a Linkage Space

Performance Center Alexanderhoehe is to be located in Iserlohn, in Germany. The authors, B+U architectural firm placed the building north of the existing Parktheater and oriented it towards the inner city in order to emphasize and redefine its relationship to Alexander Heights. By orienting the building in such manner, it became possible to create a single access point for visitors to both Parktheater and the new Multifunctional Hall. In order to achieve that and avoid blocking the views from the existing Theater, a “linkage space“ was created: a generous multilevel foyer space that that allows for the actual hall to float above the ground and opens up views from the old Parktheater to the city towards the Northeast.

This linkage space between the existing Parktheater and the new multifunctional hall continues underneath the new Hall onto the plaza level. This linkage space is a combined lobby and main entrance to both the old and the new theater. There is a centrally located drop off zone for all visitors of the new Theatercenter from which the guest can proceed directly into the main lobby where they can purchase their tickets. From this point they can proceed over the Grand staircase to the different performance areas. An elevator connects the lobby space with all levels for barrier free access.

Γυάλινοι Κόσμοι

Ο ανελκυστήρας Bailong στο Εθνικό Δασικό Πάρκο Zhangjiajie ( http://english.zhangjiajie.gov.cn/?action/viewnews/itemid/1056 ), αποδεικνύει ότι οι ιδιαίτεροι ανελκυστήρες δεν είναι μόνο για τις πόλεις. Σε ένα επίτευγμα της μηχανικής, γυάλινα ασανσέρ «σκαρφαλώνουν» στα 330 περίπου μέτρα, σε έναν απόκρημνο βράχο, μεταφέροντας τους επιβάτες σε μια γραφική περιοχή με θέα την καταπράσινη κοιλάδα που βρίσκεται από κάτω. Σε δύο μόλις λεπτά, οι επισκέπτες μεταφέρονται σε ένα από τα ομορφότερα μέρη του πάρκου, με γραφικές λίμνες και τους διάσημους πυλώνες από ψαμμίτη.

Πληροφορίες: Το τοπίο στο Zhangjiajie είναι θεαματικό, είτε με ήλιο, είτε με βροχή, αλλά θα πρέπει να ξέρετε ότι ο ανελκυστήρας δε λειτουργεί σε ιδιαίτερα δυσοίωνες καιρικές συνθήκες. Εθνικό Δασικό Πάρκο Zhangjiajie, επαρχία Hunan.
Φωτογραφία: http://english.zhangjiajie.gov.cn

Παγωμένες Ακτινοβολίες

Η δομή του Σύμπαντος, φαίνεται να έχει λιγότερους κόμπους, από ό,τι ορισμένες θεωρίες προβλέπουν, λένε οι ερευνητές.

Ο απόηχος του Bing Bang, η λεγόμενη κοσμική ακτινοβολία υποβάθρου, μικροκύματα που ταξιδεύουν στο Σύμπαν από τις πρώτες στιγμές της δημιουργίας του, περιέχει πολλές πληροφορίες για τη δομή του Σύμπαντος. Η ακτινοβολία αυτή αποτελεί την κυριότερη ένδειξη υπέρ της θεωρίας της μεγάλης έκρηξης και ανακαλύφθηκε τυχαία το 1964 από δύο ραδιο-αστρονόμους, τον Arno Penzias και τον Robert Wilson, οι οποίοι έλαβαν και το βραβείο Νόμπελ για αυτή τους την ανακάλυψη 14 χρόνια αργότερα. Πρόκειται για μία «παγωμένη» ακτινοβολία, με θερμοκρασία λίγο μικρότερη των 3 βαθμών Κέλβιν. Είναι τόσο ψυχρή, ακριβώς γιατί έχει παγώσει στα 13,7 δισεκατομμύρια χρόνια που έχουν περάσει από τη στιγμή που δημιουργήθηκε.

Από τη δεκαετία του 1960 και έως σήμερα, η κοσμική ακτινοβολία υποβάθρου μελετάται όλο και με μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια, με αποκορύφωμα το διαστημικό τηλεσκόπιο COBE και το μεταγενέστερό του WMAP. Δύο επιστήμονες μάλιστα που συμμετείχαν στο COBE ο George Smoot και ο John Mather βραβεύτηκαν επίσης με βραβείο Νόμπελ ενώ φήμες θέλουν και τις ανακαλύψεις από το WMAP να συνοδεύονται στο μέλλον από ακόμη ένα βραβείο. Τα πιο χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα βγαίνουν από τη μελέτη των πολύ μικρών μεταβολών στη θερμοκρασία της ακτινοβολίας, και όσο μεγαλύτερη η ακρίβεια των μετρήσεων, τόσο πιο λεπτομερής και η εικόνα που δημιουργείται για το Σύμπαν. Είναι φανερό πως πρόκειται για πολύ ενεργό πεδίο έρευνας, με ανοιχτά ερωτήματα στο πεδίο της κοσμολογίας, που έχουν να κάνουν με την ίδια τη φύση του σύμπαντος.

Τις στιγμές μετά τη μεγάλη έκρηξη, το Σύμπαν άρχισε να «κάθεται» στη δομή που παρατηρούμε σήμερα, η οποία σύμφωνα με υπάρχουσες θεωρίες περιέχει κόμπους και συγκεκριμένες υφές, όπως ένα ύφασμα. Το νεαρό Σύμπαν, ήταν ένα αφάνταστα πυκνό και θερμό μέρος, στο οποίο οι νόμοι της Φυσικής ήταν πολύ διαφορετικοί από αυτούς που γνωρίζουμε σήμερα. Οι μεταβολές στο πυκνό αυτό μέσο κλάσματα του δευτερολέπτου μετά την έκρηξη, σήμερα αποτυπώνονται στις μικρομεταβολές της θερμοκρασίας της ακτινοβολίας υποβάθρου. Σε μια διαδικασία που θυμίζει το να εξάγει κανείς συμπεράσματα για το πώς παρασκευάστηκε ένα δείπνο, από το να μελετάει την κατανομή θερμότητας στην κουζίνα, πολύ αργότερα από τη στιγμή που έκλεισαν τα ηλεκτρικά μάτια, έτσι και το WMAP προσπαθεί να αποτυπώσει ένα χάρτη του πρώιμου Σύμπαντος, στηριζόμενο στην εναπομένουσα «ζέστη» από την εποχή εκείνη. Από τα στοιχεία αυτά, προέκυψε η ιδέα του «πληθωρισμού», μια πολύ σύντομης περιόδου στην οποία το Σύμπαν μεγάλωσε εκθετικά, αλλά και εμπεδώθηκε η ιδέα της σκοτεινής ύλης, κάτι στο οποίο οι περισσότεροι αστροφυσικοί σήμερα συμφωνούν.

Παραμένει ανοιχτό όμως το ερώτημα του πώς απλώθηκε το ύφασμα του Σύμπαντος τις πρώτες στιγμές. Φαίνεται ότι καθώς το Σύμπαν πάγωνε, παρουσίασε ομοιότητες με το πάγωμα ενός υγρού. Ο Stephen Feeney του University College του Λονδίνου, το παρομοιάζει με τη δημιουργία ενός κρυστάλλου. «Αν παγώσεις ένα υγρό πολύ αργά, ένας κρύσταλλος θα αρχίσει να δημιουργείται, με το ίδιο ακριβώς μοτίβο να επαναλαμβάνεται παντού», υποστηρίζει. «Όταν όμως το υγρό παγώνει γρήγορα, δημιουργούνται ατέλειες στο μοτίβο. Κάποιες θεωρίες υποστηρίζουν πως αυτό δε διαφέρει για το ίδιο το Σύμπαν. Αν το υγρό παγώσει πολύ γρήγορα, το μοτίβο θα είναι ίδιο μόνο σε κοντινές, μικρές περιοχές, ενώ σε διαφορετικές περιοχές θα διαφέρει, δημιουργώντας ελαττώματα στον κρύσταλλο, όπως κόμπους και συγκεκριμένες υφές», προσθέτει.

Θεωρίες που ευελπιστούν να οδηγήσουν στην ενοποίηση των θεμελιωδών δυνάμεων, να λύσουν δηλαδή το μεγαλύτερο πρόβλημα της σύγχρονης φυσικής, προϋποθέτουν την ύπαρξη τέτοιων κόμπων στη δομή του Σύμπαντος. Η λάμψη την οποία λαμβάνουμε όμως, σύμφωνα με τα στοιχεία που παίρνουμε από το WMAP δε φαίνεται να ευνοεί την ύπαρξη πολλών τέτοιων υφών στο Σύμπαν. Οι επιστήμονες αναμένουν και τα πιο λεπτομερή στοιχεία από το διαστημικό τηλεσκόπιο Planck της ευρωπαϊκής υπηρεσίας διαστήματος που εκτοξεύτηκε το 2009 πριν καταλήξουν σε ασφαλές συμπέρασμα.
 

ΥπερΔέντρα...

Δεκαοχτώ τεχνητά «υπερδέντρα», τα οποία αποτελούν ουσιαστικά κατακόρυφους κήπους φιλοξενεί το πάρκο Gardens by the Bay στη Σιγκαπούρη.

Στις 29 Ιουνίου, όταν θα γίνουν τα εγκαίνια του πάρκου Gardens by the Bay στη Σιγκαπούρη, ένα από τα πιο εντυπωσιακά αξιοθέατα του πάρκου θα είναι το «μηχανικό δάσος» από τα 18 τεχνητά «υπερδέντρα» που φιλοξενεί. Aλλωστε, με το καθένα από τα τεχνητά δέντρα να ξεπερνά σε ύψος 50 μέτρα, το «μηχανικό δάσος» θα ξεχωρίζει μέρα και νύχτα από τις υπόλοιπες κατασκευές που βρίσκονται μέσα στο πάρκο.

Τα μηχανικά δέντρα όμως δεν δημιουργήθηκαν για λόγους αισθητικής. Αντίθετα, κατασκευασμένα από ατσάλι και τσιμέντο, αποτελούν ουσιαστικά κατακόρυφους κήπους, αφού πάνω τους αναπτύσσονται διάφορα είδη φυτών, ξεκινώντας από τα βάση των δέντρων και φτάνοντας μέχρι την κορυφή τους. Τα φυτά αυτά, πολλά από τα οποία είναι τροπικά ανθοφόρα είδη και φτέρες, δημιουργούν ένα τοπικό οικοσύστημα που, χάρις στο σχήμα του, επιτρέπει σε κάθε δέντρο να συλλέγει το νερό της βροχής, μειώνοντας έτσι το πόσιμο νερό που θα καταναλώνει το πάρκο.

