View allAll Photos Tagged Solidity
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the third week of October 2016.
Meanwhile, at the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 dual-carriageway:
We last visited here 2 years ago in November 2014, where bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure were being carried out by JONS Construction on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance. Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Now we see that further works are being undertaken.
Word has it that extra ‘stabilisation work’ has to be done to protect the integrity of the riverbank. At the section here we can see that there’s not much space between the edge of the rock face and the Armco at the side of the dual-carriageway.
Have yet to determine what precisely that will entail. Serious work to re-inforce the side access ramp down to the river.
Gabions consist of steel ‘baskets’ filled with rock pieces. They are filled and then fixed together to provide protection and strength to the existing river bank. They allow ground water to flow through them which helps prevent waterlogging of the bank behind them. Existing examples of these were used, back in 2012, to line the north bank of the existing riverbank adjacent to The Slang/Rehills stretch.
Long shallow versions of gabions, known as ‘mattresses’, were used to cover the excavated riverbed, and also to protect the edges of the river channel, particularly at bends in the river.
Working in these confined spaces puts a premium of safety and communication.
The guys have hard-filled a working shelf on the riverbed, to allow machinery access to the rockface. Obviously some serious drilling is called for before some form of extra 'pinning' is put in place.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.
Seen in Damascus, Syria. Liked the solidity of this partially dismantled tap.
copyright: © varenne. All rights reserved. Please do not use this image, or any images from my photostream, without my permission.
Wilshire Grand is going up fast. It's almost level with my office on the 19th floor. 50 more floors, give or take, before it's topped off. The solidity of the structure is striking. the walls of the lower levels appear at least two feet thick.
This $2.00 photo was made by J.L. Scholes, Photographer, of Fredericktown, O[hio]. She has an intelligent, earnest, solidity, and she will be voting for Obama.
American Standard Building (Formerly American Radiator Building), 40 West 40th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues, south of Bryant Park), Manhattan, New York City.
Architects: Raymond Hood & André Fouilhoux
Built: 1923-1924
Style: Art Deco, neo-gothic
Construction: Steel frame, 23 stories, 102.7 m (337 feet) high
The black brickwork on the facade was chosen to lessen the visual contrast between the walls and the windows and thus give the tower an effect of solidity and massiveness. The Gothic-style pinnacles and the terra-cotta friezes on the edges of the setbacks are coated with gold.
The base is clad in bronze plating and black granite. There are carved allegories, symbolizing the transformation of matter into energy, quite appropriate for a heater company. The entrance lobby is decorated with black marble and mirrors.
It was conceived by the architects John Howells and Raymond Hood in 1924 and built for the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Company. The structural form is based on Eliel Saarinen's unbuilt competition entry for Chicago Tribune building.
The architects combined Gothic and modern styles in the design of the building. Black brick on the frontage of the building (symbolizing coal) was selected to give an idea of solidity and to give the building a solid mass. Other parts of the facade were covered in gold bricks (symbolizing fire), and the entry was decorated with marble and black mirrors. Once again, the talents of Rene Paul Chambellan were employed by Hood and Howells for the ornamentation and sculptures.
In 1998, the building was sold to Philip Pilevsky for $150 million. Three years afterwards, the American Radiator Building was converted into The Bryant Park Hotel with 130 rooms and a theatre in the basement.
The landmark status of the exterior required the conversion pay special attention to the renovation of the facade decor, and prohibited proposed changes such as bigger guestroom windows. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also the subject of Georgia O'Keeffe in 1927 in her noted painting Radiator Building - Night, New York.
Bréton brut had as a style been established for a short while prior to this buildings inception, but it was its somewhat trend setting architect that gave widespread acceptability and validity to the movement. It captured the imagination of architects reacting against the recoil of New Humanism and restricted by the economics of the time.
The Unité d'Habitation built in Marseille, France in 1952 is absolutely of its time. Every tower block in the immediate vacinity appears to pay homage to the Unité, They are unashamed of their debt, aesthetic or otherwise, and yet even with benefit hindsight do not appear to be 'better buildings', mere pale imitations.
Steel being consumed in the war effort and the lack of skilled labour in France lead to the choice of concrete, with a more honest and rough finish. Banham says it is ever the more successful due to Corbusiers abandonment of the “pre-war fiction that reinforced concrete was a precise, ‘machine-age’ material”. This notion which had been maintained by extravagant and un-necessary means, such as “lavishing on it skilled labour and specialised equipment beyond anything the economics of the building industry normally permitted”. That is equipment that would give rise to the exacting edges and if these were not achieved then the “roughness and inaccuracies” were plastered over to give a more crisp image, hardly accepting the ‘realities of the situation’. The situation was firmly one of a “messy soup” with “dust, grits and slumpy aggregates, mixed and poured under conditions subject to the vagaries of weather and human fallibility”, hardly an image of high-technology.
The war had also changed Corbusiers perspective of technology’s place in architecture, compare for example the machine for living in, the Ville Savoye (Paris, 1929), compared with schemes such as (although later than the Unité) Notre Dame du Haut built at Ronchamp in 1954. The Unité had been described as “the first modern building that has room for cockroaches”, retort to Le Corbusier stating in a letter to Madame Savoye that “‘Home life today is being paralysed by the deplorable notion that we must have furniture” and that “This notion should be rooted out and replaced by that of equipment”. Banham in his book ‘The New Brutalism’ notes the Unité’s “originalities in sectional organisation”, with its rue Intérieure, apartments with double height spaces all of which in section span the entire width of the block. He also suggests “few buildings anywhere in the world had such a hold on the imagination of young architects especially in England”. Corbusier described his rough concrete style as béton brut, words which (rightly or wrongly) would come to be misinterpreted as representing the New Brutalist style as well as that of béton brut. The solidity of the Unité is furthered from mere concrete security by the setting back of “user-scale elements such as windows and doors” into the concrete frame of the building, giving a sense of a secondary boundary further to the superstructure of the building. As Banham describes it, a building where “word and building stand together in the psychological history of post-war architecture” . He attributes further its success to the “hard glare of the Mediterranean sun” . Something which does not quite translate so well in the greyer skies of Britain, something of the disappointment of driving a new car out of a showroom and home, notwithstanding your home being an equally apt setting.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the first week of October 2014. We tended to loose sight of the fact that (more) critically important has been on-going near the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 carriageway.
Bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure are being carried out by JONS Construction also on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance. One Friday afternoon I took a trip up there, walking back to the site along the side of the carriageway! Recognised some old faces. Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Roof boss in St Margaret's chapel.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Again in Civaux.
In 2008, the church was dark. For the light you had to press a button every 10 minutes. Very inconvenient if you want to photograph. Now everything is brightly lit with spotlights. A bit too much. It's never right.
Religious heritage: the Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais church
The church is one of the oldest in France.
The cult of Saint Gervais and Saint Protais appears to have quickly developed after the discovery of relics in Milan in 386.
Front
The front has the shape of a quadrilateral surmounted by an imposing triangular gable. The decor is limited to the cornice that defines the sprocket. It consists of small arches resting on carved corbels. The facade is, moreover, supported by strong buttresses. The northern one was rebuilt in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
In the center, the portal is no eardrum. It is decorated with a simple roll. It is topped with a bay semicircular arches and crowned with a thin cord that is based on sculpted caps.
Bedside
The polygonal sanctuary was built around the year 400. It is small cubic apparatus thick joints, resulting directly from the Roman tradition. It is associated with long blocks. Everything is arranged in regular courses. The angles are formed cut stones at each sitting.
Belfry
The bell tower is placed above the choir, which is a rare positioning. It was necessary to ensure the solidity of the building, cluttering the choir by huge piles.
The three upper levels of the tower are represented by cornices. The first level is blind and massive. At the corners, powerful buttresses consolidate all. The last two levels are lit by free bays. These second stages are part of a flat wall, while on the third floor, they are equipped with two rows of arch stones down along the legs and topped with a continuous molded cord on four faces.
The bell tower is topped by a pyramidal cover elegant stone.
Choir
The choir is from the Merovingian period. It is lit by three windows with arches are semicircular. The bows are made of thin archstones extradossed a cordon of tiles that extends back angle at the transom. Other tiles separate the quoins. The decoration is complemented by two diamond patterns placed on both sides of the axial window.
An early Christian monument is preserved in the choir (dated around 400), representing a chrism and an epitaph: "Aeternalis and Servilla Vivatis in Deo" is "Live in God." This stele is one of the oldest evidence of the presence of a Christian community in Poitou. It is contemporary of Saint Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers from 342 to 368 and Saint Martin, founder of the Abbey of Ligugé (360-370).
Nef
The nave walls and the bell tower date from the eleventh century.
The walls of the nave consist of small irregular stones. They are punctuated by alternating flat buttresses and high windows. The berries are narrow. They are surmounted by a carved lintel semicircular thin lines that simulate a bow paired in a style popular before 1000, but tends to disappear when the construction of the building.
In the twelfth century, are implanted batteries in the nave to the stoop. The capitals that adorn it are from the same era, specifically the beginning of the twelfth century. They are reminiscent of Saint Pierre de Chauvigny but also clumsy. However, two capitals are exceptional: he says of marriage, and that of the Temptation. The other capitals are decorated with stylized floral or geometric patterns or fantastic beasts or birds drinking from a cup.
This image of birds drinking from a cup symbolizes the souls who drink from the source of the memory. This is a reference to the Eucharist. "You will draw water with joy the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12-3). This is an iconography borrowed from the Roman tradition. It is found in many area churches: the Church of St. Peter Chauvigny, the priory of Villesalem, church Bonneuil-Matours or that of Liniers or to the Church of Our Lady of Lencloître .
