tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80109196164593757182012-01-30T11:25:09.742+05:30A travelogue about the lesser known but beautiful, wonderful, huge, unique and sometimes bizarre places around the World.CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.comBlogger5481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-90695412999828434492012-01-26T19:11:00.000+05:302012-01-26T19:11:11.727+05:30

Located on the Avenue de Stalingrad, not very far the Brussels South Railway Station (Bruxelles-Midi/ Brussel-Zuid) in central Brussels, is a huge megaphone or speaking horn known as 'La Pasionaria'. The art work work dedicated to all migrants to Belgium was inaugurated on July 7, 2006 and symbolises/encourages spontaneous self expression. The name 'La Pasionaria' is based on the

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Children's Peace Monument located in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japan is a memorial in remembrance of all the children who died as a result of dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The memorial also known "Tower of Thousand Cranes" is based on the true and poignant story of a Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who died at the age of 12 years due to the nuclear radiation she

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Coconut Crab (Birgus latro) (aka Robber Crab) is the largest land-living arthropod in the World. The enormous crab with large legs and big claws grows to a gigantic body length of up to 40 cm. (16 inch) with a leg span of about one metre (3.28 feet) and weighs up to 4 kg (8.82 pounds). Charles Darwin who had encountered these crabs on Keeling Islands described these crabs as monstrous. (

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The balanced rocks are a geological formation created due to wind/water erosion or glacial melting. These precariously balanced rocks are wonder of the nature and to a viewer it looks that these would topple by a gentle human push or a wind force. However most of these rocks have remained steadfast for past several thousand years though some were vandalised and pushed over. To some

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Fyrish Monument is a strange looking monument on the Fyrish Hill in Fyrish near Evanton, Easter Ross, Scotland. Built in 1782/1783 at the behest of Sir Hector Munro, it consists of three large central arches and four flanking towers and is a copy of large gates which once stood at port town of Negapatam near Madras, India. Negapatam was once under Dutch control and in 1781 Munro

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Docked near the historical and famous Arnhem Bridge is a Razzle Dazzle ship. The bridge was scene of bloody battle during the WW-II when British paratroopers during the ill-fated Operation Market Garden had landed here in September 1944 with the aim to secure the bridge. Hundreds of Paratroopers had died or captured in the failed attempt. The history of the bridge has been immortalised in

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The waste incineration plants are generally drab grey buildings. However the Incineration Plant at Maishima Island in the Osaka harbour, Osaka, Japan is a modern energy efficient plant with colourful façade. The colourful building, architecturally refurbished and redesigned by the famous Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, looks more like a theme park than an

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Wishing my followers and readers A Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2012.

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-44854329946424609552011-12-27T21:59:00.000+05:302011-12-27T22:14:36.681+05:30

Invergordon a small town on the shores of Cromarty Firth in Highlands, Scotland, was once a booming town with a Naval base, an Aluminium melting plant and oil rigs fabrication/maintenance yard. However due to one reason or other these employment giving units gradually closed and by the end of 20th century the town had started decaying. In January 2002 a voluntary group known as ‘

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"Airstream Ranch" supposedly an artwork on Interstate 4, near Dover, Florida, consists of Eight Airstream Campers buried head down with slight tilt. Since its creation, it is mired in legal battle between the owner and the city authorities. Frank Bates, a dealer in recreational vehicles, in 2007 buried Eight Airstream campers in a field, to commemorate 75th anniversary of Airstream

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The Haskell Free Library is an unusual building which straddles the borders of USA and Canada. Built in 1904 it is sited in the towns of Stanstead, Canada as well as Derby Line USA. The library also houses on its second floor, an opera house which is also divided by the border line. Officially called "Haskell Free Library and Opera House" it was constructed deliberately on the border of

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Grasshopper Bridge (Græshoppebroen) is a small bascule bridge over a canal in the town of Karrebæksminde, Zealand, Denmark and connects Karrebæksminde to the town of Enø. The bridge has a strange look like a grasshopper. The original bridge was built in 1936 and on its fiftieth anniversary in 1986 it was painted green. Because of its green colour and side profile which had resemblance

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The 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center lovingly called The Institute of Higher Burnin' is an outdoor art gallery in Long Island City, Queens, New York, where graffiti artists from all over the World come and paint on the outer walls of a large (19,000 sq. metre - 2200,000 sq. foot, five storey high, old warehouse complex. In 1993 one, Pat DiLillo, came up with a brilliant idea of providing

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The so called "hole in a lake" is actually a spillway for automatically controlling the maximum level of a lake, created by a dam. Unlike other spillways these lakes are surrounded on all sides by water and from top these look like a hole in water surface. Such spillways are also known as morning glory hole or glory hole or   plughole or inverted bell-mouth spillway. In past I have made two

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World's tallest clock tower and largest clock are part of the huge complex - Abraj Al-Bait Towers aka as Royal Clock Hotel Tower in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Abraj Al-Bait is World's second tallest building. The complex is built close to the Holy Mosque, which encompasses Holy Kaaba - Islam's holiest site. In addition to second tallest building in the World after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai,

