Dibujos materiales | Material Drawings is a series of hand-made materializations of generative computational designs. They are made of a custom-formula modelling paste, extruded by hand from a syringe, following a digital design that is projected line by line over the paper.

 

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Un infermer de l'Hospital de Mollet revisa els materials del carretó d'aturada. Un enfermero del Hospital de Mollet revisa los materiales del carro de paradas.

 

Autoria: Ariadna Creus i Àngel García

Used mostly materials from recent courses. Used PS, Nik, and Topaz. Not very realistic. Kept getting carried away with all the possibilities.

Shiva, meaning "The Auspicious One"), also known as Mahadeva ("Great God"), is a popular Hindu deity. Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God. He is the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.

 

Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome forms. At the highest level Shiva is limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.

 

The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorning, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument.

 

Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam. Temples of Lord Shiva are called shivalayam.

 

ETYMOLOGY & OTHER NAMES

The Sanskrit word Shiva (Devanagari: शिव, śiva) comes from Shri Rudram Chamakam of Taittiriya Samhita (TS 4.5, 4.7) of Krishna Yajurveda. The root word śi means auspicious. In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. The adjective śiva, is used as an attributive epithet not particularly of Rudra, but of several other Vedic deities.

 

The other popular names associated with Shiva are Mahadev, Mahesh, Maheshwar, Shankar, Shambhu, Rudra, Har, Trilochan, Devendra (meaning Chief of the gods) and Trilokinath (meaning Lord of the three realms).

 

The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the God Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. He is the oldest worshipped Lord of India.

 

The Tamil word Sivan, Tamil: சிவன் ("Fair Skinned") could have been derived from the word sivappu. The word 'sivappu' means "red" in Tamil language but while addressing a person's skin texture in Tamil the word 'Sivappu' is used for being Fair Skinned.

 

Adi Sankara, in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", or "the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)" or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name."Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama, further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure" or "the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas".

 

Shiva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great God"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"), Maheśvara ("Great Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"), and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").

 

There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.

 

The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

 

ASSIMILATION OF TRADITIONS

The figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. According to Vijay Nath:

 

Visnu and Siva [...] began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. [...] Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."

 

Axel Michaels the Indologist suggests that Shaivism, like Vaishnavism, implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.

 

An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.

 

INDUS VALLEY ORIGINS

Many Indus valley seals show animals but one seal that has attracted attention shows a figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro Pashupati (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva and have described the figure as having three faces seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined.

 

This claim has been criticised, with some academics like Gavin Flood and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded. Writing in 1997 Doris Srinivasan said that "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva'", rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Siva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. According to Iravatham Mahadevan symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity Murugan, popularly known as Shiva and Parvati's son.

 

INDO-EUROPEAN ORIGINS

Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others.

 

RUDRA

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.

 

The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods. Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances, but the term Shiva is used as an epithet for the gods Indra, Mitra and Agni many times. Since Shiva means pure, the epithet is possibly used to describe a quality of these gods rather than to identify any of them with the God Shiva.

 

The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudhra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:

 

Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: Śarva), and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages.

 

The word is derived from the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill", and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name Śarva as "One who can kill the forces of darkness". The names Dhanvin ("Bowman") and Bāṇahasta ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.

 

AGNI

Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:

 

The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.

 

In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.

 

INDRA

According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term śiva is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.

 

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana Culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,

 

Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethraghna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.

 

LATER VEDIC LITERATURE

Rudra's transformation from an ambiguously characterized deity to a supreme being began in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400-200 BCE), which founded the tradition of Rudra-Shiva worship. Here they are identified as the creators of the cosmos and liberators of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BCE to 100 CE also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva, with references to Shaiva ascetics in Patanjali's Mahabhasya and in the Mahabharata.

 

Early historical paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, depict Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi but no other Vedic gods.

 

PURANIC LITERATURE

The Shiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, discuss the various forms of Shiva and the cosmology associated with him.

 

TANTRIC LITERATURE

The Tantras, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, regard themselves as Sruti. Among these the Shaiva Agamas, are said to have been revealed by Shiva himself and are foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta.

 

POSITION WITHIN HINDUISM

 

SHAIVISM

Shaivism (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ, śaiva paṁtha) (Kannada: ಶೈವ ಪಂಥ) (Tamil: சைவ சமயம்) is the oldest of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", and also "Saivas" or "Saivites", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. The tantric Shaiva tradition consists of the Kapalikas, Kashmir Shaivism and Shaiva Siddhanta. The Shiva MahaPurana is one of the purāṇas, a genre of Hindu religious texts, dedicated to Shiva. Shaivism is widespread throughout India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, mostly. Areas notable for the practice of Shaivism include parts of Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

 

PANCHAYATANA PUJA

Panchayatana puja is the system of worship ('puja') in the Smarta sampradaya of Hinduism. It is said to have been introduced by Adi Shankara, the 8th century CE Hindu philosopher. It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Depending on the tradition followed by Smarta households, one of these deities is kept in the center and the other four surround it. Worship is offered to all the deities. The five are represented by small murtis, or by five kinds of stones, or by five marks drawn on the floor.

 

TRIMURTI

The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity", often addressed as "Brahma-Vishnu-Maheshwara."

 

ICONOGRAPHY AND PROPERTIES

 

ATTRIBUTES

Shiva's form: Shiva has a trident in the right lower arm, and a crescent moon on his head. He is said to be fair like camphor or like an ice clad mountain. He wears five serpents and a garland of skulls as ornaments. Shiva is usually depicted facing the south. His trident, like almost all other forms in Hinduism, can be understood as the symbolism of the unity of three worlds that a human faces - his inside world, his immediate world, and the broader overall world. At the base of the trident, all three forks unite.

 

Third eye: (Trilochana) Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word ambā or ambikā means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā. It has been mentioned that when Shiva loses his temper, his third eye opens which can destroy most things to ashes.

 

Crescent moon: (The epithets "Chandrasekhara/Chandramouli") - Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Candraśekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his crest" - candra = "moon"; śekhara = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon. The crescent moon is shown on the side of the Lord's head as an ornament. The waxing and waning phenomenon of the moon symbolizes the time cycle through which creation evolves from the beginning to the end.

 

Ashes: (The epithet "Bhasmaanga Raaga") - Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). The ashes are said to represent the end of all material existence. Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: śmaśānavāsin, also spelled Shmashanavasin), referring to this connection.

 

Matted hair: (The epithet "Jataajoota Dhari/Kapardina") - Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly. His hair is said to be like molten gold in color or being yellowish-white.

 

Blue throat: The epithet Nīlakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nīla = "blue", kaṇtha = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Goddess Parvati strangled his neck and hence managed to stop it in his neck itself and prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue. (See Maha Shivaratri.)

 

Sacred Ganges: (The epithet "Gangadhara") Bearer of Ganga. Ganges river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The Gaṅgā (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair. The flow of the Ganges also represents the nectar of immortality.

 

Tiger skin: (The epithet "Krittivasana").He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis.

 

Serpents: (The epithet "Nagendra Haara" or 'Vasoki"). Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.

 

Deer: His holding deer on one hand indicates that He has removed the Chanchalata of the mind (i.e., attained maturity and firmness in thought process). A deer jumps from one place to another swiftly, similar to the mind moving from one thought to another.

 

Trident: (Trishula): Shiva's particular weapon is the trident. His Trisul that is held in His right hand represents the three Gunas— Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. That is the emblem of sovereignty. He rules the world through these three Gunas. The Damaru in His left hand represents the Sabda Brahman. It represents OM from which all languages are formed. It is He who formed the Sanskrit language out of the Damaru sound.

 

Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru (ḍamaru). This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called ḍamaru-hasta (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kāpālika sect.

 

Axe: (Parashu):The parashu is the weapon of Lord Shiva who gave it to Parashurama, sixth Avatar of Vishnu, whose name means "Rama with the axe" and also taught him its mastery.

 

Nandī: (The epithet "Nandi Vaahana").Nandī, also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: vāhana). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra. Rishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is his vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.

 

Gaṇa: The Gaṇas (Devanagari: गण) are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title gaṇa-īśa or gaṇa-pati, "lord of the gaṇas".

 

Mount Kailāsa: Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount Kailāsa is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.

 

Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.

 

LINGAM

Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, the worship of Shiva in the form of a lingam, or linga, is also important. These are depicted in various forms. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column. Shiva means auspiciousness, and linga means a sign or a symbol. Hence, the Shivalinga is regarded as a "symbol of the great God of the universe who is all-auspiciousness". Shiva also means "one in whom the whole creation sleeps after dissolution". Linga also means the same thing—a place where created objects get dissolved during the disintegration of the created universe. Since, according to Hinduism, it is the same god that creates, sustains and withdraws the universe, the Shivalinga represents symbolically God Himself. Some scholars, such as Monier Monier-Williams and Wendy Doniger, also view linga as a phallic symbol, although this interpretation is disputed by others, including Christopher Isherwood, Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, and S.N. Balagangadhara.

 

JYOTIRLINGA

The worship of the Shiva-Linga originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.

 

The sacred of all Shiva linga is worshipped as Jyotir linga. Jyoti means Radiance, apart from relating Shiva linga as a phallus symbol, there are also arguments that Shiva linga means 'mark' or a 'sign'. Jyotirlinga means "The Radiant sign of The Almighty". The Jyotirlingas are mentioned in Shiva Purana.

 

SHAKTI

Shiva forms a Tantric couple with Shakti [Tamil : சக்தி ], the embodiment of energy, dynamism, and the motivating force behind all action and existence in the material universe. Shiva is her transcendent masculine aspect, providing the divine ground of all being. Shakti manifests in several female deities. Sati and Parvati are the main consorts of Shiva. She is also referred to as Uma, Durga (Parvata), Kali and Chandika. Kali is the manifestation of Shakti in her dreadful aspect. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla, the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatārini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Kālī is represented as the consort of Lord Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing or dancing. Shiva is the masculine force, the power of peace, while Shakti translates to power, and is considered as the feminine force. In the Vaishnava tradition, these realities are portrayed as Vishnu and Laxmi, or Radha and Krishna. These are differences in formulation rather than a fundamental difference in the principles. Both Shiva and Shakti have various forms. Shiva has forms like Yogi Raj (the common image of Himself meditating in the Himalayas), Rudra (a wrathful form) and Natarajar (Shiva's dance are the Lasya - the gentle form of dance, associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava - the violent and dangerous dance, associated with the destruction of weary worldviews – weary perspectives and lifestyles).

 

THE FIVE MANTRAS

Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (namaḥ śivāya).

 

Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the pañcabrahmans. As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography:

 

Sadyojāta

Vāmadeva

Aghora

Tatpuruṣha

Īsāna

 

These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch:

 

Through these transcendent categories, Śiva, the ultimate reality, becomes the efficient and material cause of all that exists.

