Dubai Miracle Garden, Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Dubai Miracle Garden is a flower garden located in the district of Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The garden was launched on Valentine's Day in 2013. The garden occupies over 72,000 square metres (780,000 sq ft), making it the world's largest natural flower garden featuring over 50 million flowers and 250 million plants. In April 2015, the garden was awarded the Moselle Award for New Garden Experiences of the year by the Garden Tourism Award 2015.

The concept of the first miracle garden project was formed under an agreement between Dubailand and the Dubai Properties Group destination. The project development was done under an agreement with Akar Landscaping and Agriculture Company, led by Jordanian businessman Abdel Naser Rahhal. The cost of the project was estimated at AED 40 million (US$11 million). Phase one of the project was completed and opened in February 2013 which consisted of 21,000 sq. ft. outdoor facility including vertical and horizontal landscaping design where each of them have their own design. The development of phase one took two months and required 400 workers. Phase two of the project was initiated in mid-June 2013 and was completed in October, where it involved the 70 percent expansion of the 21,000 sq ft and construction of the 850,000 sq ft multistory car park, which increased the total area of the garden to 2 million sq ft. Phase two development also included the addition of the floral clock, the butterfly garden, retail stores and mosques.

 

 

The Dubai Miracle Garden operates from October to April and remains closed from May to September due to high temperatures with an average of 40 °C (104 °F), which is not conducive for flower viewing. The flowers are maintained by re-use of treated wastewater through drip irrigation method with an average amount of 757,082 litres (166,535 imperial gallons; 200,000 US gallons) of water per day. According to the officials of Dubai Miracle Garden, the Dubai municipality retreats the grey water of the city and sends it directly to the garden. The garden again re-filters the water and converts it to a very high quality water for its usage at the garden. The garden is only watered after the closing hours at night. In 2015 Dubai Miracle Garden opened the Dubai Butterfly Garden, the world’s largest and the region’s first indoor butterfly garden and sanctuary for over 15,000 butterflies from 26 species.

As part of a licensing deal between the Dubai Miracle Garden and The Walt Disney Company, a topiary of Mickey Mouse was unveiled in February 2018. Flower structures of Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie were installed later that year. The Dubai Miracle garden has so far made 3 Guinness World Records. In 2013; the Dubai Miracle garden was declared as the world's largest vertical garden. Currently; an Airbus A380 flower structure in the garden is listed by Guinness World Records as the biggest flower structure in the world. The 18 metres (59 ft) topiary of Mickey Mouse, which weighs almost 35 tonnes, is the tallest topiary supported sculpture in the world.

A scene of a Bollywood film Hamari Adhuri Kahani, starring Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan, was shot in the garden. The director, Mohit Suri, stated that though Dubai was generally known for its high-tech buildings and modern landscapes, he wanted to romanticise it and show its softer side.

 

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Santa Cruz del Islote ( The Most Populated Islands On Earth), Bolívar, Colombia

Santa Cruz del Islote is an artificial island located off the coast of Bolívar Department in Colombia. It is a part of the Archipelago of San Bernardo. Its significant population compared with its small size results in its being one of the most densely populated islands on Earth.

The islet of artificial origin was started by locals who used materials such as coral, debris or stones to later gain land to the sea in a part of the coast of low tide, it is believed that this first establishment dates from 1870. Due to its small size some locals would later migrate to neighboring islets such as Tintipán or Mucura. In 2013 a community council was formed by the local inhabitants to discuss local problems. In 2018 the island was affected by the flooding caused by the strong tidal wave, and some houses were affected.

The island has a total area of just above one hectare (12,140.57 m2). It can be accessed by ferry from the port of Tolu. The inhabitants have to use neighboring islands as cemetery and recreation grounds, and they work on the mainland rather than on the island. There is one school, with one teacher. The Mucura Island Hotels are a prime source of work for the residents. In November 2016, with the support of the Universidad del Magdalena and the Universidad de los Andes, a population census was carried out which determined that 485 people inhabited the place.

It has about 493 inhabitants and 65% of the population is under age, there are only 6 surnames and 97 houses. On the island there are some shops, a health post, an educational centre where students can attend up to eleven grades, and currently there are solar cells donated by the Japanese government, which supply the island with energy 24 hours a day. The most spoken language as in the rest of Colombia is Spanish and the majority of the population is Christian, mainly Catholic.

Due to its small size, the territory does not have any kind of autonomy, geographically it is part of the San Bernardo Archipelago in the Department of Bolivar in the north of Colombia, and is occasionally guarded by the Colombian Navy and due to its small size the economic activities are limited to subsistence fishing and the growing tourism attracted by the particularities of the island. It is possible to swim with sharks, rays and fish in a small makeshift pool that functions as an aquarium and to take short walks around the streets of the island. Some notices are in Spanish and English which suggests a recent interest in visiting the place by Colombians and foreigners.

