Petronas twin towers,

   

   Soaring to a height of 451.9 metres, the 88-storey twin structure is Kuala Lumpur's crown jewel. Majestic by day and dazzling at night, the PETRONAS Twin Towers is inspired by Tun Mahathir Mohamad's vision for Malaysia to be a global player. Together with master architect Cesar Pelli, the international icon powerfully captures the nation's ambitions and aspirations.

Visit us and experience the PETRONAS Twin Towers first-hand. Begin your tour with interactive displays that showcase the journey, from idea to completion. Scale 170 metres in an elevator with a futuristic edge. The doors will open at the Skybridge, a connecting structure between the towers and the world's highest 2-storey bridge. Ascend even higher to level 86, where the story of Malaysia's vision unfolds amid breathtaking views of Kuala Lumpur. Then wrap up your visit with exquisite souvenirs at the gift shop.

The towers are depicted through its outline, which resembles the letter "M" for Malaysia. The jagged outline subtly resembles one of Malaysia's famous traditional handicrafts – basket weaving – thus highlighting her strong cultural values.

The triangle that symbolises the skybridge acts like a fulcrum that perfectly balances Malaysia's past and future, local values and global outlook, multi-cultural background and united 1Malaysia concept. With an upward-pointing arrow to depict growth and progress, the triangle also symbolises the Twin Towers' ideal location at the heart of the Kuala Lumpur golden triangle. It is finished in the PETRONAS Green to further emphasise that the PETRONAS Twin Towers is built by our national oil company, PETRONAS.

The logo is encapsulated in a square, like a close electric circuit, to depict connectedness.

     The towers were designed by Argentine  American architect César Pelli. They chose a distinctive postmodern style to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur. Planning on the Petronas Towers started on 1 January 1992 and included rigorous tests and simulations of wind and structural loads on the design. Seven years of construction followed, beginning on 1 March 1993 with the excavation, which involved moving 500 truckloads of earth every night to dig down 30 metres (98 ft) below the surface.

         The construction of the superstructure commenced on 1 April 1994. Interiors with furniture were completed on 1 January 1996, the spires of Tower 1 and Tower 2 were completed on 1 March 1996, and the first batch of PETRONAS personnel moved into the building on 1 January 1997. The building was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Malaysia's Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad on 1 August 1999. The twin towers were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. Test boreholes found that the original construction site effectively sat on the edge of a cliff. One half of the site was decayed limestone while the other half was soft rock. The entire site was moved 61 metres (200 ft) to allow the buildings to sit entirely on the soft rock. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world's deepest foundations. 104 concrete piles, ranging from 60 to 114 metres (197 to 374 ft) deep, were bored into the ground. The concrete raft foundation, comprising 13,200 cubic metres (470,000 cu ft) of concrete was continuously poured through a period of 54 hours for each tower. The raft is 4.6 metres (15 ft) thick, weighs 32,500 tonnes (35,800 tons) and held the world record for the largest concrete pour until 2007. The foundations were completed within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete. Its engineering designs on structural framework were contributed by Haitian engineer Domo Obiasse and colleagues Aris Battista and Princess D Battista. The Petronas Towers' structural system is a tube in tube design, invented by Fazlur Rahman Khan. Applying a tube-structure for extreme tall buildings is a common phenomenon.

      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.

