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Coffin of Khnumnakht
Egypt, dynasty 13
From Middle Egypt; Khashaba excavations
The decoration in general: This magnificent coffin of simple rectangular shape exemplified the best of late Middle Kingdom coffin decoration. In main decorative scheme is derived from ancient Egyptian building with niched walls, a type of architecture best known from the enclosure wall around the step pyramid of King Djoser as Saqqara that is thought to reproduce a royal residence. During the Old Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty, royal stone sarcophagi were decorated with small three dimensional niches, transforming the mummy's resting place into a king of otherworldly royal residence. In this as in many other Middle Kingdom non-royal wooden coffins, the motif appears in paint with the niches taking the form of elongated rectangles alternating with bands of hieroglyphics.
On the head board, a nameless goddess is depicted, her arms seeming upraised. This is the Egyptian was to represent arms outstretched to embrace the mummy in the coffin. On her head, the goddess carries two ointment vases on a standard. The Egyptian rejuvenating effects of cosmetic substances made all ointments important items in The Egyptian funerary customs and beliefs.
The eye panel: At the head end of what would have been the long east side of the coffins, a door and above two huge eyes are painted. Since mummies in rectangular coffins were usually placed on their sides during the Middle Kingdom, this painting corresponded directly with the face of the mummy inside the coffin. The inclusion of the door and eyes obviously expresses the belief that the dead person could be reached from - communicate with - the outside world through the plank of the coffin. The impressive eyes are not just ordinary human eyes but what Egyptians called wedjat (sound), a Combination of human eyes, eyebrows, and "cosmetic lines" with vertical feathers patterns below the eyes of falcons and the oblique, wire-like marking on cheetah's faces.
The wedjat, or Eye "of Horus," was the center of one of the most popular legends of ancient Egypt. Inspired no doubt by the setting and rising of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, the mythological "Eye of Horus" was believe to have been periodically damaged and then healed again. In the guise of the wedjat, the eyes on this and other coffins, therefore, endowed the deceased with the regenerative powers of nature.
This stained glass window sits high above the front entrance to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I am especially pleased with this photo, because I had to take it from about 70 meters (250 feet) away, without a tripod, 135mm at only 1/45 sec, and it still came out reasonably sharp at full resolution (check out the original size).
You can see most of the details in each pane. The silhouettes obscuring parts of the window are the organ pipes. I find it really amazing that the windows are held in place by the spidery thin structure made of STONE. It seems to me that it would crack and break over the years - typically, stone isn't very good for thin structural elements.
The Notre Dame de Paris was constructed over the years 1163-1285 (it took 122 years to build!). More than seven hundred years old, it is only the most recent of holy houses to occupy this ancient sacred ground. The Celts held their services on this island in the seine, and atop their sacred groves the Romans built their own temple to Jupiter. In the early years of Christianity, a basilica dedicated to St. Etienne was constructed around 528 by Childebert. A church in the Romanesque manner replaced the basilica, and this stood until 1163 when work began on the structure which stands today. One of the best representative works of gothic architecture.
Best viewed large (or original).
Mabry Mill was built by Edwin Boston Mabry (E.B. Mabry). E.B. Mabry returned to Floyd County in 1903 and began the construction of the mill. It was first a blacksmith and wheelwright shop, then became a sawmill. By 1905 it was in operation as a gristmill. By 1910 the front part of the mill was completed and included a lathe for turning out wheel hubs, a tongue and groove lathe, a planer and a jig-saw. Between 1905 and 1914 E.B. Mabry bought adjacent tracts of land, mostly for the purpose of acquiring more water power.
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabry_Mill
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a detail from the new philharmonic concert hall in luxembourg city. the columns are supposed to represent trees (see www.philharmonie.lu for more shots of this extraordinary piece of architecture...). best viewed on a neutral grey background, else it looks rather dirty... i will try some other crops sometime...
Funcionalismo, palabra ingrata, nacida bajo otros cielos que los que siempre hemos amado recorrer, allí donde el sol es señor.
