View allAll Photos Tagged world_architecture
Chicago, IL
11/29/2012
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
Caméra Canon EOS 7D
Exposition 0,008 sec (1/125)
Ouverture f/11.0
Longueur focale 10 mm
Vitesse ISO 200
September 10th, 2015
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
Christian churches were created in Viking settlements starting in the
12th century.
The Anglo-Saxon missionaries worked with native builders to create the
distinctive style replicated in this MOC.
The large stones at the foundation of the church were key to surviving
the freeze/thaw cycle of Scandinavian winters[1].
This was also my entry into
LOLUG's September Iron Builder contest.
The seed part was the dark, bley, round 2x2 tile that I used for the roof
as well as the steeple's cross.
This was the winning entry.
I borrowed the stonework from
[1] Moffett, M., Fazio, M. W., & Wodehouse, L. (2004).
Buildings across time: An introduction to world architecture.
Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Check our my other MOCs at lego.jtooker.com/
The Mountain Dwellings in Copenhagen. 80 dwellings all facing south with multistorey carpark under. The aluminium plates in the facade form a reproduction of Mount Everest. Awarded best housing project in the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona 2008.
Built: 2008. Architect: BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark.
The metro trains are driverless and automatic with panoramic windows in front.
Building with 476 apartments that looks like the figure 8 from above (built 2010). Award winner in the category best housing project in the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona 2011. Architect: BIG, Bjarke Ingels Group, Denmark. (In the World Architecture Festival 2008 the architects won the same award for the housing project The Mountain.)
Check out my new website! www.davidgutierrez.co.uk/
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London | Architecture | Night Photography | London Underground | London Eye
Gehry Bilbao Guggenheim Architecture
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial,[3] and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.
One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something.
The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_Museum_Bilbao
Gehry Bilbao Guggenheim Architecture
Gehry Bilbao Guggenheim Architecture
A couple walking on the slanted roof of Oslo Opera House.
© 2010 by Papafrezzo. All rights reserved. Do not copy or use without prior written agreement.
The Oslo Opera House (in Norwegian, Operahuset) is the seat of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building lies in Bjørvika, in the center of Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. Its builder was Statsbygg, a government-run property owner. The architects were the Norwegian firm Snøhetta who were also the architects of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the Library of Alexandria) in Egypt. The theatre designers were Theatre Projects Consultants based in London, the acoustic designers were BrekkeStrandArup, a joint venture between local consultant Brekke Strand Akustikk and international acousticians Arup Acoustics. Norwegian construction company Veidekke was awarded one of the largest building contracts of the project. The structure provides a total area of 38,500 m² and includes 1,100 rooms, one of which has 1,350 seats and another has up to 400 seats. Total expenditures for the building project were planned at 4.4 billion NOK, but finished ahead of schedule, and 300 million NOK under budget.
The Opera House was finished in 2007 with the opening event held on 12 April 2008. King Harald V of Norway opened the Opera House that evening at a gala performance attended by national leaders and royalty, including President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The main stage is 16 meters wide, and can be made up to 40 meters deep.
The Opera won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in October 2008. Jury member Sir Peter Cook said of the Opera House that it "...in its scale, ambition and quality has raised the bar for Norwegian architecture."
More information on the building from Snøhetta architects.
Best seen large and on black.
Chicago, IL
5-13-2012
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
Gehry Buildings, 1998
"Frank Owen Gehry, CC (born Frank Owen Goldberg; 28 February 1929) is a Canadian-born American architect, residing in Los Angeles.
A number of his buildings, including his private residence, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture in the 2010 World Architecture Survey, which led Vanity Fair to label him as "the most important architect of our age".
Gehry's best-known works include the titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles; Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, France; MIT Ray and Maria Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Vontz Center for Molecular Studies on the University of Cincinnati campus; Experience Music Project in Seattle; New World Center in Miami Beach; Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis; Dancing House in Prague; the Vitra Design Museum and the museum MARTa Herford in Germany; the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; the Cinémathèque française in Paris; and 8 Spruce Street in New York City."
