Building Construction

some of the wOrld's strangest buildings

2010-07-19T04:05:00.001-07:00

some of the wOrld's strangest buildings

1. Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)

2.. The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)

3.. Stone House (Guimarães, Portugal)

4.. Lotus Temple (Delhi, India)

5. Cathedral of Brasilia (Brazil)

6. La Pedrera (Barcelona, Spain)

7.. Atomium (Brussels, Belgium)

8. Museum of Contemporary Art (Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

9. Kansas City Library (Missouri, USA)

10. Low impact woodland house (Wales, UK)

11. Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)

12. Rotating Tower, Dubai, UAE

(Bamboo leaf for Dynamic Architecture ™ all rights reserved to Dr. David Fisher)
Have you ever seen a building in motion that actually changes its shape? Sounds unbelievable but not to Dr. David Fisher. This building will never appear exactly the same twice.
It is amazing but you will have the choice of waking up to sunrise in your bedroom and enjoying sunsets over the ocean at dinner.
In addition to being such an incredible engineering miracle it will produce energy for itself and even for other buildings because it will have wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor (picture 2).. So an 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.

13. Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)

14. Casa da musica (Porto, Portugal)

15. Olympic Stadium (Montreal, Canada)

16. Nautilus House (Mexico City, Mexico)

17. The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)

18. National Theatre (Beijing, China)

19. Conch Shell House, Isla Mujeres, Mexico

20. House Attack (Viena, Austria)

21. Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)

22. Cubic Houses (Kubus woningen) (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

23. Ideal Palace (France)

24. The Church of Hallgrimur, Reykjavik, Iceland

25. Eden project (United Kingdom)

26. The Museum of Play (Rochester , USA)

27. Atlantis (Dubai, UAE)

28. Montreal Biosphere (Canada)

29. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN, USA)

30. The Basket Building (Ohio, USA)

31. Kunsthaus (Graz, Austria)

32. Forest Spiral (Darmstadt, Germany)

33. Wooden Gagster House (Archangelsk, Russia)

Cool Living: Luxury Bathrooms

2010-07-07T04:08:00.001-07:00

Cool Living: Luxury Bathrooms

Stunning 3D Street Art (Paintings)

2010-07-07T03:02:00.001-07:00

3d Street Art, often known as 3d chalk art is 2-dimensional artwork drawn on the street itself that gives you a 3-dimensional optical illusion from a certain perspective. It can be very breathtaking, realistic and at the same time captivating once you get the angle correct. And creating one is certainly though and challenging as you are creating a realistic 3d view out of a 2d painting

Hot river. Nearly the whole street were taken to create this earth cracking effect. Brilliant piece of art! (via Edgar Mueller)
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Ice abyss. Watch out to not fall in this huge ice abyss! (via Edgar Mueller)
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Raft. Now that the street is flooded, raft is your only resort to get to the other side. (via Edgar Mueller)
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Johnnie Walker in Taipei. Underworld of Johnnie Walker. (via Manfred Stader)
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Mysterious cave. You don’t have to travel around around the world exploring mysterious caves – somtimes they are just under you. (via Edgar Mueller)
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Reflection. People on the upper part of the image is real but their reflection on the bottom part of the image is drawn. (via Kurt Wenner)
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Melstorm. And here comes the vortex! (via Kurt Wenner)
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Muses. This drawing looks like an old, classic painting, similar to paintings in medieval castles. (via Kurt

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Hole. Another drawing which shows what happens under the street. (via Kurt Wenner)
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Relaxing giant. A huge giant relaxing on the street. (via Kurt Wenner)
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Horses. It’s a cowboy show, yee-haw! (via Kurt Wenner)
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Office stress. This drawing represents daily life of a typical office, maybe? (via Kurt Wenner)
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Crazy river. Just hold on and here we go… Oh snap, I didn’t see that crock down the river! (via Julian Beever)
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Escalator. Escalator from the underground. This looks very realistic! (via Manfred Stader)
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Grant’s. Ice cold 3D chalk drawing for “Grant’s”. (via Manfred Stader)
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Smart. This is very big, shiny drawing which is made for “Smart”. (via Manfred Stader)
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Nails. Ouch, this hurts! (via Manfred Stader)
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Asian Paints – Mumbai. What’s this? It’s a colour waterfall! (via Manfred Stader)
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EasyJet – Edinburg. So it’s possible to kick back at a beach, in the middle of a city. (via Manfred Stader)
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Hot bath. And here we have a hot bath which is open for everyone! (via Manfred Stader)
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Qeswachaka - A Handwoven Bridge Made Of Grass

2010-06-21T00:15:00.001-07:00

Qeswachaka - A Handwoven Bridge Made Of Grass

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The Qeswachaka hanging bridge, of Cuzco, Chile, is handwoven every year, from a local grass called Qoya.

