Kaohsiung is a special municipality located in southern-western Taiwan and facing the Taiwan Strait. Kaohsiung has a population of approximately 2.77 million people and has been officially ranked as Taiwan’s third most populous city since July 2017. It is Taiwan’s largest municipality by area at 2,951.85 km² (1,139.72 sq mi), stretching from Mount Yu to Taiping Island. Since its start in the 17th century, Kaohsiung has grown from a small trading village into the political, economic, transportation, manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and industrial center of southern Taiwan. read more…
The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty rulers and today serves as the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria. It is located in the center of Vienna and was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. read more…
Taichung, officially known as Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has a population of approximately 2.8 million people and is Taiwan’s second most populous city since July 2017. It serves as the core of the Taichung–Changhua metropolitan area, which is the second largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. The current city was formed when Taichung County merged with the original provincial Taichung City to form the special municipality on 25 December 2010. Located in the Taichung Basin, the name of the city was created under Japanese rule, and became a major economic and cultural hub. Originally composed of several scattered hamlets, the city of Taichung was planned and developed by the Japanese. It was called “the Kyoto of Formosa” in Japanese era because of its calm and beauty. The city is home to many cultural sites, including the historic Taichung Park, the Lin Family Gardens, and many temples. read more…
Keelung, officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei with which it forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with Taipei itself. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan’s second largest seaport (after Kaohsiung). read more…
Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand, and has a population of over eight million, or 12.6 percent of the country’s population. Over fourteen million people (22.2 percent) lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok the nation’s primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand’s other urban centres in terms of importance. read more…
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international movement in the decorative and fine arts that began in Britain and flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920, emerging in Japan (the Mingei movement) in the 1920s. It stood for traditional craftsmanship using simple forms, and often used medieval, romantic, or folk styles of decoration. It advocated economic and social reform and was essentially anti-industrial. It had a strong influence on the arts in Europe until it was displaced by Modernism in the 1930s, and its influence continued among craft makers, designers, and town planners long afterwards. The term was first used by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at a meeting of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1887, although the principles and style on which it was based had been developing in England for at least twenty years. It was inspired by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin, and designer William Morris. The movement developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles, and spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and North America. It was largely a reaction against the perceived impoverished state of the decorative arts at the time and the conditions in which they were produced. read more…
