Roppingi Hills Reflection:

Mary Hamilton 11/14/05

Da Vinci:

            I think that the intention of this exhibit is to teach people about the life of Leonardo Da Vinci and to let people see how he lived which ties in to his life.

            My personal reaction is that Leonardo Da Vinci was an amazing person and that his head was filled with ideas but he never finished anything. His work was really extraordinaire. I think it was neat that he could write a 20-page book in mirror writing.

            My favorite part of the exhibit was the replica of the wings that Da Vinci made. I think that this invention helped to make airplane flight or hang gliding possible. I also liked the triangular parachute. I think that it is neat how the pyramid thing catches the wind and lets you fall slower.

            I think that the Codex Leicester shows that Da Vinci is a genius because it shows that he kept writing with his left hand when people wanted him to write with his right hand. I also think that the books show that he came up with many ideas and he kept them so that he could always refer to the books which might even help to fix inventions that he has already made. I liked how Leonardo Da Vinci kept track of all his ideas by writing the Codex Leicester.

City Models:

Describe the most distinctive features of each of the three cities. Mention such things as parks, waterway access, skyscrapers, apparent population density and so on. Which city would be best to live in and why? (One page - one paragraph about each city and a conclusion)

            The most distinctive features of the model of New York was that there was a lot of low buildings and that all the tall skyscrapers were in the middle of the city. I think that New York has a lot more green areas and parks. I think that it is neat that New York has 200 thousand less people in what seems like not as many buildings and lower buildings as in Tokyo. I think that most people live in apartment buildings that are only under ten stories high unlike the skyscrapers that are extremely tall compared to the apartment buildings. Also a lot of the offices are in tall buildings, which leaves smaller buildings for houses. I think that it is neat that they can have 8,110,000 people in a city that is smaller than Tokyo.

            The most distinctive features about Tokyo are that there are so many tall buildings it is hard to see the water from the center of Tokyo. If you look hard enough, you can see that the amount of small buildings and houses are decreasing and the amount of tall buildings is increasing. There are a lot of parks in Tokyo, but they are all very small and only a few are visible from the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills. While looking at the models, I noticed that Tokyo has a lot more water flowing through the city. This could mean that there is a lot more water access. I think that the most amazing part of Tokyo is that the city has 8,340,000 people living in such a small place. I don’t like when you look at the model of Tokyo you can hardly see any empty areas where nothing has been built (unless it is a cemetery or a park).

            The most distinctive feature about Shang Hai is the big tall building that looks like a cylinder with a handle. I think that Shang Hai is a really developed city. What I think is neat is that there aren’t that many buildings under construction in Tokyo and New York compared to Shang Hai. In the model there are at least twenty buildings that haven’t been built yet even with 12,760,000 people.

            I think that I would want to live in Shang Hai because it has more room to breathe even if the city is polluted. I think that the comparison of the three cities is a very good idea to show people about different places.

Art Museum:

Which photograph impressed you the most and why? (One paragraph) What was your overall impression of the exhibit? What sort of skill do you think this artist has to become a famous artist? (One paragraph)

            The photo that impressed me the most was a photo labeled polar bear. I don’t quite understand why it is called polar bear because the picture isn’t only of a polar bear it also has a seal. The curiosity is what interests me the most because you don’t know what is going to happen to the seal. The seal could get eaten or the polar bear could save its life. I think that the skill that the artist used I to make things seem real and to capture an image over the length of a movie.

Tokyo City Views:

How is the skyline of Tokyo changing? What do you think it will it look like in 10 years? Is the new development making Tokyo a better or worse place to live? Why? (1/2 page)

            The skyline of Tokyo is getting taller and growing higher with all the construction projects going on. I think that Tokyo is growing taller as they learn more about technology and how to build more stable buildings. I think that in ten years Tokyo will have even fewer short ten and under story buildings and be 30 and above story buildings. I think that having tall buildings is okay but if the buildings aren’t steady it’s the domino effect in the earthquake, which is really dangerous. I think that having really tall buildings is useless because small buildings are just as good but not as many people can live in them but the small buildings are prettier to me because I like small antique like houses. Having more tall buildings cost more so we would loose more money every day from the buildings