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Weekly Gem #152 Hovering, covering, architecture

2/24/2018

Location: This architectural gem is located just east of Grange Park in Toronto, Canada (see the Clue Me! Map). No room for horizontal expansion? Build vertically. Can't expand vertically without blocking the view? Then, let's pencil in a "table" over an existing building and voilá ... expansion complete and all views retained!

The Sharp Centre for Design needed a bigger campus, but the neighbors were rightly concerned that any new building would block their views of the lovely Grange Park.

The architect, Will Alsop came up with the idea of a 'floating' building, hanging in the air above the existing building and the neighbors' sight lines. He wrapped the building in corrugated metal and painted it white with black "pixels" that add texture while camouflaging the windows and making the two floors seem to blend together.

The red cantilevered structure provides support to the building. It also houses a stairway that connects to the building below.

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Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue
Don't look now but somebody is using big pencils as table legs!

Description
The Sharp Centre for Design

Why It's Interesting
The unique pixelated building is supported by pencils. The pencils or "table legs" are steel columns manufactured in Pennsylvania, originally designed for use as oil pipelines.

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Weekly Gem #151 A gateway to (meditative) paradise

2/17/2018

Location: This hidden gem is the entrance (and exit) to the grounds of the Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan (see the Clue Me! Map). It's also a hidden gem that thousands of people "miss" every day because they're going somewhere else. We'll explain how to make this gateway to paradise a very nice moment during a visit to Kyoto.

In Weekly Gem #150, we told you about Bodhisattva Avalokiteshwara and the awe-inspiring Ryozen Kannon shrine ... and how Bodhisattva Avalokiteshwarhas sacrificed her own transition to enlightenment to share her mercy and compassion with all people. A ten minute walk southeast of Ryozen Kannon brings you to Kiyomizu-dera temple, which is dedicated to the Kannon, and has a Hon Do (the main hall) that is world famous and incredibly impressive.

This isn't about Hon Do, it is about Sai-Mon, the west gate, and how to optimize your visit. It makes sense to see these sites on the same day. The important part is to visit Kiyomizu-dera as the last thing before sundown, on a clear day so you can watch the sun set, and you need to arrive at this gate shortly before sunset.

It's all about "Nissokan," meditation on the setting sun. No special knowledge or skill or even experience meditating is required! You simply enter this gate on your way out of the temple, and visualize the Paradise of the Pure Land in the glowing sky as the sun sets ... by doing so, you'll feel an infusion of the compassion and mercy of the Kannon. Now, as you leave the temple behind, you still carry the feelings of compassion and mercy into your daily life and share them widely.

It sounds like a good way to end a day.

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Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue
Approaching a gateway to paradise

Description
The West Gate of Kiyomizu-dera temple

Why It's Interesting
While this location may be seen by tourists as a pretty building on the way to the Kiyomizu-dera temple, this West Gate (Sai-Mon) is a special place in its own right. Having a beautiful view of the sunset, this temple is a 'gateway to paradise.' Nissokan is a simple Buddhist meditation method. By gazing at the setting sun and visualizing the Paradise of the Pure Land in the glowing sky, you can feel the teachings of Kannon (the goddess of mercy).

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Weekly Gem #150 Looking upon everyone with compassion

2/10/2018

Location: This hidden gem is in the Ryozen Kannon Shrine in Kyoto, Japan (see the Clue Me! Map). She may look like a Buddha, but isn't quite. She's a Bodhisattva Avalokiteshwara, a person who has nearly become a Buddha. But she has sacrificed her own transition to enlightenment in order to share her mercy and compassion with all people.

Her compassion is very appropriate and necessary in this case, as she resides in this shrine that includes a memorial to all soldiers of all countries who died in WW II. But her gaze and her influence extend far beyond this shrine ... it is taught that anyone who provides compassion and assistance to others, any time and any place, is helping the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshwara achieve her goals of spreading compassion to all people at all times. While this may seem like a difficult goal to accomplish, she has a simple answer. All it takes is for each person to help when help is needed, and suddenly the world has changed ...

We suggest you visit her mid afternoon, when the lighting on her and the mountain backdrop makes for a glorious view. And you'll still have time to visit a nearby location, which you'll want to leave by sunset ... stay tuned.

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Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue
Mercy!

Description
The statue of the goddess of mercy at Ryozen Kannon

Why It's Interesting
While it may seem ancient, especially since there are so many temples and statues nearby that are hundreds of years old, this one has only been around for a few decades. It was built in 1955 as a memorial to all soldiers who died in World War II.

Sponsor
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Weekly Gem #149 Let’s cross that bridge since we’ve come to it

2/3/2018

Location: This hidden gem is a bridge over the River Cam (I guess you could call it a Cam bridge), located in Queens College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England (see the Clue Me! Map).

It is a rather famous bridge, and the subject of many tall tales. Did you know, it was built by none other than Isaac Newton right after the apple fell on his head? Astoundingly, he didn’t use nails, bolts, or any other fasteners, because after he discovered gravity, it became clear that careful positioning of the wooden beams would suffice to hold everything in place. That’s the tall tale anyway ... the 'minor' flaws were that Newton had died before the bridge was built, no apple fell on his melon, gravity has always existed, and fasteners were most definitely used! For what it’s worth, Newton did attend the University of Cambridge.

Although the bridge is held together by more than just gravity, its nickname (the “Mathematical Bridge”) is well deserved. The designers used something called ‘tangent and radial trussing.’ Note how the beams are mostly horizontal, forming what looks like an arch, but with every beam being perfectly straight. Here’s the weird part. If you stand on the bridge, your weight isn’t pressing ‘downward’, but is redirected entirely along the length of the beams. In that way, every beam is being pulled or pushed lengthwise so that the strength of the wood is utilized to its fullest, and no beam is being bent.

I tried to do the math, but instead “punted!”

.........
Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue
If you tell a story here you'll probably go off on some tangent.

Description
Wooden Bridge a.k.a. Mathematical Bridge

Why It's Interesting
This bridge looks like it is an arched bridge, but there are no arches present! It is made only from straight timbers. And just so you know: Although Isaac Newton is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge, he had nothing to do with the construction of this or the original version of this bridge.

Sponsor
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Weekly Gem #152 Hovering, covering, architecture

Weekly Gem #151 A gateway to (meditative) paradise

Weekly Gem #150 Looking upon everyone with compassion

Weekly Gem #149 Let’s cross that bridge since we’ve come to it

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