Πάλι χάρις στο σχήμα του, κάθε δέντρο θα λειτουργεί σαν αεραγωγός, αφού θα δημιουργεί ένα καθοδικό ρεύμα αέρα που, βγαίνοντας από τη βάση του δέντρου, θα διατηρεί χαμηλή τη θερμοκρασία σε μία αρκετά μεγάλη περίμετρο γύρω από αυτό. Και με τη σκιά που θα δημιουργεί η κατασκευή, θα προσφέρει στους επισκέπτες του πάρκου ένα καταφύγιο από τον έντονη ηλιοφάνεια στην ασιατική χώρα.

Επιπλέον, το μηχανικό δάσος θα παράγει ένα σημαντικό ποσοστό του ρεύματος που καταναλώνει το πάρκο. Γι' αυτό τον λόγο, σε κάθε δέντρο είναι ενσωματωμένα φωτοβολταϊκά συστήματα που, κατά τη διάρκεια της ημέρας, θα μετατρέπουν το ηλιακό φως σε ηλεκτρική ενέργεια. Έτσι, ο φωτισμός του Gardens by the Bay, όπως και το σύστημα ανακύκλωσης νερού που αυτό χρησιμοποιεί, θα λειτουργούν χωρίς να προκαλούν την παραμικρή εκπομπή αερίων του θερμοκηπίου.

Σύμφωνα με τους σχεδιαστές του πάρκου, τα τεχνητά δέντρα αποτελούν ένα χαρακτηριστικό παράδειγμα για το πώς η τεχνολογία μπορεί να βοηθήσει τον άνθρωπο να συνυπάρξει αρμονικά με τη φύση. ʼλλωστε, στο Gardens by the Bay υπάρχουν επίσης δύο θερμοκήπια («βιοσυστήματα») τα οποία φιλοξενούν είδη τροπικών φυτών που δεν ενδημούν στη Σιγκαπούρη και γι' αυτό τον λόγο πρέπει να κλιματίζονται. Ωστόσο, τα συστήματα κλιματισμού έχουν σχεδιαστεί με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να μην επιβαρύνουν το περιβάλλον - για παράδειγμα, θα ηλεκτροδοτούνται από μία γεννήτρια η οποία θα παράγει ρεύμα από την άχρηστη βιομάζα.
 

Κβαντικές Μνήμες

Δύο ανεξάρτητες ομάδες φυσικών δημιούργησαν κβαντικές μνήμες στερεής κατάστασης (solid state), οι οποίες είναι δυνατό να αποθηκεύουν δεδομένα που ξεπερνάνε κατά πολύ τα μέχρι πρότινος επιτεύγματα των λίγων χιλιοστών του δευτερολέπτου. Η μία συσκευή, αναπτυγμένη στο πανεπιστήμιου Simon Fraser του Καναδά και σε συνεργασία με το πανεπιστήμιο της Οξφόρδης, είναι βασισμένη σε κρύσταλλο ενός ισοτόπου σιλικόνης και μπορεί να αποθηκεύει δεδομένα μέχρι και για 3 λεπτά. Η άλλη μνήμη, την οποία ανέπτυξαν ερευνητές του Harvard, χρησιμοποιεί ισότοπα άνθρακα επεξεργασμένα με άζωτο, πρόκειται δηλαδή για καθαρά διαμάντια και έχει χρόνο αποθήκευσης δεδομένων 1,4 δευτερολέπτων. Αν και οι επιδόσεις της δεύτερης μνήμης δεν ακούγονται τόσο εντυπωσιακές όσο της πρώτης, το ενδιαφέρον είναι πως λειτουργεί σε θερμοκρασία δωματίου, ενώ η μνήμη σιλικόνης πρέπει να ψυχθεί στους -271 βαθμούς Κελσίου, σχεδόν ως στο απόλυτο μηδέν, για να διατηρήσει τις ιδιότητές της.

Τα νέα αυτά δεδομένα είναι εξαιρετικά χρήσιμα για την πρόοδο των κβαντικών υπολογιστών, οι οποίοι θα μπορούν να χρησιμοποιούν τις αρχές της κβαντικής μηχανικής προκειμένου να κάνουν υπολογισμούς πολύ ταχύτερα από τους σημερινούς υπολογιστές. Όπως οι σύγχρονοι υπολογιστές εκτελούν υπολογισμούς και αποθηκεύουν δεδομένα χρησιμοποιώντας τα ψηφιακά bits, έτσι ο μελλοντικός κβαντικός υπολογιστής θα βασίζεται στα λεγόμενα qubits, τις κβαντικές μονάδες πληροφορίες που αποθηκεύονται σε κβαντικές μνήμες. Ο βασικός λόγος για τον οποίο είναι δύσκολο να εγγραφεί και να μείνει για μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα μια πληροφορία σε ένα qubit, είναι η αλληλεπίδραση του με το εξωτερικό περιβάλλον. Αυτό είναι ένα γνωστό πρόβλημα της κβαντικής μηχανικής, κατά το οποίο εάν ο παρατηρητής παρακολουθεί με κάθε λεπτομέρεια το πείραμα, επηρεάζει και το τελικό αποτέλεσμά του. Με πιο επιστημονικούς όρους, αυτό περιγράφεται ως η κατάρρευση της κυματοσυνάρτησης, ή αλλιώς η «αποσυνοχή» του συστήματος. Οι επιστήμονες ψάχνουν λοιπόν τρόπους, για να διατηρούν για όσο μεγαλύτερο διάστημα γίνεται προστατευμένες της κβαντικές μνήμες, όμως αργά η γρήγορα θα πρέπει να αλληλεπιδράσουν με το εξωτερικό τους περιβάλλον για να ανταλλάξουν πληροφορίες, κάτι που οδηγεί στην αποσυνοχή τους. Μία λύση είναι να επεξεργάζονται γρήγορα την αρχική πληροφορία σε ένα προσβάσιμο qubit, πριν τη μεταφέρουν σε ένα πιο απομονωμένο μακριά από εξωτερικές επιδράσεις.

Αν και μέχρι τώρα είχαν κατασκευαστεί κβαντικές μνήμες με ιόντα παγιδευμένα σε κενό οι οποίες μπορούσαν να αποθηκεύουν δεδομένα σε qubits για πολλά λεπτά, οι φυσικοί πιστεύουν πως οποιαδήποτε πρακτική συσκευή κβαντικού υπολογισμού πρέπει να βασίζεται σε μνήμες στερεής κατάστασης, ώστε να μπορεί να ενσωματωθεί με τα σύγχρονα ηλεκτρονικά. Ο ελάχιστος απαραίτητος χρόνος για τον οποίο μια μνήμη θα πρέπει να μπορεί να αποθηκεύει δεδομένα ώστε να υπάρχει περιθώριο επεξεργασίας και αντιγραφής τους, ορίζεται περίπου στο ένα δευτερόλεπτο. Έτσι, οι ανακαλύψεις αυτές αναμένεται να δώσουν μεγάλη ώθηση στην έρευνα για την ανάπτυξη του πρώτου ολοκληρωμένου κβαντικού υπολογιστή.

Γράμματα στον αδελφό του Θεόδωρο...

http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=nl


Συγγραφέας: Βίνσεντ Βαν Γκογκ (Vincent Van Gogh)

Μετάφραση: Σπύρος Σκιαδαρέσης

Εκδόσεις: Γκοβόστης, 1990 Σελίδες:295

.....Σαν εκείνους τους ολόλαμπρους κόκκινους, κίτρινους ήλιους που τόσο συχνά βλέπουμε στο απέραντο έργο του, έτσι κι η Μεγαλοφυΐα του Βικέντιου Βαν Γκογκ προβάλλει μέσ απ’ τα "Γράμματα", ωραία, αδρή και άτρωτη. Εδώ υπάρχει μονάχα ο Καλλιτέχνης που, απ τα πρώτα του βήματα, ξέρει τι θέλει, ξέρει τι ζητάει και προπάντων πώς να το πετύχει. Με μιαν αδάμαστη θέληση, με μια επιμονή χαλύβδινη, με μια διορατικότητα που μονάχα οι "από Θεού" διαθέτουν, ανεβαίνει το δύσκολο δρόμο του, σίγουρος για τη δουλειά του, βέβαιος για τη δόξα και την αθανασία. Κρατώντας για τον εαυτό του το ραβδί του αναχωρητή και το ξερό ψωμί και τα ξυλοπάπουτσα του χωριάτη, χαρίζει τους θησαυρούς της ψυχής και της τέχνης του σ όσους μπορούν να το καταλάβουν και να νιώσουν τον ανασασμό των δέντρων και τη θλίψη της φτωχικής καλύβας. Και δω, στα "Γράμματά" του, μια καλλιτεχνική ψυχή δείχνει όλο το θεϊκό μεγαλείο της.....

(Από το οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)

Βιογραφικό σημείωμα: Ο Βίνσεντ Βαν Γκογκ γεννήθηκε στο ολλανδικό χωριό Ζούντερτ (Zundert) και ήταν ο πρωτότοκος από τα συνολικά οκτώ παιδιά της οικογένειάς του, γιος του πάστορα Θεόδωρου Βαν Γκογκ. Ήδη από τα πολύ νεανικά του χρόνια παρουσίασε τάσεις μελαγχολίας και πρώιμα ψυχολογικά προβλήματα.

Σε ηλικία 16 ετών και αφού είχε ήδη καταπιαστεί χωρίς επιτυχία με αρκετά επαγγέλματα, ασχολήθηκε για ένα διάστημα με το εμπόριο έργων τέχνης, στην εταιρεία Goupilator & Company, όπου τον επόμενο χρόνο προσελήφθη και ο αδελφός του Τεό Βαν Γκογκ (Theo van Gogh). Το 1873, η εταιρεία τον μεταθέτει στο Λονδίνο και αργότερα στο Παρίσι. Την περίοδο αυτή, εντείνεται το ενδιαφέρον του για τη θρησκεία, επηρεασμένος εμφανώς και από την ιδιότητα του πατέρα του. Αφού απολύεται από την εργασία του το 1876, επιστρέφει στο Άμστερνταμ για να σπουδάσει θεολογία. Οι σπουδές του διαρκούν για περίπου ένα έτος και το 1878 του ανατίθεται μία θέση ιεροκήρυκα στο Βέλγιο και συγκεκριμένα στην υποβαθμισμένη περιοχή Μπορινάζ, όπου λειτουργεί ορυχείο. Ο Βαν Γκογκ κηρύττει για περίπου έξι μήνες επιδεικνύοντας ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον για την ένδεια των ανθρώπων της περιοχής. Αυτή είναι και η περίοδος κατά την οποία ξεκινά να σχεδιάζει μικρά έργα και πιθανόν αποφασίζει να ασχοληθεί με την τέχνη.

