Thames Barrier – Holding Back the Sea

Darrington, United States. The town of Concrete in the foothills of the northern Cascades once housed the largest concrete plants in the state. Nearly half of the concrete for the Grand Coulee Dam (the largest concrete structure in the world) came from here, as well as material for other Washington dam projects. The last plant closed in 1968, and monumental remnants of the industry can be found in town, and in the woods on the edges of town.

Burning Man is an annual carnival of creativity that takes place on the playa of the Black Rock Desert, in northwest Nevada. It typically attracts 60,000 people, and is considered by many to be the biggest and best party in the world. Participants pay a few hundred dollars admission, and spend a number of days immersed in the spectacle, full of music, performances, continuous raves, and spontaneous events. Burning Man compels a staggering amount of creative production, including temporary sculptures as large as buildings, and culminates in a wicker-man-like conflagration on the last day. After the event, all of the structures and infrastructures of the temporary city, briefly the third largest community in Nevada, disappear. Some of the material is stored in rows of shipping containers at a ranch nearby, and much returns to the San Francisco Bay area, where the majority of the organizers and participants come from.

Inyokern, United States. This 2,000-foot long tunnel, approximately seven feet in diameter, was chiseled through a mountain by William Henry "Burro"  Schmidt with hand tools and explosives. Begun in 1906 as a means of transporting ore from his mine to the processing site, Schmidt devoted the following 32 years of his life to digging the tunnel, apparently losing interest in his mining enterprise, until he broke through the mountainside on the other end.

Camdenton, United States. A tourist cave with a wedding theme. Thousands of couples have taken their vows in the natural chapel within this cave.

Branson, United States. This resort city in the Ozarks calls itself "The Live Music Show Capital of the World." This city contains over 30 live performance theaters playing an average of 60 stage shows at any given time. While Branson is traditionally known for its country western music performances it currently features a wide array of family oriented entertainment including musical variety, dance, comedy and magic.

Braddock, United States. Braddock, Pennsylvania is a deflated old steel town which became known for a recent and unusual redevelopment effort. From a peak population of 18,000 after World War II, there are now just over 2,000 residents. In 2005, a new young mayor, John Fetterman, was elected and promoted the town’s dystopic qualities as an asset. His highly publicized ideas for the town include urban farming, and free loft space to artists. A few post-urban homesteaders have moved to town, including artists from Brooklyn, New York. Community gardens and bread ovens are cropping up, next to the looming Edgar Thompson steel works, still operating at a large scale.

London, United Kingdom. Holding the North Sea at bay to protect London from flooding, the Thames Barrier is an extraordinary feat of engineering. It is also constantly under threat, in a world where time and tide are slowly, inexorably, winning. How long can it hold? Nobody knows.

London, United Kingdom. Standing at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, this short audio viewpoint explores the line from which global time and longitude are measured. It explains how and why this point was fixed here, and considers how Britain’s drive to measure the world continues to shape how we locate ourselves within it.

The Hague, The Netherlands. O Portão dos Prisioneiros, aqui em Haia, foi usada de 1420 até 1828 para abrigar pessoas que haviam cometido crimes graves enquanto aguardavam a sentença. Desde então, já foi sede de um clube literário, de um museu e de uma galeria de arte. É também o local onde, a única vez na história mundial, um primeiro-ministro foi comido pelo seu próprio povo.

The Hague, The Netherlands. De Gevangenenpoort, hier in Den Haag, werd van 1420 tot 1828 gebruikt om mensen op te sluiten die ernstige misdrijven hadden gepleegd terwijl zij op hun vonnis wachtten. Vervolgens heeft het gebouw onderdak geboden aan een literaire club, een museum, en een kunstgalerie. Het is ook de plek waar, de enige keer in de wereldgeschiedenis, een minister-president door zijn eigen volk werd opgegeten.