Considered Shanghai's mother river, Suzhou Creek (whose original name was Wusong River) runs for over 100 km. And it has an even longer history.

    The creek nourished Shanghai's prosperity in the early years of the last century. It has been witness to the rich history of Shanghai while adding beauty to the city scene.

    The section of the river in Zhabei district is thought to be its core part. It used to be an important financial and storage hub, attracting thousands of people from all over the world.

    The area was the cradle of China's national financial business and national industry. With its batch of typical European-style warehouse architectures, which formed the financial and logistics center of the city in the last century, this part of the creek's bank boasts great historical and cultural value, as well as economic potential.

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Recently opened the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan. According to Foster and Partners "as a non-denominational contemporary building form, the pyramid is resonant of both a spiritual history that dates back to ancient Egypt as well as a symbol of amity for the future."

the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that the Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA) presented the Company with the "Most Respected Public Fabless Company" award during the annual FSA Awards Dinner on Thursday, December 7, 2006 in Santa Clara, Calif.

The industry's "Most Respected Public Fabless Company" award is designed to identify the company garnering the most respect in the industry in terms of its products, vision, and future opportunities. On-line voting took place to allow members of the semiconductor industry, including semiconductor companies and partners, to cast a ballot for the public fabless companies they most respect.

Among the most difficult tasks of modern national city planning and architecture there is a search of topical ideas in the plastic heritage of the past. It is difficult but important task. Architecture historians have accumulated a rich database in this regard. Now they carefully study different stages of city development and give detailed specification and description of architectural monuments, construction and architectural technologies. The architecture of 70s - 80s reflected efforts to interpret some technologies (sun-protected pandjara, stalactites, inner yard and etc.) but they lay within stylistic but not insight content of architectural idea. However, nobody has still approached to the fundamental task - understanding of language of architectural ideas and principles of graphic expression and subject intonations. At the same time Samarkand and Bukhara give exclusively important material for this kind of cultural and philosophical challenges.

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The one-room, steel-and-glass house designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that has been called one of the most important works of 20th century architecture. Located in a beautiful meadow on the banks of the Fox River two miles south of Plano, the Farnsworth House has been called “sculptural” in its simplicity and a masterpiece of design. Mies’ temple-like pavilion both invites and challenges visitors. Its unsurpassed views through transparent walls will cause you to consider anew how a man-made object best relates to nature. It’s not like any house you have ever been in. The Farnsworth House is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated as a house museum by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. Transcending any traditional domestic function or program, the importance of the house lies rather in the absolute purity and consistency of its architectural idea.

The one-room, steel-and-glass house designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that has been called one of the most important works of 20th century architecture. Located in a beautiful meadow on the banks of the Fox River two miles south of Plano, the Farnsworth House has been called “sculptural” in its simplicity and a masterpiece of design. Mies’ temple-like pavilion both invites and challenges visitors. Its unsurpassed views through transparent walls will cause you to consider anew how a man-made object best relates to nature. It’s not like any house you have ever been in. The Farnsworth House is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated as a house museum by the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. Transcending any traditional domestic function or program, the importance of the house lies rather in the absolute purity and consistency of its architectural idea. You can see more pictures, and find more about the Farnsworth House from their website. http://astheticsense.com/

After visiting ancient Nagoya, we will visit some of its most modern attractions. The most futuristic building in Nagoya is definitely Oasis 21, a recreational and commercial complex in downtown Nagoya (Sakae).

In a square under the roof in the picture there is a square called Milky Way. The square is surrounded by restaurants, cafes and shops.

The Rabih Hage Gallery will showcase an architectural project as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

The Gallery will exhibit a Pavilion designed by Rabih Hage Design Studio and built by EOS Electro Optical Systems Ltd.

This inspirational architectural project explores the possibility of using additive layer manufacturing (also referred to as e-Manufacturing or rapid manufacturing) technology within the built environment.

The exhibition will examine the potentials of how the industrial process of e-Manufacturing might restructure the practice and making in architecture.

The ability of technologies such as laser-sintering to build models and full-scale architectural projects directly from CAD files will be examined for this ground breaking exhibition.

The project will include the design of a multifunctional exhibition pavilion built using e-Manufacturing.

The pieces to be exhibited will comprise of a section model and one external element of the pavilion at a scale of 1:1.

See, this is quite unique of space age or futuristic design. The palm trees in the center of the building really add a unique touch to the overall design.

Kleinburg church dedicated to Saint Pio will be North American first

Kleinburg will next year be the site of the first North American church dedicated to Saint Padre Pio, but the architects of the new church have a tough act to follow; in 2004, a modern church designed by internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano and named for Padre Pio, the famous Capuchin friar, was officially consecrated in San Giovanni Rotondo, the Adriatic coastal town where the widely-admired priest worked for most of his life. Millions of pilgrims visit the town annually.
(Despite protests, but with the approval of the Vatican, Saint Padre Pio’s body was recently exhumed and it will be publicly displayed in a glass-covered coffin as part of ceremonies, beginning next month, which will mark the 40th anniversary of the saint’s passing.)
The $36 million Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church in southern Italy was 13 years in the making. A bird’s eye-view of the hillside site would reveal a giant fan-shaped plan with a generous outdoor plaza forming the perimeter and the church altar acting as the site plan’s natural starting point.

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