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Built in 1895-1896, this Chicago School-style thirteen-story skyscraper was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler for the Guaranty Construction Company. It was initially commissioned by Hascal L. Taylor, whom approached Dankmar Adler to build "the largest and best office building in the city,” but Taylor, whom wanted to name the building after himself, died in 1894, just before the building was announced. Having already had the building designed and ready for construction, the Guaranty Construction Company of Chicago, which already had resources lined up to build the project, bought the property and had the building constructed, with the building instead being named after them. In 1898, the building was renamed after the Prudential Insurance Company, which had refinanced the project and became a major tenant in the building after it was completed. Prudential had the terra cotta panels above the main entrances to the building modified to display the company’s name in 1898, upon their acquisition of a partial share in the ownership of the tower. The building became the tallest building in Buffalo upon its completion, and was a further refinement of the ideas that Sullivan had developed with the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, which was built in 1890-92, and featured a design with more Classical overtones, which were dropped with the design of the Guaranty Building in favor of a more purified Art Nouveau and Chicago School aesthetic, and with more intricate visual detail, with the ornate terra cotta panels cladding the entire structure, leaving very few areas with sparse detail. The building is an early skyscraper with a steel frame supporting the terra cotta panel facade, a departure from earlier load bearing masonry structures that had previously been predominant in many of the same applications, and expresses this through large window openings at the base and a consistent wall thickness, as there was no need to make the exterior walls thicker at the base to support the load from the structure above. The building also contrasts with the more rigid historically-influenced Classical revivalism that was growing in popularity at the time, and follows Sullivan’s mantra of “form ever follows function” despite having a lot of unnecessary detail on the exterior cladding and interior elements. The building’s facade also emphasizes its verticality through continual vertical bands of windows separated by pilasters that are wider on the first two floors, with narrower pilasters above, with the entire composition of the building following the tripartite form influenced by classical columns, with distinct sections comprising the base, shaft, and capital, though being a radical and bold abstraction of the form compared to the historical literalism expressed by most of its contemporaries, more directly displaying the underlying steel structure of the building.
The building is clad in rusty terra cotta panels which feature extensive Sullivanesque ornament inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, which clad the entirety of the building’s facades along Church Street and Pearl Street, with simpler red brick and painted brick cladding on the facades that do not front public right-of-ways, which are visible when the building is viewed from the south and west. The white painted brick cladding on the south elevation marks the former location of the building’s light well, which was about 30 feet wide and 68 feet deep, and was infilled during a 1980s rehabilitation project, adding an additional 1,400 square feet of office space, and necessitating an artificial light source to be installed above the stained glass ceiling of the building’s lobby. The building’s windows are mostly one-over-one double-hung windows in vertical columns, with one window per bay, though this pattern is broken at the painted portions of the non-principal facades, which feature paired one-over-one windows, on the second floor of the principal facades, which features Chicago-style tripartite windows and arched transoms over the building’s two main entry doors, on the thirteenth floor of the principal facades, which features circular oxeye windows, and at the base, which features large storefront windows that include cantilevered sections with shed glass roofs that wrap around the columns at the base of the building. The building’s terra cotta panels feature many natural and geometric motifs based on plants and crystalline structures, the most common being a “seed pod” motif that symbolizes growth, with a wide variation of patterns, giving the facade a dynamic appearance, which is almost overwhelming, but helps to further grant the building a dignified and monumental appearance, and is a signature element of many of the significant works of Adler and Sullivan, as well as Sullivan’s later independent work. The building’s pilasters halve in number but double in thickness towards the base, with wide window openings underneath pairs of window bays above on the first and second floors, with the pilasters terminating at circular columns with large, decorative, ornate terra cotta capitals in the central bays, and thick rectilinear pilasters at the corners and flanking the entry door openings. The circular columns penetrate the extruded storefront windows and shed glass roofs below, which formed display cases for shops in the ground floor of the building when it first opened, and feature decorative copper trim and mullions framing the large expanses of plate glass. The base of the building is clad in medina sandstone panels, as well as medina sandstone bases on the circular columns. The major entry doors feature decorative copper trim surrounds, a spandrel panel with ornate cast copper detailing above and the name “Guaranty” emblazoned on the face of each of the two panels at the two entrances, decorative transoms above with decorative copper panels as headers, and arched transoms on the second floor with decorative terra cotta trim surrounds. Each of the two major entrance doors is flanked by two ornate Art Nouveau-style wall-mounted sconces mounted on the large pilasters, with smaller, partially recessed pilasters on either side. The building features two cornices with arched recesses, with the smaller cornice running as a belt around the transition between the base and the shaft portions of the building, with lightbulbs in each archway, and the larger cornice, which extends further out from the face of the building, running around the top of the building’s Swan Street and Pearl Street facades, with a circular oxeye window in each archway. The lower corner recessed into the facade at the ends, while the upper cornice runs around the entire top of the facade above, with geometric motifs in the central portions and a large cluster of leaves in a pattern that is often repeated in Sullivan’s other work at the corners. The spandrel panels between the windows on the shaft portion of the building feature a cluster of leaves at the base and geometric patterns above, with a repeat of the same recessed arch detail as the cornice at the sill line of each window. The pilasters feature almost strictly geometric motifs, with a few floral motifs thrown in at key points to balance the composition of the facade with the windows. A small and often overlooked feature of the ground floor is a set of stone steps up to an entrance at the northwest corner of the building, which features a decorative copper railing with Sullivanesque and Art Nouveau-inspired ornament, which sits next to a staircase to the building’s basement, which features a more utilitarian modern safety railing in the middle.
The interior of the building was heavily renovated over the years before being partially restored in 1980, with the lobby being reverted back to its circa 1896 appearance. The Swan Street vestibule has been fully restored, featuring a marble ceiling, decorative mosaics around the top of the walls, a decorative antique brass light fixture with Art Nouveau detailing and a ring of lightbulbs in the center, the remnant bronze stringer of a now-removed staircase to the second floor in a circular glass wall at the north end of the space, and a terazzo floor. The main lobby, located immediately to the west, features a Tiffany-esque stained glass ceiling with ellipsoid and circular panels set into a bronze frame that once sat below a skylight at the base of the building’s filled-in light well, marble cladding on the walls, mosaics on the ceiling and around the top of the walls, a bronze staircase with ornate railing at the west end of the space, which features a semi-circular landing, a basement staircase with a brass railing, a terrazzo floor, and multiple historic three-bulb wall sconces, as well as brass ceiling fixtures matching those in the vestibule. The building’s elevators, located in an alcove near the base of the staircase, features a decorative richly detailed brass screen on the exterior, with additional decorative screens above, with the elevator since having been enclosed with glass to accommodate modern safety standards and equipment, while preserving the visibility of the original details. Originally, when the building was built, the elevators descended open shafts into a screen wall in the lobby, with the elevators originally being manufactured by the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company, with these being exchanged in 1903 for water hydraulic elevators that remained until a renovation in the 1960s. Sadly, most of the historic interior detailing of the upper floors was lost during a series of renovations in the 20th Century, which led to them being fully modernized during the renovation in the 1980s, with multiple tenant finish projects since then further modifying the interiors of the upper floors.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, owing to its architectural significance, and to help save the building, which had suffered a major fire in 1974 that led to the city of Buffalo seeking to demolish it. A renovation in the early 1980s managed to modernize the building while restoring the lobby and the exterior, which was carried out under the direction of the firm CannonDesign, and partial funding from federal historic tax credits. The building was purchased in 2002 by Hodgson Russ, a law firm, which subsequently further renovated the building to suit their needs, converting the building into their headquarters in 2008. This renovation was carried out under the direction of Gensler Architects and the local firm Flynn Battaglia Architects. The building today houses offices on the upper floors, with a visitor center, known as the Guaranty Interpretative Center, on the first floor, with historic tours offered of some of the building’s exterior and interior spaces run by Preservation Buffalo Niagara. The building was one of the most significant early skyscrapers, and set a precedent for the modern skyscrapers that began to be built half a century later.