.
–le corbusier
10 Best resorts near delhi To Relax, Rejuvenate And Unwind
90
SHARES
27 May 2015 Kasturi Saikia
Delhi with its extreme weather conditions, clamorous streets and a humdrum life can get to your nerves at times. And the best cure at such moments is to just pack your bags, drag a couple of travel companions, or not and head out straight on the road.
Don’t worry, it won’t be a long drive! The best part about Delhi is that right at the outskirts of the city are amazing resorts that offer an all-inclusive getaway.
Best resorts near Delhi at less than 100 KM distance
1. Surjivan Resort- 29 KM from Delhi
Image Source
The fact that the resort is located at such a close proximity from Delhi plays the biggest role in making it one of the best resorts near Delhi for picnic. The resort has a village like set up with thatched roofs and clay walls, however, all necessary amenities are kept intact.
Best Features:
•You can enjoy the meals in quintessential rural custom with floor seating and the food presented is typical Rajasthani cuisine.
•There are numerous activities that you can take part in while at Surjivan Resort like Village Safari on Tractor, Gun shooting, Rappelling, Zip lining etc.
•There are also few cultural programmes that takes place
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: 10 Picnic Spots Near Delhi Perfect For A Quick Summer Break
2. Heritage Village Resort & Spa Manesar- 43 KM from Delhi
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Put together in a Rajasthani haveli fashion, the resort is conveniently located on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway which is about half an hour’s drive from Delhi International Airport. The place is well facilitated with everything a luxury hotel should have.
Best Features:
•State-of-the-art infrastructure
•The spa is very relaxing and rejuvenating
•There’s a swimming pool where you can enjoy a poolside party
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: 12 Luxurious Hotels In India That WILL MAKE YOU SELL YOUR KIDNEY!
3. Best Western Resort Country Club- 45 KM away from Delhi
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At a short distance away from Delhi, the Best Western Resort Country Club is situated conveniently. The beautiful surroundings and the massive patch of land is well kept with numerous facilities that guests can enjoy.
Best Features:
•Waking up to the sounds peacocks and other birds chirping
•Chilling out in the swimming pool
•Various other sports activities
•Food is actually a plus at this place
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
4. Botanix Nature Resort- 51 KM from Delhi
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Botanix Nature Resort is definitely one of the best resorts near Delhi. Situated on the foothills of the Aravalli Hills, basking on the edge of the Damdama Lake, it is an adventure camp cum farm resort. The picturesque location and the multitude of activities makes it ideal for team outings, boot camps for kids and family outings.
Best Features:
•The day excursions proves to be a fun activity for people from all age groups
•There are experiential nature walks
•Rapping is another fun activity among many other
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: Top 10 Things To Do In Delhi In Summer To Beat The Heat
5. The Westin Sohna Resort- 64 KM from Delhi
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Offering a holistic experience, the Westin Sohna is a wellness resort located near Delhi NCR. The resort is bounded by green landscapes and charming water bodies. It is easily one of the best resorts near Delhi for weekend with its elegant architecture.
Best Features:
•The elaborate spa has a wide range of treatments including Thai, Balinese, Chinese, and Ayurveda massages.
•Kids can have a lot of fun at the children’s pool and the Westin Kids Club
•Retail therapy at shops featuring designer and lifestyle products
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: 12 One Day Road Trips From Delhi
6. Hans Resort- 84 KM from Delhi
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Hans Resort is perfect for team outings from the offices in Delhi. It is a four star property, built on a hillock, that is more like a modern day fortress. Spend some quality time amid the serenity of plush surroundings that’ll make you feel like home away from home in the embrace of nature.
Best Features:
•World class convention centre that serves as a destination for holding business conferences, training programmes and seminars
•A well-appointed bar, stocked with Indian, imported liquor
•The multi cuisine dining options
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Best resorts near Delhi, beyond 100 KM
7. Neemrana Fort Palace- 119 KM from Delhi
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Neemrana Fort is one of the best resorts near Delhi situated in a centuries old historic fort. This 15th century heritage resort has seven luxurious palace wings built over 14 layers tiered into a hill across 6 acres of garden-palace.
