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True Directional Concave Design
Available In: Mica Grey with Machined Face / Metallic Silver with Machined Face
From the launch of the 2009 VW Golf GTI Mk VI
Launch Nice March 25/26
Launch: Nice March 2009
www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/CARS/FEATURES/VOLKSWAGEN/a...
Here is the wheel driven turntable I designed in action. It will be used to power the swing carousel.
I am sure you can find many uses for this in other designs!
Watch the design video here -> www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d9nHaVQXb4
Facebook Page www.facebook.com/AwesomeLegoDad/
A Khmer family at the Dey Krahorm community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007. Driven by bald-faced corruption at the highest levels in the Cambodian government, the poor and disenfranchised of the country are systematically being stripped of their land under the guise of urban development schemes, economic land concessions, and through the exploitation of a continually failing legal system. While land rights are perhaps the most important issue facing the people of Cambodia today, the subject has received very little international attention, but the lack of an effective international monitoring system has allowed government ministers and the upper class to essentially rob the country blind of its land and natural resources. In this opportunistic environment it has become commonplace for senior government officials to grant illegal contracts to private corporations owned by friends and relatives for the purpose of development. These back-handed deals, which clearly violate Cambodiaâs Land Law, invariably result in the illegal evictions of thousands of people, most of which already live below the poverty line.
In Phnom Penh, the government has forcibly evicted entire settlements, claiming the land is owned by private companies or needed for development projects. Many of these families have lived in their settlements for more than a decade. After being evicted, displaced families are dumped at a relocation sites, sometimes 20 kilometers or more, outside of Phnom Penh in areas that lack running water, sanitation facilities, houses, electricity and schools.
The latest community to come under threat in Phnom Penh is Dey Krahorm. Located on approximately 4 hectares of land in the heart of the Phnom Penh, Dey Krahorm has an estimated value of $44 to $58 million. In 2005, the 7NG company, which has ties to Canadia Bank, obtained an illegal agreement to develop Dey Krahorm. The agreement, which was signed by only as few village representatives is actually invalid under Cambodian Contract Law, which states, in Article 35, that one person cannot sell another personâs property. While land is valued at $1,000-$2,000 per square meter in Phnom Penh, companies like 7NG generally offer only $500 to $6,000 for an entire plot of land.
Despite the illegality of its claim to Dey Krahorm, 7NG has moved forward with a policy of trying to force out residents through means of intimidation, coercion, deceit, intimidation, and physical violence resulting in the destruction of housing and property. Approximately 1,000 families have given into pressure and accepted some form of payment, but about 150-300 families still remain at Dey Krahorm, refusing to leave. According to Cambodiaâs Land Law, if a person has lived on land peacefully for more than 5 years, prior to 1997, they have a legal right to that land. The problem is the vast majority of Cambodians didnât secure their legal rights to land before companies obtained concession agreements from the government. This happens for two reasons. The first is that poor Cambodians simply did not understand how to obtain legal ownership rights to land. The second is that obtaining a land title in Cambodia is a very expensive process due to corruption at all levels. For the average person, obtaining a legal title to land will end up costing $1,000 to $2,000, but most of this comes from unofficial, under the table fees. The only official tax is a standard 4% land transfer tax.
David Pred, Country Director for Bridges Across Borders, an NGO that provides legal assistance to victims of land disputes and forced evictions in Cambodia explains, âNo one wants to live 20km outside the city. Their livelihoods are here,â said Pred. âThe government is systematically removing the poor from Phnom Penh. But the poor are so important to this cityâs economy. They donât realize that.â Pred has also worked extensively on the Mittapheap Village eviction case in Sihanoukville. On April 20, 2007 military and police violently evicted the entire community of Mittapheap, firing shots at their feet and over the heads, beating them with clubs, confiscating personal property like motorbikes and torching or demolishing 106 homes. Thirteen villagers were arrested, several of which were left unconscious from the beatings, and the remaining villagers were relocated to a vacant site with absolutely no infrastructure in place. âThis forced eviction took place without any semblance of legal authority and represents a gross and criminal violation of human rights,â said Pred. â[The relocation site] is a glorified rice paddy. A human dumping ground is what it really is,â he added.
A damning report released by watchdog Global Witness in June 2007 outlines Cambodiaâs corruption in stark detail linking, among others, Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife to various illegal logging and development projects. The report cites that the most powerful logging syndicate in Cambodia, the Seng Keang Company, is run by relatives and close friends of Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, and other senior officials in the Cambodian government. The Seng Keang Company, notably, has been accused of massive illegal logging in the Prey Long forest generating millions of dollars annually.
âThe governmentâs reaction to the Global Witness report shows its lack of commitment to freedom of expression and public debate, and its continued thuggish behavior,â said Brad Adams, Asia Director for Human Rights Watch. âDonors should insist that the government undertake a credible judicial investigation into the criminal activities detailed in the report, rather than resort to violent threats against its authors. Donors often complain about a lack of political will from the government, but this will be a test of their political will, too.â
By January 2007, more than 943,000 hectares of land in 15 rural provinces in Cambodia had been granted to private companies as economic land concessions for the development of plantations. This constitutes approximately 5.2% of the total land area in Cambodia, or 14.5% of the countryâs arable land. Thirty-six of these 59 concessions were granted in favor of foreign business interests or prominent political and business figures. According to Cambodiaâs Land Law economic land concessions cannot exceed 10,000 hectares. Nine concessions, however, exceed this limit, the most notable of which are those granted to Pheapimex Co Ltd (315,025 hectares), Green Sea Industry Co Ltd (100,852 hectares), and Green Rich Co Ltd (60,200 hectares). In several cases, senators have acquired interests in two or more concessions under different company names which together exceed the 10,000 hectare limit specified by law. These include Senator Ly Yong Phat, Senator Mong Reththy, Senator Lau Meng Khin, and Senator Men Sarun. Economic land concessions have also been a very effective way for companies to circumvent Cambodiaâs logging moratorium. Under the guise of creating large scale farms, economic land concessions are often granted on densely forested land which is then cleared of timber, a clear violation of Cambodiaâs Land Law and the logging moratorium.
âCambodia is a nation of squatters,â explains Pred. âBut the biggest squatters are the elite, the military generals, the people whoâve grabbed thousands of hectares of land and sold it off in bits and pieces.â
Monster Jam Triple Threat Series presented by AMSOIL @ Verizon Center, Washington, DC on January 28, 2017
Featuring:
Grave Digger driven by Krysten Anderson,
El Toro Loco driven by Armando Castro,
Pirate's Curse driven by Camden Murphy,
Megalodon driven by Justin Sipes,
Alien Invasion driven by Bernard Lyght,
Zombie driven by Ami Houde, Monster Mutt Rottweiler driven by JR Seasock,
Blue Thunder driven by Matt Cody,
Theresa Irene Wolowski waving hello from The General Lee a 1969 Muscle car from the Chrysler Corporation driven by cousins Bo and Luke Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard which is on display at the Ben “Cooter” Jones, Cooter’s Place Dukes of Hazzard Museum and shop in the city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee USA
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of America.
Tennessee known as the Volunteer State, has many symbols.
The tulip poplar was designated as the official state tree of Tennessee
Tennessee has two state flowers. The Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is the state's wildflower and the iris is the state's cultivated flower.