 

According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad:

 

One should know all things of the phenomenal world as of a fivefold character, for the reason that the eternal verity of Śiva is of the character of the fivefold Brahman. (Pañcabrahma Upanishad 31)

 

FORMES AND ROLES

According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes.[168] The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.

 

DESTROYER AND BENEFACTOR

In the Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrific (Sanskrit: rudra) and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: śiva) forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.

 

The name Rudra (Sanskrit: रुद्र) reflects his fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara (Sanskrit: हर) is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as Kāla (Sanskrit: काल), "time", and as Mahākāla (Sanskrit: महाकाल), "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. Bhairava (Sanskrit: भैरव), "terrible" or "frightful", is a fierce form associated with annihilation.

 

In contrast, the name Śaṇkara (Sanskrit: शङ्कर), "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Śaṇkara (c. 788 - 820 CE), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name Śambhu (Sanskrit: शम्भु), "causing happiness", also reflects this benign aspect.

 

ASCETIC AND HOUSEHOLDER

He is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder, roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society.[185] When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: Mahā = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts. Shiva is also depicted as a corpse below Goddess Kali, it represents that Shiva is a corpse without Shakti. He remains inert. While Shiva is the static form, Mahakali or Shakti is the dynamic aspect without whom Shiva is powerless.

 

As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet Umāpati ("The husband of Umā") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, Umākānta and Umādhava, also appear in the sahasranama. Umā in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign Pārvatī. She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kamakshi and Meenakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya.

 

Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta - identified with regional deities Ayyappa and Ayyanar - is born. Shiva is also mentioned in some scriptures or folktales to have had daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. Even the demon Andhaka is sometimes considered a child of Shiva.

 

NATARAJA

he depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Tamil: நடராஜா,Kannada: ನಟರಾಜ, Telugu: నటరాజు, Sanskrit: naṭarāja, "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: nṛtyamūrti) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Lord Śiva does it by the tāṇḍavanṛtya. and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.

 

DAKSHINAMURTHY

Dakshinamurthy, or Dakṣiṇāmūrti (Tamil:தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி, Telugu: దక్షిణామూర్తి, Sanskrit: दक्षिणामूर्ति), literally describes a form (mūrti) of Shiva facing south (dakṣiṇa). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.

 

ARDANARISHVARA

An iconographic representation of Shiva called (Ardhanārīśvara) shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form (Ardhanārīśvara) is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman". According to legend, Lord Shiva is pleased by the difficult austerites performed by the goddess Parvati, grants her the left half of his body. This form of Shiva is quite similar to the Yin-Yang philosophy of Eastern Asia, though Ardhanārīśvara appears to be more ancient.

 

TRIRUPANTAKA

Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरान्तक, Tripurāntaka), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.[216] In this aspect, Shiva is depicted with four arms wielding a bow and arrow, but different from the Pinakapani murti. He holds an axe and a deer on the upper pair of his arms. In the lower pair of the arms, he holds a bow and an arrow respectively. After destroying Tripura, Tripurantaka Shiva smeared his forehead with three strokes of Ashes. This has become a prominent symbol of Shiva and is practiced even today by Shaivites.

 

OTHER FORMS, AVATARS IDENTIFICATIONS

Shiva, like some other Hindu deities, is said to have several incarnations, known as Avatars. Although Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" avatars of Shiva, the idea is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana speaks of twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars. According to the Svetasvatara Upanishad, he has four avatars.

 

In the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva and this belief is universal. Hanuman is popularly known as “Rudraavtaar” “Rudra” being a name of “Shiva”. Rama– the Vishnu avatar is considered by some to be the eleventh avatar of Rudra (Shiva).

 

Other traditions regard the sage Durvasa, the sage Agastya, the philosopher Adi Shankara, as avatars of Shiva. Other forms of Shiva include Virabhadra and Sharabha.

 

FESTIVALS

Maha Shivratri is a festival celebrated every year on the 13th night or the 14th day of the new moon in the Shukla Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna in the Hindu calendar. This festival is of utmost importance to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava' and it is the day that Lord Shiva was married to Parvati. The holiday is often celebrated with special prayers and rituals offered up to Shiva, notably the Abhishek. This ritual, practiced throughout the night, is often performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, and honey. Bel (aegle marmelos) leaves are often offered up to the Hindu god, as it is considered necessary for a successful life. The offering of the leaves are considered so important that it is believed that someone who offers them without any intentions will be rewarded greatly.

 

BEYOND HINDUISM

 

BUDDHISM

Shiva is mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as active, skillful, and more passive.

 

SIKHISM

The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, the Siddhas speak."

 

In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh have mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar.

 

OTHERS

The worship of Lord Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite (White Hun) Dynasty, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdiana and Eastern Turkestan as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sodgian dress. In Eastern Turkestan in the Taklamakan Desert. There is a depiction of his four-legged seated cross-legged n a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. Another panel form Dandan-Uilip shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with His Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva.

 

Kirant people, a Mongol tribe from Nepal, worship a form of Shiva as one of their major deity, identifying him as the lord of animals. It is also said that the physical form of Shiva as a yogi is derived from Kirants as it is mentioned in Mundhum that Shiva took human form as a child of Kirant. He is also said to give Kirants visions in form of a male deer.

 

In Indonesia, Shiva is also worshiped as Batara Guru. His other name is "Sang Hyang Jagadnata" (king of the universe) and "Sang Hyang Girinata" (king of mountains). In the ancient times, all kingdoms were located on top of mountains. When he was young, before receiving his authority of power, his name was Sang Hyang Manikmaya. He is first of the children who hatched from the eggs laid by Manuk Patiaraja, wife of god Mulajadi na Bolon. This avatar is also worshiped in Malaysia. Shiva's other form in Indonesian Hindu worship is "Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva). Both the forms are closely identified with the Sun in local forms of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims. Mostly Shiva is worshipped in the form of a lingam or the phallus.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Android Wall

Durante décadas, el imponente y emblemático edificio de la Universidad Laboral hubo de soportar críticas implacables desde distintos estamentos; se le tachaba de franquista, megalómano y anacrónico. Ha tenido que cumplir cincuenta años para que le llegara el definitivo reconocimiento de los medios oficiales a su valor patrimonial; el hasta hace poco alcalde de Gijón, Vicente Alvarez Areces, llega a considerarlo "el monumento arquitectónico más importante que se ha hecho durante este siglo en Asturias". En 1998 lo ponen de actualidad varios acontecimientos: en abril se recuerda su medio siglo de existencia; por mayo el Ayuntamiento de Gijón anuncia su rehabilitación con cargo a los fondos mineros, destinándose, al efecto, una partida de 5.000 millones; en el mes de septiembre, la Consejería de Cultura del Principado comienza los trámites para la declaración del conjunto arquitectónico como Bien de Interés Cultural. A todo ello se suma, en octubre, un congreso en torno a la figura de Luis Moya (1904-1990) — —arquitecto modelador de la Laboral—, organizado por la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED); al término del mismo había coincidencia en dos ideas: el virtuosismo arquitectónico de Luis Moya al proyectarlo y lo inapropiado del calificativo de franquista para la edificación. El arquitecto gijonés José Díez Canteli, uno de los cuatro miembros del equipo director, rechazaba, en el pasado mes de enero, la filiación de la Laboral al Régimen: "Siempre se insistió en su carácter político, pero eso es falso. No es franquista, es la obra de Luis Moya... La construcción estuvo desprovista de gestos políticos: no hubo ni primera piedra ni inauguración y Franco se mantuvo al margen". De distinta opinión es el historiador A. Bonet Correa, para quien el conjunto es "un modelo reducido de ciudad totalitaria..., la titánica y tiránica emanación deificada del Estado absoluto, autosuficiente y encerrado en su propia autarquía".

 

Esta gigantesca obra, la más representativa del régimen franquista en Gijón, empezó a levantarse en la parroquia de Cabueñes (afueras de la ciudad) en 1948 y se inauguró en 1956.

 

Concebida en su conjunto como una ciudad ideal, independiente, cerrada y autosuficiente, muy en consonancia con el autarquismo de la época, asombra por sus colosales dimensiones —dos veces y media mayor que El Escorial—, «la riqueza de materiales y la reutilización de modelos arquitectónicos clásicos» (J. Zatón, J. Feito). El núcleo principal del edificio, compuesto por la iglesia —con capacidad para 1.000 personas—, el rectorado y el teatro —para 1.500 espectadores—, se dispone en torno a una gran plaza mayor, parcialmente porticada, en tanto que la organización de las aulas, las habitaciones de los alumnos y las de las monjas clarisas —responsables de los servicios domésticos— responde a un sistema claustral. En el contorno se ubican los talleres, la zona de recreo —provista de jardines, estanque, piscina y pistas de deporte— y la granja-escuela.

 

La antigua Universidad Laboral tiene el acceso por la torre-puerta de su frente oriental —de espaldas a Gijón—, donde llama la atención un escudo con águila, yugo y flechas soportado por dos ángeles. Tras sobrepasarla, se llega a un rectangular patio circundado por columnas graníticas, a través del cual se ingresa en un desmesurado y claro patio, de 150 m de largo y 50 de ancho (un tamaño muy parecido a la veneciana Plaza de San Marcos).

 

La torre, con sus 120 m de altura, y la iglesia son evidentes muestras del grandonismo que caracteriza al conjunto arquitectónico. El templo, su realización más impactante, posee un cuerpo central izado sobre escalinatas circulares y otro más bajo y ancho sostenido por columnas. Su altar mayor está rodeado por cuatro columnas de granito rosa, de 40 toneladas de peso y de una sola pieza cada una de ellas. Exteriormente, sobresalen sus siete hornacinas, una de las cuales acoge la entrada; la cónica cubierta, y el linternón de piedra, de 270 toneladas de peso y 17 m de altura. Su cúpula, que descansa sobre veinte pares de nervaduras de ladrillo (del que se emplearon 450.000 unidades), pasa por ser la mayor del mundo en planta elíptica.

 

Frente a la fachada sur de la antigua Laboral se construyó un impresionante jardín árabe.

 

La historia de este edificio se remonta a 1945 cuando se decide la creación de un Orfelinato Minero para hijos de fallecidos en accidentes laborales, al que se le da el nombre de Fundación José Antonio Girón, por entonces ministro de Trabajo, quien lo declara como «Obra de urgente ejecución», con las siguientes características: residencia para 1.000 alumnos, talleres industriales, instalaciones deportivas, granja-escuela para atender las necesidades de los alumnos y el aprendizaje de las labores agrícolas, así como suficiente extensión de terreno para los cultivos. También habría alumnos externos.

