Famous+works

**5th FLOOR Project...** ** **Brief introduction to the concept **
 *  Project: Möbius House **
 *  Architect: Ben Van Berkel **
 *  Concept: Möbius strip
 *  The Möbius strip or Möbius band is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Möbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. It is also a ruled surface. It was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 185 8 **
 * The Möbius strip has several curious properties. A model of a Möbius strip can be constructed by joining the ends of a strip of paper with a single half-twist. A line drawn starting from the seam down the middle will meet back at the seam but at the "other side". If continued the line will meet the starting point and will be double the length of the original strip of paper. This single continuous curve demonstrates that the Möbius strip has only one boundary.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6bius_strip **


 * The house... **





** Big Buildings of Beijing ** ** Beijing  is now changing. The city is getting 4 big buildings, some people think they are magnificent and some think they are abominable. These buildings are the CCTV, the Olympic Stadium (the bird nest ), the National Swimming  Center (the water cube) and The National Theater (the futuristic egg). ** ** It is a fact that Beijing is developing, its skyline is going to look like taken out of a futuristic film, which is the antithesis to the classic Chinese architecture, based on Feng Shui. These constructions are not accepted by some people who say that the CCTV cost too much money, which is inappropriate for a country where the majority of the population is poor. In my personal opinion, I think these buildings are abominable, but my favorite is the National Theater, because it seems to be the one that fits better in the context. **





 ** The National Theater

The National Centre for the Performing Arts or Beijing´s National Theater, colloquially described as //The Egg//, is an opera house in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The Centre, an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass surrounded by an artificial lake, seats 5,452 people in three halls and is almost 12,000 m² in size. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu. Construction started in December 2001 and the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Centre_for_the_Performing_Arts_(China) **

**The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World **  **The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a well known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antiquity. It was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic (Greek) tourists and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. Later lists include those for the Medieval World and the Modern World. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it to be magical. **  **Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Wonders_of_the_Ancient_World **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">The 7 Ancient Wonders are: The Pyramids at Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus, the Temple of Artemis, Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, Lighthouse of Alexandria **

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-GB; msofareastlanguage: ES-VE; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';">** The Lighthouse of Alexandria ** <span style="font-size: 120%; color: #b672b6; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ES-VE; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-USmsoAnsiLanguage;">**<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: ES-VE;">The lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the Ancient 7 Wonders of the World. It was located in the island Pharos of Alexandria and it was built in 200 B.C. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ES-VE;"> **
 * Alexandria was a very commercial place, and it was hard to get to the harbor, so the Greek merchant financed the lighthouse, which became in a guide for the night and in the day reflected the sun light to the sea.**
 * The lighthouse was between 117 and 134 metres tall, it had polished bronze mirrors (to reflect the light) and it was built from blocks of light-colored stone. In the Romanic period the lighthouse was decorated with a Poseidon statue on the rooftop. By the action of the nature (earthquakes and erosion) it was destroyed, but it is still standing in the history and memories. **

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ES-VE;"> <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-USmsoAnsiLanguage;">** The Statue of Zeus ** <span style="font-size: 120%; color: #b672b6; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: ES-VE; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-USmsoAnsiLanguage;">**<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: ES-VE;">The Statue of Zeus is one of the Ancient 7 Wonder of the World. It represented <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ES-VE;"> the King of the Olympic´s Gods as a symbol of respect. **
 * It was located in the Parthenon, the great Greek temple. The statue was carved in ivory with a gold-plated and inlays of precious stones.**
 * This statue is one of the most inspiring seven wonders, but it was about 170 years A.C.**

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">** <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Ancient Seven Wonders are all magnificent, although only one of them has <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">survived; these are the Pyramids at Giza. They were built between 2600 and 2500 B. C., this means that the oldest of the wonders is the only one standing nowadays. I find curious that some of them were built in really close times, like the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Temple of Artemis. ** <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; msoansilanguage: EN-US;">** Most of the wonders were created for someone special; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were created by the King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, the Pyramids at Giza were done for the Egyptian Pharaohs, the Statue of Zeus for the Olympian god Zeus, the Temple of Artemis was built to honor Artemis, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was dedicated to King Mausolus and the Colossus of Rhodes was done to revere the sun god, Helios. The only one who is left is the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which is the only ancient wonder that had a practical purpose, although it had a statue of Poseidon, god of the sea, at the top, but it wasn’t done specifically for the god, it was created to guide merchant ships to the port of Alexandria in Egypt. Because of this, the Lighthouse of Alexandria is my favorite Ancient Wonder. **

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<span style="display: block; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left;">** Seven Wonders of the Modern World

** <span style="display: block; font-size: 11pt; color: #800080; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left; msoansilanguage: EN-US;"> <span style="display: block; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left;">** Neuschwanstein Castle ** <span style="display: block; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left; msoansilanguage: EN-US;">**Neuschwanstein Castle is located in Germany. It offers amazing views, a fantastic theatrical composition, admired by millions of people and one of the principal spots for tourists around the world. In fact it is the most visited and photographed construction in Germany although photos of the inside are not allowed.** <span style="display: block; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left;">**<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">Neuschwanstein means “new stone of the swan” in German. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This castle was built in a time when castles and fortresses were no longer strategically necessary. Instead, it was born of pure fantasy, a beautiful, romantic composition of towers and walls in the perfect setting of mountains and lakes. It was planned by a theatrical set designer, which explains the fantastical views it offers. ** <span style="display: block; color: #800080; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left; msoansilanguage: EN-US;">**The castle was built for Ludwig II of Bavariain in 1866, and its original name was Hohenschwangau castle in honor to the place where the king spent most of his childhood. After his death, its name was changed, and now it is one of the most visited constructions in Germany.**
 * Ludwig is sometimes referred to as Mad King Ludwig, he didn’t allow visitors to the castle. Close to the end of the construction, the king was declare insane, he could hardly control himself when he asked his psychiatrist, "How can you declare me insane? You have not examined me!” He was taken to another castle were he drown along with the psychiatrist. After his death, it was opened to the public.**
 * This castle was built in tribute to the fantasy and imagination, creating the image of a swan coming out from the lake. It reminds the German traditional stories, so it was selected by Disney as a model for the Sleeping Beauty´s castle, which is the Disney´s image. In fact, there is a reply on Eurodisney.**
 * The Neuschwanstein castle must be one of the seven wonders, not just because it is a beautiful construction, perfectly planned to offer exceptional and incredible views, also because of its interesting past and because it has been inspiration for children and adults all over the word, representing the Disney´s image. Besides, the fact of having been chosen as a candidate for the 7 wonders, makes it a winner.**

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