Tennessee has played a critical role in the development of many forms of American popular music, including rock and roll, blues, country music, and rockabilly.
Tennessee has nine official state songs
1. My Homeland, Tennessee, by Nell Grayson Taylor (words) and Roy Lamont Smith (music)
2. When It's Iris Time in Tennessee, by Willa Waid Newman
3. My Tennessee, by Frances Hannah Tranum, is the state's official public school song
4. Tennessee Waltz, by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King
5. Rocky Top, by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant
6. Tennessee, by Vivian Rorie
7. The Pride of Tennessee, by Fred Congdon, Thomas Vaughn and Carol Elliot
8. Smoky Mountain Rain, a song written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan that became a hit for Ronnie Milsap, was added to the list of state songs
9. Tennessee, written by John R. Bean of Knoxville
For more information about visiting Tennessee
Tennessee trip:
After breakfast, we will travel into the state of Tennessee to take a ride on the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In the evening, we will travel to Pigeon Forge, TN to the famous dinner show, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, where we will enjoy some real southern cuisine.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN
Great Smoky Mountains Park This 520,000-acre park on the eastern border of Tennessee is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage. It is the most-visited national park in the United States, and is renown for the beauty of its landscapes.
Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway The Tramway takes 120 passengers 2.1 miles up the Great Smoky Mountains. Large windows offer magnificent views of the area. At night, passengers can see the lighted visages of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge as well as the nearby parkway.
Pigeon Forge, TN
Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede This Wild-West-Revue-type performance features animals such as pigs, horses, and chickens and is punctuated by a riding competition. The show starts an hour before dinner, with a musical act on the "Carriage Room" before guests are escorted into the arena.
In the morning, we will make our way to Chattanooga, TN and Lookout Mountain to see the Ruby Falls and Rock City. We will also take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.
Chattanooga, TN
Ruby Falls The Ruby Falls are a naturally-occurring underground waterfall in the appropriately-named Ruby Falls Caverns not far from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are located underneath Lookout Mountain and are adjacent to the Lookout Mountain Caverns, although not connected.
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway The Incline Railway traces its history to 1895, when the a railway called "The Incline" opened to cart passengers to and from the peak of Lookout Mountain. It bills itself as one of the steepest railways worldwide.
Lookout Mountain This historic hilltop on the southern border of Tennessee has a colorful history as a place of importance during wartime. Most notably, it was the centerpiece of the Battle of Lookout Mountain during the American Civil War.
4-Day Tennessee, Smoky Mountain Tour from New York/New Jersey Tour Code: 272-227
Take Tours bus trip
Visit eight states:
New York - drive through with tour guide
New Jersey - drive through with tour guide
Pennsylvania - Welcome Center visit
Maryland - drive through with tour guide
West Virginia - Welcome Center visit
Virginia - USA
Tennessee - USA
Georgia - USA
For more info on 4-Day Tennessee, Smoky Mountain Tour from New York/New Jersey trip visit:
www.taketours.com/new-york-ny/4-day-tennessee-smoky-mount...
For more information on Take Tours visit:
Hashtag metadata tag
#Tennessee #Ten #Tenn #Tennessean #Chattanooga #Nashville #Memphis #South #Southern #TheSouth #TheSouthHasRisen #Country #Music #CountryMusic #VolunteerState #USState #state #states #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesofAmerica #America #American
Photo
Tennessee, United States of America, North America
June 13th 2014
Got to work with the Media Group for the Driven show in Winnipeg yesterday. As you can see, I was very lucky and got to work with a host of talented young models.
I also got a chance to test out my new portable hot shoe soft boxes, which I must admit work very, very well for a couple 50 dollar ebay items.
Foyt won the second of his four 500s in this car in a rqace marred by a tragic second lap crash which wiped out several cars and took the lives of two drivers.
Seen at Southampton Docks. Driven by Graham Thomas and Enrico Bruni This left-hand drive Giulia Sprint Speciale well known to the team at Bonhams - was built in 1964 and raced in period. It was subsequently restored and race-prepared in the 1980s for Stefano d'Amico, President of the Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo, by well-known Roman specialist Franco Angellini. Modifications from original specification include stiffening the chassis, fitting a Colotti limited-slip differential and close-ratio gearbox, tubular exhaust, oil cooler and blueprinting the engine, which develops around 160bhp. In this form the car won two Italian historic championships, took part in the Coppa d'Italia, Nurburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix and other events. Bought at auction circa 1989 by Lord Brocket, it subsequently passed into the ownership of Michael Campbell-Bowing, who raced it successfully in HSCC events.
In June 1997 the car was sold at Brooks' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale, racing subsequently in the HSCC championship, Gentleman Drivers Series, Grand Prix Historique de Pau, Trofeo Alberto Ascari, Spa Ferrari days and at Goodwood in 2002. In addition, it was selected as one of the display cars outside the London Science Museum exhibition: 'Stealing Beauty' and has featured in Auto Italia and Autocar magazines as well as appearing many times in the Giulietta Letta. In June 2004 the car changed hands again, finding a new owner at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale (Lot 792). At that time the car was said to have had in excess of £45,000 invested to date.
The current owner purchased the Alfa at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in July 2010 (Lot 391). Sine acquisition the car has competed in one race the GTSCC/IHCC event at the Silverstone Classic in 2011 and is offered fresh from a full engine rebuild undertaken by marque specialists RMR Restorations at a cost in excess of £10,000 (bills on file). The engine has only been run on the dynamometer since the rebuild.
Probably the best known and certainly one of the fastest Sprint Speciales in Europe, 'EBY 258B' has been maintained to full racing standard and is offered with FIA/HSCC papers and Swansea V5 registration document. Eligible for the Masters, GTSCC, HSCC, Goodwood, etc, this beautiful little Alfa represents an affordable invitation to all the best historic events.
To what extent can media companies employ predictive analytics and other data driven approaches to improve content performance? This event, organized by NYC Media Lab and hosted by Bloomberg on February 25, fused short 5 minute presentations and discussion from startups, media companies and university researchers advancing the state of the art in a variety show intended to provoke discussion and debate on opportunities in this fast-moving field of interest.
Speakers included Brian Eoff, Lead Data Scientist, bitly; Ky Harlin, Director, Data Science, BuzzFeed; Mor Naaman, Associate Professor, Cornell Tech and Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Seen.co; Simon Smith, Senior Vice President, Platforms, News Corp; Joshua Schwartz, Lead Data Scientist, Chartbeat.com; and Lisa Strausfeld, Global Head of Data Visualization, Bloomberg LP.
Photos by Yang Jiang.
Learn more about NYC Media Lab at www.nycmedialab.org.
www.cadillacforums.com/threads/puttin-on-the-ritz-1984-el...
This installment begins back, way way back,back into time. In the days we could have large gatherings, touch our faces, eat inside restaurants, and lived perilously close to the edge of running out of toilet paper. Picture it, Thanksgiving weekend, 2019…Oh wait, back a bit further…August, 1983.
Some dunderhead salesman in southern California takes an order from a buyer with great taste, a beautifully optioned 1984 Eldorado Biarritz in the ultimate color combination of Black/Black/Red. Said dunderhead gets everything right on the order-except for one tiny detail. The desire for a CF5 Astroroof is lost in translation from the prospective buyer and never makes it into the POS.