ADJUSTMENTS/REFINEMENTS (not pictured)
Some touch up on the paint.
Adjust the angles of the legs at the hip joints to make the prop more upright.
Put some thin plastic water piping over the 9 gauge wire antennae then painted.
FINAL ASSEMBLY.
All the parts waiting to go once again
"In spite of all the refinements of civilization that conspired to make art - the dizzying perfection of the string quartet or the sprawling grandeur of Fragonard’s canvases - beauty was savage. It was as dangerous and lawless as the earth had been eons before man had one single coherent thought in his head or wrote codes of conduct on tablets of clay. Beauty was a Savage Garden."
~Anne Rice~
Magical surroundings – Refinement and charm :
Relaxation, the art of true living, an unmistakable sophistication – such is the spirit of the Belle Epoque which brings the Hotel Hermitage to life.
A century later, the same spirit is still intact in the Eiffel Hall, the salons, the guest rooms, each with an individual, intimate atmosphere where discreet luxury joins with classic pleasures from times pasts.
One of Ashley Hughes's preferred places to stay in the world.
Ashley Hughes ~ Vancouver
Lady Ashley Hughes
Nike has just released their latest refinement to the Metcon Flyknit line. Let’s talk about the Nike Metcon Flyknit 3.
How does the Nike Metcon Flyknit 3 stack up versus the very popular Nike Metcon 4? Which is the right CrossFit training shoe for you?
The Nike Metcon line are intended to be cross training shoes – and more specifically these are CrossFit training shoes (even if they aren’t legally allowed to brand them as such.)
And as you know that means lifting heavy weights – both of the Olympic and powerlifting variety, running, jumping, rope climbs, and more.
These shoes have all the great features of the Nike Metcon line - plus FlyKnit material.
They’ve added synthetic overlays in high-wear areas such as the toe and lateral side to enhance durability.
It has also borrowed a bit from the Nike Free X Metcon. It’s got an even more bootie-like fit and appeal as compared to it’s predecessor.
[FIND OUT MORE]
fitatmidlife.com/nike-metcon-flyknit-3-cross-training-shoe/
#Nike #Metcon #CrossFit #FlyKnit #TrainingShoes #CrossTraining #CrossFitShoes #Workout
The Audi Q7 is a big SUV that’s big on refinement, comfort and features.Its luxury cabin is equipped with seven seats. There is a choice of petrol or diesel engine and all models come with all-wheel drive.We find the Q7 model driving elegance and interior refinement.The Q7 is derived from...
St Mary Woolnoth, King William Street, London
Opinions vary greatly as to the merits of this church, observed Margaret Tabor in her splendid little 1924 volume London City Churches, a review of all those churches in the City built up to the end of the 18th Century. Some critics point to it as an illustration of the lack of genius of Wren's pupils... others find "much refinement" in the north front, and admire the classical details... The clanging quotation marks that drop around the words 'much refinement' probably tell us all we need to know about Ms Tabor's opinion. The pupil of Wren who was lacking in genius on this occasion was Nicholas Hawksmoor of course, who is today recognised as quite the most innovative English urban church architect of the 18th Century. That Ms Tabor was not without allies is reflected in the fact that on several occasions this building has been threatened. In 1863 an application was made for its demolition, so that the land could be used for the construction of Bank underground station. The parishioners fought off the attempt (in the event, the station was built in the crypt, and the neo-classical screen now hosting a Starbucks to the south of the church was built as the station entrance). In 1919, the Diocese of London's Commission into City Churches recommended St Mary Woolnoth as one of nineteen churches for demolition, the proceeds going to the construction of new churches in the suburbs.
St Mary Woolnoth's superb location at the meeting point of Lothbury and King William Street is of course the main reason for these periodic avaricious attempted land grabs, but it must be said that over the years there are many people who haven't really 'got' St Mary Woolnoth. The purity of the Classical form is undoubted - how the Victorians must have hated it! - but that box of an interior, unrelenting in its mathematical perfection, is easier to admire than to love. When the galleries were in situ and before the high box pews were replaced it must have been a claustrophobic experience sitting here on a Sunday, despite the light from above. Sometimes I take people in here and it blows them away, it takes their breath away. It doesn't do that to me. Perhaps I, too, am one of the people who don't really get St Mary Woolnoth.
Quite what TS Eliot thought of it I don't know, but his own memories of working in the City which weave their way into his masterpiece, The Waste Land, recalled the church very precisely:
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
One of the rectors here at the end of the 18th Century was the hymn writer John Newton. Newton had been a slave trader in an earlier part of his life, but repented and became a vocal opponent of the trade. He is buried here, and his epitaph, although fully in the language of early 19th Century pious memory, is still rather moving: John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had laboured long to destroy.
(c) Simon Knott, December 2015
Boeing 247-D
The Boeing 247-D was the refinement of the first truly modern airliner. The 247, a derivative of the Model 200 Monomail and B-9 bomber, showed a substantial improvement over the Ford Tri-Motor, cutting eight hours from the coast-to-coast flying time, and was capable of carrying 10 people. The Museum's 247-D flew in the famous England-to-Australia air race of 1934.
Douglas DC-3
The DC-3 was a descendant of the DC-1 and was TWA's answer to United's Boeing 247. The DC-1 incorporated Jack Northrop's multicellular wing construction and light yet powerful engines, and carried 12 passengers in relative comfort. The DC-2 production model that followed has 14 seats. The 21-seat DC-3, later able to accommodate 28 or more passengers, was originally designed as a sleeper - the DST - to carry passengers overnight from New York to Los Angeles. With a full load, it was the first transport airplane that could fly passengers without mail and still make a profit. The DC-3's streamlined, versatile design and strong wing construction made it an exceptional aircraft; at least 400 of these airplanes are still flying today.
Ongoing design refinements for my lasercut 4x5 build. This will be cut from a single sheet of 6mm material before assembly. The final camera will have a rotating back with embedded DDS/groundglass holder along with full movements on the front standard.
Very nice! I bought her for the outfit but I think she's staying. I haven't bonded with many of these 3.0 Vanessas.
I never got around to uploading photos of this Vanessa when she arrived. I love her ash blond hair and cerise pink lipstick.
Final revision of the Brain Bot. This version has the proper trans-color pieces for the dome and a few other refinements.
A large, rotary drying machine for drying crushed ore before it begins fiber recovery refinement process; located at the northeast portion of the ground floor level inside the asbestos mill building.
St Mary Woolnoth, King William Street, London
Opinions vary greatly as to the merits of this church, observed Margaret Tabor in her splendid little 1924 volume London City Churches, a review of all those churches in the City built up to the end of the 18th Century. Some critics point to it as an illustration of the lack of genius of Wren's pupils... others find "much refinement" in the north front, and admire the classical details... The clanging quotation marks that drop around the words 'much refinement' probably tell us all we need to know about Ms Tabor's opinion. The pupil of Wren who was lacking in genius on this occasion was Nicholas Hawksmoor of course, who is today recognised as quite the most innovative English urban church architect of the 18th Century. That Ms Tabor was not without allies is reflected in the fact that on several occasions this building has been threatened. In 1863 an application was made for its demolition, so that the land could be used for the construction of Bank underground station. The parishioners fought off the attempt (in the event, the station was built in the crypt, and the neo-classical screen now hosting a Starbucks to the south of the church was built as the station entrance). In 1919, the Diocese of London's Commission into City Churches recommended St Mary Woolnoth as one of nineteen churches for demolition, the proceeds going to the construction of new churches in the suburbs.
