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Buildering
Buildering (also known as edificeering, urban climbing, structuring, skywalking, boulding, or stegophily) describes the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures. The word "buildering", sometimes misspelled bildering, combines the word ''building'' with the climbing term ''bouldering''. If done without ropes or protection far off the ground, buildering is extremely dangerous. It is often practiced outside legal bounds, and is thus mostly at night. Night climbing is a particular branch of buildering which has been practiced for many years in a variety of locations, especially at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England. Night climbing, as distinct from buildering, is performed mainly by undergraduates under cover of darkness. The term "night climbing" has replaced the older term "roof climbing". The philosophy behind night climbing has undergone great change during the 21st century, with urban disciplines such as parkour having a heavy i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Goodwin
Daniel Goodwin (born November 7, 1955 in Kennebunkport, Maine) is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering skyscrapers, including the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center, the World Trade Center, the CN Tower, and (for the program ''Stan Lee's Superhumans'') the Telefónica Building in Santiago, Chile. Building climber On November 21, 1980, Dan Goodwin witnessed the MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, including the inability of the Clark County Fire Department and the supporting fire departments to rescue scores of hotel guests trapped inside. Believing he knew how to rescue the trapped people, Goodwin presented a rescue plan to the on-location fire boss. Goodwin's plan included his climbing up the building and connecting cables to the floors to enable rescue baskets to be ferried to and from helicopters. The fire boss respo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Polley
George Gibson Polley (1898–1927) was an American pioneer of (the then-unnamed act of) buildering, or climbing the walls of tall buildings, earning him the nickname "the human fly". According to himself, he began his climbing career at the age of 12 in 1910 when an owner of a clothing store promised him a suit if he would climb to the roof of the building. He succeeded. Over his career Polley climbed over 2000 buildings. In 1920 he climbed the Woolworth building but was arrested, just when he reached the 30th floor and had 27 floors to go, for climbing without official permission. He also climbed 500 ft up the Custom House Tower in Boston. He would often spice up his performance by pretending to slip and fall from a windowsill to another. George G. Polley was also a talented magician and performed in vaudeville with his wife the amazing Helen Stillman. He was a good friend of Harry Houdini and learned some of his tricks from him. He had three sons: George, Gibson and Stillm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Solo Climbing
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual preparation, strength, and skill. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can very likely be fatal. Though many climbers have attempted free soloing, it is considered "a niche of a niche" reserved for the sport's elite, which has led many practitioners to stardom within both the media and the sport of rock climbing. "Free solo" was originally a term of climber slang, but after the popularity of the Oscar-winning film ''Free Solo'', Merriam-Webster officially added the word to their English dictionary in September 2019. Public view Many climbing communities praise the ascents, while others have concerns regarding the danger involved and the message the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alain Robert
Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man) or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbing, scaling skyscrapers using no climbing equipment except for a small bag of chalk and a pair of climbing shoes. Strategy Because authorities do not normally give him permission for such dangerous exploits, Robert will appear at dawn on the site of whichever giant skyscraper he has chosen to climb. His exploits attract crowds of onlookers who stop to watch him climb. As a consequence, Robert has been arrested many times, in various countries, by law enforcement officials waiting for him at the end of his climb. In recent years, however, Robert has done his climbs with permission and sponsorship. His rock-climbing physical training and technique allow him to climb using the small protrusions of building walls and windows (such as window le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ciampa
John Ciampa (1922–1970) was an Italian-American acrobatic stuntman and entertainer known by the stage names of the Human Fly, the Flying Phantom and the Brooklyn Tarzan. As a child, Ciampa had been fascinated by the acrobatic agility of film stars such as Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and by the character of Tarzan of the Apes as portrayed by Elmo Lincoln and later Johnny Weissmuller. Inspired by his screen heroes, Ciampa began to climb trees and buildings in his Brooklyn neighborhood at a young age, persisting with the activity into his teenage years and early adulthood. Career in the entertainment business By 1942 Ciampa's unusual hobby had gained him some local notoriety. Coincident with the release of the feature film Tarzan's New York Adventure, Ciampa was featured in a Paramount Pictures newsreel exhibiting some of his feats of acrobatic buildering and freestyle tree climbing. A bricklayer by profession, Ciampa also worked in the entertainment business ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doran Memorial Bridge