Car arrives in September. No sunroof. What gives? Our apologies sir, we’ll get that taken care of right away. Car is driven to an ASC installer. Another dunderhead gets out a jigsaw and cuts a hole thru the roof. A 38” (the biggest you can fit in an Eldorado with roof-mounted seatbelts) ASC sunroof is installed. Car is returned to dealership, buyer eagerly accepts delivery, none the wiser about factory vs aftermarket sunroofs.
For those who don’t know, when you order a car with a sunroof, the car is born with a hole in the roof. Mounts are cast into the roof panel, and the sunroof assembly seats in them and the glass panel has a channel for a nice rubber gasket that seals everything up nice. Then a vacuum formed headliner backing board is cast to perfectly hide everything. When you get an aftermarket sunroof, someone gets a stencil and a jigsaw, and cuts your roof panel and headliner open, pops a trim ring in the hole, and hangs a sunroof pan on the trim ring. If you’re lucky they will drill additional reinforcements to marry the pan to the roof structure. Then they get a bunch of headliner material, pull it taught from the corners of the car to the opening in the roof, and send you on down the road.
Anyway, back to Thanksgiving 2019, and the jigsaw dunderhead’s work starts to come undone.
When I had purchased this car, it needed headliner help. The material was loose, but not sagging appreciably. Additionally, someone had tried to superglue the material all around the perimeter. The material was kind of floating in place, which I thought was weird. I ended up getting some super strong neodymium magnets to hold it taught-which worked ok until it was humid out, or driving on the highway with the windows down as the liner would look something like a sailboat in the wind.
My fix was simple-find a factory sunroof equipped car and get the headliner board out of it and pop it into my car. Found out that that was easier said than done, and after a lot of junkyard expedition, kept coming up empty handed. Finally after years, I came into someone parting a factory sunroof Eldo on ebay and after a lot of trouble was able to get it shipped to me
The board needed some help, and after getting all the old foam off of it and some repairs made to restore the structure (the sunroof headliner board is really thin and flimsy, even compared to the stock non-sunroof board) I tore the interior apart to facilitate getting it in and out as I knew I would have to make “some” tweaks to reconcile the aftermarket hole location to the factory one. The sunroof assembly would also need to come out to recover the sunshade; as well as reseal the panel.
We can see here how the trim ring supports the pan assembly from the center. I have to say though, this was about as clean an install as an aftermarket sunroof can come with lots of extra bracing and no factory roof reinforcements cut. We can also see a very chintzy felt seal stuck to the trim ring
Got the sunshade recovered quickly. I later removed the black plastic covered jute that was glued to the pan-factory did not have this and it would have made the board sit too low when installed in the car. The gray rubbery stuff at the front of the pan was also stripped off for the same reason. I also swapped to the factory grab handle that was included with the board.
Also recovered the sail panels. I chose to leave the foam backing on these as it is not the usual headliner stuff that turns to jelly, its more like a sponge material and seemed to be holding up just fine.
I also added PED connectors to the sail panel interior lights that the factory curiously left out. Not sure how they installed these as the harness is one giant piece, but it means that you can’t take the sail panels out without having the lights dangling in the back. This will become important later.
I then devised a new seal. I threw away all the felt and used some 3M Adhesive remover to get rid of the stuff they had glued it with. Nasty stuff but did a good job. The new seal was the first part of this that took a LONG time. Aftermarket roofs from this time use some kind of felt tape to cut down on wind noise and slow water ingress into the pan, and while still available, there is way better out there today. (In spite of how it looked on my car though, it never leaked?!?! Wind noise was an issue with the shade open though) I decided on a rubber seal, and after getting a whole bunch of samples, the stuff I had initially ended up trying was pretty thin, but rigid strip of rubber. After gluing it on with 3M yellow weatherstrip adhesive (which does NOT work as good as the adhesive remover), I put the pan back in the car to see how it would work.
No photos of the failure here, but no good. The material was too rigid and too grippy, and would cause the roof to bind midway thru its travel. Then it tore off in the corners. Ugh! Pan back out, strip off the remaining seal and glue and go back to the drawing board. I ended up buying this
www.austinhardware.com/rubber-seal-single-500-rolls.htm
Which is a hollow piece of rubber that lets the panel travel without binding, and still squishes into a really tight seal. Looks like its out of stock now, but something with close to those measurements in a D-shape is a possibility for someone looking to reseal their ASC aftermarket sunroof. It was another 3M product, that was just a peel and stick affair-way easier than the yellow goopy adhesive route. Seems like a really strong bond, and seals fantastically against wind and water. 0 wind noise now, and no leaks in a downpour when parked, or cruising at highway speeds. Roof moves without binding now
I also decided to put the new seal onto the glass panel itself as it seems like that’s the easier life for it-if I put it around the opening, the pop rivets from the panel would abrade it. Super happy with this.
Next task was of course the headliner. With the pan now back in the car, I could take measurements and properly scribe/cut/fill the board as needed. Again, easier said than done. This was a weeks long ordeal between cutting the board, fiberglassing new material in, more cutting, more filling, coronavirus insanity, etc. Long story short, my roof was installed a few inches more aft than a factory roof would have been, which meant a lot of tweaking to get the kick-up over the rear passengers head in the right spot. Additionally, I needed to build out the map light drop down to accommodate the motor.
Here is the mess I ended up with
I also affixed strips of 3M dual-lock (it is like a heavy duty version of the stuff that holds in an Ezpass) to the back of the board and the pan to hold it tightly-the factory had attempted this with a similar product in the non-sunroof car headliner board. I was super skeptical that my fudgery would cover well at all, but I have to say that foam backed headliner material must be some of the most forgiving stuff around. This took me months to complete, working off and on from November thru April. Ultimately though, I’m happy with it.
While the interior was out, there was another thing I wanted to do. About a year ago, I was following a buddy as he took his Eldorado to drop off at a shop-couldn’t help but notice how small the brake lights (and the rest of the car) seemed compared to all the bulbous modern cars surrounding it. Then I had a couple of SUV’s roll up way too close for comfort on the back of the car-one was close enough that I launched the Eldorado up and to the side to avoid getting hit. Knowing that getting rear ended by a careless driver would probably result in my untimely incarceration, I set out to do something about rear visibility.
The federal government mandated 3rd brake lights for passenger cars for model year 1986. Cadillac was slightly ahead of the curve with this with the 1985 Deville/Fleetwoods which got these in the fall of ’84. Apparently the science is behind them and they do result in fewer rear end collisions. So I decided to add one of them to the Eldo.
There were a few different versions of these things made, with short, medium and long necks to mate with the rear window-one for a Fleetwood Brougham has the tall one, and one for an 80s Buick Riviera like the one seen above is short. The short one is the best size for the Eldo, any taller and it would look pretty bad. Then the gasket that seals it to the window is different for each different model. Fortunately a potato peeler does a great job of cutting things down to size to match the Eldos vertical rear window, and the material can be easily sanded to get out any little imperfections to make it seal nicely and not leak light. An ideal donor for one would be one an 86-91 Eldo or Seville without a factory vinyl or carriage roof.
A quick mockup
All of these lights mount the same way, with this little bracket cutting into the package shelf and screwing in to the metal underneath. This is not possible on the Eldo as the package shelf reinforcement under the center won’t let this happen. So I had to modify the bracket to sit flush on the package shelf, and add two holes to the shelf to get the screws through. They screw right into the package shelf reinforcement.
