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Holistic design is a design approach which sees a design as an interconnected whole that is part of the larger world. It goes beyond problem solving to incorporate all aspects of the ecosystem in which a product is used. The focus of holistic design is context dependent; even so, among other things, it considers aesthetics, sustainability, and spirituality.
While it is most commonly employed in architecture, with a little thought, holistic design can be adapted to any form of product or service design. Designer Yves Behar offers seven key principles for designers to incorporate holistic design in their work:
Begin with questions rather than answers. Instead of acting on a brief which already dictates the answers, asking questions which put the problem in its holistic context is far more important.
Deliver more, not less. Don’t reduce functionality to meet holistic goals – improve the functionality and meet holistic goals.
Create your own theories. Borrow shamelessly from disciplines other than design, and adapt theories from those disciplines so as to deliver greater designs.
Use 360-degree design. Look at the whole customer lifecycle of a product and design from marketing to disposal.
Consider alternative business models. Behar’s business recognizes how hard it can be for clients to trust the iterative holistic design process and often trades royalties or equities rather than charging traditional fees.
Do better. Look at projects which seem impossible, and then aim to deliver them anyway.
Find what you want that everyone else wants. Create change, and meet unmet needs.
Holistic design may appear avant-garde and ambitious, but what it demands of a designer’s imagination is the same creativity that can pay dividends far into the future. Designing for sustainability is key to future-proofing a product; adopting a holistic approach addresses that sustainability.
www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/holistic-design
Introduction
I am a lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design Architectural Department, Jerusalem and a practicing architect working in Israel for the last 20 years.
My work has focused both on practice & theory.
My on going search for what is behind the order of human environment, had been developed gradually by me since my studies at the Architectural Association (AA) school of Architecture in London (Dip 1973), through research work with Prof. Christopher Alexander at the "Center for Environmental Structure" Berkeley California, my post graduate studies in Architecture & Buddhist studies at U.C. Berkeley (1979-81), and along my teachings and practice in Israel in the last 25 years.
When religion and nationalism are cynically used by fundamentalists and by extremist right and left groups to cause cultural conflicts, and when architects are prompted by aggressive political motives, there is a real existential threat to the physical and human environment we live in.
There is no doubt, that the great art (and architecture) creations throughout history evolved in societies that drew their strength from their cultural and spiritual traditions and from the places they belonged to. These sources, which one might take as the factor that separates cultures and peoples, are exactly the ones that link them together in harmony.
The same tree that symbolizes life in the Cabala appears in Tantra Asana art; the same red thread the people of Tibet wear on their wrist for good luck are put on baby's pram in the Jewish tradition. In present state of affairs there is a need for a new worldview that by its very nature crosses cultures, replacing current conceptions and approaches.
The first part of the essay will present the holistic worldview, a school of thought that has been at the forefront of science for many years in which my architectural work belong, and the way this approach got interpretated by me both in theory and in the design process, a process fundamentally different from customary ones.
The second part will be a presentation of two selected projects built by me in Israel forming a clear implementation and interpretation of the concepts described before, in relation to their cultural and physical (urban and rural) reality.
The first project is the Music Centre and Library at the historic heart of Tel-Aviv forming a unique dialogue between a new building and the historical environment, an environment being a unique interface between the orient and the west (completed 1997).
The second project is a Residential Neighborhood in the Kibbutz forming a new concept of housing related to the recent structural changes in the kibbutz life, giving a new definition to the conception of equality.
ARCHITECTURE IS MADE FOR PEOPLE
A phenomenological approach to architecture
The purpose of architecture, as I see it, is first and foremost to create a humanenvironment for human beings. Buildings affect our lives and the fate of the physical environment in which we live over the course of many years, and therefore their real test is the test of time. The fine, old buildings and places we always want to return to ‚ those with timeless relevance‚are the ones that touch our heart, and have the power to create a deep and direct emotional experience.
Contemporary architecture as well as conceptual art sought to dissociate themselves from the world of emotions and connect the design process to the world of ideas, thus creating a rational relation between building and man, devoid of any emotion.
There are different ways to describe buildings that have this timeless quality, buildings that convey an inherent spiritual experience. Frank Lloyd Wright called them "the ones which take you beyond words". Quoted by Stephen Grabow, (Grabow, 1983) Christopher Alexander says: "The buildings that have spiritual value are a diagram of the inner universe, or the picture of the inner soul." And in The Timeless Way of Building (Alexander, 1979), Alexander writes, "There is one timeless way of building. It is thousands of years old, and the same today as it has always been. The great traditional buildings of the past, the villages and tents and temples in which man feels at home, have always been made by people who were very close to the center of this way. And as you will see, this way will lead anyone who looks for it to buildings which are themselves as ancient in their form as the trees and hills, and as our faces are."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls this quality: "the great self, the such ness or the nature of reality... The state of mind which brings us close to that quality is a state of knowledge and awareness detached from extraneous factors as the mere clarity of the mind".
Although this timeless quality exists in buildings rooted in different cultures and traditions, the experience they generate is common to all people, no matter where or from what culture they come from. Thus Alexander's basic assumption was that behind this quality, which he calls "The quality without a name", lies auniversal and eternal element common to us as human beings.
It seems to me that the real challenge of current architectural practice is to make the best use of the potential inherent in the modern technological age we live in while fulfilling the timeless needs common to us all as human beings - needs that modern architecture in general has knowingly denied for the past 60 years, in order to create a friendly and human environment.
The basic argument presented here is that in order to change the feeling of the environment and create places and buildings that we really feel part of and want to live in, the issue here is not a change of style, but a transformation of theworldview underlying current thought and approaches.
THE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE
THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTS AND THE WHOLE
The dissociation created in our time between man and his environment is a clear expression of the change that occurred in the concept that man is part of nature and not superior to it. Comparing planning processes which resulted in dissociating man from his environment to planning processes that make him feel part of the physical world he lives in, emphasizes the difference between the mechanistic-fragmentary worldview and the holistic-organic one, which guides the holistic school of thought to which my own work belongs.
These are two different sets of orders.
The mechanistic worldview underlying contemporary architecture separates elements and creates an environment of autonomous fragments. The result is cities like Brasilia in Brazil,
Chandigarth in India, the satellite towns in England and the new neighborhoods around Jerusalem, where the structured disconnection between the house and the street, the street and the neighborhood, the neighborhood and the city arouses a feeling of detachment and alienation.
The holistic-organic approach that has been for many years at the forefront of science in general and as implemented in my architecture work in particular regards the socio-physical environment as a system or a dynamic whole, the existence of which depends on the proper, ever-changing interrelations among the parts. Moreover, the creation and existence of each part depend on the interrelations between that part and the system.
In his book The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace (Dalai Lama, 1997) His Holiness the Dalai Lama refers to this concept of cause and effect by saying: "Nowadays in the field of science there are many disciplines like cosmology, neurobiology, psychology, and particle physics, disciplines that are the result of generations of scientific investigations. Their findings are closely related to Buddhist teachings. The foundation of all Buddhist teaching and practice is the principle of dependent arising. Since things arise in dependence of other causes and conditions, they are naturally free from independent and autonomous existence. Everything that is composed from parts, or conditioned by causes and conditions, is impermanent and fleeting. These things do not stay forever. They continually disintegrate. This kind of subtle impermanence is confirmed by scientific findings".
In any organic system, each element has its own uniqueness and power, but always acts as part of a larger entity to which it belongs and which it complements. vHaving adopted this concept, I do not regard urban design, architecture, interior design and landscape design as independent disciplines removed from each other, but asone continuous and dynamic system. Thus the building is not perceived as a collection of designed fragments, but asone hierarchical language, in which every design detail, on any level of scale, is derived from the larger whole to which it belongs, which it seeks to enhance, and for whose existence it is responsible. The overall feeling of inner wholeness-unity in a building thus stems from the proper interrelations among its parts.