Located approximately 100 km from Cuzco, Qeswachaka bridge was once part of a network of bridges, built in the time of the Inca empire, but is now the only one of its kind, in the world. Spanning 120 feet over the Apurimac river, at around 13,000 feet above water, Qeswachaka (also spelled Q’eswachaka or Keswachaka) is built using the ancient Qhapaq nan technique, used by the Inca people.

Qhapaq nan bridges were built from grass, and were wide enough for only one person to pass, at a time. In ancient times these bridges were constantly under surveillance and everyone crossing them was monitored. When Pizzaro began his march for Cuzco, Qeswachaka was destroyed, to slow his advance, but was reconstructed, many years later.

Made from a local herb, known as Qoya, the fibers of Qeswachaka bridge deteriorate rapidly, and local communities have to reconstruct the bridge every year. Around 1,000 men and women, from various Andean communities gather at Qeswachaka bridge, every second week of June, for the rebuilding ceremony. Long blade of Qoya grass are woven into six long cables, which are bound and secured by eucalyptus trunks, buried at each end of the bridge.

It’s not that building a more modern bridge would be impossible, but this is a way for the Andean people to celebrate and honor their Inca ancestors, and keep their centuries old traditions alive.

Compact House Is Shaped Like Compact Car

2010-06-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

Compact House Is Shaped Like Compact Car

On the border of a nature preserve, near Salzburg, Austria, lies one of the weirdest looking homes in the world – the Voglereiter Auto Residence.

Designed by Markus Voglereiter, this unusual home looks a lot like an old Volkswagen Beetle. It might look funny to some of you, but transforming a 70’s style suburban home into car-shaped house was no joke, especially sine it required creating two separate dwelling for parents and children, while implementing efficient heating and insulation techniques. Not to mention respecting legal building and design codes.

But in the end, Markus Voglereiter managed to create a unique residence, both on the outside and on the. The interior of the car-shaped house also features auto-themed styling, like the springs on the metal staircase. All in all, a fascinating structure, the Volgereiter Auto Residence has already become somewhat of a tourist attraction.

hOllywood sign hotel cOncept

2010-05-10T23:37:00.001-07:00

hOllywood sign hotel cOncept

Danish architecture firm Bay Arch wants to transform the famous Hollywood Sign into a modern hotel.

The proposed 10 floor hotel would feature 308 rooms, 3 swimming pools, and an observation deck - all hidden behind the letters.

ING House in Amsterdam - Amazing Office

2010-05-06T22:24:00.001-07:00

ING House in Amsterdam - Amazing Office

ING House in Amsterdam -
Amazing Office Photos Of ING Group..
ING House is the head office of ING Group. ING House contains
the board room, offices for senior management and a number of
corporate departments.
The building was designed to reflect the image of ING: innovative
and transparent, dynamic and sustainable. The open plan and glass walls
help facilitate communication across departments and complement
ING's dedication to transparency.
ING House was designed by Amsterdam-based Meyer and
Van Schooten Architects.
It has a streamlined shape in anodized aluminium and glass and is
constructed like a table on 16 steel legs. The legs stand freely
on pins in large concrete blocks in the ground, a technique used
in bridge building.
The building is 28 meters wide, 138 meters long and at the highest point
of its 10 floors, 48 meters tall. The total site area is 5,600m2.
ING House has a lobby, 250 seat auditorium, a foyer, restaurant,
library, more than 800m2 of conference rooms and 160 parking spaces.
The inside of the building is home to an impressive art collection and
about half the total office space is reserved for â€œflexibleâ€�
work stations, which give employees the chance to change their
working environment. Most employees also enjoy a view of one of
the six inner gardens.
These gardens were designed by landscape architect Michael van Gessel
and each has its own theme. The gardens are integrated into the
design of the building and considered visual highlights. The lobby
features a bamboo garden in a bed of moss and plates of Belgian
blue limestone and the main path of Chinese granite that runs
from the main entrance through the hall to a fifty-metre long quay
in the water of the Nieuwe Meer.
The ground-breaking ceremony took place on 16 November 1999 and
ING House was officially opened on 16 September 2002 by Prince
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.

Greatest Tree House Ever

2010-05-06T00:38:00.001-07:00

The house was built in the forest of Portland, by Robert Harvey Oshatz. It took him seven years to build it.
This is one of the greatest tree houses ever.

Strangest House in The World

2010-01-27T21:11:00.001-08:00

1-The Dancing House in Prague

2. The Tree House in Cincinnati

3. Eco-conscious Roundhouse in Australia

4. Forest Spiral Apartments in Germany

5. UFO-style houses in Sanjhih, Taiwan

6. Space-inspired house in Chicago

7. Crooked house in Poland

8. Cheetah House in Chicago

9. Conch House in the Caribbean

10. Stone Age home in Portugal

It is Mumbai Building

2010-01-12T22:44:00.001-08:00

It is Mumbai!

The name Mumbai is an eponym, etymologically derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba— the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, and Aai — mother in Marathi. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, the most populous city of India, and by some measures the most populous city in the world with an estimated population of about 18 million (as of 2006).

