A Beautiful Walkable Map for Berlin’s 775th Anniversary
Though the exhibit is no longer on display, many visitors shared their photographs on Instagram. See more photos of the walkable map on the Schlossplatz location page!
In 2012, Berlin celebrated its 775th anniversary. Among the many festivities, several large open-air exhibitions were constructed, including a beautiful walkable map of Berlin, called City of Diversity, placed in front of the largest church in the city.
The walkable map was built as a celebration of Berlin’s many years of immigration history and diversity. It was constructed by a group of artists using a 1:775 scale and 274 stencils, featuring giant colored pins with fascinating explorable facts and stories about migration to Berlin on them. Each colored pin explored a different current or historic topic of diversity in the city, ranging from religion and politics to music and culture.
A Beautiful Walkable Map for Berlin’s 775th Anniversary
Though the exhibit is no longer on display, many visitors shared their photographs on Instagram. See more photos of the walkable map on the Schlossplatz location page!
In 2012, Berlin celebrated its 775th anniversary. Among the many festivities, several large open-air exhibitions were constructed, including a beautiful walkable map of Berlin, called City of Diversity, placed in front of the largest church in the city.
The walkable map was built as a celebration of Berlin’s many years of immigration history and diversity. It was constructed by a group of artists using a 1:775 scale and 274 stencils, featuring giant colored pins with fascinating explorable facts and stories about migration to Berlin on them. Each colored pin explored a different current or historic topic of diversity in the city, ranging from religion and politics to music and culture.
Thailand Celebrates Loi Krathong (ลอยกระทง) and Yi Peng (ยี่เป็ง)
Want to see more photos of Loi Krathong and Yi Peng? Visit the ธุดงคสถานล้านนา, สะพานนวรัฐ (Nawarat Bridge) and Chiang Mai location pages.
Loi Krathong (ลอยกระทง), one of Thailand’s most beautiful annual festivals, is in full swing. Thai celebrants, as well as some Laotians and Burmese, pay homage to the goddess of waters in November each year to coincide with the full moon of the twelfth lunar.
The name Loi Krathong means floating cup of leaf, and describes one of the festival’s biggest events. Participants release small rafts, or ‘krathong’, decorated with flowers and topped by a flickering candle into the waterways of Thailand as a way to seek forgiveness for past sins.
Perhaps the most photogenic part of Loi Krathong is the Lanna (northern Thai) festival Yi Peng (ยี่เป็ง) that coincides with it. Thousands of floating lanterns, or khom loi (โคมลอย), are launched into the air in unison, lighting up the sky. The khom loi are made from a thin fabric, such as rice paper, and have a candle in the center which, when lit, creates enough hot air inside the lantern to lift the khom loi into the sky. The most elaborate Yi Peng celebrations take place in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the Lanna Kingdom.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
To see more photos from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, browse the location pages for Columbus Circle, Times Square, Herald Square, and the Macy’s Parade Balloon Inflation area.
The 86th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicked off at 9:00AM EST this morning in Manhattan. Elaborate balloons, floats, falloons (float-based balloons) and balloonicles (self-powered balloon vehicles) snaked their way from 77th Street and Central Park West down 6th Avenue to Herald Square.
U.S. chain store Macy’s started the tradition in 1924. At the time, many of the department store’s employees were first-generation immigrants who were proud of their new American heritage and wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with a festival similar to ones their parents had loved in Europe. At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus arrives in Herald Square to ring in Christmas and the holiday season.
#Instabreakin with @kchensays
From the light industrial cityscape of downtown Los Angeles, to the scenic vistas of Chino Hills, Kevin Chen (@kchensays on Instagram) has probably breakdanced it.
In August, Kevin posted his first #instabreakin photo, and since then has showcased his skills – and Los Angeles’s diverse scenery – with over a hundred #instabreakin photos.
Chen, who’s been breakdancing since 8th grade, uses his photos as an excuse to get out and see the city: “I always love venturing to new spots to take photographs because in a sense, exploring and finding new areas serves as an escape from my everyday life.”
Kevin shoots most of his images with a tripod, rubber bands and camera timer app, and on occasion will venture out with #jumpstagram pioneer @DaveedGamboa.
Weekend Hashtag Project: #WHPtakeahike
Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes & hashtags chosen by Instagram’s Community Team. For a chance to be featured on the Instagram blog, follow @instagram and look for a photo announcing the weekend’s project every Friday.
This weekend’s tag was #WHPtakeahike, which asked participants to capture photographs of people hiking or surrounding scenery while on a hike. Every Monday we feature some of our favorite submissions from the project, but be sure to check out the rest here.
300,000 Protest Government in Buenos Aires
Spotlight To see more photos from last night’s protest, search the #8n hashtag, and check out photos from the Obelisco & Plaza de la República.
Last night, hundreds of thousands of people filled Buenos Aries, Argentina’s Plaza de Mayo to protest President Cristina Fernández and her Peronist Party, which has a ruling majority in both houses of Congress.
The event was organized and promoted through social media—more than 1800 photos have been tagged with #8n—and tapped into widespread discontent about crime, the direction of the economy, and possible plans to end presidential term limits.
US Election Night 2012
Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Americans shared their experience of voting—and encouraged others to exercise their civic duty—by tagging their photos with #IVoted. After every ballot had been cast, people from around the country came together to see who their fellow Americans chose for office. At the end of the night, Barack Obama was re-elected, and will serve a second four-year term as President of the United States.
For a full list of results, see The New York Times.
Acqua Alta Floods Venice
Spotlight See more photos of the flooding of San Marco Square by visiting the Piazza San Marco location page.
In many parts of Venice, Italy, including the famous San Marco Square, tourists and Venetians are being forced to wade through knee-high waters.
Flooding is common in November and December, the most active months for high water. Today’s level reached a peak of 55 inches (140 centimeters), but was below the 63 inches (160 centimeters) recorded four years ago in the worst flooding in decades. Sea bed barriers that would help to protect Venice from high tides have been in the works for years but will not be operational until 2014.
Hurricane Sandy’s Aftermath
How you can help… Millions of people have been affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you’d like to aid the relief effort, please make a contribution to the American Red Cross.
In a matter of hours, Hurricane Sandy devastated the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. During yesterday’s storm, tens of thousands of people from across the eastern seaboard shared their experience in real-time, tagging photos with #sandy and #hurricanesandy.
This morning, as the rain tapered and floodwaters receded, millions of people began taking stock of the storm’s historic devastation, and sharing their daunting road to recovery on Instagram.
See some of the more powerful photos from Sandy’s aftermath here and here, and make a contribution to the relief effort at redcross.org.
