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WASHINGTON

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The West wing houses the offices of the President and contains the Oval office, the Cabinet room, the Situation Room and the Roosevelt room. In the East Wing, we found the First Lady’s workplace.
President’s Park is a park located in the center of Washington. It includes the White House and Gardens, Visitor Center, Lafayette Park and Ellipse. Protected area by the army and the secret services, the White house and its various annexes (West Wing) constituting the decision-making heart of the American policy. Camp David is another, but secondary, residence for the US head of state.
1800 peoples work in the White House.

The White House

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The Lincoln Memorial was constructed between 1914 and 1922 in Abraham Lincoln’s honor. Lincoln was elected in 1860 as the 16th president of the US. He was from the Republicans 

He played a role in the end of the Civil war preserving the Union and he abolished slavery.
Lincoln saved the republic that Washington created. Washington was a wealthy, slave holding plantation owner whereas Lincoln was born into poverty. He proved that anyone could make it in America. Moreover, he helped the country also thanks to his humor.  
He was assassinated 5 days after the end of Civil War because of a conspiracy by confederated states. He sacrificed his life for his country.

Lincoln Memorial

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Capitol Hill is a historic district in Washington, where the American congress settled at the top of the hill. The construction began in 1793. This building was drawn by William Thornton, because he was supported by the president George Washington. Then it was modified by Benjamin Latrobe, an English architect from France. Anecdotally, George Washington had put the first stone of the Capitol. Just after the end of the construction, in August 1814, the building was almost completely burned by the English during the war of 1812. Fortunately, the rain stopped the fire.

The Capitol is the symbol of the US government and its legislative power. It is situated in the federal capital, Washington DC. It is composed of the senate and the House of Representatives, there are 535 members. The laws and the budgets are developed there. The circular hall is often used for official events, the vast walls are covered with paint and artwork.

The Capitol

New York

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The Statue of Liberty is a neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City. The statue was a gift from France to United States. It was designed by FrédéricAugusteBartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. The material used is copper.  The statue was dedicated on October 28 in 1886. It’s a friendship symbol between USA and France to celebrate the centenary of the US Declaration of Independence.

  The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.  The statue of Liberty belongs to the National Park Service since June 10 in 1924. The height from ground level to torch is 305 feet 1 inch. The construction lasted for 9 years, at Paris.  

The Statue of Liberty

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Liberty Island

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The Brooklyn Bridge was built between 1869 and 1883. He was the first hanging steel bridge and the only link between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The architect was John August Roebling, and his wife was the first person who cross the bridge. He is 1 825 meters long, 28 meter width and the pillar are 90 meter high.

Six days after the openning, people doubt about the solidity of the bridge, so an elephant tamer crossed the bridge with his 21 elephants.
Nowadays, 120 000 cars, 4 000 pedestrians and 26 000 cyclists cross it every day.
You can see this bridge on Godzilla, I am legend, Manhattan, and a lot of other films.

The Brooklyn Bridge

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Like Chinatown, this district takes us to another country thanks to all its typical restaurants, flags, or buildings in the colors of Italy. There is also a lot of street art in the streets. Located north of Chinatown and separated from this area by Canal Street, Little Italy was the place where the first Italian immigrants began to settle.
Unfortunately, Little Italy disappears more and more and merges with Chinatown that takes the heavier.

Little Italy

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The Chrysler Building is one the most famous and most emblematic skyscrapers of New York located in the south of the borough of Manhattan. Its height is about 319 meters with 77 floors. It kept the title of higher building of New York only one year, outshined by the Empire State Building in 1931. This building is made with a steel armature enveloped by metal. Its construction needed 20 961 tonnes of steel. It count 34 elevators and more than 3 850 windows. It was built between 1929 and 1930 by the architect William Van Alen for the Chrysler company which was very important for the economy of the USA. The seat of management of the Chrysler company was in this building until 1950. The architecture of this construction is the art deco (1930s) and the outside and also inside decoration pays tribute to the Chrysler’s cars. The most emblematic part the Chrysler building is its the top of the skyscraper: the arrow with triangular windows. It makes it very special and unique.

Chrysler Building

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Rockefeller is the name of the founder of this commercial districts. He was an international business industrial man in the petrol. He was one of the first american self-made men who built himself his empire. With Rockefeller center, he wanted to built a ’city within the city’. The project employed forty thousand people. The center opened in may 1933. We can find a big 60 feet commercial center in the underground, studio television channel. Every year, a big christmas tree is installed on the center of the place. Rockefeller Center rapidly grew, developers decided to expand the complex west to Sixth Avenue, landmarking even more of midtown Manhattan.

Rockefeller Center

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Ellis Island

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September, 11thof 2001, two planes crashed in two buildings of the World Trade Center, the WTC1 and WTC2, between 8h14 and 10h03. The two towers collapsed and caused the death of 2977 people.

Nowadays, a memorial called Ground Zero replaces the towers. Its construction began in August 2006 and was achieved in September 2011. At this place were lying rubble coming from the collapse of twin towers, despite the multiples interventions of firemen to get rid of these.

Ground Zero

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Chinese traders and sailors began arriving in the United States in small numbers in the mid-18th century. From the 19th century they arrived more numerous, especially on the Pacific coast, at the time of the Gold Rush and the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. But when the mines began to run out, the Chinese headed to big cities like New York. In 1870 New York had 200 Chinese who worked mainly in laundries, and in 1882 the Chinese population rose to 2,000. 
But as a victim of racial segregation, the Chinese retreated and Chinatown quickly functioned as a quasi-autonomous neighborhood with a structured society (the tongs) that provided employment for newcomers, economic assistance and protection services.

Chinatown

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The trump tower is the headquarter offices of the trump organization. In 1979, Donald Trump bought this property with the goal of constructing the first super-luxury high rise property in New York to include high–end retail shops, office space and residential condominiums.

The building was concepted by the architect Der Scutt. Who choosed with Mr Trump those angular form for the building. Trump wanted to give to the building a dramatic vision, with this glass wall who give an impression of transparency to the head of the building. The first floors are surmounted by series of planted outdoor terraces.

 

We can also see a sixteen foot waterfall inside the building. And at the last floor there is a suspended walkway.

Trump Tower

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 The Empire State Building was considered as the higher building of New York at its inauguration in 1931. It rose about 381 meters but in 1952, a long antenna was added which propelled the high to 448.7 meters. The Empire State Building has 102 floors. Its construction was directed by William Lamb and it lasted only 18 months. This short timing required the employment of 3400 workers who worked days and nights. There were any day off. Its construction also required 60 000 tonnes of steel for the armature, 10 millions of bricks and 200 000 tonnes of stones. It counts more than 6 500 windows and 73 escalators which go up until the 86th floor. The outside decoration is the style Art deco with precious materials like the pink and white marble.

 Unfortunately, with the Great Depression, the slump of 1929, the office’s half part in the Empire State Building stayed empty in the 1930s. Because of this, during this period it was surnamed the “Empty State Building”. So the building was sold several times. Particularly, in 2000, Donald Trump (the actual president of USA) became the owner of the place. However, he sold it 2 years later to Peter Malkin for 57 millions of dollars.

Empire State Building

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