Wednesday, September 29, 2010

THE WORLD'S MOST COLOURFUL RIVER












The river shown in the photographs above is the Caristales, which is located near the town of La Macarena in Colombia, South America. The river, world famous for its colorful display, has been called ‘the river that ran away to paradise’, ‘the most beautiful river in the world’ and ‘the river of five colors.’

During Colombia’s wet season, the water flows fast and deep, obscuring the bottom of the river and denying the mosses and algae the sun that they need. During the dry season there is not enough water to support the dazzling array of life in the river. But during a brief span between the wet and dry seasons, when the water level is just right, the many varieties of algae and moss bloom in a dazzling display of colours. Blotches of amarillo, blue, green, black and red – and a thousand shades in between – coat the river.

The part of the river where the colourful blooms occur is quite isolated and is not accessible by road. Adventurous tourists can now fly into La Macarena and then make their way to to the river site on foot as part of guided tours. The site was effectively closed to tourists for several years because of guerrilla activity in the region along with concerns about the impact of unregulated tourist traffic. However, the site was reopened to visitors in 2009.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

GOING UP? OLD WATER TOWERS CONVERTED INTO MODERN HOMES

Chateau d'eau

Built to last, the original 7-story water tower was constructed nearly seven decades ago in Belgium and turned out to be the perfect basis for an amazing home! It was the task of Bham Design Studio to bring this old tower back to life.


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The house embodies a complex system of stairs leading all the way to the seventh floor loft that offers a panorama view of the sky and surroundings. The first story has double garage and an main entrance, the second level is a storage zone, the third and fourth are work and meeting areas, the fifth has a master bedroom with a spiral staircase that leads up to the kitchen, living and diningroom.




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'The preservation of existing concrete elements such as the main water conduct, concrete ceilings, concrete stairs and the 250.000 liters concrete water basin were essential to preserve the strong identity of the building (via).'


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Jaegersborg Water Tower


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This water tower in Copenhagen, Denmark was converted into a multi-use building by Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter Aps. On the upper floors, student housing units mark the perimeter of the existing structure. Each unit has a a protruding crystal-like add-on that brings daylight into the apartment and offers unobstructed views to the surrounding landscape. The lower floors embodies a youth center, and contain several large multipurpose rooms. Large garage-style doors on the ground floor open up to extend the active indoor space into the outdoor playground.


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Watertower of Living


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Zecc Architects converted this concrete water tower – which dates from 1931 – in the Netherlands, into a modern nine-stories home.


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The aesthetic appeal to the building was due to maintaining the interior's industrial characteristics by working with materials like steel, concrete and glass. Inside the tower, several small, round rooms lay on top of one another, while preserving the tower's spaciousness.


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Sky-High House

This actually was a water tower that was originally designed to look like a house on top. After the water tower was decommissioned as such nearly a century later the top part was converted into an actual house – though it always looked like one


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Umbau Wasserturm


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Essen-Bredeney in Germany, home of an untouched watertower protected by Germany's historic building and culturally significant landscape protection, recently became a imaginative space for living and working. Architects from the Madako group have transformed this historic water tower into an eight-story, multi-use building. The ground level space serves as an office and the lofty top level unit offers conference space with views of the surrounding natural landscape.


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Lymm Water Tower House


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Lymm Water tower house is an awesome and unique family house, designed by Ellis William Architects, it has a stunning design for the interior and exterior, a perfect combination of form and function. The Harris family commissioned EWA to convert a derelict water tower into a contemporary family home. The product was a minimalist interjection within the former tower and a circular extension housing the main living spaces (via).


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Moereels House

Moereels House, located in Brasschaat, Belgium designed by architect Jo Crepain of Crepain Binst Architecture, represents a wonderful use of the existing to create something new, unique and totally modern. The original concrete tower has an authentic, industrial look.


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On the ground floor is a six meter high volume dropped around the four feet of the tower. Industrial u-glass covers three sides of the tower and clear glass with small balconies on the south side. Steel stairways connect the different levels inside the tower. At night fluorescent lamps behind the glass light the water tower in the forest of Brasschaat, Belgium (via).


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Pasadena Water Tower


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This exceptionally unique home was converted from a water tower to a residence in 1924. Architect Frederick Roehrig designed this property to match the adjacent mansion. Tree-top and city views are included in the 360 degree view from the top floor and other floors. Its located on a woodsy lot. The house is currently on sale.

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Victorian Water Tower Home



Robert Williams has converted the former Victorian water tower in Staffordshire into a home for himself, his wife Becky and son Luke, 14. They have to climb 157 steps to get to it but the stunning 360-degree panorama of moorlands from the top is worth the effort. They can see the town of Leek nestling to the north and, beyond it, sheer crags known as The Roaches.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

EVER SEEN A LAVENDER FARM?

'The lavenders (Lavandula) are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia (Cape Verde and Canary Islands and Madeira) across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India. It is thought the genus originated in Asia but is most diversified in its western distribution.

The genus includes annuals, herbaceous plants, subshrubs, and small shrubs. The native range extends across the Canary Islands, North and East Africa, Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Arabia and India. Because the cultivated forms are planted in gardens worldwide, they are occasionally found growing wild as garden escapees, well beyond their natural range. However, since lavender cross-pollinates easily, there are countless variations within the species. The color of the flowers of some forms has come to be called lavender' (via).

Here are some beautiful photographs of Lavender farms.