Best Features:
•There are hanging gardens where you can spend a leisurely afternoon
•The two chilled out pools are perfect to beat the sweltering heat
•The heavenly Ayurvedic spa experience
•India’s first zip-line was introduced here and it truly is amazing
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: 10 Resorts in The Hills of India with the most Romantic Views
8. Camp Aquaforest Rishikesh- 265 KM from Delhi
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Situated on the banks of river Ganga, Camp Aquaforest in Rishikesh is an awesome holiday resort near Delhi that proves to be an awesome retreat for adventure seekers. The tents are well furnished and you’re provided with all the comforts that you’d need to spend a couple of days in the camp.
Best Features:
•Listening to the sound of the gushing river while going to sleep and waking up
•The tents have luxurious setting with attached bathrooms
•Located right next to the rafting site
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
9. Camp Roxx, Himachal- 275 KM from Delhi
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An adventure camp located in the foothills of Himalayas, Camp Roxx is all about unleashing the spirit inside oneself. It is an exciting resort near Delhi that has numerous adventure activities for you to take part.
Best Features:
•15 charming cottages for accommodation that is equipped all necessary amenities
•The camp site has a pond as well as a beautiful running through it
•The meals are hygienic and delicious
Hotel Website | Ratings and Reviews
Must Read: 15 Hill Stations Near Delhi for a Peaceful Getaway
10. Kikar Lodge Natural Retreat- 275 KM from Delhi
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Another fantastic resort near Delhi for corporates, families and couples, Kikar Lodge Natural retreat is situated in Nurpur Bedi District of Punjab. The balanced mix of luxury and nature can be experienced at this resort and guests can indulge in various therapies to heal the body, mind and soul.
Best Features:
•Pheasant’s Nest, the multi cuisine restaurant serves delicious food
•The bar, Watering Hole has a retro Australian feel to it
•If you just want to sit down and read books you can visit The Den
•The forest spa offers various treatments that you can indulged in
Resorts around delhi for vacation @ resorts.neardelhi.in/
It was organized in 1845 and built about 100 yards south of the brick building that housed the Jonesboro Free Church. The first church was a frame building of rectangular shape. A gallery around the two sides and one end gave additional room when needed. Steps on each side led to the gallery. A door on each side of the front of the building led into the sanctuary. The center row of pews had a division through the center form the back of the church to the front. The ladies always sat on the left and the men on the right side of this division.
In 1857, aware of that the old building was in a decaying state, Reverend Thomas W. Roberts, and members began to raise pledges for a new house of worship. This frame building was to be erected on a plot donated about 1858 by Dr. Thomas Massie of Blue Rock. The same site the present building occupies was practically the same spot on which this second building stood. The frame for the building was erected when all work ceased for the Civil War. A storm blew the building over with such severe dames, that following the Civil War it had to be re-cut and erected the second time. It was not completed for eighteen years.
In the fall of 1878, the final construction of the building was completed. The walls were whitewashed, church blinds corniced, the pulpit furniture painted the grounds enclosed with plank fence, and a grove made suitable for outside worship in 1879. By 1893, work was begun to enclose the church grounds to protect the building from abuse from the public highway.
Years later, the church realized the need for more space. W.R. Burnham, an architect from Lynchburg, surveyed and drew plans for the building in 1913. Church members were to lay all foundation stones from the old building and haul all materials from the Arrington depot. After the old building was torn down, the church met at Fleetwood High School and the Odd fellows Hall in Massies Mill for a short time. In April 1914, The Sunday School Auditorium was ready and used for worship. A memorial window in the choir of the present church bears testimony to the regard for Brother Martin, pastor from 1883 to 1898.
From www.nelsonscenicloop.com/jonesboro-baptist-church/
Unusual for the the area is the Gothic Revival style of this church. At the turn of the 1900's there was a movement for churches of this style which was called the Gothic Gospel.