The same idea is found in the Mandala, a model that represents processes occurring in nature, where there is always a center of energy feeding the parts around it. However, the very existence of this center of energy is dependent on the existence of the parts around it.
This concept of interdependence and continuity was presented in a public talk given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in which he noted: "The construction of the whole is caused continually by the disintegration of its parts. For example, the butter lamp as a whole is a source of light due to the melting of the butter. The melting of the butter is caused due to the heat produced by the lamp".
THE PLANNING PROCESS ITSELF
1.Choosing A Pattern Language for The Project
Based on the assumption that beauty and harmony are objective properties related to the geometrical properties inherent in the structure itself, and that feelings have to do with facts, Alexander states in his book The Timeless Way of Building (Alexander, 1979) that all places of organic order that seem unplanned and orderless are a clear expression of order on a deep and complex level. This order is based on absolute rules that have always determined the quality and beauty of a place, and is the source of the good feeling in it. In other words, there is a direct connection between the patterns of events that occur in a place and the physical patterns - patterns of space in his terminology ‚ that constitute it.
The fact that places that share a common pattern of events (for example, Piazza San Marco in Venice and Piazza Mayor in Madrid), although different in form, all create the same emotional pleasant experience, gave rise to the hypothesis, that beyond what appears different, there is something else, common to them all.
Let's take for example the pattern called Arcade – an archetype of a structure that relates to the transition area between a building and the open space around it. Although the arcade in the Hadera synagogue is different from the one in the Assisi cloister or the one in the Tel-Aviv Senior Citizens Day Center, there is one superstructurecommon to them all, a superstructure that defines therelationship between the building and its surroundings.
Since the environment consists of patterns that produce a common experience, the relevant question was, what lies behind the specific patterns that produce the samecomfortable feeling we all share in that environment. The explanation was, that as in the various spoken languages there is, according to Chomsky, a common structural element he calls the
language of languages or the underlying patterns, an element that is innate in human beings and therefore common to us all (which explains why children can so easily learn a foreign language), so in the physical space there are patterns that reflect an innate pattern structured in our brain.
The first step in the planning process is to determine the patterns of space that are relevant to the project. Some of them will stem from the specific context of the project and the cultural reality of the place, patterns that vary from place to place, and some from the more basic needs common to us all as human beings wherever we are, as presented in A Pattern Language (Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein, 1977).
Once the list of patterns relevant to a specific project has been decided, a set of interrelations between them is automatically created between them, organically defining the scheme of the project. This scheme is than translated into a plan.
2. Planning on the Site Itself
A transformational Planning Process
The plan of the building that is finally created is actually a structure of balance between the abstract pattern language chosen for the project and the living reality of the actual site, a reality that differs from site to site.
The planning process proposed here is fundamentally different from the common planning processes, a process introduced to by Alexander while I was working with him on the site plan of Shorashim Community Village in Israel, and adopted in all my work since than.
Once the list of patterns for the project is set, all planning decisions concerning the physical structure of the project are taken literally only on the site itself. Unlike the common planning process, where planning takes place in the office and then transferred to the site, here the drawings are merely the recordingof planning decisions that have been taken currently on the site itself.
The process of creation has to be inspired by what is already there, and our task as artists or architects is to discover, identify and revive those visible and hidden forces.
The creative process which feeds on what is apparently already there, is definitely not a passive one. Unlike common planning process, where everything is predetermined, this is a process whereby the plan of the building develops gradually from the interaction of the abstract planning patterns and the unpredictabledeveloping situation on the site.
In his book Zen in the Art of Archery (Herrigel, 1964) Eugene Herrigel describes the state of mind in which the process of creation must take place, noting, 'Drawing the bow and loosing the shot happens independently of the Archer. The hands must open like the skin of a ripe fruit. The Archer must let himself go, to the point that the only thing that is left of him is a purposeless tension. At this state of mind, being released from all attachments, art should be practiced'.
The order according to which the planning decisions are taken on the site is determined by the hierarchical order in which the planning patterns appear on my list governed by the rules of the pattern language itself. Decisions are first made on issues that affect the larger scale we have to confront at any given moment along the development of the plan, moving to other decisions generating from them.
Moreover, the planning process is not conceived as an additive, but rather as adifferentiating one, where each new element of the plan is differentiatedgradually from previous ones.
Each decision taken on the site and marked on the ground actually changes the configuration of the site as a whole. That new whole (configuration) that has been created and can be fully visualized on the site forms the basis for the next decision. Since each stage is based on the previous one, a wrong decision creates a faulty system that cannot serve as a basis for the next decision.
The final 'layout' that emerges on the site is measured and recorded by a surveyor. That moment when all the markers suddenly become a whole, a visible plan, is a moment of surprise and excitement.
Experience has taught me that decisions that sometimes appear irregular and strange on paper often make sense in reality (where it comes from), and vice versa, a plan that appears perfect on paper (where it was created) does not make sense on the site. So, if when looking at the 'stakes plan' doubts arise concerning one or more of the decisions taken on the site, the correction is not made on paper in the office, but checked again on the site itself. The final "stakes plan" forms the basis for the final plan.
CHOOSING THE COLORS FOR THE BUILDING
Choosing the colors for the building is one of the more difficult decisions in the design process. The choice of colors has an overwhelming effect on the feeling of the building. Colors have the power to give life and enhance the qualities inherent originally in a building or to suppress them. The choice of color is made intuitively on the site when the building is completed, when I can fully sense its mass as part of the overall environment. I try to envision the colors (hues) that practically reveal themselves naturally from the building. Only then do I experiment with applications of those colors in order to arrive at the final tones.
As in the planning of the building, so at this stage of choosing the colors, the process is a gradual one. First I determine the color of the walls ‚ the big mass, and then deriving from that, follows the decision about the colors of the window frames, the rails, the gates and all the other details, to the smallest one, so as to complement, enhance and enlighten previously chosen colors.
A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE QUALITIES OF
TRADITION AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Modern technology available today should not be conceived as an aim or a value in itself, but as a tool to create a human and friendly environment that will satisfy the basic needs that are common to all of us as human beings. Despite the unlimited possibilities it opens to us, that should be used in a controlled, value-oriented and moral way.
One of the immediate questions I am asked in reaction to the buildings I design is whether it is a new design that tries to reconstruct an architectural language of the past. My answer to that is that I do not attempt or aim to reconstruct the past or to nostalgically trace this or that style. The similarity and the association created between the buildings I design and those we know from the past, and the similar experience and feeling they create, originate in my use of the same fundamentalpatterns and planning codes that guided in the past and will be guide in the future in any culture and tradition, those who aspire to give a building a spirit and soul, codes that have been brutally ignored (in general) by contemporary architecture, and which I try to revive and implement in the buildings I design, in relation to the physical and social context of the place I am working in.
MUSIC CENTER AND LIBRARY
A UNIQUE DIALOGUE BETWEEN A NEW BUILDING AND THE HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT
Tel-Aviv, Israel
Completion Date 1997
Preserving the spirit of a historical environment does not necessarily mean a fanatic repetition of its language. The Bialik district at the heart of Tel-Aviv, with Bialik Square at its center, is a micro-document of the architectural history of Tel-Aviv from the 19201⁄4s, the "Eclectic period", when European architecture was brought to Israel and integrated with the local oriental architecture, to the 19301⁄4s and the new 'International Style' somewhat later.