 

El diseño fue confiado a un equipo de arquitectos coordinado por Luis Moya Blanco, en el que figuraron su hermano Ramiro Moya, Pedro Rodríguez A. de la Puente y el gijonés José Díez Canteli.

 

Los jardines son trazados por Javier de Winthuyssen, por entonces Inspector Nacional de Parques y Jardines Artísticos. Las esculturas son obra de Manuel Álvarez Laviada y Florentino Trapero, y los mosaicos se confían a Santiago Padrós, quien recurre al dibujo previo de los mismos sobre cartones realizado por el pintor sevillano Joaquín Valverde.

 

En el transcurso de las obras el Ministerio de Trabajo decide crear Universidades Laborales para la formación profesional de los jóvenes, de ahí que el Orfelinato Minero acabe transformándose en la Universidad Laboral de Gijón.

 

La enseñanza y dirección del centro se encomendó a los jesuitas; las monjas clarisas, que llegaron de Zamora y hoy continúan como monjas de clausura, se ocuparon de los servicios de cocina, lavandería, etc.

 

En 1978 se sustituye a los jesuitas y se entrega la dirección a personal docente de las Universidades Laborales. Éstas acaban siendo sustituidas por la fugaz figura de los Institutos Nacionales de Enseñanzas Integradas, que, tras pasar a titularidad del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia en 1981, acaban por denominarse Centros de Enseñanzas Integradas, nombre que aún se mantiene, aunque entre los asturianos el centro gijonés sigue siendo la Universidad Laboral o la Laboral.

 

Visitas: Todos los días, de 10 a 14 y de 16 a 20 h.

 

EL CENTRO DE ENSEÑANZAS INTEGRADAS, DE GIJON

 

PEDRO RODRÍGUEZ Y A. DE LA PUENTE

 

Arquitecto del equipo de Luis Moya

 

Madrid, diciembre de 1981

 

Con los ojos de ayer

 

Precisamente cuando la 2ª Revolución Tecnológica o del ordenador se va a iniciar en el mundo, nuestra ya muy extensa vida de trabajo, siempre profundo y reflexivo, sí que de alto coeficiente de dispersión, se encontró, por azar, en una transcedente encrucijada.

 

Se trataba de crear un excepcional centro de formación humana, profesional y social para poder encauzar a cierta parcela de nuestra más humilde juventud hacia buen fin. La idea, muy en embrión, se nos transmite, como miembro arquitecto que éramos de una entidad constructora y en la que se nos seleccionó para llevar a efecto tan loable objetivo. Muy a la española, lo primero que hacemos es lanzarnos a actuar. Luego meditamos: lo que se nos pide ha de ser excepcionalmente importante. ¿Hay garantía de éxito con nuestra humilde designación? Más bien, no. Nuestra incipiente vida profesional, con mucha y profunda vocación, eso sí, podría dar el fruto apetecido, mas no hay garantía de ello.

 

Entre tanto, la entidad que había de hacer realidad las ideas previstas abandona la labor. Con alto sentido de la responsabilidad profesional, pensamos después de la duda anterior que, si recayó sobre nosotros la designación, en mérito a ser miembro de tal organismo, debemos dimitir. Así lo hacemos, mas al hacerlo se nos pide consejo para proseguir con éxito la idea. Indicamos una terna de profesionales ya consagrados. Encabeza tal terna quien fuera nuestro catedrático: D. Luis Moya Blanco. Se acepta nuestra sugerencia, mas teniendo en cuenta la plena satisfacción con que ya se ha actuado por nuestra parte, se resuelve que, en cualquier caso, no se nos admite la dimisión, sino que por el contrario habremos de llevar la labor adelante, en colaboración con el que se designe, que lo fue D. Luis Moya. Así queda aceptado por nosotros, y rápidamente entramos en contacto los dos designados. Dado el extraordinario volumen de la labor a desarrollar, D. Luis Moya Blanco propone, y se acepta, la colaboración de otros dos compañeros para colaborar: D. Ramiro Moya Blanco y D. Enrique Huidobro Pardo. Este último abandona en el inicio de los trabajos, quedando la labor en manos de los otros tres.

 

Así se empieza en el año 1946 a trabajar intensivamente en la labor de proyecto, si bien con anterioridad se había realizado ya por nuestra parte y en colaboración con el ingeniero agrónomo D. Gabino Figar el Proyecto de Granja Agronómica (1ª parte), que luego se hizo realidad. Tal granja, según los fines previstos por la superioridad, había de tener como fin ayudar económicamente al mantenimiento futuro de la institución a crear. La idea, muy loable por cierto, iba encaminada a conseguir que los presuntos educandos pudiesen aportar su esfuerzo al propio mantenimiento. La explotación racional de los productos de la región valdría para su manutención. El exceso de la misma permitiría adquirir el resto.

 

Se inició la labor del Proyecto de la edificación principal (que a su terminación se llamó Universidad Laboral), con la colaboración de los tres arquitectos. El tono y directrices generales a seguir fue marcado por D. Luis Moya y seguido con devoción por los tres. Así, se adoptó el sistema modular, con 2,40 metros de módulo, que estructuró todo el conjunto. Así, también, se concibió la idea de resolver los temas de cubiertas y aun de forjados de piso, a base de bóvedas tabicadas; los muros resistentes, en piedra natural, con sillarejo a la española en paramentos exteriores; las composiciones arquitectónicas en fachadas, en base a normas griegas, etc., etc.

 

El arduo y penoso trabajo se organizó, tanto para para el proyecto como para la dirección de la obra y aun de las contratas, de forma bastante desdoblada: las líneas generales de la composición y las partes más destacadas arquitectónicamente de la misma fueron asumidas por D. Luis Moya; nuestra parte estuvo en lo más estrictamente funcional y prosaico, y la de D. Ramiro Moya compartió ambos aspectos.

 

Al comienzo de las obras y dado que los tres arquitectos citados residíamos en Madrid, se advirtió la conveniencia de la designación de un arquitecto local para compartir la dirección del todo, a pie de obra. Fue designado, a tal efecto, D. José Marcelino Díez Canteli, quien participó así en la totalidad de la obra ejecutada, ocupándose además y específicamente de las cuestiones puramente económicas.

 

La precisión que se hizo de población a alojar y formar fue de 1.000 alumnos internos, a base de 400 estudiantes y 600 aprendices. Al mismo tiempo se consideró un número variable y proporcionado de alumnos externos.

 

La labor de Proyecto se realizó a base de proyectos parciales, sucesivos, llegándose al número de 16 de éstos (aunque alguno no se llevó a efecto). Los diversos proyectos parciales se fueron sacando a concurso público, con apertura de pliegos ante notario, adjudicándose de manera inmediata y sucesiva. Cada uno de los arquitectos proyectistas se ocupó de la dirección de obra correspondiente a cada proyecto parcial, colaborando en la de todos ellos el arquitecto a pie de obra. Como dato curioso y anecdótico y a pesar de la existencia del arquitecto residente, el número de kilómetros recorridos para la asistencia a las obras de cada uno de los tres arquitectos de Madrid fue sensiblemente equivalente a tres vueltas al mundo, pasando por el ecuador.

 

La redacción de los proyectos se hizo a la manera tradicional hasta entonces, con definición general y algunos planos de detalle. En la marcha de las obras y según cronológica necesidad, exhaustiva aportación de planos, con definición rigurosa de todos los elementos de las obras (arquitectónicos, estructurales, instalaciones, etc.). Esta última aportación, bastante superior a lo tradicional y complicado con el hecho de adoptar, en general, soluciones constructivas al margen de lo común. No hubo ninguna pereza para complicarse el trabajo, en aras de los óptimos resultados arquitectóncios y constructivos. Se huyó, por todos los caminos de la frivolidad, ligereza y vanalidades decorativas (escayolas, ornatos insustanciales, carpinterías de serie, etc.).

 

Se entraba en los problemas, con profundidad severa y siempre pendientes del futuro mantenimiento. Dada la extraordinaria dimensión de la creación arquitectónica, se rehuyó toda solución que comportase un mantenimiento delicado y problemático. Se adoptó lo muy experimentado y sencillo, en materia de instalaciones.

 

La pizarra, adaptada para el todo como material de cubiertas, se fijó a una capa de mortero pobre de cemento, con grapas cadmiadas (el galvanizado usual, en aquel clima, podía dar problemas y los dio, precisamente por entonces, en el Parador de Valgrande —Pajares—, donde hubo de reponerse toda la cubierta por mala fijación).

 

La recogida de aguas pluviales, en general, se hizo sólo a nivel de suelo, con vertido libre desde cornisas de piedra, por goterones, y sin limas, canalones, ni bajantes de ningún tipo.

 

En las carpinterías, en general, de ventanas, las clásicas humedades bajo la peana del cerco, que afectan el interior tan corrientemente, se eliminaron a base de un sencillo goterón de madera, sobre las peanas de piedra.

 

Las humedades que, por capilaridad, suelen aparecer en las zonas bajas de los muros se evitaron intercalando en el arranque de los mismos una capa de 7 cm de mortero hidrófugo.

 

El aislamiento térmico y de humedades en suelos habitables de planta baja se consiguió mediante bóvedas de 2 hojas de rasilla, enjutadas con mortero pobre y apoyos de pie de ladrillo cada 2,40 m, formando cámara de aire.

 

Los paramentos, en general, de las zonas principales de tráfico de alumnos se revistieron con teselas de material vítreo y con alicatado de cerámica decorada a mano. En las zonas de estar y comedor, también se emplearon estos materiales, embebiendo en comedores, mosaicos decorativos, en el revestimiento vítreo.

 

En la zona de servicios de la Residencia de alumnos, se organizó: la preparación de alimentos, a base de bancadas de fábrica con tapa de mármol y peanas de ladrillo revestidas de material vítreo; la zona de hogares y marmitas de vapor se alojó bajo un chapitel abovedado, que remata en torreón con las salidas de humos, de cocinas y calderas. Se dio, así, una solución discreta a las necesarias chimeneas, que darían bajo la torre principal.

 

Los servicios higiénicos de la zona de Residencia de alumnos se resolvieron a la americana, a base de mamparas de mármol, con sujeción y apoyos de piezas especiales de fundición cromada (que hubieron de proyectarse, al no existir en el mercado). Se evitaron, así, los focos de suciedad.

 

La vidriería, en general, del conjunto se realizó a base de luna «securizada», por imposición de la propiedad que, en principio, pareció exagerada y luego se comprobó acertada. [Según nos dicen, en tanto tiempo transcurrido sólo se ha roto una «luneta» (?), mientras visitando el Centro de Córdoba, oímos las quejas sobre el disparatado gasto anual por roturas.]

