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The seven wonders of the modern world. a. Hmm… The seven wonders of the world?.
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a. Hmm…The seven wonders of the world? • Well, if we put our mind to work, we usually imagine the seven most spectacular, the seven most breathtaking man-made structures of the ancient world, such as the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. • But, what about nowadays? Have you ever asked yourself whether there are any remarkable and impressive buildings that could compete them, so shall we call them the seven wonders of the modern world?
Since the 19th century there have been for sure, several architectural achievements that can be considered as the Seven Wonders of the modern world for their magnificence and superb architecture as well. • Let’s see some of them, from last to first.
7. SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE • This unusual modern building is one of the most famous attractions of Australia. • Built in the oldest and largest city of the country, in front of a large natural harbor. • The sea surrounds it on three sides, while the roofs were designed specifically to remind giant sailing ship sails.
6. THE CAMP NOU STADIUM • The Camp Nou, “new stadium” in catalanan, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain and the home of Football Club Barcelona. • Built in 1957 it is the largest stadium in Europe with 103, 000 seats and the eleventh in the world in capacity. • There have been held many international matches, including two UEFA Champions League finals and the football competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
5. THE ISTANA NURUL IMAN • The Istana Nurul Iman palace, which can be translated as the “Palace of the Light of Faith”, is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei and the seat of the Brunei government, in Borneo, Southeast Asia. It has been the largest residential palace in the world and the largest single family residence ever built. • It has 200,000 m2 of floor space and it includes 1,788 rooms.
4. THE SOLAR WATERFALL IN RIO DE JANEIRO • Swiss architectural and design firm Rafaa has proposed building a 345-foot solar tower and urban waterfall that will provide power to the city of Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic Games in 2016. • The solar city tower project consists of a massive power plant that will generate energy for the Olympic village in Rio. Excess energy from the solar panels will be pumped as seawater into the tower. At night, the seawater can be released to run a turbine and generate electricity. • The water also can be released during special occasions to create the urban waterfall.
3. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING • The Empire State Building is a 103-story skyscraper located in Manhattan, New York City. • It is a building of 443.2 m high. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. • It had been the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years, from its completion in early 1931 until the topping out of the World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970.
2. THESEAGAIA OCEAN DOME • It was one of the world's largest Polynesia-themed indoor waterpark, located in Miyazaki, Japan. • It opened in 1993 and its Ocean Dome with 300 metres in length and 100 metres in width was listed on the Guinness World Records.
1. THE KANSAI AIRPORT • The Kansai International Airport, the Bay of Osaka, Japan, was the first offshore airport in the world, completed in 1994. • The spectacular this airport has one terminal futuristic steel and glass and built up to an artificial island. The terminal building has a length of 1.7 km and it consists the longest building in the world. • For the construction of the artificial island airport engineers used the most modern means of technology.
b. THE NEW LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIAWONDER OR NOT A WONDER? • Some people believe that the New Library of Alexandria is a wonder of the modern world. • Some of our team’s members agree to this idea, as it was “designed in such a manner as to witness the deep roots of Egyptian civilization”, and reminding the Egyptian sun that emerges from the sea. The library can hold over one and a half million books and has areas to accommodate a great number of visitors, also possesses the best digital and computerized tools available in modern libraries at present and houses several complementary institutions.
In fact the whole design describes the heritage of the past and a cultural revival glamour that reaches the most distant corners of the world.
although… • There are other team’ s members too, that do not think the Library of the Alexandria belongs to the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, because it was a famous building in the ancient years but after it got burned and rebuilt, it did not have as many treasures as the old one. Characterizing this library as an attempt to revive the old library of Alexandria. • All in all, our team believes both that the new library of Alexandria is and isn’t a Wonder of the Modern World.