The new Music Center and Library built at Bialik Square (1997) is located on the site of a three-story residential house built in 1931 and demolished in 1994. My commission was to design a new building integrating a reconstructed part of the façade of the old one.
My conception was that once you demolish a building and reconstruct just one isolated architectural element of it, it would become a meaningless fragment, for it would no longer be an organic part of the whole, and thus would not serve the initial purpose of preserving the old. Thus, what I tried to do was to treat the reconstructed part as an environmental element that has to be naturally integrated with the newly designed building, to form one coherent functional-visual entity.
The intention was to design the new center as an integral part of the square.
The key question I asked myself was, what is the right thing to do in order to preserve and enhance the spirit of what still exists around there, which is so human and right.
Standing in the square I adopted none of the classical approaches. I aimed neither to reconstruct the past nor to dissociate myself from it by enforcing a completely new order. I was looking for a language that at that point in time in Bialik Square would create a meaningful dialogue between a new, contemporary building and the historical environment.
The Interrelation Between The Building And The Square
The powerful presence of the building in the square emanates from its being an integral part of it, and not from the efforts to distinguish it from its environment.
This intimate and organic integration was created by several basic means:
The dimensions of the building were in harmony with the human scale of the square.
The façade of the building defines the boundaries of the square, and therefore determines the feeling it inspires. The orange paint of the building1⁄4s faÁade, apparently expected to disturb the tranquility of the square, was the element that complemented the blue color of the sky and the green color of the trees to create a harmony that inspired peace and serenity in the square.
The cornices that jut out at the faÁade belong morphologically both to the building and to the space next to it, uniting them together.
The dialogue between the building and the square continues through the high windows behind which all the indoor 'public' areas are located, as well as from the roof terrace overlooking the square.
The crown on top of the building provides a graduated link to the sky. Its shape was derived from the same language that determined the pattern of the cement tiles of the porch and the reliefs on the railing wall.
At the front, where the building touches the square, an entrance porch was designed for the orchestra to play to the audience sitting in the square, thus creating a physical and human connection between the building and the square.
The interior of the building
Past the main lobby, at the entrance to the building, is the auditorium, separated from it by a glass wall, through which the back garden at the far end can be seen.
At the side of the lobby there is a wide-open staircase, which is an identified beautiful space by itself. It leads to the upper floors, providing a view to all the floors open to it.
The first floor houses the lending library with the catalogues and librarian counter at the entrance. The rear areas are reserved for the notes, scores and books, with access to staff only.
The second floor accommodates the museum of musical instruments and contemporary exhibitions related to music. Further along, past glass partitions are a study and periodicals room and an archive. These three spaces make one visual continuum while preserving the identity and uniqueness of each space.
The top floor houses the audiovisual library that lends discs, videotapes, and records. Further along, beyond the glass partition, is an audiovisual room with a view of the sea.
Extending from this floor, overlooking the square, is a roof terrace that has also a view of the sea.
The secret enfolded in the beauty of a building (or of any artifact) as a whole lies in its spatial order and in the nature of its details. The details like the furniture, lighting accessories, materials and colors, are regarded as an inherent part of the building and therefore are inseparable part of my planning process.
The similarity in form between the details stems from the common whole to which they belong.
In modern society, beauty has become a term of abuse, often associated with inefficiency, impracticality, lack of functionalism and high costs. That notion of beauty is true when it relates to details as decorative elements and ornamentationfor its own sake.
The Shakers, a religious sect that created an abundance of useful furniture and utensils in the mideighteenth century, noted that the wholeness and beauty of form are products of pure functionalism, and that there is no room for beautiful forms that do not flow from a functional need. Take, for example the gold leaves capital of the iron column, which connects it to the beam. This part is functionally separate from the other parts of the column and was therefore given a different form and color.
At the same time, however, the Shakers did not interpret the term 'pure functionalism' in the narrow sense of the word, as did the modernists, for whom the expression 'form follows function' was semantically connected only to thephysical body of the building, but in the broad sense that connects it both to the physical and spiritual experience in a building. This is the experience I want to create for the users of the buildings I design.
This concept is manifested, for example, in the following design details:
The wall between the lobby and the auditorium, which normally would be solid, is a glass wall that allows a view to the depth of the building immediately upon entrance.
The six steel columns that rise to the top of the building are structural, but at the same time their placement helps to define and distinguish the public areas of each floor.
The capital of the column, a functional entity that both separates it from the beam and connects it to it, is distinguished from other parts of the column by its leave-like shape and its gold color.
The textured gold color of the walls in the public areas is different from the color of other spaces.
The seams between the stone tiles and the carpets are made of cherry wood, a third material that both joins and separates the two.
The soft reflection of the light when it touches the gold, silver and redish colors in the space creates a unique feeling that envelops all parts of the building.
All parts of the audiovisual library are visually connected, all have a view to the roof terrace and the sea at the far distance.
RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE KIBBUTZ
Kibbutz Maagan Michael, Israel
Completion Date
Stage 1 2001
Stage 2 2004
STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN KIBBUTZ LIFE REQUIRE A NEW CONCEPT OF HOUSING
From Quantitive Uniformity to Qualitative Equality
The social, economic and physical structure of the collective known as a 'kibbutz' was founded in Israel in the early 20th century.
Its uppermost value since its very beginning was equality, translated in most realms of community life not as equality of opportunities, in its qualitative sense, but rather in itsquantitative sense, as formal uniformity. This dogmatic equality obliterated the self-identity and uniqueness of the individual and saw him only as part of the collective.
In recent years, however, this old conception of equality has been redefined in many respects. The social structure reverted back to the nuclear family, with children raised at home, and no longer in a communal house where they were regarded as the possession of the community as
a whole. Wages, previously based on the notion that every member contributed according to his or her own ability, but was supported according to his or her needs, have now become differential, based on one's contribution. Housing in the kibbutz is perhaps the last fortress of the old and simplistic conception of equality, a conception that now more than ever can change.
According to this conception, houses are regarded as static models ofpredetermined uniform shape, arbitrarily positioned on the building site. All houses with no regard to any environmental factors such as the direction of light or the angle open to the view on any specific plot, resulted in having all identical plan and elevations. Thus a tenant whose window happens to face the orchard has the advantage on the one whose window faces the cow shed.
This approach created a qualitative inequality between the houses and inequality of opportunities among the tenants.
Moreover, the outcome of this dogmatic approach was that houses built in the desert environment of the Negev or the hilly Galilean environment were exactly the same.
The new model I implemented in the design of the new houses in Kibbutz Maagan Michael was fundamentally different. The planning process adopted was based on patterns that were common to all the houses, patterns that grew out both of the social structure of the kibbutz and the geographic location facing the sea. When these common patterns were used in different site conditions, a variety of houses emerged, sharing one architectural language.
Planning the neighborhood on the site
Kibbutz Ma'agan is situated on a hill, with the new neighborhood on the western side that faces the sea. Each planning decision, from the positioning of the house on the site, through the determination of the direction of its entrance in relation to the path, and unto the location of each window, was taken on the site of each plot.
First the position of each house in relation to the others was determined, so as to ensure that each one has an open view to the water and can enjoy the breeze coming from the sea.
To determine the level of each house so that one could see the sea while sitting on the terrace, I used a crane that lifted me up to where I could see the sea. This height was measured and the level of the house was determined accordingly.
At the center of the neighborhood, a path was planned connecting the promenade that runs along the water and the path that runs from the
communal dining hall at the heart of the kibbutz to the neighborhood.
What dictated the course of the path was the wish to see the water from every spot along the path.