Vaults and painted plaster date from the nineteenth century. The decor combines foliage and decorative motifs in false appliances. In 1886, Honoré Hivonnait painted at the entrance of the choir Saint Gervais and Saint Protais holding a palm, symbol of martyrdom.
Baptismal pool
During archaeological excavations directed by François Eygun in 1960, a baptismal pool Merovingian was unearthed. It is very rare to find outside of the episcopal see. Its discovery highlights the importance of Civaux at that time.
The baptismal pool has a similar type of construction of the church bedside is a polygonal structure with the use of an elongated device, process characteristic Merovingian poitevines constructions.
According to Brigitte Boissavit-Camus, head archaeologist of the excavations in the late 1980s, the entire building may have been surrounded by walls legacy of an ancient temple, which remains the foundation. these walls have delineated a circulation space reserved for worship.
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Ferstel
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Ferstel and Café Central, by Rudolf von Alt, left the men's alley (Herrengasse - Street of the Lords), right Strauchgasse
Danube mermaid fountain in a courtyard of the Palais Ferstel
Shopping arcade of the Freyung to Herrengasse
Entrance to Ferstel of the Freyung, right the Palais Harrach, left the palace Hardegg
The Ferstel is a building in the first district of Vienna, Inner City, with the addresses Strauchgasse 2-4, 14 Lord Street (Herrengasse) and Freyung 2. It was established as a national bank and stock exchange building, the denomination Palais is unhistoric.
History
In 1855, the entire estate between Freyung, Strauchgasse and Herrengasse was by Franz Xaver Imperial Count von Abensperg and Traun to the k.k. Privileged Austrian National Bank sold. This banking institution was previously domiciled in the Herrengasse 17/ Bankgasse. The progressive industrialization and the with it associated economic expansion also implied a rapid development of monetary transactions and banking, so that the current premises soon no longer have been sufficient. This problem could only be solved by a new building, in which also should be housed a stock exchange hall.
According to the desire of the then Governor of the National Bank, Franz von Pipitz, the new building was supposed to be carried out with strict observance of the economy and avoiding a worthless luxury with solidity and artistic as well as technical completion. The building should offer room for the National Bank, the stock market, a cafe and - a novel idea for Vienna - a bazaar.
The commissioned architect, Heinrich von Ferstel, demonstrated in the coping with the irregular surface area with highest conceivable effective use of space his state-of-the art talent. The practical requirements combine themselves with the actually artistic to a masterful composition. Ferstel has been able to lay out the rooms of the issuing bank, the two trading floors, the passage with the bazar and the coffee house in accordance with their intended purpose and at the same time to maintain a consistent style.
He was an advocate of the "Materialbaues" (material building) as it clearly is reflected in the ashlar building of the banking institution. Base, pillars and stairs were fashioned of Wöllersdorfer stone, façade elements such as balconies, cornices, structurings as well as stone banisters of the hard white stone of Emperor Kaiser quarry (Kaisersteinbruch), while the walls were made of -Sankt Margarethen limestone. The inner rooms have been luxuriously formed, with wood paneling, leather wallpaper, Stuccolustro and rich ornamental painting.
The facade of the corner front Strauchgasse/Herrengasse received twelve sculptures by Hanns Gasser as decoration, they symbolized the peoples of the monarchy. The mighty round arch at the exit Freyung were closed with wrought-iron bare gates, because the first used locksmith could not meet the demands of Ferstel, the work was transferred to a silversmith.
1860 the National Bank and the stock exchange could move into the in 1859 completed construction. The following year was placed in the glass-covered passage the Danube mermaid fountain, whose design stems also of Ferstel. Anton von Fernkorn has created the sculptural decoration with an artistic sensitivity. Above the marble fountain basin rises a column crowned by a bronze statue, the Danube female with flowing hair, holding a fish in its hand. Below are arranged around the column three also in bronze cast figures: merchant, fisherman and shipbuilder, so those professions that have to do with the water. The total cost of the building, the interior included, amounted to the enormous sum of 1.897.600 guilders.
The originally planned use of the building remained only a few years preserved. The Stock Exchange with the premises no longer had sufficient space: in 1872 it moved to a provisional solution, 1877 at Schottenring a new Stock Exchange building opened. The National Bank moved 1925 into a yet 1913 planned, spacious new building.
The building was in Second World War battered gravely particularly on the main facade. In the 1960s was located in the former Stock Exchange a basketball training hall, the entire building appeared neglected.
1971 dealt the President of the Federal Monuments Office, Walter Frodl, with the severely war damaged banking and stock exchange building in Vienna. The Office for Technical Geology of Otto Casensky furnished an opinion on the stone facade. On the facade Freyung 2 a balcony was originally attached over the entire 15.4 m long front of hard Kaiserstein.
(Usage of Leith lime: Dependent from the consistence and structure of the Leitha lime the usage differed from „Reibsand“ till building material. The Leitha lime stone is a natural stone which can be formed easily and was desired als beautiful stone for buildings in Roman times. The usage of lime stone from Eggenburg in the Bronze age already was verified. This special attribute is the reason why the Leitha lime was taken from sculptors and masons.
The source of lime stone in the Leitha Mountains was important for Austria and especially for Vienna from the cultur historical point of view during the Renaissance and Baroque. At the 19th century the up to 150 stone quarries of the Leitha mountains got many orders form the construction work of the Vienna „Ring road“.
At many buildings of Graz, such as the castle at the Grazer castle hill, the old Joanneum and the Cottage, the Leitha lime stone was used.
Due to the fact that Leitha lime is bond on carbonate in the texture, the alteration through the actual sour rain is heavy. www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HKZ9_leithagebirge-leithak...)
This balcony was no longer present and only close to the facade were remnants of the tread plates and the supporting brackets recognizable. In July 1975, followed the reconstruction of the balcony and master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh received the order to restore the old state am Leithagebirge received the order the old state - of Mannersdorfer stone, armoured concrete or artificial stone.
1975-1982, the building was renovated and re-opened the Café Central. Since then, the privately owned building is called Palais Ferstel. In the former stock exchange halls now meetings and presentations take place; the Café Central is utilizing one of the courtyards.
A bit of Great Central blue-brick solidity imposes itself on Rural Northamptonshire.
This is the most northerly air shaft for Catesby Tunnel, larger than the others, and very wet when viewed from below.. Water can occasionally be heard running inside the shaft from the surface.
Despite their reputation for solidity and durability the 70's were a bad time for Volvo, several models were blighted with excessive corrosion problems - more to do with the use of cheap russian steel rather than the actual manufacturers build quality. This very late 144 has done well to survive, particularly as it's the less useful Saloon version. The car was introduced in 1966, and that rear end styling from the B pillar backwards remained almost unchanged when the replacement 240 saloon was discontinued in 1993.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken in the last week of October 2014.
We strolled down to check the progress on the critically important has been on-going near the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 carriageway.
Bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure are being carried out by JONS Construction also on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance.
Work here had finished for the day/week.
Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Looks nearly complete -- apart from backfilling the opening between the bank and the retaining wall.
Ferstel
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Ferstel and Café Central, by Rudolf von Alt, left the men's alley (Herrengasse - Street of the Lords), right Strauchgasse
Danube mermaid fountain in a courtyard of the Palais Ferstel
Shopping arcade of the Freyung to Herrengasse
Entrance to Ferstel of the Freyung, right the Palais Harrach, left the palace Hardegg
The Ferstel is a building in the first district of Vienna, Inner City, with the addresses Strauchgasse 2-4, 14 Lord Street (Herrengasse) and Freyung 2. It was established as a national bank and stock exchange building, the denomination Palais is unhistoric.
History
In 1855, the entire estate between Freyung, Strauchgasse and Herrengasse was by Franz Xaver Imperial Count von Abensperg and Traun to the k.k. Privileged Austrian National Bank sold. This banking institution was previously domiciled in the Herrengasse 17/ Bankgasse. The progressive industrialization and the with it associated economic expansion also implied a rapid development of monetary transactions and banking, so that the current premises soon no longer have been sufficient. This problem could only be solved by a new building, in which also should be housed a stock exchange hall.
According to the desire of the then Governor of the National Bank, Franz von Pipitz, the new building was supposed to be carried out with strict observance of the economy and avoiding a worthless luxury with solidity and artistic as well as technical completion. The building should offer room for the National Bank, the stock market, a cafe and - a novel idea for Vienna - a bazaar.
The commissioned architect, Heinrich von Ferstel, demonstrated in the coping with the irregular surface area with highest conceivable effective use of space his state-of-the art talent. The practical requirements combine themselves with the actually artistic to a masterful composition. Ferstel has been able to lay out the rooms of the issuing bank, the two trading floors, the passage with the bazar and the coffee house in accordance with their intended purpose and at the same time to maintain a consistent style.
He was an advocate of the "Materialbaues" (material building) as it clearly is reflected in the ashlar building of the banking institution. Base, pillars and stairs were fashioned of Wöllersdorfer stone, façade elements such as balconies, cornices, structurings as well as stone banisters of the hard white stone of Emperor Kaiser quarry (Kaisersteinbruch), while the walls were made of -Sankt Margarethen limestone. The inner rooms have been luxuriously formed, with wood paneling, leather wallpaper, Stuccolustro and rich ornamental painting.
The facade of the corner front Strauchgasse/Herrengasse received twelve sculptures by Hanns Gasser as decoration, they symbolized the peoples of the monarchy. The mighty round arch at the exit Freyung were closed with wrought-iron bare gates, because the first used locksmith could not meet the demands of Ferstel, the work was transferred to a silversmith.