       As a result of the Malaysian government specifying that the buildings be completed in six years, two construction consortiums were hired in order to meet the deadline, one for each tower. Tower 1, the west tower (right in the top-right photograph) was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation (JA Jones Construction Co., MMC Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, Ho Hup Construction Co. Bhd and Mitsubishi Corp) while Tower 2, the east tower (left in the top-right photograph) was built by a South Korean consortium led by the Samsung C&T Corporation (Kukdong Engineering & Construction and Syarikat Jasatera Sdn Bhd). Early into construction a batch of concrete failed a routine strength test causing construction to come to a complete halt. All the completed floors were tested but it was found that only one had used a bad batch and it was demolished. As a result of the concrete failure, each new batch was tested before being poured. The halt in construction had cost US$700,000 per day and led to three separate concrete plants being set up on the site to ensure that if one produced a bad batch, the other two could continue to supply concrete. The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. Tower 2 became the first to reach the world's tallest building at the time. Though as a result of rushing to build this tower, tower 2 ran into problems when they discovered the structure was leaning 25 millimetres (0.98 in) off from vertical. To correct the lean, the next 16 floors were slanted back 20 millimetres (0.79 in) with specialist surveyors hired to check verticality twice a day until the building's completion.

       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. Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

   The service building is to the east of the Petronas Towers and contains the services required to keep the building operational, such as dissipating the heat from the air-conditioning system for all 88 levels in both towers.

      The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world for six years, until Taipei 101 was completed in 2004. The height of the towers is measured to the top of their structural components such as spires, but do not include antennas. Spires are considered actual integral parts of the architectural design of buildings, to which changes would substantially change the appearance and design of the building, whereas antennas may be added or removed without such consequences. The Petronas Towers still remain the tallest twin buildings in the world.

    Spanning 17 acres (6.9 ha) below the building is the KLCC park with jogging and walking paths, a fountain with incorporated light show, wading pools, and a children's playground

   The service building is to the east of the Petronas Towers and contains the services required to keep the building operational, such as dissipating the heat from the air-conditioning system for all 88 levels in both towers.

Eiffel Tower

France's symbol and Paris' chief monument, the Eiffel Tower was built by the architect Gustave Eiffel for the 'World Exposition' in 1889. Nowadays, it is the monument people visit the most worldwide. This 'Lady of Steel' that overhangs the capital from its 324 meters is located at Champ-de-Mars caressing the edge of the Seine, in front of the Trocadero square. To many the Eiffel Tower holds a romantic secret. On the 1st floor of this technical masterwork, which has inspired scores of poets, animations tell the history and milestones for which the Eiffel Tower was the stage. A restaurant and some boutiques await you forsouvenirs shopping. The 2nd floor offers an astonishing panorama along with a gastronomic restaurant. On the 3rd floor you will mix with the clouds and benefit from the wonderful 360º view before visiting Eiffel's private apartment.

The sight of Paris from the tower is magical and more consistent than, but equally as amazing as, in a dream. When the night slips in, the Lady sparks its lights shinning like an illuminated diamond and marking the hours going by. This is an unforgettable show for Paris lovers. Pariscityvision proposes you the best way to experience the Eiffel Tower in Paris: to begin with, an easy access with much reduced waiting time. A two-phase trip : a daily Paris tour paired along with a Seine cruise; and by night, a restaurant dinner, with  the Eiffel Tower as background in a dark thick robe that covers the entire sky except her slim figure.

           Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but the other two, being closer to the river Seine, were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed.The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc. The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces joined by two and a half million rivets.

At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by the end of March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, only one person died thanks to Eiffel's stringent safety precautions and use of movable stagings, guard-rails, and screens.

When built, the first level contained three restaurants (one French, one Russian and one Flemish) and an "Anglo-American Bar". After the exposition closed the Flemish restaurant was converted to a 250 seat theatre. A 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) promenade ran around the outside.

On the third level there were laboratories for various experiments and a small apartment reserved for Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. This is now visible to the public, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.

More than 250 million people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889: in 2012 there were 6,180,000 visitors. The tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world.

Hemisferic Valencia, Spain

The Hemisfèric was inaugurated in 1998 and was the first building in the City of Arts and Sciences to open its doors to the public. It is a spectacular construction designed by Santiago Calatrava, with an ovoid roof over 100 metres long that contains in its interior the large sphere that constitutes the projection room.