The houses were arranged in small clusters, sharing a communal open space. Unlike the traditional pattern in the kibbutz, where all open spaces, called 'the lawn', are communal and the buildings are dispersed arbitrarily in between, here the secondary paths running between the houses defined in a non-formal way, with no fences, the 'private' zone of each family.
This sense of 'private territory' unexpectedly created a new reality in which each family started to grow its own garden. This new pattern of behavior could not have developed in the traditional model, where the common open spaces were planned as the property of everyone, and therefore of no one.
At this stage the site plan was completed. The position of each house in the neighborhood in relation to the paths and its position in relation to the sea produced different types of house plans. On plots where the entrance from the path was in the same direction as the sea view, type A plans emerged. Here the entrance was through the main garden to the living-dining area that faced the view.
On plots where the entrance was from the opposite direction of the sea view, type B plans developed, and the entrance was through the opposite side of the garden and living areas.
In front of each house there is a bicycle rack (the only means of transport allowed within the boundaries of the kibbutz). Next to the entrance door a place for muddy boots was allocated, a prominent symbol of the kibbutz.
The walls are all whitewashed light blue, complemented by regionally quarried sandstone characterizing the construction details.
The implementation of a conceptually new model in a very rigid social framework became possible now, as a result of an overall change in the reality of the kibbutz communities, a change that was inevitable in the twenty-first century.
Nili Portugali
© 2005
Nili Portugali is an architect based in Tel-Aviv, Israel and has just published a new book, "The Act of Creation and the Spirit of a Place: A Holistic-Phenomenological Approach to Architecture", Edition Axel Menges, Stuttgart & London 2006. See www.niliportugali.com for more details.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace, Harper Collins, India, 1997
Christopher Alexander, S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press, 1977
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, 1979
Stephen Grabow, Christopher Alexander, The Search for a New Paradigm in Architecture, Oriel Press, 1983
Eugene Herrigel, Zen and the Art of Archery, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964
Views expressed on this page are those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by those involved in INTBAU.
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Red Sands Army Fort [U6] was a Maunsell army fort built near the Thames estuary for anti-aircraft defence. It is made up of several once interconnected towers.
Derelict, the remains of the Fort Towers are still standing.
The Venice Molino Stucky Hilton is Venice's newest landmark. It is located in the splendidly restored 19th-century Molino Stucky, formerly a flourmill and granary. The Molino Stucky is situated on the Giudecca, the gondola shaped group of eight interconnected islands minutes away from Piazza San Marco and Venice's major attractions.
Venice (Italian: Venezia [veˈnɛttsja] ( listen), Venetian: Venexia [veˈnɛsja]) is a city in northeast Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice (Centro storico); 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) (population 1,600,000).
The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century B.C. The city historically was the capital of the Venetian Republic. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.
The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers.
The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.
Please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice for further information...
German urbex -
Wellness refers to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being that extend beyond the traditional definition of health. It includes choices and activities aimed at achieving physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfillment.
Made from raupo stems interconnected by a network of flax threads, using nature’s universal construction system known as tensegrity. None of the stems touch, they are held under compression by tension from the threads. This means the system is in total dynamic balance and stress is distributed equally throughout the system making the sculpture flexible. Photographed in the shallows of Lake Wanaka in the calm at sunset to create a reflection.
Details best viewed in Original Size.
I captured the image of this diorama at the Akely Hall of African Mammals of the American Museum of Natural History located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. According to Wikipedia, the American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the Museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library. The collections contain over 32 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The Museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
American Museum of Natural History. New York. Jan/2017
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
The one mission statement of the American Museum of Natural History is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
Source: Wikipedia
O Museu Americano de História Natural (American Museum of Natural History, em inglês) é um museu dos Estados Unidos da América, localizado em Nova Iorque e fundado em 1869. É especialmente reconhecido pela sua vasta coleção de fósseis, incluindo de espécies de Dinossauros. Uma das grandes atrações do museu é uma coleção de esqueletos de dinossauro, com mais de 30 milhões de fósseis e artefatos espalhados por 42 salas de exibição.Um T-Rex de aproximadamente 15 metros e dá as boas vindas aos visitantes na entrada.
Theodore Roosevelt está ligado à sua fundação e é lembrado no actual museu por um memorial. O primeiro edifício do museu acabou de ser construído em 1877, a partir do projecto de Calvert Vaux e Jacob Wrey Mould, a partir de uma ideia de Albert Smith Bickmore, discípulo de Louis Agassiz no Museu de Zoologia Comparativa de Harvard, em 1860. O museu serviu como cenário para o filme "Uma Noite no Museu" (2006).
Fonte: Wikipedia
Autumnal tree, stump and bracket fungi near the walkway to Hohenaschau Castle, Aschau im Chiemgau, Bavaria, Germany
Some background information:
Bracket fungi, or shelf fungi, are among the many groups of fungi that comprise the phylum Basidiomycota. Characteristically, they produce shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies called conks that lie in a close planar grouping of separate or interconnected horizontal rows. Brackets can range from only a single row of a few caps, to dozens of rows of caps that can weigh several hundred pounds.
Resembling mushrooms, they are mainly found on trees (living and dead) and coarse woody debris. Some form annual fruiting bodies while others are perennial and grow larger year after year. Bracket fungi can be parasitic, saprotrophic, or both. They are typically tough and sturdy and produce their spores within the pores that typically make up the undersurface. Some species of bracket fungi are edible, such as Sulphur Polypore. The Lingzhi Mushroom is another one, which is used in Chinese medicine.
Hohenaschau Castle is a palace, which has its origin in a medieval hill castle. It is located in the municipality of Aschau im Chiemgau in the Prien Valley near the German-Austrian border on a ridge standing 50 metres high.
The castle was the seat of several major noble houses for more than seven centuries. It was first mentioned in a document in 1170, after the Lords of Hirnsberg had relocated their ancestral seat from Hirnsberg to Aschau. Subsequently the Lords of Hirnsberg, who used to be the administrative authorities of the Prien Valley at that time, renamed their own House of Hirnsberg House of Aschau. The Lords of Hirnsberg resp. Aschau were vassals of the Earls of Falkenstein-Neuburg, but after the House of Falkenstein-Neuburg had died out with the death of Siboto IV in 1272, the House of Aschau succeeded in keeping the sovereign right in the area.
At the beginning of the 14th century the House of Aschau got into economic difficulties, which the last Lord of Aschau tried to overcome by marrying his daughter off to the wealthy Friedrich von Katzenberger. But after the family von Katzenberger had also died out in 1382, the estates were acquired by Baron Konrad von Freyberg who was related by marriage to the family von Katzenberger.
The noble House of Freyberg was rather powerful and prosperous. Under the rule of the Barons of Freyberg between 1382 and 1606, Hohenaschau Castle was enlarged extensively in the Renaissance style. However, having no male offspring, also the House of Freyberg died out. By marriage of Benigna von Freyberg with Johann Christoph von Preysing the seignory of Aschau and the castle entered into possession of the Earls of Preysing then. In 1704, Hohenaschau was stormed by Austrian forces. Shortly after, the House of Preysing accomplished some building alterations in the style of the high baroque, but for the Earls of Preysing Hohenaschau was just one castle among many ones. Despite all the building refurbishments the old knight’s castle obviously did no longer correspond to the taste of the time at the end of the 18th century.
After the House of Preysing had died out in 1853, Hohenaschau Castle changed hands a few times. In 1875 it was acquired by Theodor von Cramer-Klett. He was a noble and wealthy industrialist and banker from the city of Nuremberg, whose family used Hohenaschau as a country estate. The castle was modernised again and during Word War I converted into a military hospital. At the end of the war it found a use as an asylum for the cripples. Hohenaschau Castle was still in possession of the family von Cramer-Klett until 1942, but in that year the family had to sell it to the German Reich due to financial problems. From then on until the end of World War II the castle served as a recreation home for the German Navy.