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A building in Osaka aptly named "Organic Building" has a striking architecture with planting-pots fixed all over its façade. The embedded containers are lined with steel and fitted with fibreglass pots. More than 80 varieties of indigenous shrubs/trees are planted in these pots. The plants are irrigated by means of computer controlled irrigation pipes permanently fixed on the wall. The

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Hand pumps once a common sight and an integral part of human habitat have almost vanished from most of the urban areas especially in the developed countries due to advent of electric pumps and piped centralised water supply. A hand pump in London, that too without a handle, is therefore a strange sight. It, however, is not a remnant of some old pump but a memorial to John Snow, English physician

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Lucy the Elephant, a gigantic six-story high  elephant-shaped building in Margate City, New Jersey is the World's Biggest Elephant. Constructed in 1882, it is the oldest example of animal shaped (zoomorphic) architecture. The jumbo sized pachyderm made of wood and  tin sheeting weighs about 81.6 tonnes (90 tons). It 19.7 metres (65 feet) tall, 18.3 metres (60 feet) long and 5.5 metres (18 feet)

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The town of Khun Han in Sisaket province, Thailand boasts of a unique temple built using more than one million (as per some sources about 1.5 million) empty beer bottles. The temple officially called Wat (meaning Temple) Pa Maha Chedi Kaew is also known as "Wat Lan Kuad" - Million Bottle Temple. The temple was born out of a simple idea of local Buddhist monks who wanted to utilise the

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The Apocalypse Tapestry in the Castle in the town of Angers (chateau d'Angers), France is the World's longest tapestry. The tapestry was originally 140 metres  (459 feet) long out of which only 100 metre (328 feet) has survived today. The tapestry depicts scenes from Book of Revelation (aka Apocalypse of John) - the last book of the Bible and was woven in Paris between 1373 and 1382. It was a

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Lanzarote in Canary Islands is famous for the Malvasia wine grapes - one of tastiest and oldest known variety of grapes. For centuries the local inhabitant of La Geria region in Lanzarote have been cultivating these World famed grapes in a unique sunken pits instead of the traditional method of grape farming where the grapevines are supported on trellis. The arid and hostile volcanic region

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The mausoleum of Tamerlane (aka Taimur or Timur), the famous 14th century conqueror, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is a beautiful example of Persian architecture and is considered by many as the precursor for World famous Mughal architecture of The Taj Mahal and its earlier model Humayun's Tomb. Known as Gur-e Amir (Persian for Tomb of the King) the mausoleum's complex contains not only the tombs of

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World's Biggest Apple is a unique apple shaped building in the village of Colborne, Cramahe  Township, Ontario, Canada. Known as "Big Apple" it houses a pie bakery, a gift shop, a restaurant and an information centre for giving information about apple growing and apple products. The Big Apple with a height of 10.7 metres and maximum diameter of 11.6 metres also has an observation deck on its top,

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Zhivopisny Bridge is a cable stayed bridge near the picturesque birch forest (Serebryany Bor) in the north-west of Moscow. In Russian Zhivopisny literally means picturesque. Opened on 27 December 2007, the bridge is Moscow's first cable stayed bridge and highest of its kind in Europe. The designers of the bridge were constrained with environmental restrictions and unavailability of

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Lemon Festival (French: "Fete du Citron") is a major thematic festival in the town of Menton, French Riviera, France and takes place at the end of each winter in February/March. Menton is a major producer of citrus fruits and the tradition of holding a lemon festival was started in 1934 to develop tourism. The Jardin Biovès and nearby areas are decorated with theme-of-the-year sculptures and

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The "Twin Hearts of Stones" is an ancient weir used as a fish traps by the islanders of Cimei, in the Penghu archipelago of Taiwan. There are many fish trap weirs in the archipelago. For centuries the local fishermen have been traditionally constructing such weirs by means of stacked stones and have been using these to catch fish. High tide brings in fishes in the walled area and when the tide

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A giant teapot shaped building in the Meitan county, Guizhou province, China, has the distinction of being World's Largest Teapot. Meitan is one of the main tea growing areas of China and this unique clay-red building which houses Meitan Tea Museum is symbol of importance of the region for the Chinese tea industry. Besides museum, the building also houses a hotel for the tourists. Built in 2010

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Lake Titicaca - World's highest commercially navigable and  South America's largest lake (by volume) is home to Uru people (aka Uros), a pre-Incan people, who live on small man-made floating islands on the Peruvian side of the lake. The islands or rather the islets are made of thick (1-2 metres) layers of totora reeds - an indigenous reed which grows in abundance in the marshy shores of the lake.