In a sense the church looks much like a medieval English castle complete with battlements on top of the parapets. The windows with the Ogee arches was an influence from 14 century Arab architecture, common in much Gothic designs.
The tall slender windows are also taken from an English castle style which had the original function of being places for archers to provide defensive positions. Of course, this is only of decorative style in this building.
The Jonesboro Baptist Church grew out of a late eighteenth-
century interdenominational church comprised of
Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Dunkards. Its
places of worship have been many through the centuries,
but the present site has been home to the Baptists since
1861. The third building, including the 1914 era seats, is
preserved as a part of the present building
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Anything more than 500 yds from the car just isn't photogenic.
- Brett Weston
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View from the new TCDC's roof top sharing the historical "The Grand Postal" building.
@
The Grand Postal Building
1160 Charoenkrung Road, Bangrak
Bangkok 10501.
Tel : (66) 2 105 7400
© Andy Zingo
Half a year after closing its doors at the Emporium, Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) has finally reopened at its new home, the old General Post Office on Charoenkrung Road.
Now spread across 8,700 sq meters and five floors, the design resource center encompasses an exhibition space (currently showing a collection of designers’ work under the theme “Creativity Onwards”), a library dedicated to art-and-design books, and a fourth-floor rooftop garden.
But the biggest development comes with its introduction of the Material and Design Innovation Center, which provides local creatives with a hands-on resource and contact center for Thai-made materials for design disciplines from fashion to architecture.
Best of all, membership stays at just B1,200 per year.
The TCDC's arrival on Charoenkrung caps an incredible rise for Bangkok's oldest road, which in recent years has seen a spate of cool bars and galleries take over old shop-houses.
The renovation of the General Post Office, which dates back to 1940, cost about B340 million.
Source/Credit:
Coffin of Khnumnakht
Egypt, dynasty 13
From Middle Egypt; Khashaba excavations
The decoration in general: This magnificent coffin of simple rectangular shape exemplified the best of late Middle Kingdom coffin decoration. In main decorative scheme is derived from ancient Egyptian building with niched walls, a type of architecture best known from the enclosure wall around the step pyramid of King Djoser as Saqqara that is thought to reproduce a royal residence. During the Old Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty, royal stone sarcophagi were decorated with small three dimensional niches, transforming the mummy's resting place into a king of otherworldly royal residence. In this as in many other Middle Kingdom non-royal wooden coffins, the motif appears in paint with the niches taking the form of elongated rectangles alternating with bands of hieroglyphics.
On the head board, a nameless goddess is depicted, her arms seeming upraised. This is the Egyptian was to represent arms outstretched to embrace the mummy in the coffin. On her head, the goddess carries two ointment vases on a standard. The Egyptian rejuvenating effects of cosmetic substances made all ointments important items in The Egyptian funerary customs and beliefs.
The eye panel: At the head end of what would have been the long east side of the coffins, a door and above two huge eyes are painted. Since mummies in rectangular coffins were usually placed on their sides during the Middle Kingdom, this painting corresponded directly with the face of the mummy inside the coffin. The inclusion of the door and eyes obviously expresses the belief that the dead person could be reached from - communicate with - the outside world through the plank of the coffin. The impressive eyes are not just ordinary human eyes but what Egyptians called wedjat (sound), a Combination of human eyes, eyebrows, and "cosmetic lines" with vertical feathers patterns below the eyes of falcons and the oblique, wire-like marking on cheetah's faces.
The wedjat, or Eye "of Horus," was the center of one of the most popular legends of ancient Egypt. Inspired no doubt by the setting and rising of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, the mythological "Eye of Horus" was believe to have been periodically damaged and then healed again. In the guise of the wedjat, the eyes on this and other coffins, therefore, endowed the deceased with the regenerative powers of nature.
cira 1881, this train station is located in Gladstone Virgina. Gladstone was formally known as Bent Creek Virginia. Once a prosperous community, it is now in decline. The railroad depot here has been closed and boarded up for some time. Like many small communities in this area of Virginia, this community struggles to survive. Perhaps at one time people tied their horses near the door.