1860 the National Bank and the stock exchange could move into the in 1859 completed construction. The following year was placed in the glass-covered passage the Danube mermaid fountain, whose design stems also of Ferstel. Anton von Fernkorn has created the sculptural decoration with an artistic sensitivity. Above the marble fountain basin rises a column crowned by a bronze statue, the Danube female with flowing hair, holding a fish in its hand. Below are arranged around the column three also in bronze cast figures: merchant, fisherman and shipbuilder, so those professions that have to do with the water. The total cost of the building, the interior included, amounted to the enormous sum of 1.897.600 guilders.
The originally planned use of the building remained only a few years preserved. The Stock Exchange with the premises no longer had sufficient space: in 1872 it moved to a provisional solution, 1877 at Schottenring a new Stock Exchange building opened. The National Bank moved 1925 into a yet 1913 planned, spacious new building.
The building was in Second World War battered gravely particularly on the main facade. In the 1960s was located in the former Stock Exchange a basketball training hall, the entire building appeared neglected.
1971 dealt the President of the Federal Monuments Office, Walter Frodl, with the severely war damaged banking and stock exchange building in Vienna. The Office for Technical Geology of Otto Casensky furnished an opinion on the stone facade. On the facade Freyung 2 a balcony was originally attached over the entire 15.4 m long front of hard Kaiserstein.
(Usage of Leith lime: Dependent from the consistence and structure of the Leitha lime the usage differed from „Reibsand“ till building material. The Leitha lime stone is a natural stone which can be formed easily and was desired als beautiful stone for buildings in Roman times. The usage of lime stone from Eggenburg in the Bronze age already was verified. This special attribute is the reason why the Leitha lime was taken from sculptors and masons.
The source of lime stone in the Leitha Mountains was important for Austria and especially for Vienna from the cultur historical point of view during the Renaissance and Baroque. At the 19th century the up to 150 stone quarries of the Leitha mountains got many orders form the construction work of the Vienna „Ring road“.
At many buildings of Graz, such as the castle at the Grazer castle hill, the old Joanneum and the Cottage, the Leitha lime stone was used.
Due to the fact that Leitha lime is bond on carbonate in the texture, the alteration through the actual sour rain is heavy. www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HKZ9_leithagebirge-leithak...)
This balcony was no longer present and only close to the facade were remnants of the tread plates and the supporting brackets recognizable. In July 1975, followed the reconstruction of the balcony and master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh received the order to restore the old state am Leithagebirge received the order the old state - of Mannersdorfer stone, armoured concrete or artificial stone.
1975-1982, the building was renovated and re-opened the Café Central. Since then, the privately owned building is called Palais Ferstel. In the former stock exchange halls now meetings and presentations take place; the Café Central is utilizing one of the courtyards.
When Alfa Romeo returned to the US market in 2014, all they had to offer was the 4C – a tiny sports car with lust-worthy race car engineering that reflected 100+ years of auto racing heritage while declaring Alfa Romeo’s intentions for their product line-up. Now Alfa has brought it’s volume leaders – the Stelvio SUV and the Giulia sport sedan – to America’s shores as well. We reviewed the Stelvio a few months ago (we liked it) and now we’ve had a chance to spend some time with the Giulia Ti Sport AWD.
The moment you see the front of the car, that V-grille tucked between the two flat ovals, you know it’s an Alfa Romeo. It looks different than anything on the road. It looks unique, and that’s good. Anything to stand out in this increasingly crowded automotive market. Alfa Romeo has nailed that part and they did it without even trying. All they had to do was integrate their classic tri-lobial grille into the design. The rest of the car is equally good looking: The muscular lines, the balanced proportions, the aggressive stance. Let’s face it, it’s a great looking car. Apparently, others thought so too because we had quite a few people stop and ask us what it was. A few even wanted selfies of themselves in front of it. Who were we to disappoint?
2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti AWD Sport
gtspirit.com/2018/05/10/review-2018-alfa-romeo-giulia-ti-...
Inside, the car is all business. The tones are muted and dark. There are few design cues to distract the driver. Everything is simple, clean, focused. It’s very comfortable and has a very driver-focused feel to it. The seats are comfortable and electrically adjustable and heated. The bolsters are good around the torso, and even the smaller ones on the seat cushion provided good lateral support. Instruments are smartly laid out. The touch screen controller, radio controls, and Alfa’s D.N.A. selector are grouped together behind the electronic shifter on the center console. Climate controls are above the center console on the dash. Above those is the infotainment screen. The Giulia has real analog gauges with a configurable screen between them. Some aluminum accents round out the design cues. And that’s it. Not much to distract from the driving experience.
The steering wheel is an attractive semi-flat bottomed number with both cruise and radio controls on it. It feels good in the hands with palm swells at 2:00 and 10:00. The stop/start button is tucked into the middle, out of the way but readily visible. Behind the wheel lie the biggest, sexiest aluminum paddle shifters this side of a Ferrari. The left one has a “-“ laser cut into it for downshifts and the right one has a “+” cut into it for upshifts. They click very positively when you pull them and they’re very responsive.
Speaking of responsive, the 2.0L direct-injected turbo motor is just that. While it sounds a bit rough and crude at idle, like any good Italian engine it’s achieves some kind of glorious smoothness and refinement when it’s working hard. The sound improves at speed. It keeps goading you to push harder, go faster, let it wind out. Which you want to do. The hard part is actually reining it in and keeping it at legal speeds. Acceleration is deceptively quick – you find yourself going 85 mph in the blink of an eye.
All that power gets routed through an 8-speed automatic transmission and a carbon-fiber driveshaft to all four wheels ala Alfa’s Q4 AWD system.
And the suspension loves to take a set of curves. Freeway on-ramps and cloverleaf ramps are this car’s raison d’etre. It quickly instills confidence as it builds lateral g’s. Around town or on the freeway, it never feels caught out. It transitions from side-to-side without any upsetting motions and nimbly darts through traffic with ease. The only time it seemed to struggle was on uneven country roads. At slightly extra-legal speeds, over dips and crests, it felt floaty and uncontrolled, but really this isn’t a car set up for track work or insane speed over secondary roads. No, Alfa Romeo has the Quadrifoglia version for that. The Ti Sport version is made to be a great everyday driver that will impress you in real world driving with it’s performance. And it really does. The trick is to not let the engine talk you into going faster than what conditions will allow.
An engine like this one demands a great set of brakes and the Giulia Ti Sport has them. 13” vented rotors and Brembo 4-piston monoblock calipers front, 12.5” rotors rear and single-piston calipers rear. The calipers are gorgeous: painted Alfa Romeo red with “Alfa Romeo” in white script on them. They look stunning. They’re not just for show either. They effortlessly haul the car down from speed very quickly – enough to hang you up in your seatbelt.
The car is fairly lightweight for what it is, coming in around 3,000 lbs. Lightweight materials were used, which makes everything feel (and sound) light. While this gives the impression that there’s a “cheapness” to the car, a lack of solidity or quality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The car feels very solid and very well put together. We heard nary a creak nor a squeak the whole time we had it.
The Giulia starts at $41,000 USD, which is really a bargain for a capable Italian sports sedan with these looks. The model we drove totalled $46,000 USD, which surprised a lot of people in a good way. Compared to what else you can get for $45,000, the Giulia is a steal. You get a sexy, well-balanced Italian sports car with a touch of exoticness to it with performance to match. It’s a no brainer.
REVIEW OVERVIEW
Performance 8.5
Handling 8.0
Design 9.0
Interior 7.5
Sound 7.0
Fun 8.5
SUMMARY 8.1
OVERALL SCORE ****
When Larry's brother was here, we went for lunch downtown to this pub. I feel it is the most sympathetic renovation and conversion of an historic property in Calgary. The bank reference is obvious. The baron reference is to George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, financier behind the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1800's, President of the Bank of Montreal, and the person after whom Stephen Avenue Walk, where this bank sits, was named.
From HistoricPlaces.ca
Built in 1930, the Bank of Nova Scotia building is an excellent example of the kind of architectural eclecticism that was popular in banks of the period. Designed to convey a sense of solidity and security, this bank building is impressive in the proportions and symmetry of its flattened classical facade. This rational plan is characteristic of architect John M. Lyle's Beaux-Arts classicism, and yet the building pushes the limits of that style in many of its decorative elements. Of primary significance is the program of low relief sculptural panels adorning the main facade. Designed by Lyle, these panels depict such western Canadian themes as agriculture, commerce, and ranching. The incorporation of such imagery into a traditionally classical building was groundbreaking, and the Bank of Nova Scotia building remains an outstanding example of such a sculptural program in Alberta. The traditional interpretation of a bank as a classical temple has here been reconciled by Lyle with a modern emphasis on linearity, its decoration and interior materials moving decidedly toward the streamlined Art Deco style.
PAOLO ALDERIGHI and STEPHANIE TRICK DOUBLE TRIO @ JazzAscona 2016, 1.7 - 3.7, 2016.
From: I-USA
Style: Stride Piano, Swing
Un superlativo show a quattro mani con una magica coppia del piano
Milanese, nato nel 1980, Paolo Alderighi è un autentico virtuoso del piano jazz, epigono di Fats Waller, il mitico pianista nero famoso per il gioco delle mani: la sinistra come unâintera sezione ritmica, la destra come un brillantissimo strumento solista. Accolto con ovazioni dal pubblico di Ascona durante la scorsa edizione, Alderighi si ripresenta col suo trio e soprattutto con la talentuosa e versatile pianista americana, nonche moglie, Stephanie Trick. Quello di Paolo Alderighi e Stephanie Trick uno show pianistico a quattro mani fresco ed inebriante. I due hanno registrato lâanno scorso l album a Sentimental Journey.
