Capilano Suspension Bridge, British Columbia, Canada

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a simple suspension bridge crossing the Capilano River in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The current bridge is 136 metres (446 ft) long and 70 metres (230 ft) above the river. It is part of a private facility, with an admission fee, and draws over 800,000 visitors a year.

The bridge was originally built in 1889 by George Grant Mackay, a Scottish civil engineer and park commissioner for Vancouver. In 1910 Edward Mahon purchased the Capilano Suspension Bridge. "Mac" MacEachran purchased the Bridge from Mahon in 1935 and invited local natives to place their totem poles in the park, adding a native theme. In 1945, he sold the bridge to Henri Aubeneau. The bridge was completely rebuilt in 1956.

As well as the bridge itself and Treetops Adventure, the first venue of its kind in North America, the park also features rain forest ecotours, award-winning gardens, nature trails, North America's largest private collection of First Nations totem poles, period decor and costumes, and exhibits highlighting the park's history and the surrounding temperate rain forest. Guests can also witness a First Nations performance, featuring their traditional Regalia (ceremonial dress), masks, dancing and storytelling.

In 1999, a woman dropped her 18-month-old, disabled child off the bridge. The child was not seriously injured. The woman took legal action against the owner of the bridge, alleging negligence by the owner. In 2006, a 300 year old, 46 ton Douglas fir tree toppled during a heavy snow storm. The tree fell across the western end of the bridge. Park officials closed the bridge temporarily while repairs were performed. On June 2, 2012 a 30 year old tourist from Ontario died after falling from the bridge.

Carries: Pedestrians

Crosses: Capilano River

Locale: North Vancouver, British Columbia

Design: Simple Suspension

Total length: 136 metres (446 ft)

Height: 70 metres (230 ft)

Opened: 1889

Daily traffic: 800,000 per year

(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

Photo Gallery of Capilano Suspension Bridge, British Columbia, Canada

Let There Be Light

Have fun with accent lighting. Finding just the right lighting is one of the most difficult things for me as an interior designer, but when it happens it is magic. I think of the room as the perfect little black dress with the perfect cut, the one that dresses up or down according to the occasion, and the perfect lighting fixture is the jewelry that finishes off and compliments the little black dress.

I have written an article for West Coast Homes and Design, a supplement in the Vancouver Sun Newspaper,on how the right lighting is one of the most important aspects in achieving atmosphere in a home. Lighting is a discipline all to itself and often is one of the most important parts of an interior. Bad lighting can ruin a good interior: good lighting can almost salvage a bad one. For example….. (more)

In kitchens it is particularly important to get the lighting right as food preparation along with the eating and social aspects that go on in this room are a vital part of our lives and involve all of our senses. Kitchens need to be well lit with good overall ambient lighting and task lighting over islands and countertops. Add a little fun and pizazz with accent lighting as I did over this island.


Lighting in a bathroom and bedroom needs to make you feel refreshed and energetic in the morning, ready to face the challenges of the day ahead, but at night should engender a feeling of relaxation and harmony. In a bathroom, good lighting for putting on make-up should come evenly from either side of the mirror so shadows are not cast on the face. The rest of the room needs to be lit evenly from overhead, but be careful of placing recessed pot lights that are directly over your head when standing in front of a mirror or else you will have shadows under your eyes. I put the lights for the make-up lights and the overhead lights on different switches to further enhance the options to create different moods.

Left: Wall mounted LED swing-arm lamps were used in this bedroom for task light.
Right: Candles can add to the mood and ambience in a room and make a dramatic statement.
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PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm in Vancouver. Here we write about lifestyle and
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High Line, New York, United States

The High Line, by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is a new 1.5-mile long public park built on an abandoned elevated railroad stretching from the Meatpacking District to the Hudson Rail Yards in Manhattan. Inspired by the melancholic, unruly beauty of this postindustrial ruin, where nature has reclaimed a once vital piece of urban infrastructure, the new park interprets its inheritance.

Through a strategy of agri-tecture?part agriculture, part architecture?the High Line surface is digitized into discrete units of paving and planting which are assembled along the 1.5 miles into a variety of gradients from 100% paving to 100% soft, richly vegetated biotopes. The paving system consists of individual pre-cast concrete planks with open joints to encourage emergent growth like wild grass through cracks in the sidewalk. The long paving units have tapered ends that comb into planting beds creating a textured, ?pathless?

Location: New York, United States

Client: Friends of the High Line

Type: Public - Park

Building status: built in 2009

A project by: James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Architecture

Photo Gallery of High Line, New York, United States

(Source: architizer.com) 

Seoul National University Museum, Korea, Republic of

The Seoul National University Museum is defined by its siting on the side of a small hill, close to the entrance of the university. The building?s form was conceived as a basic rectangular box, theoretically sliced diagonally by the incline of the hill. This form is then raised up on a small central core ? Both outside and inside, free-flowing circulation was key to the thinking behind the building. The central core is an atrium with a square-spiral staircase connecting the various program areas: exhibition, education, library, and operations.

The educational spaces ? the lecture hall and auditorium ? The library inhabits the structural core of the building. The exhibition space, being the primary function, inhabits the entire top floor. Elsewhere, materials vary, and include concrete flooring, plywood paneling, and translucent plastic paneling over fluorescent lighting. The museum?s fade is also translucent, revealing the structural steel truss work beneath.

Location: San 56-1, Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu
                   Seoul, 151-742
                   Korea, Republic of

Client: Seoul National University Museum

Building status: built in 2005

Building area: 48200 sqft

Budget total: 11200000 USD

Type: Cultural - Museum, Library

           Educational

A project by: OMA

                         Architecture

Photo Gallery of Seoul National University Museum, Korea, Republic of

(Source: architizer.com)

OpenOffice, Essen, Germany

OpenOffice is an experimental building for the Zeche Zollverein site in Essen / Germany. The aim is to develp an energetically autonomous and infrastructurally independent building.

Tools to achieve energetic autonomy:

• economic building planning with utilization of active and passive methods to improve energy efficiency.

• optimization of the building skin - concerning materials and buildign systems.

• photovoltaic energy gain thourh solar foil.

• thermal solar gains thourh solar ripp collektor.

• fuel cells to generate electricity - the thermal redundance will be used for heating.

Tools to achieve supply autonomy:

• collection and filtration of rain water via the roof-scape.

• installation of a decentralized vacuum deposit system.

The building will state an example, how modular light-weight building methods, can establish sustainable buildings.

Location: Essen
                   Germany

Budget: 500.00 €

Building area: 200 m2

Type: Privat House

A project by: bk2a architecture

Photo Gallery of OpenOffice, Essen, Germany

(Source: archello.com)