After the war it passed into the possession of the Federal Republic of Germany. Since 2005 it belongs to the Institute of Federal Real Estate. However, parts of Hohenaschau Castle are open to the public and can be visited within the frame of guided tours.
A social activity held in Yanshui (鹽水) town, Tainan (臺南) county, during the Yuanxiao festival. “Beehive fireworks” refers to the tens of thousands of fireworks piled on the fireworks rack, with an interconnected fuse, shaped like a beehive. Some of the racks have decorations on the outer frames and look like giant fireworks towers (commonly called firework cities [炮城]). Sometimes the designers will, with outstanding creativity, create differently designed fireworks cities to reflect the timing of the year or festival. Before the activity, the fireworks rack is set up in a specific location and is usually covered with red cloth to avoid accidental discharges; the covering cloth will be raised and the fuse lit when the touring deity’s sedan chair passes by. At that time, tens of thousands of fireworks will explode like bees flying out of their beehives in droves. Endless explosions and lighting along the way create a spectacular scene for a joint celebration for the people and the deity.
Sold for £ 4.600
The Jaguar Land-Rover Collection
Brightwells Auctions
Bicester Heritage
Buckingham Road
Bicester
Oxfordshire
England
March 2018
The BMC 1100 and 1300 (or ADO16 to those in the know) were a logical extension of the Mini. So that meant front-wheel drive, front disc brakes, interconnected Hydrolastic fluid suspension and a surprisingly large interior considering the compact external dimensions.
Performance was lively by the standards of the day thanks to the A-Series engines, in 1.098 cc and (from 1967) 1.275 cc capacities, and steering and handling came close to Mini levels of fun. Much cleverer than their Ford, Vauxhall and Rootes rivals, these cars consistently topped British sales charts but rusted as badly as any other British mass-produced saloons of the time.
The 1300GT arrived in 1969, and proved quite successful. The twin-carb engine was tuned to MG/Riley-spec and bold colours such as orange and yellow were offered, complemented by the black vinyl roof. While 58 bhp was the norm for an Austin 1300, the GT had a mighty 70bhp.
First registered in August 1972, this orange GT was acquired for the collection in 2013. Unfortunately there is only a V5C with the vehicle but an MOT history check shows that the last MOT expired in December 2013 with only minor advisories for slight play in o/s/f top ball joint and n/s/f brake hose slightly deteriorated.
Showing only 40,900 miles on the odometer it looks to be pretty tidy all round and it shouldn’t take too much to get it back on the road where it belongs. Being one of only 83 Austin GT models still UK registered, it definitely deserves to be saved for future generations to enjoy.
American Museum of Natural History. New York. Jan/2017
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
The one mission statement of the American Museum of Natural History is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
Source: Wikipedia
O Museu Americano de História Natural (American Museum of Natural History, em inglês) é um museu dos Estados Unidos da América, localizado em Nova Iorque e fundado em 1869. É especialmente reconhecido pela sua vasta coleção de fósseis, incluindo de espécies de Dinossauros. Uma das grandes atrações do museu é uma coleção de esqueletos de dinossauro, com mais de 30 milhões de fósseis e artefatos espalhados por 42 salas de exibição.Um T-Rex de aproximadamente 15 metros e dá as boas vindas aos visitantes na entrada.
Theodore Roosevelt está ligado à sua fundação e é lembrado no actual museu por um memorial. O primeiro edifício do museu acabou de ser construído em 1877, a partir do projecto de Calvert Vaux e Jacob Wrey Mould, a partir de uma ideia de Albert Smith Bickmore, discípulo de Louis Agassiz no Museu de Zoologia Comparativa de Harvard, em 1860. O museu serviu como cenário para o filme "Uma Noite no Museu" (2006).
Fonte: Wikipedia
On the streets of Coyoacan Borough, Mexico City.
Centro Coyoacán has two blocks interconnected that make up the Zocalo - Jardin Centenario & Plaza Hidalgo.
We are now wandering around Plaza Hidalgo.
The plaza is named after priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a statue of the priest, created by Luis Arias is in the plaza. Hidalgo was the prime instigator of the 1810-1821 revolution beginning with his “Cry from Delores”. The town, near San Miguel Allende, is now called Hidalgo de Delores.
design by Jeanne Gang.
Inspired by the tortoise shell, its laminated structure consists of prefabricated, bent-wood members and a series of interconnected fiberglass pods.
"The Cave of Leadership: From Gods to the Wheels of Chariots" is a visual story that traverses time and space, spanning epochs and weaving a tapestry of interconnected experiences that may seem meaningless at first glance. But upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that our journey towards leadership is built upon the foundation of ancient tales of power, wisdom, and foresight. We have placed our trust in the divine mindset of the gods and their immortal stories that have served as a leadership guidepost for generations on generations.
As we progress, our mechanical marvels have become symbols of human ingenuity and the unyielding desire for continuous progress. The wheels of our machines, fashioned in the likeness of the wheels of time, keep turning and propelling us towards new opportunities. Like spectral figures, we stand tall on slender platforms, driven forward by an unseen divine force. We are frail yet resilient, tenacious in our pursuit of conquest, and determined to transcend boundaries.
But what are the Leader's obligations to those who suffer in the face of adversity created by divine-driven opportunity? Those who silently scream, weep, and cry out for help? As the evolution of leadership remains transfixed on godlike guidance coupled with the relentless march of progress, it is up to us to embody the indomitable spirit of humanity and fasten on a relentless quest for equity. Only then can we indeed call ourselves leaders in the fullest sense of the word!
Blogger
www.jjfbbennett.com/2023/06/the-cave-of-leadership-from-g...
JJFBbennett Art Directory
Contemporary Positional Video Art and Socio-Fictional Writings
It is about being creative and innovative with knowledge
Sculpture :
217.5 Arc x 13'
Artist :
Bernar Venet
France
Location : Sunset Beach Park, Vancouver
Media : Corten steel
Venet illustrates the beauty, balance and plasticity of raw steel in his artistically mathematical manipulations of this industrial material. Nature, the universe, and life are all interconnected and explainable mathematically according to Venet . "217.5 X 13" was acquired by the Vancouver Biennale as a Legacy work at the conclusion of the 2005-2007 Biennale. (From the web site of Vancouver Biennale)
Citroën Méhari.
Matrícula española.
El número de matrícula corresponde al año 1979.
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Citroën Méhari
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Citroën Méhari was an off-road compact SUV produced by the French car maker Citroën, a variant of the Citroën 2CV. 144,953 Méharis were built between the car's French launch in May 1968 and 1988 when production ceased.
A méhari is a type of fast-running dromedary camel, which can be used for racing or transport. A méhariste was a French Armée d'Afrique and Army of the Levant cavalryman that used these camels.
The Méhari was based on the Citroën Dyane 6, and had a body made of ABS plastic with a soft top.
It also employed the 602 cc flat twin petrol engine shared with the 2CV6 and Citroën Ami.
This is similar to the way the mechanical parts of the 1960 Mini became the 1964 Mini Moke.
A four-wheel drive version of the Méhari was produced from 1980 to 1983 and had excellent off-road qualities, due to the lightness of the vehicle.
The standard Méhari weighs just 535 kg (1,179 lb) and has the interconnected fully independent long-travel 2CV suspension used by all of the Citroën 'A-Series' vehicles."
(...)