Straight Shoot Railway was the original railway company that operated here.
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The finished photograph is an extension of the photographer's mind, a window to the heart, soul and values within him. - Justin Au Eong
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Coffin of Khnumnakht
Egypt, dynasty 13
From Middle Egypt; Khashaba excavations
The decoration in general: This magnificent coffin of simple rectangular shape exemplified the best of late Middle Kingdom coffin decoration. In main decorative scheme is derived from ancient Egyptian building with niched walls, a type of architecture best known from the enclosure wall around the step pyramid of King Djoser as Saqqara that is thought to reproduce a royal residence. During the Old Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty, royal stone sarcophagi were decorated with small three dimensional niches, transforming the mummy's resting place into a king of otherworldly royal residence. In this as in many other Middle Kingdom non-royal wooden coffins, the motif appears in paint with the niches taking the form of elongated rectangles alternating with bands of hieroglyphics.
On the head board, a nameless goddess is depicted, her arms seeming upraised. This is the Egyptian was to represent arms outstretched to embrace the mummy in the coffin. On her head, the goddess carries two ointment vases on a standard. The Egyptian rejuvenating effects of cosmetic substances made all ointments important items in The Egyptian funerary customs and beliefs.
The eye panel: At the head end of what would have been the long east side of the coffins, a door and above two huge eyes are painted. Since mummies in rectangular coffins were usually placed on their sides during the Middle Kingdom, this painting corresponded directly with the face of the mummy inside the coffin. The inclusion of the door and eyes obviously expresses the belief that the dead person could be reached from - communicate with - the outside world through the plank of the coffin. The impressive eyes are not just ordinary human eyes but what Egyptians called wedjat (sound), a Combination of human eyes, eyebrows, and "cosmetic lines" with vertical feathers patterns below the eyes of falcons and the oblique, wire-like marking on cheetah's faces.
The wedjat, or Eye "of Horus," was the center of one of the most popular legends of ancient Egypt. Inspired no doubt by the setting and rising of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, the mythological "Eye of Horus" was believe to have been periodically damaged and then healed again. In the guise of the wedjat, the eyes on this and other coffins, therefore, endowed the deceased with the regenerative powers of nature.
San Miguel de Allende is a city located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato.
The town has attracted a very large number of foreign retirees, artists, writers and tourists, which is shifting the area’s economy from agriculture and industry to commerce catering to outside visitors and residents.The main attraction of the town is its well-preserved historic center, filled with buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Declared a World Heritage Site. (Wikipedia)
To speak technically photography is the art of writing with light. But if I want to think about it more philosophically, I can say that photography is the art of writing with time. When you capture an image you capture not only a piece of space, you also capture a piece of time. So you have this piece of specific time in your square or rectangle. In that sense I find that photography has more to do with time than with light. - Gerardo Suter - "Black & White Magazine for Collector of Fine Photography", February 2001, page: 118
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Arquitecto: Raúl Torres
San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia.
Bajo Licencia Creative Commons (Reconocimiento-No comercial-Sin derivar)
Under Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non commercial-No Derivate Works)
Coffin of Khnumnakht
Egypt, dynasty 13
From Middle Egypt; Khashaba excavations
The decoration in general: This magnificent coffin of simple rectangular shape exemplified the best of late Middle Kingdom coffin decoration. In main decorative scheme is derived from ancient Egyptian building with niched walls, a type of architecture best known from the enclosure wall around the step pyramid of King Djoser as Saqqara that is thought to reproduce a royal residence. During the Old Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty, royal stone sarcophagi were decorated with small three dimensional niches, transforming the mummy's resting place into a king of otherworldly royal residence. In this as in many other Middle Kingdom non-royal wooden coffins, the motif appears in paint with the niches taking the form of elongated rectangles alternating with bands of hieroglyphics.