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Inspired by beauty of 16th century architecture of Colmar, a commune in the Alsace region in north-eastern France, a French architect has recreated its design in a Malaysian resort known as "Colmar Tropicale". Colmar, France is renowned for the architectural beauty of well preserved medieval houses in its old town and is considered by many to be the most beautiful city in Europe, if not in the

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La Casa di Libri (House of Books), a quaint little thematic house in the small village of Sant'Anna (population about 71) in the municipality of Tambre, Italy, is a book lover's dream come true.  The design of entire house and its interior including the furniture revolves around books. The walls look like stack of books, the roof is an open book lying face down, the gate is in the shape of

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A giant revolving ball made of 46,500 mirror tiles and having a diameter of 6.1 metres (20 feet) is claimed as the World's largest mirror ball. Located on the Blackpool's South Promenade, the 4.5-tonne ball was designed by artist Michael Trainor for the Manchester-based Art Department. The giant mirror ball is illuminated at night with a colour changing light show and has a strange name of "

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World’s largest Human shaped land art is under construction close to an opencast coal mine near Cramlington, Northumberland, North East England. The gigantic land form christened as 'Northumberlandia' is in the shape of a recumbent naked female, with her hairs spread out, upper portion of her body in supine position and her lower torso (hip downwards) twisted towards her left. On completion she

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A restaurant in Sister Bay, WI, USA has a  unique attraction for alluring customers - It has goats grazing on the sod-covered roof of the restaurant. A sod roof or grass roof is a traditional Scandinavian type of green roof and  very aptly the restaurant is named as Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant. Although the restaurant has been in existence since 1949 the  present structure was imported from

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A giant 10 metre high, Spinning Top (or to be very precise Humming Top  - Dutch: Bromtol) adorns a roundabout on the Weststadweg in Oosterhout, The Netherlands. The colourful sculpture is artwork of the Artist Peter Hohmann. It was  donated by Martens & Son b.v. to the municipality of Oosterhout and was fabricated by Siemerink B.V. The nearby area is humming with industrial activities and

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This nice looking Austrian-Alpine style chalet is located on top of an artificial waterfall on the Gairaut hill in Nice, France. Known as Cascade de Gairaut, the small waterfall and wooden Chalet, commemorated the arrival of Vésubie Aqueduct in Nice in 1883. The entire site is landscaped with fake stalactites caves and reinforced concrete rubble imitating branches of wood. The water channel

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Heidelberg Street of Detroit is located in an area occupied mainly poor families of African-American origin. Till mid eighties the neighbourhood was in shambles and riddled with drugs and poverty related crimes. However in 1986 a local artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey started an art project which became known as - "The Heidelberg Project" and transformed the area into an

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Vakil Mosque, Shiraz, Iran is a beautiful mosque built in mid 18th century by Karim Khan, Regent (Vakil)  and the founder of Zand Dynasty. The entrance gates as well as the interior of the mosque are decorated with coloured tiles in beautiful floral patterns. The mosque covers an area of 8,660 square meters and has two halls and two entrance doors. Each door is 3 metres wide and 8 metres high

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World's tallest statue of Virgin Mary is located in the town of Haskovo, Bulgaria. Officially known as 'Monument of The Blessed Virgin Mary', the statue which shows Virgin Mary holding infant Christ in her hands, is 14 metres (46 ft) high and stands on 17 metres (55 ft 9 in) high pedestal. Inside the pedestal is a small Bulgarian Orthodox Chapel resembling an ancient church and also features a

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The Bourn Windmill, located in the town of Bourn, Cambridgeshire, is reportedly England's oldest surviving Windmill of its type. The earliest mention of about it is in the official records of its change of ownership in 1636, but it may have been constructed much earlier as this type of 'open trestle' post mills were in use from as early as 13th century. The windmill is 9.6 metres (31.5 feet)

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The Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn is a unique crocodile shaped hotel building in the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, near Darwin, Australia. The 250 metres long (head to tail) hotel has a belly width of 40 metres. The entrance, foyer and the reception area along with the restaurants are located within the jaws of the crocodile and the 110 guest rooms are located in the trunk and tail

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World's Largest Coin is a large nine metre (30 ft) tall replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel (5 cents coin) which was issued to commemorate 200 years of isolation of nickel metal. The large coin known as the "Big Nickel" was installed in 1964 and is the brain child of local businessman Ted Szilva. The twelve-sided, 0.61 metres (2 feet) thick coin is located on a hillock in the grounds of Dynamic

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The newly constructed headquarters of Aldar Properties in Abu Dhabi has an eye catching circular  shape. Many web sites have described it as coin shaped but in reality it looks more like a convex lens than a coin. Although there are many circular buildings in the World which are barrel shaped, however the Aldar Headquarters is unique and the first building which has a circular front elevation

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There is an unusual shaped red coloured bridge in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Known as the "Red Bridge" (Dutch: Rode Brug), it is a small narrow draw bridge on the water channel between Anton Geesinkstraat and the Loevenhoutsedijk. The bridge built in 2009 is replacement of an earlier bridge which was also red. A bridge had existed at this location as early as 1621. About 1870-1890 a double

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As per archaeologists the ruins found at a hilltop in south-eastern Turkey, known as Göbekli Tepe, are of the oldest temple structure discovered so far. Göbekli Tepe contains several nearly circular structures which have huge T-shaped pillars, some of which are carved. These megaliths date back to 10th millennium BC (c. 13,000 years ago) which is about 6000 years before Stonehenge and more than

