Liberation Tower

Liberation Tower

Towering high above the city of Kuwait, this is one monument you cannot miss while gazing at the city's skyline. Nor it is unknown to anyone staying in Kuwait. But do you know that this popular landmark measures 372 meters, which makes it about 40 meter’s taller than Paris' Eiffel Tower. It is a symbol of Kuwait's liberation from the Iraqi rule during the Gulf War. In addition it is also one of the tallest telecommunication towers around the world.  It is also the tallest structure in Kuwait. Construction of the tower started before Iraqi invasion on August 2, 1990. It was then meant to be called The Kuwait Telecommunication Tower. When the invasion took place, the construction was put on hold and resumed after Saddam Hussein’s forces were relegated. The tower was renamed as the Liberation Tower, in the year 1993; after the renovation was over.His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah inaugurated this telecommunications tower on March 10, 1996.

On your visit toLiberation Tower , you will see that the structure façade is made up of ceramic tiles on the frontage from the base to the first lowest level, which is about 308 meters above the ground. The tower and the telecommunication compound are divided into three working areas. They include, a public communication center, revolving observation level and a restaurant, and the adjoining plant and equipment structure. There are 18 elevators in this tower. These can carry you up and down in no time. Two of them are enclosed with glass and can accommodate 21 passengers. They are regarded as one of the fastest in the world at notching up speeds of about 6.3 meters per second. There are six floors of offices set up above the revolving mezzanine floor. It is also known as Tahreer Tower. The view of Kuwait you get to see from the observation platform is breathtaking.

The Liberation Tower of Kuwait, is similar to the C N Tower (a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.) since both contain a revolving restaurant, observation platform, telecommunications equipment and similar architecture. 

This is one must-visit destination when you are in Kuwait. It houses many government offices so it remains close for public. Only on Liberation Day from morning 7am to 12 noon, it remains open to general public. There are no entrance fees. And lots of activities are organized on this special day on the observation platform. You will surely enjoy if you visit it. So if you want to visit Liberation Tower, it has to be on this special day.

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Dream Cube

ESI Design worked with the Shanghai Corporate Community to create the Dream Cube, a 43,000 square foot Corporate Pavilion for the 2010 World Expo. Made from recycled cd cases, the Dream Cube is covered in LED lights which change color when people are interacting inside the building.

Visitors are invited to participate online and in-person in a visual composition of the city’s future by contributing thoughts and images of their city via the website. The words and photos of thousands of Shanghai residents will mingle throughout the pavilion to symbolize their co-creation of Shanghai’s future.

In addition to using recycled materials and LED lights, the roof collects rainwater before filtering and storing it for daily use. The pavilion also features a solar thermal tube screen on the roof, which collects solar energy for producing hot water. After the Expo, the building materials will be recycled again for other applications.

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Wild Life Photography by Nick Brandt..

Nick Brandt is one of those photographers who is, quite simply, impossible to pin down. Born in England, he moved to California where he became a high profile maker of music videos for stars such as Michael Jackson. It was actually while directing the video for Michael Jackson's Earth Song in Tanzania in 1996 that he first began his love affair with Africa. Having enjoyed a deep connection with animals since childhood, and sharing his Californian home with a menagerie of pets, it was the beautiful and graceful African creatures and the wild, sweeping landscape they inhabit that particularly appealed to Nick.

Around five years ago, he decided to leave behind the glamour of the music business to concentrate on becoming a photographer. He made his mind up from the outset, however, that he was not going to attempt to emulate the litany of wildlife photographers who had found themselves drawn to this charismatic continent, but that he would approach his Chosen subject in a highly individual manner.

The result was a decision to tackle wildlife in a way that was almost diametrically opposite to the norm: using a black & white fine art style, a medium-format camera and a portrait or wide-angle lens. In short, Nick set about photographing his subjects almost as though they were human, and he himself insists that he is not a wildlife photographer at all in the conventional sense of the word.

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Kuwait City - a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again. It was first settled in the early 18th Century by Sheikh Sabāh I. Its name may have derived from an earlier abandoned fort located there, called "Kūt" (كوت) - Arabic for a fortress by the sea.

I have an affection for this great city. My first day in Kuwait City, April 4, 1995. I set foot in this city, and just walking down the street, it was like roots, like the motherland. I knew I belonged here. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets. Eventually, I think Kuwait City will be the most beautiful great city left in the world. This great city has the greatest man or woman: even if it has a few ragged huts, it is still the greatest city in the whole world. I Love this city and the government. In their welfare comes my welfare. In their salvation comes glory to God and celebration in heaven and on earth...

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The sunrise is the most beautiful thing on earth. It has changed my life. I was the guy who’s goal was to not have any classes earlier than 9:30 in college because I was not a morning person. I’d seen the sunrise maybe a handful of times.

 
But then I came to Kuwait this last year. Because the time difference meant that I could get up earlier in Kuwait, I would get up and run while it was still dark. I wanted to get that in before my day started. As I ran so early, I would see the sunrise. I was blown away how beautiful it was. That time of morning is so great because the world is more peaceful and you aren’t distracted by hustle and bustle. The only people up are runners or readers. It is quiet and you can be still and think clearly. I realized this is the greatest time of the day.

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