to be 6°C (11°F) cooler than at its base. Over 26,000 glass panels were used in the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa. Over 300 cladding specialists from China were brought in for the cladding work on the tower.

The sky lobbies on the 43rd and 76th floors will house swimming pools. Floors through to 108 will have 900 private residential apartments (which, according to the developer, sold out within eight hours of being on the market). An outdoor zero-entry swimming pool will be located on the 76th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 122nd, 123rd and 124th floor where the At.mosphere restaurant, sky lobby and an indoor and outdoor observation deck is located respectively. Burj Khalifa will receive its first residents from February 2010. They will be among the first of 25,000 people who will live there.

Burj Khalifa is expected to hold up to 35,000 people at any one time. A total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators are installed. The elevators have a capacity of 12 to 14 people per cabin, the fastest rising and descending at up to 18 m/s (59 ft/s). Engineers had considered installing the world's first triple-deck elevators, but the final design calls for double-deck elevators. The double-deck elevators are equipped with entertainment features such as LCD displays to serve visitors during their travel to the observation deck. The building has 2,909 stairs from the ground floor to the 160th floor.

The Burj Khalifa's water system supplies an average of 946,000 l (250,000 USgal) of water per day through 100 km (62 mi) of pipes. An additional 213 km (132 mi) of piping serves the fire emergency system, and 34 km (21 mi) supplies chilled water for the air conditioning system.

The air conditioning system draws air from the upper floors where the air is cooler and cleaner than on the ground. At peak cooling times, the tower's cooling is equivalent to that provided by 13,000 t (29,000,000 lb) of melting ice in one day. The condensate collection system, which uses the hot and humid outside air, combined with the cooling requirements of the building, results in a significant amount of condensation of moisture from the air. The condensed water is collected and drained into a holding tank located in the basement car park, this water is then pumped into the site irrigation system for use on the Burj Khalifa park.

To wash the 24,348 windows, a horizontal track has been installed on the exterior of Burj Khalifa at levels 40, 73 and 109. Each track holds a 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) bucket machine which moves horizontally and then vertically using heavy cables. Above level 109, up to tier 27 traditional cradles from davits are used. The top of the spire, however, is reserved for specialist window cleaners, who brave the heights and high winds dangling by ropes to clean and inspect the top of the pinnacle. Under normal conditions, when all building maintenance units will be operational, it will take 36 workers three to four months to clean the entire exterior facade.

Unmanned machines will clean the top 27 additional tiers and the glass spire. The cleaning system was developed in Melbourne, Australia at a cost of A$8 million.

Burj Khalifa is surrounded by an 11 ha (27-acre) park designed by landscape architects SWA Group. The design of the park is also inspired by the core design concepts of Burj Khalifa which is based on the symmetries of the desert flower, Hymenocallis. The park has six water features, gardens, palm lined walkways, and flowering trees. At the centre of the park and the base of Burj Khalifa is the water room, which is a series of pools and water jet fountains. In addition the railing, benches and signs incorporate images of Burj Khalifa and the Hymenocallis flower.

The plants and the shrubbery will be watered by the buildings's condensation collection system that uses water from the cooling system. The system will provide 68,000,000 L (15,000,000 imp gal) annually. WET designers, who also developed the Dubai Fountain, developed the park's six water features.

The primary structural system of Burj Khalifa is reinforced concrete. Over 45,000 m3 (58,900 cu yd) of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes (120,000 ST; 110,000 LT) were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles; each pile is 1.5 metre diameter x 43 m long, buried more than 50 m (164 ft) deep. Burj Khalifa's construction used 330,000 m3 (431,600 cu yd) of concrete and 55,000 tonnes (61,000 ST; 54,000 LT) of steel rebar, and construction took 22 million man-hours. A high density, low permeability concrete was used in the foundations of Burj Khalifa. A cathodic protection system under the mat is used to minimize any detrimental effects from corrosive chemicals in local ground water. In May 2008 concrete was pumped to a then world record delivery height of 606 m (1,988 ft), the 156th floor. Three tower cranes were used during construction of the uppermost levels, each capable of lifting a 25-tonne load. The remaining structure above is constructed of lighter steel.

