The LEGO Beijing Olympics

A team of LEGO and sports enthusiasts presented a LEGO model of some of the buildings built by the Chinese for the 2008 Olympic Games. The model was presented in Hong Kong and includes small scale replicas of buildings such as Bird’s Nest stadium, Water Cube swimming center and the Olympic Village.

The LEGO Beijing Olympics were created by members of the Hong Kong LEGO users group and took more than 100 hours to complete. Great effort, the model looks amazing.

Sport Village

Residence Buildings

Swimming Cube

Source: brickshelf.com

World's Largest Arch Bridge in Dubai by 2012

Writing so much about this land and its man-made landscape, I am left with no newer words to describe the upcoming structures in Dubai. It’s always the ‘largest’ or the ‘tallest’ or the ‘most expensive’ kinds of terms only that can epitomize the construction coming up in this crazy place. The latest on the list is the World's largest Arch Bridge. The mile-long bridge will be 670 feet tall at its highest point! And it’s gonna encompass 12 lanes of traffic with a metro line running down the center. Estimated to be able to carry over 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction, this bridge will be built at a whopping cost of 817 million dollars!

The World’s First Sand Hotel

The world’s first sand-hotel is open for business on Weymouth beach, Dorset, in England. The 1000 tone-of-sand structure was built in a week by a team of 4 sand-sculptors and is only expected to last until it rains…which, as you probably know, happens quite often in Britain.

The sand-hotel was commissioned by a local travel website that, upon doing some research, found out that 57% of English tourists prefer foreign beach-destinations instead of national ones. So this is like a statement that signifies the rebirth of British tourism. The sand hotel has no roof, so you have a clear view of the star-filled night sky, no toilets and is not recommended for those that hate getting sand between their toes. For an offbeat experience like spending a night at the wonderful sand-hotel, you only have to pay $21, more than a fair price, in my opinion.

Total Privacy at Clingstone Mansion in Rhode Island

This 103-years-old mansion in Rhode Island is built on a small, rocky island far away from any nosy neighbors. Just like this house, built close to Oslofjord Island, Norway, it offers total privacy.

Clingstone mansion was built in 1905, for a cost of roughly $36,000, by J.S. Lovering Wharton, a distant cousin of 79-year-old Henry Wood, the present owner of the house. He and his ex-wife bought it in 1961, for $3,600 and managed to bring it back to life after it had been abandoned for two decades.

Mr. Wood and his family found an ingenious way of preserving this 23-room architectural wonder: the Clingstone work weekend. Every year, around Memorial Day, the Wood family and up to 70 friends gather at Clingstone to clean the mansion and fix any of its problems. Practically, any volunteer workers are welcome.

In winter time the boats and floating dock are stored at the nearby Jamestown Boatyard, in exchange for a week’s stay at Clingstone, during the summer.


































Source: bookofjoe