7 modern architectural wonders

Conde Nast Traveler, an American travel magazine, in its April issue highlighted seven mega architectural wonders stretching from China to Dubai to Canada.

New Museum of Contemporary Art (Manhattan, US)

New York Times described it as ‘viewing art in a stack of boxes’. As you climb out of the Prince Street subway station at Broadway in lower Manhattan, New York, a gleaming apparition grabs your attention. Designed by Japanese architects Kazuo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the firm SANAA, the $50 million, 60,000-square-foot-building is an eight-story stack of shiny, metallic boxes set off-kilter from one another. The museum contains several levels of galleries, which are designed as high-ceilinged, white-walled spaces, with concrete floors and narrow skylights illuminating one side.

Cumulus (Nordborg, Denmark)

An exhibit hall at Danfoss Universe, Nordborg, Denmark, and Cumulus is a spectacular building, which has an irregular roof, curves and angles, like a bite taken out of a cloud. The building openened on May 5, 2007. Designed by Jurgen H Mayer, the 1,000 sqm building hosts varying exhibitions throughout the year. The interior of the Cumulus building is kept in black and white, the only accents being the red cushions on the stairs and the exhibition props.

Kogod Courtyard (Washington DC, US)

The Kogod Courtyard, with its elegant glass canopy designed by world renowned architect Norman Foster, opened to the public on November 23, 2007 at the historic Patent Office Building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Foster, winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (1999), worked with the Smithsonian to create an innovative enclosure for the 28,000-square-foot (2,601-sq-meter) space at the centre of the building that is sensitive to the historic structure; the new ‘floating’ roof does not rest on the original building which was built in phases between 1836 and 1868.

Wembley Stadium (London, UK)

The new Wembley Stadium in London is an architectural masterpiece. It is the equivalent of 25,000 double-decker buses; the total length of the escalators is the same as a 400 meter running track; the stadium roof rises to 52 meters above the pitch; the new pitch is four meters lower than the previous one. Each of the two giant screens in the new stadium is the size of 600 domestic television sets. The soft drink dispensers can pour 30,000 cups in a little over 10 minutes Approximately 40,000 pints of beer can be served during half time in a football/rugby league match. The arch is 133 meters above the level of the external concourse. With a span of 315 meters, the arch is the longest single span roof structure in the world. With a diameter of 7.4 meters the arch is wide enough for a Channel Tunnel train to run through. The stadium will be a centerpiece of the 2012 Olympics.

Burj Dubai (UAE)

Burj Dubai is the world’s tallest building once completed. The final height of the building is a well kept secret because of ‘competition.’ But it is speculated that it will be around 2,275 feet and will exceed 160 floors. The tower is being constructed by a South Korean company, Samsung Engineering & Construction. This company also built the PETRONAS Twin Towers in Malaysia and the Taipei 101. The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani. An Armani Hotel will occupy the lower 37 floors. Floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments. An outdoor swimming pool will be located on the 78th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 123rd floor lobby and 124th floor indoor/outdoor observation deck. It will also boast of the world’s fastest elevator.

The Crystal (Toronto, Canada)

The Crystal is the dramatic highlight of a $270 million renovation project intended to boost the Royal Ontario Museum’s role as a Toronto focal point. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the Crystal comprises five interlocking, self-supporting prismatic structures that interface with, but are not attached to, the original historic Royal Ontario Museum buildings. The exterior is 25 per cent glass and 75 per cent extruded-brushed, aluminum-cladding strips in a warm silver color. The steel beams, each unique in its design and manufacture and ranging from 1 to 25 meters in length, were lifted one by one to their specific angle, creating complicated angle joints, sloped walls, and gallery ceilings. Approximately 3,500 tons of steel and 38 tons of bolts were used to create the skeleton, and roughly 9,000 cubic meters of concrete were poured. Michael Lee-Chin’s (chairman, Portland Holdings Inc) extraordinary $30 million gift to the ROM is an act of both gratitude and hope.