 

Para las instalaciones de calefacción, realizamos un profundo estudio sobre rendimientos de combustibles. Se infirió de él que, a pesar de ser entonces equivalente el precio del combustible sólido (carbón) y líquido (fuel-oil), resultaba una gran ventaja económica y de mantenimiento en favor del líquido. Con carbón, se consume lo mismo siempre, al margen de la temperatura exterior. Con el líquido, de acuerdo con la temperatura ambiente. Con el primero, las calorías que sobran han de evacuarse por las ventanas; con el segundo, sólo llegan las necesarias. Ello unido al automatismo de funcionamiento, que evita mano de obra, nos llevó a instalar el combustible líquido (fuel-oil).

 

Hubo otras disquisiciones curiosas. Tal, la creación de la zona deportiva, con la programación conveniente. En nuestro país, el deporte madre indiscutible es el fútbol. Grave problema. Estudiada a fondo la cuestión, resulta ser un deporte insano, por asimétrico, según el plano horizontal (el tenis, también, según el vertical). Si se une ese hecho a la aberración, que todavía sigue en el país a costa del espectáculo en que se practica, nos llevó a eliminarlo en nuestros planes. Mas luego, recapacitando, se llegó a encauzarlo hábilmente. Valdría más que se practique en toda regla que a hurtadillas.

 

Los deportes sanos (balonvolea, baloncesto, balomnano a 7 y a 11, natación, etc.) se potenciaron debidamente en el programa. La pelota, con sus variantes, por su rancia solera hispana, se incluyó.

 

Con cuanto antecede hemos pretendido emitir unos reflejos de lo vivido y meditado en el principio, con su parte anecdótica.

 

Con los ojos de hoy

 

Vamos, ahora, a tratar de mirar hacia nuestra obra con los ojos de hoy.

 

Coincide el origen de los trabajos con la aparición del ordenador electrónico en Norteamérica. Es un hecho de la máxima trascendencia humana, que en principio sorprende a Europa, aunque ésta no le conceda por entonces la importancia que habría de tener para la vida toda de la humanidad. El hecho es tan trascendente que hoy se juzga que, a partir de él y debido a él, la humanidad ha progresado más que en toda su larga vida. El progreso en los últimos 30 años es superior al logrado en tantos milenios anteriores.

 

La creación de tal máquina electrónica produce instantáneamente una convulsión inaudita. El progreso todo lo desborda, rompiendo vertiginosamente toda inercia de la vida anterior. Se consiguió, de alguna manera, aplicar la «máquina», surgida 100 años antes (Primera Revolución Industrial) al pensamiento humano. Se abrieron los caminos a la máquina pensante.

 

Nace así la llamada 2ª Revolución Industrial o tecnológica, en la cual nos hallamos inmersos. La vida toda de la sociedad cambió, cambia y cambiará. La marcha es vertiginosa, los logros sucesivos, sorprendentes. Mas ¿hacia dónde vamos? Nadie lo sabe.

 

Los frutos conseguidos, día a día, son tan ubérrimos que el hombre se limita a recogerlos sobre la marcha y digerirlos rápidamente. Traen el bienestar corporal, mas no el espiritual. Tanta velocidad impide reconocer el camino. El espíritu vive preocupado.

 

Y mientras, cada cual ha de ir resolviendo su vida y previniendo, en lo posible, su futuro. Labor difícil y muy aleatoria. La sociedad toda está convulsa, alterada, desorientada, ante tanta sorprendente maravilla. Se está más dispuesto al aprovechamiento propio de los frutos logrados que a pensar en las consecuencias de los mismos. Todos, a ver la televisión y a ser posible en color; cada cual, a aportar toda clase de automatismos a su labor; cada cual, a comunicarse con los demás, por radiofrecuencia y si es preciso por vía satélite; algunos, a escudriñar con aeronaves, a millones de kilómetros de la Tierra; otros, a buscar la ayuda de los rayos láser para sus específicas labores, y, en fin, algún privilegiado... a dar un paseo por la Luna. ¡Sorprendente!

 

Damos así una idea sobre el panorama que sirve de fondo a nuestra visión de hoy de la labor de ayer en Gijón.

 

El ojo de este observador, ¿cómo no?, también está alterado. Mira desde la función docente, que al final de su activa vida de trabajo le trajo la felicidad a través de la convivencia educativa con nuestra maravillosa juventud actual. Impartimos, ahora, la apertura hacia la formación matemática en un Instituto Femenino de Bachillerato de la capital. Precisamente de la materia filosófica, que trajo tan inconmensurable progreso.

 

El hecho actual es que la sociedad anterior, la que había a la hora de concebir nuestra obra, ya no vale. Ha de cambiar para atemperarse. La formación de la juventud hoy ha de ser muy distinta a la concebible entonces. Es una realidad que nos cuesta, en nuestro añejo país, asimilar. Hay que enfocar los caminos a seguir por cada cual, por encima de todo, en el terreno de la eficacia del servicio a la sociedad, pero absolutamente desprovistos de prejuicios anacrónicos, que ya no deben existir. Esto al país le cuesta tanto que por ahora la frustración es palpable. Todos hacia el pomposo título académico y, a ser posible, que éste sea el superior. Grave desprecio del trabajo manual: la llamada Formación Profesional, como recurso de fracasados. Disparate total, que ahora mismo el M.E.C. trata de eliminar. Mas ¿cómo? Dignificando como se merece el trabajo total, sea instelectual, sea corporal.

 

Los valores humanos son tantos que sólo una mínima parte de ellos se pone en rendimiento. La mayoría muere con la persona, en estado potencial. Lo razonable ha de ser, sin discriminación alguna, analizar el caudal de valores de cada individuo y poner en rendimiento la parcela de los mismos que mejor pueda producir un resultado óptimo profesional y ello enfocado objetivamente a llenar los huecos que la sociedad pueda demandar. Lo demás es gravemente erróneo en una sociedad presidida por la eficacia.

 

Trabajo cerebral y trabajo corporal no son conjuntos disjuntos, sino complementarios. Ambos merecen el máximo respeto. Así ha de ser y así es, en efecto, en los países a la cabeza del desarrollo (USA, Suiza, Japón, etc.). En España no se acaba de entender así. Esperemos que muy pronto la feliz iniciativa del MEC pueda resolverlo.

 

En Estados Unidos se aplica el ordenador para componer con las cualidades que comporta cada individuo un perfecto profesional para cada uno de las miles de profesiones que allí existen.

 

En Suiza, sin ninguna clase de prejuicios sociales, cada educndo es encajado hacia la profesión que mejor le va. Si ha de acabar de ingeniero superior en Zurich, previamente realizará cuatro cursos de aprendizaje y práctica de oficios manuales. Si ha de acabar en albañil, se le dará una sólida base cultural adecuada a su función, con clases teóricas debidamente programadas y clases prácticas proporcionadas. (Al darnos cuenta en una importante conferencia dada por un «Orientador Profesional» de aquel país, en el Colejo Suizo de Madrid, cierto padre español observó: «Veo yo que es más difícil ser albañil en Suiza que ingeniero de Caminos en España». Curioso.)

 

En Alemania todas las enseñanzas de todas las profesiones llevan tal complemento de trabajos manuales que da lugar, al final, al hecho de que cuando dos profesionales se casan lo corriente sea que entre ambos se decoren y amueblen su alojamiento. (Cierto español inteligente, precisamente de la familia leonesa-gijonesa, al acabar brillantemente su carrera de Ingeniero Superior, inició por propia iniciativa su vida profesional con los más variados oficios, como obrero en industrias de Alemania. A su vuelta, una empresa japonesa, para su nueva factoría en España, solicitaba, por un anuncio en un diario, ingeniero español con curriculum vitae adecuado. Rápidamente, nuestro hombre acudió a la llamada y tuvo éxito contundente; con sueldo mensual superior a las 400.000 pesetas, fue designado director de la factoría.)

 

En Japón el trabajo corporal está casi eliminado. Las factorías trabajan a base de automátas, que han de ser creados a base de culturizar extraordinariamente a los que deberían ser operarios. No existe paro y las huelgas consisten en trabajar en exceso, alterando lo previsto por la dirección de empresa. Culminación del progreso actual, con el resentimiento competitivo del mercado mundial.

 

Y siendo así los tiempos que vivimos, resulta reconfortante mirar nuestro Censo de Enseñanzas Integradas y descubrir que, para el mundo de hoy, resulta tan atemperado que hasta el tan pomposo, como inadecuado, título que se le dio a su final, Universidad Laboral, respondía, aunque por exceso, al deseo de dignificar la llamada Formación Profesional. Así mismo, las miras de entonces de que arquitectónica y funcionalmente fuera algo extraordinario con soluciones y ambientes fuera de lo común, ¿no respondería a lo mismo?

 

Lo cierto es que hoy día resulta muy acorde con la época. La conveniente orientación entre lo teórico o cerebral y lo práctico o manual está aquí y debidamente adobado. Inclusive, tanta simplicidad y ligereza como suele llevar la arquitectura hasta ahora vigente resulta aquí superado, algo de acuerdo con la reacción, que ya se apunta, de contenido histórico-espiritual.

 

Desde el punto de vista de la eficacia en su función, también resulta grato observar que lo que se llama en lenguaje industrial el «producto terminado» es aquí óptimo. Las personas aquí formadas están tan solicitdas que para ellas no hay problema de paro. Sin salir de la región siquiera, todas, prácticamente todas, laboran felices, en bien de todo nuestro gran país.

 

Apuntemos, finalmente, otro síntoma reconfortante: En la creciente visita del ministro de Educación de la URSS al Centro, mostró asombro y admiración, a la par que hacía ver que éste era el camino, al margen de lo que se viene haciendo por el mundo de hoy.

 

Meditación final

 

Analizado el inaudito progreso actual, fácilmente se colige que afecta especialmente a lo puramente material, mas no así a lo espiritual. Cualquier profesión, hoy, ejercida con eficacia, se ve compensada ampliamente, en lo material (todos con coche, televisión, vacación, electrodomésticos, etc.). Mas la verdadera felicidad anda por otros caminos, más bien espirituales. Es el caso de una boyante empresa de ahora que organiza un viaje de recreo a Florencia, o Siena, por ejemplo. Todos llegan triunfantes allí, mas sus aires triunfales poco a poco decaen ante tanta maravilla espiritual. El inverosímil cúmulo de creaciones humanas espirituales (religiosas, artísticas, etc.) les deja absortos y bastante deprimidos. La vuelta es más bien depresiva.