St Mary Woolnoth's superb location at the meeting point of Lothbury and King William Street is of course the main reason for these periodic avaricious attempted land grabs, but it must be said that over the years there are many people who haven't really 'got' St Mary Woolnoth. The purity of the Classical form is undoubted - how the Victorians must have hated it! - but that box of an interior, unrelenting in its mathematical perfection, is easier to admire than to love. When the galleries were in situ and before the high box pews were replaced it must have been a claustrophobic experience sitting here on a Sunday, despite the light from above. Sometimes I take people in here and it blows them away, it takes their breath away. It doesn't do that to me. Perhaps I, too, am one of the people who don't really get St Mary Woolnoth.
Quite what TS Eliot thought of it I don't know, but his own memories of working in the City which weave their way into his masterpiece, The Waste Land, recalled the church very precisely:
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
One of the rectors here at the end of the 18th Century was the hymn writer John Newton. Newton had been a slave trader in an earlier part of his life, but repented and became a vocal opponent of the trade. He is buried here, and his epitaph, although fully in the language of early 19th Century pious memory, is still rather moving: John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had laboured long to destroy.
(c) Simon Knott, December 2015
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The SAAB B31 was a Swedish jet-powered multirole aircraft, originally designed to serve as a tactical bomber, ground attack, reconnaissance and interceptor aircraft. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Sweden set about the rebuilding and modernization of its armed forces. Regarding aviation, jet propulsion had been identified as the powerplant of the future, and experience with the SAAB 21R, which had been converted from a propeller-pusher aircraft into a jet-powered fighter and attack aircraft in 1947, bolstered confidence in the home industry’s competence. The Saab 21R was only an interim solution, though. One hundred and twenty-four aircraft were planned but this number was reduced to only 64 and they were mainly used as fighter-bombers. The Flygvapnet’s standard post-war bomber, the Saab 18, a twin piston-engine design from 1944, was outdated, too, and its performance was regarded as inadequate for the Fifties. This led to a major development initiative for modern jet aircraft for the Flygvapnet in 1946, which spawned the Saab 29 ‘Tunnan’ fighter and the Saab B31 light bomber. Both aircraft were initially designed around the de Havilland Goblin turbojet of British origin, but when the more powerful de Havilland Ghost became available, this was chosen as the standard powerplant. Both aircraft incorporated such modern features as swept wings or ejection seats.
The Saab B31 was originally developed as a straightforward tactical bomber replacement for the Saab 18, called the Saab B31, which would carry its free-fall ordnance internally in a bomb bay. The Saab B31 had a streamlined, drop-shaped fuselage. A crew of two were envisioned, the pilot and a navigator/bomb aimer. They would sit in separate cabins, a generously glazed nose section with an optical bombsight and a navigational/bomb aiming radar in a shallow blister underneath, and in a fighter-type cockpit on top of the hull, respectively. Swept wings were planned that would offer a good compromise between speed benefits and range/lift. Due to the aircraft’s size and weight, two de Havilland Ghost engines were required, but integrating these bulky centrifugal flow engines with a relatively large diameter turned out to be a design challenge.
Several layouts were evaluated, including engines buried in the rear fuselage with side air intakes, or engines mounted in wing root fairings with individual exhausts at the wings’ trailing edge. Eventually the Saab B31’s powerplants were directly mounted in nacelles under slightly swept (20°) shoulder wings, what made access and maintenance easy and kept the fuselage free for a huge fuel capacity, a generous bomb bay, and a conventional tricycle main landing gear. The latter’s tread width was quite narrow, though, which might have caused handling problems, so that during the bomber’s design refinements the landing gear arrangement was radically changed into a tandem layout. It eventually comprised of two main struts featuring large low-pressure twin wheels, supported by small outrigger wheels that semi-retracted into fairings under the bulbous engine nacelles. While unusual, this arrangement had the side benefit that the bomb bay could be lengthened and the fuel capacity in the fuselage could be increased without a center of gravity shift, with the rear/main landing gear strut well placed further aft, well behind the aircraft’s center of gravity. This, however, prevented normal rotation upon take-off, so that the front strut was lengthened to provide the aircraft with an imminent positive angle of attack while rolling, giving the Saab B31 a distinctive nose-up stance on the ground.
The enlarged bomb bay could hold up to four free-fall 340 kg bombs, the B31’s primary weapon. Additional ordinance, typically two further single bombs of up to 500 kg caliber, pods with unguided missiles, or drop tanks to extend range, could be carried on a pair of hard points outside of the engine nacelles. The maximum total payload was 2.400 kg. No offensive or defensive guns were carried, the B31 was supposed to rely only on speed and agility. Large air brakes on the aircraft’s flanks were introduced to prevent the exceeding of the B31’s design speed limit of Mach 0.9 in a dive, and they also helped to slow down the aircraft upon landing. To reduce the landing run length further a brake parachute was housed in an extended teardrop fairing on the fin that also held the swept horizontal stabilizers.
Overall, the Saab B31 reminded vaguely of the Soviet Yak-120/25 (NATO code Flashlight A) and of the French Sud-Ouest SO.4050 Vautour, which were both under development at the same time. Beyond the original tactical bomber role that was supposed to supersede the Swedish B 18, the Saab B31 was also intended to fulfill night/all-weather reconnaissance missions, outfitted with a camera and sensor pallet in the bomb bay and flash bombs on the wing hardpoints. Furthermore, the aircraft was proposed to become, in a second step, the basis for a jet-powered long-range all-weather fighter, a type of aircraft that was direly needed by Flygvapnet during the late Forties. The situation was so severe and urgent that the Swedish Air Force did not want to wait for a J31 development and had to procure sixty radar-equipped de Havilland Mosquito NF.30 night fighters from Great Britain as a hasty stopgap solution – a totally outdated model in the late Forties, but it was the best and only readily available off-the-rack solution.
In parallel, both engine and aircraft technology underwent dramatic developments and literally made leaps: In December 1948, an initial contract for the design and mockup of Saab's newly proposed P.1150 design was issued, a modern swept-wing design that already represented the next, transonic fighter aircraft generation. The resulting aircraft would become the Saab 32 ‘Lansen’ and it literally overtook the B31’s intended role as the Saab 18 bomber and attack aircraft replacement. However, a modern all-weather fighter with long range and a powerful radar was still not on the horizon, and, consequently, the Saab B31’s original bomber/reconnaissance version was dropped completely in favor of an optimized interceptor derivative with a powerful on-board radar: the J31. This was, however, also just a stopgap solution until an all-weather fighter version of the favored Saab 32 would be ready for service, so that a single aircraft type would take over multiple military roles and therewith simplify production, maintenance and logistics.
From that point on the Saab B31 was re-designed and optimized for a principal fighter role, with an attack capability as a secondary capability. However, due to its bomber origins and its intended mission profile the J31 was not intended to be a typical sleek and nimble dogfighter (that was the contemporary Saab 29’s role as a day fighter, even though a radar-equipped version of the Tunnan was on Saab’s drawing boards, too, yet not realized because compact systems were not available), but rather as a standoff night fighter which would loiter on station and patrol the air space, search for targets and then identify and engage them.