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-78067696392565913732011-03-04T23:28:00.002+05:302011-03-07T10:33:16.079+05:30

The lighthouse at Slettness, near the village of Gamvik, Finnmark, Norway,  located within the polar circle (71o 05' 33" N) is mainland Europe's  Northernmost Lighthouse. The lighthouse is at the same latitude as the northern tip of Alaska. A plaque  installed at the lighthouse claims that it is the World's Northernmost Mainland Lighthouse. The 39 metres tall lighthouse is built of cast iron and

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-14751219383230350842011-02-20T20:37:00.002+05:302011-02-20T20:44:31.082+05:30

Sign Post Forest is a unique collection of more than 65,000 signs from around the World and is now a famous landmark on the Alaska Highway. Located in the small town of Watson Lake, the trend was started in 1942 by Private Carl K. Lindley, who was part of the US Army's 341st Engineers assigned for construction of the Highway after the Pearl Harbour attack. The homesick GI placed a sign here

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-49754143228012206362011-02-19T10:07:00.001+05:302011-02-19T10:14:23.073+05:30

The World's Largest Horseshoe Crab can be found in the small town of Blanchester Ohio. The sculpture was created by Farren & Associates for the Baltimore Maritime Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. It was later acquired by Creation Museum for display at their museum at Hebron, Kentucky. However it was too big for their building and was ultimately gifted to the Freedom Worship Baptist Church in

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-18168992391141963432011-02-17T10:35:00.001+05:302011-02-17T10:36:56.741+05:30

Here is an unusual statue of a man walking through the wall. The statue is a tribute to French novelist Marcel Aymé and is based on his famous short story Le Passe-Muraille - The Walker Through Walls. The main character of the story is a French civil servant Dutilleul, who one day discovers that he had the remarkable ability of passing through the walls. Initially he was reluctant to use his

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-48355677930384576072011-02-08T23:35:00.002+05:302011-04-06T01:14:15.472+05:30

The Island of Gaiola (Isola della Gaiola) looks beautiful and serene. However it has a gloomy history and the  locals feel that the island is jinxed as many past owners of the sole villa on the island had faced misfortunes and/or met with unnatural death. The villa now lies abandoned. The island which is located on the southern edge of Posillipo, along the Gulf of Naples is actually group of two

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-48420961179522559322011-01-29T20:49:00.000+05:302011-01-29T20:49:25.542+05:30

In many countries especially those with past Spanish links, some Roman Catholic believers still follow the old medieval practice of painful and bloody self-penitence to atone for their sins. The town of Taxco, Mexico is perhaps the most famous for this ritual which takes place every year during the Easter week, where the repenting sinners known as "Penitentes" walk through cobbled winding streets

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-68047651867422104282011-01-25T23:01:00.004+05:302011-01-25T23:08:24.901+05:30

The national indoor arena of Sweden popularly known as Globen (meaning: "The Globe") is the largest hemi-spherical building in the world. Shaped like a giant ball, it has a diameter of 110 metres, overall height 130 meters (inner height 85 metres) and total volume of 605,000 cubic metres. Originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena, its naming rights were acquired in 2009 by Swedish telecom giant

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-60809167376375695582011-01-24T09:29:00.002+05:302011-01-24T10:25:55.528+05:30

World's largest axe is located on the banks of the Saint John  River in the small town of Nackawic, New Brunswick, Canada. The axe is 18.2 metres (60 feet) tall and weighs about 55 tons. In 1991 the town was designated as the 'Forestry Capital' of Canada and the giant axe symbolises the importance of the forest industry to the town and the province of New Brunswick. Image from Flickr is by

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-11189966231516952592011-01-18T20:37:00.003+05:302011-01-24T09:31:54.616+05:30

World's largest tent and the tallest tensile structure is the Khan Shatyr (or Shatyry) Entertainment Centre in Astana, Kazakhstan. The tent shaped structure is 150 metres tall with an elliptical base of 200 metres and covers a whopping area of 140,000 square metres - almost as large as the area of 10 football stadiums. Designed by UK architect Norman Foster (of Foster and Partners) the complex

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-12283984468750608112011-01-16T15:42:00.001+05:302011-01-16T15:51:20.724+05:30

Kerimäki, a small village in Finland, boasts of the largest wooden church in the World with a seating capacity of 3000 persons and overall assembly capacity of 5000. It is also the most spacious church in Finland. Designed by architect A. F. Granstedt, the Church has a length of 45 meters, width of 42 meters and a height of 27 meters. At the time of its construction it was considered a carpentry

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-84226301731048596312011-01-13T11:50:00.000+05:302011-01-13T11:50:27.069+05:30

I am happy to inform my readers that today the Travelogue crossed the milestone of Two Hundred Thousand (200,000) visitors. While the first 100,000 mark was reached in 488 days, the next 100,000 mark came in just 255 days. A phenomenal increase of 191%. The travelogue which was started on 1st January 2009 is having a steady increase in readership with about 450-500 hits per day. Thank you all

