Friday 13 December 2013
churchview.blogspot.com: Luxury Investment 2
churchview.blogspot.com: Luxury Investment 2: Luxury Investment 2 The Interior Space Other Side View The Interior
Friday 27 September 2013
Top 5 Outstanding Hotels in the World
The Peninsula, Hong Kong
The Peninsula -- and its fleet of Rolls-Royce Silver Shadows -- appeared in "The Man with the Golden Gun," starring Roger Moore.
In the film, Bond follows Bond girl Andrea Anders from Macau to Hong Kong, where she's picked up by one of the hotel's "Peninsula-green" Rolls-Royces.
Anders, it emerges, is staying in room 602 at the Peninsula and the spectacular frontage appears in several scenes.
The cast and crew also stayed at the hotel during filming.
Hotel New Otani Tokyo
In 1967's "You Only Live Twice," the New Otani hotel is the headquarters of Osato Chemicals, the Japanese front for Ernst Stavro Blofeld's SPECTRE operation.
The hotel was built in 1964 by former sumo wrestler Yonetaro Otani, and is famous for its revolving restaurant and enormous Japanese gardens.
One&Only Ocean Club, Bahamas
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Ocean Club's Dune restaurant now offers a Casino Royale cocktail -- a combination of vodka, gin and wine.The property appears throughout the film: Bond is seen walking through the reception area, playing poker in the library and exploring the Versailles-themed gardens.
Hotel Cipriani, Venice, Italy
Daniel Craig's James Bond moors his yacht at this hotel's private marina in "Casino Royale."
The crew took over the Cipriani's restaurant to film this scene, and parts of the terrace appear throughout.
Cast and crew stayed at the hotel during filming and the hotel's head barman recalls Craig enjoying a nightcap or two with co-star Eva Green.
On one of his first visits to the bar, the actor was apparently offered a martini but opted for a Bellini, instead.
The Langham, London
In "GoldenEye" -- the first James Bond film not based on Ian Fleming's novels -- this London hotel doubles as St. Petersburg's Grand Hotel Europe.
The Langham was built in 1865 and is one of London's first purpose-built hotels.
"Goldeneye" isn't the hotel's only starring role -- it also appears in Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's film "Winning London." No, we haven't seen it either.
Tuesday 3 September 2013
The Walkie Talkie
The Walkie Talkie melted my Jag! Light reflected from under-construction City skyscraper buckles bodywork and mirror of businessman's car
- Sunlight reflected from skyscraper is causing heat damage to cars beneath
- Several panels of a Jaguar XJ had buckled in the glare
- Other drivers say their vehicles have wilted in the beam of light
A £200million skyscraper has had an undeniably dazzling effect on passers-by – but not, unfortunately, the one intended by its architect.
20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie due to its distinctive shape, is reflecting blinding rays of light onto the street below, damaging the panels and wing mirror of a Jaguar XJ.
The car belongs to Martin Lindsay, the director of a tiling company, who parked his Jaguar in central London's Eastcheap on Thursday afternoon.
He said he is amazed such a thing could happen.
'They’re going to have to think of something. I’m gutted. How can they let this continue?' he told City A.M.
The car was in the ray for just an hour but the panels were buckled and there was reportedly a smell of burning plastic.
Who, what, why: How does a skyscraper melt a car?
A London skyscraper dubbed the Walkie-Talkie has been blamed for reflecting light which melted parts of a car parked on a nearby street. What happened?
It's like starting a fire with a parabolic mirror.
"Fundamentally it's reflection. If a building creates enough of a curve with a series of flat windows, which act like mirrors, the reflections all converge at one point, focusing and concentrating the light," says Chris Shepherd, from the Institute of Physics.
The half-finished 37-storey "Walkie Talkie"- nicknamed such because of its tapering rectangular design - is indeed a curvy building.
It transpires the car, a Jaguar on Eastcheap in the City of London, was parked at just the spot where the focused light landed.
A couple kiss on Eastcheap, in the reflected light of the "Walkie Talkie"
The car wasn't the only casualty. There have also been reports of a smouldering bicycle seat, singed fabric and blistered paintwork.
Land Securities, which is developing the tower with the Canary Wharf Group, says it is working on a solution and has taken the emergency measure of suspending the parking bays beneath the glare.
They have described the problem as a phenomenon caused by the current elevation of the sun in the sky. It is thought it can last for two hours a day and might only be a problem for the next two or three weeks.
But how common is it for skyscrapers to damage cars or property in this way?
Architectural critic Jonathan Glancey says the story is not unprecedented.
In 2003, the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, designed by architect Frank Gehry, hit a similar stumbling block.
"The building was clad from head to toe, right down to the pavement, in stainless steel panels, and they would send the sun dazzling across the sidewalks to hotspots where people were. It was measured up to 60C (140F).
"Local people living there complained they were having to crank their air conditioning up to maximum to cool things down," he says.
Light from Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles affected neighbours
Blinding glare also affected drivers passing the building.
After computer models and sensor equipment identified the panels causing the problem, they were sanded down to break up the sun's rays.
There are also plenty of lesser-known, smaller scale sun traps caused by architecture, according to Shepherd.
"The Eden shopping centre in High Wycombe has a shop with a series of windows in a curve that all happen to concentrate the light at one point. If you walk across that point you can feel some warmth," he says.
London Skyscraper that melts car
Reflections coming off a London skyscraper are so intense that they're melting cars parked on a nearby street. That's according to City A.M., sourcing a "distraught" owner of a Jaguar XJ that was reportedly damaged by the bright light. Martin Lindsay parked his luxury ride on Eastcheap before an afternoon business meeting, and only two hours later the car was giving off smells of melting plastic and displayed clear signs of damage. Photos from BBC News reveal significant body distortion, and developers of the under-construction building have confirmed they're "looking into the matter."
Worse yet, Lindsay apparently isn't the first to complain about overwhelming reflections from the building, designed by New York-based architect Rafael Viñoly. (Its standout appearance has earned it the nickname "Walkie Talkie.") City A.M. reports that a van has also fallen victim to the intense glare. Despite persistent sunshine being something of a rarity in the area, City of London officials aren't taking the situation lightly. They've launched an investigation, and in the meantime have cordoned off several parking spots that fall under the most light. You can see just how bright things get in this Instagram shot. Thankfully it seems Lindsay won't need to pay for his car's restoration out of pocket; the building's developers have agreed to cover repair costs.
Friday 30 August 2013
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