A superlative four-handed show with the magic piano duo
A Milan native, born in 1980: Paolo Alderighi is a true jazz-piano virtuoso with a style reminiscent of Fats Waller, the incredible black pianist famous for the solidity of his left hand and the endless melodic variations of his right hand. Alderighi's performances during last year's edition were met with standing ovations and this year he is back with his trio and with the talented and versatile American pianist and his wife Stephanie Trick. Their four-hands piano show is fresh and intoxicating. Together the two have also worked on two albums, one of which â âSentimental Journeyâ â was recorded last year.
Eine grossartige Show zu vier Händen mit dem magischen Klavier-Duo
Der 1980 geborene Mailänder Paolo Alderighi ist ein wahrer Virtuose des Pianojazz. Sein Stil erinnert an Fats Waller den mythischen schwarzen Pianisten, der dafür bekannt war, dass er seine linke Hand als komplette Rhythmussektion einsetzte und seine rechte wie ein brillantes Soloinstrument. Letztes Jahr in Ascona frenetisch gefeiert, präsentiert sich Alderighi erneut, mit seinem Trio und vor allem mit der talentierten, vielseitigen amerikanischen Pianistin Stephanie Trick, seiner Ehefrau. Frisch und berauschend ist die Pianoshow zu vier Händen von Paolo Alderighi und Stephanie Trick. Letztes Jahr haben die beiden das Album "Sentimental Journey" aufgenommen.
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and the massive scale gives it a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the shape of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century (mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration an sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Title: Metropolitan
Creator: Sir Norman Foster and Partners; JEMS Architekci
Creator role: Architect
Creator 2: Hochtief Polska
Creator 2 role: Contractor
Date: 1997-2003
Current location: Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Description of work: The Metropolitan building was erected at the northern edge of Pilsudski Square to fill a void where palaces had once stood until their destruction during World War II. The famous square (home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Papal Cross, and near the Presidential Palace) is the site of military ceremonial gatherings. At the heart of the building is a circular courtyard and fountain, accessible to the street on three sides. "Above the ground level shops and restaurants there are five storeys of flexible office accommodation, grouped in three separate yet connected buildings. [...] The glazed facades maximise daylight in the offices and take advantage of views over the square and surrounding historic buildings, while vertical granite fins balance this sense of transparency with the impression of solidity" (Source: Foster + Partners website: www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/metropolitan-pilsudski...). The innovative building design by Norman Foster and collaborating architect Jems Achitekci won several awards, including the RIBA Worldwide Award, MIPIM Award 2004 in the Business Center category, Construction Journal Award for Best Overall Project of 2003, and the Platinum Drill 2004 (1st prize in Bosch competition for Polish construction companies). According to its website, the Metropolitan building can be rated as one of the most technologically advanced buildings in Europe due to its energy-saving and environmentally-friendly heating and cooling solutions (Source: Metropolitan: www.metropolitan.waw.pl/en/index.php).
Description of view: South side of the Metropolitan building bordering Pilsudski Square as viewed from the Palace of Culture and Science.
Work type: Architecture and Landscape
Style of work: Contemporary
Culture: Polish
Materials/Techniques: Glass
Stone
Metal
Source: Pisciotta, Henry (copyright Henry Pisciotta)
Date photographed: May 2011
Resource type: Image
File format: JPEG
Image size: 2736H X 3648W pixels
Permitted uses: This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted. alias.libraries.psu.edu/vius/copyright/publicrightsarch.htm
Collection: Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures
Filename: WB2014-0192 Metropolitan.JPG
Record ID: WB2014-0192
Sub collection: office buildings
Copyright holder: Copyright Henry Pisciotta
When Alfa Romeo returned to the US market in 2014, all they had to offer was the 4C – a tiny sports car with lust-worthy race car engineering that reflected 100+ years of auto racing heritage while declaring Alfa Romeo’s intentions for their product line-up. Now Alfa has brought it’s volume leaders – the Stelvio SUV and the Giulia sport sedan – to America’s shores as well. We reviewed the Stelvio a few months ago (we liked it) and now we’ve had a chance to spend some time with the Giulia Ti Sport AWD.
The moment you see the front of the car, that V-grille tucked between the two flat ovals, you know it’s an Alfa Romeo. It looks different than anything on the road. It looks unique, and that’s good. Anything to stand out in this increasingly crowded automotive market. Alfa Romeo has nailed that part and they did it without even trying. All they had to do was integrate their classic tri-lobial grille into the design. The rest of the car is equally good looking: The muscular lines, the balanced proportions, the aggressive stance. Let’s face it, it’s a great looking car. Apparently, others thought so too because we had quite a few people stop and ask us what it was. A few even wanted selfies of themselves in front of it. Who were we to disappoint?
2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti AWD Sport
gtspirit.com/2018/05/10/review-2018-alfa-romeo-giulia-ti-...
Inside, the car is all business. The tones are muted and dark. There are few design cues to distract the driver. Everything is simple, clean, focused. It’s very comfortable and has a very driver-focused feel to it. The seats are comfortable and electrically adjustable and heated. The bolsters are good around the torso, and even the smaller ones on the seat cushion provided good lateral support. Instruments are smartly laid out. The touch screen controller, radio controls, and Alfa’s D.N.A. selector are grouped together behind the electronic shifter on the center console. Climate controls are above the center console on the dash. Above those is the infotainment screen. The Giulia has real analog gauges with a configurable screen between them. Some aluminum accents round out the design cues. And that’s it. Not much to distract from the driving experience.
The steering wheel is an attractive semi-flat bottomed number with both cruise and radio controls on it. It feels good in the hands with palm swells at 2:00 and 10:00. The stop/start button is tucked into the middle, out of the way but readily visible. Behind the wheel lie the biggest, sexiest aluminum paddle shifters this side of a Ferrari. The left one has a “-“ laser cut into it for downshifts and the right one has a “+” cut into it for upshifts. They click very positively when you pull them and they’re very responsive.
Speaking of responsive, the 2.0L direct-injected turbo motor is just that. While it sounds a bit rough and crude at idle, like any good Italian engine it’s achieves some kind of glorious smoothness and refinement when it’s working hard. The sound improves at speed. It keeps goading you to push harder, go faster, let it wind out. Which you want to do. The hard part is actually reining it in and keeping it at legal speeds. Acceleration is deceptively quick – you find yourself going 85 mph in the blink of an eye.
All that power gets routed through an 8-speed automatic transmission and a carbon-fiber driveshaft to all four wheels ala Alfa’s Q4 AWD system.
And the suspension loves to take a set of curves. Freeway on-ramps and cloverleaf ramps are this car’s raison d’etre. It quickly instills confidence as it builds lateral g’s. Around town or on the freeway, it never feels caught out. It transitions from side-to-side without any upsetting motions and nimbly darts through traffic with ease. The only time it seemed to struggle was on uneven country roads. At slightly extra-legal speeds, over dips and crests, it felt floaty and uncontrolled, but really this isn’t a car set up for track work or insane speed over secondary roads. No, Alfa Romeo has the Quadrifoglia version for that. The Ti Sport version is made to be a great everyday driver that will impress you in real world driving with it’s performance. And it really does. The trick is to not let the engine talk you into going faster than what conditions will allow.
An engine like this one demands a great set of brakes and the Giulia Ti Sport has them. 13” vented rotors and Brembo 4-piston monoblock calipers front, 12.5” rotors rear and single-piston calipers rear. The calipers are gorgeous: painted Alfa Romeo red with “Alfa Romeo” in white script on them. They look stunning. They’re not just for show either. They effortlessly haul the car down from speed very quickly – enough to hang you up in your seatbelt.
The car is fairly lightweight for what it is, coming in around 3,000 lbs. Lightweight materials were used, which makes everything feel (and sound) light. While this gives the impression that there’s a “cheapness” to the car, a lack of solidity or quality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The car feels very solid and very well put together. We heard nary a creak nor a squeak the whole time we had it.
The Giulia starts at $41,000 USD, which is really a bargain for a capable Italian sports sedan with these looks. The model we drove totalled $46,000 USD, which surprised a lot of people in a good way. Compared to what else you can get for $45,000, the Giulia is a steal. You get a sexy, well-balanced Italian sports car with a touch of exoticness to it with performance to match. It’s a no brainer.
REVIEW OVERVIEW
Performance 8.5
Handling 8.0
Design 9.0
Interior 7.5
Sound 7.0
Fun 8.5
SUMMARY 8.1
OVERALL SCORE ****
Ferstel
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Ferstel and Café Central, by Rudolf von Alt, left the men's alley (Herrengasse - Street of the Lords), right Strauchgasse
Danube mermaid fountain in a courtyard of the Palais Ferstel
Shopping arcade of the Freyung to Herrengasse
Entrance to Ferstel of the Freyung, right the Palais Harrach, left the palace Hardegg
The Ferstel is a building in the first district of Vienna, Inner City, with the addresses Strauchgasse 2-4, 14 Lord Street (Herrengasse) and Freyung 2. It was established as a national bank and stock exchange building, the denomination Palais is unhistoric.
History
In 1855, the entire estate between Freyung, Strauchgasse and Herrengasse was by Franz Xaver Imperial Count von Abensperg and Traun to the k.k. Privileged Austrian National Bank sold. This banking institution was previously domiciled in the Herrengasse 17/ Bankgasse. The progressive industrialization and the with it associated economic expansion also implied a rapid development of monetary transactions and banking, so that the current premises soon no longer have been sufficient. This problem could only be solved by a new building, in which also should be housed a stock exchange hall.
According to the desire of the then Governor of the National Bank, Franz von Pipitz, the new building was supposed to be carried out with strict observance of the economy and avoiding a worthless luxury with solidity and artistic as well as technical completion. The building should offer room for the National Bank, the stock market, a cafe and - a novel idea for Vienna - a bazaar.
