Posts from ‘June, 2009’

Burning Man is only a few months away and a new doco about the massive festival is just about out too. Called Dust and Illusions, the documentary traces the history of the festival that has grown from 20 people in 1986 on a San Francisco Beach to almost 50,000 people in the Black Rock Desert last year. If you can’t get to the festival make sure you check out the doco (the film’s trailer is above). Read the rest of this entry »

Tokyo’s Odaiba has some pretty interesting futuristic architecture and the Fuji Television building is one of the more out there which its strange grid like structure and huge golden ball lookout. The building is both offices and studios for many of Japan’s favourite television programs, one being the Iron Chef which was filmed there during the 1990’s in their Kitchen Stadium. The building was designed by Kenzo Tange who is responsible for some other interesting architecture including the Tokyo Metropolitan Offices, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the American Medical Association Headquarters Building in Chicago. The Fuji building is open to the public, visitors can go on a Japanese speaking studio tour- which can be quiet fun as some of the Japanese live television is crazy. The big golden ball is a Chinese restaurant which although fairly expensive is very popular, the ball has a viewing platform too, which costs about Y500 which is about 5 bucks for a visit and spectacular view over the Tokyo harbour. Read the rest of this entry »

The Stade Olympique or Montreal Olympic Stadium was built for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and still today is the world’s tallest inclined tower measuring 175 metres. The tower is recognised as one of the World Federation of Great Towers which includes some of the world’s most impressive buildings.  The structure today is used for special events, concerts and the odd sporting event.   The stadium has had a fairly chequered life, with a huge blow out in original cost . It was expected the stadium would cost in the vicinity of $770 million Canadian to pay off but some much needed modifications and repairs took the final cost to nearly 1.5 billion dollars, and took over 30 years to repay. Read the rest of this entry »

Hitler’s Eagles Nest

The Kehlsteinhaus or “Eagles Nest” as it is commonly known is a small building on top of the German Alps that was originally built as a retreat for Adolf Hiler. Presented to him on his 50th birthday the building sits on a ridge on top of Kehlstein Mountain near Berchtesgarden. The buildings remote location required the construction of an amazing windy 6.5klm road as well as a tunnel and elevator system in the mountain itself. It is said that Hitler rarely visited the building and its this reason the building still stands today, as most of Hitler’s other houses have been torn down since the end of the war to stop them taking on a shrine like use. Today the Kehlsteinhaus is used as a restaurant offering magnificent views of local area as well as tours of the complex. Read the rest of this entry »