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-32944925984950454542011-01-12T23:34:00.001+05:302011-01-12T23:35:20.324+05:30

Note: This is a guest post by TeachStreet's Kenji Crosland.  TeachStreet is a website that provides local and online classes, including Traveling Classes.____________________________________________________________Mount Nokogiri in Japan’s Chiba Peninsula is home to not only Japan's Biggest Buddha but also has another hundred feet Buddha and about 1500 statues of Buddhist saints carved in late

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-77176072094230691322011-01-11T22:52:00.004+05:302011-01-12T00:20:57.612+05:30

This amazing house which looks like an astronomical observatory is actually a private home built on the top of 150-foot cinder cone of an extinct volcano in the middle of Mojave Desert between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Located in Newberry Springs, CA, USA, "The Volcano House" was designed in 1968 by architect Harold J. Bissner Jr. for American engineer and businessman Vard Wallace who was an

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-24645017482443755842011-01-10T23:08:00.000+05:302011-01-10T23:08:08.265+05:30

World's Largest Crossword is painted on the façade of a 12-storey building at Sakharov street, 82, Kiev, Ukraine. The 30 metres tall and 18 metres wide crossword consisting of 19x34 squares was designed by local artist Sergei Petlyuk and was commissioned on December 29, 2008. Basic intent of the art work was to involve the local residents as well as to attract tourists to the cultural and

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-37116065037791030602011-01-09T15:40:00.004+05:302011-01-09T16:10:35.709+05:30

The Rock of Guatapé (Spanish: El Peñón de Guatapé) is a huge monolithic rock near the town of Guatapé, Colombia. It is one of the largest monolith rock in the World. The rock is about 190 metres high, 380 metres long with a  maximum width of 100 metres and as per geologists was formed about 70 million years ago. Because of its almost vertical face it had presented a challenge to the rock climbers

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-28912001099436264832011-01-05T18:09:00.025+05:302011-01-29T20:59:26.768+05:30

Believe it or not a small village in the island of Anglesey in Wales is famous for having the longest place name in English Latin alphabet system in the World. The name is - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. As per Wikipedia there is a hill in North Island, New Zealand with 86 letters, however this Welsh village which contains 58 letters is the longest place name for a

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-76281220092001310842011-01-03T23:22:00.002+05:302011-01-04T11:43:03.647+05:30

Quetzalcoatl's Nest (Spanish: Nido de Quetzalcoatl) is a condominium in Naucalpan de Juárez, Mexico City, Mexico, shaped like the legendary flying serpent representing the Mexican deity Quetzalcoatl. Designed by Mexican architect Javier Senosiain, it has a set of 10 houses built in an area of 5,000 square metres. The area which was full of slopes and ravines with trees presented a challenge to

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-38782399011504582122011-01-01T09:48:00.002+05:302011-01-02T10:25:43.135+05:30

I wish all my readers a very Happy New Year 2011. The blog is two years old now and I am happy to inform my readers that as compared to 60,000 visits in first year, the blog received 195,500 visitors during 2010. A whopping increase of 325%. I am thankful to all my readers and followers who have been sending me comments and suggestions and wish them again a Very Happy and Joyful New Year 2011.

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-39798160259501023772010-12-31T12:40:00.001+05:302010-12-31T12:51:56.879+05:30

"Yellow Submarine" is a song sung by The Beatles and was included in their 1966 album "Revolver". Later it became the title song of animated film, also entitled "Yellow Submarine" made in 1968 by United Artists. It has since become a popular Nursery Rhyme also. In 1984 a group of apprentices from Cammell Laird's shipyard, Liverpool built a large model of yellow submarine for an exhibition at

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-91337121547149126322010-12-22T19:19:00.002+05:302010-12-30T18:21:23.058+05:30

All of us know from our childhood that Superman was born in Krypton, spent his childhood in town of Smallville and worked (as Clark Kent) in Metropolis. All these places were fictional places created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. However a town named Metropolis does exist in Illinois, Ohio and taking advantage of its name, the town's people wanted the town to be officially

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-55639373898929094342010-12-19T23:45:00.001+05:302010-12-20T10:16:31.382+05:30

World's largest cashew tree, known as Cashew Pirangi, is located in Pirangi North Beach area of Parnamirim in Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Normally a cashew tree grows to a height of 10-12 metres and has a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. However due to two genetic anomalies the Cashew Pirangi Tree has spread side ways to an enormous size. Firstly instead of growing upwards, the

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-73483699089081020452010-12-15T20:46:00.005+05:302010-12-16T13:02:38.904+05:30

Nuclear waste management, specially the management of high-level radioactive waste created by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is a major cause of concern. Most of the high-level waste has a half-life of several thousand years or more. Many countries store the waste in geologically stable tunnels in the mountains or vaults deep inside the earth till some final solution is found for safe

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-74923877752380610222010-12-10T22:39:00.002+05:302010-12-10T22:57:22.350+05:30