Source: wikipedia.org
Chicago, IL
June 5th, 2015
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
City, Culture, History, Art, Centuries, Traditions, Famous, Vacation, City Life, Travel, World, Architecture
Wonderful, Perspective, Attraction, Street, cityscape, Outdoors, Canon, Flickr
Nuevo estadio de San Mamés.
El 5 de noviembre de 2015, San Mamés fue premiado en el World Architecture Festival, celebrado en Singapur, como el mejor edificio deportivo del mundo de nueva construcción.
New San Mames stadium.
The November 5, 2015, San Mamés was awarded at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore, as the best sports facility in the world of new construction.
Prints, canvases and other gifts available at www.cubsworldseriesprints.com
Acrylic glass prints and other custom orders by request.
Chicago, IL
November 6th, 2016
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right
Today is our first day in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic.
After a long few days of flying, we settled into the Charles Bridge Palace and naturally woke at 5am as normal.
Seizing the opportunity to wander around the streets of Prague during the quiet hours before the tourists descended upon the Charles Bridge like vultures to a carcass, we headed out and across the bridge, a mere few minutes away, where I captured this image of the magnificent beauty of the old-world architectural charm of Prague.
This is my first visit to Europe in over 16 years (excluding the UK), and my first visit to Eastern Europe specifically.
It is going to be a fantastic few days.
Frank Owen Gehry, CC is a Canadian-American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.
His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions and many customers seek Gehry's services as a badge of distinction. His works were by far the most often cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture in the 2010 World Architecture Survey, which led Vanity Fair to label him as "the most important architect of our age".
Gehry's best-known works include the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles; Experience Music Project in Seattle; Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis; Dancing House in Prague; the Vitra Design Museum and MARTa Museum in Germany; and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. But it was his private residence in Santa Monica, California, which jump-started his career, lifting it from the status of "paper architecture" – a phenomenon that many famous architects have experienced in their formative decades through experimentation almost exclusively on paper before receiving their first major commission in later years.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chicago, IL
10-30-2012
Tremendous 25 foot waves generated by 50 mph winds from Hurricane Sandy.
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Portland
The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, 6 kilometres (4 mi) long by 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) wide, in the English Channel. Portland is 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and Weymouth together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The population of Portland is almost 13,000.
Portland is a central part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, important for its geology and landforms. Its name is used for one of the British Sea Areas, and has been exported as the name of North American and Australian towns. Portland stone, famous for its use in British and world architecture, including St Paul's Cathedral and the United Nations Headquarters, continues to be quarried.
Portland Harbour, in the bay between Portland and Weymouth, is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. The harbour was formed by the building of stone breakwaters between 1848 and 1905. From its inception it was a Royal Navy base, and played prominent roles during the First and Second World Wars; ships of the Royal Navy and NATO countries worked up and exercised in its waters until 1995. The harbour is now a civilian port and popular recreation area, which will be used for the 2012 Olympic Games.