Here are some awesome snaps of Mumbai. The skyline has changed so much in the past few decades, although the heart remains the same. Hope you like them!

A local boy starts his day by giving respect to the Sun God for divine grace

Nariman Point By night

The Sea bridge Bandra-Worli Sealink

Worli Sea Face - High Tide

Worli Sea Face

Vashi Creek, a suburb of mumbai

Cuffe Parade by Night taken from Nariman Point

Hiranandi Complex at Powai Lake

Haji Ali

The Timeless Mumbai Railways

Mumbai Sunset

Japanese Highways, Bridges & Interchanges

2010-01-11T21:03:00.001-08:00

Astounding Japanese Highways, Bridges & Interchanges

Japan saw most of its infrastructure bombed back to the stone age in the final years of World War II, which makes the country's post-war rejuvenation all the more astounding. Huge, complex public works projects saw a concrete & steel web of highways, bridges and interchanges blossom from the wreckage of war.
Today, shaped by the demands of restrictive space and economic boom & bust, Japan's hardened transportation arteries display artistic forms that go far beyond their functions.

(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
Above left is the Hakozaki Junction, part of the Metropolitan Expressway in Tokyo, and at right is the Hokko Junction in Osaka... These images illustrate the solution engineers used when building multi-lane highway interchanges in some of the world's most crowded cities in Japan: go vertical!

(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
Ken Ohyama has made it his mission to chronicle some of the more striking Japanese roadworks in a Flickr series called Interchange and a book of his photos available from Amazon. One of the more outstanding examples is The Hokko Junction shown above - a part of the Hanshin Expressway near Japan's second city, Osaka.

Also in Osaka is the Higashiosaka (East Osaka) Loop of the Hanshin Expressway. The photographer's technique gives the sweeping curve of the roadway an almost tubular appearance:

(images credit: Ken Ohyama)
When engineers have space to work with, they take full advantage. This wide field view of the Higashiosaka interchange shows the almost organic complexity of a busy cloverleaf, resembling a living creature's circulatory system with the vehicles acting as blood cells.

(image credit: zvkk)
Highways upon highways... without any end in sight:

(images credit: Andrew Yamaguchi, Sergei Mingazhev, Stassia)
One interesting feature of Japanese elevated highways: they often run above rivers or sea channels, using the available space above the water. Here are some of these "highways on the sea" -

(images credit: takasuuuui, kokix)
The incredible Japanese road infrastructure really took off in the 1960s - check out the vintage photo on the right:

(left image credit: FotoOleg)
Such "Bladerunner" sights are commonplace now, brimming with urban energy -

(images credit: kokix)
By the way, for the tricky "urban density" photography, head over to this page... and see if you can spot something wrong with the image there.
Slipping Sideways
Some sections of the Hanshin Expressway suffered severe damage during the 7.2 magnitude Great Hanshin Earthquake which hit the Kobe, Japan area in January of 1995, killing over 5,500 people and costing over $200 billion.

(image credit: AFP / Jiji Press)
On the bright side, the affected sections of the highway did not "pancake", as happened in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, but instead slipped sideways and tumbled over. Either way, one doesn't want to be driving through a highway interchange or junction when a big quake hits!
Recession, what recession?
Public works spending has long been the Japanese government's preferred way to spend budget surpluses, boost employment, keep the ruling party's supporters in the construction industry loyal, or all of the above. The highway depicted below is one of those projects, steadily overtaking a quiet city street like Godzilla in slow motion.

(images credit: Cisco's Japan Blog and Snegura)
Which came first, the highway or the building? The question is moot as both have learned to accommodate one another. The Hanshin Expressway takes a shortcut through the 5th to 7th floors of Fukushima's Gate Tower building, also known as the Bee Hive.

(images via)
The story goes that the original building's owner wanted to knock it down and rebuild, but was told by city planners that the space was being allocated to a newly planned exit of the expressway. Both sides refused to budge, and the compromise was completed in 1992.

(image via)
Tokyo residents can easily avoid using the highways and expressways which crisscross the city, thanks to one of the world's largest and most efficient subway systems, but when traffic is light they can be a pleasure to drive. The view can be pretty intense, as in the time-lapse photo below:

(image credit: Vladimir Zakharov)
Urban density in Tokyo is simply astounding:

(image credit: Sam Graf)
The Rainbow Bridge and the longest suspension bridge
Dark Roasted Blend has been covering some rather fascinating bridges before. Here are a few more - a spectacular sample from Japan. The 570 meter (1,870 ft) long Rainbow Bridge spans the northern (inner) part of Tokyo Bay and has been a city landmark since it opened in 1993. Two roadways, a transit line and pedestrian walkways all use the bridge, resulting in a seemingly chaotic tangle from certain angles.