Burj Khalifa is highly compartmentalised. Pressurized, air-conditioned refuge floors are located approximately every 35 floors where people can shelter on their long walk down to safety in case of an emergency or fire.

Special mixes of concrete are made to withstand the extreme pressures of the massive building weight; as is typical with reinforced concrete construction, each batch of concrete used was tested to ensure it could withstand certain pressures. CTLGroup, working for SOM, conducted the creep and shrinkage testing critical for the structural analysis of the building.

The consistency of the concrete used in the project was essential. It was difficult to create a concrete that could withstand both the thousands of tonnes bearing down on it and Persian Gulf temperatures that can reach 50 °C (122 °F). To combat this problem, the concrete was not poured during the day. Instead, during the summer months ice was added to the mixture and it was poured at night when the air is cooler and the humidity is higher. A cooler concrete mixture cures evenly throughout and is therefore less likely to set too quickly and crack. Any significant cracks could have put the entire project in jeopardy.

The unique design and engineering challenges of building Burj Khalifa have been featured in a number of television documentaries, including the Big, Bigger, Biggest series on the National Geographic and Five channels, and the Mega Builders series on the Discovery Channel.

In June 2010, Burj Khalifa was the recipient of the 2010 Best Tall Building Middle East & Africa award by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. On 28 September 2010 Burj Khalifa won the award for best project of year at the Middle East Architect Awards 2010.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat bestowed a new award for Burj Khalifa at its annual “Best Tall Buildings Awards Ceremony” on 25 October 2010 when Burj Khalifa honored as first recipient of CTBUH’s new Tall Building “Global Icon” Award. According to CTBUH the new “Global Icon” award recognizes those very special supertall skyscrapers that make a profound impact, not only on the local or regional context, but on the genre of tall buildings globally. Which is innovative in planning, design and execution, the building must have influenced and reshaped the field of tall building architecture, engineering, and urban planning. It is intended that the award will only be conferred on an occasional basis, when merited by an exceptional project perhaps every ten or fifteen years.

Burj Khalifa was built primarily by workers from South Asia. On 17 June 2008, there were 7,500 skilled workers employed at the construction site. Press reports indicated in 2006 that skilled carpenters at the site earned UK£4.34 a day, and labourers earned UK£2.84. According to a BBC investigation and a Human Rights Watch report, the workers were housed in abysmal conditions, their pay was often withheld, their passports were confiscated by their employers, and they were working in hazardous conditions that resulted in an apparently high number of deaths and injuries on site. During the building of the Burj Khalifa tower only one construction-related death was reported. However workplace injury and fatality in the UAE are "poorly documented".

On 21 March 2006, about 2,500 workers, who were upset over buses that were delayed for the end of their shifts, protested, damaging cars, offices, computers, and construction equipment. A Dubai Interior Ministry official said the rioters caused almost UK£500,000 in damage. Most of the workers involved in the riot returned the following day but refused to work.
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Eiffel Tower | History and definition of the Eiffel Tower | tallest man-made structure in the world

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The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named for its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair.

The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. Upon its completion, it surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930; however, due to the addition in 1957 of the antenna, the tower is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France after the 2004 Millau Viaduct.

The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift, to the first and second levels. The walk to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by elevator. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. Eiffel was assisted in the design by engineers Émile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin and architect Stephen Sauvestre. The risk of accident was great as, unlike modern skyscrapers, the tower is an open frame without any intermediate floors except the two platforms. However, because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died. The tower was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, and opened on 6 May.

The tower was much criticised by the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. Newspapers of the day were filled with angry letters from the arts community of Paris. One is quoted extensively in William Watson's US Government Printing Office publication of 1892 Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture: "And during twenty years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates." Signers of this letter included Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Charles Gounod, Charles Garnier, Jean-Léon Gérôme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Alexandre Dumas.

Novelist Guy de Maupassant—who claimed to hate the tower—supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.

One of the great Hollywood movie clichés is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in Paris to 7 stories, only a very few of the taller buildings have a clear view of the tower.

Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line during the First Battle of the Marne.

Design of the tower

The pig iron structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes while the entire structure, including non-metal components, is approximately 10,000 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125 metre square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun.

At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticised for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, however, as experienced bridge builders, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind.

