London bridge may fall, paper bridge may not

Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims. Shigeru Ban was the winner in 2005 at age 48 of the 40th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was profiled by Time Magazine in their projection of 21st century innovators in the field of architecture and design.

Shigeru Ban studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and later went on to Cooper Union’s School of Architecture where he studied under John Hejduk and graduated in 1984. Hejduk was a part of the The New York Five. From Hejduk, Ban learned not only fundamental elements of architecture, but also gained an interest in ‘architectonic poetics’ or the creation of three-dimensional poetry. Hejduk, the most experimentally minded of the New York Five, had a lasting influence on Ban, whose work has continuing explorations into basic geometric elements. Ban’s formal explorations with basic building materials helped to lead him into unique structural solutions.

Ban is most-famous now for his innovative work with paper and cardboard tubing as a material for building construction. He was the first architect in Japan to construct a building primarily out of paper, with his paper house and required special approval for his building to pass Japan’s building code. Ban is attracted to using paper because of its low-cost, its recyclable, low-tech and they’re replaceable. The last aspect of Ban’s influences is his humanitarianism and his attraction to ecological architecture. Ban’s work with paper and other materials is heavily based on its sustanability and because it produces very little waste. As a result of this, Ban’s DIY Refugee shelters (used in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, in Turkey, Rwanda and around the world) are very popular and effective for low-cost disaster relief-housing.

When the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was asked to build a footbridge over the Gardon River in the south of France, he designed one that was keenly sensitive to its surroundings. He constructed it from locally available materials and based its geometry on the nearby Pont du Gard, a historic Roman aqueduct. Ban used a mixture of cardboard tubes, recycled labels and creative engineering.

The surprisingly strong structure can withstand the load of at least 20 people, rose triumphantly against the backdrop of the ancient monument. The 72-foot-long frame was made primarily from 281 cardboard tubes — each four and a half inches in diameter and about three-quarters of an inch thick. The tubes were held together by steel joints. For the steps, Ban used a new material called ProFi, assembled from paper and plastic left over from the manufacture of self-adhesive labels. Wooden boxes buried underground and packed with local sand formed the foundations.

The bridge diameter and curvature were modeled on the classic proportions of the Pont du Gard’s arch. “It was an interesting contrast,” Ban says. “But it was both a contrast and a harmony.” The design of the bridge allows for easy assembly and dismantling. It took a team of architecture students only a month to complete the installation, which remained open to the public for six weeks before being dismantled in August before the rainy season. Ban says he expects it to be rebuilt next year.

The main challenge, Ban says, was not mastering the engineering of the bridge but persuading skeptics to rethink basic principles of design. “The strength and durability of a structure has nothing to do with the material,” he said. Ban fits well into the category of “Ecological Architects” but he also can make solid claims for being modernist, a Japanese experimentalist as well as a rationalist. “I don’t like waste” is an apt quote from Ban, summing up his philosophy, known as “Paper George's Architecture.”

Magic un believable

Nokia Codes

ou can find your phones firmware version by entering *#0000# on the phone while it is in standby.

Restore Factory Settings

Enter *#7780# on the phone while it is in standby.This will reset it to the factory settings and wipe most of the stuff from the phone (contacts, connection settings etc).

Display handset’s IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) Number

Enter *#06# on the phone while it is in standby.

Display Handset’s Warranty

*#92702689#

Here you can view the S/N and the IMEI as well as the life timer (newer models). The date the phone left the factory and the date it was purchased. If your phone has been repaired the date of the repair is also visible. You will need to turn the phone off to exit this menu. Newer phones simply require you to press ok.

Display the Bluetooth MAC address

*#2820# (Phone must have a built in bluetooth adapter)

Reset the mobile wallet

*#7370925538# (Phone must have the mobile wallet feature)
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Whole Fitness - Health Continuum - Online Health Guide

World of Animals

Did You Know It

• A snail can sleep for three years.

• All polar bears are left handed.

• Butterflies taste with their feet.

• It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

• Hydra - an aquatic creature is the only living creature that never die. It regenerates, replacing its cells with fresh ones.

• Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

• Coca-Cola was originally green because of fresh cocoa leaves.

• Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.

• here are 366 dimples on a golf ball?

• There are 318,979,564,000 possible ways to play first four moves, per side, in chess.

• Playing cards in India are in round shape.

• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

• he most common name in the world is Mohammed.

• The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.

• If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.

• If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.

• If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

• Mao Zedong of China never brush his teeth in his lifetime.

• When Elizabeth-I of Russia died in 1762, there were 15,000 dresses in her closets

• Randy Gardner of San Diego is the longest person who has gone without sleep for 11 days in 1965. He broke the record of Peter Tripp of New York, who settled a record of 8.5 days without a wink.

• Usually right handed people utilize left side of brain for all their conscious, voluntary activities.

• The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

• Women blink nearly twice as much as men!

• You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

• It is impossible to lick your elbow.

• Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

• If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib.

• If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

• An average person eat 60,000 pounds of food in his lifetime.

• An average person spent 24 years of his life in sleeping.

• An average woman consume 6 lbs. of lipstick in her lifetime.

• Sitting while talking on the phone for eight hours will burn 914 calories. Driving a car for eight hours will knock off around 1,219 calories. And standing in a casino for eight hours will burn about 1,402 calories.

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10 Weird Science Facts You Didn’t Know

01. Animals can rain from the sky.

02. The universe is beige.

03. Poisoning can make masses to dance hysterically.

04. The Moon is moving away from the Earth.

05. Belly button lint comes from your underwear.

06. Fly larvae helps to heal wounds quicker.

07. Animals can explode naturally.

08. You can still have an erection once dead.

09. Male seahorses can get pregnant

10. A fetus can get trapped inside of its twin.

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