Nukes, kids and the Cold War: In conversation with the creator of Nukemap3D

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Nukemap3D produces virtual mushroom clouds

Feeling cheerful? Why not remedy that by going online and seeing what would happen if someone dropped an H-bomb on your hometown? The browser-based Nukemap3D uses a Google Earth plug in to produce a 3D graphic of the effects of a nuclear weapon on your city of choice. All you have to do is pick your target, select your favorite thermonuclear device, and you can see an animated mushroom cloud rising over ground zero. Gizmag caught up with the creator, Dr. Alex Wellerstein, to talk about Nukemap3D.
Wellerstein is Associate Historian at the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics in College Park, Maryland, and specializes in the history of nuclear weapons and nuclear secrecy. He has taught courses in his specialty at Harvard and studies the question of secrecy in the story of nuclear weapons. In a telephone interview, he gave us the lowdown on Nukemap3D. Where did the idea for Nukemap come from?
Nukemap came out of my experience of trying to teach about [the history of nuclear weapons] to undergraduates, who completely missed the Cold War and aren't thinking about nuclear weapons at all and don’t have much cultural association with them.
So the Cold War and Hiroshima were all ancient history for them?
It was really ancient history. I’m not a very old person myself. I’m in my early thirties and I have memories of the Berlin Wall coming down. My wife is a high school teacher and she’s actually had students say “oh, my God, you were alive during the Cold War!” like it was somebody saying that they fought in World War One. So, one of the difficulties of teaching the subject is getting the students to take things seriously because a lot of the concerns of the 1960s or even the '80s were very remote and very unrealistic and not something they can easily relate to. They ask, “why were people afraid of Communism?” My question was, “how can I make that fresh for somebody, so they can relate it to the big issues of the present and the issues of the past.

Taichung Cultural Center proposal calls for 1,620 recycled shipping containers

LOT-EK's proposal calls for the use of 1,620 recycled shipping containers as a building material

New York-based architectural company LOT-EK has unveiled its proposal for the Taiwan Taichung City Cultural Center. The concept comprises a public library and fine arts museum, both of which feature sustainable tech in the form of solar panels, water recycling, and green roofs. The project is to be constructed using 1,620 recycled shipping containers as a primary building material.

Cruise terminal replaces Hong Kong's legendary Kai Tak Airport

Berthing area for the terminal

Flying into Hong Kong was once an aerial adventure as gigantic passenger planes made alarmingly steep descents over the harbor and then low over crowded high rises to runway 13. Those adrenalin-filled landings ended when the new Hong Kong International Airport to the west opened in 1998, however, the site of those dramatic flights has now been repurposed as the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. It was formally opened on June 12 as the Commissioner for Tourism, Mr Philip Yung, welcomed the inaugural berthing of the cruise ship Mariner of the Seas.

Exbury Egg: The floating off-grid workspace and home

Exbury Egg is a floating off-grid workspace and home, installed on the shore of the Beaulieu River, UK. It was conceived by artist Stephen Turner, and created with the help of both Perring Architecture and Design, and SPUD design studio. The egg-shaped structure will support Turner for a year as he carries out observations on the local environment and produces his works of art.

Exbury Egg is located on the shore of Beaulieu River

The shape of Exbury Egg was inspired by the nesting seabirds local to the Beaulieu River, and during the year in which it will be used as Turner's base, its exterior will weather and visually attest to its contact with the tides, wildlife, rain, and sun.

Prahran Hotel's facade is made from huge concrete pipes

The newly renovated Prahran Hotel, located in Melbourne, Australia, must not be confused with the Tube Hotel in Mexico. Though they both share the use of gigantic concrete pipes in their architecture, the Prahran Hotel is not actually a hotel but a pub. And if you’re asking yourself why it’s called a hotel, well, that’s just the Aussie term for pub.

The newly renovated Prahran Hotel features the clever use of recycled concrete pipes

Local architectural studio Techne was asked to rethink the facade and concept design of the pub’s adjoining premises. The project involved the demolition of the old additions, in favor of a dramatic double-story building with a central courtyard.

In pictures: Royal Institute of British Architects 2013 Awards winners

The Olympic Park Masterplan by Allies and Morrison

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced this year's winners of its annual National Awards and EU Awards. The competitions offer an excellent opportunity to look at some of Europe's most interesting new architecture. This year's UK winners include a variety of building types, and most of the country is well-represented (except Wales, which didn't snag a single win). A chapel in a back garden in Edinburgh, a visitor museum in Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway, and a commercial building on London's Regent Street all attest to the range of buildings which took the judge's fancy. However, educational facilities were the big winners this year, with a full third of the winners dedicated to learning.