The bomber’s large air brakes were a welcome feature to position the approaching fighter behind a potential slower target, which were primarily relatively cumbersome bombers that would come in at medium to high altitude and at subsonic speed. This mission profile heavily influenced the J31 design and also set boundaries that were later hard to overcome and develop the aircraft’s potential further. While the light bomber basis would meet the required demands concerning range, speed and limited agility, the obligatory radar and its periphery to fulfill the N/AW fighter mission led to a major re-design of the forward fuselage. A large radar dish under a solid nose radome now occupied the formerly glazed nose section, and the radar operator was placed together with the pilot in a new pressurized side-by-side cockpit under a common canopy. A large and relatively flat forward windshield was used; while not conducive to high-speed flight, it provided distortion-free external visibility, something that was particularly valued for a night fighter at that time. Both pilot and navigator/radar operator had full steering equipment, what also made a dedicated trainer version unnecessary. Both sticks were extendable so that more force could be exerted upon it by the pilot as a fallback measure in the event of a hydraulic failure. Bleed air from the engines was used to de-ice the wings’ and tail surfaces’ leading edges and the engines’ air intakes, so that the aircraft could operate even in harsh climatic conditions.
Radar and fire control system for the J31 were created and produced by Ericsson and called “Gryning” (= Dawn). The system was quite advanced for the time even though complex: a combination of three different radars, each performing separate functions. The system comprised a search radar, a tracking radar, both located in the nose under a huge mutual radome, and a tail warning radar with a separate, smaller antenna. The search radar covered the front hemisphere and could detect aircraft at distances up to 35 kilometres (about 20 miles) away while the tracking radar could achieve a weapons lock up to 4 km (2.5 miles) away. Additionally, the Gryning system had a limited look-down capability, being able to detect aircraft that flew underneath the J31 at an altitude of down to 800 m (2.600 ft). The tail-mounted surveillance radar was effective up to 15 km (almost 10 miles) away. The complexity of this vacuum tube-based radar system, produced before the advent of semiconductor electronics, required a lot of internal space and intensive maintenance to keep it operating properly – and it would have been much too big or heavy to fit into the more modern but also more slender Saab 32 airframe.
The armament was changed, too. While the B31 bomber was intended to carry no guns at all the fighter derivative was now armed with four 20 mm cannon in the lower nose, plus two retractable unguided air-to-air missile racks in the former bomb bay in tandem, carrying a total of 96 projectiles, which were supposed to be fired singly, short bursts or in one or more massive salvoes against bomber formations, covering a huge field of fire and ensuring a takedown even with a single hit. This core armament was complemented by a pair of underwing hardpoints outside of the engine nacelles which could carry pods with further 18 unguided missiles each, iron bombs of up to 500 kg calibre for a secondary attack capability, or 570 l drop tanks to extend the J31’s range and loiter time.
An initial order for three prototypes was placed by the Swedish government, and on 16 October 1950, the first J31, even though still lacking the radar, conducted its maiden flight. The flight test program proceeded relatively smoothly, but the performance was rather poor for a fighter. More powerful engines were required, but choices for Saab were very limited. The use of the Saab 29’s indigenous afterburner variant of the Ghost (which was by then license-produced in Sweden as the Svenska Flygmotor RM2) was deemed inefficient for the large aircraft, so that attempts were made to improve the Ghost’s dry thrust for the J31 without an increased fuel consumption through reheat. This new indigenous engine variant became the RM2F (“förstärkt” = “powered-up”), which provided 5,400 lbf (24.02 kN) of thrust with water-alcohol injection instead of the RM2’s original dry 5,000 lbf (22 kN) maximum thrust. The tank for the required water-alcohol mixture was carried in the rear half of the former bomb bay and replaced one of the unguided missile racks. These were hardly ever used operationally, though, and soon completely removed, replaced by a second water-alcohol tank, which gave the aircraft enough endurance of 30 minutes at the increased thrust output level.
A follow-on order for six pre-production aircraft was soon received, which were still equipped with the weaker original RM2 and designated J31A. These machines were delivered to F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj at Hässlö air base in Central Sweden, which just had been converted from a bomber to a night fighter unit, having been equipped with the J 30 Mosquitos. There the J31 was evaluated against the J30 until early 1951 and deemed superior in almost every aspect. With these satisfactory results, a full production order for 54 more aircraft was placed in mid-1951. These machines were now outfitted with more powerful RM2F engines and other refinements and designated J31B. This became the type’s operational main variant. All were delivered to F 1 where they were exclusively operated and gradually replaced the J 30s. In service the J31 received the unofficial nickname “Val” (= Whale), due to its bulky yet streamlined shape, but it was officially never adopted.
During regular maintenance in the following two years, the six early J31As received the stronger RM2F, together with the second water-alcohol tank as well as some avionics updates and were accordingly re-designated J31Bs. Further updates included wipers for the windscreen (a serious issue esp. at slow speed and while taxiing) and two smaller brake parachutes instead of the single large original one.
All J31s were delivered in a natural metal finish and retained it throughout their career; only two machines ever received camouflage during trials, but this measure was deemed unnecessary for the aircraft due to their role. Some aircraft of F 1’s 3rd squadron and operated by the unit’s staff flight had the aircrafts’ fins painted in dark green, though, to improve the contrast to the tactical code letters’ colour, yellow or white, respectively. The J31s’ radomes were made from fiberglass and originally tinted in opaque black. During maintenance and after damage, however, some machines received newly produced replacement fairings which were untinted/semi-transparent.
The only major update the J31B received was rolled out starting in 1958, when the IR-guided Rb24 (AIM-9B Sidewinder AAM) was introduced in the Swedish Air Force. Together with the J29 Tunnan fighters the J31s were outfitted to carry launch rails on the wing hardpoints – even though only a single pair could be carried in total. This, however, markedly improved the type’s combat efficiency, and it would take until the Saab 35F in 1965 with its Rb27/28 Falcon missiles to introduce more capable guided anti-aircraft missiles. Since the Rb24s extended the J31’s weapon range considerably, a potential gun upgrade with 30 mm cannons was not executed and Saab’s resources rather allocated into the Saab 32’s development.
Even though the J31B was a capable night and all-weather fighter for its time, it was limited due to its outdated weaponry and quickly superseded by advancing radar, engine and aerodynamic technologies. It did its job but lacked development and performance potential – and it was a large and complicated aircraft that required lots of maintenance. However, the J31 turned out to be a very stable and robust weapon platform, and it was quite popular among the crews because of the spacious cockpit, even though the field of view on the ground was very limited, due to the tall landing gear front leg, and several J31s were involved in taxiing accidents. Due to its twin engines and radar intercept operator, pilots gained more confidence on long missions in the remote northern areas of. Sweden, esp. on mission over open water.