In order to maintain a uniform appearance to an observer on the ground, three separate colours of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of bronze. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting.

The only non-structural elements are the four decorative grillwork arches, added in Stephen Sauvestre's sketches, which served to reassure visitors that the structure was safe, and to frame views of other nearby architecture.

The original elevators to the first and second floors were provided by two companies. Both companies had to overcome many technical obstacles as neither company (or indeed any company) had experience with installing elevators climbing to such heights with large loads. The slanting tracks with changing angles further complicated the problems. The East and West elevators were supplied by the French company Roux Combaluzier Lepape, using hydraulically powered chains and rollers. Contemporary engravings of the elevators cars show that the passengers were seated at this time but it is not clear whether this was conceptual. It would be unnecessary to seat passengers for a journey of a couple of minutes. The North and South elevators were provided by the American company Otis using car designs similar to the original installation but using an improved hydraulic and cable scheme. The French elevators had a very poor performance and were replaced with the current installations in 1897 (West Pillar) and 1899 (East Pillar) by Fives-Lille using an improved hydraulic and rope scheme. Both of the original installations operated broadly on the principle of the Fives-Lille lifts.

The Fives-Lille elevators from ground level to the first and second levels are operated by cables and pulleys driven by massive water-powered pistons. The hydraulic scheme was somewhat unusual for the time in that it included three large counterweights of 200 tonnes each sitting on top of hydraulic rams which doubled up as accumulators for the water. As the elevators ascend the inclined arc of the pillars, the angle of ascent changes. The two elevator cabs are kept more or less level and indeed are level at the landings. The cab floors do take on a slight angle at times between landings.

The principle behind the elevators is similar to the operation of a block and tackle but in reverse. Two large hydraulic rams (over 1 metre diameter) with a 16 metre travel are mounted horizontally in the base of the pillar which pushes a carriage (the French word for it translates as chariot and this term will be used henceforth to distinguish it from the elevator carriage) with 16 large triple sheaves mounted on it. There are 14 similar sheaves mounted statically. Six wire ropes are rove back and forth between the sheaves such that each rope passes between the 2 sets of sheaves 7 times. The ropes then leave the final sheaves on the chariot and passes up through a series of guiding sheaves to above the second floor and then via a pair of triple sheaves back down to the lift carriage again passing guiding sheaves.

This arrangement means that the elevator carriage, complete with its cars and passengers, travels 8 times the distance that the rams move the chariot, the 128 metres from the ground to the second floor. The force exerted by the rams also has to be 8 times the total weight of the lift carriage, cars and passengers, plus extra to account for various losses such as friction. The hydraulic fluid was water, normally stored in three accumulators, complete with counterbalance weights. To make the elevator ascend, water was pumped using an electrically driven pump from the accumulators to the two rams. Since the counterbalance weights provided much of the pressure required, the pump only had to provide the extra effort. For the descent, it was only necessary to allow the water to flow back to the accumulators using a control valve. The lifts were operated by an operator perched precariously underneath the lift cars. His position (with a dummy operator) can still be seen on the lifts today.

The Fives-Lille elevators were completely upgraded in 1986 to meet modern safety requirements and to make the elevators easier to operate. A new computer controlled system was installed which completely automated the operation. One of the three counterbalances was taken out of use, and the cars were replaced with a more modern and lighter structure. Most importantly, the main driving force was removed from the original water pump such that the water hydraulic system provided only a counterbalancing function. The main driving force was transferred to a 320 kW electrically driven oil hydraulic pump which drives a pair of hydraulic motors on the chariot itself, thus providing the motive power. The new lift cars complete with their carriage and a full 92 passenger load weigh 22 tonnes.

Due to elasticity in the ropes and the time taken to get the cars level with the landings, each elevator in normal service takes an average of 8 minutes and 50 seconds to do the round trip, spending an average of 1 minute and 15 seconds at each floor. The average journey time between floors is just 1 minute.