 

Pues bien, traducido este aspecto al ejercicio profesional del arquitecto, la cuestión es clara. La arquitectura que hoy ha de practicarse perdió con el progreso actual la mayoría de sus indiscutibles encantos espirituales. La clave de hoy está en encajar a través de los proyectos toda clase de dispositivos logrados con el progreso. Labor penosamente aburrida y difícil. ¡Son tantos! El objetivo final indiscutible: producir beneficios (?). (Recientemente, un compañero arquitecto de Madrid trazaba las ideas primeras de un complejo e importante conjunto de bloques de viviendas para una empresa francesa de prefabricación. Al mostrar dos variantes posibles al directivo de tal empresa, opinó: «Esta solución me parece más bonita». «Bien —respondió el empresario—, y la estética ¿cuánto me renta a mí?». Es lo de hoy.)

 

Vistas así las cosas y así son. ¿Qué duda cabe que los arquitectos que hace unos treinta años tuvimos la suerte de poder hacer nuestra arquitectura en Gijón fuimos por encima de todo felices con ello?

 

Trabajo excesivo, superlativo. Del estudio, al tren; del tren, a la obra, y vuelta rápida al estudio. Planos y planos y miles de planos. Felicidad de crear en libertad total, un algo nuevo, útil a la sociedad, pero todo ello regido por el agrado espiritual.

 

Y ¿qué decir de la atmósfera vivida en las obras, rodeados de tantos y tantos maravillosos artesanos, que ya no hay apenas, llámense albañiles, canteros, cerrajeros, carpinteros, etc.?

 

Queremos, en esta ocasión, rendir tributo de admiración y cariño al recuerdo de todo aquel plantel de personas, de todas las condiciones sociales, que tanto y tanto y con tanta satisfacción y esmero hicieron para que todas nuestras buenas intenciones fueran una realidad, que hoy tonifica nuestra ya 3ª edad.

 

Y un último triste recuerdo a aquel modesto trabajador que en un trágico día halló la muerte, bajo una pesada dovela pétrea, de nuestro porche de recreo cubierto, en las clases de estudiantes. Desgraciada maniobra de desapuntalamiento, análoga a otra que causó muchas víctimas al realizar las obras del Canal de Isabel II, en Madrid. Los empujes transmitidos por una sucesión de arcos se absorben en los extremos, al final. En ambos casos, se pensó que ya estaban absorbidos, erróneamente. La impresión de aquel triste entierro sigue en nosotros. Descanse en paz.

material; mixed media Installation

date; 2024

Raw paper produced for the production of Tetra Pak® packaging material. For reference: IB01490.

The mission of Brookhaven's Advanced Materials Group is to conduct research on materials in extreme environments for advanced energy systems. As part of that mission, the group utilizes synchrotron characterization techniques such as diffraction, spectroscopy, and imaging and is developing sample chambers for the in situ study of materials at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). Group members Avishai Ofan and Simerjeet Gill are shown at beamline X14A at the NSLS.

Shelly Materials SD18M, a plant switcher for a stone company rest on what used to be the Erie Main in Middlebury, OH.

St James

 

II Parish church of 1839-42. Architect unknown.

 

MATERIALS: Roughcast walls with smooth-rendered architraves, hammer-dressed quoins and buttresses, coursed masonry to upper stage of tower, slate roof.

 

PLAN: Nave with west tower flanked by porches (originally with gallery stairs), short chancel with north and south vestries; parish centre extension on the south-west side.

 

EXTERIOR: Neo-Norman style church with a broad and tall nave designed to accommodate a gallery. The main front is the west, which closes the vista down St James' Street, and is painted cream. The three-stage tower has angle-buttresses in the lower two stages, and a cornice on head corbels to an arcaded parapet and large square corner pinnacles. The tall round-headed west doorway has continuous moulding and replacement doors. In the second stage is a two-light window, incorporating shafts with scalloped capitals, below bullseye windows in lozenge frames, except for the west face where a clock was inserted in 1925. The upper stage openings are in recessed panels below Lombard friezes, and have shafts with scalloped capitals and chevrons in the arches. Tall porches are built as lean-tos against the tower. Former doorways, which have simple continuous chevrons, have been converted to windows, above which are windows to the former stairs. The nave is six narrow buttressed bays with round-headed windows. On the south side the first two bays are obscured by the parish centre. On the north side is a doorway in the fifth bay. The chancel has triple stepped east windows. On the south side the low vestry projects beyond the east end of the chancel, and has two round-headed windows in the east gable end, and a studded south door. The north lean-to vestry has a round-headed east window.

 

INTERIOR: The nave, a cavernous space now that galleries have been removed, has a queen-post roof on corbelled brackets with arcading above the tie-beams, and a plastered ceiling behind which is divided into large panels. The chancel arch has semi-circular responds with waterleaf capitals, and chevron in the stepped arch. The chancel has a plaster barrel ceiling, and a tile floor. Walls are exposed rubble stone with freestone dressings, and in the west wall is a blind arch in the second stage of the tower that might originally have opened to the gallery. The west part of the nave has been separated from the main body of the church by a partition, integral with the parish centre extension. Original stairs have been removed from the west porches.

 

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: Many original fixtures have been removed. Benches from the original gallery have been set up in a new west gallery, and have shaped ends. The Perpendicular font, probably of 1839, has Passion and other symbols around the bowl, on an arcaded stem. The nave retains a dado, in which the upper tier of panelling is arcaded, but original seating has been removed. The chancel also has a dado, the upper tier of which is arcaded. In the east wall the panels have painted metal boards with texts of Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, Apostle's Creed, and four of the 39 Articles. The east window show the Ascension and saints and two brightly coloured nave windows from the 1860s show New Testament scenes.

 

HISTORY: The architect of this church is not known. It had a conventional late-Georgian layout: nave with gallery, short chancel, and porches with gallery stairs separate from the entrance to the main body of the church. It was substantially altered c2000 when an extension was built on the south-west side of the church, and the porches and west end of the nave were separated from the main body of the church.

 

SOURCES: Hartwell, C. and Pevsner, N., The Buildings of England, Lancashire North (2009), 241.

 

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/107235...

 

Professional Photographer's of America Expo in Nashville (January 2026). Shooting with the lovely Kat at the Opryland Resort.

  

Copyright © Independent Photographer

 

All copyright and other intellectual property rights, as well as the material on my FLICKR page, are reserved.

   

United Nations Headquarters

New York, New York

 

10:18 A.M. EDT

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen: Seventy years after the founding of the United Nations, it is worth reflecting on what, together, the members of this body have helped to achieve.

 

Out of the ashes of the Second World War, having witnessed the unthinkable power of the atomic age, the United States has worked with many nations in this Assembly to prevent a third world war -- by forging alliances with old adversaries; by supporting the steady emergence of strong democracies accountable to their people instead of any foreign power; and by building an international system that imposes a cost on those who choose conflict over cooperation, an order that recognizes the dignity and equal worth of all people.

 

That is the work of seven decades. That is the ideal that this body, at its best, has pursued. Of course, there have been too many times when, collectively, we have fallen short of these ideals. Over seven decades, terrible conflicts have claimed untold victims. But we have pressed forward, slowly, steadily, to make a system of international rules and norms that are better and stronger and more consistent.

 

It is this international order that has underwritten unparalleled advances in human liberty and prosperity. It is this collective endeavor that’s brought about diplomatic cooperation between the world’s major powers, and buttressed a global economy that has lifted more than a billion people from poverty. It is these international principles that helped constrain bigger countries from imposing our will on smaller ones, and advanced the emergence of democracy and development and individual liberty on every continent.

 

This progress is real. It can be documented in lives saved, and agreements forged, and diseases conquered, and in mouths fed. And yet, we come together today knowing that the march of human progress never travels in a straight line, that our work is far from complete; that dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world.

 

Today, we see the collapse of strongmen and fragile states breeding conflict, and driving innocent men, women and children across borders on an epic scale. Brutal networks of terror have stepped into the vacuum. Technologies that empower individuals are now also exploited by those who spread disinformation, or suppress dissent, or radicalize our youth. Global capital flows have powered growth and investment, but also increased risk of contagion, weakened the bargaining power of workers, and accelerated inequality.

 

How should we respond to these trends? There are those who argue that the ideals enshrined in the U.N. charter are unachievable or out of date -- a legacy of a postwar era not suited to our own. Effectively, they argue for a return to the rules that applied for most of human history and that pre-date this institution: the belief that power is a zero-sum game; that might makes right; that strong states must impose their will on weaker ones; that the rights of individuals don’t matter; and that in a time of rapid change, order must be imposed by force.

 

On this basis, we see some major powers assert themselves in ways that contravene international law. We see an erosion of the democratic principles and human rights that are fundamental to this institution’s mission; information is strictly controlled, the space for civil society restricted. We’re told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder; that it’s the only way to stamp out terrorism, or prevent foreign meddling. In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad, who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children, because the alternative is surely worse.

 

The increasing skepticism of our international order can also be found in the most advanced democracies. We see greater polarization, more frequent gridlock; movements on the far right, and sometimes the left, that insist on stopping the trade that binds our fates to other nations, calling for the building of walls to keep out immigrants. Most ominously, we see the fears of ordinary people being exploited through appeals to sectarianism, or tribalism, or racism, or anti-Semitism; appeals to a glorious past before the body politic was infected by those who look different, or worship God differently; a politics of us versus them.

 

The United States is not immune from this. Even as our economy is growing and our troops have largely returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, we see in our debates about America’s role in the world a notion of strength that is defined by opposition to old enemies, perceived adversaries, a rising China, or a resurgent Russia; a revolutionary Iran, or an Islam that is incompatible with peace. We see an argument made that the only strength that matters for the United States is bellicose words and shows of military force; that cooperation and diplomacy will not work.

 

As President of the United States, I am mindful of the dangers that we face; they cross my desk every morning. I lead the strongest military that the world has ever known, and I will never hesitate to protect my country or our allies, unilaterally and by force where necessary.

 

But I stand before you today believing in my core that we, the nations of the world, cannot return to the old ways of conflict and coercion. We cannot look backwards. We live in an integrated world -- one in which we all have a stake in each other’s success. We cannot turn those forces of integration. No nation in this Assembly can insulate itself from the threat of terrorism, or the risk of financial contagion; the flow of migrants, or the danger of a warming planet. The disorder we see is not driven solely by competition between nations or any single ideology. And if we cannot work together more effectively, we will all suffer the consequences. That is true for the United States, as well.

 

No matter how powerful our military, how strong our economy, we understand the United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone. In Iraq, the United States learned the hard lesson that even hundreds of thousands of brave, effective troops, trillions of dollars from our Treasury, cannot by itself impose stability on a foreign land. Unless we work with other nations under the mantle of international norms and principles and law that offer legitimacy to our efforts, we will not succeed. And unless we work together to defeat the ideas that drive different communities in a country like Iraq into conflict, any order that our militaries can impose will be temporary.