Red Ribbon (Qinghuang Dao, China)

The Tang He River Park site is a river corridor at the outskirts of the fast developing city of Qinghuang Dao, China, with lush vegetation and diverse species but was occupied by deserted irrigation structures and garbage dumps. Turenscape took a minimum design approach, integrating ecological principles with modern art. A ‘ribbon’ made of steel was introduced across the whole area parallel to the river and penetrates through the willow grove. This ‘red ribbon’ provides seating and displays native plants.

10 nations with highest inflation

1. Zimbabwe: 355,000%

The inflation in Zimbabwe for the month of March 2008 rose to 355,000%!  Yes, 355,000 per cent! It more than doubled from the February figure of 165,000%. Economists say that it is a miracle that the Zimbabwean economy is still surviving and prices have been rising to unprecedented proportions. Inflation surged between February and March following the sudden rise in money supply that flooded the economy to finance the 2008 elections. Apart from this food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to drive up inflation. Almost 80% of the nation is unemployed. The Zimbabwean central bank has introduced $500 million bearer cheques (or currency notes) for the public, and $5 billion, $25 billion, $50 billion agro-cheques for farmers. Just last fortnight the nation had introduced $250 million bearer cheques.

2. Iraq: 53.2%

War-torn Iraq is also facing a huge problem, not only on the political front but also on the economic one. Inflation in Iraq is running amuck. It currently stands at 53.2%. Rising oil prices, political instability, terrorism and the other post-conflict dynamics have led to inflation in the nation rise to unmanageable proportions Some hurried counter-by the Iraqi central bank to curb inflation too has added fuel to the fire.

3. Guinea: 30.9%

Guinea is also one of the world’s poorest countries. The inflation in the nation is at 30.9%. Although blessed with rich mineral wealth — with huge iron ore, gold and diamond deposits — Guinea has been languishing as one of the poorest nations on earth with large-scale unemployment, lack of industry and infrastructure dogging it.

4. San Tome and Principe: 23.1%

The mainstay of the economy of San Tome and Principe, an African nation, is agriculture. The main export from the nation is cocoa. It also exports coconut, coffee, etc. The current inflation rate in San Tome and Principe is at 23.1%. The country does not produce enough to meet domestic demand and thus is forced to import some essential commodities. With prices of food and other essential items rising in the global markets, imports for the nation have become almost unsustainable, leading to high prices and inflation.

5. Yemen: 20.8%

Yemen is going through terrible times. The Yemini economy is experiencing an inflation rate of 20.8%. More than 87% of Yemenis live for less than $2 a day. About 52% of children less than 5 years old suffer from malnutrition. Most of the people are engaged in agriculture, followed by the services and infrastructure sectors, while unemployment is rampant at 35 per cent.

6. Myanmar: 20%

Myanmar is one of the world’s poorest nations. It has suffered immensely under military rule for decades and has been categorized as one of the ‘least developed countries’ in the world by the United Nations. Its inflation rate is at 20%. The economy of Myanmar is mostly controlled by the military junta leaving little room for private entrepreneurship or growth. The military regime has also decided to do away with all reforms suggested by economists, throwing the nation’s economy into further turmoil.

7. Uzbekistan: 19.8%

Uzbekistan is slowly moving from a somewhat closed to a market-based economy. The economic reforms have helped achieve some growth, but not nearly as much as the nation would ideally like to enjoy. Also, lack of infrastructure, tight state control over the economy, occasional skirmishes with neighboring nations, and an unstable political environment have seen inflation rise sharply here. The nation’s inflation rate is at 19.8% currently.

8. Democratic Republic of Congo: 18.2%

Global investors do not feel that the Republic of Congo has a foreigner-friendly investment environment as it does not offer any incentive to the investor. Added to that a disorganized yet costly work force, high electricity costs, irregular supply of raw material, occasional civil unrest, political instability have only added to Congo’s woes. And even as the nation grapples with its myriad problems, the Congolese economy has been going from bad to worse. And its current rate of inflation is 18.2%.