(images credit: Uncharted Futures and lmkuzya)
It's at night, however, that the Rainbow Bridge comes alive with signature color! Spotlights mounted at strategic locations bathe the bridge's superstructure in prismatic glory. Best of all, the lighting is solar powered with energy stored during the day powering the light show at night:

(image credit: Gussisaurio)
Announced in 1969, the massive Kobe-Naruto highway route project stretches 81 kilometers to connect Japan's main island of Honshu with the much smaller island of Shikoku to the south. The jewel in the crown is the 4-kilometer long Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, which cost $3.6 billion to build over the ten year period between 1988 and 1998:

(image credit: Aurelio Asiain)
Of course, any discussion of Japanese highways wouldn't be complete without mention of Mount Fuji. The mountain's iconic snowy peak is visible from Tokyo - on clear days, at least - but though it's certainly possible to reach the dormant volcano's doorstep via highway, taking the Shinkansen bullet train is a better bet.

(image credit: fui)

Window Cleaners Of Burj Dubai

2010-01-10T22:17:00.001-08:00

To the Cleaners

Highly specialized technicians using state-of-the- art facilities will be needed to make sure all 23,000 glass panels that make up the exterior of the Burj Dubai are cleaned.

Till date the Burj has only been cleaned by rope access, but permanent Building Maintenance Units (BMUs) will be mounted to ensure the sparkle stays.

Officials from Megarme, one of the firms hoping to secure the ongoing maintenance contract, are seen atop cleaning apparatus. The company has has technicians with an excess of 15 years experience.

A number of BMUs have been installed around the Burj's surface for both window washing and facade maintenance.

The very top of the Burj which is unreachable by ordinary window-washing cradles, is reserved for more adventurous window cleaners using rope access.

Clearly not a job for the fainthearted, all rope-access technicians are trained from scratch and only those with proper skill and training will qualify to clean the Burj Dubai.

Under normal weather conditions, with all 18 BMUs in operation and 36 men manning the machines, the entire facade will take approximately two to three months to clean.

The World's Tallest Buildings

2010-01-06T21:11:00.001-08:00

On Jan. 4, 2009, Burj Khalifa, a.k.a. Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made structure, officially opened. Here's a look at the buildings that have claimed that title in the past.

Burj Dubai
Dubai may be struggling financially, but money problems didn't keep it from opening Burj Dubai on Jan. 4 and snagging the title for world's tallest building from Toronto, which has the soon-to-be second tallest CN Tower. Burj Dubai's actual height is a closely guarded secret, although developers admit that it will be at least 2,600 ft. (790 m) tall — almost twice the height of Chicago's Willis Tower. The tower, which cost an estimated $1.5 billion to construct, boasts 164 floors, nearly 1,100 one- to three-bedroom apartments and elevators that travel up to 25 m.p.h. (40 km/h) Visitors to the 124th-floor observation deck can see 50 miles (80 km) on a clear day.

The Great Pyramid
Humanity's edifice complex goes back — way back — to around 2,575 B.C., when the Great Pyramid of Giza, the tallest of Egypt's famous monuments, began its four-millennium reign as the world's tallest building. Originally rising 481 ft. (146 m) above a rocky stretch along the Nile river, it has been beaten down 30 ft. (9 m) by years of erosion.

Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral has taken its share of beatings — a fire around 1141, an earthquake in 1185 and a collapse of its central tower in the 1230s. But at 524 ft. (160 m), the house of worship in northwestern England held the title of world's tallest building for more than 200 years, until 1549. The building, regarded as one of the largest and most magnificent churches in all of Europe, was started in the 11th century and took literally centuries to complete. The lead-covered spire built in the 14th century made it the tallest building in Europe, a title it lost when the spire collapsed in 1549. Even without the spire, however, it remains the tallest cathedral in Europe.

Cologne Cathedral
In the early 14th century, churches began a long period of dominance as the world's tallest structures. Entrants from Estonia, France and Germany all vied for the title over the ensuing centuries. St. Olaf's in Tallinn succeeded Lincoln Cathedral in 1549, and held the designation until 1625, when its spire burned down after a lightning strike. Houses of worship in Germany (Stralsund, Hamburg) and in Rouen and Strasbourg in France swapped the world's-tallest title until 1880, when Cologne Cathedral, which checked in at a towering 518 ft. (157 m), took over the honor after a laborious construction process that lasted more than six centuries. The German church, which survived bombing campaigns in World War II and became a World Heritage site in 1996, owned the designation for just four years, when the newly completed Washington Monument surpassed it.

The Washington Monument
Towering above Washington, D.C., at just over 555 ft. (169 m) is the Washington Monument — a tribute to the nation's first President and his military prowess during the Revolutionary War. Architect Robert Mills' conception of a neoclassical rotunda topped by a towering obelisk won the competition to design the monument; construction started in 1848. A lack of funds, haphazard organization and the outbreak of the Civil War caused several delays, however, and by the time construction started up again, architectural tastes and styles had changed and Mills had passed away. His original design was heavily altered and an unadorned, pointed Egyptian obelisk prevailed — thanks in part to George P. Marsh, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and a design adviser for the monument, who had spent time living in Egypt and was influenced by the many Egyptian obelisks scattered throughout Rome. By 1884 the structure was complete; today, visitors who take an elevator to the top can enjoy unobstructed, 30-mile (48 km) views of the U.S. capital.