The next step was wiring. It is not as simple as tapping a brake light wire and running across the package shelf to the light. Since the Eldos tail lights do everything- brake, signal and hazard, just tapping a wire would cause the center light to flash with the signals or hazard. GM rectified this by using a different brake switch to prevent backfeeding. See the original gray switch, with an in and out, and the new beige one, with a supply, and two isolated outputs. This puts the 3rd brake light (acronym: CHMSL “Center High Mount Stoplight) on its own branch-but also means that you have to home run a wire all the way to it. The wire chase made quick work of this however. I had a pretty long link of 3rd brake light harness, but not quite enough to make it to the front of the car. I put another PED connector of the same kind that I used on the sail panels to join this blue wire I ran from the switch underneath the drivers side rear seat arm rest, which is accessible by removing the ash tray if need be. The stock package shelf reinforcement actually ended up being drilled for the wiring, so I’m not sure if this was something that was in the works for the Eldo.
The version of the brake switch I used allowed me to keep the cruise control connector, and only change the brake light connector itself (part 12117354). I wanted to keep this as non-invasive as possible as I hate being upside down under the dash (though I see to find myself in that position a lot…) I will search around for the part number for the brake light switch itself.
The last trick I wanted to pull before I put the interior back together was to replace the horrible rearview mirror. I forgot how bad these things were (or more like, no one ever noticed before there were LED headlights on other people’s cars that are tall enough to be flush with your back window) but it seems like the mirror was good for one thing; blindness. They have two settings-blindingly bright where others headlights fry your retinas at night, or completely blind, where you can’t see a thing behind you.
My daily driver has a great auto dimming mirror that still lets you see everything without blinding you, made by Gentex. About the same size as the Eldo rearview. I was casually browsing their offerings to see what kind of money we were talking, when I noticed they offered an upgraded unit as compared to the one installed on my car-one with an LED compass feature that was *drumroll* amber colored! Just like the center stack on the Eldorado! So needless to say, the project was underway quickly.
Wired it in cleanly to an existing ignition power on the fuse box
I had to buy a new button to mount it, stock Eldo one was too small to hold it. Check out the dashboard illustration on the glue I bought to stick it on with!
And here it is mounted up!
I am super happy with the mirror. It works great and is a really close match to the amber on the center stack. They even have the same segment check timing when you turn the ignition on Unfortunately it does not dim with the rest of the dash panel, so that’s a letdown, but if desired you can turn the compass off if you wanted to dim everything all the way as I like to do when I’m out of the city on a dark road.
Now, you may notice that the visors are all kinds of messed up. Progress has a price I guess. My long-fought for 1988 Deville visors are NG with the new headliner board-they’re just too big and interfere with the bump out for the map light. I wish I would have known as I could have easily shrunk this bump out when I was doing surgery on the board but its too late now. I’m at a crossroads of reinstalling my old red Eldo visors with known good arms swapped into them (which are probably super faded next to the new material but are impossible to reupholster right) or finding another late 80s more robust GM visor and reupholstering/swapping them in.
I still have more stuff to add to this which may come tomorrow as my fingers are about to fall off!
Monster Jam Triple Threat Series presented by AMSOIL @ Verizon Center, Washington, DC on January 28, 2017
Featuring:
Grave Digger driven by Krysten Anderson,
El Toro Loco driven by Armando Castro,
Pirate's Curse driven by Camden Murphy,
Megalodon driven by Justin Sipes,
Alien Invasion driven by Bernard Lyght,
Zombie driven by Ami Houde, Monster Mutt Rottweiler driven by JR Seasock,
Blue Thunder driven by Matt Cody,
Eduard van der Nüll: The Vienna State Opera commemorates the 200th birthday of its architect. Once he was driven to death.
Carmen is stabbed, Tosca jumps to her death and the Bajazzo murders his wife and rival. Much worse - because really true - is the fate of the two men who have built Vienna's State Opera, in which these masterpieces are performed: Eduard van der Nüll hanged himself after the building on the Ring Road had been fiercly criticized, and his partner, August Sicard of Sicardsburg a few weeks later died of a heart attack. The two architects literally perished in the construction of the Vienna Opera House.
The opera was still under construction, as the Viennese already mocked in rhyming form the various architectural epochs summarized here: Sicardsburg and van der Nüll, both have no style, Greek, Gothic, Renaissance, that's all the same to them!
In newspaper reports, the opera was referred to as "Königgrätz of the architecture", which was then, a few years after the most momentous military defeat of the monarchy, a special humiliation. The architects were even more annoyed by the commentary of Emperor Franz Joseph, who called the Hofoper a "sunken box".
Bad planning
In fact, the level of the track of the Opera Ring was one meter higher than the archways of the still unfinished structure. However, Sicardsburg and van der Nüll were not able to do anything. Instead, a misplaced planning by the Hofbauamt (Vienna Court Building Department) meant that the carriageway was laid higher than planned. However, it was clear to the public that the architects of the opera were responsible for the structural catastrophe. The 56-year-old van der Nüll was able to withstand the hostility towards him from all parts of society. He hanged himself on 4 April 1868 in his apartment in Windmühl alley (6th district of Vienna). Two months later, after a heart failure, Sicardsburg collapsed dead over his drawing table. He could not get over the suicide of his friend.
The two architects have been inseparable since their studies at the Vienna Academy of Arts, they had a joint studio and were also closely associated privately. In Internet forums they are referred to as a gay couple, there are guides through the "Gay Vienna", which point to the buildings of Sicardsburg and van der Nülls.
Pregnant
However, van der Nüll had married a year before his death, which gives the suicide another dramatic touch: his wife Maria was in the eighth month pregnant when she found the body of her husband in her apartment. In the Vienna City and State Archives is the estate of van der Nülls, whose letters bear witness to deep love to his wife. "For your loving affection, may God reward you, I can find no words for the recognition that is preserved in my heart," he wrote shortly before his death to her.
Whether the hostility against him and his partner was the sole cause of the tragedy is unclear. It is clear that both were ill: If van der Nüll's suicide in the forensic expert's report with "mental confusion" is explained, this is probably due to the fact that him should be made possible a church funeral. However, the death certificate also shows pulmonary edema. All in all, the illness, the strain of opera building and the public attacks could have led to suicide. And Sicardsburg had been suffering from a long-term illness.
Eduard van der Nüll was - despite the Dutch-sounding name - a genuine Vienna man. Born the illegitimate son of an officer, he grew up modest after the early death of his parents after his guardian had misappropriated most of his family fortune.
Founder time
Just as he and Sicardsburg had completed their study of architecture, Vienna's urban expansion was decided upon, which resulted in an unprecedented building activity. The soon-to-be-prominent architectural duo received numerous contracts in the early days, before he was entrusted with the planning of the six million gulden (= around € 70 million today) expensive Court opera. It was to be the highlight of their work. And became a deadly burden.
On May 25, 1869, about a year after van der Nüll and Sicardsburg's death, the opera was opened in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph with a festive performance of Mozart's "Don Giovanni". Meanwhile, the level of the roadway had been adapted to the building and the Viennese were enthusiastic about the new magnificent building on the ring road. No one could understand why polemic against the late architects was once so violent.