Infosys Technologies Ltd. is one of the largest Information Technology companies in India. It has International presence, having 63 offices and development centres around the World employing more than 122,000 persons. As a part of their strategy for in-house training of their staff, they have created "Global Education Center" at Mysore and reportedly it is the largest corporate education center

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-88696823350725329022010-12-08T20:39:00.001+05:302010-12-08T20:40:20.129+05:30

The dead in Ghana especially those of Ga tribe in coastal Ghana get a burial in custom designed exquisite coffins in the shape of Aircrafts, Cars including Mercedes, Birds, Fish, Bottle of Beer, Soft drink and other objects relating to the deceased; how he/she lived or his/her profession or hobbies or wishes. The trend started in the early 1950 and has now become a status symbol to be buried in

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-51535401186031797492010-12-07T09:55:00.003+05:302010-12-07T10:33:02.301+05:30

The balanced rocks are a geological formation created due to wind/water erosion or glacial melting. These precariously balanced rocks are wonder of the nature and to a viewer it looks that these would topple by a gentle human push or a wind force. However most of these rocks have remained steadfast for past several thousand years though some were vandalised and pushed over. To some scientists

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-67196987033308967072010-12-04T11:01:00.011+05:302010-12-04T13:57:19.845+05:30

"Enchanted Highway" is a 32 miles (51.5 km) long stretch of road from the town of Regent, North Dakota  till US Interstate Highway 94. The road derives its name from the unique collection of the seven large scrap metal sculptures which dot its entire length. Local artist Gary Greff had conceived and built these sculptures to attract tourists to his home town which was slowly becoming a ghost town

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-82618735680377709642010-11-24T22:17:00.001+05:302010-11-24T22:18:42.665+05:30

World's largest statues of Beatles were created in 2007 by the American sculptor David Adickes at his SculpturWorx Studio Houston, Texas, USA. Made from white concrete on a steel armature the statues (except the sitting drummer - Ringo Starr) are 36 feet (11 metres) high and each weighs about 7,000 pounds (3175 kg). The sculptor David Adickes has also made 20 feet (6 metres) high busts of all 

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-54041418463731346472010-11-23T12:52:00.001+05:302010-11-23T13:51:41.403+05:30

Mahatma Gandhi at the beginning of his career was a dapper young man, who had studied law at University College London and was a member of Inner Temple. His manners and way of dressing were totally British. A few years after completing his studies and after a brief stint in India he came to Durban to work as legal advisor for an Indian firm based in South Africa. It was here that Gandhi came face

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-50116067048460366932010-11-20T09:54:00.000+05:302010-11-20T09:54:15.186+05:30

The Rock Garden at Chandigarh is unique in the sense that it was clandestinely created by one man, in a reserved jungle land, over a period of 18 years, before it was discovered by the authorities. By the time of its discovery it had grown to a size of about 12-acre (49,000 sq. metres) and had a vast collections of statues and figurines built from scrap and pilfered material. Its creator, Nek

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-71482159998909213952010-11-14T21:37:00.008+05:302011-09-05T14:04:12.995+05:30

"La Isla de las Muñecas" (The Island of the Dolls), Mexico is famous for having the creepiest collection of dolls. Located within a maze of canals in the Xochimilco region, South of Mexico city, the small Island was home to a hermit - Julián Santana Barrera. One day about 54 years ago, he suddenly had an urge to collect discarded dolls. As per legend a young girl had drowned in the canal near the

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-39972221491794177662010-11-09T23:12:00.003+05:302010-12-07T09:09:26.539+05:30

The balanced rocks are a geological formation created due to wind/water erosion or glacial melting. These precariously balanced rocks are wonder of the nature and to a viewer it looks that these would topple by a gentle human push or a wind force. However most of these rocks have remained steadfast for past several thousand years though some were vandalised and pushed over. To some scientists

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-25391667403661986542010-11-07T18:58:00.000+05:302010-11-07T18:58:14.019+05:30

On July 7 this year a huge three storey high eye ball sculpture was unveiled in Pritzker Park at The Loop - the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago. Made from steel reinforced fibre glass, the 30 feet (~9 metres) Eye with blue iris, is replica of the actual eye of its designer/artist Tony Tasset, art professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The art work was sponsored by

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-47571756172090117572010-11-06T10:13:00.002+05:302010-11-06T11:48:29.749+05:30

Badeschiff (English: bathing ship) is an old barge which has been converted into an outdoor floating swimming pool and anchored in River Spree at Berlin's East Harbour section. It is part of the art project organised by Berlin's City Art Project Society to improve the river front. Due to high level of pollution swimming in River Spree is not allowed hence local artist Susanne Lorenz came up with

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-73884295388837362692010-11-01T11:53:00.004+05:302010-11-06T18:05:14.842+05:30

Karni Mata temple located in the small town of at Deshnoke, 30 km from Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, is one of the strangest and perhaps most bizarre temple in the World. As per Wikipedia "According to a local legend, Karni Mata, the 14th century mystic and an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga, implored, Yama, the god of death to restore to life, the son of a storyteller, and upon his refusal she