The commissioned architect, Heinrich von Ferstel, demonstrated in the coping with the irregular surface area with highest conceivable effective use of space his state-of-the art talent. The practical requirements combine themselves with the actually artistic to a masterful composition. Ferstel has been able to lay out the rooms of the issuing bank, the two trading floors, the passage with the bazar and the coffee house in accordance with their intended purpose and at the same time to maintain a consistent style.
He was an advocate of the "Materialbaues" (material building) as it clearly is reflected in the ashlar building of the banking institution. Base, pillars and stairs were fashioned of Wöllersdorfer stone, façade elements such as balconies, cornices, structurings as well as stone banisters of the hard white stone of Emperor Kaiser quarry (Kaisersteinbruch), while the walls were made of -Sankt Margarethen limestone. The inner rooms have been luxuriously formed, with wood paneling, leather wallpaper, Stuccolustro and rich ornamental painting.
The facade of the corner front Strauchgasse/Herrengasse received twelve sculptures by Hanns Gasser as decoration, they symbolized the peoples of the monarchy. The mighty round arch at the exit Freyung were closed with wrought-iron bare gates, because the first used locksmith could not meet the demands of Ferstel, the work was transferred to a silversmith.
1860 the National Bank and the stock exchange could move into the in 1859 completed construction. The following year was placed in the glass-covered passage the Danube mermaid fountain, whose design stems also of Ferstel. Anton von Fernkorn has created the sculptural decoration with an artistic sensitivity. Above the marble fountain basin rises a column crowned by a bronze statue, the Danube female with flowing hair, holding a fish in its hand. Below are arranged around the column three also in bronze cast figures: merchant, fisherman and shipbuilder, so those professions that have to do with the water. The total cost of the building, the interior included, amounted to the enormous sum of 1.897.600 guilders.
The originally planned use of the building remained only a few years preserved. The Stock Exchange with the premises no longer had sufficient space: in 1872 it moved to a provisional solution, 1877 at Schottenring a new Stock Exchange building opened. The National Bank moved 1925 into a yet 1913 planned, spacious new building.
The building was in Second World War battered gravely particularly on the main facade. In the 1960s was located in the former Stock Exchange a basketball training hall, the entire building appeared neglected.
1971 dealt the President of the Federal Monuments Office, Walter Frodl, with the severely war damaged banking and stock exchange building in Vienna. The Office for Technical Geology of Otto Casensky furnished an opinion on the stone facade. On the facade Freyung 2 a balcony was originally attached over the entire 15.4 m long front of hard Kaiserstein.
(Usage of Leith lime: Dependent from the consistence and structure of the Leitha lime the usage differed from „Reibsand“ till building material. The Leitha lime stone is a natural stone which can be formed easily and was desired als beautiful stone for buildings in Roman times. The usage of lime stone from Eggenburg in the Bronze age already was verified. This special attribute is the reason why the Leitha lime was taken from sculptors and masons.
The source of lime stone in the Leitha Mountains was important for Austria and especially for Vienna from the cultur historical point of view during the Renaissance and Baroque. At the 19th century the up to 150 stone quarries of the Leitha mountains got many orders form the construction work of the Vienna „Ring road“.
At many buildings of Graz, such as the castle at the Grazer castle hill, the old Joanneum and the Cottage, the Leitha lime stone was used.
Due to the fact that Leitha lime is bond on carbonate in the texture, the alteration through the actual sour rain is heavy. www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HKZ9_leithagebirge-leithak...)
This balcony was no longer present and only close to the facade were remnants of the tread plates and the supporting brackets recognizable. In July 1975, followed the reconstruction of the balcony and master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh received the order to restore the old state am Leithagebirge received the order the old state - of Mannersdorfer stone, armoured concrete or artificial stone.
1975-1982, the building was renovated and re-opened the Café Central. Since then, the privately owned building is called Palais Ferstel. In the former stock exchange halls now meetings and presentations take place; the Café Central is utilizing one of the courtyards.
Old and abandoned traditional concrete farm structures along the South Coast of Iceland [No property release; available for editorial licensing only]
With the new EOS 60D DSLR, Canon gives the photo enthusiast a powerful tool fostering creativity, with better image quality, more advanced features and automatic and in-camera technologies for ease-of-use. It features an improved APS-C sized 18.0 Megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, a new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for finer detail and excellent color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities from 100 - 6400 (expandable to 12800) for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations. The new Multi-control Dial enables users to conveniently operate menus and enter settings with a simple touch. The EOS 60D also features an EOS first: A Vari-angle 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (1,040,000 dots) monitor for easy low- or high-angle viewing. An improved viewfinder, a number of new in-camera creative options and filters, plus HDMI output for viewing images on an HDTV all make the EOS 60D invaluable for the evolving photographer. With continuously curved surfaces, user-friendliness and exuding solidity and refinement, the EOS 60D is true digital inspiration!
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and the massive scale gives it a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the shape of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century (mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration an sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Taipei 101 was the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height[4] and the first record-setting skyscraper constructed in the new millennium - 3rd millennium.
The record it claimed for greatest height from ground to pinnacle now rests with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (UAE): 828 m (2,717 ft). Taipei 101's records for roof height and highest occupied floor briefly passed to the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2009, which in turn yielded these records as well to the Burj.
Taipei 101 displaced the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as the tallest building in the world by 57.2 m (188 ft).[5] It also displaced the 85-story, 347.5 m (1,140 ft) Tuntex Sky Tower in Kaohsiung as the tallest building in Taiwan and the 51-story, 244.2 m (801 ft) Shin Kong Life Tower as the tallest building in Taipei.[6]
Taipei 101 endures a typhoonVarious sources, including the building's owners, give the height of Taipei 101 as 508.0 m (1,667 ft), roof height and top floor height as 448.0 m (1,470 ft) and 438.0 m (1,437 ft). This lower figure is derived by measuring from the top of a 1.2 m (4 ft) platform at the base. CTBUH standards, though, include the height of the platform in calculating the overall height, as it represents part of the man-made structure and is above the level of the surrounding pavement.[7][8]
Structural Design
Location of Taipei 101's largest tuned mass damper.
Taipei 101 at night
The main tuned mass damper atop Taipei 101Taipei 101 is designed to withstand the typhoon winds and earthquake tremors common in its area of the Asia-Pacific. Planners aimed for a structure that could withstand gale winds of 60 m/s (197 ft/s, 216 km/h, 134 mph) and the strongest earthquakes likely to occur in a 2,500 year cycle.[9]
Skyscrapers must be flexible in strong winds yet remain rigid enough to prevent large sideways movement (lateral drift). Flexibility prevents structural damage while resistance ensures comfort for the occupants and protection of glass, curtain walls and other features. Most designs achieve the necessary strength by enlarging critical structural elements such as bracing. The extraordinary height of Taipei 101 combined with the demands of its environment called for additional innovations. The design achieves both strength and flexibility for the tower through the use of high-performance steel construction. Thirty-six columns support Taipei 101, including eight "mega-columns" packed with 10,000 psi (69 MPa) concrete.[10] Every eight floors, outrigger trusses connect the columns in the building's core to those on the exterior.
These features combine with the solidity of its foundation to make Taipei 101 one of the most stable buildings ever constructed. The foundation is reinforced by 380 piles driven 80 m (262 ft) into the ground, extending as far as 30 m (98 ft) into the bedrock. Each pile is 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter and can bear a load of 1,000–1,320 tonnes (1,100–1,460 short tons).[10] The stability of the design became evident during construction when, on March 31, 2002, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Taipei. The tremor was strong enough to topple two construction cranes from the 56th floor, then the highest. Five people died in the accident, but an inspection showed no structural damage to the building, and construction soon resumed.
Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers along with Evergreen Consulting Engineering designed a 660 tonnes (728 short tons)[11] steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damper, at a cost of NT$132 million (US$4 million).[12] Suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts. Its sphere, the largest damper sphere in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates, each with a height of 125 mm (4.92 in) being welded together to form a 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter sphere.[13] Another two tuned mass dampers, each weighing 6 tonnes (7 short tons),[12] sit at the tip of the spire. These prevent damage to the structure due to strong wind loads.
Taipei 101's characteristic blue-green glass curtain walls are double paned and glazed, offer heat and UV protection sufficient to block external heat by 50 percent, and can sustain impacts of 7 tonnes (8 short tons).[9] Recycled water meets 20-30 percent of the building's water needs. Upgrades are currently under way to make Taipei 101 "the world's tallest green building" by LEED standards by summer 2011.[14]
for more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken in the last week of October 2014.
We strolled down to check the progress on the critically important has been on-going near the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 carriageway.
Bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure are being carried out by JONS Construction also on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance.
Work here had finished for the day/week.
Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Looks nearly complete -- apart from backfilling the opening between the bank and the retaining wall.
Metropolitan - Foster and Partners
The site of the Metropolitan office development is at the northern edge of Pilsudski Square, one of Warsaw’s most important public spaces and home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and national ceremonial events. Formerly Victory Square, the large space was bordered by the seventeenth-century Saski Palace and the Baroque Brühl Palace, however both were destroyed during the war. The new building completes the missing edge of the square, providing a modern counterpart to neighbouring historic buildings, while sympathetically echoing their height, massing and materials.
The building extends to the perimeter of the site to establish an appropriate presence on the square, while an open public space, 50 metres wide at its heart, maintains pedestrian routes through the site. The drum-like space provides the social focus of the scheme and is lined with cafes and restaurants. At its centre is a dramatic water feature, surrounded by a ring of mature trees. The circular motif continues with a ring of light, cantilevered from the first floor of the building, which provides illumination for evening al fresco dining, and a gently glowing halo of light around the top of the building.