The Doran Memorial Bridge is the twin pair of steel girder bridges that carry eight lanes of road traffic on Interstate 280 over San Mateo Creek near Hillsborough, California in San Mateo County. History The Doran Memorial Bridge was originally known as the San Mateo Creek Bridge according to Caltrans plans. It was named the Eugene A. Doran Memorial Bridge in 1969, after the Hillsborough police officer who was killed near the site on August 5, 1959; Doran's widow attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 28, 1969. In 2004, the bridge was rededicated as the Officer Eugene A. Doran and Marine Lance Corporal Patrick M. Doran Memorial Bridge to include his son, Patrick, who died in Vietnam on February 18, 1967 while serving in the United States Marine Corps. Prior to the opening ceremony on May 28, 1969, a "Pedestrian Day" was held on May 25, with more than 30,000 crossing the new span on foot. It won the Medium Span, High Clearance category in the 1970 AISC steel bridges cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sears Tower
The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it opened in 1973 as the world's tallest building, a title that it held for nearly 25 years. It is currently the third-tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the 23rd-tallest in the world. Each year, more than 1.7 million people visit the Skydeck observation deck, the highest in the United States, making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist destinations. The building occupies a site bounded by Franklin Street, Jackson Boulevard, Wacker Drive, and Adams Street. Graham and Khan designed the building as nine square "tubes", clustered in a 3×3 matrix; seven of the tubes set back at upper floors. The tower has 108 stories as counted by standard methods, though the building's owners count the main roof as 109 and the mech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Willig
George Willig (born June 11, 1949) (a.k.a. "The Human Fly" or "The Spiderman") is a mountain-climber from Queens, New York, United States, who climbed the South Tower (2 World Trade Center) of the World Trade Center on May 26, 1977, about two and a half years after tightrope walker Philippe Petit walked between the tops of the two towers. Life and climb Before the stunt, Willig was a toymaker. At the time of the climb, 2 WTC was the third tallest building in the world, behind 1 WTC and the Sears Tower. It took Willig 3.5 hours to scale the tower. While the City of New York initially announced it would fine him $250,000 for "the inconvenience the stunt caused," New York City Mayor Abraham Beame fined him just $1.10, one cent for each of the skyscraper's 110 stories. Willig visited the World Trade Center a year before the stunt and took measurements for the equipment he would need. He made special clamps that fit into the window washing tracks of the South Tower. The clamps h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Trade Center (1973-2001)
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a museum, and a memorial **One World Trade Center, the signature building of the rebuilt complex * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks ** World Trade Center site, also known as "Ground Zero" * Taipei World Trade Center Other uses * ''World Trade Center'' (film), a 2006 film * World Trade Center station (IND Eighth Avenue Line), a New York City Subway terminal station, serving the * World Trade Center station (MBTA), a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station in Boston * World Trade Center station (PATH), a Port Authority Trans-Hudson station in New York City * WTC Cortlandt station (also known as "World Trade Center"), a New York City Subway station, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Lee's Superhumans
''Stan Lee's Superhumans'' is a documentary television series that debuted from August 5, 2010 to September 17, 2014 on History. It is hosted by Marvel comic book superhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, "the most flexible man in the world", as he searches the globe for real-life superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans or human-like beings with enhanced qualities and abilities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Th ...s – people with extraordinary physical or mental abilities. Hugh Hart, ''Wired'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hancock Center
The John Hancock Center is a 100-story, 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the building was officially renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue in 2018. The skyscraper was designed by Peruvian-American chief designer Bruce Graham and Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). When the building topped out on May 6, 1968, it was the second-tallest building in the world after the Empire State Building, and the tallest in Chicago. It is currently the fifth-tallest building in Chicago and the thirteenth-tallest in the United States, behind the Aon Center in Chicago and ahead of the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia. When measured to the top of its antenna masts, it stands at . The building is home to several offices and restaurants, as well as about 700 condominiums, and at the time of its completion contained the highest residence in the world. The buildi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CN Tower
The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets prior to the company's privatization in 1995, it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development. The CN Tower held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure for 32 years, from 1975 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, and was the world's tallest tower until 2009 when it was surpassed by the Canton Tower. It is currently the ninth-tallest free-standing structure in the world and remains the tallest free-standing structure on land in the Western Hemisphere. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