The original Otis elevators in the North and South pillars in their turn proved to be inferior to the new (in 1899) French elevators and were scrapped from the South pillar in 1900 and from the North pillar in 1913 after failed attempts to re-power them with an electric motor. The North and South pillars were to remain without elevators until 1965 when increasing visitor numbers persuaded the operators to install a relatively standard and modern cable hoisted system in the north pillar using a cable-hauled counterbalance weight, but hoisted by a block and tackle system to reduce its travel to one third of the elevator travel. The counterbalance is clearly visible within the structure of the North pillar. This latter elevator was upgraded in 1995 with new cars and computer controls.

The South pillar acquired a completely new fairly standard electrically driven elevator in 1983 to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. This was also supplied by Otis. A further four-ton service elevator was added to the South pillar in 1989 by Otis to relieve the main elevators when moving relatively small loads or even just maintenance personnel.

The East and West hydraulic (water) elevator works are on display and, at least in theory, are open to the public in a small museum located in base of the East and West tower, which is somewhat hidden from public view. Because the massive mechanism requires frequent lubrication and attention, public access is often restricted. However, when open, the wait times are much less than the other, more popular, attractions. The rope mechanism of the North tower is visible to visitors as they exit from the elevator .

The original elevators from the second to the third floor were also of a water-powered hydraulic design supplied by Léon Edoux. Instead of using a separate counterbalance, the two elevator cars counterbalanced each other. A pair of 81 metre long hydraulic rams were mounted on the second level reaching nearly half way up to the third level. An elevator car was mounted on top of the rams. Ropes ran from the top of this car up to a sheave on the third level and back down to a second car. The result of this arrangement was that each car only travelled half the distance between the second and third levels and passengers were required to change elevators halfway walking between the cars along a narrow gangway with a very impressive and relatively unobstructed downward view. The ten-ton cars held 65 passengers each or up to four tons.

One interesting feature of the original installation was that the hoisting rope ran through guides to retain it on windy days to prevent it flapping and becoming damaged. The guides were mechanically moved out of the way of the ascending car by the movement of the car itself. In spite of some antifreeze being added to the water that operated this system, it nevertheless had to close to the public from November to March each year.

The original elevators complete with their hydraulic mechanism were completely scrapped in 1982 after 97 years of service. They were replaced with two pairs of relatively standard rope hoisted cars which were able to operate all the year round. The cars operate in pairs with one providing the counterbalance for the other. Neither car can move unless both sets of doors are closed and both operators have given a start command. The commands from the cars to the hoisting mechanism are by radio obviating the necessity of a control cable. The replacement installation also has the advantage that the ascent can be made without changing cars and has reduced the ascent time from 8 minutes (including change) to 1 minute and 40 seconds. This installation also has guides for the hoisting ropes but they are electrically operated. The guide once it has moved out of the way as the car ascends automatically reverses when the car has passed to prevent the mechanism becoming snagged on the car on the downward journey in the event it has failed to completely clear the car. Unfortunately these elevators do not have the capacity to move as many people as the three public lower elevators and long lines to ascend to the third level are common. Most of the intermediate level structure present on the tower today was installed when the elevators were replaced and allows maintenance workers to take the elevator half way.

The replacement of these elevators allowed the restructuring of the criss-cross beams in upper part of the tower and further allowed the installation of two emergency staircases. These replaced the dangerous winding stairs that were installed when the tower was constructed.

The tower and its representations have long been in the public domain. However, a French court ruled, in June 1990, that a special lighting display on the tower in 1989, for the tower's 100th anniversary, was an "original visual creation" protected by copyright. The Court of Cassation, France's judicial court of last resort, upheld the ruling in March 1992. The Société d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE) now considers any illumination of the tower to be under copyright. As a result, it is no longer legal to publish contemporary photographs of the tower at night without permission in France and some other countries.

The imposition of copyright has been controversial. The Director of Documentation for what was then the Société nouvelle d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SNTE), Stéphane Dieu, commented in January 2005, "It is really just a way to manage commercial use of the image, so that it isn't used in ways we don't approve." However, it also potentially has the effect of prohibiting tourist photographs of the tower at night from being published, as well as hindering non-profit and semi-commercial publication of images of the tower. Besides, French doctrine and jurisprudence traditionally allow pictures incorporating a copyrighted work as long as their presence is incidental or accessory to the main represented subject, a reasoning akin to the De minimis rule. Thus, SETE could not claim copyright on photographs of panoramas of Paris incorporating the lit tower.
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