Least of all Emperor Franz Joseph, who was so shaken by the tragic events surrounding the construction of the opera that he avoided ever again publicly announcing his personal opinion. The now used by him, made famous as meaningless as uncritical phrase "It was very beautiful, I was very happy," is the direct result of the drama to the two architects.
Symbol
Today, the Staatsoper is the landmark and most important symbol of the music metropolis Vienna. Opera director Dominique Meyer appreciates the contribution made by the two creators of the house: on January 9, Eduard van der Nüll's 200th birthday, he lays down a wreath at the architect's honorary grave at Vienna's Central Cemetery
The architects: They built Vienna's opera
Eduard van der Nüll. Born on January 9, 1812 in Vienna as the illegitimate son of Field Marshal von Welden. While studying architecture at the Vienna Art Academy, he met his future partner, August Sicard von Sicardsburg, with whom he founded an architectural office after a three-year joint study tour through Europe. Eduard van der Nüll took his life on April 4, 1868.
August von Sicardsburg. Born on December 6, 1813 in Budapest. Coined the architecture of Viennese Historicism of the Wilhelminian era with van der Nüll. Common buildings: Sophienbad (bath), Carltheater, Arsenal, Haas house on Saint Stephen's square, several noble palais and the Vienna Opera. Sicardsburg died on June 11, 1868 in Weidling near Vienna, only two months after the suicide of his partner.
Eduard van der Nüll: Die Wiener Staatsoper gedenkt des 200. Geburtstags ihres Architekten. Einst wurde er in den Tod getrieben.
Carmen wird erstochen, Tosca springt in den Tod und der Bajazzo ermordet seine Frau samt Nebenbuhler. Viel schlimmer noch – weil wirklich wahr – ist das Schicksal der beiden Männer, die Wiens Staatsoper, in der diese Meisterwerke aufgeführt werden, gebaut haben: Eduard van der Nüll erhängte sich, nachdem man den Prunkbau an der Ringstraße heftig kritisiert hatte, und sein Partner August Sicard von Sicardsburg erlag wenige Wochen danach einem Herzschlag. Die beiden Architekten sind an der Errichtung des Wiener Opernhauses buchstäblich zugrunde gegangen.
Die Oper stand noch im Rohbau, da spotteten die Wiener bereits in Reimform über die verschiedenen hier zusammengefassten Architektur-Epochen: Sicardsburg und van der Nüll, die haben beide keinen Styl, griechisch, gotisch, Renaissance, das is denen alles ans!
In Zeitungsberichten wurde die Oper als „Königgrätz der Baukunst“ bezeichnet, was damals, wenige Jahre nach der folgenschwersten militärischen Niederlage der Monarchie, eine besondere Demütigung war. Als noch ärger empfanden die Architekten den Kommentar Kaiser Franz Josephs, der die Hofoper eine „versunkene Kiste“ nannte.
Fehlplanung
Tatsächlich war das Niveau der Fahrbahn des Opernrings um einen Meter höher als die Torbögen des noch unfertigen Bauwerks. Doch dafür konnten Sicardsburg und van der Nüll nichts, vielmehr hatte eine Fehlplanung des Hofbauamtes dazu geführt, dass die Fahrbahn höher als vorgesehen angelegt wurde. Für die Öffentlichkeit stand aber fest, dass die Architekten der Oper die bauliche Katastrophe zu verantworten hätten. Der 56-jährige van der Nüll war den gegen ihn aus allen Kreisen der Gesellschaft gerichteten Anfeindungen nicht gewachsen. Er erhängte sich am 4. April 1868 in seiner Wohnung in der Windmühlgasse. Zwei Monate später brach Sicardsburg nach einem Herzschlag über seinem Zeichentisch tot zusammen. Er konnte den Selbstmord des Freundes nicht verwinden.
Die beiden Architekten waren seit ihrer Studienzeit an der Wiener Kunstakademie unzertrennlich, sie hatten ein gemeinsames Atelier und waren auch privat eng verbunden. In Internetforen werden sie als homosexuelles Paar bezeichnet, es gibt Reiseführer durch das „Schwule Wien“, die auf die Bauten Sicardsburgs und van der Nülls hinweisen.
Schwanger
Allerdings hatte van der Nüll ein Jahr vor seinem Tod geheiratet, was dem Selbstmord eine weitere dramatische Note verleiht: Seine Frau Maria war, als sie die Leiche ihres Mannes in ihrer Wohnung fand, im achten Monat schwanger. Im Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv liegt der Nachlass van der Nülls, dessen Briefe an seine Frau von tiefer Liebe zeugen. „Für Deine liebende Zuneigung möge Gott Dich belohnen, ich finde keine Worte für die Anerkennung, die in meinem Herzen dafür bewahrt ist“, schrieb er ihr noch kurz vor seinem Tod.
Ob die Anfeindungen gegen ihn und seinen Kompagnon der alleinige Grund für die Tragödie waren, ist unklar. Fest steht, dass beide krank waren: Wenn van der Nülls Selbstmord im gerichtsmedizinischen Gutachten mit „geistiger Verwirrung“ erklärt wird, ist das wohl darauf zurückzuführen, dass ihm ein kirchliches Begräbnis ermöglicht werden sollte. Allerdings zeigt das Totenbeschauprotokoll auch ein Lungenödem auf. Alles in allem könnten die Krankheit, die Belastung durch den Opernbau und die Angriffe in der Öffentlichkeit zum Freitod geführt haben. Und Sicardsburg war seit längerem herzleidend.
Eduard van der Nüll war – trotz des holländisch klingenden Namens – ein waschechter Wiener. Als unehelicher Sohn eines Offiziers zur Welt gekommen, wuchs er nach dem frühen Tod der Eltern in bescheidenen Verhältnissen auf, nachdem sein Vormund den Großteil des Familienvermögens veruntreut hatte.
Gründerzeit
Gerade als er und Sicardsburg ihr Architekturstudium beendet hatten, wurde Wiens Stadterweiterung beschlossen, die eine nie dagewesene Bautätigkeit zur Folge hatte. Das bald prominente Architektenduo erhielt in der Gründerzeit zahlreiche Aufträge, ehe ihm die Planung der sechs Millionen Gulden (= heute rund 70 Millionen €) teuren Hofoper anvertraut wurde. Sie sollte zum Höhepunkt ihres Schaffens werden. Und wurde zur tödlichen Belastung.
Am 25. Mai 1869, rund ein Jahr nach van der Nülls und Sicardsburgs Tod, wurde die Oper in Anwesenheit Kaiser Franz Josephs mit einer Festvorstellung von Mozarts „Don Giovanni“ eröffnet. Mittlerweile war das Niveau der Fahrbahn dem Gebäude angeglichen worden und die Wiener waren von dem neuen Prunkbau an der Ringstraße hellauf begeistert. Niemand konnte verstehen, warum gegen die verstorbenen Architekten einst so heftig polemisiert wurde.
Am allerwenigsten Kaiser Franz Joseph, den die tragischen Ereignisse um den Bau der Oper dermaßen erschütterten, dass er es vermied, je wieder öffentlich seine persönliche Meinung kundzutun. Die von ihm ab jetzt verwendete, berühmt gewordene, ebenso nichtssagende wie kritiklose Floskel „Es war sehr schön, es hat mich sehr gefreut“, ist die direkte Folge des Dramas um die beiden Architekten.