The Eiffel Tower
The French don't brag about the Eiffel Tower's height (984 ft., or 300 m) but they do like to remind admirers of the structure that when it was erected in 1889, it was twice as high as the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Great Pyramid of Giza. Not only that, but it was also built in two years with a small labor force of just 300 workers, at the minimal cost of about $1.5 million. It opened in time to serve as the entrance gate for the International Exposition (or World's Fair) of 1889. It stood as the world's tallest building until 1930, when New York City's Chrysler Building edged it out, but it certainly remains one of the most efficient.

Chrysler Building
Iconic as it is, New York City's Chrysler Building enjoyed the title of world's tallest building for barely a year. It began its reign in late 1929, after winning a heated competition with the developers of the Bank of Manhattan Trust building (now known as 40 Wall Street) who had publicly declared their tower to be tallest in the world before completion. The Chrysler Building's designers secretly constructed a 180-ft. (55 m) spire within its main tower; when it was hoisted into position, the Art Deco masterpiece topped out at 1,046 ft. (319 m). However, its reign was already doomed: the Empire State Building, under construction a few blocks south, would dwarf it upon opening in 1931.

Empire State Building
It has been hit by a plane, it has been climbed by a giant gorilla (in both film and real life: an inflatable gorilla was attached to its side for the 50th anniversary of the original movie King Kong in 1983) and it has twice stood as New York City's tallest building (before the World Trade Center's completion in 1972 and after its destruction on Sept. 11, 2001). At 102 stories, the Empire State Building has become one of the world's most iconic structures and landmarks. In 1967, after having held the title of world's tallest building since 1931, it was surpassed by the Ostankino Tower in Moscow.

Ostankino Tower
In 1967, Moscow joined the tall-building competition when it unveiled the Ostankino Tower, a 1,772-ft. (540 m) monument to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. It held the tallest title for nine years until Canada finished its CN Tower in 1976. Technically, Chicago's Sears Tower — the 110-story skyscraper built in 1974 and recently renamed the Willis Tower — has more inhabitable floors (visitors can ascend 1,450 ft. [440 m] in Chicago but only 1,180 ft. [360 m] in Moscow) but Ostankino Tower's spire makes it roughly 30 ft. (9 m) higher.

CN Tower
Stretching more than 1,800 ft. (550 m) into the air is CN Tower — the tallest freestanding structure in the Americas and one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World. The tower — built by Canadian National Railway — was designed as a telecommunications hub to overcome the problem of poor reception caused by Toronto's skyscrapers. After its completion in 1976, the tower also became a downtown tourist attraction, and today more than 2 million visitors enjoy multiple observation decks, cafés and even a 360-degree revolving restaurant each year.

Best Hotels of India

2009-10-24T09:20:00.001-07:00

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in reference to: Best India Hotels, Best India Hotels, Best Indian Hotels, Cheap Hotels in India, Deluxe Hotels in India, Best Hotels in India, Hotels Packages of India, India Hotels Packages, India online Hotels Booking, Hotels Booking in Indian, Hotels in Cities of India, Hotels in States of India, Luxury Hotels in India (view on Google Sidewiki)

high Modern architecture building

2009-10-22T05:47:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: high Modern architecture building,architecture building,building,architecture

How to Avoid Them Management Trap

2009-07-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

Management Traps and How to Avoid Them

Much has been written about the secrets of good management and few will argue that the best managers are inspired, visionary, dedicated, industrious, energetic, energizing and display integrity, leadership, common sense and courage. So where is it that managers commonly fail or falter and lose their precious foothold on the corporation's top rungs? The following, from the career experts at bayt.com, are ten of the most basic management traps and tips to avoid them:

Weak managers set weak goals

As a manager your role is to get specific jobs completed by employees in the most optimal, efficient and innovative manner and in order to do that, you need to set clear objectives. Successful managers set SMART goals - goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. They are able to communicate these goals clearly, simply and concisely to their employees so that none are vague or uncertain about expectations. By all means reach for the stars in your objectives but to do so without supplying employees with the training, resources, flexibility and freedom they need to accomplish their goals and a schedule of regular supervision and feedback is to set them (and yourself) up for failure.

Weak managers micro-manage - effective leaders inspire

The days of command and control organizations are long over - today's managers recognize that in order to leverage their skills and maximize their team's output they need to adopt a flexible approach and 'lead' their teams to excellence rather than closely supervise, instruct and control them. The best leaders communicate to their employees a vision and ignite in them the fire, motivation and desire to work towards making this vision a reality. Good leaders unleash their employees to innovate and achieve optimal solutions by communicating top-level goals and objectives and a suggested blueprint for success then leaving the employees to determine how to get there most optimally while ensuring they have the aptitudes, training, resources and work environment necessary to achieve superior results. While a program of regular feedback and supervision is essential, managers should ensure that their management style is not repressive, meddling or overly overbearing. The golden rule is to communicate the 'what' and the 'why' of the work that needs to be done and leave the employees to determine the 'how' without burdening them with strict instruction manuals or prescribed rules and patterns that are largely redundant and inconducive to speed, creativity, progress and innovation.