 

Just as force alone cannot impose order internationally, I believe in my core that repression cannot forge the social cohesion for nations to succeed. The history of the last two decades proves that in today’s world, dictatorships are unstable. The strongmen of today become the spark of revolution tomorrow. You can jail your opponents, but you can’t imprison ideas. You can try to control access to information, but you cannot turn a lie into truth. It is not a conspiracy of U.S.-backed NGOs that expose corruption and raise the expectations of people around the globe; it’s technology, social media, and the irreducible desire of people everywhere to make their own choices about how they are governed.

 

Indeed, I believe that in today’s world, the measure of strength is no longer defined by the control of territory. Lasting prosperity does not come solely from the ability to access and extract raw materials. The strength of nations depends on the success of their people -- their knowledge, their innovation, their imagination, their creativity, their drive, their opportunity -- and that, in turn, depends upon individual rights and good governance and personal security. Internal repression and foreign aggression are both symptoms of the failure to provide this foundation.

 

A politics and solidarity that depend on demonizing others, that draws on religious sectarianism or narrow tribalism or jingoism may at times look like strength in the moment, but over time its weakness will be exposed. And history tells us that the dark forces unleashed by this type of politics surely makes all of us less secure. Our world has been there before. We gain nothing from going back.

 

Instead, I believe that we must go forward in pursuit of our ideals, not abandon them at this critical time. We must give expression to our best hopes, not our deepest fears. This institution was founded because men and women who came before us had the foresight to know that our nations are more secure when we uphold basic laws and basic norms, and pursue a path of cooperation over conflict. And strong nations, above all, have a responsibility to uphold this international order.

 

Let me give you a concrete example. After I took office, I made clear that one of the principal achievements of this body -- the nuclear non-proliferation regime -- was endangered by Iran’s violation of the NPT. On that basis, the Security Council tightened sanctions on the Iranian government, and many nations joined us to enforce them. Together, we showed that laws and agreements mean something.

 

But we also understood that the goal of sanctions was not simply to punish Iran. Our objective was to test whether Iran could change course, accept constraints, and allow the world to verify that its nuclear program will be peaceful. For two years, the United States and our partners -- including Russia, including China -- stuck together in complex negotiations. The result is a lasting, comprehensive deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while allowing it to access peaceful energy. And if this deal is fully implemented, the prohibition on nuclear weapons is strengthened, a potential war is averted, our world is safer. That is the strength of the international system when it works the way it should.

 

That same fidelity to international order guides our responses to other challenges around the world. Consider Russia’s annexation of Crimea and further aggression in eastern Ukraine. America has few economic interests in Ukraine. We recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine. But we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today. That’s the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia. It's not a desire to return to a Cold War.

 

Now, within Russia, state-controlled media may describe these events as an example of a resurgent Russia -- a view shared, by the way, by a number of U.S. politicians and commentators who have always been deeply skeptical of Russia, and seem to be convinced a new Cold War is, in fact, upon us. And yet, look at the results. The Ukrainian people are more interested than ever in aligning with Europe instead of Russia. Sanctions have led to capital flight, a contracting economy, a fallen ruble, and the emigration of more educated Russians.

 

Imagine if, instead, Russia had engaged in true diplomacy, and worked with Ukraine and the international community to ensure its interests were protected. That would be better for Ukraine, but also better for Russia, and better for the world -- which is why we continue to press for this crisis to be resolved in a way that allows a sovereign and democratic Ukraine to determine its future and control its territory. Not because we want to isolate Russia -- we don't -- but because we want a strong Russia that’s invested in working with us to strengthen the international system as a whole.

 

Similarly, in the South China Sea, the United States makes no claim on territory there. We don't adjudicate claims. But like every nation gathered here, we have an interest in upholding the basic principles of freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce, and in resolving disputes through international law, not the law of force. So we will defend these principles, while encouraging China and other claimants to resolve their differences peacefully.

 

I say this, recognizing that diplomacy is hard; that the outcomes are sometimes unsatisfying; that it's rarely politically popular. But I believe that leaders of large nations, in particular, have an obligation to take these risks -- precisely because we are strong enough to protect our interests if, and when, diplomacy fails.

 

I also believe that to move forward in this new era, we have to be strong enough to acknowledge when what you’re doing is not working. For 50 years, the United States pursued a Cuba policy that failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people. We changed that. We continue to have differences with the Cuban government. We will continue to stand up for human rights. But we address these issues through diplomatic relations, and increased commerce, and people-to-people ties. As these contacts yield progress, I’m confident that our Congress will inevitably lift an embargo that should not be in place anymore. (Applause.) Change won’t come overnight to Cuba, but I’m confident that openness, not coercion, will support the reforms and better the life the Cuban people deserve, just as I believe that Cuba will find its success if it pursues cooperation with other nations.

 

Now, if it’s in the interest of major powers to uphold international standards, it is even more true for the rest of the community of nations. Look around the world. From Singapore to Colombia to Senegal, the facts shows that nations succeed when they pursue an inclusive peace and prosperity within their borders, and work cooperatively with countries beyond their borders.

 

That path is now available to a nation like Iran, which, as of this moment, continues to deploy violent proxies to advance its interests. These efforts may appear to give Iran leverage in disputes with neighbors, but they fuel sectarian conflict that endangers the entire region, and isolates Iran from the promise of trade and commerce. The Iranian people have a proud history, and are filled with extraordinary potential. But chanting “Death to America” does not create jobs, or make Iran more secure. If Iran chose a different path, that would be good for the security of the region, good for the Iranian people, and good for the world.

 

Of course, around the globe, we will continue to be confronted with nations who reject these lessons of history, places where civil strife, border disputes, and sectarian wars bring about terrorist enclaves and humanitarian disasters. Where order has completely broken down, we must act, but we will be stronger when we act together.

 

In such efforts, the United States will always do our part. We will do so mindful of the lessons of the past -- not just the lessons of Iraq, but also the example of Libya, where we joined an international coalition under a U.N. mandate to prevent a slaughter. Even as we helped the Libyan people bring an end to the reign of a tyrant, our coalition could have and should have done more to fill a vacuum left behind. We’re grateful to the United Nations for its efforts to forge a unity government. We will help any legitimate Libyan government as it works to bring the country together. But we also have to recognize that we must work more effectively in the future, as an international community, to build capacity for states that are in distress, before they collapse.

 

And that’s why we should celebrate the fact that later today the United States will join with more than 50 countries to enlist new capabilities -- infantry, intelligence, helicopters, hospitals, and tens of thousands of troops -- to strengthen United Nations peacekeeping. (Applause.) These new capabilities can prevent mass killing, and ensure that peace agreements are more than words on paper. But we have to do it together. Together, we must strengthen our collective capacity to establish security where order has broken down, and to support those who seek a just and lasting peace.

 

Nowhere is our commitment to international order more tested than in Syria. When a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation’s internal affairs -- it breeds human suffering on an order of magnitude that affects us all. Likewise, when a terrorist group beheads captives, slaughters the innocent and enslaves women, that’s not a single nation’s national security problem -- that is an assault on all humanity.

 

I’ve said before and I will repeat: There is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like ISIL, and the United States makes no apologies for using our military, as part of a broad coalition, to go after them. We do so with a determination to ensure that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes. And we have demonstrated over more than a decade of relentless pursuit of al Qaeda, we will not be outlasted by extremists.

 

But while military power is necessary, it is not sufficient to resolve the situation in Syria. Lasting stability can only take hold when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully. The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.

  

Let’s remember how this started. Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing that, in turn, created the environment for the current strife. And so Assad and his allies cannot simply pacify the broad majority of a population who have been brutalized by chemical weapons and indiscriminate bombing. Yes, realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out ISIL. But realism also requires a managed transition away from Assad and to a new leader, and an inclusive government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so that the Syrian people can begin to rebuild.

 

We know that ISIL -- which emerged out of the chaos of Iraq and Syria -- depends on perpetual war to survive. But we also know that they gain adherents because of a poisonous ideology. So part of our job, together, is to work to reject such extremism that infects too many of our young people. Part of that effort must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence, and it must also a rejection by non-Muslims of the ignorance that equates Islam with terror. (Applause.)

 

This work will take time. There are no easy answers to Syria. And there are no simple answers to the changes that are taking place in much of the Middle East and North Africa. But so many families need help right now; they don’t have time. And that’s why the United States is increasing the number of refugees who we welcome within our borders. That’s why we will continue to be the largest donor of assistance to support those refugees. And today we are launching new efforts to ensure that our people and our businesses, our universities and our NGOs can help as well -- because in the faces of suffering families, our nation of immigrants sees ourselves.

 

Of course, in the old ways of thinking, the plight of the powerless, the plight of refugees, the plight of the marginalized did not matter. They were on the periphery of the world’s concerns. Today, our concern for them is driven not just by conscience, but should also be drive by self-interest. For helping people who have been pushed to the margins of our world is not mere charity, it is a matter of collective security. And the purpose of this institution is not merely to avoid conflict, it is to galvanize the collective action that makes life better on this planet.

 

The commitments we’ve made to the Sustainable Development Goals speak to this truth. I believe that capitalism has been the greatest creator of wealth and opportunity that the world has ever known. But from big cities to rural villages around the world, we also know that prosperity is still cruelly out of reach for too many. As His Holiness Pope Francis reminds us, we are stronger when we value the least among these, and see them as equal in dignity to ourselves and our sons and our daughters.

 

We can roll back preventable disease and end the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We can stamp out pandemics that recognize no borders. That work may not be on television right now, but as we demonstrated in reversing the spread of Ebola, it can save more lives than anything else we can do.

 

Together, we can eradicate extreme poverty and erase barriers to opportunity. But this requires a sustained commitment to our people -- so farmers can feed more people; so entrepreneurs can start a business without paying a bribe; so young people have the skills they need to succeed in this modern, knowledge-based economy.

 

We can promote growth through trade that meets a higher standard. And that’s what we’re doing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- a trade agreement that encompasses nearly 40 percent of the global economy; an agreement that will open markets, while protecting the rights of workers and protecting the environment that enables development to be sustained.

 

We can roll back the pollution that we put in our skies, and help economies lift people out of poverty without condemning our children to the ravages of an ever-warming climate. The same ingenuity that produced the Industrial Age and the Computer Age allows us to harness the potential of clean energy. No country can escape the ravages of climate change. And there is no stronger sign of leadership than putting future generations first. The United States will work with every nation that is willing to do its part so that we can come together in Paris to decisively confront this challenge.

 

And finally, our vision for the future of this Assembly, my belief in moving forward rather than backwards, requires us to defend the democratic principles that allow societies to succeed. Let me start from a simple premise: Catastrophes, like what we are seeing in Syria, do not take place in countries where there is genuine democracy and respect for the universal values this institution is supposed to defend. (Applause.)