Above the ground level shops and restaurants there are five storeys of flexible office accommodation, grouped in three separate, yet connected buildings. Below, the underground parking level provides space for 400 cars. The glazed façades maximise daylight in the offices and take advantage of views over the square and surrounding historic buildings, while vertical granite fins balance this sense of transparency with the impression of solidity. Transforming the building’s appearance from solid to transparent according to the viewer’s perspective, the fins give the façade a rich texture appropriate to the significance of the Metropolitan’s setting.
American Standard Building (Formerly American Radiator Building), 40 West 40th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues, south of Bryant Park), Manhattan, New York City.
Architects: Raymond Hood & André Fouilhoux
Built: 1923-1924
Style: Art Deco, neo-gothic
Construction: Steel frame, 23 stories, 102.7 m (337 feet) high
The black brickwork on the facade was chosen to lessen the visual contrast between the walls and the windows and thus give the tower an effect of solidity and massiveness. The Gothic-style pinnacles and the terra-cotta friezes on the edges of the setbacks are coated with gold.
The base is clad in bronze plating and black granite. There are carved allegories, symbolizing the transformation of matter into energy, quite appropriate for a heater company. The entrance lobby is decorated with black marble and mirrors.
It was conceived by the architects John Howells and Raymond Hood in 1924 and built for the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Company. The structural form is based on Eliel Saarinen's unbuilt competition entry for Chicago Tribune building.
The architects combined Gothic and modern styles in the design of the building. Black brick on the frontage of the building (symbolizing coal) was selected to give an idea of solidity and to give the building a solid mass. Other parts of the facade were covered in gold bricks (symbolizing fire), and the entry was decorated with marble and black mirrors. Once again, the talents of Rene Paul Chambellan were employed by Hood and Howells for the ornamentation and sculptures.
In 1998, the building was sold to Philip Pilevsky for $150 million. Three years afterwards, the American Radiator Building was converted into The Bryant Park Hotel with 130 rooms and a theatre in the basement.
The landmark status of the exterior required the conversion pay special attention to the renovation of the facade decor, and prohibited proposed changes such as bigger guestroom windows. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also the subject of Georgia O'Keeffe in 1927 in her noted painting Radiator Building - Night, New York.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh: An Allegory of the Dinteville Family, 1537
Master of the Dinteville Allegory (Netherlandish or French, active mid-16th century)
Oil on wood
69 1/2 x 75 7/8 in. (176.5 x 192.7 cm)
Wentworth Fund, 1950 (50.70)
The protagonists in this elaborate allegory are the brothers Jean, François, Guillaume, and Gaucher de Dinteville, important members of the court of Francis I, king of France. Portrayed at a moment of crisis in their relations with the king, they participate in a narrative derived from Exodus 7:9. Moses and Aaron plead with Pharaoh to free the Israelites; to prove they are armed with the power of the Lord, Aaron changes his rod into a serpent. Depicted in the guise of Aaron is François II de Dinteville, bishop of Auxerre; his brother Jean is shown as Moses, and the younger brothers, Gaucher and Guillaume, stand behind them. The names and ages of the three latter brothers are inscribed on the hems of their robes. Pharaoh is a disguised portrait of Francis I. This painting hung in the Dinteville château of Polisy along with Holbein's Ambassadors (National Gallery, London). This fascinating allegory has stylistic affinities to the works of sixteenth-century Antwerp artists—in the emphatic gestures of the robed classical figures, in particular. The simplification and solidity of form, meanwhile, are more typical of French painting. Though the identity of the artist is unknown, the work represents a high level of technical accomplishment and suggests the hand of a Mannerist painter working in the circle of a Northern European court.
166 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC.
Description of Historic Place:
Located on the southeast corner of East Hastings Street and Market Alley, the Roosevelt Hotel is a six-storey, reinforced concrete, Edwardian commercial structure.
Heritage Value:
The heritage value of the Roosevelt Hotel lies in the historic relationship between this area and the economy of early Vancouver. At the turn of the twentieth century, this area of town was developed as a shopping area as commercial activity spread outward from its early roots in Gastown. As the young city grew, so did its commercial district. It was the home of several hotels, lodgings, and small retail outlets which were established to serve the growing blue-collar population.
The Roosevelt Hotel is significant because it was the home of Molson's Bank, one of several privately-financed banks founded in the mid-nineteenth century in Canada. It was an example of eastern Canadian capital investment in British Columbia. The bank had 125 branches across Canada by 1925, when it was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal. This East End Branch was built in this location, in the heart of Vancouver's early commercial and civic core, to serve the financial needs of the surrounding retail and accommodation outlets. It was designed by H.L. Stevens, who was based in New York but had a branch office in Vancouver for a few years from 1911 and was responsible for several landmark buildings in the United States. The upper storeys were used for offices for doctors, dentists, lawyers, and other professionals.
The building is similar in construction design and details to early twentieth-century banks across Canada. The Edwardian commercial style took advantage of evolving technology; the advances in reinforced concrete construction and the development of the elevator meant that buildings could rise higher above the ground, while the use of terra cotta ornamentation reflected current tastes in the United States. The interior contains marble finishes and "was intended to give the East End patrons...a pleasing place in which to transact their business." The design was intended to exemplify the solidity of the banking business and, by inference, the stability of the new City of Vancouver.
Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Character-Defining Elements:
The character-defining elements of the Roosevelt Hotel include:
- the building's early skyscraper form, scale and rectangular massing
- built right to the lot line with no setbacks
- its functional relationship with other buildings within the Hastings Street strip and adjoining neighbourhoods
- its location on an alley
- characteristics of the Edwardian style including: tripartite facade (upper portion highly ornamented with terra cotta swags, central portion of plain brick and lower portion of rusticated stone); pattern of fenestration including paired sets on the front facade, arched upper windows on lower storey, and shop fronts; frieze with volute and dentil trim; terra cotta blocks and intricate cornice above first-storey windows; upper cornice which continues around the alley facade
The largest and most magnificent of the chantry chapels is that erected on the north side of the sanctuary in 1430 by Isabella le Despenser (d.1439) in honour of her first husband Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester (d.1422). She then married a second Richard Beauchamp (later buuired in his famous chapel in Warwick) and thus became Countess of Warwick. The splendid fan-vaulted chantry is thus known either as the Warwick or Beauchamp chapel and is a gloriously ornate piece of Perpendicular architecture.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The solidity and build quality is a tribute to Proton successful entry into the UK. Based on the Mitsubishi Colt/Lancer these had quite long lives, but have somewhat suddenly disappeared. This example seemed to have ended up here without any real reason.
inspired by this article and the chocolate caramel torte at marlow and sons, i made this pie.
crust
i threw together some flour (3 cups) and butter (2 cups) with a teaspoon(ish) of salt and sugar and cut it all together with a pastry cutter (!!! very exciting to use one of these).
i baked the crust til it looked golden.
caramel
after waiting for about 20 minutes with no melting of my sugar, i realised that i had turned on the wrong burner. first time making caramel off to a good start! but it turned out to be fine. next time i will heat my water before adding it to my melted sugar, to avoid so much seizing.
i poured the caramel in the baked pie shell.
whipped chocolate
suzette made some fail chocolate fondue, which clumped up and refused to melt, so i threw some of that in a skillet with a bar of dark chocolate and 1/2 cup of water and let it melt all together to a thinnish chocolate sauce.
i enlisted grammar to whip up a cup of cream and folded that in with the chocolate and poured the mixture on top of the caramel in the pie crust
after a few hours on the porch, it had cooled to a nice solidity.
sprinkle some cocoa powder and sea salt on top and there you have it. super nom nom.
Los Angeles, California
Listed 7/23/2013
Reference Number: 13000509
The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is significant tmder Criterion A as an important anchor to the early commercial development of Los Angeles in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River. When completed in 1889,6 it reflected expansion and growth outside the commercial core in Los Angeles. Now, as the last remaining commercial building from the early development of Boyle Heights in the 1880s, the building represents the late nineteenth century transition of Los Angeles from a small city surrounded by farmland to a burgeoning city center surrounded by suburban neighborhoods. Pre-twentieth century commercial buildings are extremely rare in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area and likely number fewer than a dozen. Extant pre-twentieth century hotels are even rarer and probably number fewer than five. The Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block is also significant under Criterion C for its rare and unique architectural design in a Queen A1me style. 8 The building embodies distinctive character defining features, including its highly decorative wall surface, ornamental spiral columns, parapets with patterned surfacing, comer turret, second story double window with an arched pediment, and decorative brickwork. The building commands a prominent position at the crest of a hill overlooking downtown, as well as at an important intersection, and its construction out of brick signifies solidity and durability at this important site.
National Register of Historic Places Homepage
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the first week of October 2014. We tended to loose sight of the fact that (more) critically important has been on-going near the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 carriageway.
Bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure are being carried out by JONS Construction also on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance. One Friday afternoon I took a trip up there, walking back to the site along the side of the carriageway! Recognised some old faces. Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
When Alfa Romeo returned to the US market in 2014, all they had to offer was the 4C – a tiny sports car with lust-worthy race car engineering that reflected 100+ years of auto racing heritage while declaring Alfa Romeo’s intentions for their product line-up. Now Alfa has brought it’s volume leaders – the Stelvio SUV and the Giulia sport sedan – to America’s shores as well. We reviewed the Stelvio a few months ago (we liked it) and now we’ve had a chance to spend some time with the Giulia Ti Sport AWD.
The moment you see the front of the car, that V-grille tucked between the two flat ovals, you know it’s an Alfa Romeo. It looks different than anything on the road. It looks unique, and that’s good. Anything to stand out in this increasingly crowded automotive market. Alfa Romeo has nailed that part and they did it without even trying. All they had to do was integrate their classic tri-lobial grille into the design. The rest of the car is equally good looking: The muscular lines, the balanced proportions, the aggressive stance. Let’s face it, it’s a great looking car. Apparently, others thought so too because we had quite a few people stop and ask us what it was. A few even wanted selfies of themselves in front of it. Who were we to disappoint?
