Category: architecture

Crannog on Loch Tearnait – By Peter Bond, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers, and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia, from the European Neolithic Period to as late as the 17th/early 18th century. Crannogs took on many different forms and methods of construction based on what was available in the immediate landscape. The classic image of a prehistoric crannog comes from both post-medieval illustrations and highly influential excavations . The choice of a small islet as a home may seem odd today, yet waterways were the main channels for both communication and travel until the 19th century in much of Ireland and especially Highland Scotland. Crannogs are traditionally considered as simple prehistorical farmsteads. They are also interpreted as boltholes in times of danger, as status symbols with limited access and as inherited locations of power that imply a sense of legitimacy and ancestry towards ownership of the surrounding landscape. Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres (30 to 100 ft) in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock.

info: Wikipedia

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By noname – http://wikimapia.org/2056393/it/Porto-Flavia#/photo/716205, CC BY 3.0, Link

Porto Flavia is a sea harbor located near Nebida in the Iglesias comune of Italy. Built in 1923–24, it served as the mineral production hub of Masua in the west coast of the Sardinian Iglesiente area. It is named after Flavia Vecelli, the daughter of Cesare Vecelli, who engineered and designed the harbor. The harbor’s characteristics make it unique in the world, and at the time of its construction it was an outstanding engineering feat.

The mines’ owner asked the Italian engineer Cesare Vecelli to devise a solution to improve steamship loading time and cost. Vecelli surveyed the coasts of Masua, ultimately finding the perfect spot in the high cliffs in front of the Pan di Zucchero stack. Here, the sea was deep enough and well-protected from wind and waves to allow a safe mooring, while the ore could be loaded from the cliffs by gravity.

After one year of study, Vecelli devised a detailed plan to build two superimposed tunnels, each 600 metres (2,000 ft) long, that were linked by nine huge vertical reservoirs for the processed ore. In the upper tunnel an electric train was used to bring the load the reservoirs: the ore was unloaded by gravity into hatches on top of the reservoirs. In the lower tunnel a conveyor belt received the ore from the reservoirs and brought it to an extensible 16-metre (52 ft) long conveyor belt capable of fully loading a steamship moored at the base of the cliff in about two days.  The ends of the tunnels facing the sea were adorned with concrete towers and decorative nameplates. They were not necessary to the operation, but were asked to be constructed by the owner of the company as a mark of prestige. Vecelli’s daughter, Flavia, was born earlier in 1924 and the engineer obtained from the company to name the harbor after her.

Porto Flavia’s importance decreased in the 1960s after the decline of mining activity in Sulcis-Iglesiente, and it was closed in the 1990s when mineral production in Masua ceased. Today, it is owned by IGEA SpA, a public company charged with the restoration and preservation of the old mining plants.
info source: wikipedia

Gemeinde Randa [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge is the longest hanging bridge for pedestrian use in the world. It is located in Randa, Switzerland ,and replaced  a previous bridge that had been damaged by rock falls.  The bridge spans 494 meters (1621 feet), and upon its inauguration in July 2017 became the longest suspension bridge built for pedestrian travel.  It employs 8 tonnes  of cables, and has a system that prevents it from swinging. It’s highest point is 85m and it’s only 65cm wide. It takes almost 10 minutes to cross it and in the middle, swaying walkers are at the highest point: 85 m.

The Golden Bridge located in Vietnam, among the Ba Na Hills 1,400 meters above sea level,  appears to be held up by a pair of giant stone hands. The bridge is 150 meters long. Visitors can admire the infinite scenery  and majestic mountainscape.

Wat Samphran is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Amphoe Sam Phran, around 40 kilometers to the west of Bangkok. The temple is notable for its 17-story tall pink cylindrical building with a gigantic dragon sculpture curling around the entire height. The interior of the dragon sculpture contains a staircase, a huge buddha statue as well as many additional Buddhist statues. Known for the hollow dragon’s head that encircles the temple, visitors are welcome to ascend the 17-story superstructure to touch the dragon’s beard, or climb inside the belly of the beast.