Since there is no space on this one due to overcrowding. Marcela Lizcano, a film director from Bogota, made a documentary called Aislados (Isolated), in which she shows what life on the island is like, its main activities and problems.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Amzing Man Who Only Survived In Atomic Bombings

Tsutomu Yamaguchi (March 16, 1916 – January 4, 2010) was a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 70 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions.

Yamaguchi, a resident of Nagasaki, was in Hiroshima on business for his employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the city was bombed at 8:15 am, on August 6, 1945. He returned to Nagasaki the following day and, despite his wounds, he returned to work on August 9, the day of the second atomic bombing. That morning, whilst being berated by his supervisor as "crazy" after describing how one bomb had destroyed the city, the Nagasaki bomb detonated. In 1957, he was recognized as a hibakusha (explosion-affected person) of the Nagasaki bombing, but it was not until March 24, 2009, that the government of Japan officially recognized his presence in Hiroshima three days earlier. He died of stomach cancer on January 4, 2010, at the age of 93. 

 

 

Yamaguchi was born on March 16, 1916. He joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the 1930s and worked as a draftsman designing oil tankers. Yamaguchi "never thought Japan should start a war". He continued his work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, but soon Japanese industry began to suffer heavily as resources became scarce and tankers were sunk. As the war ground on, he was so despondent over the state of the country that he considered killing hisfamily with an overdose of sleeping pills in the event that Japan lost.

During the Allied occupation of Japan, Yamaguchi worked as a translator for the occupation forces. In the early 1950s, he and his wife, who was also a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing, had two daughters. He later returned to work for Mitsubishi designing oil tankers. When the Japanese government officially recognized atomic bombing survivors as hibakusha in 1957, Yamaguchi's identification stated only that he had been present at Nagasaki. He was content with this, satisfied that he was relatively healthy and put the experiences behind him.

As he grew older, his opinions about the use of atomic weapons began to change. In his eighties, he wrote a book about his experiences, as well as a book of poetry and was invited to take part in a 2006 documentary about 165 double A-bomb survivors (known as nijū hibakusha in Japan) called Twice Survived: The Doubly Atomic Bombed of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was screened at the United Nations. At the screening, he pleaded for the abolition of atomic weapons.

Yamaguchi became a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament. He told an interviewer "The reason that I hate the atomic bomb is because of what it does to the dignity of human beings". Speaking through his daughter during a telephone interview, he said, "I can't understand why the world cannot understand the agony of the nuclear bombs. How can they keep developing these weapons?"On December 22, 2009, Canadian movie director James Cameron and author Charles Pellegrino met Yamaguchi while he was in a hospital in Nagasaki and discussed the idea of making a film about nuclear weapons. "I think it's Cameron's and Pellegrino's destiny to make a film about nuclear weapons", Yamaguchi said.

At first, Yamaguchi did not feel the need to draw attention to his double survivor status. However, in later life he began to consider his survival as destiny, so in January 2009, he applied for double recognition. This was accepted by the Japanese government in March 2009, making Yamaguchi the only person officially recognised as a survivor of both bombings. Speaking of the recognition, he said, "My double radiation exposure is now an official government record. It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die".

Yamaguchi lost hearing in his left ear as a result of the Hiroshima explosion. He also went bald temporarily and his daughter recalls that he was constantly swathed in bandages until she reached the age of 12. Despite this, Yamaguchi went on to lead a healthy life. Late in his life he began to suffer from radiation-related ailments, including cataracts and acute leukemia. His wife also suffered radiation poisoning from black rain after the Nagasaki explosion and died in 2010 (age 93) of kidney and liver cancer. All three of their children reported suffering from health problems they blamed on their parents' exposures, but studies suggest that in general the children of atomic bomb survivors do not have a higher incidence of disease.

In 2009, Yamaguchi learned that he was dying of stomach cancer. He died on January 4, 2010, in Nagasaki at the age of 93

Bigar Waterfall, Caraș-Severin County, Romania.

Bigar Waterfall is a protected area (nature reserve IUCN category IV) situated in the administrative territory of Bozovici, in Caraș-Severin County in southwestern Romania. Located at the south-west limit of the country, in the south of the Anina Mountains (a group of mountains included in the Banat Mountains), in Caraș-Severin County, on the upper Anina River, in the Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park.

Bigar Waterfall with an area of 175.60 ha was declared a natural protected area by the Law Number.5 of March 6, 2000. Bigar Waterfall is one of the most unusual waterfalls in the world and one of the most beautiful in Romania. According to The World Geography, there are a number of facts that place her as number one on the list of eight unique waterfalls around the world due to the way the water spreads and falls in tiny shreds of water, and also the fact that it is located exactly on the 45th parallel north, at the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole.

