Category Landmarks

Petronas Twin Towers were once the tallest buildings in the world. Now the world’s tallest twin structures, the 88-storey buildings were designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates with both towers joined at the 41st and 42nd floors (175m above street level) by a 58 metre-long, double-decker Sky Bridge.

The Petronas Towers, also known as the Petronas Twin Towers (Malay: Menara Petronas, or Menara Berkembar Petronas), are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia’s Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements. The circular sectors is similar to the bottom part of the Qutub Minar.

Due to the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation as a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 metre concrete cores and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space.

 

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The Burj Khalifa is in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai.

It is built in the architectural style of neo-futurism and was designed by American Architect Adrian D.Smith of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

Construction began on the enormous edifice in January 2004 on a site at 1 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai.

The Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure in the world since 2008 standing at a colossal 2,716ft. According to its developer, the total amount of concrete used to build the tower weighed as much as some 100,000 elephants combined.

Sheikh Khalifa, the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, granted monetary aid and funding, hence resulting in the changing of the name to “Burj Khalifa”. The concept of profitability derived from building high density developments and malls around the landmark have proven successful. Its surrounding malls, hotels and condominiums in Downtown Dubai have generated the most revenue from the project as a whole, while the Burj Khalifa itself made little or no profit.

Critical reception to Burj Khalifa has been generally positive, and the building has received many awards. However, there were complaints concerning migrant workers from South Asia who were the primary building labor force. These centered on low wages and the practice of confiscating passports until duties was complete.

 

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The Writers’ Building, often shortened to just Writers’, is the secretariat building of the State Government of West Bengal in India. It is located in West Bengal’s capital city of Kolkata. The 150-meter long building covers the entire northern stretch of the iconic Lal Dighi pond in the downtown area of B.B.D. Bagh.

The building has been called a mini-township of sorts with a built-up area of around 550,000 square feet. Before the shifting of the state secretariat, the building housed 34 departments and other offices of the state government, with approximately 6,000 employees.

The Writers’ Building was designed by Thomas Lyon in 1777 for the British East India Company. In 1821 a 128 ft-long verandah with Ionic columns, each 32 ft high, were added on the first and second floors. From 1889 to 1906 two new blocks were added, approached by iron staircases that are still in use. Writers’ acquired its Greco-Roman look, complete with the portico in the central bay and the red surface of exposed brick. The parapet was put in place and the statues sculpted by William Fredric Woodington in 1883, that line the terrace, were installed.

The building was intended to be the effective headquarters of the East India Company in the Bengal province of the Mughal Empire.

 

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Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, is an imposing edifice located at the west end of the Rajpath in New Delhi with the India gate at the opposite end. Designed by Edwin Landseer Lutyens, this palatial building was the erstwhile residence of the British Viceroy. Few official residential premises of the State Heads in the world will match the Rashtrapati Bhavan in terms of its size, vastness and its magnificence.

The building completed in 1929, was scheduled to be constructed in four years but it took 17 years to complete it. This vast mansion has got four floors and 340 rooms. With a floor area of 200,000 square feet, it is built by using 700 million bricks and three million cubic feet of stone. Hardly any steel has gone into the construction of the building. The building is built in two shades of sandstone and reflects a blend of Mughal and classical European style of architecture. The most prominent and distinguishing aspect of Rashtrapati Bhavan is its huge dome that is structured in the pattern of the great Stupa at Sanchi. The dome is visible from a distance and surmounts a long colonnade, which adds to the magnificence of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The journey through this work of art is divided into three circuits. Circuit 1 covers the Main Building and Central Lawn of Rashtrapati Bhavan including its premier rooms like the Ashok Hall, Durbar Hall, Banquet Hall, its Drawing Rooms and many more. Circuit 2 consists of the tour of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum Complex, while Circuit 3 promises the tour of Rashtrapati Bhavan’s famous gardens- The Mughal Gardens, Herbal Garden, Musical Garden and Spiritual Garden.

 

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1 Wall Street (also known as the Irving Trust Company Building, the Bank of New York Building, and the BNY Mellon Building) is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, on the eastern side of Broadway between Wall Street and Exchange Place. 1 Wall Street occupies the entire block in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, bounded by Broadway to the west, Wall Street to the north, New Street to the east, and Exchange Place to the south. 1 Wall Street is adjacent to the Adams Express Building, 65 Broadway, the Empire Building, Trinity Church, and Trinity Church’s churchyard to the west; the American Surety Company Building to the north; 14 Wall Street to the northeast; the New York Stock Exchange Building to the east; and 52 Broadway to the south. Entrances to the New York City Subway’s Wall Street station, served by the 4 and ?5 trains, are located in and adjacent to the building.

The original building was designed by Ralph Walker of the Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker in the Art Deco style. The annex was designed by Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker’s successor firm Voorhees, Walker Smith Smith & Haines. The original building reaches 50 stories and stands 654 feet (199 m) tall. The southern annex was originally 28 stories tall with a height of about 391 feet (119 m), but in 2019 was expanded to 36 stories with a height of about 494 feet (151 m). Dormer structures of up to two stories are located on the tops of both sections.

 

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Kirti Mandir is the memorial temple built in memory of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi located in city of Porbandar, Gujarat, India. 

The ancestral house of Gandhi family, where Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 is just adjacent to the Kirti Mandir.

At the time when Gandhi was released for the last time in year 1944 from the Aga Khan Palace by the British Government, the residential public of Porbandar had decided to construct an ideal memorial on the birth palace of Mahatmaji. At that time, organization of the project was accomplished by the intensive efforts of the easrtwhile Maharaja of Porbandar, H.H. Maharana Shri Natavarsinhji, and Raj Ratna Shri Nanjibhai Kalidas Mehta and his wife, Smt. Santokbehn Mehta. Before the foundation of the Kirti Mandir was started, the adjacent ancestral house was purchased from those members of the Gandhian family who were living in it. Mahatmaji himself, on his own part had given his consent to Nanjibhai in writing, with legal documents for the sale of the whole building. He had signed with his own hand the registration papers, which are displayed at a museum room in Kirti Mandir Complex. The ancestral house, as such, now forms a part of Kriti Mandir complex.

There are life size oil paintings of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba kept side by side in the centre of Kirti Mandir. Gandhi wanted that he should not be made a God and so, keeping his wishes, floral garlands are not used. The auspicious words, ‘The Truth’ and ‘Non-violence’, symbolizing his life and preachings are placed near their feet.

On the right side there are two rooms as the memorials of Maganlal Gandhi and Mahadev Desai, and the room on the left hand side is meant for the exhibition of the museum. These three rooms contain articles of khadibhandar, things of handicraft, the centre is for the sale of books, the office-room and the reception hall. Kasturba-Mahila Library situated in the Kirti mandir.

 

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