History
Portland has been inhabited since at least the Mesolithic period (the Middle Stone Age)—there is archaeological evidence of Mesolithic inhabitants near Portland Bill,[2] and of inhabitation in ages since. The Romans occupied Portland, reputedly calling it Vindelis.[3][4] In 1539 King Henry VIII ordered the construction of Portland Castle for defence against attacks by the French; the castle cost £4,964.[5] It is one of the best preserved castles from this period, and is open to the public by the custodians English Heritage.[6]
Sir Christopher Wren, the architect and Member of Parliament for nearby Weymouth, used six million tons of white Portland limestone to rebuild destroyed parts of London after the Great Fire of London of 1666. Well-known buildings in the capital, including St Paul's Cathedral[7] and the eastern front of Buckingham Palace feature the stone.[8] After the First World War, a quarry was opened by The Crown Estate to provide stone for the Cenotaph in Whitehall and half a million gravestones for war cemeteries,[4] and after the Second World War hundreds of thousands of gravestones were hewn for the fallen soldiers on the Western Front.[4] Portland cement has nothing to do with Portland; it was named such due to its similar colour to Portland stone when mixed with lime and sand.[9]
There have been railways in Portland since the early 19th century. The Merchant's Railway was the earliest—it opened in 1826 (one year after the Stockton and Darlington railway) and ran from the quarries at the north of Tophill to a pier at Castletown, from where the Portland stone was shipped around the country.[10] The Weymouth and Portland Railway was laid in 1865, and ran from a station in Melcombe Regis, across the Fleet and along the low isthmus behind Chesil Beach to a station at Victoria Square in Chiswell.[11] At the end of the 19th century the line was extended to the top of the island as the Easton and Church Hope Railway, running through Castletown and ascending the cliffs at East Weares, to loop back north to a station in Easton.[10] The line closed to passengers in 1952, and the final goods train (and two passenger 'specials') ran in April 1965.[11]
The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck stationed a lifeboat at Portland in 1826, but it was withdrawn in 1851.[12] Coastal flooding has affected Portland's residents and transport for centuries—the only way off the island is along the causeway in the lee of Chesil Beach. At times of extreme floods (about every 10 years) this road link is cut by floods. The low-lying village of Chiswell used to flood on average every 5 years. Chesil Beach occasionally faces severe storms and massive waves, which have a fetch across the Atlantic Ocean.[13] Following two severe flood events in the 1970s, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and Wessex Water decided to investigate the structure of the beach, and possible coastal management schemes that could be built to protect Chiswell and the beach road. In the 1980s it was agreed that a scheme to protect against a one-in-five year storm would be practicable; it would reduce flood depth and duration in more severe storms.[13] Hard engineering techniques were employed in the scheme, including a gabion beach crest running 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) to the north of Chiswell, an extended sea wall in Chesil Cove, and a culvert running from inside the beach, underneath the beach road and into Portland Harbour, to divert flood water away from low lying areas.[13]
At the start of the First World War, HMS Hood was sunk in the passage between the southern breakwaters to protect the harbour from torpedo and submarine attack.[14] Portland Harbour was formed (1848–1905) by the construction of breakwaters, but before that the natural anchorage had hosted ships of the Royal Navy for more than 500 years. It was a centre for Admiralty research into asdic submarine detection and underwater weapons from 1917 to 1998; the shore base HMS Serepta was renamed HMS Osprey in 1927.[15] During the Second World War Portland was the target of heavy bombing, although most warships had moved North as Portland was within enemy striking range across the Channel. Portland was a major embarkation point for Allied forces on D-Day in 1944. Early helicopters were stationed at Portland in 1946-1948, and in 1959 a shallow tidal flat, The Mere, was infilled, and sports fields taken to form a heliport. The station was formally commissioned as HMS Osprey which then became the largest and busiest military helicopter station in Europe. The base was gradually improved with additional landing areas and one of England's shortest runways, at 229 metres (751 ft).[15] There are still two prisons on Portland, HMP The Verne, which until 1949 was a huge Victorian military fortress, and a Young Offenders' Institution (HMYOI) on the Grove clifftop. This was the original prison built for convicts who quarried stone for the Portland Breakwaters from 1848. For a few years until 2005 Britain's only prison ship, HMP Weare, was berthed in the harbour.
