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Monday, September 24, 2012

Friday, September 21, 2012

The Deepest Indoor Swimming Pool in the World

Located in Brussels, Belgium, Nemo 33 is the deepest indoor swimming pool in the world. Designed for divers, Nemo 33 was first conceived by John Beernaerts in 1996. Its doors would eventually open to the public on May 1st, 2004.

According to the Guinness World Records:

The Nemo 33 diving pool has a depth of 33 meters (108 ft) at its deepest point and contains around 2.5 million litres (550,000 gal, 4.4 million pints, 660,000 US gallons) of water. The facility, which opened in June 2004, is used for dive training, leisure diving, and research.

The water is kept at a constant 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) thanks to a large array of solar panels. There are two 'basins' and three 'pits', the deepest of which is 6 m (19 ft 7 in) across and drops to 33 m (108 ft). There are underwater 'caves' for exploration and three air-filled diving bells that enable diving instructors to communicate with their charges without returning to the surface.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Highway that Goes Through a Building

Or should that be the building that has a highway going through it? Whichever way you look at it, the Umeda Exit of the Ikeda Route of the Hanshin Expressway system in the Japanese city of Osaka is a head turner.

Image Credit Flickr User Emmet Anderson

The name of the highway we have already had – the name of the office block is the slightly less exhausting Gate Tower Building. Believe it or not, the area of Osaka in which it is situated, Fukushima-ku, is mostly residential. Yet in the middle of this suburban area you have a somewhat intimately connected highway and 16-story office building.

Image Credit Flickr User Gorimon

Between the fifth and seventh floors is something which no town planner ever envisions in their wildest dreams but still – here it is. A road runs through it. Inside the building, however, it is business as usual, despite the highway. Its occupants are so industrious, in fact, that it is known locally as The Beehive.

Image Credit Flickr User Gorimon

Elevators pass on either side of the highway. However, if you have been told you have an appointment on floors five, six or seven then someone is pulling your leg. The Gate Tower Building's elevator stops at every floor till its fourth and then will not obey any request for to halt before the eighth.

Image Credit Flickr User y4su0

The building's structure is strengthened for obvious reasons in this earthquake prone area. Yet the highway does not actually touch the building – it is a completely separate structure. However, for those in need of reassurance there is a helipad on the roof not. You might suspect that it would not be much use in a ground shaking emergency. And you would probably be right.

Image Credit Flickr User Caribb

So what caused this situation? Things were self-evidently not originally planned this way. The land had been held since the 1860s by a wood and charcoal business. With other energy sources replacing these, the business declined but the land remained in the ownership of the company. Those in charge decided to develop office space on the land after the old buildings were demolished.

Image Credit Flickr User Gorimon

There was a hitch, however. The Hanshin Expressway was also in its final stages of planning – and guess where it went? A slither of expressway is not as lucrative in terms of rent as a very large building and the original landowners would not give up their plans. It took five years of negotiation but what you can see in these photographs was the compromise.

Image Credit Flickr User showbizsuperstar

Any number of people have privately criticized this concession between corporations as ludicrous. However, the Japanese are a people of great courtesy. To spare blushes this strange building and highway combo is known as a Multi-Level Road System – that is all.