When the Saab 32’s fighter version, the J 32B, eventually became operational in 1958, it was clear that the heavy and highly limited twin-engine J31B would not remain in service for much longer. By 1963 all machines had been retired from frontline service, initially stored in reserve but scrapped by 1970. Two machines remained operational, though: as flying test beds for the Swedish Air Force’s Försökscentralen (FC) at Malmen AB, where they served until 1981 – primarily to test radar and missile guidance systems, and as radar targets for war games and anti-aircraft unit trainings.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 15,76 m (51 ft 7 1/2 in)
Wingspan: 16.96 m (55 ft 2/3 in)
Height: 4,21 m (13 ft 9 1/2 in)
Wing area: 45 m2 (480 sq ft)
Empty weight: 9,000 kg (19,823 lb)
Gross weight: 17,500 kg (38,546 lb)
….Max takeoff weight: 19,000 kg (41,850 lb)
Fuel capacity: 5,100 L (1,350 US gal / 1,120 imp gal) maximum internal fuel
plus 2x 570 L (150 US gal, 120 imp gal) optional drop-tanks
Powerplant:
2× Svenska Flygmotor RM2F centrifugal-flow turbojet engine (Rolls Royce Ghost), each with
4,750 lbf (21.1 kN) dry thrust at 10,250 rpm and
5,400 lbf (24.02 kN) with temporary water-alcohol injection
Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,090 km/h (677 mph, 588 kn; Mach 0.9) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Cruise speed: 732 km/h (455 mph, 395 kn)
Stall speed: 150 km/h (92.8 mph, 80.6 kn) with approach power
Combat range: 1.850 km (1,145 mi, 995 nmi) on internals
Ferry range: 2.200 km (1,375 mi, 1,195 nmi) with 2× 570 l drop-tanks
Service ceiling: 16,200 m (53,062 ft)
Rate of climb: 40 m/s (7.681 ft/min)
Wing loading: 87.1 lb/sq ft (388 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.32
Armament:
4× 20 mm (0.79 in) akan m/47C (license produced Hispano Mark V) autocannon with 220 RPG
48× 75 mm (3.0 in) srak m/55 (Bofors 75 mm (3.0 in) rocket "Frida") unguided air-to-air missiles
with contact fuze high-capacity warhead on retractable rack in ventral bay
(not used operationally, later completely deleted in favor of a second water-alcohol tank)
2× wet underwing hardpoints outside of the engine nacelles for 600 kg (1.321 lb) each;
alternatively a pair of Rb24 (AIM9-B Sidewinder) IR-guided air-to-air missiles
The model and its assembly:
While it does not look spectacular, the J31 (actually my second use of this designation for a Swedish Fifties all-weather fighter, the first was an A.W. Meteor NF.14, but the “31” was lent from the Spitfire PR.XIX in Swedish service as S31) was a major creation feat. It all started with a discussion with fellow Swedish board member Pellson at whatifmodellers.com about Saab prototypes, esp. the early designs. That made me wonder about a twin-jet engine aircraft, something that could replace the Saab 18 bombers much like the BAC Canberra with the RAF’s Mosquito – and looking at similar international projects of the time like the Soviet Il-29 and Yak-25 as well as the French S.O. 4050 Vautour I thought that something similar could work well for Sweden, too.
My concept started with a primary light bomber and attack role, much like the B18 and the Canberra, with the outlook to develop a radar-bearing all-weather fighter from it, which was direly needed in Sweden in the Mid-Fifties and led to the procurement of two interim types in real life, the J30 (Mosquito night fighter) and the J33 (Venom night fighter), while plans were made to equip the J29 with a radar and the Saab 32 already on the drawing boards, even though the latter’s fighter version would be delayed well into the Sixties.
The core of the build was a leftover fuselage from a Matchbox F3D Skyknight – from an incomplete kit that came OOB with one of its three sprue trees double (even though in different colours!). The canopy was also still there, and now I eventually found a good use for it. However, not much more would be taken over from the Skyknight, because the overall layout would be much different, dictated by the bulky centrifugal flow engines that were (only) available to Sweden in the late Forties and which also powered the successful J29 Tunnan. The engines could, due to their diameter and the need for ducts, not be buried in the fuselage, so that they would go under the wings, directly attached to them as in the Il-29 and Vautour. The wings would be slightly swept (around 20°), as a compromise between modernism (as on the J29) and good range/endurance, and shoulder-mounted for good ground clearance and to avoid FOP (an issue of the Yak-25).
Since the engine pods should not be too large and bulky I decided that the main wheels would not retract into them (à la Il-28) and rather follow the Vautour route: with a tandem arrangement retracting into the fuselage and with small outrigger wheels. This had, for the original bomber version, the benefit, that the internal bomb bay could become longer than with a more conventional tricycle landing gear arrangement that would full retract into the hull, much like the Douglas A3D/B.66, with a wider track. And it would look more exotic, too.
With this concept I started a donor parts safari and started work on the fuselage. First major feat was to clean the F3D’s flanks from its original engine fairings – thankfully the Matchbox kit provides them as separate parts, so omitting them was simple, but there were enough major recesses and areas beyond the F3D’s basically teardrop shape hull that had to be filled and PSRed, including the original wing attachment points in the hull’s middle.
Another issue was the cockpit, which was missing through the double sprues. I was lucky to find an original Matchbox F3D tub in the spare box, from my first Skyknight build ever in the late Eighties (then built as a Vietnam era EF-10). New seats were procured as well as two (ugly) pilot figures and a dashboard from an Italeri Tornado IDS. However, the cockpit would later cause some more trouble…
The nose was generously filled with steel balls to keep it down (you never know…), and once the hull was closed, I implanted a new rear landing gear well. In the meantime, I kept searching for engine nacelle and wing parts – both turned out to be challenging. Not that I had not enough material to choose from, but I wanted to make the parts to be as authentic as possible – the nacelles conveying a centrifugal engine inside (see the Gloster Meteor for reference), and the light wing sweep angle as well as the desire for a not-too-modern look made the wing choice really hard.
The nacelles were completed first. I remembered some leftover parts from a Matchbox Meteor night fighter, mainly the intakes, which would be perfect. But the rest of the nacelles took a while to materialize. Eventually I found engine pods from a Hobbycraft Su-25, which are separate pieces. They had a more or less square diameter shape, but their size was good and so I combined them with the round (and bigger!) Meteor NF.14 intakes, after having added trimmed-down intake cones from a Trumpeter Il-28 inside, and PSRing the different shapes into something …more natural. Even though outrigger wheels would later be added I omitted eventual wells at this point, because I had to define the stance through the tandem main wheels first, and this was still tbd.
The wing donors became a lengthy affair. At one point I became so desperate that I tried to use the wing tips from a VEB Plasticart 1:100 Tu-20/95 bomber, but that failed (thankfully!) because the parts turned out to be warped and simply too ugly for the build. I did not find any suitable material in The Stash™, tested wings from an A-6 and an F-14, nothing worked well. I eventually procured – in a forlorn move – a vintage Revell 1:113 B-47 kit. Horrible thing, but its outer wings were useful, even though they required massive modifications. Their roots were cut away to reduce span and their angle was set at about 20°; the slender tips were also cut off, resulting in an almost trapezoid shape with a slightly extended wing chord at the trailing edge of the roots. Lots of PSR was required to improve the surface and to fill some gaps from the OOB engine pod attachment points of the B-47. Ugh.
At that point I had also already found a good fin: from an Academy/Minicraft 1:144 B-1B bomber! This not only offered a very Fifties-esque round and swept shape, it also had suitable attachment points for the stabilizers for a cruciform tail, which appeared necessary due to the engines’ wing position. As a side benefit, I could use the B-47’s wing tips as stabilizers, even though they had to be PSRed a lot, too.
To attach the new wings to the F3D fuselage I made cutouts at shoulder height, but the engine pods were first mounted and PSRed under the wings. More putty and sanding mess, but it was worthwhile.
In the meantime I worked on the landing gear and used parts from the ugly VEB Plasticart Tu-20/95 to scratch a tandem layout with twin wheels and a significant nose-up stance (due to the rear wheels’ position beyond the aircraft’s centre of gravity). Once this was settled and the wings in place I could work on the outrigger wheels. These were procured from a Matchbox 1:72 Sea Harrier and mounted in scratched fairings under the engine pods, so that they could semi-retract. With the ground clearance defined by the main wheels a suitable position and length for the outriggers could be found, and in the end the J31 has a proper stance with all four legs on the ground.
Painting and markings:
I like to apply simple liveries to weird builds, and for the J31 I settled upon a NMF finish – which was typical for the contemporary J29 Tunnan fighters, too. Only the reconnaissance versions as well as the fighters of as single operational unit were ever camouflaged (in dark green and dark blue). The only other realistic cammo option would have been the standard Swedish uniform dark green over blue grey. But bare metal appeared IMHO much better suited.
As a non-standard measure the model received an overall thin coat of grey primer, primarily to identify dents and notches on its many PSRed surface areas – a good move, because a lot of small flaws could be identified and treated before a final overall coat with “White Aluminium” from a rattle can (Duplicolor, RAL 9006) was applied and details like the radome, antennae (both in black) and the landing gear and its wells (in a light bronze tone, seen on Saab 29s and 32s) were painted in detail. I think the silver underlines the J31’s clean lines well?