Το 1880, σε ηλικία 27 ετών, ξεκινά να παρακολουθεί τα πρώτα του μαθήματα ζωγραφικής, ωστόσο σύντομα έρχεται σε ρήξη με τον δάσκαλό του, Αντόν Μωβ (Anton Mauve), γύρω από καλλιτεχνικά ζητήματα. Τα επόμενα χρόνια δημιουργεί έργα κυρίως επηρεασμένα από τη ζωγραφική του Ζαν Φρανσουά Μιλλέ (Jean-François Millet), με θέμα ανθρώπους του μόχθου, ενώ ταξιδεύει στην ολλανδική επαρχία ζωγραφίζοντας θέματα που εμπνέεται από αυτή. Το χειμώνα του 1885, παρακολουθεί μαθήματα στην Ακαδημία της Αντβέρπης, τα οποία όμως διακόπτονται πολύ σύντομα αφού αποβάλλεται από τον καθηγητή της ακαδημίας Ευγένιο Σιμπέρ (Eugene Siberdt). Παρά το γεγονός αυτό, ο Βαν Γκογκ προλαβαίνει να έρθει σε επαφή με την ιαπωνική τέχνη από την οποία και δανείζεται στοιχεία ή πολλές φορές μιμείται την τεχνοτροπία της. Αρκετές από τις προσωπογραφίες του, περιλαμβάνουν για φόντο κάποιο έργο ιαπωνικής τέχνης.

Την άνοιξη του 1886 επισκέπτεται το Παρίσι όπου ζει με τον αδελφό του — επιτυχημένο πλέον έμπορο τέχνης — στην περιοχή της Μονμάρτης, κέντρο της καλλιτεχνικής δραστηριότητας. Κατά την παραμονή του, έρχεται σε επαφή με τους ιμπρεσιονιστές Έντγκαρ Ντεγκά, Καμίλ Πισάρο, Πωλ Γκωγκέν και Τουλούζ Λωτρέκ. Επηρεάζεται σημαντικά από το κίνημα του ιμπρεσιονισμού και ειδικότερα σε ότι αφορά τη χρήση του χρώματος. Χρησιμοποιεί συχνά τεχνικές των ιμπρεσιονιστών αλλά διαμόρφωσε παράλληλα και ένα προσωπικό ύφος, το οποίο διακρίνεται από την χρήση συμπληρωματικών χρωμάτων που οι ιμπρεσιονιστές αποφεύγουν, με άλλα λόγια μπορεί κανείς να πει ο Βαν Γκογκ πατά με το ένα πόδι στον ιμπρεσιονισμό και με τα άλλο στον εξπρεσιονισμό.

Δύο χρόνια αργότερα, το 1888, ο Βαν Γκογκ εγκαταλείπει το Παρίσι και επισκέπτεται τη νότια Γαλλία και την περιοχή της Προβηγκίας. Υπάρχουν αναφορές πως εκεί εμπνέεται από το τοπίο καθώς και την αγροτική ζωή των κατοίκων, θέματα τα οποία προσπαθεί να αποδώσει και στη ζωγραφική του. Την περίοδο αυτή, επινοεί και μία ιδιαίτερη τεχνική των στροβιλισμάτων με το πινέλο ενώ στους πίνακές του κυριαρχούν έντονα χρώματα, όπως κίτρινο, πράσινο και μπλε, με χαρακτηριστικά δείγματα τα έργα Έναστρη νύχτα και μία σειρά πινάκων που απεικονίζουν ηλιοτρόπια. Το έργο Κόκκινο αμπέλι αυτής της περιόδου είναι επίσης το μοναδικό έργο που λέγεται ότι κατάφερε να πουλήσει, αν και η αλήθεια είναι άλλη, αφού ο αδελφός του βλέποντας τον διακαή πόθο του αδελφού του να πουλήσει έργα, φαίνεται να του είπε ψέματα πως το έργο πουλήθηκε. Κατά το διάστημα της παραμονής του στην Αρλ, δέχεται και την επίσκεψη του ζωγράφου Γκωγκέν. Ωστόσο, μετά από λίγους μήνες, οι δυο τους διαφωνούν έντονα και λόγω της ασταθούς ψυχικής του υγείας, ο Βαν Γκογκ κόβει μέρος του αριστερού του αυτιού καταλήγοντας στο νοσοκομείο της περιοχής.

Το 1889 εισάγεται στο ψυχιατρικό κέντρο του μοναστηριού του Αγίου Παύλου στον Σαιν Ρεμύ, όπου και παραμένει συνολικά για ένα περίπου χρόνο πάσχοντας από κατάθλιψη. Κατά την παραμονή του εκεί, συνεχίζει να ζωγραφίζει. Τον Μάιο του 1890 εγκαταλείπει την ψυχιατρική κλινική και ζει για ένα διάστημα σε μία περιοχή κοντά στο Παρίσι, όπου παρακολουθείται από τον γιατρό Πωλ Γκασέ, στον οποίο είχε συστήσει τον Βαν Γκογκ ο ζωγράφος Καμίλ Πισάρο. Στο διάστημα που παρακολουθείται ιατρικά, ο βαν Γκογκ παράγει ένα μόνο έργο, που αποτελεί προσωπογραφία του Γκασέ.

Τον Ιούλιο του 1890, ο Βαν Γκογκ εμφανίζει συμπτώματα έντονης κατάθλιψης και τελικά αυτοπυροβολείται στο στήθος στις 27 Ιουλίου ενώ πεθαίνει δύο ημέρες αργότερα. Πιθανόν το τελευταίο έργο αυτού του μεγάλου καλλιτέχνη είναι ο πίνακας Σταροχώραφο με κοράκια ένα έργο που κυριαρχεί το κίτρινο του θέρους που σε συνδυασμό με το έντονο μπλε του ουρανού δημιουργούν μια εκρηκτική ατμόσφαιρα.

Μετά το θάνατο του Βαν Γκογκ, η φήμη του εξαπλώθηκε ραγδαία, με αποκορύφωμα μεγάλες εκθέσεις έργων του που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στο Παρίσι (1901), το Άμστερνταμ (1905), την Κολονία (1912), τη Νέα Υόρκη (1913) και το Βερολίνο (1914).

Συνολικά δημιούργησε σε διάστημα περίπου δέκα ετών περισσότερα από 800 πίνακες και 1000 μικρότερα σχέδια. Σώζεται ακόμα εκτενής αλληλογραφία του με τον αδελφό του, που περιλαμβάνει περισσότερα από 700 γράμματα. Έξι μήνες μετα το θάνατό του πέθανε και ο αδελφός του.

(πηγές: Βικιπαίδεια, “Βαν Γκογκ” Μελίσα ΜακΚουίλαν, εκδόσεις Υποδομή, Αθήνα 1994)
 

Incredible Beauty

The harsh sun, waterless dunes and spectacular, stark forms created by mountains of sand swirling in the wind are seen as inspirations of incredible beauty by architects Francisco J. del Corral del Campos and Carmen M. Barrós Velásquez, both of Granada, Spain. The two celebrate this landscape and respond to its demands in their new skyscraper design for a greenhouse tower in the Oman desert.

The architects literally cast their idea for the “Oasis” tower into the wind to help define its shape. By examining the effect of the site’s southeast wind on a tower, they designed the building to respond to the wind’s movement, its sweeping flow, by softly curving its form as it arches into the sky.

Solar energy and biogas generation from organic waste material will power the tower’s energy needs, and water from the ocean will be transported and desalinated to provide the drinking water and irrigation supply. Additionally, gray water is reused to cool the building and the surrounding environment through a spray process that creates a cooling vapor around the building.

The tower, which is easily replicated as a model that can be placed all over desert areas, will house about 500 people, who will mainly work to raise the agricultural products grown inside. In addition to housing and greenhouse space for growing, the complex will have a market and packaging, processing and storage facilities for the crops, a manmade lake for recreation and a fish farm, additional leisure space, and offices.

Whether it’s midnight at the Oasis or noon in the blistering sun, this tower’s residents will stay cool, productive and secure in this innovative commercial and residential endeavor.

the Aura of an Unusual Sculpture

A new performing arts center, designed by the Paris-based architecture firm Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, aims to become the new architectural icon for the city of Ashkelon. According to Gautrand, the aim was to create a festive and lively place. A large open space was positioned at the top of the building. It will facilitate exhibitions and temporary installations. This informal space will also offer dazzling views of the sea and the surrounding area, revealing the overall design concept- integration with the city.

The exterior of the structure resembles a collection of boxes, covered with perforated metallic sheeting that will lend the building the aura of an unusual sculpture. Gautrand chose to build the classrooms and workshops on top of each other, and imbue the spaces with a feeling of volume that is visible from the outside.

Ashkelon’s future arts center is the latest in a long line of public and private projects currently being planned in the country by foreign architects, among them the new Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design’s campus in Jerusalem, a residential tower on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and the Safra Center for Brain Sciences building at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Givat Ram campus.

Historic Wine

The building which will house the future Bordeaux Centre of Wine Culture and Tourism is a giant whirlpool, a decanter shaped by the undulating movement of wine being poured into a glass. Designed in the cooperation between the French architectural firm X-TU Architects and the British Casson Mann, the Cultural Center aims to be a major institution dedicated to the culture and diversity of wine.

Located on the banks of the Garonne river, in the wake of the historic wine trade, the 47 meters high building occupies 10.000 square meters plot. Nearly 4.000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibition spaces also contain tasting „poly-sensory“ rooms facing the river and overlooking the town and the vineyard. With its wooden structure, the building seeks to honor the sensory experience and flexibility of wine.

