Container Buildings at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London

Every year thousands of shipping containers are discarded either because it is too expensive to ship these back to the port of origin or because of ageing they do not meet the Standards for transportation.

Being modular in shape and structurally sound, the containers offer a very flexible mean of creating work/living space. These can be easily cleaned, repainted, and insulated and stacked one over another. Designed to carry
heavy loads, the stacks are very stable and the steel walls provide a high level of security. A few years ago architects started re-using these containers initially as temporary site offices and later as a more permanent office/work space and low cost housing.

One such example of buildings made of containers can be found right in heart of London's dockyard at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Leamouth. Developed by Urban Space Management Ltd, the area presently has three buildings entirely made of shipping containers;

1. Container City 1
2. Container City 2
3. The Riverside Building

Container City 1 was the original and the first container building with 80% of the building created from recycled material. It's 20 containers occupy a floor space of 4,800 sq feet and it was completed in 2001 in 5 months. It took just 4 days to assemble the entire complex, which was initially 3 stories high. Later one more stack was added providing a total of 15 work studios. It can seen in the left hand side of the ensuing image;

Container City 1 & 2 - Image from Flickr is by Fin Fahey

Container City 2, seen in the above image on the right side, was built in 2002. In the words of its developer it was "an extension as well as evolution of the first building". It used 30 containers to create 22 studios at 5 levels.

Container City 2 - Image from Flickr is by Fin Fahey

The Riverside Building is the latest addition to the complex and it is located on the banks of River Thames opposite the O2 (Millennium) dome. Completed in 2005 it used 73 containers to create 22 units spread over 5 floors.

Riverside Building - Image from Flickr is by Fin Fahey

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Source of info and more info: http://containercity.com/home.html

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Church Carved out of Single Block of Rock

Lalibela a small town in Ethiopia has a unique distinction of having eleven monolithic rock cut churches all of which are carved out of rock and have roofs level with the ground. Remarkably these churches were arduously hewn out of solid rock by first creating a wide and deep trench on all four sides of the rock, then meticulously sculpting the church by chiselling out the interior. It is mind boggling to imagine such formations using just hammer and chisel.

The churches were made in early 13th century by saintly king Gebre Mesqel Lalibela who had a vision to create a "Second Jerusalem". The town was earlier known as Roha but at some later date was given the same name as the saint king.

Amongst the 11 churches, the Church of St. George (Bet Giorgis) (pictured below) is the most famous and awe-inspiring. It is last of the eleven churches and was built after the death of the saint king. Its roof, which is level with the ground, forms a perfect Greek Cross. The church measures 25 meters by 25 meters by 30 meters and has been carved out of a single block of granite rock.

This church along with the 10 others are important pilgrimage sites of Ethiopian Orthodox Church and have also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Image from Flickr is by mk B.

Image from Flickr is by marches-lointaines.com

Image from Flickr is by Giustino

Image from Flickr is by kgbbristol

View location in Google Earth  Google Maps

Source of info: Wikipedia

More info and images: sacred-destinations

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Goat Towers Around The World

It may sound strange but three towers exist around the World for the goats to climb up and down the sloping ramp.

1. Goat Tower, Fairview Cheese  & Wine farm, Paarl, South Africa
2. Goat Tower, Findlay, Illinios, USA (aka "Tower of Baaa")
3. Goat Tower, Ekeby Farm, Moss, Norway

Goats are extremely curious, are very coordinated and can climb and hold their balance in the most precarious places.

The original goat tower was built in 1981 by Charles Back at the Fairview Wine and Cheese Estate in Paarl, South Africa. The basic purpose was to create an icon and a piece of curiosity for their visitors. As a matter of fact the tower is now a brand mark for their wine and cheese. This tower was subsequently replicated at Ekeby Farm, Norway and in Findlay, Illinois where it is popularly known as "Tower of Baaa".

Main source of info: Wikipedia

A brief description and couple of images of each of these towers is given below;

Goat Tower,  Fairview Cheese & Wine farm, Paarl, South Africa

This is the original Goat Tower and is a brain child of Fairview Farm's owner Charles Back, who while working on the farm in the early 1980’s, came up with the idea of a landmark, to be a symbol of the estate. Completed in 1981 tower has since become a logo/trademark of their products and visitors to the farm rarely leave without a snapshot of the tower and its resident goats.

Image from Flickr is by gconard

Image from Flickr is by valkyrieh116

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2. Goat Tower, Findlay, Illinios, USA

The idea for this Goat Tower came to the owner of the goat farm David Johnson after he read about the Fairview Goat Tower in some magazine and he decided to make a similar tower at his estate farm. Built in 1998 it is locally known as the "Tower of Baaa" and is reportedly highest of the three towers with a height of 9.5 metres and diameter of about 2.1 metres. Its 276 spiral shaped concrete steps allow the goats to climb up and down with ease passing each other on the ramp.

Image from Panoramio is by dennisdw1

Image from dalejtravis.com is by Dale Travis

View location in Google Maps and Street View

3. Goat Tower, Ekeby Farm, Moss, Norway

This tower was built by Finn-Erik Blakstad, who while doing his Masters-in-Law in South Africa had seen the Fairview Goat Tower and was very fascinated with it. On returning to Norway he took up the farm business of his parents and after obtaining permission from the Charles Back, owner of Fairview Wine and Cheese Estate in Paarl, South Africa made an exact replica of the original. He even invited Charles and his wife Diane for the official opening of the tower in 2007.

Here also the tower besides keeping the goats busy and happy serves as an advert for his restaurant which is located at the goat farm. The restaurant also provides facilities for conferences and business groups as well.

Image from Panoramio is by ekeby

Image from Panoramio is by ekeby

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Download .kmz file to view all the three towers in Google Earth.

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Hoba Meteorite - World's Largest Meteorite (in single piece)

World's largest known, intact single piece meteorite lies at a farm near the town of Grootfontein, Namibia. Known as Hoba Meteorite, it is estimated to have landed on Earth about 80,000 years ago. Weighing about 60 tons, it is also most massive naturally-occurring iron piece on the Earth.

Geologist believe that because of its shape and likely low angle of entry, it may have skipped across the top of the atmosphere in the way a flat stone skips on water, which may may have slowed it down sufficiently and it fell to the surface at terminal velocity, thereby remaining intact and causing almost no crater.

The meteorite has a base of about 2.9 x 2.9 metres and height of 0.9 meters. Its weight was originally estimated at 66 tons. However erosion, scientific sampling and vandalism have reduced its bulk over the years. The remaining mass is currently estimated at just over 60 tons. It is mainly composed of about 84% iron and 16% nickel, with traces of cobalt.

Although it originally lay at a private farm but the Government with permission of owner have declared it a National Monument and have also provided access road and opened a tourist centre at the site. It is now visited by thousands of tourists every year.

Image from Flickr is by carlosoliveirareis

Link to source

Image from Flickr is by Sara&Joachim


View location in Google Earth Google Maps

Source of info:  Wikipedia

More info and some old pictures: http://www.marmet-meteorites.com

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