181 Miller Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia. Ezzy Architects

Abstract photography

Innovation Place, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

Commonwealth Centre, Parramatta, NSW, Australia

University of Technology Sydney

UTS Development, Sydney, Australia – design by Denton Corker Marshall –

Architectural Photography by Roberto Portolese

HASSELL is a leading international design practice with studios in Australia, China, South East Asia and the United Kingdom.

one40william is one of Perth’s most significant and influential projects, setting a benchmark in environmentally sustainable design and bringing new life to the city’s retail centre.

The project revitalises a landmark CBD site, integrating 36,000 square metres of commercial office space and 6,000 square metres of retail, food and entertainment tenancies.

Located directly above Perth underground railway station, the site context is unusual in that it includes historic building fabric, major street frontages and a pedestrian mall. The design celebrates heritage, promotes new linkages between workplace, retail and public transportation and creates a positive shared civic space.

A thorough investigation of the site resulted in a built form that is confidently modern while responding to the surrounding buildings in scale, proportion and streetscape.

Based on progressive responses to workplace design, public realm, climate and existing conditions, the building has been designed from the inside out and strives to engage people who work within, visit and simply pass by.

Both celebrating and mitigating Perth’s specific microclimate, the building takes best advantage of light and shade. Its orientation allows maximum daylight penetration into the work environment and incorporates extensive landscaped rooftop spaces and winter gardens.

The iconic building sets new standards for tenant comfort and corporate social responsibility. It is the largest building in Western Australia to gain a 5 Star Green Star Office Design rating and is targeting a 5 Star Green Star Office As-Built rating.

(Words from Hassell Architects website)

Photography Roberto Portolese

Photographing colour in architecture

Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand, 2016

Just back from my Oceania trip, my last stop: Beautiful Auckland!

Photo taken in Newcastle, NSW, Australia, by Roberto Portolese, 2016

On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 40–50 times a second or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year^[1] and the average duration is 0.2 seconds made up from a number of much shorter flashes (strokes) of around 30 microseconds.^[2]

Many factors affect the frequency, distribution, strength and physical properties of a “typical” lightning flash in a particular region of the world. These factors include ground elevation, latitude, prevailing wind currents, relative humidity, proximity to warm and cold bodies of water, etc. To a certain degree, the ratio between IC, CC and CG lightning may also vary by season in middle latitudes. Because human beings are terrestrial and most of their possessions are on the Earth, where lightning can damage or destroy them, CG lightning is the most studied and best understood of the three types, even though IC and CC are more common types of lightning. Lightning’s relative unpredictability limits a complete explanation of how or why it occurs, even after hundreds of years of scientific investigation.

A typical cloud to ground lightning flash culminates in the formation of an electrically conducting plasma channel through the air in excess of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) tall, from within the cloud to the ground’s surface. The actual discharge is the final stage of a very complex process.^[3] At its peak, a typical thunderstorm produces three or more strikes to the Earth per minute.^[4] Lightning primarily occurs when warm air is mixed with colder air masses, resulting in atmospheric disturbances necessary for polarizing the atmosphere.^{[citation needed]} However, it can also occur during dust storms, forest fires, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and even in the cold of winter, where the lightning is known as thundersnow.^[5][6] Hurricanes typically generate some lightning, mainly in the rainbands as much as 160 kilometres (99 mi) from the center.^[7][8][9]

The science of lightning is called fulminology, and the fear of lightning is called astraphobia.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning