Thursday, July 29, 2010

The 'Mosque' on the Havelbucht

Until the early 1840s, the fountains on Sanssouci Park couldn't receive water from the reservoir Frederick II designated for them. In 1942 an engine built by businessman August Borsig (the original owner of the Palais Borsig in Berlin) was used to rise the water on the Great Fountain to a height of ca. 38 m. The then Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, ordered the construction of this pumping station. Built by architect Ludwig Persius, the "Pumpenhaus" was designed with the shape of a Turquish mosque.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Two days ago Google uploaded this video showing Stuttgart and Berlin, the capital cities of Baden-Würtenberg and Berlin/Germany respectively, in 3D. There you can see some of my models, like the Staatsoper, St. Hedwig's, the Kanzleramt, Zeughaus, Gendarmenmarkt (excepting the French Cathedral), Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten, etc. Along wih them, there are more very good models like the Reichstag, "Kommode" and Branderburger Tor by Emperor Heer, Kongresshale by Michael Riese, and JWagner's Tempelhof Airport.



Also, and although I personally dislike BM models, I must say that I have seen excellent online-modeled buildings. Some examples are the Hotel am Hauptbahnhof, the North Korean Embassy on Kaiserhofstrasse, Schinkel's Bauakademie and the Bahnhof am Alexanderplatz.