  IMAX adventure that invites spectators to explore the spectacular landscapes of Borneo forests and savannah of Kenya to know the work of people who rescue orphaned orangutans and elephants, two endangered species.
   With an ecologist message of the need to preserve species "Born to be Wild" invites spectators on a trip round such spectacular sights as the jungles of Borneo and the savannah of Kenya.
   This grand format IMAX production is based on the stories of orphan elephants and orang-utans in order to show the link that is created between humans and animals, and, how, thanks to the devotion of certain individuals, these animals have been rescued, so saving endangered species.
   These incredible and vulnerable creatures embark on a tour with experts, whose main objective is to save and return to Mother Nature. The distinguished primatologist Biruté Mary Galdikas runs the rain forest of Borneo, while Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick, an expert on elephants, rescue one by one the babies of the giant mammals in Kenya.
   The head of the music of the film is Mark Mothersbaugnh, singer of the rock band Devo that has set more than 70 films and television projects to music. The stunning images captured by Linckley in Born to be wild with a maximum field of view combined with the experience of the director in more than 30 films about nature, result in one of the most incredible experiences of immersion in the cinema. It is also a unique opportunity to reflect on the human impact on nature. This family documentary will transport spectators around the world to Kenya and Borneo being witnesses in the first line of how to take action to save these beautiful creatures on earth.

Hermitage Plaza, Paris

     Hermitage Plaza is an innovative mixed-use project at the entrance of Europe’s biggest central business district - La Defense in Paris, and is situated across the Seine River from the residential district of Neuilly-Paris, which will bring together programs of luxury serviced apartments, a 5-Star palace hotel, class-A offices, high-end retail, and the public and entertainment space. Placed along Paris’ unrivalled historical axis, linking the Louvre Palace, and its crystal pyramid, to the Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arche of La Defense, Hermitage Plaza would have been visible from every corner of the capital.
   Hermitage Plaza is an innovative mixed-use project at the entrance of Europe’s biggest central business district - La Defense in Paris, and is situated across the Seine River from the residential district of Neuilly-Paris, which will bring together programs of luxury serviced apartments, a 5-Star palace hotel, class-A offices, high-end retail, and the public and entertainment space. Placed along Paris’ unrivalled historical axis, linking the Louvre Palace, and its crystal pyramid, to the Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arche of La Defense, Hermitage Plaza would have been visible from every corner of the capital.

The shape of the Hermitage Plaza is divided into two distinct volumes. The genesis of this design is the will to create optimum permeability of the site at ground level whilst maximizing the views from each of the two towers, as well as preserving views from the neighboring buildings. The design incorporates a number of distinguishing features such as:

·         The principal load-bearing columns are up to 8 meters apart, as opposed to the more conventional 6 meters found in contemporary tower structures.

·         An entirely automated pantograph system will be used to open the windows, allowing direct natural air circulation in the rooms, which is a real innovation for skyscrapers.

·         The technical rooms, usually placed on the roof, have been inserted in strategic floors (so that the pool’s underlying structure would not diminish ceiling heights on any inhabitable floors) in order to provide breath-taking terraces and views to the top-floor luxury penthouses.

·         The triple-glazed facade grid framework is 1.75m wide, thus replacing commonly used 1.35m

The buildings face one another at ground level. Open and permeable to encourage people to walk through the site, the towers enclose a public piazza which establishes the social focus. As they rise from an interlocking diamond-shaped plan, the towers turn outward to address views across Paris. The angle of the façade panels promotes self-shading and vents can be opened to draw fresh air inside, contributing to an environmental strategy that targets a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. The highly efficient diagrid structure uses less steel and emphasises the elegant proportions of the towers

   Hermitage Plaza will create a new community to the east of La Défense, in Courbevoie, that extends down to the river Seine with cafés, shops and a public plaza at its heart. The project incorporates two 320-metre-high buildings – the tallest mixed-use towers in Western Europe – which will establish a distinctive symbol for this new urban destination on the Paris skyline.