Weak managers are afraid of hiring/cultivating strong leaders

Strong leaders/managers have the self-confidence to hire the best people, take them to new levels and cultivate in them all the qualities needed to make them in turn effective leaders of the future. Weak leaders replicate themselves in their hiring decisions and hire mediocre players, mistakenly believing that an employee with more skills, acumen or industry knowledge than themselves will ultimately undermine them or make them look bad. The best managers are characterized by an ability to stimulate their employees to superior performance and through coaching, training, feedback as well as by example, inspire in them all the qualities needed to make effective managers. A good manager helps employees achieve their full potential and constantly raises the bar so that employees never stop learning, innovating and growing. Coaching, training, career planning and programs for ongoing growth and development of key staff are high on the priority lists of the best managers.

Weak managers belittle their employees

Bosses who favour the archaic 'tough' management style where employees are singled out for public reprimand and negative feedback is plentiful while recognition and positive reinforcement are scarce will fail to win the loyalty, respect and commitment of their teams over the long run. Without an inspired, fired up, self-confident employee base these managers set themselves and their teams up for failure. Effective leaders by contrast, respect their employees and give them regular feedback with intelligent constructive criticism and loudly laud special accomplishments in both public and private, while communicating any negative feedback ONLY in private and focusing such criticism strictly on the job performance, not the person's character. Strong leaders recognize and reward a job well done. These leaders inspire their teams to perform at their best and are able to elicit from them a high degree of loyalty and a 'hunger' to raise the bar and continuously excel. In such organisations, employees are not afraid to challenge their boss's ideas or upset the status quo in the interest of innovation and excellence and are encouraged to take risks to elevate the business to a new level. The autocrats and bureaucrats on the other hand sap their employees' self-confidence, drive and energy with their overbearing management style and fail to induce in them any motivation to raise the bar or excel.

Weak managers have obsolete skills-strong leaders constantly reinvent themselves

In today's knowledge-driven economies and highly competitive environment, skills, training and education rapidly become obsolete and effective managers know that they must constantly re-educate themselves and update their skills to maintain an edge. While over-confident managers with an inertia to further education fall by the wayside, good managers regularly take an honest inventory of their skills and abilities and upgrade their technical knowledge and soft skills wherever appropriate. They encourage their teams to do likewise with sound career planning and performance appraisal programs and an emphasis on training and self-education.

Weak managers have poor communication skills

Good communication includes cultivating and maintaining open channels of communication with the team and others in the organisation, giving constructive, intelligent feedback, eliciting ideas through brainstorming sessions or otherwise, articulating the company vision and mission in no uncertain terms, setting clear objectives and listening attentively with an open-mind to employees grievances, suggestions and any other issues. Effective leaders have an open-door policy that welcomes input, suggestions and feedback from employees and recognize that good ideas and the next best idea/process/innovation can come from anywhere. Strong leaders listen; weak leaders talk. Strong leaders pay attention to their employees and encourage them to express professional opinions and ask for more responsibility; weak leaders think they are above such open-door policies. Employees who are not listened to and are not made to feel important or respected as professionals or individuals are unlikely to innovate or express any exciting new ideas that can move a company forward.

Weak managers blame

Everybody makes mistakes and strong leaders protect their good people from taking the fall when they err. Good bosses recognize that the occasional slip-ups are inevitable and can be learning opportunities and are ready to take personal responsibility when the team makes a misstep. A good boss realizes that his most promising employees want to succeed, will grow as a result of their mistakes and are unlikely to repeat the same mistakes. They do no set their people up as a negative example for the rest of the organization nor point fingers when the going gets tough. Good bosses are personably accountable for their actions as well as the actions of their subordinates and do not allow a culture of blame to permeate the organisation.

Weak managers take full credit for their team's accomplishments

While weak leaders usurp all the credit for a job well done by their teams, the strongest leaders will give the full credit to the team as a whole or the team member responsible for the project. Strong leaders motivate, energize and inspire by giving credit where credit is due and being generous with reward and recognition wherever appropriate. Strong leaders publicly thank their employees for a job well done and recognize that a motivated, successful, energized team will reflect directly on the boss.

Weak managers thrive on bureaucracy

Weak leaders are fond of, augment and live well with the layers and bureaucratic shackles that tie an organisation down; strong leaders remove them. Today's effective leaders recognize that in order to compete they must operate like a small company with a high level of speed, responsiveness and flexibility. They realize that to maintain their edge in today's marketplace their organization needs to be responsive to changing market conditions and remove the shackles, boundaries, layers, clutter and obsolete policies, procedures and routines that get in the way of the freedom and free flow of people, resources and ideas.