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-63749960848691005992010-10-25T23:30:00.004+05:302010-10-26T19:51:44.613+05:30

Angel of The North - A steel sculpture located in Gateshead, England is the World's widest sculpture. It is also World's largest angel sculpture and is amongst one of the largest sculptures in the World. The sculpture which depicts a faceless angel with outstretched wings was designed by Antony Gormley. The sculpture stands on a grassy mound and has a height of 20 metres (66 ft). Its wings, which

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-76999001332525590562010-10-24T12:08:00.001+05:302010-10-24T12:13:04.313+05:30

A burr (American English: burl) is an outgrowth on the trunk of a tree or a branch of a tree and results in deformation of grain of the wood. Burrs are formed when the tree undergoes some stress or injury which may be due to human actions or by environmental damage. Although a burr is sort of a malignancy it doesn't cause any harm to the tree. As a matter of fact distortion of grains results in

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-56317771330909740902010-10-20T13:07:00.003+05:302010-10-20T13:28:42.131+05:30

World's most expensive and World's first billion dollar residential home has been built by India's business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, who is the richest man in the Country and the fourth-richest man in the world. The newly built 27-story, 174 metres (~570 feet) high skyscraper home, known as Antilia is located on a 4,532 square metres (48,780 sq

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-62425058806445989932010-10-14T22:22:00.007+05:302011-09-01T12:35:39.428+05:30

It is common sight in Tibet to see colourful streamers flying from poles, temple roofs, trees, bridges and house tops. Tibetan Buddhist call these streamers as Prayer Flags and believe that these are links connecting God and man and the wind which causes the fluttering and swaying of the streamers, carries their prayers to God for His blessings. While browsing Google Earth, I recently came across

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-44218313249256456032010-10-12T19:19:00.003+05:302010-10-12T20:06:05.945+05:30

A huge bowl in the Lustgarten (pleasure garden) in front of the Altes Museum, Berlin is reportedly World's largest granite bowl made from a single stone. Officially known as "Granitschale" (meaning Granite Basin or Bowl) it is more popularly known as the "Berlin Soup Bowl" (Suppenschüssel). The huge bowl was ordered to be made by King Friedrich Wilhelm III, who, as a symbol of Prussian supremacy,

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-16938012883585575302010-10-07T15:52:00.022+05:302011-12-27T22:21:10.276+05:30

In the midst of what was once the American prairie land, stands a unique, 120 feet (~36.6 metres) high shimmering glass mural made from 1.8 million Italian glass tiles. Known as Paragon Prairie Tower it is located in small town of Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa and is a gift to the town by R&R Realty Group. Dedicated in September 2007 it is reportedly the largest Italian glass mosaic

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-56359806145979122922010-09-24T21:27:00.004+05:302010-09-24T21:40:13.707+05:30

The Skydeck on the 103rd floor of Chicago's famous landmark - The Sears Tower (now Willis Tower), the tallest building in the Americas and World's tallest building from 1974 to 1998, has always been the biggest tourist attraction of Chicago, as it provides a panoramic view of not only Chicago, its nearby areas and Lake Michigan but on a clear day, one can also see upto about 50 km (40 miles) of

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-31037448919744342272010-09-22T22:40:00.001+05:302010-09-22T22:43:55.533+05:30

About year and a half back I had made a posts about a building in Potsdam, Germany which is Not A Mosque but looked like a mosque. Today I present another unusual building in Egypt which is not a temple but looks like an  Indian temple. The Palace of Baron Empain (Arabic: Qasr Al Baron) aka as Palais Hindou, in Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo, is a residential palace built by Belgian born

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-24207877123679162652010-09-20T19:38:00.004+05:302012-01-23T15:38:13.883+05:30

Some times back I had made a post about two abandoned bridges which led to nowhere. Today I present another bridge, which unlike the above referred two bridges, is a regular well travelled bridge. However the design of this bridge is such that, most of the travellers specially thefirst time travellers driving on the bridge, get a scary sense that the bridge goes nowhere and if they proceed

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-78184499514582993632010-09-17T23:55:00.009+05:302010-09-18T19:34:15.842+05:30

The Holy Cross Church, (Heilig Kreuz Kirche) at Sommerrain, Stuttgart, Germany is a strange tent shaped church with a 36 metre high needle shaped tower. Constructed in 1966 the church was designed by the architect Heinz Rall, who from late fifties onwards, had made a name for himself for designing churches with modern looks. Besides the Church, the complex also includes a community hall (

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-68008315574539966592010-09-13T00:03:00.003+05:302010-09-13T09:25:28.128+05:30

Clingstone House is a remarkable 105 year old mansion on a  piece of rock in the Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, New England, USA. The rock is so small that it can be at the most called a micro islet. The three storey, 23 roomed mansion, with 10 bedrooms, was built in 1905 by J.S. Lovering Wharton in consultation with artist William Trost Richards. He lived here till his death in 1930s. Although

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-24720170151418426312010-09-10T19:04:00.001+05:302010-09-10T19:07:13.024+05:30