Symbol
Heute ist die Staatsoper Wahrzeichen und wichtigstes Symbol der Musikmetropole Wien. Operndirektor Dominique Meyer weiß den Anteil der beiden Schöpfer des Hauses zu schätzen: Er lässt am 9. Jänner, Eduard van der Nülls 200. Geburtstag, am Ehrengrab des Architekten am Wiener Zentralfriedhof einen Kranz niederlege
Die Architekten: Sie bauten Wiens Oper
Eduard van der Nüll Geboren am 9. Jänner 1812 in Wien als unehelicher Sohn des Feldmarschalls von Welden. Lernte während des Architekturstudiums an der Wiener Kunstakademie seinen späteren Partner August Sicard von Sicardsburg kennen, mit dem er nach einer dreijährigen gemeinsamen Studienreise durch Europa ein Architekturbüro gründete. Eduard van der Nüll nahm sich am 4. April 1868 das Leben.
August von Sicardsburg Geboren am 6. Dezember 1813 in Budapest. Prägte mit van der Nüll die Baukunst des Wiener Historismus der Gründerzeit. Gemeinsame Bauten: Sophienbad, Carltheater, Arsenal, Haashaus am Stephansplatz, mehrere Adelspalais und die Wiener Oper. Sicardsburg starb am 11. Juni 1868 in Weidling bei Wien, nur zwei Monate nach dem Selbstmord seines Partners.
FATAL INJURIES
CHILD STRUCK BY CAR
BOTH LEGS FRACTURED
[Special to “Northern Advocate.”] AUCKLAND, This Day.
Fatal injuries were received by Betty Ryall, the seven-year-old daughter of Mr. G. Ryall, of Dairy Flat, when he was struck by a motor car near her home yesterday evening.
The child, accompanied by a playmate ran on to the road just as a motor car, driven by Mr. L. Lees, of Crescent Road, Epsom, approached, coming in the direction of Auckland, about 7 p.m. The other child ran back, but Betty Ryall ran on and was struck by the car.
Mr. Lees carried the injured child to her home and telephoned Dr. Keith T. Holdgate, of Birkenhead, a St. John ambulance and the police. It was found that she was suffering from fractures of both legs. Her immediate removal to the hospital was ordered. Death occurred at 7.20 this morning.
Mr. Lees said this morning that he was driving towards Auckland and when passing through Dairy Flat two children ran out on to the road from an obscured gateway. One ran back on seeing the car, but the other continued across the road. “I attempted to avoid the child by swerving, and applied the brakes,” said Mr. Lees. “Measurements were taken which show from the point I swerved from the point where the impact occurred car the distance was 16 yards. From the point where the impact occurred to the point where the car was brought to a standstill the distance was eight yards.”
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19350121.2.4
GIRL'S DEATH.
STRUCK BY MOTOR CAR
DRIVER BEFORE THE COURT.
FATHER'S ALLEGATION
Appearing on summons, in the Police Court yesterday afternoon, Les Lees was charged that at Dairy Flat, near Silverdale, on January 20, he did negligently drive a motor car, thereby causing the death of Betty Ryall.
About 7 p.m. on January 20 the girl, aged 7, who was a daughter of Mr. W. G. Ryall, of Dairy Flat, while crossing the road, was struck by a motor car driven by defendant on the main north road near Mr. Ryall's home. She was taken to hospital, where she died as the result of her injuries the following day. At the inquest held on February 28 the coroner, Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., returned a verdict of accidental death.
Senior Detective Hall prosecuted, and Mr. P. L. G. West appeared for the defendant, Lees. Father's Evidence.
The father of the deceased said yesterday that he was not present at the inquest. "I consider that a lot of the evidence given at the inquest was lies," he added. "Anyone could see a hen crossing the road from seven chains away from where the girl was struck." Witness said that while he was working on his farm the noise of an oncoming car attracted his attention. The car appeared to be travelling very fast. A few minutes later he saw his daughter Christine, who was a year younger than Betty, coming toward him. She told witness that Betty had been struck by a motor car on the road. The defendant, Lees, then came in the gate, carrying Betty.
Christine Ryall said she was walking with Betty on the side of the road when a motor car passed them. Another car then came around the bend some distance away. It was travelling fast. Betty then started to cross the road. When the car was opposite the gate some stones flew up, and the car swerved across and hit Betty, carrying her a little way and then dropping her. She heard two blasts of a motor horn, but did not know from what car they came.
Cross-examined by Mr. West, witness denied that she had started to cross the road with her sister.
Measurements Taken.
Evidence that he was present with a doctor and defendant when measurements were taken after the accident was given by a storekeeper, Lionel E. G. Smith, of Dairy Flat. From where the brakes of the car had been applied to a blood mark on the road, where the girl was believed to have been picked up was about 42ft, and from that point to the rear of the car where it had stopped was about a car's length. There were no skid marks. Lees told witness that the two girls had run out on to the road, one stopping and the other going on. He also said that he sounded the horn and swerved to the right, applying his brakes in an endeavour to avoid striking them.
Witness, in reply to Mr. West, said that if the car had been travelling at a high speed when it swerved, it would have gone into a side-skid.
To-day's Evidence.
Constable Maloney, of Takapuna, produced a plan which he made of the scene of the accident. He examined defendant's car. The left hand corner of the front bumper was bent, and there was also a dent in the radiator shell or guard.
Cross-examined by Mr. West, witness said there was 10 feet of growth on each side of the road.
Arthur Leslie Barrow, motor driver employed by the Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board, who was driving to wards Dairy Flat at 25 miles per hour on the evening of the accident, said a Vauxhall car passed him. It was travelling at approximately 50 miles an hour, but in his opinion the driver of the Vauxhall had full control of his car. He later overtook the Vauxhall at the scene of the accident. It had driven up on the wrong side of the road.
To Mr. West: There was a certain amount of dust on the road that evening.
Another Driver's Story.
Norman Frederick Cato, accountant, of Auckland, said he was driving a car toward Devonport from Silverdale at 7 p.m. on January 20. He remembered a car overtaking him just prior to reaching Dairy Flat. Witness' speed was about 28 miles per hour. The car which passed him was doing between 40 and 50 miles per hour. At that time there was another motor car about 100 yards ahead. The car which passed witness continued on well over on the incorrect side of the road, with the obvious intention of passing the other car in front. As it was about to overtake this car, witness said he noticed a cyclist approaching. There was a bend ahead and the Vauxhall swerved sharply to the left in order to avoid a collision with the cyclist. It then overtook the car ahead.
Objection to Evidence.
On arriving at the scene of the accident, witness saw a Vauxhall car parked on its incorrect side of the road. "I later had a conversation with the accused," said Cato. "I opened the conversation by asking him if he was the man driving the Vauxhall. He said he was. I said to him, 'I don't want to rub it in, old man, but if ever an accident was predicted, this one was. The way you were driving along the road excited the comment of me and my passengers. You narrowly missed running down a cyclist.' "
According to witness, Lees' comment was that he was doing 40 miles per hour when the child ran out. Witness said to him, "The way you were driving along the road precluded you from dealing with such an emergency as arose.
Mr. West objected to the latter portion of witness' evidence, and asked that his objection be noted.
(Proceeding.)
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19350430.2.70
DISMISSED.
NEGLIGENCE CHARGE.
DEATH OF LITTLE GIRL
MAGISTRATE'S COMMENT.