"The Méhari was designed by French World War II fighter ace Count Roland de la Poype, who headed the French company SEAP - Société d'Etudes et d'Applications des Plastiques. This company was already a supplier to Citroën, and SEAP developed a working concept of the car before presenting it to its client."
"The Méhari ended production in 1988 with no replacement. This left a gap in the market, that others have tried to address.
The Teihol company, which had been building the recently defunct Renault Rodeo, created the Tangara using 2CV mechanicals, with bolt on pre-dyed GRP panels. It also created a Citroën AX-based model, but the company ceased operations in 1990.
Due to its mechanical simplicity the Méhari can be restored to ‘as new’ condition – all parts including the chassis are easily available, creating a thriving restoration market."
Variants
- Méhari 4x4 [1979-1983]
- Limited editions [1983]
"Two limited edition versions of the Méhari were sold:
The first was the white and blue Méhari Azur (Blue), of which only 700 were sold, and the all yellow Méhari Plage (Beach), produced for the Spanish and Portuguese market."
----------------------
Citroën Méhari
Manufacturer
Citroën
Production
1968—1988
Assembly
Belgium: Forest
Spain: Vigo (Centro de Vigo)
Portugal: Mangualde
Argentina: (Citroen Argentina, S.A./IES)
Designer
Roland de La Poype
Class
Off-road compact SUV (J)
Body style
2-door cabriolet SUV
Layout
Front engine, front-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
Platform
Citroën 2CV platform
Related
Citroën Dyane 6
Citroën FAF
Teilhol Tangara
Vanclee Mungo
Engine
602 cc flat-2
Wheelbase
2,400 mm (94.5 in)
Length
3,520 mm (138.6 in)
Width
1,530 mm (60.2 in)
Height
1,640 mm (64.6 in)
Curb weight
570 kg (1,256.6 lb)
Successor
Citroën E-Méhari
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari
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Citroën Méhari
"El Méhari es un automóvil de bajo costo descapotable producido por el fabricante francés Citroën entre los años 1968 y 1988. Se construyeron en total 144.953 unidades de este modelo en Europa.
El Méhari está basado en el Citroën 2CV, y tiene una carrocería de plástico en Europa y de PRFV en Argentina y Uruguay. Su motor era el mismo motor gasolina bicilíndrico de 602 cc de cilindrada, proveniente del 2CV."
Producción argentina
"Se fabricó en dos períodos diferentes: 1971 hasta 1980 mediante Citroën Argentina S.A. con 3997 unidades producidas.
La empresa IES (Industrias Emilio Sal Lari) en 1984 resucita el modelo, esta vez bajo la denominación Safari por un par de años, hasta 1986, manteniendo todas las características técnicas del modelo original."
Producción chilena
"Desarrollado en Chile entre los años 1971 y 1973 con el nombre de Yagán, estaba basado en el Méhari francés.
A pesar de tratarse de un vehículo artesanal ya que el Yagán estaba hecho totalmente a mano y sin ningún tipo de matrices o moldes, logró una cuota de fabricación cercana a las 1.500 unidades, en su fabrica de Arica donde además se ensamblaban otros vehículos Citroën, como el Ami 8 y el 2CV. Algo muy distintivo del Yagán era que el chasis base era de Citroën 2CV y no de Méhari, y el 50% de los componentes eran chilenos, ese era el objetivo."
Otras versiones
"Además de la versión con tracción delantera, en Europa se fabricó una con tracción a las cuatro ruedas entre 1980 y 1983; tiene una gran distancia del chasis al suelo y amortiguadores traseros de ballestas, que le permiten circular por terrenos inhóspitos.
El Méhari pesa menos de 600 kg.
El Ejército Francés utilizó el Méhari, modificándolo para operar con un sistema eléctrico de 24 V. El motor ofrecía la pequeña cifra de 33 cv, y llegaba a los 103 km/h con viento a favor.
También se fabricó una versión para Estados Unidos en 1970."
Versión eléctrica
"En 2016 Citroën comercializó una versión eléctrica con una velocidad máxima de 110 km/h y una autonomía según ciclo NEDC de 200km.
Como todos los vehículos eléctricos no produce contaminación atmosférica ni contaminación sonora en el lugar de uso."
Fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari
More info:
www.highmotor.com/coches-historia-45-anos-citroen-mehari....
www.autobild.es/reportajes/citroen-mehari-aniversario-45-...
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Citroën Méhari en España
(...) "El Mehari fue fruto de la iniciativa de la empresa de plásticos SEAB y llegó a España en 1970 tras ser presentado en el Salón de Barcelona de 1969.
Se mantendría en catalogo hasta casi 20 años después.
Ofertado en nuestro país en colores como el rojo, el beige y el verde, y luego en amarillo butano y pistacho, tenia un precio de 120.000 pesetas.
Se llegaron a fabricar más de 140.000 unidades a nivel mundial.
Evidentemente estaba a disposición del bolsillo de los españoles mas que el VW 181 o el Moke, que solo podían ser importados o rematriculados tras ser propiedad de extranjeros.
Su versatilidad (puede ser limpiado con una manguera y albergar las hamacas y sillas de playa), unido a su cierta capacidad todo terreno, sobre todo por la altura de sus ruedas, ha hecho que la mayoría de unidades españolas hayan acabado en la costa mediterránea."
En España, se fabricó en la factoría de Citroën en Vigo:
Años de producción:
1969 – 1980
Modelo:
Citroën Méhari
El Méhari era un dos plazas, con opción a cuatro, descapotable y con cubierta de lona.
Producción:
12.429 unidades.
"En 19 años de historia, el Méhari sólo ha conocido dos series especiales lanzadas en 1983: el Méhari Playa (España) y, el Méhari Azur (Francia, Italia y Portugal), con una carrocería blanca y azul (puertas, calandra, baca del techo, cercos de los faros), con tapicería esponjosa con rayas blancas y azules."
Fuentes:
www.escuderia.com/especial-playeros-buggies-mehari-y-mas/
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A1brica_PSA_de_Vigo
An entry into the military group's competition. Made for the interconnected vignette category.
Urban combat is bloody, personal and extremely slow. An invading spec ops team meets resistance at every street corner and is forced to dig into the city itself. This is just a little skirmsh over an area labeled tennis court #8. The title "battle" is meant to show just how slow urban combat is.
One spec ops member has had his leg blown off and is bleeding profusely all over the street. A defending soldier is just about to shoot him, but he fails to notice the other spec ops member hiding behind the rusted chain link fence.
What will happen to the soldier? Who will win the battle? Who will pay for all the damage done to the shop window?
"Toon in next week to find out"
Details best viewed in Original Size.
I captured the image of this diorama at the Hall of Mammals of North America of the American Museum of Natural History located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. According to Wikipedia, the American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the Museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library. The collections contain over 32 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The Museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
"Multitudes of people are beauty-blind to the outdoor pictures. I doubt if one in a hundred begins to take in the beauty visible on even a short walk in city or country." - Delia Lyman Porter
I had such fun yesterday walking from home along the Waterfront Recreational Trail and through the Humber Bay Parks.
"The Waterfront Trail is made up of an interconnected series of trails mainly along the shores of Lake Ontario in Canada, beginning in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and extending to Brockville, Ontario, with an extension along Former Highway 2, to the Quebec provincial border. Through Toronto, the trail is called the Martin Goodman Trail. The Waterfront Trail is also used by commuters in parts of Southern Ontario." Wikipedia
Thanks for visiting, enjoy your day.