On the head board, a nameless goddess is depicted, her arms seeming upraised. This is the Egyptian was to represent arms outstretched to embrace the mummy in the coffin. On her head, the goddess carries two ointment vases on a standard. The Egyptian rejuvenating effects of cosmetic substances made all ointments important items in The Egyptian funerary customs and beliefs.
The eye panel: At the head end of what would have been the long east side of the coffins, a door and above two huge eyes are painted. Since mummies in rectangular coffins were usually placed on their sides during the Middle Kingdom, this painting corresponded directly with the face of the mummy inside the coffin. The inclusion of the door and eyes obviously expresses the belief that the dead person could be reached from - communicate with - the outside world through the plank of the coffin. The impressive eyes are not just ordinary human eyes but what Egyptians called wedjat (sound), a Combination of human eyes, eyebrows, and "cosmetic lines" with vertical feathers patterns below the eyes of falcons and the oblique, wire-like marking on cheetah's faces.
The wedjat, or Eye "of Horus," was the center of one of the most popular legends of ancient Egypt. Inspired no doubt by the setting and rising of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, the mythological "Eye of Horus" was believe to have been periodically damaged and then healed again. In the guise of the wedjat, the eyes on this and other coffins, therefore, endowed the deceased with the regenerative powers of nature.
Close-up shot taken from the open-air, upper deck of a double-decker tour bus stopped briefly in front of the Chicago Theatre.
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz (B&K) group of theaters. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater enterprise. Now the Chicago Theatre is a performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows, comedy, speeches, and popular music concerts. It is owned by Madison Square Garden, Inc.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 6, 1979, and it was listed as a Chicago Landmark on January 28, 1983. The iconic Chicago Theatre marquee, "as an unofficial emblem of the city", appears in film, television, artwork, and photography. (Wikipedia)
In 1886, James and Sallie Dooley acquired farmland on the banks of the James River, where they planned to build a new home. Their architect, Edgerton Stewart Rogers (1860-1901), born and educated in Rome, combined the Romanesque Revival style with the picturesque Queen Anne for the Dooley residence. By 1893, the Dooleys were living in their new 12,000 square-foot, 33-room home, which they named “May Mont,” a name which combines Mrs. Dooley’s maiden name and the French word for hill.
From www.maymont.org/Page.aspx?pid=330
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"You may be whatever you resolve to be"
General Stonewall Jackson
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Wade's Mill is a working flour mill, c. 1750, built by Captain Joseph Kennedy. Captain Kennedy was a Scotsman who was one of the earlier settlers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He settled in the area between Staunton and Lexington Virginia. This was the frontier of the United States between 1740 and 1770. The Kennedy family owned the flour mill in the Shenandoah Valley for about 100 years.
In 1882, James F. Wade bought the flour mill and his family operated it for the next four generations. The interior and workings of the flour mill are much like they were when Mr. Wade bought it.
How Wade's Mill Operates
The mill is powered by a 21-foot water wheel that is fed by a nearby stream (known originally as Captain Joseph Kennedy's Mill Creek). Wade's Mill is one of the few remaining flour mills that still produces a wide variety of flours exclusively on mill stones. The Shenandoah Valley flour mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.
from www.wadesmill.com/history.htm
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Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
September 13th, 2017
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
Looking up at the Marriott Hotel's Christmas Lights from the Park in front of the hotel next to the Convention Center in Downtown Kansas City.
Family of four on a scooter. The driver is wearing a scooter.
Maumere city on island of Flores.
December 2017.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
"A city is a plane of tarmac with some red hot spots of intensity," Rem Koolhaas, the pathbreaking architect and author of such semiotically seminal books as Delirious New York and the more recent S, M, L, XL, remarked in 1969. More than 30 years later, there are more of those hot spots around the world than ever, and they're getting hotter every day. Globalization, standardization, and the high-speed innovations of our current information age are transforming urban centers from London to Los Angeles to Lagos, and more places are becoming more urban, and at a faster pace, than ever before.