2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti AWD Sport
gtspirit.com/2018/05/10/review-2018-alfa-romeo-giulia-ti-...
Inside, the car is all business. The tones are muted and dark. There are few design cues to distract the driver. Everything is simple, clean, focused. It’s very comfortable and has a very driver-focused feel to it. The seats are comfortable and electrically adjustable and heated. The bolsters are good around the torso, and even the smaller ones on the seat cushion provided good lateral support. Instruments are smartly laid out. The touch screen controller, radio controls, and Alfa’s D.N.A. selector are grouped together behind the electronic shifter on the center console. Climate controls are above the center console on the dash. Above those is the infotainment screen. The Giulia has real analog gauges with a configurable screen between them. Some aluminum accents round out the design cues. And that’s it. Not much to distract from the driving experience.
The steering wheel is an attractive semi-flat bottomed number with both cruise and radio controls on it. It feels good in the hands with palm swells at 2:00 and 10:00. The stop/start button is tucked into the middle, out of the way but readily visible. Behind the wheel lie the biggest, sexiest aluminum paddle shifters this side of a Ferrari. The left one has a “-“ laser cut into it for downshifts and the right one has a “+” cut into it for upshifts. They click very positively when you pull them and they’re very responsive.
Speaking of responsive, the 2.0L direct-injected turbo motor is just that. While it sounds a bit rough and crude at idle, like any good Italian engine it’s achieves some kind of glorious smoothness and refinement when it’s working hard. The sound improves at speed. It keeps goading you to push harder, go faster, let it wind out. Which you want to do. The hard part is actually reining it in and keeping it at legal speeds. Acceleration is deceptively quick – you find yourself going 85 mph in the blink of an eye.
All that power gets routed through an 8-speed automatic transmission and a carbon-fiber driveshaft to all four wheels ala Alfa’s Q4 AWD system.
And the suspension loves to take a set of curves. Freeway on-ramps and cloverleaf ramps are this car’s raison d’etre. It quickly instills confidence as it builds lateral g’s. Around town or on the freeway, it never feels caught out. It transitions from side-to-side without any upsetting motions and nimbly darts through traffic with ease. The only time it seemed to struggle was on uneven country roads. At slightly extra-legal speeds, over dips and crests, it felt floaty and uncontrolled, but really this isn’t a car set up for track work or insane speed over secondary roads. No, Alfa Romeo has the Quadrifoglia version for that. The Ti Sport version is made to be a great everyday driver that will impress you in real world driving with it’s performance. And it really does. The trick is to not let the engine talk you into going faster than what conditions will allow.
An engine like this one demands a great set of brakes and the Giulia Ti Sport has them. 13” vented rotors and Brembo 4-piston monoblock calipers front, 12.5” rotors rear and single-piston calipers rear. The calipers are gorgeous: painted Alfa Romeo red with “Alfa Romeo” in white script on them. They look stunning. They’re not just for show either. They effortlessly haul the car down from speed very quickly – enough to hang you up in your seatbelt.
The car is fairly lightweight for what it is, coming in around 3,000 lbs. Lightweight materials were used, which makes everything feel (and sound) light. While this gives the impression that there’s a “cheapness” to the car, a lack of solidity or quality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The car feels very solid and very well put together. We heard nary a creak nor a squeak the whole time we had it.
The Giulia starts at $41,000 USD, which is really a bargain for a capable Italian sports sedan with these looks. The model we drove totalled $46,000 USD, which surprised a lot of people in a good way. Compared to what else you can get for $45,000, the Giulia is a steal. You get a sexy, well-balanced Italian sports car with a touch of exoticness to it with performance to match. It’s a no brainer.
REVIEW OVERVIEW
Performance 8.5
Handling 8.0
Design 9.0
Interior 7.5
Sound 7.0
Fun 8.5
SUMMARY 8.1
OVERALL SCORE ****
‘Scene’ in Hebden Bridge, West Yorks 2.
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
I was reviewing what I had posted over the last few weeks. I realised that whilst I had posted Hebden Bridge parts one and three that I had neglected to post part 2. So here it is.
Friend Peter Rose had one of his occasional breaks in Hebden recently and has forwarded these images. They are reproduced here with his permission and my thanks.
I have visited Hebden Bridge several times and I always like the stone buildings that are the backdrop to the images. To me, they signify solidity and strength.
DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N PONT TR POT II - Legend around SC
Mint: Rome (22-23AD)
From CNG: This issue, commemorating the birth of twin sons to Drusus, the son of the second emperor Tiberius, and his wife Livilla, was part of the series issued in AD 22 to promote the dynastic solidity of Tiberius’ family. One of the twins died in infancy, but the other, Tiberius Gemellus (meaning "twin") was named an heir along with his cousin Gaius (Caligula). Within a year of Caligula’s accession, however, the new emperor had Tiberius Gemellus murdered.
From Richard Beal (Roma): "This sestertius was struck in 22/23, nearly three years after the death of Germanicus, Tiberius’ nephew and first heir. In the interim Tiberius had named no heir, but with the nine coins in his dated aes of 22/23 he announces a ‘Tiberian dynasty’ that includes his son Drusus, his daughter-in-law (and niece) Livilla, and his twin grandsons Tiberius Gemellus and Germanicus Gemellus, whose heads decorate the crossed cornucopias on this sestertius.
Since it is the only coin in the aes of 22/23 without an obverse inscription, we must presume its design was believed sufficient to communicate the fact that the twin boys were portrayed. Though this type usually is thought to celebrate the birth of the twins, that event had occurred two and one half years before this coin was struck. Rather, it is best seen in light of early Julio-Claudian dynastic rhetoric in which male heirs were celebrated as twins (even if they were not literally twins, or even biological brothers) and were routinely likened to the Dioscuri, the heavenly twins Castor and Pollux.
The crossed-cornucopias design is familiar on ancient coinage, and here the cornucopias, grape clusters, grape leaves and pine cones seemingly allude to Bacchus or Liber in a reference to fecundity. In terms of dynastic appeal, the design boasts of the prosperity and fruitfulness of the Tiberian line, with the caduceus symbolizing Mercury as the messenger of the gods and the bringer of good fortune.
Despite the hopefulness represented by this series of coins, tragedy struck on two fronts. The ‘Tiberian dynasty’ collapsed within months of its being announced when both Drusus and his son Germanicus Gemellus (the boy whose head is shown on the right cornucopia) died in 23.
Poor fates awaited the remaining two members: Drusus’ wife Livilla became increasingly associated with Tiberius’ prefect Sejanus, and she died shamefully in the aftermath of his downfall in 31, and the second grandson, Tiberius Gemellus, survived long enough to be named co-heir of Tiberius with Caligula, but after Tiberius’ death he was pushed into a subsidiary role and soon was executed by Caligula, who would not tolerate a second heir to the throne." - Ars Antiqua, 2008
Ferstel
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Ferstel and Café Central, by Rudolf von Alt, left the men's alley (Herrengasse - Street of the Lords), right Strauchgasse
Danube mermaid fountain in a courtyard of the Palais Ferstel
Shopping arcade of the Freyung to Herrengasse
Entrance to Ferstel of the Freyung, right the Palais Harrach, left the palace Hardegg
The Ferstel is a building in the first district of Vienna, Inner City, with the addresses Strauchgasse 2-4, 14 Lord Street (Herrengasse) and Freyung 2. It was established as a national bank and stock exchange building, the denomination Palais is unhistoric.
History
In 1855, the entire estate between Freyung, Strauchgasse and Herrengasse was by Franz Xaver Imperial Count von Abensperg and Traun to the k.k. Privileged Austrian National Bank sold. This banking institution was previously domiciled in the Herrengasse 17/ Bankgasse. The progressive industrialization and the with it associated economic expansion also implied a rapid development of monetary transactions and banking, so that the current premises soon no longer have been sufficient. This problem could only be solved by a new building, in which also should be housed a stock exchange hall.
According to the desire of the then Governor of the National Bank, Franz von Pipitz, the new building was supposed to be carried out with strict observance of the economy and avoiding a worthless luxury with solidity and artistic as well as technical completion. The building should offer room for the National Bank, the stock market, a cafe and - a novel idea for Vienna - a bazaar.
The commissioned architect, Heinrich von Ferstel, demonstrated in the coping with the irregular surface area with highest conceivable effective use of space his state-of-the art talent. The practical requirements combine themselves with the actually artistic to a masterful composition. Ferstel has been able to lay out the rooms of the issuing bank, the two trading floors, the passage with the bazar and the coffee house in accordance with their intended purpose and at the same time to maintain a consistent style.
He was an advocate of the "Materialbaues" (material building) as it clearly is reflected in the ashlar building of the banking institution. Base, pillars and stairs were fashioned of Wöllersdorfer stone, façade elements such as balconies, cornices, structurings as well as stone banisters of the hard white stone of Emperor Kaiser quarry (Kaisersteinbruch), while the walls were made of -Sankt Margarethen limestone. The inner rooms have been luxuriously formed, with wood paneling, leather wallpaper, Stuccolustro and rich ornamental painting.
The facade of the corner front Strauchgasse/Herrengasse received twelve sculptures by Hanns Gasser as decoration, they symbolized the peoples of the monarchy. The mighty round arch at the exit Freyung were closed with wrought-iron bare gates, because the first used locksmith could not meet the demands of Ferstel, the work was transferred to a silversmith.