Weak managers are divorced from their teams

Effective managers genuinely care about their employees and take the time to get to know them and to understand their strengths, weaknesses, what makes them tick and their goals and ambitions. They also take the time to learn something about their personal life. While weak managers will maintain an outdated aloofness and a formal distance from their teams, exceptional managers are able to bring out the best in every employee and win their loyalty and respect by understanding their unique needs, motivations and abilities and showing the team that they are important and personally significant. Strong managers are team players and through their constant involvement with their teams communicate to them that they are there for them and supportive of them. Effective managers by building a supportive work environment, build a camaraderie and team spirit that enthuses and excites the team to new levels of performance.

High School, College and University Building Designs

2009-05-19T03:28:00.001-07:00

High School, College and University Building Designs

If all high school, college and university campuses looked like this, attendance rates would skyrocket. Some may argue that it’s what’s inside that’s important, but there’s no reason for school buildings to be bland, boring boxes. From a big open high school where students lounge on big pillows all day to a university building created by Frank Gehry, these 15 incredible campus building designs may just inspire a whole new generation of innovative architects.
Green Roof Art School in Singapore

One of the most amazing green roofs in the world is at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. From a distance, you can barely even tell that the 5-story structure is a building, it blends in so well with its environment. A plethora of glass walls allow plenty of natural light to illuminate the interior, and the grassy roof is used as a meeting space for students. The green roof also insulates the building, cools the surrounding air and harvests rainwater for landscape irrigation.
Gehry-Designed Stata Center at MIT

The Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences at MIT was designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, and it shows. The lively building features Gehry’s signature adventurous, surrealist style with tilting towers, unusually angled walls and whimsical shapes. The building houses classrooms, research facilities, fitness facilities, a childcare center and a large auditorium.
New York University’s Department of Philosophy Interior

You would never guess, looking at the elegant yet unremarkable historic exterior of NYU’s Department of Philosophy, what was housed inside. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the renovated interior features white walls and a seemingly complex set of stairs edged with perforated railings that cast interesting patterns of light around the building. The light effect changes according to the seasons and time of day.
Victorian College of the Arts School of Drama

Most of the buildings that make up the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Australia are stately and historic. Then, you come across the façade of the School of Drama, designed by Castles Stephenson + Turner Pty Ltd / Edmond & Corrigan. The unique, colorful design makes it clear that this is a place of creativity.
Arcadia University’s Grey Towers Castle

In contrast to the many modern school designs featured here is the Grey Towers Castle of Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The castle was built starting in 1893 as the estate of William Welsh Harrison, and was acquired by the university in 1929. The castle is rumored to have secret passages behind the fireplaces as well as a series of underground tunnels built to connect the main house to stables and outbuildings. It now contains various offices, including that of the President, as well as student residences.
Oppenheim’s Miami-Dade College Campus

The concept for Miami-Dade College on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami would add a lot of reflective shimmer and interest to the city’s skyline. Designed by Oppenheim Architects, the glittering glass and steel tower has an unusual shape with an interior grassy corridor. It’s projected to be completed in 2012.
Henning Larsen University Campus Concept in Kolding, Denmark

The Danish firm Henning Larsen won a competition for a university campus in Kolding, Denmark with this airy, open concept design along the Østerbrogade river. It features an exterior screen that is meant to allow sunlight to pass through to the banks of the river and is situated in a triangular fashion rather than parallel to the river. It will contain a large, open atrium, public café, offices and classrooms.
Ørestad High School, Copenhagen

Looking at this campus in the new Copenhagen suburb of Ørestad, it’s hard to imagine not wanting to go to school. Ørestad College – the Danish equivalent to a high school – has an open, modern design with colorful transparent glass shades that liven up its boxy exterior and rotate automatically with the sun. The interior is full of swirling staircases and platforms upon which students lounge on big orange pillows.

Investing in real estate

2009-05-14T02:38:00.001-07:00

Kerala is truly the undiscovered India. It is God's own country and an enchantingly beautiful, emerald-green sliver of land. It is a tropical paradise far from the tourist trial at the southwestern peninsular tip, sandwiched between the tall mountains and the deep sea. Kerala is a long stretch of enchanting greenery. The tall exotic coconut palm dominates the landscape. Kerala is a green strip of land, in the South West corner of Indian peninsula. In length 360 miles, the state is only 20 to 70 miles in width and comprises 1 percent of India's total land. It is a purified world in Kerala, the land of trees. A big, spreading tree purifies as much air as a room air-conditioner. And the former is never switched off. The prolific, bustling, vegetation acts like a massive, biological, air-filtration plant working round the clock, round the year. Hence spending days in Kerala countryside is as if spending in an air- purified environs; some times better than it. Kerala may be divided into three geographical regions:
•   High lands
•   Midlands
•   Lowlands
People now realized that investment in the stock market, with its ups and downs has its own related problems whereas bank deposits and mutual funds are restrictive in returns. Investing in real estate is a guarantee that the returns at the time of disposal will definitely be higher making it is a very safe mode of investment. Independent Villas in Tripunithura and houses in Tripunithura are expensive but if one can afford it can make you feel like a king. There are many builders who carry out construction on contract basis and with totally transparent terms and conditions. This helps avoid the headaches one would have to face while building homes. It is obvious that land value is going up day by day but good plots are fast becoming scarce. Rates have quadrupled in the space of five years, and in some cases even doubled in one year. The best time is to buy now as tomorrow would be too late