The model received a light black ink washing, less for true weathering but to emphasize engraved details and for a “cloudier” look of the NMF surfaces. This was further enhanced through a careful treatment with grinded graphite (which adds a truly metallic shine to the paint), and since a lot of surface details were lost through PSR I did some manual panel-shading with different silver tones and re-created panel lines all over the hull with a soft pencil, mostly free-handedly. Quite simple, but it improves the overall impression a lot.
Decals were puzzled together. The Swedish roundels came from a generic TL-Modellbau sheet, the “T” on the tail was scratched from generic white and blue stripes from the same manufacturer. The blue band around the nose was made with the same material, plus a white “T” – inspired by tactical markings from some J29s from the Fifties. Some stencils were collected from the scrap box, and black walkway borders added to the wings’ upper surfaces and the spine behind the cockpit. As a side benefit these hide some lingering inconsistencies on the wing surfaces well.
Finally, the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish (Italeri) for a shiny finish, except for the radomes, which became matt.
It might not look spectacular or exciting, but I am quite proud of this “second” J31, because it not only was a major kitbashing project, it also conveys the Fifties “look and feel” I wanted to catch, like its contemporaries S.O. 4050 Vautour, Yak-25, or even the stillborn Baade Ba-152 airliner. From that point it turned out very well, and going for a simple NMF livery was IMHO also a good move – the J31 has a certain “space age” look? At least, this is what you can get when you combine major parts from F3D, B-47. B1, Il-28, Su-25, Tu-95 and a Gloster Meteor… 😉
Very late Arts and Crafts Gothic Revival church, built at the expense of a private benefactor on land given by the City Council. This was Giles Gilbert Scott’s last church, and the last Gothic Revival church to be built in the Diocese of Plymouth. It was opened in 1962, just as the Second Vatican Council was convening. The church interior is a design of particular quality and refinement, with furnishings of high quality, and is very little altered. With the slightly later church hall and presbytery, (by Scott’s son Richard) the church occupies a prominent island site in the Hoe Conservation Area and a significant place in the post-war redevelopment of Plymouth city centre. The commercial centre ofPlymouthwas flattened in wartime bombing. A Plan forPlymouthby J. Paton Watson, City Engineer and Professor Patrick Abercrombie, was published in 1943. They proposed the total reconstruction of the commercial centre, with a new street layout designed to eliminate traffic. There would be a broad pedestrian avenue from the Hoe to the railway station. The site for the church of Christ the King was provided by the City Council, and the cost of its construction was largely met by a donation of over £50,000 given anonymously (the donor was Mrs Clare Rye, who in 1947 had acquired the Henry Clutton church at Tavistock for the Diocese). The architect was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott OM, RA, his last work (he died in 1960). It is a small church, seating only 150, and was never intended as a parish church, but was built as a city centre chapel of ease to the Cathedral, a status it retains to this day. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Restieaux on 17 September 1961 and one year later on 19 September 1962 the Bishop solemnly blessed and opened the completed church. The adjoining hall and presbytery were completed 18 months later, also from designs by the firm of Sir Giles Scott, Son and Partner (under the direction of Richard Gilbert Scott, son of Sir Giles). The cost of these buildings (over £30,000) was also met by Mrs Rye. The contractors for the building of the church, hall and presbytery were Messrs Dudley Coles ofPlymouth. In 1973 the church was closed for two years for major repairs and strengthening after cracks developed in the tower and elsewhere. As well as being a chapel of ease to the Cathedral, Christ the King is now the University Chaplaincy. The church is orientated north-south, but this description follows conventional liturgical orientation. Late Arts and Crafts Gothic Revival church by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, his last church and completed after his death. Pinkish-purple brick laid in English bond, with reconstructed Doulting stone dressings, pantile roofs. The church consists of nave of four bays with narrow circulation aisles, long square ended chancel with sacristy to north and Lady Chapel to south (with attached projecting confessionals), offset tower at southwest corner of nave and aisles, projecting western narthex. A flight of steps leads up to the main west entrance which has a stone surround of a hybrid late Gothic and Baroque character, incorporating a cartouche of the Agnus Dei and sturdy hardwood doors incorporating lozenge panels. The narthex has a flat roof behind a raised parapet, with plain leaded light windows with stone mullions at the sides. Offset at the southwest corner of the nave and aisles is the campanile, tall and plain, with paired lancet windows to the belfry. Modern Perpendicular tracery to these, and to the aisle windows, the latter consisting of 3-lights each, the mullions continuing up as fins of Art deco character over flat trefoil heads, the window arches themselves simply glazed, without tracery. Hoodmoulds over the two-centred window arches. Narrower chancel with continuous high-level clerestory glazing on the sides. As so often with Scott’s churches, the east wall is left plain (now tile-hung externally) to accommodate an internal reredos. Single storey flat-roofed sacristies on north side of chancel, lean-to pantile roof over chapel in corresponding position on south side, continuing as the link to the slightly later hall and presbytery to the east. The interior is one of particular quality and refinement, with an effortless manipulation of space that creates an impression of scale in what is actually a modest-sized church. Plastered white walls. A flight of stone steps within the narthex leads into the church (adapted on the left to incorporate a wheelchair lift). Over the nave, the low collars to the rafters in the roof create an almost flat effect, with polychrome detail. Simple incised Gothic arcades without mouldings or capitals continue down as piers, lozenge-shaped on plan, with octagonal bases. The aisles are of equal height, creating the effect of a hall church, and, as so often with Scott’s church designs, are built as narrow circulation passages rather than for congregational seating. Transverse walling at high level marks the aisle bay divisions. Recesses for confessionals off both aisles, that on the south side now used as a store and the internal oak partition removed. Pale coloured Cathedral-type leaded glass gives an even light to the well-lit interior. At the west end of the nave is an organ gallery over the narthex, containing a small pipe organ said to have been made by a monk from Prinknash Abbey (information from Fr Kirkpatrick). The underside of the gallery is enclosed with wrought iron railings and gates incorporating quatrefoils and the letters CR, which can be variously interpreted as signifying Christus Rex (Christ the King, the dedication), Cyril Restieaux (the Bishop who opened the church) or Clare Rye (the donor). At the west end of the north aisle the baptistery, retaining the font in its original location, with sunken floor. Tapering octagonal polished stone font with oak cover. oak gates enclosing the baptistery area. Fine original oak pews and brass chandeliers to the nave, woodblock floor with paving to the alleys. Simple wooden oak gates and communion rails at the chancel arch (recently unsympathetically adapted). The east wall is dominated by a large polychrome Crucifix and tester. A rich brocade or curtain originally hung from the tester as a backdrop to the Crucifix, but this was removed and not reinstated after recent redecoration. Polished marble high altar raised three steps above the rest of the sanctuary and marble forward altar below. Black and white floor slabs arranged diamond-wise. This being part of the Cathedral parish, a Bishop’s throne was originally located on the north side of the sanctuary, with its own canopy and curtain backdrop; this has been removed but the component parts remain in the church. According to the CBR, p.216, the Bishop’s throne and altar hangings were not carried out by the architects. To the south, the Lady Chapel has a pentice roof and marble altar with an original painted triptych over. Finely detailed stone stoups (narthex) and lavabo (sacristy). From taking-stock.org.uk/building/plymouth-christ-the-king/
Hill Aerospace Museum
The AIRS (Advanced Inertial Reference Sphere) is the most accurate inertial navigation (INS) system ever developed, and perhaps marks the end of a long process of continuous refinement of INS technology. The AIRS was designed for use in the LGM-118A Peacekeeper ICBM.