Though it doesn't impress by size or flow, what sets this waterfall apart from others is its peculiar shape - resembling a mushroom tip or a princess' gown - and location; a moss covered extension of a cliff over a small river (Miniş). All these features combined, which directly influence the way water spreads and flows into the river below.

Like many other natural attractions in Romania, Bigar Waterfall has its own legend, this time of a girl in love, locked by her parents in the small cave close to the falls. Desperately wanting to be with a boy named Bigar, the girl could only do that after she was transformed into a waterfall and the boy drowned in its waters.

The visit of the Biaăr waterfall during winter, if it snows, the waterfall forms a row of icicles around the moss mound, giving it the appearance of a crystal palace - hence the name of the waterfall's avatar, ‘the princess’. 

Bosco Verticale (The Vertical Forest towers), Porta Nuova, Milan, Italy

Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a pair of residential towers in the Porta Nuova district of Milan, Italy, between Via Gaetano de Castillia and Via Federico Confalonieri near Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station. They have a height of 111 metres (364 ft) and 76 metres (249 ft) and contain more than 900 trees (approximately 550 and 350 in the first and second towers, respectively) on 8,900 square metres (96,000 sq ft) of terraces. Within the complex is an 11-storey office building; its facade does not include plants.

The towers were designed by Boeri Studio (Stefano Boeri,Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra). It also involved input from horticulturalists and botanists. The building was inaugurated in October 2014.

The project was designed as part of the rehabilitation of the historic district of Milan between Via De Castillia and Confalonieri in Porta Nuova, which is known to be the richest business district in Europe. Bosco Verticale is one of the biggest European redevelopment projects, consisting of two residential towers of which the largest is 26 floors and 110 metres high (called Torre E) and the smaller tower is 18 floors and 76 metres high (called Torre D). It contains 400 condominium units priced from 3,000–12,000 Euro per square metre.

According to Stefano Boeri, the building was inspired by Italo Calvino's 1957 novel The Baron in the Trees, in which the protagonist decides to abandon the ground and live on the trees for the rest of his life. The project was named Bosco Verticale, or in English "Vertical Forest", because each tower houses 900 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 perennial plants, which help mitigate smog and produce oxygen. These tree-packed high rises help cities built for density, adding more housing and infrastructure, while improving the air quality. Trees and plants are the most efficient and cost effective way to absorb carbon dioxide. The 20,000 trees and perennial plants in the buildings will convert approximately 44,000 pounds of carbon each year. With more than 90 species, the buildings' biodiversity is expected to attract new bird and insect species to the city. It is also used to moderate temperatures in the building in the winter and summer, by shading the interiors from the sun and blocking harsh winds. The vegetation also protects the interior spaces from noise pollution and dust from street-level traffic.

The building itself is self-sufficient by using renewable energy from solar panels and filtered waste water to sustain the buildings' plant life. These green technology systems reduce the overall waste and carbon footprint of the towers. Lead designer Stefano Boeri stated, “It’s very important to completely change how these new cities are developing. Urban forestation is one of the biggest issues for me in that context. That means parks, it means gardens, but it also means having buildings with trees.”

The design was tested in a wind tunnel to ensure the trees would not topple from gusts of wind. Botanists and horticulturalists were consulted by the engineering team to ensure that the structure could bear the load imposed by the plants. The steel-reinforced concrete balconies are designed to be 28 cm thick, with 1.30 metre parapets. Bosco Verticale is the first model of urban densification of nature in a city and Boeri plans to build similar structures in Switzerland, the Netherlands (one is already under construction in Utrecht), and multiple cities in China.

The construction of the towers began in late 2009 and early 2010, involving 6,000 onsite construction workers. Between mid-2010 and early 2011 construction progressed very slowly and the towers rose by only five floors while the core rose to the seventh floor. Construction progressed throughout 2011, and by the beginning of 2012 the structures were completed, and construction of the facades and installation of the plants began on June 13, 2012. The building was inaugurated in October 2014.

On 11 April 2012, one of the buildings was used as a temporary art gallery and opened to the public for an art exhibition hosted during Milan Fashion Week. The two buildings have 730 trees (480 large, 250 small), 5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 perennials and ground cover on its façades. The original design had specified 1,280 tall plants and 920 short plants encompassing 50 species. Overall, the vegetation is the equivalent of that found in a one hectare wood. The innovative use of heat-pump technology is helping to reduce heating and cooling costs

On 19 November 2014, Bosco Verticale won the International Highrise Award, a prestigious international competition held every two years to honour excellence in recently constructed buildings that stand a minimum of 100 metres (328 feet) tall. The five finalists were selected from 26 nominees in 17 countries. On 12 November 2015, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Awards Jury selected Bosco Verticale as the overall “2015 Best Tall Building Worldwide” at the 14th Annual CTBUH International Best Tall Building Awards Symposium, Ceremony & Dinner, celebrated at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.