The 'Puente Nuevo' is more than 260 years old bridge in the town of Ronda, Spain. At the time of its construction in  1793, it was the third bridge in the town and hence it came to be known as 'Puente Nuevo' (New Bridge) and is called by this name even today. The township of Ronda is bisected by a narrow, 120-metre (390 ft) deep 'Tajo' gorge of the River Guadalevin. Puente Nuevo connects the two

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-23639083296380273782010-09-08T21:45:00.020+05:302010-09-08T23:06:38.679+05:30

The Ju Ming museum in Jinshan, near Taipei, Taiwan is the largest outdoor museum in Taiwan and showcases the work of Taiwan's famous sculptor Ju Ming. Although known as museum in reality it is a museum cum sculpture garden or art park spread over a huge area of about 105,000 Sq Metres (~ 25 Acres). Built by Ju Ming himself, he looked after the entire work of planning, architectural design and

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-72918130456110464652010-09-07T19:27:00.005+05:302010-09-07T20:08:06.537+05:30

Sometimes back I had made a post about Magnificent Stained Glass Winter Garden at the Ursuline Institute, Belgium. I now present "Cosmovitral" a much larger and beautiful stained glasshouse botanical garden in the Town of Toluca, Mexico. The beauty of the building lies in the exquisite coloured glass murals on large sized windows all along the four sides of the wall as well as on the glass roof.

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-74183645006276510682010-09-05T17:30:00.002+05:302010-09-05T19:16:49.289+05:30

Few months ago I had made a post about a Piano and Violin Shaped Building. I now present two Guitar Shaped  Buildings, perhaps the only two of such shape in the World. These are;The Guitar House, Fayetteville, Georgia, USA and Guitar Museum, Bristol, Tennessee, USA The Guitar House, Fayetteville, Georgia Elvis Cardin, a Georgian Country song writer and singer, had designed and built this strange

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-61178184311152373132010-09-03T22:51:00.007+05:302010-09-04T00:02:03.970+05:30

A small region of about 7500 sq. metres near the village of Chamarel, Mauritius has a geological oddity of earth of seven colours - red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow. Reportedly this is the only location in the World where one can see earth of 7 different colours at one place. A signboard at the site gives following explanation for this colourful oddity;"This natural phenomenon

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-74889661536836647972010-09-01T20:05:00.001+05:302010-09-05T13:10:48.980+05:30

In May 2009, I had made a post entitled "Giant Floral Carpet, Brussels" about the famous biennial floral carpet (Tapis de Fleur) show of Brussels which takes place in August every alternate year. About hundred experienced gardeners create a giant colourful carpet by closely packing together begonia flowers of different colours. About 700,000 flowers are used in the carpet making and every time a

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-69069055666607685862010-08-31T21:34:00.004+05:302010-08-31T22:29:43.780+05:30

Green vertical wall gardens are increasingly becoming popular today. These walls not only increase the aesthetic looks of the building but also offer almost the same environmental advantage as a green roof in not only improving thermal insulation but also decreasing the surrounding ambient temperatures by reducing the heat absorption. Such green walls also have the advantage of using waste water

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-27840911561268985342010-08-29T12:46:00.007+05:302010-08-29T14:17:04.351+05:30

Mohammed Nasser el Sabah Mosque (aka Sheikh Nasser Mosque), Kuwait which is shaped like a stepped pyramid is probably the only mosque in the World with such an unusual architecture for a mosque. Built in 1981, mosque is located in Ras-Salmiya area of Kuwait. Besides 30 x 26 metres pyramid shape main prayer hall, it also has a two storied annexe attached at the rear which houses ablution room and

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-9027647563559199732010-08-27T22:09:00.011+05:302010-08-27T22:30:50.690+05:30

500 feet (152.4 metres) long pedestrian bridge connecting the Washington State History Museum with the Museum of Glass is a visual treat to the visitors and is one of the most famous tourist spot in the town. The bridge conceived by famous glass sculptor Dale Chihuly and designed by architect Arthur Andersson is commonly known as 'Chihuly Bridge of Glass' and showcases three separate art works of

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-44909785232129807742010-08-24T13:21:00.004+05:302010-08-24T22:25:35.803+05:30

"Roofless Church" in New Harmony, Indiana is an unusual open air church, which just has a walled garden with a small alter under rosebud shaped canopy. The interdenominational church dedicated in 1960, was designed by the architect Philip Johnson. The church was commissioned at the request of Mrs. Jane Blaffer Owen, who  believed that "only one roof, the sky, could embrace all worshipping

CuriousJMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388678733234451057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010919616459375718.post-46331912600172271682010-08-22T15:16:00.003+05:302010-08-22T15:31:01.710+05:30

Some times back I had posted about Sharp Centre for Design, Toronto - A Huge Modern Building on Stilts, today I present another huge and  a bigger building on stilts - ING House, Amsterdam - the headquarters of Dutch financial Institution ING. This strange shaped building was designed by Roberto Meyer and Jeroen van Schooten and was officially opened on 16 September 2002 by Prince

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