Oct 29, 2006

Boston by night


Some of the highest Bostonian skyscrapers are shown in this photo. The John Hancock Tower (featured on the left) is the tallest hi-rise building with its 790 ft (240m). For many years, activists prevented to build tall buildings in Boston and despite many exceptions, there are strict zoning rules that limit the height of the buildings to about 150 feet (45 m). Try to guess:

1. what is the number of skyscrapers over 295 ft (90m) in Boston?
2. what is the rank of the John Hancock Tower among the 200 top skyscrapers in the world?

Quelques uns des plus hauts gratte-ciel bostoniens figurent sur cette photo. La tour John Hancock (située à gauche) est le plus grand gratte-ciel avec ses 240m (790 pieds). Pendant des années des activistes ont empêché la construction d’immeubles dans Boston et malgré de nombreuses exceptions, il y a des règles strictes de zonage qui limitent la hauteur des immeubles à environ 45m (150 pieds). Essayez de deviner:

1. quel est le nombre de gratte-ciel de plus de 90m (295 ft) à Boston?

2. quel est le rang de la tour John Hancock parmi les 200 premiers gratte-ciel du monde?

25 comments:

Olivier said...

Magnifique, cette vue de nuit, bravo. A ce que je vois la skyline de boston n'a rien a envier a celle de New York. une vraie carte postale


Splendid, this sight of night, cheer. What I see the skyline of Boston does not have anything has to envy has that of New York. a true postcard

alice said...

Devinette trop difficile pour une frenchie...mais superbe photo!

Liddlelulu said...

#1=5?
#2=199?

Nathalie H.D. said...

Alors là, je donne ma langue au chat pour les deux. A moins de commencer à aller faire des recherches sur le net, je n'en ai aucune idée. J'ai eu plus de succès pour deviner le poids d'un marlin pêché à Hawaii sur le site de Hawaii DP. Il faut croire que la mer m'inspire plus que les gratte-ciels ;)

Magnifique photo anyway !

Alex said...

Hi there!
I think you deserve a little help here. So:
- for the number of skyscrapers over 295 ft (90m), the answer is between 1 and 50.
- for the rank over the 200 top skyscrapers in the world, the answer is between 1 and 130. Just to give you an idea: the 3 first highest building are no1 Taipei (509m), No2 Petronas Tower kuala Lumpur (452m) and Sears Tower (442m)
Good luck and Happy Haloooweeen!

Orly said...

Very nice. Where from was the photo taken?

Cergie said...

Non,jene peux pas deviner ni réfléchir, je ne peux qu'admirer les belles réflections dans l'eau et les lumières de la ville.
Quand j'étais petite, ma mère m'emmenait le soir voir les lumières de la ville il n'y avait que comme cela que je me calmais et réussissais à m'endormir.
J'aime toujours ces lumières, elles m'apaisent.

Annie said...

Okay, I'll guess. There are 13 skyscrapers over 295 feet. And I'll guess that the rank of the John Hancock Tower among the top 200 skyscrapers in the world is 20th.

I love this picture of Boston at night.

Annie

Liddlelulu said...

This looks like a picture taken from round abouts Kendall Square, right? My husband used to work in that area.

Anonymous said...

wow, what a great city at night.

Alex said...

>Hello Annie
For question 1, it's more than 13 in Boston.
For question 2, it's lot more than 20.
Good luck!

Alex said...

>Yes liddlelulu, you're right. I took this picture from the Marriot in Kendall Square.

MMM said...

Beautiful skyline!

arturcampos said...

GREAT PHOTO!

Candice and Megan said...

Beautiful shot!

Kala said...

very nice- here is a day shot of the same area I took =)
http://www.hckt.org/OtherWebs/BostonTripSeptOct2006/images/IMG_17441000.jpg

Alex said...

>Kala, your photo, taken from the same spot is very beautiful :-)
Thanks
-Alex

Alex said...

So the answer to the questions:
1)number of skyscrapers over 295 ft (90m) in Boston = 50
2)rank of the John Hancock Tower among the 200 top skyscrapers in the world = 127th
Thank you all for your answers.

Annie said...

And now I know. Thanks, Alex.

Michael Salone said...

I'm late in commenting Alex, but I was sure surprised by your answer to number 2)rank of the John Hancock Tower among the 200 top skyscrapers in the world = 127th. I really was surprised that there were that many before Boston! Thanks for the insight, and of course, super shot!

Anonymous said...

not sure about the first Q., while John hancock Tower is ranked 16th ?

anyway, I think this is a magnificient night shot!!! so glaring !

Alex said...

Hi Kris,
Thanks for you comment. I know these figures sound quite surprising yet it's true. You can find more specific info here:
1.for High-rise Buildings of Boston:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/?id=101045
2.for the List of the tallest buildings in the world:
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-tallest-buildings-in-the-world

There are also strict zoning rules that limit the height of the buildings in Boston.

Reflex said...

Superbe photo de nuit, nette et lumineuse.

(la photo de l'anémone a été prise au zoo de washington D.C.)

Anonymous said...

Wow, you make me miss my hometown even more! My favorite thing is flying into Boston at night and checking out the skyline through the window; and to top it off, I live right next to the Kendall Marriot so that's my view when I get home! I can't wait to see it again...

Anonymous said...

Cities lit up at night are like 'Fairy Land". They can be breathtakingly beautiful.