American Museum of Natural History. New York. Jan/2017
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
The one mission statement of the American Museum of Natural History is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
Source: Wikipedia
O Museu Americano de História Natural (American Museum of Natural History, em inglês) é um museu dos Estados Unidos da América, localizado em Nova Iorque e fundado em 1869. É especialmente reconhecido pela sua vasta coleção de fósseis, incluindo de espécies de Dinossauros. Uma das grandes atrações do museu é uma coleção de esqueletos de dinossauro, com mais de 30 milhões de fósseis e artefatos espalhados por 42 salas de exibição.Um T-Rex de aproximadamente 15 metros e dá as boas vindas aos visitantes na entrada.
Theodore Roosevelt está ligado à sua fundação e é lembrado no actual museu por um memorial. O primeiro edifício do museu acabou de ser construído em 1877, a partir do projecto de Calvert Vaux e Jacob Wrey Mould, a partir de uma ideia de Albert Smith Bickmore, discípulo de Louis Agassiz no Museu de Zoologia Comparativa de Harvard, em 1860. O museu serviu como cenário para o filme "Uma Noite no Museu" (2006).
Fonte: Wikipedia
Skaters are drawn to colorful murals for several interconnected reasons that bridge their sport, culture, and personal expression. The vibrancy and artistic nature of murals transform mundane urban spaces into visually stimulating playgrounds. These artworks provide a dynamic backdrop for skate tricks, making a simple kickflip or ollie feel more like a performance on a stage. The aesthetic appeal of skating against a brightly painted wall or in a vibrantly decorated underpass enhances the experience and makes for visually compelling videos and photos that are widely shared within the skating community.
The connection between skaters and murals also stems from a shared subculture of reclaiming urban environments. Both skating and street art are often seen as counter-cultural, non-conformist activities that repurpose public spaces in a way that challenges traditional norms. For skaters, a concrete ledge is not just a part of a building, but an obstacle to be conquered. Similarly, for muralists, a blank wall is not just a building facade, but a canvas for expression. This shared ethos of seeing potential in overlooked or underutilized spaces creates a natural affinity. Skaters appreciate the artistic rebellion of murals, which mirrors their own rebellious spirit in the face of urban conformity.
Furthermore, murals often serve as cultural and community markers within the urban landscape. They can represent local history, social movements, or simply the unique character of a neighborhood. By choosing to skate in these locations, skaters are not just finding a good spot; they are engaging with the identity of the area. This can foster a sense of belonging and respect for the community's creative expression. The murals become more than just art; they become part of the local **skate scene**, a landmark that defines a specific spot and gives it a unique feel.
Finally, the relationship is a symbiotic one. Skaters, by using these spaces, bring life and activity to the murals. They act as informal custodians and admirers, drawing attention to the art and contributing to the vibrant atmosphere of the location. This mutual appreciation can sometimes lead to collaborations, with artists creating murals specifically for skate parks or skaters working with local art initiatives. Ultimately, the fusion of colorful murals and skating is a powerful expression of street culture, where art, sport, and community converge to transform the urban environment into a living gallery of motion and creativity.
Note: This image is an AI image. The position indicated on the map is incorrect.
EARTH DAY IS EVERY DAY
(Has a sound track)
This 26-second video was extracted from one of my Earth-Day Naturegram Greetings on this page: naturegram.com/video/category/everyday-is-earth-day-116
Taken at Tuggerah Lakes, a wetland system of three interconnected coastal lagoons, are located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia
The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature in the California Desert National Conservation Area. The landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), some as high as 140 feet (43 m), rising from the bed of the Searles Lake (dry) basin. The pinnacles vary in size and shape from short and squat to tall and thin, and are composed primarily of calcium carbonate (tufa). They now sit isolated and slowly crumbling away near the south end of the valley, surrounded by many square miles of flat, dried mud and with stark mountain ranges at either side.
During the Pleistocene, massive runoff spilled from the Sierra Nevada into a chain of inland seas. The system of interconnected lakes stretched from Mono Lake to Death Valley and included Searles Lake. Deep beneath Searles Lake, calcium-rich groundwater and alkaline lake water combined to grow tufa formations. Similar (modern) formations can be found today at Mono Lake to the north. Known as tufa pinnacles, these strange shapes formed underwater 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. The pinnacles did not all form at the same time. They are divided by age and elevation into three groups. The groups are dubbed the northern, middle, and southern groups because they formed during three ice ages.
The northern group is the youngest at 11,000 to 25,000 years old. These are the best examples of what are known as tufa towers. The northern group also include shapes called tombstones, ridges and cones. The small middle group claims only 100 spires, but boasts the tallest "tower", rising 140 feet (43 m). The southern group, includes 200 tufa formations aged 32,000 to 100,000 years old.
The Pinnacles are recognizable in more than a dozen hit movies. Over thirty film projects a year are shot among the tufa pinnacles, including backdrops for car commercials and sci-fi movies and television series such as Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Disney's Dinosaur, The Gate II: Trespassers, Lost in Space, and Planet of the Apes. The music video for Lady Gaga's 2020 single "Stupid Love" was also filmed here.
Source: Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trona_Pinnacles
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C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) or Comet NEOWISE is a long period comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered on March 27, 2020, by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. At that time, it was an 18th-magnitude object, located 2 AU (300 million km; 190 million mi) away from the Sun and 1.7 AU (250 million km; 160 million mi) away from Earth.
NEOWISE is known for being the brightest comet in the northern hemisphere since Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997. It was widely photographed by professional and amateur observers and was even spotted by people living near city centers and areas with light pollution. While it was too close to the Sun to be observed at perihelion, it emerged from perihelion around magnitude 0.5 to 1, making it bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Under dark skies, it could be seen with the naked eye and remained visible to the naked eye throughout July 2020. By July 30, the comet was about magnitude 5, but binoculars were required near urban areas to locate the comet.
Source: Wikipedia
[From Wikipedia]
The Citroën Bijou is a small coupé manufactured by Citroën at the premises they had occupied since 1925 in Slough, England. The Bijou was assembled from 1959 until 1964. It was based on the same platform chassis as the Citroën 2CV, sharing its advanced independent front to rear interconnected suspension. The car's appearance was thought to be more in line with the conservative taste of British consumers than the unconventional and uncompromisingly utilitarian rural look of the standard 2CV.
The body was made of fibreglass, and the car featured the two-cylinder 425 cc 12 bhp engine also seen in the 2CV. Only 210 were produced, plus two prototypes. It incorporated some components from the DS, most noticeably the single-spoke steering wheel.
It was designed by Peter Kirwan-Taylor, by now already known as the stylist of the elegant 1957 Lotus Elite, another fibreglass-bodied car. Bijou bodies were initially moulded by a company called "Whitson & Co", close to Citroën's Slough premises, but it later proved necessary to transfer this work to another supplier.
Disappointing sales levels for the UK's own Citroën seem to have been down to the Bijou's price, which at the time of the 1959 motor show was £674. At this time the British market was acutely price sensitive, and buyers could choose a Ford Popular with four doors, four seats and a much larger engine for £494.
The Bijou's more modern styling gave it a higher top speed and lower cruising fuel consumption than the equivalent 2CV; however, the greater weight of the bodywork had an adverse impact on the car's more general performance, especially its acceleration. The Bijou was considered expensive by the testers. It was also more expensive than the Austin Mini, but the Bijou was supposed to be more distinguished.
As of 2013, nearly 150 Bijous were on the 2CVGB club register, but fewer than 40 are still on the roads.
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When I was growing up, the president of the Citroen owners club for the city that I lived in, lived up the road. He had a whole bunch of kooky cars that he owned, or that regularly came to visit, but a pale yellow small car always sat near the fence, with its butt poking out. I never knew what it was until the interweb allowed some research, and I discovered it was on of these Bijou. One of only 210 built.
