A Princess Memorial

Diana, Princess of Wales' Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. Unveiled in July, 2004 with both the late Diana’s family and the royal family including Queen Elizabeth II present, the $6.5 million memorial to the late Princess of Wales is designed by American architect Karen Gustafson. The oval fountain of 545 blocks of Cornish granite - a ring of water likened to a miniature race course near the Serpentine Bridge- has water flowing down both sides for both agitated and calming effects.

The fountain was built with the best materials, talent and technology, and is the result of an impressive, wide reaching project. It was decided in 1999 that a public memorial should be erected to her memory and so the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain Committee was formed, led by Rosa Monckton, a friend of the Princess. Some three years and ten thousand competing designs later, two ideas were chosen from which the winning fountain would be selected. The entry of American designers Gustafon Porter won the vote over that of British artist Anish Kapoor.

The philosophy behind the Gustafon Porter design was that the fountain should express the concept of ‘Reaching out - Letting In’, in order to symbolize Diana’s inclusiveness and accessibility. The presence of the fountain surrounded by open landscape was intended to create an energy which radiates outwards while at the same time draws people towards it, again reflecting the essential nature of Diana.

From its source, water runs down the fountain in two directions, the east side featuring richly textured steps which the water bounces down before passing under a crossing point to the rock and roll section where it gentle rocks and rolls along a subtle curve. Before entering the reflection pool at the bottom of the fountain, this east-track of water passes through the  swoosh - a subtle curve where water jets create patterns in, and pump additional energy into the water.

Water which follows the western channel of the fountain ring firstly passes over the highly textured surface of the Mountain Stream where it dances in a lively play of water before passing under a crossing point then onto the bubbles section where the channel widens out and air bubbles are introduced. The water then becomes a tumbling cascade of white water as it corners over a waterfall. Western channel water then spills over the elaborately carved chadder before tumbling into the reflecting pool where it's re-united with water from the eastern channel.

The water for the fountain is drawn from London's water table and is continuously refreshed. The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain proved to be massively popular with adults and children alike, just like the Princess herself. Such was the demand to interact with the fountain that it had to be closed for a short time just 16 days after it was opened. This was partly following a number of people slipping in the water flow, partly to identify a means of handling the huge demand in a manner which would preserve the site in a sustainable way while allowing appropriate access.

Some Interesting Coffee Related Statistics

by Tim Kennedy

 The world's second most consumed beverage behind water, coffee is also the world's most traded consumable good. In this article we will take a look at some interesting statistics involving coffee including its consumption rates and some fair trade/organic coffee related statistics.

Finland drinks the most coffee of any nation in the world, per capita. The United States comes in at 16th place, just after the United Kingdom and just before the European Union. However, the United States drinks 1/5 of the world's coffee, making it the world's top consumer overall.

The sale of specialty coffee is growing at rate of about 20% per year and now accounts for roughly 8% of all coffee sales. Specialty coffee is defined by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) as being coffee that scores 80 points or higher on their 100-point scale.

Coffee drinkers in the United States spend just under 18 billion dollars annually, which averages out to about $165 per coffee drinker, per year.
On average, men drink slightly more coffee (1.9 cups per day) than women (1.4 cups per day).

Americans consume about 4.4kg (9.8 lbs.) of coffee per capita, per year.

Fair trade coffee sales grew 104% between 2004 and 2007 in North America. Another rise of 100%+ is expected between 2008 and the end of 2010.

For every $3 latte sold, a conventional farmer receives about two cents.

With roughly 23% of the worldwide market share, Mexico is the world's biggest producer of fair trade coffee. In fact, well over 50% of the world's fair trade production occurs in Mexico and South American countries.

Canada has seen of the largest growths in fair trade coffee consumption. Their annual consumption has grown from 425,000 kilos in 2002, to over 5 million kilos in 2008.

The United States is the world's single largest importer of organic coffee, being responsible for no less than 40% of global organic coffee imports.

Despite the fact that is the most traded of all fair trade goods, as of 2008 fair trade coffee still only made up just over 1% of the entire coffee market.

Statistics courtesy of coffeeresearch.org, interscience.wiley.com, interrupcionfairtrade.com and fao.org/.



This article was written by Tim Kennedy on behalf of Larry’s Beans. He recommends you try Larry’s Beans coffee if you are interested in organic coffee and/or fair trade coffee.

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Some-Interesting-Coffee-Related-Statistics/210047