“Bordeaux… for millennia a port town benefiting from cultural exchange, trade and the perpetual outreach towards distant civilisations and cultures. Through the Centre Culturel et Touristique du Vin project we celebrate the past while looking towards the future. The city of Bordeaux cements its place as the natural gateway to the global civilisation of wine” said Prince Robert of Luxembourg, President and CEO of the family firm and great grandson of its founder, Mr Clarence Dillon.

garbage Crisis

World's city dwellers 'face garbage crisis'

WASHINGTON — The world's city dwellers are fast producing more and more trash in a "looming crisis" that will pose huge financial and environmental burdens, the World Bank is warning.

Urban specialists said the growing pile of trash from urban dwellers is as daunting as global warming and the costs will be especially high in poor countries, mainly in Africa.

In a report on "a relatively silent problem that is growing daily," released on Wednesday, the World Bank estimated city dwellers will generate a waste pile of 2.2 billion tonnes a year by 2025, up 70 percent from today's level of 1.3 billion tonnes.

In the meantime, the cost of solid waste management is projected to soar to $375 billion a year, from the current $205 billion.

Billing the report, "What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management" as the first worldwide comprehensive look at trash, the World Bank warned the data points to crisis ahead, as living standards rise and urban populations soar.

"The challenges surrounding municipal solid waste are going to be enormous, on a scale of, if not greater than, the challenges we are currently experiencing with climate change," said Dan Hoornweg, a senior urban specialist at the development lender and co-author of the report.

"This report should be seen as a giant wake-up call to policy makers everywhere," he said.

China, which eclipsed the United States as the world's largest waste maker in 2004, generates 70 percent of the trash in the East Asia-Pacific region.

China, other parts of East Asia, and parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East have the fastest-growing production of municipal solid waste.

The World Bank economists called for better waste management and recycling to combat greenhouse gas emissions, saying the old concept of "throwing away" trash no longer works.

"In solid waste management there is no 'away,'" the authors said.

"When 'throwing away' waste, system complexities and the integrated nature of materials and pollution are quickly apparent."

The report's authors recommended a waste management plan that includes input from all of a city's stakeholders, including citizen groups and the poor and disadvantaged.

The report also pointed to recycling and other measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that come from inefficient solid waste management practices.

"Improving solid waste management, especially in the rapidly growing cities of low-income countries, is becoming a more and more urgent issue," said Rachel Kyte, vice president, Sustainable Development at the World Bank.

"The findings of this report are sobering," she said.

"But they also offer hope that once the extent of this issue is recognized, local and national leaders, as well as the international community, will mobilize to put in place programs to reduce, reuse, recycle, or recover as much waste as possible before burning it -- and recovering the energy -- or otherwise disposing of it."
 

to Contribute to Science

Science only knows one commandment: contribute to science. This line, spoken by the title character in Bertolt Brecht's The Life of Galileo, inspired the title of this collection of science writing by 59 diverse authors. Most of the pieces collected by editor Edmund Blair Bolles are excerpted from texts by working scientists or natural philosophers, including George Smoot of NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer to Lucretius. Marie Curie's joy on seeing the lovely, glowing bottles of impure radium in her workroom at night is just one of the vivid images to be extracted from this volume, though with far less effort than the radium cost the Curies...

Marie Curie reminisces about her and her husband's efforts to isolate the element radium. Herodotus observes the Nile Valley and concludes that it was once under water. Carl Sagan argues against assertions that aliens regularly visit Earth. These are among the literary gems...

Edmund Blair Bolles includes in GALILEO'S COMMANDMENT. Bolles has scoured the literature of science to build a treasury that is accessible and riveting, appealing to readers unfamiliar with science yet erudite enough for the scientifically initiated reader to enjoy. The authors include scientists well-known for their writing - including Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Feynman and Charles Darwin - and scientists such as Kepler, James Clerk Maxwell, Alfred Wallace, and of course Galileo himself. The writings here span time and the scientific disciplines (the earliest pieces dates to c.444 BC) and the result is a fascinating collection , ideal for browsing or for reading cover to cover...

Χαρτογραφίες

http://www.maplibrary.gr/TheCentre_el.htm

Το Εθνικό Κέντρο Χαρτών και Χαρτογραφικής Κληρονομιάς (ΕΚΕΧΧΑΚ) - Εθνική Χαρτοθήκη 
είναι κοινωφελές, μη κερδοσκοπικό, μερικά αυτοχρηματοδοτούμενο, με κύριους σκοπούς του την ανάπτυξη και διάδοση της χαρτογραφίας και των χαρτών στον πολιτισμό, την εκπαίδευση, την καθημερινή ζωή και τη διοίκηση. Ασχολείται επίσης  με τη σύνταξη ψηφιακού αρχείου χαρτών και με την ανάπτυξη των νέων ψηφιακών τεχνολογιών πληροφόρησης και επικοινωνίας και την παροχή τεχνογνωσίας. Μέσα για την επίτευξη των σκοπών του είναι οι εκθέσεις, οι εκδόσεις σε έντυπη και ψηφιακή μορφή, τα σεμινάρια και οι συναφείς εθνικές και διεθνείς δραστηριότητες και συνεργασίες. Συμβάλει στην ανάπτυξη και διάδοση της πολιτιστικής, εκπαιδευτικής, κοινωνικής, καλλιτεχνικής, επιστημονικής και τεχνολογικής διάστασης της Χαρτογραφίας και των Χαρτών, σε μια κοινωνία βασισμένη στη γνώση, την πληροφορία και την επικοινωνία, με μέσα τις νέες τεχνολογίες και τις σύγχρονες ψηφιακές προσεγγίσεις στην εθνική και παγκόσμια Χαρτογραφική Κληρονομιά.

Με την τροποποίηση του ιδρυτικού νόμου το 2006 προστέθηκαν μια σειρά σκοπών ευρωπαϊκού περιεχομένου. Μεταξύ άλλων η παροχή και διάδοση της πληροφόρησης που παρέχεται από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (Ε.Ε.) στην Ελλάδα,  η διοργάνωση εκδηλώσεων, όπως σεμιναρίων, διαλέξεων, ημερίδων, εκθέσεων, συνεδρίων, παιχνιδιών και καλλιτεχνικών εκδηλώσεων, για την ενημέρωση και την ευαισθητοποίηση των πολιτών και των τοπικών φορέων σχετικά με γενικά ευρωπαϊκά θέματα, η μεταφορά στις αρμόδιες ελληνικές αρχές και στα όργανα της Ε.Ε. των προβληματισμών των τοπικών κοινωνιών για θέματα ευρωπαϊκού ενδιαφέροντος, η ανάθεση και η εκπόνηση μελετών, καθώς και η παροχή υπηρεσιών, κ.ά.
Το Κέντρο συνεργάζεται με συλλέκτες χαρτών και με φορείς που διαθέτουν συλλογές. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, η Εθνική Χαρτοθήκη ψηφιοποιεί και τεκμηριώνει στην ψηφιακή χαρτοθήκη της τους χάρτες μεγάλων συλλογών:Μέχρι σήμερα έχει συνεργαστεί με φορείς όπως η Αγιορειτική Χαρτοθήκη, το Ελληνικό Λογοτεχνικό και Ιστορικό Αρχείο (ΕΛΙΑ), ο Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης (Αντιδημαρχία Αρχιτεκτονικού και Τοπογραφίας) και ιδιωτικές συλλογές.Επιπλέον, στο Κέντρο τεκμηριώνονται ηλεκτρονικά, σε ψηφιακά αρχεία και οι σημαντικότεροι χάρτες της Ιστορίας της Χαρτογραφίας, ώστε να είναι δυνατή η άμεση ανεύρεσή τους από ενδιαφερόμενους μελετητές και ερευνητές.

a Human Scale Library

The Heart of the Metropolis is a proposal for a new central library in the city of Helsinki. The building takes its inspiration from the city and nearby surroundings. It is a volume shooting out from the ground, like many other places in Helsinki rocks naturally appear as popping out in the city centre.

The building is interacting with people on a human scale, by making it possible for people to walk on top of the sloped roof. The sloped roof drags the surrounding park on top of the building, and connects the building with its surroundings. The building is pointed towards the surrounding parkland and the bay, which gives a great view from the inside and from the roof.

The building is equipped with double skin facades which are part of an advanced hybrid ventilation system, that will ensure a low energy performance and a good indoor climate. The double skin facade keeps the building as transparent as possible to have an open building with good light conditions and respecting its context. The sloped roof is facing south and has installed 500m2 of solar cells that will contribute to keep the energy performance as low as possible.

The concept for the floor plans is, instead of having a traditional atrium, to have an inverted atrium. This means that the floor plans will be offset from the facades. This creates the feeling of one big connected open space. The ground floor is offset from the facade as well and this adds a good spatial quality to the basement, because the light then will be dragged down into the basement as well as the other upper floor plans.

The project is a master thesis project by Sonny Holmberg and Luke Lorimer developed at the AD:MT at Aalborg University, Denmark.
 

Violin and Palette

Violin and Palette (Violon et palette), September 1, 1909. Oil on canvas, 36 1/8 x 16 7/8 inches (91.7 x 42.8 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York  54.1412. © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
Other Cubist Works

When Georges Braque abandoned a bright Fauve palette and traditional perspective in 1908, it was the inspiration of Paul Cézanne's geometrized compositions that led him to simplified faceted forms, flattened spatial planes, and muted colors. By the end of that year, Braque and Pablo Picasso, who first met in 1907, began to compare the results of their techniques and it became obvious to both artists that they had simultaneously and independently invented a revolutionary style of painting, later dubbed "Cubism" by Guillaume Apollinaire. During the next few years the new style blossomed with stunning rapidity from its initial formative stage to high Analytic Cubism. The hallmarks of this advanced phase, so-called for the "breaking down" or "analysis" of form and space, are seen in an extraordinary pair of pendant works, Violin and Palette (Violon et palette, 1909–10) and Piano and Mandola (Piano et mandore, 1909–10).

Objects are still recognizable in the paintings, but are fractured into multiple facets, as is the surrounding space with which they merge. The compositions are set into motion as the eye moves from one faceted plane to the next, seeking to differentiate forms and to accommodate shifting sources of light and orientation. In Violin and Palette, the segmented parts of the violin, the sheets of music, and the artist's palette are vertically arranged, heightening their correspondence to the two-dimensional surface. Ironically, Braque depicted the nail at the top of the canvas in an illusionistic manner, down to the very shadow it cast, thus emphasizing the contrast between traditional and Cubist modes of representation. The same applies to the naturalistic candle in Piano and Mandola, which serves as a beacon of stability in an otherwise energized composition of exploding crystalline forms: the black-and-white piano keys all but disembodied; the sheets of music virtually disintegrated; the mandola essentially decomposed.