The most novel aspect of the AIRS is that it has no gimbals. Gimbals are pivots that are provided for each of three spatial axes so that the guidance platform can move freely in all directions (and thus maintain its absolute alignment with the outside world). The AIRS consists of a beryllium sphere that floats in a fluorocarbon fluid within an outer shell and can thus rotate in any direction. The importance of this innovation is that it eliminates the possibility of gimbal lock (where the axes of two gimbals line up and destroy the three-dimensional freedom of motion), and is free from arbitrary limits to range of motion found in some gimbal designs.
The temperature of the fluid is controlled with extreme accuracy by transfer of heat from the fluid through "Power shells" to freon-cooled heat exchangers. The alignment of the sphere is controlled by three hydraulic thrust valves directed by the inertial sensors in the sphere.
Like other INS systems, the sphere houses three accelerometers and three gyroscopes. The accelerometer design is called a SFIR (specific force integrating reciever). This is essentially the same approach as the pendulous integrating gyro accelerometer (of PIGA) used in the Minuteman II. The SFIR/PIGA works by measuring the rate of precession (and thus force applied) to a gyroscope at right angles to its axis of rotation. The gyroscope is a floated gas bearing gyroscope design.
Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, affection, Gentleness, "Please Believe Me" , The rose of sweet thoughts, femininity, elegance and refinement, the pink rose also carries additional meanings depending on its hue. a gentle reminder of affections not yet awakened, the gentle beginning of a wonderful relationship. Pink is not just for girls, and it is not just a pretty color. Pink roses have deep significance when it comes to affections given and received. The most widely accepted interpretation of pink roses is grace and gentility. An admiration for beauty, refinement and enduring grace is what the pink rose connotes. The receiver of the pink rose can rest assured that he or she is admired for possessing a certain respectability and decorum not commonly found in others. The meaning of pink roses, as expressed by their lovely color is happiness and joy. Being themselves a joy to behold, pink roses express fun and happiness. The pink rose denotes that the receiver is a pleasure to behold, a pleasure to have in company. Thus, it is an indication of deep joy. They indicate happiness or pride, a heart-felt appreciation. The pink rose, because of its happy connotation is very popular in bouquets that decorate the bridal bower. Symbolic of joy, pride and deep affection, they make wonderful tokens while celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or significant achievements. Its visual appeal and delicate appearance gives off a sense of harmony and warmth. Like the becoming blush on a bride's face, the pink rose expresses happiness and enthusiasm. Where there are no overtones of love, pink rose seeks to communicate gratitude - a very beautiful and touching way to say a simple "Thank you"! The pink rose when used to express gratitude, appreciation and recognition is a source of joy and delight.
Built in 1895-1896, this Chicago School-style thirteen-story skyscraper was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler for the Guaranty Construction Company. It was initially commissioned by Hascal L. Taylor, whom approached Dankmar Adler to build "the largest and best office building in the city,” but Taylor, whom wanted to name the building after himself, died in 1894, just before the building was announced. Having already had the building designed and ready for construction, the Guaranty Construction Company of Chicago, which already had resources lined up to build the project, bought the property and had the building constructed, with the building instead being named after them. In 1898, the building was renamed after the Prudential Insurance Company, which had refinanced the project and became a major tenant in the building after it was completed. Prudential had the terra cotta panels above the main entrances to the building modified to display the company’s name in 1898, upon their acquisition of a partial share in the ownership of the tower. The building became the tallest building in Buffalo upon its completion, and was a further refinement of the ideas that Sullivan had developed with the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, which was built in 1890-92, and featured a design with more Classical overtones, which were dropped with the design of the Guaranty Building in favor of a more purified Art Nouveau and Chicago School aesthetic, and with more intricate visual detail, with the ornate terra cotta panels cladding the entire structure, leaving very few areas with sparse detail. The building is an early skyscraper with a steel frame supporting the terra cotta panel facade, a departure from earlier load bearing masonry structures that had previously been predominant in many of the same applications, and expresses this through large window openings at the base and a consistent wall thickness, as there was no need to make the exterior walls thicker at the base to support the load from the structure above. The building also contrasts with the more rigid historically-influenced Classical revivalism that was growing in popularity at the time, and follows Sullivan’s mantra of “form ever follows function” despite having a lot of unnecessary detail on the exterior cladding and interior elements. The building’s facade also emphasizes its verticality through continual vertical bands of windows separated by pilasters that are wider on the first two floors, with narrower pilasters above, with the entire composition of the building following the tripartite form influenced by classical columns, with distinct sections comprising the base, shaft, and capital, though being a radical and bold abstraction of the form compared to the historical literalism expressed by most of its contemporaries, more directly displaying the underlying steel structure of the building.
The building is clad in rusty terra cotta panels which feature extensive Sullivanesque ornament inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, which clad the entirety of the building’s facades along Church Street and Pearl Street, with simpler red brick and painted brick cladding on the facades that do not front public right-of-ways, which are visible when the building is viewed from the south and west. The white painted brick cladding on the south elevation marks the former location of the building’s light well, which was about 30 feet wide and 68 feet deep, and was infilled during a 1980s rehabilitation project, adding an additional 1,400 square feet of office space, and necessitating an artificial light source to be installed above the stained glass ceiling of the building’s lobby. The building’s windows are mostly one-over-one double-hung windows in vertical columns, with one window per bay, though this pattern is broken at the painted portions of the non-principal facades, which feature paired one-over-one windows, on the second floor of the principal facades, which features Chicago-style tripartite windows and arched transoms over the building’s two main entry doors, on the thirteenth floor of the principal facades, which features circular oxeye windows, and at the base, which features large storefront windows that include cantilevered sections with shed glass roofs that wrap around the columns at the base of the building. The building’s terra cotta panels feature many natural and geometric motifs based on plants and crystalline structures, the most common being a “seed pod” motif that symbolizes growth, with a wide variation of patterns, giving the facade a dynamic appearance, which is almost overwhelming, but helps to further grant the building a dignified and monumental appearance, and is a signature element of many of the significant works of Adler and Sullivan, as well as Sullivan’s later independent work. The building’s pilasters halve in number but double in thickness towards the base, with wide window openings underneath pairs of window bays above on the first and second floors, with the pilasters terminating at circular columns with large, decorative, ornate terra cotta capitals in the central bays, and thick rectilinear pilasters at the corners and flanking the entry door openings. The circular columns penetrate the extruded storefront windows and shed glass roofs below, which formed display cases for shops in the ground floor of the building when it first opened, and feature decorative copper trim and mullions framing the large expanses of plate glass. The base of the building is clad in medina sandstone panels, as well as medina sandstone bases on the circular columns. The major entry doors feature decorative copper trim surrounds, a spandrel panel with ornate cast copper detailing above and the name “Guaranty” emblazoned on the face of each of the two panels at the two entrances, decorative transoms above with decorative copper panels as headers, and arched transoms on the second floor with decorative terra cotta trim surrounds. Each of the two major entrance doors is flanked by two ornate Art Nouveau-style wall-mounted sconces mounted on the large pilasters, with smaller, partially recessed pilasters on either side. The building features two cornices with arched recesses, with the smaller cornice running as a belt around the transition between the base and the shaft portions of the building, with lightbulbs in each archway, and the larger cornice, which extends further out from the face of the building, running around the top of the building’s Swan Street and Pearl Street facades, with a circular oxeye window in each archway. The lower corner recessed into the facade at the ends, while the upper cornice runs around the entire top of the facade above, with geometric motifs in the central portions and a large cluster of leaves in a pattern that is often repeated in Sullivan’s other work at the corners. The spandrel panels between the windows on the shaft portion of the building feature a cluster of leaves at the base and geometric patterns above, with a repeat of the same recessed arch detail as the cornice at the sill line of each window. The pilasters feature almost strictly geometric motifs, with a few floral motifs thrown in at key points to balance the composition of the facade with the windows. A small and often overlooked feature of the ground floor is a set of stone steps up to an entrance at the northwest corner of the building, which features a decorative copper railing with Sullivanesque and Art Nouveau-inspired ornament, which sits next to a staircase to the building’s basement, which features a more utilitarian modern safety railing in the middle.