Mutations is an eye-popping atlas-cum-analysis of this new urbanization, and much of it is composed of essays and meditations (from a variety of contributors) on the 21st-century international City (often un-)Beautiful. Most of them are written in language that will be familiar to readers of Koolhaas's past books: in other words, dense, abstract, and chock-full of references to Foucault, Deleuze, and Guattari. If you like that sort of deconstructivist yammering, great; if not, the major small-type essays are best sampled (or, better, skimmed) one at a time, interspersed with the many other more accessible elements of the book that truly do add up to a vivid and fascinating mosaic of postmodern urbanism.
From Koolhaas and Harvard Design School's Project on the City come two engrossing and wholly straightforward explorations: one of the Pearl River Delta, which China has designated as a zone of unrestricted capitalist experimentation, and whose five major urban centers have consequently exploded overnight in all sorts of instructive and often frightening ways; and another of the chaotic, congested and Blade Runneresque megalopolis of Lagos, Nigeria, whose patterns of growth, housing, and commerce defy all conventional wisdom on how cities should develop. There's also a bounty of excellent (and often astonishing) statistics on all aspects of urban growth; a "snapshots" section of phenomena from cities all over the globe; a completely spot-on (and unintentionally funny) analysis of the evolution of shopping as the last truly unifying urban public activity (and the subject of Koolhaas's next full-scale book); and a trenchant look at Kosovo as ground zero in the first major war of the Internet age. (It should be noted that there's a separate section on the U.S., which with all its soulless, tacky consumerist excess gets the drubbing it usually can expect from the European intelligentsia, although the irony here is that more and more of newly urban Europe is starting to look like newly urban America.)
The exhibit-quality photography throughout is great, and, as you could expect from this unofficial successor to S, M, L, XL, the design is satisfyingly outré, right down to its post-Warholian plastic yellow easy-wipe cover with glued-on mousepad. But for all of Mutations's rich trove of facts and insights, and the impression that its high-tech design gives of an ironic embrace of the new urbanization, its deeper tone is one of disappointment and loss. The spirit of Jane Jacobs resides here, with all its yearning for the quirky, quaint beauty of human-scaled townhouses and shops, sidewalks and byways, and for the precorporatized glamour of grand old towns like New York, London, Paris, and Shanghai, before such metallic nouveau hubs as Atlanta and Kuala Lumpur were ever on the world-commerce map. Mutations was written and compiled largely by architects, after all, who hate ugliness as much as the next guy, whatever they may claim otherwise; its precisely for that reason that this densely absorbing new compendium betrays its wistfulness as often as it promotes its own air of cool, ethnographic bemusement. --Timothy Murphy
From Library Journal
This time working with a host of collaborators, architect Koolhaas, whose S, M, L, XL was that rare thing, a crossover architecture best seller, has returned with another bricklike tome. Mutations was developed in connection with Harvard Design School's Project on the City, an ongoing graduate-level analysis of "issues related to the urban condition." Year-long investigations have tackled such subjects as the impact of shopping on the city; Lagos, a massive, sprawling West African city that is highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure; and systematizing the structures and relationships in the prototypical Roman city. Results from these projects are gathered here along with a couple photo essays and short profiles of specific places from Pristina to Benelux. Interspersed throughout are a multitude of statistics about the current state and future of the city, presented in a captivating, highly graphical format. The whole does not cohere, and the reader will quickly turn to whatever is of greatest personal interest. But at the end of the day, the various views do coalesce into a portrait of powerful forces of our making but beyond our control: the modern city. As a result, this book is highly recommended for general cultural studies collections as well as all architecture/urban planning collections. Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
San Francisco City Hall re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world. The present building is actually a replacement for an earlier City Hall that was completely destroyed during the 1906 earthquake.
The principal architect was Arthur Brown, Jr., of Bakewell & Brown, whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown's blueprints of the building are preserved at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown also designed the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza. (Wikipedia)
Bay Island School District #4362.
A one-room school in the Rural Municipality of Hillsborough.
Seen from Highway 2 in Saskatchewan. October 2019.