"When fragmented objects appeared in my painting around 1909," Braque later explained, "it was a way for me to get as close as possible to the object as painting allowed."1 If the appeal of still life was its implied tactile qualities, as Braque noted, then musical instruments held even more significance in that they are animated by one's touch. Like the rhythms and harmonies that are the life of musical instruments, dynamic spatial movement is the essence of Braque's lyrical Cubist paintings.

solid Earth...

As the premier international newspaper of the Earth and space sciences, Eos seeks to forge strong interdisciplinary ties among geophysicists and place the important contributions of geophysics in the context of the social and policy-making arenas.

More than 61,000 Earth and space scientists worldwide rely on Eos for timely articles that offer solid overviews of topics central to broad research questions; updates on major projects and programs; news items; meeting summaries; opinion pieces; book reviews; and announcements of job opportunities, grants, and fellowships. In addition, Eos provides information about AGU's policies, programs, services, and products.

Eos covers the broad spectrum of geophysics topics: solid Earth sciences, oceans, atmospheres, biospheres, freshwater, space science, history of the geosciences, and education, among others. Published every Tuesday except for the last Tuesday of the year, Eos is distributed by mail in the US and is available online to all AGU members.

...his Opera, Taras Bulba

Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912--sometimes transliterated as Nikolai or Nicolai Lysenko or Lissenko) is considered the father of Ukrainian chamber music much the way that Glinka is for the Russians. He was the first Ukrainian composer to write chamber music. In 1904, he founded the first music conservatory in the Ukraine in Kiev, which today bears his name. Lysenko was born in the Poltava district of the Ukraine. He first studied piano with his mother, then formally with teachers in Kiev. After taking a degree in the natural sciences at the University of Kiev, he attended the world famous Leipzig Conservatory where he studied composition with Carl Reinecke.

An admirer of the Ukrainian poet Shevchenko, Lysenko became a nationalist for the Ukrainian cause as a student. He remained one for his entire life and was imprisoned for the cause as late as 1907 after composing a song in support of the Revolution of 1905. The bulk of Lysenko's music is for piano or for voice in one form or another such as opera, hymns, or chorales. His piano music often shows the influence of Chopin whereas his vocal music is almost always based on Ukrainian folk music such as his opera Taras Bulba. Lysenko spent considerable time trying to demonstrate the differences between Ukrainian and Russian folk melody. The only chamber music he is known to have composed is this string quartet and a string trio.

The quartet dates from 1868 when Lysenko was finishing his studies with Reinecke in Leipzig. The big, opening movement, Allegro non tanto, begins in a rather dramatic, somewhat operatic fashion. The themes bear some resemblance to those of Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmilla. Despite the movement's length, the drama and forward motion are almost never relaxed. The simple but charming melody of the following Adagio is in the form of a chorale. The manuscript only has three movements and it is not known whether there was a fourth movement or whether the third movement was meant as the finale. It is an engaging Minuetto, allegretto scherzando.

A collected edition of Lysenko's works, including this quartet, was published in 70 volumes between 1950 and 1959, however, a performance edition of the parts and score were never separately published. Our World Premiere Edition has been carefully edited and corrected by Loren Silvertrust from a copy of the original manuscript located in Kiev, Ukraine. Like all of our works, it is printed on top grade paper with an ornate cover and biographical information about the composer.
 

manmade Wings

Serving as a monument and memorial to the UAE’s founding President Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Zayed National Museum will be a focal point of the emerging Saadiyat Island Cultural District. All aspects of the Museum, from architectural design to museum exhibit themes were conceived to reflect the life and values of the late Sheikh Zayed.

The Museum’s striking wing shaped towers were designed to evoke thoughts of a flying falcon to pay homage to Sheikh Zayed’s love of falconry. They act as thermal towers, an integral part of the natural cooling system that draw hot air up and out creating a low pressure flow of cool air from outside in through the museum. This system will cut down on climate control costs and reduce environmental impact, in line with Sheikh Zayed’s advocacy of environmental friendliness. The wing towers will also hold the museum galleries in their bases.

The wings will shoot out of a manmade 30 meter high earth mound, which will house the underground lobby area complete with retail, open performance areas, dining and an auditorium. The underground lobby will take advantage of the thermal effect of the earth, further reducing climate control costs. The entire museum will be surrounded by a body of water to create a distinct cultural landmark amongst many planned for the Cultural District on Saadiyat Island.

The Foster + Partners design is the first of four major art and history centers to be realized in the Cultural District. Frank Ghery’s Guggenheim Museum, Zaha Hadid’s Performing Arts Center, and Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhab are all planned to join the Zayed National Museum over the next five years. The Museum has been under construction since Fall of 2010, and is planned to be completed by 2014.

to Breath...

Για να Ζήσει ο Κόσμος
Αλέξανδρος Σμέμαν

.....Μετάφρασα το βιβλίο αυτό επειδή καταγίνεται με τον κόσμο. Κόσμο λέγοντας εννοώ ολόκληρο το φυσικό σύμπαν. Και σήμερα περισσότερο από κάθε άλλη φορά ο κόσμος ή η οικουμένη, όπως λέγανε άλλοτε το γνωστό κόσμο, ή ο πλανήτης (και οι άλλοι πλανήτες) συγκεντρώνει ολόκληρη την προσοχή του ανθρώπου, αφήνοντας περιθώρια μετρημένα για αναζητήσεις με διαφορετική κατεύθυνση - δηλαδή αναζητήσεις με κατεύθυνση, όχι προς τον κόσμο ή προς τα έξω, αλλά προς τον άνθρωπο ή προς τα μέσα. Στις περιοχές όπου ζούμε τέτοια κατεύθυνση προς τα μέσα έδωσε στον άνθρωπο ο Χριστιανισμός και, πριν από το Χριστιανισμό, η Αρχαία Ελλάδα με το στόμα του Θουκυδίδη που βεβαίωνε πως δε θα σταματήσουν ποτέ τα ανθρώπινα δεινά, πολλά και χαλεπά γινόμενα μεν και αιεί εσόμενα, όσο θα δοκιμάζομε να αλλάξουμε τον κόσμο -Μαρξ- αφήνοντας απείραχτο τον άνθρωπο (έως αν η αυτή φύσις ανθρώπων η). Σε άλλες περιοχές την ίδια κατεύθυνση ή αναζήτηση προς τα μέσα έδωσαν οι άλλες σεβάσμιες πνευματικές παραδόσεις όσες αφήσανε αχνάρια ή εξακολουθούν να υπάρχουν στις μέρες μας -να αριθμούν δηλαδή πιστούς- και στις πέντε ηπείρους. Τα πραχτικά αποτελέσματα από τις διδασκαλίες αυτές, μέσα σε τόσους αιώνες, τελικά στάθηκαν πενιχρά και, μπροστά στα τόσα μαθήματα, θα μπορούσε κανένας δίκαια να αναρωτηθεί με τον ποιητή: "Οι άνθρωποι δεν ακούνε;". Θα μπορούσε ακόμα κανένας να αναρωτηθεί και ποια θα ήταν ενδεχόμενα η κατάσταση του κόσμου δίχως τις διδασκαλίες αυτές. [...]

(από τον πρόλογο του Ζήσιμου Λορεντζάτου

Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь

Pskov-Caves Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (Russian: Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь, Estonian: Petseri klooster) is a Russian Orthodox male monastery, located in Pechory, Pskov Oblast in Russia, just a few kilometers from the Estonian border.

The monastery was founded in the mid-15th century, when the first hermits settled in local caves. The first cave Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (церковь Успения Богородицы) was built in 1473 (its modern facade was constructed in the 18th century).

Ivan the Terrible's repentance: he asks the hegumen (father superior) Cornelius of the Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery to let him take the tonsure at his monastery. Painting by Klavdy Lebedev.
After the monastery had been destroyed by the Livonian feudals, it was rebuilt by a Pskovian dyak Mikhail Munekhin-Misyur in 1519. A posad (settlement) was built next to the monastery, which would later grow into a town. In 1550s-1560s, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery and its posad were surrounded by a wall with towers (eventually, these fortifications were rebuilt in 1701).

The monastery became an important outpost for defending the western border of Russia. In 1581–1582, it withstood the siege laid by Stefan Batory’s army. In 1611–1616, the monastery repelled the attack of the Polish army led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Aleksander Józef Lisowski and Swedish army led by Gustav II Adolf.

Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery lost its importance after the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. In 1920–1944, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery belonged to Estonia. The monastery was one of the few acting male monasteries in the USSR, having been saved from destruction by Pechory being Estonian territory before World War II. In Soviet times, famous Russian mystic Sampson Sievers briefly lived and served in the monastery.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union the monastery has flourished. Currently the monastic community numbers over 90 who through their pastoral labors live the tradition of asceticism and eldership as witnessed recently by the Archimandrite John (Krestiankin). In 2003 the monastery marked the 530th anniversary of its existence.

Pskov-Caves Monastery is one of the rare Russian monasteries that hasn't been closed in any moment of its history even during World War II and Soviet regime.

ΠΡΟΤΑΣΗ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΥ

Σχεδόν Άγιοι
αρχιμ. Τύχωνας Σεβκούνωφ
η Ρωσία του Χθες και του Σήμερα

Jagielloński...Matejko...

The Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński, often shortened to UJ; historical names: Latin: Studium Generale, University of Kraków, Kraków Academy, The Main Crown School, Main School of Kraków) was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz (district of Kraków). It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world. Positioned byTimes Higher Education Supplement,QS World University Rankings and ARWU as the best Polish university among the world's top 500.

The university fell upon hard times when the occupation of Kraków by Austria-Hungary during the Partitions of Poland threatened its existence. In 1817, soon after the creation of the Duchy of Warsaw the university was renamed as Jagiellonian University to commemorate Poland's Jagiellonian dynasty, which first revived the Kraków University in the past.In 2006, The Times Higher Education Supplement ranked Jagiellonian University as Poland's top university.In the mid-14th century, King Casimir III of Poland realized that the nation needed a class of educated people, especially lawyers, who could codify the country's laws and administer the courts and offices. His efforts to found an institution of higher learning in Poland were rewarded when Pope Urban V granted him permission to set up an academy in Kraków. A royal charter of foundation was issued on 12 May 1364, and a simultaneous document was issued by the City Council granting privileges to the Studium Generale. The King provided funding for one chair in liberal arts, two in Medicine, three in Canon Law and five in Roman Law, funded by a quarterly payment taken from the proceeds of the royal monopoly on the salt mines at Wieliczka.