The interior of the building was heavily renovated over the years before being partially restored in 1980, with the lobby being reverted back to its circa 1896 appearance. The Swan Street vestibule has been fully restored, featuring a marble ceiling, decorative mosaics around the top of the walls, a decorative antique brass light fixture with Art Nouveau detailing and a ring of lightbulbs in the center, the remnant bronze stringer of a now-removed staircase to the second floor in a circular glass wall at the north end of the space, and a terazzo floor. The main lobby, located immediately to the west, features a Tiffany-esque stained glass ceiling with ellipsoid and circular panels set into a bronze frame that once sat below a skylight at the base of the building’s filled-in light well, marble cladding on the walls, mosaics on the ceiling and around the top of the walls, a bronze staircase with ornate railing at the west end of the space, which features a semi-circular landing, a basement staircase with a brass railing, a terrazzo floor, and multiple historic three-bulb wall sconces, as well as brass ceiling fixtures matching those in the vestibule. The building’s elevators, located in an alcove near the base of the staircase, features a decorative richly detailed brass screen on the exterior, with additional decorative screens above, with the elevator since having been enclosed with glass to accommodate modern safety standards and equipment, while preserving the visibility of the original details. Originally, when the building was built, the elevators descended open shafts into a screen wall in the lobby, with the elevators originally being manufactured by the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company, with these being exchanged in 1903 for water hydraulic elevators that remained until a renovation in the 1960s. Sadly, most of the historic interior detailing of the upper floors was lost during a series of renovations in the 20th Century, which led to them being fully modernized during the renovation in the 1980s, with multiple tenant finish projects since then further modifying the interiors of the upper floors.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, owing to its architectural significance, and to help save the building, which had suffered a major fire in 1974 that led to the city of Buffalo seeking to demolish it. A renovation in the early 1980s managed to modernize the building while restoring the lobby and the exterior, which was carried out under the direction of the firm CannonDesign, and partial funding from federal historic tax credits. The building was purchased in 2002 by Hodgson Russ, a law firm, which subsequently further renovated the building to suit their needs, converting the building into their headquarters in 2008. This renovation was carried out under the direction of Gensler Architects and the local firm Flynn Battaglia Architects. The building today houses offices on the upper floors, with a visitor center, known as the Guaranty Interpretative Center, on the first floor, with historic tours offered of some of the building’s exterior and interior spaces run by Preservation Buffalo Niagara. The building was one of the most significant early skyscrapers, and set a precedent for the modern skyscrapers that began to be built half a century later.
www.ztcontainerhouse.com/products/washroom-container/
Container washroom is a classified product of container use refinement. It is a new type of environmental protection product with modular functions such as bath and toilet. It is an upgraded product based on the refitted container house. It has independent sewage treatment system, exhaust system, according to the customer’s requirement, we, as one of the professional toilet container suppliers, may add central air conditioning, automatic induction system, microbial degradation treatment system, electric heating, air purification system, environmental monitoring system, automatic exhaust, power heating system.
The toilet container can be quickly disassembled and assembled. The container bathrooms for sale can be moved anywhere according to the changes of visitors and construction site, which has the advantages of adaptability, creativity, low price, low carbon, environmental protection, easy to move and high safety.
Product Parameters of Washroom Container
Specification
Product Type:20ft portable container restroom toilet
Size:L6058*W2438*H2591mm, other size is optional
Structure:Channel steel structure ( galvanized )+insulated sandwich panels+ fiberglass
Configurations:Toilet, shower, wash basin, urinals, waste tank, water tank, A/C, fans, hand dryer, perfume dispenser, electrical and plumbing
Feature:Fashion, beauty, easy to move and quick to install
Decoration:Anti-slip flooring, aluminium ceiling board, composite decoration board
Color:White, green, can be customized
Insulation:Polyurethane, EPS, IEPS, rock wool, glass wool
DeliveryKnockdown or completely finish load inside 40ft container for shipping
Washroom Container Advantages
Modular design, easy to move, suitable for seaworthy and inland transportation.
Move easily, quickly and efficiently from one site to another among toilet container for sale.
Low carbon and environmental protection, landscape design can be installed to be harmonious and unified with the surrounding geographical environment.
Safe and comfortable, according to the characteristics of bathing, the design considers the special needs such as high humidity, non-slip, ventilation, etc.
Rear of card reads:
The dignity and refinement of the Mormon pioneer era are reflected in the restored Beehive House in Utah's capitol city. The home was built by Brigham Young, Utah's founder, in 1854, and has been restored to it's original condition.
Beauty, privacy and refinement. Welcome to the opportunity of a lifetime, reined in for you. Ideally located just 25 minutes from downtown Calgary and minutes from internationally-renowned Spruce Meadows, Blue Valley Farms is a 40-acre trophy equestrian training compound brimming with all the amenities a discerning horseman could ever desire. No expense was spared to outfit this facility with blue ribbon features and amenities desired by champion riders and horse enthusiasts alike.
More details: hub.am/1q0quNP
5-day start-up warp speed identity concept, design, UX, and site architecture from incomplete wireframes to deliverable PSDs. Small refinements and updates during development.
No name, no date but a stunning portrait of a very classy looking lady. Elegance and refinement. The mount has a Detroit imprint.
England, around the early 1900s.
A further refinement with a double fronted 30 foot plot and a central staircase and the undoubted asset of a china closet and a small rear sitting room. as the stair case reaches through to the back of the house it is well lit and aids the ventilation of the entire house.
David Bestué produced a new installation in the form of a sculptural timeline defined by ignition and invention, fat and oil, obsolescence, fluorescence, luminescence and incandescence – a history of humanity from antiquity to the present day told through the evolution and refinement of lighting technology. Located in the domestic setting of the former Director’s house within the 1920s Cosme Toda ceramics factory, the installation was companioned by sculptural clusters recuperating Art Nouveau ceramics and plaster pieces found in the factory itself. These linked to Bestué's ongoing interest in the evolution of architectural practice alongside building materials and engineering techniques.
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‘Composiciones’ is a a programme of five interventions specially commissioned for the first Barcelona Gallery Weekend, 1–4 October 2015. The programme complimented the existing calendar of exhibitions by presenting the work of artists active in the Barcelona art scene whose interventions responded to singular locations – public and private sites significant for their architecture, activity or their history.
‘Composiciones’ unfolded through temporary interventions at different speeds and rhythms and one-off events outside of Barcelona's contemporary art circuit – including a private psychoanalytic library, a former ceramics factory and a botanical collection. Pinpointing some lesser-known aspects of the city's cultural history and municipal life, ‘Composiciones’ offered moments of interruption, intimacy and immersion throughout the weekend.
Projects by David Bestué (at the Factory complex Cosme Toda, L'Hospitalet); Dora García (at the Biblioteca del Campo Freudiano); Jordi Mitjà (at the Museu Geològic del Seminari de Barcelona); Rasmus Nilausen in collaboration with Pere Llobera (at the gardens of La Central bookstore, Raval); and Daniel Steegmann Magrané (at the Umbracle, Parc de la Ciutadella).
Curated by Latitudes | www.lttds.org
Photo: Roberto Ruiz / Courtesy: Barcelona Gallery Weekend.
Info: www.lttds.org/projects/composiciones/
Social media documentation: storify.com/lttds/composiciones-compositions-artists-comm...