After a hearing lasting almost two days, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., in the Police' Court late yesterday afternoon, acquitted Les. Lees, tailor, on a charge of negligently driving a motor car, at Dairy Flat on January 20, thereby causing the death of Betty Ryall, a girl aged seven.
Senior Detective Hall prosecuted, and accused was represented by Mr. F. L. G. West. Driver's Statement.
Detective J. B. Finlay who visited the scene of the accident at Dairy Flat on several occasions and took measurements, produced plans and also a statement which was made by Lees. Lees said his motor car was four months old and was in perfect order. The brakes had been tested only a few days before the accident. He said he had a clear view of the road 200 yards before the accident occurred. Both girls ran out on to the road suddenly, and because of growth on the sides of the road he did not see them until only six feet away from them. They evidently emerged from a gateway. One of the girls hesitated then ran across the road, the other standing still. He applied the brakes and swerved to avoid them, but deceased ran right in front of the car and was struck on the leg. He was sure she was not carried along by the car. The car was nearly stopped when she was struck.
"Had both girls either stopped or ran, I could have avoided them," he said. "The only course open to me was to swerve to the right. At the time, of the accident my speed was between 30 and 35 miles per hour. At no time of the journey did I exceed 40 miles per hour." Accused added that he had been driving for 10 years and had never been involved in an accident.
Detective Finlay said Lees had given him every assistance.
Magistrate's Remarks.
"If this girl was anything like her sister, who gave evidence yesterday, a very bright child has been killed," said Mr. Hunt. There was no doubt that the police had spared neither time nor money in thoroughly investigating the case. The accused was charged with a criminal offence brought in indictable manner, and it was the duty of the Court to see that a prima facie case had been made out. He did not think that the evidence was strong enough to warrant him in putting accused to the expense of going to the Supreme Court. The probability was that the version he gave was correct, against that of the deceased's sister. "His very conduct in swerving and applying his brakes seems to me to denote that he was right in swerving, and that the two girls crossing the road must have separated," said the magistrate.
In dismissing the charge the magistrate said that he was quite certain no jury would convict: in fact, he did not think that the grand jury would return a true bill.
The charge was therefore dismissed.
Addressing Mr. Ryall, the magistrate sympathised with him in the loss of his child. "I am very sorry for you." he said, "but I think you must be satisfied that every inquiry has been made."
paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19350501.2.182
Plot 9: Betty Ryall – Struck by car
IN
Loving Memory
of
BETTY
beloved daughter of
George and Leonora
died Jan. 21st 1935
aged 7 years.
RYALL. —On January 21, at Auckland Hospital, Betty, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Ryall, Dairy Flat; aged seven years. Funeral leaves residence A Sinclair, Carrington Road, Point Chevalier, 11 a.m. Tuesday.
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Magnus Walker
Expo : Porsche - Driven by Dreams
08/12/2023 - 25/02/2024
Autoworld
Brussels - Belgium
December 2023
The first Qualifying lap over 200 MPH for the Indianapolis 500 Race was in 1977 Driven by Tom Sneva in a McLaren M24, chassis 004 with Cosworth power.
The next year, in 1978, Tom Sneva drove this car, a Penske PC-6 / Cosworth to a new Record Qualifying lap of 203.626 mph. Tom had been a School Teacher.
It sits next to what is likely the "slowest" vehicle on display in the "Tom Malloy Collection", an early "Soapbox" Racer [which is a handmade & gravity-powered - no engine - project event for young children & families. In the recent past, some may have said "Father/Son" project, but that is likely not "allowed" these days].
[TM 2019 DSC_0741].
_______________________________________________
Part I
Human brains are weird, glorious and driven by a delicate yet robust interplay of various opposing forces. Think about a human being performing a simple task within an environment: you might think of walking through it. Sounds simple, and yet the complexity behind it is beyond our awareness, as the Moravec’s paradox shows. Namely, we are “least aware of what our minds do best”, and going beyond automatic physiological processes and embodiment, merely moving around in the environment is one of those processes. AI researcher Moravec, in the dawn of robotics, noticed that it is relatively easy to “make computers exhibit adult level performance on intelligence tests” or playing chess, and yet “difficult or impossible to give them the skills of a one-year-old when it comes to perception and mobility”. This paradox reflects our brains and how we evolved, and is important to keep in mind when considering human behavior in the built environment.
The act of navigating, or walking through a space, as simple as it is, involves all our senses and motor function, and consists of a number of phases. From mere standing upright, to being visuo-spatially aware of our own body parts, our body’s position in space and the structure of the space itself, then orienting within that space, deciding on the course of action and strategy of movement, execution of said movement, and finally actually moving and navigating through the space. All of the mentioned continues throughout the entire simple action, with our senses constantly updating the feedback from the environment, and our brain adapting sets of actions accordingly. Furthermore, if your goal is to reach a corner of a room or a town square, our brain has to deal with contrasting demands: on one hand to focus on the plan and the goal-relevant stimuli, on the other to be aware and prepared to quickly shift attention to unexpected, potentially goal-relevant, stimuli. This tension between being focused and flexible, between order and chaos, is what makes an organism adaptive.
This is one of the first levels, aside from ergonomics and human biophysiology, which architects should consider, research and collaborate on with neuroscientists. On another level of overlap between architecture and neuroscience, there is cognitive and affective neuropsychology.
Part II
If you are an architect and you design a space, to paraphrase Carl Buechner, people will forget what materials you used, they will forget what the space looked like, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Research in neurophysiology shows that emotionally charged content is most likely to consolidate into long-term memory, so least likely to fade. For example, one of the most vivid types of memory is called flashbulb memory because it acts like a flash of light sealing in the details of a scene or a moment- and is elicited by an unexpected and highly emotional event. In general, we evolved to function in our environment relying heavily on social and emotional cues, and our brains are simply wired to process and remember emotionally charged information better than emotionally neutral information. In a way, which is essential to architects and designers, our brains prioritise social and emotional content.
The emotion of surprise, for example, is crucial in the process of learning about the world, from the earliest developmental stages up to two years of life, to sheer intellectual curiosity in adulthood. The force driving a baby to push a balloon off the edge of a table teaches about the basic physical laws of the world through exception and surprise. It is the same force that drives a scientist and an artist to experiment, just to ‘see what happens’, and is closely related to curiosity and exploration. By using the simplest example of walking through a city square, we can imagine how unexpected stimuli might inspire change of route or exploratory behaviour.
While surprise is, much like fear and disgust, a more basic, visceral and unconscious emotion, and as such more closely connected to survival, complex emotions can obviously be just as uncontrollable and all-consuming. The emotion of awe, for example, contains elements of many other, more basic emotions, such as surprise, fear, amazement, confusion and anxiety. Invoked by the sublime, awe is a potent combination of wonder and fear, one of the strongest positive emotional experiences, with deep, long-term and transformative effect. It is understandable then, how intertwined awe is with the idea of architectural grandeur, religious architecture and aesthetic experiences.
As Burke suggested in his treatise on the sublime, “A true artist should put a generous deceit on the spectators, and effect the noblest designs by easy methods”, and these easy methods seem to include building structures that are just the right size and height, so that the imagination of the spectator/user can “rise to any idea of infinity”. It is this idea of struggling to represent infinity and inducing fear/awe through architecture that brings me to the next chapter.