The Cracow Academy's development stalled upon the death of King Casimir, but the institution was re-founded in 1400 by King Władysław Jagiełło and his wife Saint Jadwiga, the daughter of the King Louis of Hungary and Poland. The queen donated all of her personal jewelry to the academy, allowing it to enrol 203 students. The faculties of astronomy, law and theology attracted eminent scholars: for example, John Cantius, Stanisław of Skarbimierz, Paweł Włodkowic, Jan of Głogów, and Albert Brudzewski, who from 1491 to 1495 was one of Nicolaus Copernicus's teachers. The university was the first university in Europe to establish independent chairs in Mathematics and Astronomy.

an Atmospheric Capture to H2O

Designed as a proposal for the Taichung Gateway City Project, the Skywater Tower deals with issues of water production. While many countries already face the water crisis, Taiwan is ironically the second nation in terms of annual rainfall. However, the country’s steep topography leaves its tropical and subtropical zones surprisingly dry and with the soil unable to retain water. The shortage has become more severe in the last years, impacting individuals, agriculture and industries.

Drawing from a long tradition of researching water harvesting techniques, Atelier CMJN has designed an architectural object which also acts as an atmospheric water generator. The principle is the following: water vapor is condensed by cooling the air below its dew point or pressurizing it. Sun and/or wind are used to provide power for refrigeration. Refrigerated panels capture moisture. The verticality of the building enhances the ability to harvest more powerful winds in order to provide more water.

The new tower design is based on water production principles, but is also in line with Taiwanese cultural values. With its hydrodynamic shape, the structure is a landmark that contributes to its environment. The proposal envisions clusters of such water harvesting objects, optimally positioned within cities. They act as both urban attractors and plants, contributing to raising awareness about the water shortage issues.

if Bird...or Devil...!!

Έντγκαρ Άλαν Πόε (Edgar Allan Poe): "Το κοράκι"

Μια πολύ ατμοσφαιρική απαγγελία

Το πρωτότυπο :

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore

Διαβάζοντας Braille...

Ο φτωχός Νεφέρ Φαραωνικό παραμύθι

Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό ζούσε ένας φτωχός καλός άνθρωπος, ο Νεφέρ. Συνήθιζε να πηγαίνει στο κυνήγι, που του άρεσε πολύ. Σκαρφαλωμένος στις χουρμαδιές περίμενε να πλησιάσει κάποιο ζώο στη λίμνη να πιει νερό για να το σκοτώσει με τα βέλη του. Ζέβρες και γαζέλες έρχονταν πρωί-πρωί να ξεδιψάσουν. Και πραγματικά χτυπά με τα βέλη του μια γαζέλα και την σκοτώνει. Πριν προφτάσει όμως να κατέβει από το δέντρο, κάποιος κρυμμένος σε ένα θάμνο, αρπάζει τη σκοτωμένη γαζέλα και εξαφανίζεται .
«Θα είναι πιο πεινασμένος από μένα», σκέφτηκε ο καλός άνθρωπος και γύρισε στην καλύβα του με άδεια χέρια. Τα παιδιά του έκλαιγαν και η γυναίκα του τον κοίταζε γεμάτη απορία.
Τη δεύτερη φορά που ξαναπήγε στο κυνήγι στο ίδιο μέρος χτύπησε μια αντιλόπη.
«Αυτή κάνει πολύ ωραίο φαγητό» σκέφτηκε, αλλά ώσπου να κατέβει και πάλι ο άγνωστος τού άρπαξε το θήραμα.
«Αυτό δεν θα ξαναγίνει» συλλογίστηκε ο άνθρωπος. Μόλις ανέβηκε στο δέντρο έριξε κάτω ένα μακρύ σχοινί που έφτανε ως το έδαφος και μέσα στην πυκνή βλάστηση δεν φαινόταν. Ήρθαν και πάλι τα ζώα να πιουν νερό και ο κυνηγός μας χτύπησε ένα ζώο που το λένε γκνους. Και πριν προλάβει ο κλέφτης να το αρπάξει, ο κυνηγός μας έπιασε το σχοινί, κατρακύλησε στο έδαφος και άρπαξε τον κλέφτη από το λαιμό. Ήταν ένα νέο παιδί και στο κατάμαυρο πρόσωπό του τα μάτια του γυάλιζαν λευκά και τρομαγμένα.
- Μη με σκοτώσεις! Μη με σκοτώσεις!
- Κάθε μέρα μού κλέβεις κι ένα ζώο. Δεν το κάνεις γιατί πεινάς. Γιατί το κάνεις; Ρωτούσε ο κυνηγός κρατώντας τον κλέφτη από το λαιμό. Έχω παιδιά και γυναίκα και μένουν νηστικοί.
- Μη με σκοτώσεις! Επαναλάμβανε ο κλέφτης κι έτρεμε.
- Δεν σε σκοτώνω. Τώρα που έχω ζώο, έλα να φας κι εσύ στην καλύβα μου μαζί με τα δικά μου παιδιά .
Ο κλέφτης δεν πίστευε στ’ αυτιά του.
- Εκεί θα με σκοτώσεις; Ξαναρωτά, καθώς ο Νεφέρ τον κρατούσε σφιχτά.
- Ούτε εδώ, ούτε εκεί. Θα φάμε το ζώο όλοι μαζί.
Έτσι κι έγινε. Πήγαν στην καλύβα, έψησαν το γκνους και κάθισαν γύρω – γύρω να φάνε. Ο νεαρός κλέφτης από την κατάπληξή του γι’ αυτή τη συμπεριφορά, δεν μπορούσε να βάλει μπουκιά στο στόμα του.
- Καλύτερα να με χτυπούσες, έλεγε και ξανάλεγε στον καλό κυνηγό. Η καλοσύνη σου με σκοτώνει.
- Έτσι είμαι εγώ, δεν αλλάζω, απάντησε ο Νεφέρ. Όποτε πεινάς να έρχεσαι στη καλύβα μας. Αν έχουμε φαγητό, θα τρως κι εσύ. Είμαστε οι άνθρωποι σαν τα δέντρα. Το ένα βγάζει αγκάθια και το άλλο καρπούς. Μάθε να βγάζεις καρπούς για να σε αγαπούν και τα καλά πνεύματα του δάσους.
Από τότε ο νεαρός έπαψε πια να κλέβει. Ο Νεφέρ τού έμαθε να κυνηγά και να σημαδεύει τα ζώα. Και μια μέρα ήρθε φορτωμένος ένα ελάφι. Γελούσε και τα λευκά του δόντια έλαμπαν.
-Σήμερα θα φάμε με δικό μου κυνήγι, είπε και γέλασαν όλοι.
Έτσι δέθηκε μια φιλία που κράτησε παντοτινά....


 

to Tango Lions

'' Tango with Lions are the project of singer/song-writer Kat, and were originally conceived in 2006 after the musical dressing of diaries, photos and book-reading influences. A band was officially formed during a summer-time jam in 2007, in a beach house with former members Johniethin and Dana. Johnniethin's blues-folk guitar playing and harmonica style, met cellist Stavros' confident melodies and Dana's delicate clarinet sound to complete what the debut album "Verba Time" represents. Since the recording sessions during 2009-2010 with producer Ottomo at Fab Liquid Studios, the line up has changed, with Yannos now playing guitars and the appearance of drums. Tango with Lions is seen as a collective of day-dreamers, hard-workers and music-lovers. The album "Verba Time" got released by InnerEar Records on June 21st, 2010 and was warmly welcomed by critics and audience. Tango with Lions are currently giving concerts along with preparing new songs.''

Members:
Kat- voice, piano, guitars, harp, bass
Yannos- guitars, vocals
Stavros- cello, mandolin
Nikos V.- drums, percussion, vocals
Jimmy Star - trompone

Former members and guest appearances:
Dana- clarinet, vocals
Christopher- drums, percussion
Stefanos Hit - drums, percussion
Kostas Vavousis - bass
Serafeim Giannakopoulos - drums, percussion
Johniethin- guitars, vocals, harmonica
Elsa- cello
Dennis- guitars
Manos- harmonica

Taken from their debut album '' Verba Time'' (2010). For any further information please visit:
• http://www.myspace.com/kaschialoveslions
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tango-with-Lions-band/121332907936988
• http://www.gogoyoko.com/#/artist/tangowithlions


 

Anatomie du Saxophone

Le corps du saxophone est composé de trois parties trouées ou collées réalisées en laiton : le corps conique, le pavillon et la culasse reliant les deux. Les clés (au nombre de 19 à 22 selon les membres de la famille) commandent l'ouverture et la fermeture des trous latéraux percés sur le corps (ou cheminées). L'extrémité haute du corps est prolongée horizontalement par le bocal (démontable) qui porte le bec (en ébonite, en métal ou en bois), équipé d'une anche simple attachée avec une ligature.

Le son du saxophone est produit à l'aide d'un bec et d'une anche (en général en roseau, mais peut être aussi en matière synthétique). C'est la vibration de l'anche sur la facette du bec qui permet l'émission du son par mise en vibration de la colonne d'air contenue dans le corps de l'instrument.

Bien que métallique, le saxophone appartient à la famille des bois de par son mode de production des notes, par la vibration d'une anche en bois contre le bec. Il est cependant parfois considéré (à tort) comme faisant partie de la section cuivres dans les musiques populaires (telles que le rock, la pop, le rhythm’n’blues, le funk ou la soul) où il est associé aux trompettes et aux trombones (instruments à embouchure).

De plus, comme il tend à se rapprocher de la sonorité des cordes (ceci est stipulé dans le brevet d'invention du saxophone), on peut de façon anecdotique en faire un "chaînon manquant" unissant cordes, bois, cuivres et percussions (grâce aux sons slappés). Le saxophone s'accorde avec les autres instruments en faisant légèrement varier l'enfoncement du bec (modulable grâce au liège entourant l'extrémité du bocal) quand le son est trop bas, on enfonce le bec, quand il est trop haut, on tire le bec. Il présente quelques ressemblances avec la clarinette (notamment le soprano), dont il diffère cependant par sa perce conique au lieu d'être cylindrique. C'est d'ailleurs cette dernière particularité qui lui permet d'être un instrument octaviant (alors que la clarinette quintoie) : le but même d’Adolphe Sax lorsqu'il imagina son nouvel instrument.

