Monday, December 8, 2008

Amazing cansruction !!!!!

Amazing cansruction !!!!!

Canstruction® is the most unique food charity in the world!  

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction® is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food.  

The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.  

Since its inception, ten million pounds of food has been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. Initiated by the Denver, Seattle and New York Chapters of the SDA in 1992/93, Canstruction® now has over one hundred individual competitions scheduled to take place during the 2007-2008 cycle.  

Design and Construction Industry professional associations that have partnered with the SDA in organizing local competitions include the American Institute of Architects, the Society for Marketing Professional Services and the International Interior Design Association.  

Locate a competition near you by clicking on our Participating Cities link.  

We invite you to tour the website to see how you can become part of this exciting competition to aid in the fight against hunger. 
















The world most expensive pen!!!!

The world most expensive pen!!!!

1.  Mystery Masterpiece:World’s Most Expensive Pen

It is the world’s most expensive pen. The luxury houses of Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc are the proud makers of this breathtaking writing instrument named the Mystery Masterpiece, which was launched on the February 2006 as a part of their centenary celebrations.

It has an amazing body made of white gold, adorned with rubies, sapphires, or emeralds and accented by diamonds. All three types are amazing and only three of each kind have been launched making it a total of nine pens to be sold worldwide. Each pen has 840 diamonds and more than 20 carats of gemstones set in a Van Cleef & Arpels patented “Mystery Setting”. This conceals gemstone settings and as a result an illusion is created which shows the emeralds, rubies and sapphires to be floating on its surface.There are pens, and then there are writing instruments. This instrument is the world’s most expensive ballpoint pen with 840 diamonds and 20 carats in gemstones. It’s made by Mont Blanc and Van Cleef & Arpels. Each pen takes one and a half years to make, and only nine will be made. Each pen will cost $730,000. No word as to payment plans.


2.  Montegrappa's Peace Pen is the world's most expensive writing implement

A legend in the world of stationery, Montegrappa have been crafting high-quality pens since 1912, building a reputation not simply for the superb performance of their products, but also their artistic beauty (Ernest Hemingway was an early fan, with Michael Schumacher and Sylvester Stallone among the company's current celebrity customers). 

"Montegrappa are one of the truly great pen brands," explains Laura Chandler, editor of U.S.-based Pen World magazine. 

"They are renowned for wonderfully crafted, luxury pens that not only write beautifully, but look beautiful as well." 

If they have long been at the very pinnacle of the pen industry, however, Montegrappa exceeded even their own exacting standards in 2004 when their craftsmen produced what is widely considered to be not only the most opulent, but also by some way the most expensive pen in the world -- the $1,187,000 (£679,000) Peace Pen.

3.  Swiss company Caran d'Ache made 'La Modernista Diamonds' a pen

Swiss company Caran d'Ache made 'La Modernista Diamonds' a pen that was sold in Harrods, London, for $265,000. Created in memory of architect Antonio Gaudi, the rhodium-coated solid silver pen has an 18-karat gold pen point and is pave-set with 5,072 diamonds and 96 half-cut rubies.

4.  Montblancs Meisterstck Solitaire Royal diamond fountain pen

The hand of Jan-Patrick Schmitz, CEO, Montblanc, North America, is seen writing with the world’s most expensive pen, Montblancs Meisterstck Solitaire Royal diamond fountain pen valued at $ 1,25,000 in New York. Schmitz was contributing to Montblanc’s “Great American Love Story,” a two-feet tall book with over 1,000 blank pages.
— Reuters

5.   the Krone’s Cluster pen, Issac Newton’s pen

We have already come across many writing wonders, including the Krone’s Cluster pen, Issac Newton’s pen, and the world’s most expensive Mystery Masterpiece fountain pen. Here is another entrant to the family. The latest offering in the Montblanc’s Patron of Art series is a 2007 pen that is dedicated to the German naturalist and leading cultural patron Alexander von Humboldt. The pen is made of granadilla, a rare wood found in the southern hemisphere where Humboldt spend most of his time in scientific exploration. The pen is trimmed in sterling silver on the ends, clip, and band. The centre shows an abstract motif that point to the art of the native people Humboldt studied during his expeditions. The pen touts an 18K nib imprinted with a sextant and there are 4,810 pieces only for sale. You can own the masterpiece by paying US $2,552.