 

I recognize that democracy is going to take different forms in different parts of the world. The very idea of a people governing themselves depends upon government giving expression to their unique culture, their unique history, their unique experiences. But some universal truths are self-evident. No person wants to be imprisoned for peaceful worship. No woman should ever be abused with impunity, or a girl barred from going to school. The freedom to peacefully petition those in power without fear of arbitrary laws -- these are not ideas of one country or one culture. They are fundamental to human progress. They are a cornerstone of this institution.

 

I realize that in many parts of the world there is a different view -- a belief that strong leadership must tolerate no dissent. I hear it not only from America’s adversaries, but privately at least I also hear it from some of our friends. I disagree. I believe a government that suppresses peaceful dissent is not showing strength; it is showing weakness and it is showing fear. (Applause.) History shows that regimes who fear their own people will eventually crumble, but strong institutions built on the consent of the governed endure long after any one individual is gone.

 

That's why our strongest leaders -- from George Washington to Nelson Mandela -- have elevated the importance of building strong, democratic institutions over a thirst for perpetual power. Leaders who amend constitutions to stay in office only acknowledge that they failed to build a successful country for their people -- because none of us last forever. It tells us that power is something they cling to for its own sake, rather than for the betterment of those they purport to serve.

 

I understand democracy is frustrating. Democracy in the United States is certainly imperfect. At times, it can even be dysfunctional. But democracy -- the constant struggle to extend rights to more of our people, to give more people a voice -- is what allowed us to become the most powerful nation in the world. (Applause.)

 

It's not simply a matter of principle; it's not an abstraction. Democracy -- inclusive democracy -- makes countries stronger. When opposition parties can seek power peacefully through the ballot, a country draws upon new ideas. When a free media can inform the public, corruption and abuse are exposed and can be rooted out. When civil society thrives, communities can solve problems that governments cannot necessarily solve alone. When immigrants are welcomed, countries are more productive and more vibrant. When girls can go to school, and get a job, and pursue unlimited opportunity, that’s when a country realizes its full potential. (Applause.)

 

That is what I believe is America’s greatest strength. Not everybody in America agrees with me. That's part of democracy. I believe that the fact that you can walk the streets of this city right now and pass churches and synagogues and temples and mosques, where people worship freely; the fact that our nation of immigrants mirrors the diversity of the world -- you can find everybody from everywhere here in New York City -- (applause) -- the fact that, in this country, everybody can contribute, everybody can participate no matter who they are, or what they look like, or who they love -- that's what makes us strong.

 

And I believe that what is true for America is true for virtually all mature democracies. And that is no accident. We can be proud of our nations without defining ourselves in opposition to some other group. We can be patriotic without demonizing someone else. We can cherish our own identities -- our religion, our ethnicity, our traditions -- without putting others down. Our systems are premised on the notion that absolute power will corrupt, but that people -- ordinary people -- are fundamentally good; that they value family and friendship, faith and the dignity of hard work; and that with appropriate checks and balances, governments can reflect this goodness.

 

I believe that’s the future we must seek together. To believe in the dignity of every individual, to believe we can bridge our differences, and choose cooperation over conflict -- that is not weakness, that is strength. (Applause.) It is a practical necessity in this interconnected world.

 

And our people understand this. Think of the Liberian doctor who went door-to-door to search for Ebola cases, and to tell families what to do if they show symptoms. Think of the Iranian shopkeeper who said, after the nuclear deal, “God willing, now we’ll be able to offer many more goods at better prices.” Think of the Americans who lowered the flag over our embassy in Havana in 1961 -- the year I was born -- and returned this summer to raise that flag back up. (Applause.) One of these men said of the Cuban people, “We could do things for them, and they could do things for us. We loved them.” For 50 years, we ignored that fact.

 

Think of the families leaving everything they’ve known behind, risking barren deserts and stormy waters just to find shelter; just to save their children. One Syrian refugee who was greeted in Hamburg with warm greetings and shelter, said, “We feel there are still some people who love other people.”

 

The people of our United Nations are not as different as they are told. They can be made to fear; they can be taught to hate -- but they can also respond to hope. History is littered with the failure of false prophets and fallen empires who believed that might always makes right, and that will continue to be the case. You can count on that. But we are called upon to offer a different type of leadership -- leadership strong enough to recognize that nations share common interests and people share a common humanity, and, yes, there are certain ideas and principles that are universal.

 

That's what those who shaped the United Nations 70 years ago understood. Let us carry forward that faith into the future -- for it is the only way we can assure that future will be brighter for my children, and for yours.

 

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

 

END 11:00 A.M. EDT

My alphabet metal stamps, brass hammer and stainless steel block

Ryan Keen

Magazzini Generali - Milano

09 Marzo 2014

 

“I have much to say,” sings Ryan Keen on his track Orelia, and it’s true: he does have plenty to communicate, but then, he’s packed quite a lot into his first quarter-century. And now he’s coming to tell you his stories. The singer-songwriter with the warm, breathy voice, technically virtuosic guitar playing style and armful of confessional and/or observational material is about to become your favourite new bard.

He was born in 1987, in Totnes, to a speech therapist mother and deep sea diver dad. Growing up, he listened to an eclectic mix of music and learnt various guitar styles. He studied Commercial Music at Westminster University with the intention of pursuing a career in the music industry, either in law or management – he did work experience at a Music Management Company, who looked after Zero 7 and David Holmes – when a couple of major events had the galvanising effect of turning his dream of an alternative future as a musician into a reality.

 

“I lost a friend in my final year at University,” explains Ryan. “He died suddenly from heart failure. He was fit and healthy and it came totally out of the blue. That really rattled me. But that’s what got me started as a singer-songwriter. I realised how fragile and short life is. I had been nervous and shy about performing but now I really wanted to do it. It struck a chord, the realisation that anyone can go at any time, so you might as well have a go.”

 

It was while still at Uni that he began performing and writing songs for other musicians. His first professional gig was playing for an artist called Lily Mckenzie, and his next was for rising urban star Delilah. His first solo show was in a pub in Stockwell to a crowd of no more than 20.

 

“I was unbelievably terrified,” he recalls. “It was the most nervous I’ve ever been. I haven’t had stage fright like that since!”

 

After a period on the open-mic circuit, Ryan began writing and recording his first EP – with Josh Friend of North London dubstep heroes, Modestep – for early 2010 release. Entitled Aiming For The Sun, it featured Thank You, Chasing Shadows, Primrose Hill and the title track.

 

“It was completely self-released,” he explains. “I sold a few hundred copies at gigs and it helped me get to the next level.”

 

The next level was winning a competition that took him to annual industry new-artist showcase, South by South West in Texas, where Ryan performed in March 2011. Soon afterwards, he signed a deal with Imagem, the world’s largest independent music publishers, and he found management, enabling him to give up his day job with hip shoe company Author.

 

That October, he was invited to go on tour with new acoustic sensation Ed Sheeran, an opportunity that would, Ryan admits, provide him with his “first decent exposure”. The trouble was, three weeks before the dates, Ryan severed the tendons in his right hand when he tried to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew.

 

“It went massively wrong, the bottle shattered and the glass severed my wrist, cutting down to the bone,” he recounts with a shudder. “It couldn’t have gone much worse. I got rushed to Homerton A&E. Ironically, I’d been sofa surfing for a year because I couldn’t afford rent and, after signing with Imagem I had a bit of money and could afford to rent my own place. It was the first night in my flat in Dalston and I was due to go into the studio the next day to work on my next EP. Instead I had to go to hospital. They had to stop the bleeding, because it was ridiculous – like a horror film, spraying everywhere. I had investigative surgery and then the day after I had surgery to stitch up the tendons. They put me in a cast and once the morphine wore off I was allowed out.”

 

Luckily, Ryan had an expert physiotherapist who helped him to play guitar with a modified cast still on his right hand. Against all the odds he was able to go on the Sheeran tour, which helped grow his fanbase considerably.

 

Finally, in January 2012, he finished the Focus EP and the tracks Orelia, See Me Now and In My Mind. The title track was accompanied by a stop-motion video courtesy of his friend Andy Shackleford, who had done similar work for Postman Pat and Fireman Sam. The resulting promo won Best Music Video at the Limelight Video Awards.

 

The Focus EP effectively served as an invitation to appear at many of the major festivals that summer. There, Ryan would not just perform but also spend the night in his pimped-up VW van with the sound-system and fold-out double bed. But then, he’s a hardy type who grew up surfing down in Devon and learning martial arts.

 

By 2013, Ryan was supporting Plan B at the iTunes festival and was the only unsigned act appearing on the whole month long bill. He also recorded a live EP and another called Back To The Ocean which featured a duet with Newton Faulkner called Reflections In The Water, which led to an invitation to join him on tour as his special guest. He embarked on his own headline tour and supported Leona Lewis, which saw him playing arenas as well as the Royal Albert Hall in London.

 

“That was pretty outrageous,” he laughs, “playing such a prestigious venue where a lot of my heroes have played.”

 

Today, after furious gigging – 260 shows in the last 14 months – Ryan has accrued a sizable fanbase. He’s been remixed by Modestep and made a cameo on a single by rapper Benny Banks. His Twitter followers include everyone from Ed Sheeran to Harry Styles and he’s got the crucial support of Radio 1. He’s also collaborating with some of the scene’s key writers and producers: The Nexus (Lana Del Rey), Craze ‘n’ Hoax (Emeli Sandé), Fink (John Legend, Pro Green) and Dan Dare (Maverick Sabre, Wretch 32). Life couldn’t be better, even if his music is often deliciously sombre and downbeat, with lyrics torn from the pages of his diary and written as a form of therapy.

 

“My songs can be introspective,” he agrees. “I came to this from a pretty dark place, with my mate dying. That hit me pretty hard. But I always try to write with optimism.”

 

He cites as an example his song Aiming For The Sun and its lyric, “I’ll keep aiming for the sun so that my shadows fall behind.” “I’m always looking for the silver lining,” he says, “even if the subject matter is dark.”

 

On his forthcoming debut album, Room For Light – which was self-funded and recorded, largely in a small shed with jazz pianist and producer Patrick Wood – Ryan explores the light and shade of life and love, with a series of songs that are remarkable for their subtly rich arrangements and his intimate style of playing and singing – you can hear him draw breath and feel the scrape of his fingers on the fretboard.