My Mini Space

The project was designed as a temporary event space, located on a roof in NYC. Part of the MINI’s “Creative Use of Space” campaign, the project was designed and its construction oversaw by architects at HWKN. It is heightened by the design elements characteristic of BMW’s Mini Cooper cars.

The roof combines natural and artificial elements. An organic hill is suspended in an abstract architectural grid. The design is a collection of elements that punctuate the ubiquitous grid: a grassy lounging hill with seating dimples and performance stage, a speakers’ platform embedded in a large scale existing billboard, a lighting tower to cast light on the space and to act as a visual icon on the skyline, and a panorama bar overlooking the Hudson River. The floor is animated with a LED carpet that turns the surface into a programmable horizontal billboard. At an architectural scale, objects like the bar, hill, platform, and light tower float within the grid pattern of the light carpet.

Location: New York, NY
Client: BMW Mini Brand + KKLD*

Size: 1,000 sq ft
Scope: Schematic Design through to Construction Administration
Team: Matthias Hollwich, Marc Kushner, Marc Perrotta, Patricia Sahm,Paul Sanders, Jefferson Frost, Robert May, Will Kemper, Evan V Watts
 

Keep on Ironing

White Tanks
Temperas
Studies
Oil
Large Images
Humanity
to Worker

industrial Archaeology

In addition to understanding artifacts, we learn about Nova Scotia’s industrial past through industrial archaeology (IA). IA is the study of the tangible evidence of social, economic and technological development of the period since industrialization. It includes buried foundations, features, and remnants normally associated with archaeological study, such as the foundry, locomotive shed and miner’s house found on our site. But equally important, it includes the landscapes, buildings, sites and structures still evident in some form around us. It is the rows of identical houses close to a vacant lot that once held a pithead; it is the uniformly-shaped manmade stream that once was a mill-race supporting water-powered factories; it is the canal that employed the technology to move vessels from one body of water to another, thereby bringing goods to market more economically. In Nova Scotia you can find it in old canneries and remnant pilings of piers, in street names and neighbourhoods, in architecture, and in slag heaps.

One thing is for certain – it is rapidly disappearing. As we move beyond the Industrial Age, once dominated by resource exploitation like mining, lumbering, and manufacturing this physical evidence is becoming harder to find. There is little trace of the substantial operations of the Sydney steel works, countless factories have disappeared, and the spatial arrangements of industrial towns are changing as the old makes way for the new. Former beehives of activity are now returning to nature. So look around you in the towns and in the woods, to see what your surroundings might tell you about the Nova Scotia of the past and the ways our parents and grandparents lived. If you see something interesting, let us know. It is part of our job to document this heritage before it is gone forever.   Contact us at industry@gov.ns.ca or 902-755-5425.

Beyond the Old, Cold Metal

Across a frozen river sterilized
by industrial pollution,
a row of rusting metal titans
stands sentinel at water's edge,
their thick, hollow arms rubbing
at roughly bolted elbows,
their bellies silent, dark
of the iron burdens of immigrants.

These black behemoths, mecha-monster
robots seized motionless in rust,
occult a city at dusk
with their mass, their height.

Higher still, above tuyeres
and empty iron ore buckets,
a city glows on Christmas night,
with white-roofed homes
like railroad model buildings,
edged in brilliant scarlet, blue,
or multicolored points of light
that wink between the flakes.

Beyond the furnaces, creaking,
reeking of half-burnt coke and coal,
row homes beckon with aromas
of roasted turkey, stuffing,
hot coffee, pumpkin pie.

Past the ice-bound truss works,
the lightless brick-lined ovens
whistling with wind,
softer walls radiate the warmth
of family.

Here, children in flannel pajamas
tinker with day-old toys,
mothers clean their kitchens,
full-bellied fathers nod off
to the static roar
of football.

Scott Speck
10/13/2003
 

a Secret Garden

The installation is a composition of three biomimetic pieces created for the Milan Design Week 2012. This project, designed by Zaha Hadid, is located in Milan’s Brera neighborhood, in the garden between the Academia Art Museum and historical roman houses. Together with Paola Navone’s installation, Hadid’s piece constitutes the ambiental whole named The Secret Garden.

“The composition of each of the three showcased works is derived from the intricate beauty of organizational systems in the natural world. These fascinating scenarios are established when energy is applied to geology–developing a geometric set of repeated growth and erosion cycles.

Each piece, immaculately crafted in marble by Citco, invites further investigation; revealing formal complexity, repetition and textures that celebrate the detailed process and fluidity of natural systems – a persuasive manifesto of nature’s unrivalled logic and unity; a journey of discovery into the forces of their creation.

The exacting arrangements, structural integrity and precision of these natural systems inform a rich architectural language with the inherent capacity for complex programming.

The formal dynamic of the pavilion’s design has been generated by subtle gestures that follow a coherent, logical order. A rhythm of slices and folds define each piece; an integration of diverse forms that reflects the individuality of each panel – yet ensures they are considered within the overall ensemble.

This dialogue of geometries establishes a direct relationship between nature and architecture, an obvious evolution of the creative language explored by the practice driven by the innovations in digital design processes and manufacturing techniques.”

to Paint Einstein

The most important scientist of the twentieth century and the most important artist had their periods of greatest creativity almost simultaneously and in remarkably similar circumstances. This fascinating parallel biography of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso as young men examines their greatest creations-Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Miller shows how these breakthroughs arose not only from within their respective fields but from larger currents in the intellectual culture of the times. Ultimately, Miller shows how Einstein and Picasso, in a deep and important sense, were both working on the same problem.

a Presence on Site

The Piezoelectric playground is a temporary structure designed by Margot Krasojevic for the Pioneers park in Belgrade, Serbia. It will be used as a bandstand and playground.

The canopy is a hyperbolic structure which folds in on itself draining rain water into the pool directly underneath it which diffracts light (acting as a prism) further magnifying the activities within the canopy structure. Movement agitates the semicondcuting piezoelectric crystal disks which as a result generate an electric current within the structure itself, this voltage controls the holographic glass clad canopy and optic fibre light projections choreographing a series of patterns which illuminate the immediate context according to the music or events occurring within the canopy. ; with the possible use of vibrating piezoelectric crystals releasing hydrogen and oxygen from the water molecules, piezoelectrochemical effect, supporting the hope that energy can be used to generate power from any structure which vibrates and produces noise, from passing traffic, children playing etc.

The canopy’s geometry blurs the relationship between interior and exterior spaces; as it is a surface with one boundary, mathematically the form is non-orientable which focuses on the event as a way of defining it’s physical presence on site.

The wooden frame’s looping structure is clad in reinforced optical glass tubes which house optic fibre cables that direct the light through the canopy, the light patterns and strength is influenced by the circuit of piezoelectric crystals and diodes to change charge direction therefore continually altering the direction of light and intensity of projections depend on movement throughout the canopy or sound reverberations from music.

The canopy never lights up in the same way twice and our perception of the canopy glowing and projecting light describes a very different environment every time it is used as either a playground shelter or outdoor concert canopy.

This project was inspired by Thomas Wilfred’s Clavilux projects from 1930.

Buried Offices

London architecture student Jonathan Gales doesn’t just think the 20th century’s iconic office skyscraper is outdated — he thinks it should be buried. Or chunks of it, at least.

Gales, an M. Arch student at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, England has proposed, for his eVolo Skyscrapers competition entry, the partial deconstruction of individual skyscrapers to allow for increased green space at staggered heights throughout the city. Citing a 2009 figure from the Telegraph that 11.9 percent of offices in the city are sitting vacant (the equivalent of 10 skyscrapers), Gales poses the idea that replacing a section of each individual office tower with trees and green space would create an increased capacity for the city’s “urban lung.” And instead of sending all that metal and glass to landfills, Gales proposes a sustainable – and ideological – repurposing: re-craft these old offices into an underground tomb to honor to the outdated skyscraper, and all it represents. The Mausoleum to Late Capitalist Iconography would house a think tank dedicated to social, cultural and economic design research, and host debates and symposia below the city’s surface. In a marrying of economic theory and architectural design, Gales asks his audience to consider what the cities of the future really need, and what’s best left to the past.
 

along Drava River

This proposal was designed by Brian de Luna and  James Vincent for a new art gallery in Maribor, Slovenia is based on a relationship where the new building creates a dialog between its local environment and the larger urban context of Maribor. The project sets to create a dynamic relationship between the old city of Maribor and the new Art Gallery by creating a constant state of fluidity through the site, becoming a vital cultural hub along the Drava River. The building is composed of four continuous loops that merge into one space. Each loop contains it own separate program-the Children’s Museum, the Architecture Museum, the Creative Industrial Museum, and the Digital Arts Museum.

By allowing the museum program to be separated into four distinct programmatic and topological elements a space is created that is simultaneously public and private. With the new art gallery being located along the Drava River Front, it became critical to create a landmark that that would enhance and contribute to the regeneration of the city both locally and globally. While the new art gallery naturally erodes the sites initial spatial qualities the four components come together to frame and create unobstructed vistas towards the Drava River and the city’s surrounding local landmarks.

via suckerpunch
 

Αren't you ever scared of him?

Brenin never lay down in the back of the Jeep. He always liked to see what was coming. Once, many years ago, we had driven from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, all the way to Miami - around 800 miles - and back again. And he stood every inch of the way: his hulking presence blocking out much of the sun and all of the rear traffic. But this time, on this short drive into Béziers, near the village where we were living in the Languedoc, he wouldn't stand; couldn't stand. It was then I knew he was gone. I was taking him to the place where he would die. I had told myself that if he stood up, even for part of the journey, I would give it another day; another 24 hours for a miracle to occur. But now I knew it was over. My friend of the past 11 years would be gone. And I didn't know what sort of person he was going to leave behind.

The dark French midwinter could not have contrasted more starkly with that bright Alabama evening, in early May, when I first brought six-week-old Brenin into my house and into my world. Within two minutes of his arrival - and I am by no means exaggerating - he had pulled the curtains in the living-room (both sets) off their rails and on to the ground. Next, while I was trying to rehang the curtains, he found his way out into the garden and under the house. At the rear, the house was raised off the ground and you could access the area underneath by way of a door built into the brick wall - a door that I had obviously left ajar.


