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Monday 20 May 2013

The Shard
(Level: Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate / B1 to B2 / ***)

You are going to watch a news video from BBC's technology programme 'Click' with presenter Spencer Kelly exploring some of the technology, namely the augmented reality telescopes inside the Shard's observation gallery. 

 
Before watching / listening

 Here are a few facts and interesting sites about the Shard:

The Shard is the tallest building in Western Europe and was designed in 2000 by Italian architect Renzo Piano also known for designing the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

The building owes its name to the criticism expressed by English Heritage (*) who claimed the building would be 'a shard of glass through the heart of historic London'.
(*) English Heritage is a non-governmental organization sponsored by the British Government and has responsibilities in advising, registering and protecting the historic environment.

The Shard's construction started in May 2009 and was inaugurated in July 2012 just in time for the opening of the London Olympics.
 
The observation or viewing galleries were open to the public in February 2013.
 
Photo: telegraph.co.uk



If you want to have a magnificent 360° view of London from the observation gallery, go to this site:
http://www.the-shard.com/views/360.html

 


From: mirror.co.uk

 

 If you want to see interesting pictures, go to this site:
 http://www.designboom.com/architecture/renzo-piano-the-shard-in-london-now-complete/


You are now going to watch the report:
The following words could be useful:
skyline: the shape made by buildings against the sky      (ligne des toits / ligne d'horizon)
a vantage point: a good position or place from which you can see well     (poste d'observation)
paraphernalia: lots of small things; items that (...) are needed for a particular activity or purpose   (attirail / bazar)
the mod coms (from modern conveniences) : all the things that are fitted (...) to make life easy and comfortable.  (tout le confort)
a landmark: something that is easy to recognize, such as a (...) building  // A famous sight   (point de repère / monument célèbre)
to overlay: to cover or be on top of something (couvrir / recouvrir) 
an app (plural: apps): application software for specific purposes  (logiciel / programme d'application / application)
accordingly: as a result of something  (en conséquence)
gigapixel image: a digital binary image made up of one billion pixels



While watching / listening

Watch the report:




You can also watch the report on BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22478746


Complete the following grid with the missing information in French:

 
Le SHARD
Caractéristiques :
a)      Bâtiment en soi / hauteur :
-         
 
-         
 
 
b)      Superficie totale des façades de verre équivaut à…
-         
c)       Les ascenseurs
-         
 
-         
 
 
d)      La technologie + fonctionnement
-        
 
 
 
 
-         En cas de mauvais temps (visibilité réduite) : …
 
 




When you are finished, check your answers!


Le SHARD
Caractéristiques :
a)       Bâtiment en soi / hauteur :
-          + grand bâtiment d’Europe occidentale
-          + de 300 mètres de haut (*)
b)       Superficie totale des façades de verre équivaut à…
-          …8 terrains de football (**)
c)       Les ascenseurs
-          Images de toits et de plafonds de bâtiments londoniens célèbres projetées pendant l’ascension.
-          Ascension ultra-rapide ; un peu moins d’une minute pour accéder à la galerie d’observation (***)
d)       La technologie + fonctionnement
-          Des télescopes électroniques qui  permettent aux utilisateurs de viser des points d’intérêt (édifices historiques ; musées…), de les zoomer, de les identifier tout en disposant instantanément d'explications claires (****)
-          En cas de mauvais temps (visibilité réduite) : les télescopes offrent diverses vues diurnes ou nocturnes préenregistrées
 


 
(*) 309,60 mètres pour être précis

(**)  Un total de 56.000 m² / 11.000 panneaux en verre

(***)  Les visites payantes incluent la visite de deux étages / ascension à concurrence de 6 mètres / seconde

(****) 200 édifices / explications possibles dans 10 langues

 



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