What can architecture teach us about neuroscience?
We are used to talking about different styles in art, seeing them spill onto philosophy, witnessing them influence science and society, having them intertwined with each other and opposed to one another. We are familiar with the timeline of styles: from long, slow periods of thousands of years, then to hundreds of years, to a recent fast procession and overlap of styles lasting a few decades or even years. Art forms go through art styles approximately, and playfully, at the same time. However, of all temporal and spatial arts, architecture, arguably the most technical, most social and most political art form, is without a doubt the slowest. However slow, it still manages to catch up and embody the spirit of the moment. In case of Gothic architecture, the reflection of the times was presented marvelously. Goethe called architecture ‘frozen music’, yet other than form, rhythm and structure, it is also ‘frozen zeitgeist’, imbued with meaning, layers of social, political, cultural and economic clues, psychological subtext, and functional perspectives.
Form follows function (Sullivan, 1896), and similarly to the terrible1 beauty of a butcher’s cleaver, whose curves and angles are reminiscent perhaps of Art Nouveau2, Finish design3 or even Neo-deconstructivism4, Gothic architecture serves a highly specific function. Namely, its main architectural program was sacred architecture: the church, the cathedral and the abbey. It was sacred architecture that shaped all the elements of Gothic, later just transplanted into other programs such as governmental and university buildings. Architecture is a robust monument to time (zeitgeist) and to space (genius locii)5, and in this case as well, we must view Gothic aesthetics through its form and function equally. The main elements of Gothic architecture are flying buttresses, rib vaulted ceilings, and pointed arches, with other characteristics including stained glass windows and rich sculptural decoration. It is essential to point out that the main three elements are constructive, not decorative, a contrast to previous styles such as Ancient Greek or Byzantine architecture. Never before has construction been so (implicitly) revered and so exposed, not even during the dome-obsessed Ancient Roman architecture. Walter Gropius said that ‘architecture begins where engineering ends’, but the case of Gothic clearly shows that the two are intimately and symbiotically intertwined. Would it even be possible for religion to develop in the way it has, were its main architectural aesthetics decorative, and not constructionist? Never, for it was the engineering feats of Gothic that inspired awe and reverence. In a time without reinforced concrete, steel, other modern materials and technologies, with only stone and brick at their disposal, architects were asked to create temples worthy of God’s glory: light, immense, soaring, weightless, heaven-like. The way they tried to achieve this is the very essence of Gothic aesthetic.
Flying buttresses, those elegant, thin, arched diagonals on the sides of Gothic cathedrals that look like legs of a spider or opulent scaffolding, are a crucial aesthetic element. Their beauty comes from their form and their function simultaneously, but perhaps most of all, their controversy. A common critique of Gothic architecture is that it is a lie, a structure pretending to be something it is not, a simulacrum of a temple. And it is true. Flying buttresses are in fact crutches, holding the building from the outside, always slightly hidden, with their supporting columns richly decorated as to draw the attention away. Indeed, Gothic architecture is meant to be experienced from two locations- from the inside, and from the front. The sides and the back are the machinery behind the curtain, a somewhat embarrassing testament to the builder’s weakness. Like film set construction, where sets are designed to offer an illusion of an exterior (frontal façade supported by scaffolding), and interior (i.e. rooms, halls), Gothic cathedrals feature a glorious frontal façade, and a lavish interior. Two locations, two types of experience, and one story told by both. The religious experience is therefore a carefully crafted illusion, the cathedral itself merely a set, the rituals- performance art.
Even other elements of Gothic architecture aesthetics are, in a way, a lie. As mentioned before, the task of building a temple in the glory of God had many demands, from size, height, proportions, to lighting. One could usually not be achieved without sacrificing the other. The impossible height of cathedrals, for instance, was achieved by using ribbed vaults, and simulated by adding vertical bony elements in the interior and long narrow windows. Windows themselves were adorned with stained glass to distract from the fact they offered little illumination. Stained glass replicated the stories told on the dark walls, so there was a daylight and night time mode of reading the images. The width of the cathedral was simulated by building parallel aisles and galleries, and the magnitude was simulated by adding a transept. The upper part of the interior distracted from a thick forest of necessary columns on the ground floor level, and the columns themselves were ribbed or connected to the vault as to appear more delicate and elongated. The entire aesthetics was a play of illusions and deceptions.
However, there is another side to the Gothic style. To build such grandiose, yet ethereal and lace-like structures from stone and brick took not only craftsmanship and innovation, but adamancy and devotion only art can conceive. The contrast between available materials and engineering knowledge of the times on one side, and impossible demands and lofty aspirations of the architectural program on the other, is a stark, unreasonable one. Yet the story of its conquest is positively endearing, and a telling monument to the human spirit. Perhaps this is the reason why there are so many Neo-gothic styles and revivals, why Gothic architecture seems to enchant us so much, why it is a constant source of inspiration in art, from literature to film- where it is often used as a backdrop of the most emotionally charged genres. Indeed, Gothic aesthetics speaks to our most basic, visceral emotions: fear and love. The two experiences we have the least control of, the lowest common states, and the basis of all passions.
It is fascinating how architecture designed and built in the glory of a divine entity ended up being almost exclusively about humanity instead, revealing human neurophysiology, psychology of an individual and of the society much more than it ever revealed about God.
References
1 Cf. Kant’s and Burke’s ideas on the sublime, i.e. terrible, overwhelming beauty.
2 Particularly Hector Guimard’s façades and fenestration.
3 Particularly Alvar Aalto’s wooden furniture.
4 The classification of arts to temporal and spatial is never neat, in case of architecture specially. As a discipline and an expression, it is highly dependent of both time and space, with zeitgeist (spirit of the times) on one side, and genius loci (spirit of the place) on the other, both interacting with and shaping form and function.
5 The famous Greek order, consisting of three (later five) types of columns, was indeed a constructive element. However, it was almost exclusively the decoration of the column that changes, with no innovation to construction. Furthermore, construction of sleek, stone Greek temples was copied in form and hommage decoration from its predecessor- the wooden temple.
theccd.org/article/what-can-neuroscience-teach-us-about-a...
on an abandonedamerica.us workshop in a former bronze foundry filled with pianos
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Rich Reynolds, Microsoft Philanthropies Strategy and International Field Lead; Benjamin Karenzi, Youth leader CEO Robotical Africa Rwanda and Delegates having a group portrait during African Economic Conference (AEC) 2019 - Special Event D - Enhancing Demand - Driven Digital and Technical Skills Development in December 2019, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
7 June 2017 - Forum 2017 - Discovery Lab, Meet the Author: Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy
Ariel Ezrachi, Author of Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy.
Alistair Nolan, Senior Policy Analyst, Innovationand Policy Evaluation, Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD. OECD
Headquarters, Paris, France
Photo: OECD/Christian Moutarde
LOS ANGELES - More than a thousand firefighters from across Southern California were summoned to battle the wind-driven Getty wildfire incident, that erupted in the 1800 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard near the San Diego (I-405) Freeway and spread westward early October 28, 2019. The blaze thankfully led to no loss of life or serious injury, but consumed more than 700 acres and displaced thousands, ultimately destroying 12 homes and damaging 5 others.
Use of This Photo Permitted via Creative Commons - Credit: Eric French
LAFD Incident: 102819-0074
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