(By the way. The colours were not manipulated. This is how it looked that afternoon).
Big Otter Mill is an old saw and grist mill that has remained standing long after its original use. The Big Otter Mill Foundation's mission is to restore the mill for the purpose of historical preservation as a working mill. The architecturally unique mill has a long history of owners and usage that can all be read about on this website. The project welcomes donations and volunteer to help restore, preserve and open the mill as a part of a working component of the area's heritage.
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San Francisco City Hall re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world. The present building is actually a replacement for an earlier City Hall that was completely destroyed during the 1906 earthquake.
The principal architect was Arthur Brown, Jr., of Bakewell & Brown, whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown's blueprints of the building are preserved at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown also designed the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza. (Wikipedia)
Chapel at Virginia Military Institute
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a state-funded military academy founded in 1839. Located in the Shenandoah Valley town of Lexington, it was only the second governmental military academy in the United States, after the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (founded in 1802), and represented increased educational opportunity for non-elite southern men. Future Confederate generals Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and John McCausland were VMI instructors during John Brown's raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1859, and they led cadets to his execution in Charles Town, where they helped to provide security. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), approximately 1,800 VMI graduates served (including 19 in the U.S. Army), with about 250 of them killed in action. Cadets famously were called to fight in the Battle of New Market, contributing to the Confederate victory on May 15, 1864. In June, Union general David Hunter ordered the school burned, and the cadets relocated to Richmond, where they helped to defend the Confederate capital.
From and to read more encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_Military_Institute_Duri...
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One of the best-known covered bridges is the 204-foot single-span Burr arch truss known as Meem's Bottom in Shenandoah County.
The site takes its name from the Meem family that owned large landholdings in the area. This long span over the North Fork of the river carried traffic for more than 80 years before being burned by vandals on Halloween in 1976.
After salvaging the original timbers, the bridge was reconstructed and eventually under girded with steel beams and concrete piers.
Succeeding several earlier bridges, the Meem's Bottom Bridge was built in 1894. Materials were cut and quarried nearby for the massive arch supports and stone abutments, which extend 10 feet below the riverbed.
Previous bridges in this spot were washed away in the floods of 1870 and 1877. The next bridge, built in 1878, stood until it was replaced by the present bridge.
The bridge is reached easily from Interstate 81 at exit 269 between New Market and Mount Jackson. Follow Route 730 from the interchange for four-tenths of a mile to Route 11. Go north on Route 11 for nine-tenths of a mile to Route 720 and the west a short distance to the river.
It also can be reached off Route 11, four miles north of New Market and about two miles south of Mount Jackson.
From www.virginiadot.org/info/faq-covbridge1.asp
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Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
September 13th, 2017
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
An art is definable only in its own terms; it is as difficult to write about photography as it is about music, especially from a personal viewpoint. I feel that as one grows older his credo becomes simpler and more direct.
Ansel Adams
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View of the Gorge Dam, which can be crossed as a road Bridge, upriver from Newhalem, Washington.
The Skagit River Hydroelectric Project is a series of dams with hydroelectric power-generating stations on the Skagit River in northern Washington State. The project is owned and operated by Seattle City Light to provide electric power for the City of Seattle and surrounding communities. The dams provide approximately 25 percent of the electric power for Seattle.
The three major dams in the Skagit River Project are (from lower to upper) Gorge Dam, Diablo Dam, and Ross Dam. The dams are located in Whatcom County above the town of Newhalem, which lies just west of North Cascades National Park. Ross Lake, formed by Ross Dam extends into British Columbia, which is 20 miles upriver from the dam. Ross Lake National Recreation Area surrounds the lake.
Construction of Gorge Dam began in 1921 and the first power was delivered to Seattle in 1924.
(Wikipedia)
Photo of the snow covered deck of the Footbridge used by skiers at Beaver Creek Ski Resort near Vail, Colorado.
This recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant of preoccupation, being a simultaneous coalition – an organic coordination of visual elements. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
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