September 8th, 2007
With the tiniest scrap of free time, I’ve had the chance to put together a gallery of images of Beetham Tower, Manchester’s tallest building and home to the Hilton hotel.
It’s one of those buildings that seems to polarize its viewers. Some enjoy its soaring form while others loathe its discord with the surrounding area. Add to that its height and you can’t escape a view of the tower. That, however, can be a boon when, like me, you live near it and are lost in Manchester - you can always orient yourself to it’s giant rectangular shape.
On the 23rd floor, the Hilton operates a bar/lounge that, apparently, affords some great views of the city. The cocktails cost as much as a meal anywhere else, so I haven’t yet made the trip up (though I could probably get away with not buying a thing…). I’ll have to make the trip sometime though - there are few tall buildings in Manchester with any public observation floors and I’d love to see this city from above.
Check out the photos here.
July 1st, 2007
I have just put up a gallery of photos of one of the more unique buildings in Manchester, the Urbis exhibition hall. Interesting angles and curves abound, images of overhead clouds dance on the glass, and the imagination soars at being able to ski down that steeply-slanted roof.
My only potential qualm with it is that it seems a bit out of place surrounded by much older buildings. While a number of these have been updated (the Triangle Centre, formerly the Corn Exchange and now a mall and the Printworks, formerly a press building and now an entertainment centre) they haven’t reached the level of modernism of Urbis’ slope. And accross the way, Chetham’s school and the Cathedral must be wondering what this 21st-century structure must be doing in the same park as them.
But on second thought, that diversity is one of Manchester’s appealing qualities for me. I shouldn’t complain about old and new rubbing shoulders when I’m such a fan of both.
View the gallery here.
June 28th, 2007
While I already have a number of photos available here of the exterior of the Manchester Town Hall, the building’s architectural wonders do not cease once you step inside. The first two floors of the building (at least the parts open to the public) make for a particularly good wander and I now have a gallery of photos of the interior to prove it.
A couple years ago, my wife brought two of her co-workers over to Manchester for a visit. They both worked in the city hall of the small city of Ichinoseki in northern Japan and they were blown away by Manchester’s building. I’m told they turned green with envy because the Ichinoseki city hall, well, it lacks some of the grandeur of Manchester’s municipal headquarters. Not that a Victorian Gothic building would make much sense in small-city Japan… Still, it’s nice when architects give the occupants of their buildings a treat.
June 8th, 2007
A semi-hidden gem here in downtown Manchester is the Barton Arcade shopping mall. Tucked in between Deansgate and St. Ann’s Square, the arcade doesn’t show much of itself from the outside, especially on the Deansgate side. But once you step inside, it reveals a beautiful glass and iron roof that fills the hall with light.
It’s always nice to cut through here even just for a glimpse when walking in the area.
See the photos here.
May 28th, 2007
I know it has been too long in putting these up, but here they are: a small batch of my first photos from Manchester. Believe me when I say I have a rather sizable bunch of photos still requiring processing and uploading.
Manchester is my new home and, in these first few months, it has been been good to me, photographically speaking. There’s plenty to explore here in terms of architecture and sights, the accessible countryside has plenty more to shoot and the number of events that make their way through here is formidable (the only limit is my cash and time!).
I wanted to be able to deliver a few relatively complete collections of photos before I started uploading, and while I could always shoot more shots of these fine sights, I now have a few solid and somewhat comprehensive collections of images to share.
Check out a few starter photos here and find lots more in the gallery:
November 27th, 2006
If only my trip’s budget had allowed me to stay at the Grand Hotel in Taipei. Though my accommodation was perfectly comfortable, I’m sure the luxury of the Grand Hotel would have been a happy addition to my accommodation itinerary.
The best I could really do is have a wander through its exquisite lobby and around the grounds where my photos were taken.
July 12th, 2006
Last night, while trying to decide what photos I should next process and upload, I realized that my photos of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia did not include one of my visits to the twin towers. I had only uploaded some shots I took on my second time around in Malaysia, but the first shots I took there were idling on my hard drive. So, to right that wrong, I quickly went though the earlier photos and now a few more shots can be found in my Petronas Towers Gallery.
July 11th, 2006
I was only able to spend a few short days in Osaka when I was travelling through Japan. It seemed, even more than Tokyo, the very definition of ‘urban.’ Many people have a vision of Japan as a futuristic, modern city that covers virtually every inch of the archipelago and if they only visited Osaka, they would be justified in believing that.
The photos I have uploaded include images of the Osaka Skyline, the Dotonbori Shopping and Entertainment District and The Umeda Sky Building. When time permits, I also have images from Osaka castle and Osaka Aquarium that I intend to process and upload as well, so stay tuned.
And as always, a few samples:
June 4th, 2006
This Flickr slideshow of Dubai’s massive development projects is pretty amazing. The scope of construction in the city is astonishing.
From the site:
“In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai’s sky without at least one crane in your view; Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15 to 25 per cent of the world’s cranes are in Dubai. Some US$ 90 billion are on-going in Dubai alone.”
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