Louis H. Sullivan, a designer of some of the most prominent and enduring structures in America, once stated "(It) must be tall, every inch of it tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."

Ever looked up at a building in downtown and said to yourself, "Wow, that's tall"?

Have you ever imagined how people just 200 hundred years ago were astonished when they saw a building that was just 5 stories tall?

But has it ever crossed your mind that in 1931, all 102 floors of the Empire State Building were completed in 1 year and 45 days, or 7 million man hours? Yet 77 years later, with the advent of the computer age, and advances in building materials, and Computer Aided Design(CAD), the Empire State Building still holds the world record for being built that high in that short a time frame. Even more astonishing, is that today, almost 80 years later, the Empire State Building is still one of the 10 tallest completed buildings in the world.

What happened? Where were all the architects and engineers in the last 80 years? Building houses? Garages? Furniture?

No, for the past 3 generations they were placing their creative minds into designing cars, aircraft, military weapons, and sending people to the moon.

But now they're back, and they're in force. With projects such as the 'Freedom Tower' in New York City and the "Al Burj' and "Burj Dubai' in the United Arab Emirates it seems as though the world's engineers just might be ushering in a second Golden Age of construction. From Asia, to the Middle East, to Europe, to the heartland of America, our generation is watching an explosion in the creation of super-tall skyscrapers.

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So what's next on the list of, 'Things to build'?

Stick around, and over the next few days Creagination will be taking a look at some of the world's most prominent construction projects. We'll also take a glimpse into the visions and dreams of men, companies, and entire nations. It'll be something that you definitely don't want to miss.

Google Mail, Google Video, Google Images, and now... Google Magazines. In a stunningly creative move for the power of the written word, Google officially announced today that Google Books will now include magazine searches.

Obviously, obscure magazines won't be included from the start, but the goal is to include all periodicals from all time. One example of this is "Popular Science". All issues of "Popular Science" are available in some format starting from May 1872 to February 2008 (March - December of this year are presumed to become available in the near future).

One can only imagine the power of archival search this will provide for students, artist, historian, and even the general public.

From May 4-7, 2006 Artichoke Productions showcased more of it's brilliant creativity in the showstopping display of street theater, "The Sultan's Elephant". The show blessed London with an artful arrangement of imagination, excitement, and wonder.





Bloomberg News had the following to say about the production before it arrived in England in 2006:

An elephant more than twice as tall as a double-decker bus will parade through Piccadilly Circus and London's streets and squares during a four-day visit next month.

The 40-foot (12-meter) pachyderm isn't an escapee from the London Zoo. It's a wood-and-metal puppet that's part of ``The Sultan's Elephant,'' a jumbo piece of free street theater.

The 42-metric-ton model will appear in historical venues such as Horse Guards Parade and Trafalgar Square. As the story progresses, traffic will be stopped and roads closed as the beast trumpets its presence and plods through the streets.

Read the complete article.

"The Sultan's Elephant" was made in conjunction with the Royal De Luxe theater company.

This last September, La Machine hit the streets of Liverpool. Enlivening discussion, stimulating the creative juices of the public, and generally building community awareness of the arts, La Machine acted as a brilliant tool for the active imagination.













Extracted from the La Machine website.

La Machine has come and gone…

Thousands of delighted onlookers lined the streets of Liverpool, waiting to greet the fifty-foot high spider dubbed ‘La Princesse’ by her creators, French theatrical engineers La Machine. Vast in scale and spectacular in execution, this breathtaking new commission was undoubtedly a highlight of the City’s European Capital of Culture celebrations in September 2008.

From the moment when astonished commuters discovered the giant arachnid clinging to a building next to the railway station, to the spectacular finale five days later, the creature stopped the city in its tracks and captured the hearts of Liverpudlians and visitors alike. Will she ever return?

La Macine comes from the creative brain of Artichoke Productions