MARK BURRY

Recessions compared: how does Britains GDP downturn compare to every recession since 1930?Exactly how bad is Britains recovery from recession – and how much worse is it than the Great Depression of 1930 to 1934? Thanks to Niesr, which collects detailed economic data, we can show you. Roll over a line to get the data• Download and debate the data

via Recessions compared: how does Britains GDP downturn compare to every recession since 1930? | News | guardian.co.uk.

Praise Gaudi! Architect’s magnificent Basilica Sagrada Familia lit up in spectrum of colour for Barcelona’s Merce Festival

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:30 GMT, 23 September 2012 | UPDATED: 12:34 GMT, 23 September 2012

Gaudi’s architecture is one of the main draws for people visiting Barcelona. The Basilica Sagrada Familia, a magnificent Catholic church, is perhaps his most famous building.

The basilica, which is still being pieced together 130 years after construction began, was seen in a new light on Friday after being illuminated as part of the Spanish city’s Merce Festival.

The ‘Montreal Signe Ode a la Vie’ or Ode to Life light show by Canadian company Moment Factory lit the church in a spectrum of colour, highlighting its exquisite detail and celebrating it as an icon of the city.

The projections on the facade of the Nativity of the Holy Family will be shown again tonight as part of the four-day festival, which ends tomorrow.

Despite being incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was proclaimed a minor basilica by the Pope in 2010.

At the time of Gaudi’s death in 1926 the church was less than a quarter finished. The project was reliant on private donations so progression was slow. It was also interrupted by the Spanish Civil War before construction resumed in the 1950s. The basilica is expected to be complete in 2026 to coincide with the centennial of Gaudi’s death.

Below MailOnline has documented the illuminations in all their glorious detail.

via Praise Gaudi! Architect’s magnificent Basilica Sagrada Familia lit up in spectrum of colour for Barcelona’s Merce Festival | Mail Online.

Is it too dangerous to cycle?

With 13 cyclists killed in September so far in Britain, Rob Penn and Gerhard Weiss debate whether our roads are too risky to brave on two wheels

Rob Penn and Gerhard Weiss

The Observer, Sunday 23 September 2012

A ghost bike, erected where a cyclist has been injured or killed in a road accident. Photograph: Katherine Rose for the Observer

Rob Penn, writer and author of It’s All About the Bike: the Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels

It depends, of course, on where we’re cycling and who’s pushing the pedals. Is it dangerous to ride along a disused railway line in the Peak District? No. Is it too dangerous to ride down the Euston Road at rush hour? Not for me, but I’ve ridden a bike most days of my adult life.

I found the report this week about the rise in “cycle deaths” in 2012 very upsetting. But the news emboldens me to cycle more, and encourage others to do the same, rather than lock my bikes away in the shed and drive a car.

Two years ago I was in Portland, Oregon, where a quiet cycling revolution is under way. There are now more transport journeys by bicycle per capita in Portland than in any other large American city. A journalist there told me that a turning point in the safety of cyclists on the roads comes when everyone who drives knows someone who cycles: it could be your neighbour’s daughter or a work colleague on that bike, which influences how you drive. We’re a long way from that point in the UK, but the more people that cycle, the closer we get, and the more legitimate the campaign for safer cycling becomes.

via Is it too dangerous to cycle? | Comment is free | The Observer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/18/chris-anderson-internet-industrial-revolution