 

The songs are quietly varied. Opening track Know About Me showcases Ryan’s unusual guitar style and his husky, comforting baritone. Fans of artists from John Martyn to Ray Lamontagne will find much to enjoy here. The song increases in richness as it proceeds, the guitar enhanced by keyboards and strings. Skin And Bones is another fully arranged tune, almost Coldplay-ish, positioning Ryan less as a troubadour and more as a potential band frontman with arena appeal. You can imagine this being sung by big crowds in big venues. See Me Now opens with ambient electronic effects, and has a catchy, textured chorus. Old Scars marries a personal lyric with an infectious melody and a layered arrangement, with guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and backing vocals serving a song exploring memory and loss.

 

Trouble would have made a perfect way into side two of the vinyl edition of the album: it’s an uptempo, bluesy, Clapton-esque number. By contrast, All This Time is haunting, echoey, the reverb expressing Ryan’s palpable sense of anguished isolation. Body Over Mind has an unusual structure and a jazzily linear rhythm over which Ryan free-associates with shades of Tim Buckley circa Greetings From LA. When The Day Breaks finds him declaring, “I’m haunted by trouble”, and although there is a key change halfway through that strikes a note of caution, the song closes the album in an optimistic way.

 

The title of the album, Room For Light, was lifted from future single Skin And Bones: “A darker place has more room for light”. With a highly prestigious London show coming up at The Scala as part of his October tour, and the album due the month before, Ryan Keen has good reason to look on the bright side.

13 Oct 2022 . Secretaría de Cultura . Conservatorio ”Análisis sobre la materialidad en la obra de José Clemente Orozco" en Museo Cabañas.

Materials: oil on canvas. Dimensions: 134 x 108.8 cm. Nr.: 1964.2.2 Source: www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.471.... P.S. I have changed the contrast of the original photo.

Over the last week, a vacant block at the end of the street where I work has sprouted some wonderful old vehicles - after manfully resisting the urge for a few days, I succumbed this afternoon, and headed forth, camera in hand...

 

First up - a trio of early Holdens - two FX's, and an FJ.

 

Peter Blau works with instruments to determine tribological properties of battery components at the High Temperature Materials Laboratory

► © All rights reserved 2011 by B. Egger :: eu-moto images◄ photo.egger [at] gmail.com - Austria |

► Usage of our photographic material is defined by the laws of copyright ◄ TAUPLITZ

Two original, full bags of asbestos insulating cement, made by the Philip Carey Manufacturing Company. In this building, this type of asbestos material was used as insulation around pipe joints, fittings, tees, elbows, hangers, valves, and flanges. As shown in the inset image, contractors and maintenance personnel received the fibrous insulation in dry condition, which required addition of water, mixing, and then was applied literally by hand.

 

When viewed under zoom or original-size, the inset image shows detail of the insulation, including bundles of chrysotile fibers interspersed within the powdery, fibrous mix.

A puffin hurriedly prepares the nest

Canadian National 5761 and Sperry Rail Service Number 145 tied down in the small Material Yard in Brookhaven, Mississippi on Thursday, February 18, 2016.

 

CN 5761 [EMD SD75I]

No matter what your budget is, Georgia Portable Buildings is the right choice to make when you are looking for the best guard house material to construct your own modular guard house as our products are made using premium quality to fit your budget.

A photo project I have been working on. I was always interested in what recyclable materials people dumped into the environment. While most materials are plastics, metals and glass are also common.

DISEÑO Y CONSTRUCCIÓN ZUARQ. ARQUITECTOS

www.zuarq.co

www.zuarq.blogspot.com

info@zuarq.co

cel:3114524330 3108584263

 

FOTOS CAROLINA ZULUAGA ZULETA

OBRAS DE ARTE JORGE DUQUE www.facebook.com/groups/39354424856/

MUEBLES ALMACEN ORIENTAL AMANDARI www.orientalamandari.com/

TALLERES CONSTRUCCIONES CON BAMBU: www.bambucapacitacioneszuarq.mex.tl

 

Made this simple tool-/storage box from reclaimed plywood and a piece of old broken broomstick.

I had the little drawers lying around - I did not fit a 6th. drawer because the box has to fit in my locker at our local hacker-/makerspace.

NRC staff briefs the Commission on budget and staffing plans for overseeing nuclear materials users, decommissioning and low-level waste. NRC staff pictured at the table (left to right): Region IV Regional Administrator Elmo Collins; Director, Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements Brian McDermott; Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs Mark Satorius; Executive Director for Operations Bill Borchardt, Director, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response Jim Wiggins and Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Brian Sheron.

 

Visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website at www.nrc.gov/.

 

To comment on this photo go to public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/2012/04/01/nrc-moves-its-publ....

 

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Available at Adafruit!

From Justine :o)

stack wallpaper based on material design wallpaper

Taller de Bio-Construcción, Superadobe y Domos en Tierra de

Arquitectura en Equilibrio

 

Febrero 27, 28 y 1 de Marzo de 2014

Villa de Leyva, Boyacá

 

Arquitectura en Equilibrio se complace en invitarlo a un nuevo taller práctico de bio-construcción con la técnica del “superadobe” o “earthbag”. Compartiremos con ustedes nuestra experiencia y recorrido de más de 4 años en el campo para brindarle las herramientas básicas para proyectar y construir domos y refugios en superadobe.

 

Preguntas Frecuentes:

 

Que temas toca el taller?

-Introducción al Superadobe.

-Principios estructurales del arco.

-Práctica intensiva en obra con el Superadobe.

-Identificación de tipos de tierras aptas para la construcción.

-Estrategias de bio-construcción: asoleamiento, agua, energía, principios bio-climáticos.

-Herramientas sencillas de dibujo para diseñar y proyectar domos.

-Cimientos, drenajes, control de humedad, impermeabilización y estabilización.

-Terminados y revocos.

 

Que incluye el taller?

-Almuerzo y refrigerio los 3 días

-Materiales de construcción y herramientas

-Una guía impresa con un anexo digital para descargar con una colección de material relacionado.

-Certificado de asistencia al taller.

 

Cuál es el costo de la inversión?

$700,000 COP (inscripción temprana, antes de enero 20)

$750,000 COP (inscripciones después de enero 20)

 

Como me inscribo?

La inscripción se realiza consignando el valor indicado y enviando el comprobante de consignación y datos completos del participante al correo: jav@arquitecturaenequilibrio.com

Los datos de la cuenta son los siguientes:

Jose Andrés Vallejo C.C. 79787759

Bancolombia

Ahorros

No. 20350822013

 

¿Cómo se desarrolla el día?

8:00 a 11:00 Práctica y teoría

11:00 a 11:30 Refrigerio (incluido)

11:30 a 14:00 Ejercicios y herramientas varios

14:00 a 15:00 Almuerzo (incluido)

15:00 a 17:30 Práctica

*El taller es eminentemente práctico, manos a la obra.

*sujeto a variaciones según el clima

*Se solicita llegar antes de las 8:00am para agilizar el arranque del curso.

*Por favor indicar si es vegetariano.

 

¿Qué necesito llevar para el taller?

•Ropa de trabajo

•Calzado de trabajo o botas de caucho

•Guantes de tela encauchados

•Gafas de protección

•Poncho para la lluvia

•Cachucha o sombrero

•Protector solar

•Menaje (plato hondo, cuchara, taza o vaso)

•Una muestra de tierra si desean comprobarla y un frasco de mermelada grande o similar para este fin

 

¿Cómo es el lugar donde estaremos?

Estaremos trabajando en un lugar muy hermoso al pie del cerro del Santuario de Fauna y Flora de Iguaque en cercanías de Villa de Leyva en el departamento de Boyacá, Colombia. El taller se desarrolla en la Finca El Arenal donde se cuenta con una vivienda y un campamento donde podremos desarrollar las prácticas y la teoría adecuadamente. La altura sobre el nivel del mar es de 2500 msnm aprox. Clima frio con probabilidad de lluvia.

 

¿Hospedaje?

Existe la posibilidad de acampar en el terreno para quien lo desee, en ese caso debe llevar el equipo necesario, el lugar cuenta con agua y un baño seco.

Villa de Leyva por ser un foco turístico, cuenta con una buena oferta de hospedajes de diferentes categorías y precios, en estos links pueden encontrar muchas de ellas:

www.villadeleyva.net/

www.expovilla.com/

www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/north-of-bogota/villa-de-le...

www.villadeleyva.com.co/

www.parquesnacionales.gov.co/PNN/portel/libreria/php/deci...

 

¿Cómo llegar desde Bogotá?

Para llegar a Villa de Leyva desde Bogotá se recomienda tomar la Autopista Norte en dirección a Tunja y tomar el desvió a Samacá, justo después del Puente de Boyacá.

Para llegar al lote desde Villa de Leyva seguir las siguientes instrucciones, son aproximadamente 10 km (ver mapa):

•Tomar la salida norte del pueblo en dirección a Arcabuco por “bomberos”..

•Tomar el desvió des-pavimentado a mano derecha que conduce al parque de Iguaque (antigua carretera a Arcabuco) a unos 500 metros después de cruzar el puente del rio Cane.

•Pasando la escuela de la vereda de capilla a aproximadamente 1KM estar pendiente a mano derecha de un letrero que dice “superadobe” y una flecha.

•Para indicaciones adicionales de cómo llegar pueden contactar a Jose Vallejo al celular 314 4223333

 

Cualquier inquietud adicional no duden en preguntar. Bienvenidos!

Jose Andrés Vallejo, Arquitecto

 

Image of nuclear material containment. (Nov. 2007)

 

Visit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website at www.nrc.gov/.

 

To comment on this photo go to public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/2012/04/01/nrc-moves-its-publ....

 

Photo Usage Guidelines: www.flickr.com/people/nrcgov/

 

Privacy Policy: www.nrc.gov/site-help/privacy.html

The hardest substance on Earth.

material water refreshes the body, sensual water nourishes the spirit, and archetypal water deepens the soul. the primordial dream of water flows through the human psyche, across time and between the distances...

 

dear friends!! during these august days, i have made pilgrimage to beloved rivers, where the spirit of water has spoken softly to my heart... above the river, the sun and stars were shining. near the river, the flowers were singing. today, i begin the journey of return to these flickr streams, to your beautiful gardens. please meet me at the teahouse, where we may share our traveler's tales. the kettle is on. our cups are waiting... :)*

 

last year

 

thank you, gaston bachelard, for deepening my water reveries...

thank you, pilgrim's way for your beautiful words about water pilgrimage...

and thank you all for your companionship on this journey.

 

may all travelers find joy!!

jeanne

 

assembled and altered images, august 25, 2008

(a digital photo taken near a beloved river last week... and a golden tray for serving tea)

 

resources for the journey:

the bachelard translations, from the dallas institute

water partners international

chagrin state scenic river

 

(this river was called shagarin, or clear water, by the native american people who originally lived in this area)

Shelly Materials locomotive engineer Bob Rohal checks out the control of a CSX ES44DC while unloading limestone at the Shelly Kent facility. (Scanned from a slide)