He made his way under the house and then proceeded - methodically, meticulously, but above all quickly - to rip down every single one of the soft, lagged pipes that directed the cold air from the air-conditioning unit up through various vents in the floor. That was Brenin's trademark attitude to the new and unfamiliar. He liked to see what was coming. He would explore it; embrace it. Then he would trash it.


I was a couple of years into my first job - assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa is best known for its university's (American) football team, the Crimson Tide, which the local community embraces with a fervour that surpasses the merely religious - although they're heavily into that, too. Life was good; but I had grown up with dogs - mostly big dogs like Great Danes - and I missed them. And so, one afternoon, I found myself looking through the want-ads section of the Tuscaloosa News.


For much of its relatively short life, the United States of America pursued a policy of systematic eradication of its wolves - through shooting, poisoning, trapping, whatever means necessary. The result is that there are virtually no free wild wolves in the contiguous 48 states. Now that the policy has been abandoned, they've started to make a comeback in parts of Wyoming, Montana and Minnesota, and on some of the islands in the Great Lakes. They have even recently been reintroduced, over the strident protestations of ranchers, into the most famous of US natural parks, Yellowstone.

This resurgence in the wolf population, however, has not yet reached Alabama or the South in general. There are lots of coyotes. And there are a few red wolves in the swamps of Louisiana and east Texas - though no one is really sure what they are, and they may well be the result of historical wolf-coyote hybridisation. But timber wolves, or grey wolves as they are sometimes known (inaccurately, since they can also be black, white and brown), are a distant memory in the southern states.

Therefore I was somewhat surprised when my eye was caught by an advertisement: WOLF CUBS FOR SALE, 96 PER CENT. After a quick phone call, I jumped in the car and headed off to Birmingham, about an hour to the north-east, not entirely sure what I was expecting to find. And so it was, a little later, that I came to be standing, eyeball to eyeball, with the biggest wolf I had ever heard of, let alone seen. The owner had shown me around to the back of the house, and the stable and pen that housed the animals. When the father wolf, Yukon, heard us coming he jumped up at the stable door, just as we arrived there, appearing as if from nowhere.

He was huge and imposing, standing slightly taller than me. I had to look up at his face and his strange yellow eyes. But it was his feet I will always remember. People don't realise just how big wolves' feet are, much bigger than those of dogs. It was his feet that announced Yukon's arrival, the first things I saw as he bounded up to lean over the stable door. They now hung over that door, much bigger than my fists, like furry baseball mitts.

One thing people often ask me about owning a wolf: aren't you ever scared of him? The answer is no. Not because I'm brave, but I think it's because I am very relaxed around dogs. And this is largely the result of my upbringing. Looking back, I realise that, when it comes to dogs, my family are just not normal. We would often take in Great Danes from rescue centres. Sometimes these were lovely animals. Sometimes they were positively psychotic. Blue, a Great Dane unimaginatively named - not by us - after his colour, provides a good case in point. Blue was about three years old when my parents rescued him. And it was easy to understand why he found himself in a rescue centre. Blue had a hobby: the random and indiscriminate biting of people and other animals. Actually, that's not fair: it wasn't random or indiscriminate at all. He just had various, let us call them, idiosyncrasies. One of them was not permitting people to leave the room when he was in it. You could never afford to find yourself in a room with Blue on your own. You always needed someone to distract him while you exited. Of course, they would then need someone else to distract Blue should they wish to leave the room. And so the great wheel of Blue's life turned. Failure to adequately distract him before exiting the room would often result in one's hindquarters being scarred for life. Just ask my brother, Jon.

to Robotize Architecture

Nanjing Lab is a vegetation laboratory located in the historical district of Nanjing. Different from the traditional vegetation lab, which focuses on the attributes of the plants themselves, the purpose of the Nanjing lab is to test the plants’ behavior inside Nanjing city, for instance, the plants’ reaction to the the city’s polluted air and dust.

Therefore, the design focuses on being able to control the plant’s interaction with the outside. In order to do this, different plant species are put into separate containers which protrude from the main volume of the building to the outside environment. The containers provide the ability to let sun light come through and control the amount of air that passes through. At the same time, the form of the landscape around the building creates different levels humidity and solar conditions around the building, allowing the containers to interact with a diverse environment.

In the center of the lab, there is a central robot arm that is able to take out the core of the container and place them into storage for further research. The control room of the robot’s arm is located on the south side of the building.  The windows of the control room allow free view of the central robot room and the exterior.

The two big C channel steel beams are the main structure of the Nanjing lab. They lift the main body of the lab off of the ground to provide space for the underside plant containers. In between the C channel steel beams and the body of lab space is the hydraulic mechanical system that absorbs the impact of the structure from movement of the central robot arm.

Architect: Yaohua Wang Architecture
Location: Nanjing, China
Structural Engineer: Organization Group
Client: Nanjing Xiaguan district goverment
Program: Vegetation lab
Size: 200 m²
 

an Abstract Of Birds

After five months of intensive design work and two weeks of building-up, on 29th of March the exhibition of THE SWARM – a Parametric Pavilion – took place in the outdoor area of the Bavarian Chamber of Architects in Munich. The main exhibit is a sculpture out of Alucobond which is 4 meters high and 15 meters long. Its shape describes an abstract swarm of birds.

The idea of THE SWARM was born on the new chair of Emerging Technologies at the faculty of architecture of the Technical University of Munich. The first concept made by Magnus Möschel was selected within an intern competition in the summer semester 2011 while the time of visiting professor Charles Walker. In the following semester, the students Sabrina Appel, Max Langwieder and Sascha Posanski developed the project and transformed it into a real building. They were supervised by the assistents Nadine Zinser – Junghanns, Moritz Mungenast and Wieland Schmidt.

The sculpture can be seen another two months; the exhibition can be visited until the 4th May in the Bavarian Chamber of Architects.

The project was supported by the companies 3A Composites GmbH, Aluform GmbH, Metallbau Böhm, Würth, Erco, Terrafix and Boels and by the structural engineers Leonhardt, Andrä and Partner.

an Unmask Mechanism

The project deals with the occularcentric nature of contemporary culture, by manipulating and unmasking its deceptive mechanisms. The design process starts with the fact that our ability to perceive the details is limited to the narrow fovea (the only part of the retina that permits 100% visual acuity) in the eye’s retina. Vision is then a matter of unconscious inferences: making assumptions and conclusions from incomplete data, based on previous experiences.

This inference and the inability to perceive the details trigger an attractive process, but the complexity of the component detail can be appreciated only at a scale where the perception of the whole is lost; rolling backwards, it becomes clear that the effect of the whole is more than just the sum of the constituent parts. It is an experiment (or proof of concept) on how morphology, organization, material systems and patterns have the ability to trigger dynamic behavioral effects and interaction in space and time.

From a technical standpoint, the structure was generated by triangulating the mesh and choosing triangles in an alternate pattern: this strategy maintains structural integrity (all remaining triangles are connected) while using half of the surface area. In order to increase complexity and enrich the range of effects, components have a gradient variation in height according to their horizontal condition: the more they approach the horizontal condition, the higher and more developed they become. Each component, realized through laser cut from polypropylene flat sheets, has 3 radial “petals” with variable number of cuts and curve tangency according to the individual morphology and the height gradient, embedding the necessary cuts for assembly. All components are assembled using plastic ties.

to Green the Steel

The incredibly destructive effects that coal plants cause to our natural environment are well documented and known, but 50,000 plants still operate the world over every day to power the planet, as green technology has not evolved to a point where they generate enough energy to replace fossil fuel processes. The “Coal Power Plant Mutation” project is a proposal for coal factory addendum, a skyscraper built over an existing factory that can reduce the amounts of harmful waste that spew from their chimney stacks while we wait for green technologies to take over.

The skyscraper coal cleansers are comprised of three long, tubular legs that join are built around the existing factory’s chimneys and meet high in the air to share a bio-filtering area that also has balloons to capture and hold waste particles. The structure is made out from multiple carbon-fiber steel props that are held together by a carbon-fiber steel mesh; the props are anchored in the existing foundation of the power plant. The chimneys rise 1,000 meters in the air; as the smokestack pollution rises through the tall skyscraper chimneys, tubes with various types of air filters with various densities are placed at different heights. The lower filters for carbon dioxide exhaustion use synthetic carbon fixation techniques, while filters located higher in the chimneys are bio-filters. , At the very top, the chimneys are equipped carbon and vapor capturing and filtering devices that keep the gasses from reaching the atmosphere. They are made of horizontal air pipes connected only to the exterior. The vapors condensate on them, and the resulting water is gathered and distributed back at the base.

The mesh that holds the skyscraper together is covered by a lightweight skin, a waterproof elastomer that isolates the gasses and vapors that are produced in the factory. (The skin keeps them separate, as the vapors and gasses mixing could lead to acid rain.) The skin has an area of 300,000 square meters and is covered with photovoltaic cells and air quality monitoring sensors.

The skin is also covered in LED lights as an instructive tool that promotes awareness. Most power plants are located close to cities; the LED lights shine vertical patterns to make people aware of their power demands and what these imply. The patterns change according to the inner and outer air quality, monitored by sensors.

to Mimic Waves and Sounds in a Remembrance

Designed in cooperation between Giuseppe Farris and Stefan Schöning, the proposed structure aims to capture several aspects of Arab culture: its tribal society and the transregional entrepreneurship. The building’s appearance refers to the date palm which, along with fruits and fronds continue to be an important product in Dubai’s everyday life, both as a commodity and as a material used in local palm frond houses, fishing boats and the local palm-weaving craft. The twining maze of the building’s exterior simultaneously represents the network of trade and commerce routes that have, through history, arrived and departed from Dubai. The exterior also commemorates the tribal legacy and reminds of the dynamic maze of tribal affiliations that has given Dubai’s society its basic cohesion.

Functionally, the building’s interior continues this celebration of the tribal cornerstone of Dubai identity, and it is designed to promote its rich values and its relevance for the 21st century. More in particular, visitors can enter via different routes, each time discovering different aspects of Dubai’s tribal culture and history. At ground level, it is an open structure, hence symbolizing the hospitality of the Dubai people and inviting all to enter. Visitors may find at different levels outside and inside the structure different kinds of majlis.