American Museum of Natural History. New York. Jan/2017
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
The one mission statement of the American Museum of Natural History is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
Source: Wikipedia
O Museu Americano de História Natural (American Museum of Natural History, em inglês) é um museu dos Estados Unidos da América, localizado em Nova Iorque e fundado em 1869. É especialmente reconhecido pela sua vasta coleção de fósseis, incluindo de espécies de Dinossauros. Uma das grandes atrações do museu é uma coleção de esqueletos de dinossauro, com mais de 30 milhões de fósseis e artefatos espalhados por 42 salas de exibição.Um T-Rex de aproximadamente 15 metros e dá as boas vindas aos visitantes na entrada.
Theodore Roosevelt está ligado à sua fundação e é lembrado no actual museu por um memorial. O primeiro edifício do museu acabou de ser construído em 1877, a partir do projecto de Calvert Vaux e Jacob Wrey Mould, a partir de uma ideia de Albert Smith Bickmore, discípulo de Louis Agassiz no Museu de Zoologia Comparativa de Harvard, em 1860. O museu serviu como cenário para o filme "Uma Noite no Museu" (2006).
Fonte: Wikipedia
- www.kevin-palmer.com - Aspen trees are interconnected by a huge root system which makes them all clones of each other. Fall is the only time you can distinguish different stands, as they change colors at different rates.
Izunuma-Uchinuma, two interconnected freshwater lakes supporting fringing peat swamps, reedbeds, and submerged vegetation. One of the few Japanese localities for wild rice, an important food source for wintering Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans, etc.). The 559 ha National Wildlife Protection & Nature Conservation Area was designated as Ramsar Site in 1985.
The 34th Desktop created for “The E82 Project”
Symbolizing the dynamic and interconnected relationship between the ocean, sky, and our mother star, The Living Seas Entry Mural, designed by Tim Delaney, was a modern masterpiece of multi-dimensional design. With its colorful currents and dramatic seascape refracting the sunlight, the mural not only emphases the pavilion’s theme but also accurately depicts the ratio of a planet that should have been named Sea not Earth as its surface is mostly covered by water.
Designer’s Note:
Just as with Energy’s Mural, I was dealing with the same problem of a very wide subject matter on a comparatively narrow screen. This time it was determined to have the focal point occupy more than 50% of the desktop image. In order to accomplish this I wanted to (vertically) extend the mural well beyond the confines of the original pavilion entry. Also, I had to concede that the mural could not be exhibited fully and approximately 30% of its length would have to be cropped.
Several test later, and to spite its uniquely multi-layered presentation, the desktop background was completely lacking in depth. Fast-forward a few months, and I finally hit upon a solution of multiple “backlit” Art Deco-influenced layers that would both increase depth and would maintain focus on Tim’s original masterpiece.
Point of Interest:
The waveforms below the mural are exact replicas of wavy railings that originally encircled the pavilion’s marquee.
For More Information
Please visit “E82 – The Epcot Legacy”
Collaboration between I Scream Clone and Brick Knight and Guy Montag (not on Flickr). We won Best in show with the four tables interconnected by portals.
The Keralan backwaters are a network of brackish lagoons and lakes interconnected by a series of canals and rivers just inland from the Arabian Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
For hundreds of years the backwaters have been a means of transportation to and from small villages, supporting the prevalent fishing industry along and providing means to transport locally grown products and spices to the regional port of Cochin (now Kochi). The backwaters continues to support a unique ecosystem of fish, freshwater crustaceans, amphibians and waterfowl such as the famous blue Kingfisher.
Unsurprisingly, the unregulated surge of motorized transport on the waterways have raised ecological concerns of pollution from diesel engines, and outboard propellors disturbing the fragile ecosystem. Lately, the backwaters have become a major tourist destination as well with many operators taking groups through the canals with varying degrees of sensitivity for the backwaters themselves and the local people who continue to live here.
American Museum of Natural History. New York. Jan/2017
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
The one mission statement of the American Museum of Natural History is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and education—knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.
Source: Wikipedia
O Museu Americano de História Natural (American Museum of Natural History, em inglês) é um museu dos Estados Unidos da América, localizado em Nova Iorque e fundado em 1869. É especialmente reconhecido pela sua vasta coleção de fósseis, incluindo de espécies de Dinossauros. Uma das grandes atrações do museu é uma coleção de esqueletos de dinossauro, com mais de 30 milhões de fósseis e artefatos espalhados por 42 salas de exibição.Um T-Rex de aproximadamente 15 metros e dá as boas vindas aos visitantes na entrada.
Theodore Roosevelt está ligado à sua fundação e é lembrado no actual museu por um memorial. O primeiro edifício do museu acabou de ser construído em 1877, a partir do projecto de Calvert Vaux e Jacob Wrey Mould, a partir de uma ideia de Albert Smith Bickmore, discípulo de Louis Agassiz no Museu de Zoologia Comparativa de Harvard, em 1860. O museu serviu como cenário para o filme "Uma Noite no Museu" (2006).
Fonte: Wikipedia
The Renaissance Center (aka GM Renaissance Center) is a group of seven interconnected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, on the shore of the Detroit River. The complex is owned by General Motors, which uses it as its world headquarters. The central tower, the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center with its curved glass-clad facade, is the second tallest all-hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. It has been the tallest building in Michigan since it was erected in 1977. The principal architect was John Portman.
this great blue heron was seen in the 'mystic river watershed', he flew in from the 'ale wife reservation' the waters of medford, arlington, cambridge etc. are all interconnected! george mclean photo
The Watts Towers are a collection of 17 interconnected structures, two of which reach heights of over 99 feet. The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years, from 1921 to 1954.
The sculptures' armatures are constructed from steel pipes and rods, wrapped with wire mesh and coated with mortar. The main supports are embedded with pieces of porcelain, tile, and glass. They are decorated with found objects, including bed frames, bottles, ceramic tiles, scrap metal and sea shells. Rodia called the towers Nuestro Pueblo (which means "our town" in Spanish). He built them with no special equipment or predetermined design, working alone with hand tools and window-washer's equipment. Neighborhood children brought pieces of broken glass and pottery to Rodia, some of which were added, but the majority of his material consisted of damaged pieces from the Malibu Pottery or CALCO (California Clay Products Company), located nearby. Green glass includes recognizable soft drink bottles from the 1930s through 1950s, some still bearing the former logos of 7 Up, Squirt, Bubble Up, and Canada Dry; blue glass appears to be from milk of magnesia bottles.
Rodia bent much of the Towers' framework from scrap rebar, using nearby railroad tracks as a makeshift vise. Other items came from alongside the Pacific Electric Railway right of way between Watts and Wilmington. Rodia often walked the right of way all the way to Wilmington in search of material, a distance of nearly 20 miles (32 km).
Rodia reportedly did not get along with his neighbors, some of whom allowed their children to vandalize his work. Rumors that the towers were antennae for communicating with enemy Japanese forces or contained buried treasure caused suspicion and further vandalism.
In 1955, Rodia gave the property away and left, reportedly tired of the abuse he had received. He retired to Martinez, California and never came back. He died a decade later.
These towers are close to my office but in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. I wanted to get a night shot of the towers but my wife made me promise not to go here after dark. Instead, I picked a day with fast moving clouds when the security guard was on duty.
The City of Red Deer has a wonderful parks system that is interconnected by a network of walking/bike trails. This is Bower Ponds where you can rend paddle boats and leisurely make your way through a series of ponds along the Red Deer River. Right, now, it is a very large skating area and outdoor shinny hockey rink.
I got this back in August when I got home from my day trip out on the Forestry Trunk Road. I got back to Red Deer just in time for the sunset and just ahead of the approaching thunder storm.