9. Afghanistan: 17%

Afghanistan has long been a theatre of conflict and that has affected its economy adversely. Perpetual battles, an environment of fear, lack of infrastructure, industry and services has led to a once-proud nation turn into one of the worlds poorest. The inflation rate in Afghanistan is at 17%. The influx of billions of dollars of international aid has not really helped the economy much, although it is supposed to be much better now than it was in 2002.

10. Serbia: 15.5%

Serbia’s fragile economy, which mostly rests on agriculture, services and some manufacturing activity, has been going through a reform process for a long time. However, economic sanctions that were imposed on the nations in the 1990s have hit Serbia’s economy so hard that its myriad economic problems continue to this day. Unemployment is rampant, foreign investment is down to a trickle, foreign exchange reserves are low, and political instability are keeping good projects from taking off. Although the nation is growing at a robust pace, the rising inflation — currently at 15.5% — is hurting the Serbian economy.

Tips to select a mobile phone

There are no hard and fast rules in this regard but keeping the following points in mind might just help.

1. Operating system:

 

Yep, just as you have to decide between Linux and Windows on a PC, you will need to make up your mind about whether you would rather go for a Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Black-Berry or Linux device and each OS also has its own sub-groups too (Symbian, for instance, has different editions of Series 60 and UIQ). The jury is still out on which one is the best, but you will need to keep in mind factors like speed of operation, number of applications available (preferably free ones) and compatibility with other devices, before you opt for a particular OS. Do remember that unlike in PCs, you cannot install any OS on any phone—so if you are dreaming of running a Symbian OS on an iPhone, forget it! Here you are pretty much stuck with the OS that comes on the device. No changes allowed.

2. Screen size:

No need to go “duh’’ on this one. While screen size is indeed important on all cell phones, it attains an entirely different dimension in the case of enterprise phones. This is because one often ends up viewing, documents, presentations and spreadsheets on enterprise devices and even browsing the Internet a fair bit. And the bigger the screen, the lesser the strain on your eyes and fingers (hey, think of all the scrolling you will save on!).

3. Interface:

Do you like touch screens, physical keypads or a blend of the two? And even in physical keypads, do you want a proper QWERTY keypad, a semi-QWERTY keypad or just the good old alphanumeric affair? Well, it all really depends on your needs. Touch screen users normally end up with larger screens and the convenience of being able to scribble using a stylus, but have often to put up with iffy handwriting recognition systems and slightly lower battery performance. On the other hand, those with physical keypads often find the keys way too small to really replicate the convenience of a notebook but get better battery performance and more software applications to play around with. Suit yourself!

4. Software:

Different devices come with different software options. For instance, some might come with a full-fledged office suite while others might just have an application that allows you to view (but not edit or create) MS Office files. You will also need to consider whether your device comes with a PDF reader, a good email client (preferably supporting push mail) and a decent Internet browser. It’s just like a PC—the hardware is every bit as important as the software.

5. Connectivity:

As most enterprise phone users are frequent travelers, do check if the phone will work on all networks. If you have no intention of straying beyond Indian borders, do make sure that it supports EDGE (you will be surprised to know that some high-end enterprise phones do not support it). And it is not just a matter of networks, you will also need to check out if other connectivity options such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are available onboard and also the kind of devices supported. It always helps if you can connect a projector or printer directly to your phone!

6. Multimedia:

The days when people used to insist that multimedia had no place in enterprise phones are passé. So make sure that the camera on your phone supports features like business card reading and whether the phone’s speakers are good enough to allow you to use it in speakerphone mode even in a meeting, if need be. Also check if the phone allows you to record long audio clips and whether it allows image editing—you will be surprised at just how often you need them.

7. Processor, storage:

All the features highlighted before would be useless if your phone ran out of juice in no time at all. Similarly, a good processor is necessary to ensure that your device keeps ticking over nicely. Storage of course will allow you to carry most of your files in your hand, and having lots of memory to play around will ensure that you can run multiple applications without your device hanging or crashing.