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

2009-05-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

Empire State Building: Made by Hand

Cable Connection

The 102-story Art Deco tower in Midtown Manhattan known as the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world from its completion on May 1, 1931, until the World Trade Center eclipsed it in 1972. It was the product of the labor of 3,400 men.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

A Derrick Gang at Work

Most of the men who worked on the building were European immigrants. They were joined by hundreds of Mohawk iron workers, many from a reserve near Montreal.

Photo: George Eastman House/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1930

Corner Riveters Hold Steady

Two construction workers rivet on the edge of a steel girder on the mooring mast of the Empire State Building in 1931.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Triangular View From a Rival

A view of the uncompleted Empire State Building from the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Buidling, which is 1,047 feet tall, was the tallest building in the world for 11 months before being surpassed by the ESB.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

On the Level

An engineer makes sure everything's on the level as the Empire State Building is constructed. In a wind of 110 miles an hour, the building moves only about a quarter inch on either side.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Empire State Pulley

A worker lifts an object with a pulley. The building houses 2,500,000 feet of electrical wire, and some 9,000 faucets

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Made by Hand

Working on the Mooring Mast

Workmen ready themselves for more construction on the mooring mast. On a clear day, you can see five states from the top of the building.

Photo: George Eastman House/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1930

Construction Team From Above

A construction team establishes a corner joint of the mooring mast. At one time, there were 255 carpenters, 290 bricklayers, 384 brick laborers, 107 derrick men, 285 steel men, 249 elevator installers, 105 electricians, 192 plumbers, 194 heating and ventilating men, and trade specialists, inspectors, checkers, foremen, clerks, and water boys at work on the building.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Wrenching Work

A worker uses a wrench on the edge of a beam high above the city, with the Chrysler Building in the background. It took 10 million bricks and 200,000 cubic feet of Indiana limestone to build the ESB.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Holding on for Dear Life

A worker clutches onto a steel girder high above the city. Five men died accidentally during construction: one struck by a truck; another who fell down an elevator shaft; a third hit by a hoist; a fourth in a blast area; and a fifth who fell off a scaffold, according to records. More than 30 people committed suicide by jumping off the building over the years.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Riveting View

Workers rivet a steel girder on top of the mooring mast. The building is struck by lightning about 100 times a year.

Photo: Lewis W. Hine/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1931

Celebrating the Completion of the Iron Work

Construction workers celebrate the completion of the iron work in 1930. When the building was fully complete on May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C., that turned on the building's lights.

Photo: FPG/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1930

Empire State Night

The Empire State Building glows in 1932. When it opened, the Great Depression had just begun, and the ESB struggled to find renters. Now it's the second-biggest office complex in the U.S., with 21,000 workers and its own ZIP code.

Photo: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1932

Crash by a U.S. Army B-25 bomber on July 28, 1945
On the foggy morning of Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lt. Colonel William Smith was piloting a U.S. Army B-25 bomber through New York City. He was on his way to Newark Airport to pick up his commanding officer, but for some reason he showed up over LaGuardia Airport and asked for a weather report. Because of the poor visibility, the LaGuardia tower wanted to him to land, but Smith requested and received permission from the military to continue on to Newark. The last transmission from the LaGuardia tower to the plane was a foreboding warning: "From where I'm sitting, I can't see the top of the Empire State Building."
Confronted with dense fog, Smith dropped the bomber low to regain visibility, where he found himself in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by skyscrapers. At first, the bomber was headed directly for the New York Central Building but at the last minute, Smith was able to bank west and miss it. Unfortunately, this put him in line for another skyscraper. Smith managed to miss several skyscrapers until he was headed for the Empire State Building. At the last minute, Smith tried to get the bomber to climb and twist away, but it was too late. The Crash
At 9:49 a.m., the ten-ton, B-25 bomber smashed into the north side of the Empire State Building. The majority of the plane hit the 79th floor, creating a hole in the building eighteen feet wide and twenty feet high. The plane's high-octane fuel exploded, hurtling flames down the side of the building and inside through hallways and stairwells all the way down to the 75th floor
The plane crash killed 14 people (11 office workers and the three crewmen) plus injured 26 others. Though the integrity of the Empire State Building was not affected, the cost of the damage done by the crash was $1 million.

The Empire State Building Today.