Inside a Temple in Myanmar

At the End of an Archway in a Mandalay Temple

More Views of the Arches . . . . . . . . . Photo Taken by Sister in Law – Jennie 3

More Views of the Arches . . . . . . . . . Photo Taken by Sister in Law – Jennie 2

More Views of the Arches . . . . . . . . . Photo Taken by Sister in Law – Jennie 1

Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame ( Dubrovnik 4 )

This week’s photo challenge is Frame.

Many of my pictures taken in Dubrovnik are framed.

There are many picturesque views you see through small windows while walking the Dubrovnik seawalls or through arches of medieval buildings.

As some of the architectural arches appear to frame the subject very well too.

These pictures were captured while walking the streets or sea walls of Dubrovnik.

It looks as if the old town and the sea was reviewed frame by frame.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curved (Bridges)

This week’s DP photo challenge is Curve.

Those who have been following me know that I am a fan of bridges; I  like them as they connect one place to another, overcoming obstacles like river, sea, rivers, gorges etc.

They improve connectivity which we all need.

In the early part of my career, I have been designing and project engineering  some bridges which still stand today, after 40 years of their design and over three decades  of their construction.

This post is about curve bridges; in fact, they are mostly masonry bridges.

In early part of the human history, we have discovered that if we arrange the masonry or stones in the shape of arches, the resulting structure will be put into compression for which stones have a lot of compressive strength.

The stone or masonry of course will need to be cemented together so that there will be a smooth flow of compression in the arches. Human beings have been very clever in erecting curved spans over torrential waters etc..

Many of the bridges were built on this principle and quite a lot of them have lasted for hundreds of years.

Here I will first showcase some of the arch bridges built in the West, the first two examples were taken in Spain, namely, Seville and also Toledo.

The third one is a medieval bridge near France in the area known as Cahorrea.

The fourth one was taken in Central Park, NYC.

The fifth one was taken in Switzerland, this is a contemporary structure with vertical memebers transferring loads from the highway onto a concrete arch. 

The rest of the bridges are built in the East.

The one with three curved spans over a river, looking like three contagious ribbons were taken in Shinkoku, Japan.

This is followed by a three span masonry bridge in the West Lake China, creating an attractive reflection in the West Lake waters.

The last one with the red Autumn foliage was captured in South Korea.

I could go on and on, citing more examples – if I can get hold of my old pictures.

For the time being, please enjoy 🙂

 

 

The Streets and Alleys of Baltic (13)

I will be doing a series on streets and alleys of the Baltic countries.

I have been to all the Baltic capitals which includes visiting of some of the UNESCO Heritage sites like Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn etc.

What I found most interesting are the alleys and the streets which all have their own characteristics.

I am not able to tell you exactly where those alleys and streets are; in my simple mind, they are my memorable parts of the Baltic.

I like the cobblestones, the quaint street, the colored walls on both sides of the alleys, the cafes along or encroached onto the roads, the crude masonry wall facing and last, but not the least, the friendly people.

They leave an undeletable part in my memory!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Circle ( Blue Mosque)

The Blue Mosque and other similar construction have made use of domes/ arches spanning in different directions creating a huge space below for the congregation of worshipers.

This is quite unlike the churches in Europe where cathedrals usually adopted narrow and steep arches limiting the space below.

The Blue mosque thus show multiple circles on the roof which are really awesome.

In the first picture, I have attempted to give it a blue tone – so in my imagination, it is literally a blue mosques.

I have also uploaded the original picture for comparison.

Travel Theme: Arches

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The theme for this week’s Travel Theme is Arches.

I like arches. Structurally, they are a very efficient of supporting weight from above, without causing tension in the elements.

Architecturally, they look pleasing too.

I have posts here showing the arches at Blue Mosque in Turkey, recently, I also showed some beautiful arches at the Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain – they are very Moorish but look strikingly beautiful.

The arches shown here are from a building in Geneve, Switzerland.

Accidentally, I wandered into this building and was fascinated by the arches supporting the roof. The arches do not just span orthogonally but also diagonally, presenting a very interesting pattern.

From the outside the building is interesting too. It has multiple arches and there are also ramps going up at a slant.

All these make for an interesting structure!