1860 the National Bank and the stock exchange could move into the in 1859 completed construction. The following year was placed in the glass-covered passage the Danube mermaid fountain, whose design stems also of Ferstel. Anton von Fernkorn has created the sculptural decoration with an artistic sensitivity. Above the marble fountain basin rises a column crowned by a bronze statue, the Danube female with flowing hair, holding a fish in its hand. Below are arranged around the column three also in bronze cast figures: merchant, fisherman and shipbuilder, so those professions that have to do with the water. The total cost of the building, the interior included, amounted to the enormous sum of 1.897.600 guilders.
The originally planned use of the building remained only a few years preserved. The Stock Exchange with the premises no longer had sufficient space: in 1872 it moved to a provisional solution, 1877 at Schottenring a new Stock Exchange building opened. The National Bank moved 1925 into a yet 1913 planned, spacious new building.
The building was in Second World War battered gravely particularly on the main facade. In the 1960s was located in the former Stock Exchange a basketball training hall, the entire building appeared neglected.
1971 dealt the President of the Federal Monuments Office, Walter Frodl, with the severely war damaged banking and stock exchange building in Vienna. The Office for Technical Geology of Otto Casensky furnished an opinion on the stone facade. On the facade Freyung 2 a balcony was originally attached over the entire 15.4 m long front of hard Kaiserstein.
(Usage of Leith lime: Dependent from the consistence and structure of the Leitha lime the usage differed from „Reibsand“ till building material. The Leitha lime stone is a natural stone which can be formed easily and was desired als beautiful stone for buildings in Roman times. The usage of lime stone from Eggenburg in the Bronze age already was verified. This special attribute is the reason why the Leitha lime was taken from sculptors and masons.
The source of lime stone in the Leitha Mountains was important for Austria and especially for Vienna from the cultur historical point of view during the Renaissance and Baroque. At the 19th century the up to 150 stone quarries of the Leitha mountains got many orders form the construction work of the Vienna „Ring road“.
At many buildings of Graz, such as the castle at the Grazer castle hill, the old Joanneum and the Cottage, the Leitha lime stone was used.
Due to the fact that Leitha lime is bond on carbonate in the texture, the alteration through the actual sour rain is heavy. www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HKZ9_leithagebirge-leithak...)
This balcony was no longer present and only close to the facade were remnants of the tread plates and the supporting brackets recognizable. In July 1975, followed the reconstruction of the balcony and master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh received the order to restore the old state am Leithagebirge received the order the old state - of Mannersdorfer stone, armoured concrete or artificial stone.
1975-1982, the building was renovated and re-opened the Café Central. Since then, the privately owned building is called Palais Ferstel. In the former stock exchange halls now meetings and presentations take place; the Café Central is utilizing one of the courtyards.
Mary St, Gympie.
The RBQ was established in 1885 when local investors were finding it increasingly difficult to obtain loans from sources outside Queensland. By 1889 it had 20 branches and agencies including branches at London and Edinburgh.
Gympie was a town built on gold and in common with other banks, the RBQ saw the opening of a bank here as a sound investment. The architecture bears all the hallmarks of classical solidity, giving it the impression of solidity and reliability. The architect was Swedish-born Hugo Wilhelm Durietz who dominated the architectural profession in Gympie during the gold rush years .
However, by 1917 the RBQ had merged with the Bank of North Queensland to form the Bank of Queensland Limited. The National Bank of Australasia later went on to absorb this bank in 1922.
River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme.
These images were taken during the first week of October 2014. We tended to loose sight of the fact that (more) critically important has been on-going near the Silverbridge site, adjacent to the N11 carriageway.
Bank stabilisation works involving excavation, repair and building of a support wall structure are being carried out by JONS Construction also on behalf of the National Roads Authority.
We would occasionally catch sight of this work in the distance. One Friday afternoon I took a trip up there, walking back to the site along the side of the carriageway! Recognised some old faces. Quite an impressive little piece of structural engineering.
Having built a retaining concave wall, backfilled for solidity, they were also drilling, fixing and sealing ground anchors to pin the entire structure together.
Within an hour of taking these photos, the rains began to fall with a vengeance. An Orange weather alert, with widespread flooding expected overnight. Non-essential work soon ceased.
Oaxaca has many historic buildings (UNESCO heritage city centre since 1987) and many of them including several churches are very colourfully painted and lighted nicely at night. Oaxaca, which is built on a grid pattern, is a good example of Spanish colonial town planning. The solidity and volume of the city's buildings show that they were adapted to the earthquake-prone region in which these architectural gems were constructed.
Ferstel
(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)
Ferstel and Café Central, by Rudolf von Alt, left the men's alley (Herrengasse - Street of the Lords), right Strauchgasse
Danube mermaid fountain in a courtyard of the Palais Ferstel
Shopping arcade of the Freyung to Herrengasse
Entrance to Ferstel of the Freyung, right the Palais Harrach, left the palace Hardegg
The Ferstel is a building in the first district of Vienna, Inner City, with the addresses Strauchgasse 2-4, 14 Lord Street (Herrengasse) and Freyung 2. It was established as a national bank and stock exchange building, the denomination Palais is unhistoric.
History
In 1855, the entire estate between Freyung, Strauchgasse and Herrengasse was by Franz Xaver Imperial Count von Abensperg and Traun to the k.k. Privileged Austrian National Bank sold. This banking institution was previously domiciled in the Herrengasse 17/ Bankgasse. The progressive industrialization and the with it associated economic expansion also implied a rapid development of monetary transactions and banking, so that the current premises soon no longer have been sufficient. This problem could only be solved by a new building, in which also should be housed a stock exchange hall.
According to the desire of the then Governor of the National Bank, Franz von Pipitz, the new building was supposed to be carried out with strict observance of the economy and avoiding a worthless luxury with solidity and artistic as well as technical completion. The building should offer room for the National Bank, the stock market, a cafe and - a novel idea for Vienna - a bazaar.
The commissioned architect, Heinrich von Ferstel, demonstrated in the coping with the irregular surface area with highest conceivable effective use of space his state-of-the art talent. The practical requirements combine themselves with the actually artistic to a masterful composition. Ferstel has been able to lay out the rooms of the issuing bank, the two trading floors, the passage with the bazar and the coffee house in accordance with their intended purpose and at the same time to maintain a consistent style.
He was an advocate of the "Materialbaues" (material building) as it clearly is reflected in the ashlar building of the banking institution. Base, pillars and stairs were fashioned of Wöllersdorfer stone, façade elements such as balconies, cornices, structurings as well as stone banisters of the hard white stone of Emperor Kaiser quarry (Kaisersteinbruch), while the walls were made of -Sankt Margarethen limestone. The inner rooms have been luxuriously formed, with wood paneling, leather wallpaper, Stuccolustro and rich ornamental painting.
The facade of the corner front Strauchgasse/Herrengasse received twelve sculptures by Hanns Gasser as decoration, they symbolized the peoples of the monarchy. The mighty round arch at the exit Freyung were closed with wrought-iron bare gates, because the first used locksmith could not meet the demands of Ferstel, the work was transferred to a silversmith.
1860 the National Bank and the stock exchange could move into the in 1859 completed construction. The following year was placed in the glass-covered passage the Danube mermaid fountain, whose design stems also of Ferstel. Anton von Fernkorn has created the sculptural decoration with an artistic sensitivity. Above the marble fountain basin rises a column crowned by a bronze statue, the Danube female with flowing hair, holding a fish in its hand. Below are arranged around the column three also in bronze cast figures: merchant, fisherman and shipbuilder, so those professions that have to do with the water. The total cost of the building, the interior included, amounted to the enormous sum of 1.897.600 guilders.
The originally planned use of the building remained only a few years preserved. The Stock Exchange with the premises no longer had sufficient space: in 1872 it moved to a provisional solution, 1877 at Schottenring a new Stock Exchange building opened. The National Bank moved 1925 into a yet 1913 planned, spacious new building.
The building was in Second World War battered gravely particularly on the main facade. In the 1960s was located in the former Stock Exchange a basketball training hall, the entire building appeared neglected.
1971 dealt the President of the Federal Monuments Office, Walter Frodl, with the severely war damaged banking and stock exchange building in Vienna. The Office for Technical Geology of Otto Casensky furnished an opinion on the stone facade. On the facade Freyung 2 a balcony was originally attached over the entire 15.4 m long front of hard Kaiserstein.
(Usage of Leith lime: Dependent from the consistence and structure of the Leitha lime the usage differed from „Reibsand“ till building material. The Leitha lime stone is a natural stone which can be formed easily and was desired als beautiful stone for buildings in Roman times. The usage of lime stone from Eggenburg in the Bronze age already was verified. This special attribute is the reason why the Leitha lime was taken from sculptors and masons.
The source of lime stone in the Leitha Mountains was important for Austria and especially for Vienna from the cultur historical point of view during the Renaissance and Baroque. At the 19th century the up to 150 stone quarries of the Leitha mountains got many orders form the construction work of the Vienna „Ring road“.
At many buildings of Graz, such as the castle at the Grazer castle hill, the old Joanneum and the Cottage, the Leitha lime stone was used.
Due to the fact that Leitha lime is bond on carbonate in the texture, the alteration through the actual sour rain is heavy. www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2HKZ9_leithagebirge-leithak...)
This balcony was no longer present and only close to the facade were remnants of the tread plates and the supporting brackets recognizable. In July 1975, followed the reconstruction of the balcony and master stonemason Friedrich Opferkuh received the order to restore the old state am Leithagebirge received the order the old state - of Mannersdorfer stone, armoured concrete or artificial stone.
1975-1982, the building was renovated and re-opened the Café Central. Since then, the privately owned building is called Palais Ferstel. In the former stock exchange halls now meetings and presentations take place; the Café Central is utilizing one of the courtyards.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.