The naval base closed after the end of the Cold War in 1995, and the Royal Naval Air Station closed in 1999, although the runway remained in use for Her Majesty's Coastguard Search and Rescue flights as MRCC Portland.[15] MRCC Portland's area of responsibility extends midway across the English Channel, and from Start Point in Devon to the Dorset/Hampshire border, covering an area of around 10,400 square kilometres (4,000 sq mi).[16] The 12 Search and Rescue teams in the Portland area dealt with almost 1000 incidents in 2005;
Governance
Portland is an ancient Royal Manor, and until the 19th century remained a separate liberty within Dorset for administration purposes. It was an urban district from 1894 to 1974, until the borough of Weymouth and Portland formed on April 1, 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. This merged the borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis with Portland urban district. For local elections the borough is divided into 15 wards, and three of them cover Portland.[18] Elections take place in a four-year cycle; one third of the councillors in all but three wards retire or seek re-election in years one, two and three, and county council elections are held in year four.[19]
The Mayor of Weymouth and Portland is Paul Kimber (Labour Co-operative), and Graham Winter (Liberal Democrat) is Deputy Mayor.[20] Weymouth, Portland and the Purbeck district are in the South Dorset parliamentary constituency, created in 1885. The constituency elects one Member of Parliament; the current MP is Richard Drax (Conservative).[21] South Dorset, the rest of the South West England, and Gibraltar are in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.[22]
Weymouth and Portland have been twinned with the town of Holzwickede in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany since 1986,[23] and the French town of Louviers, in the department of Eure in Normandy, since 1959.[24] The borough and nearby Chickerell have been a Fairtrade Zone for three years.
Geography
The Isle of Portland lies in the English Channel, 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of Wyke Regis, and 200 km (120 mi) west-southwest of London, at 50°33′0″N 2°26′24″W (50.55, −2.44). Portland is situated approximately half-way along the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site; the site includes 153 kilometres (95 mi) of the Dorset and east Devon coast that is important for its geology and landforms.[26] The South West Coast Path runs around the coast; it is the United Kingdom's longest national trail at 1,014 kilometres (630 mi). Portland is unusual as it is connected to the mainland at Abbotsbury by Chesil Beach, a tombolo which runs 29 kilometres (18 mi) north-west to West Bay.[27] Portland is sometimes defined incorrectly as a tombolo—in fact Portland is a tied island, and Chesil Beach is the tombolo (a spit joined to land at both ends).[28]
There are eight settlements on Portland, the largest being Fortuneswell in Underhill and Easton on Tophill. Castletown and Chiswell are the other villages in Underhill, and Weston, Southwell, Wakeham and the Grove are on the Tophill plateau. Many old buildings are built out of Portland Stone; Several parts have been designated Conservation Areas to preserve the unique character the older settlements which date back hundreds of years. The architecture; the natural and man-made environment and the proximity to the sea give Portland overal character which is quite distinct.
Geology
Geologically, Portland is separated into two areas; the steeply sloping land at its north end called Underhill, and the larger, gently sloping land to the south, called Tophill. Portland stone lies under Tophill; the strata decline at a shallow angle of around 1.5 degrees, from a height of 151 metres (495 ft) near the Verne in the north, to just above sea level at Portland Bill.[29] The geology of Underhill is different to Tophill; Underhill lies on a steep escarpment composed of Portland Sand, lying above a thicker layer of Kimmeridge Clay, which extends to Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour. This Kimmeridge Clay has resulted in a series of landslides, forming West Weares and East Weares.[29]
2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) Underneath south Dorset lies a layer of Triassic rock salt, and Portland is one of four locations in the United Kingdom where the salt is thick enough to create stable cavities.[30][31] Portland Gas has applied to excavate 14 caverns to store 1,000,000,000 cubic metres (3.5×1010 cu ft) of natural gas, which is 1 % of the UK’s total annual demand.[30][31] The caverns will be connected to the National gas grid at Mappowder via a 37-kilometre (23 mi) pipeline.[30][31] The surface facilities will be complete to store the first gas in 2011, and the entire cavern space should be available for storage in winter 2013.[31] As part of the £350 million scheme,[30] a Grade II listed former engine shed is being converted into an £1.5 million educational centre with a café and an exhibition space about the geology of Portland.
Portland Bill
Portland Bill is the southern tip of the island of Portland. The Bill has three lighthouse towers: The Higher Lighthouse is now a dwelling and holiday apartments; the Lower Lighthouse is now a bird observatory and field centre which opened in 1961. The white and red lighthouse on Bill Point replaced the Higher and Lower Lighthouses in 1906. It is a prominent and much photographed feature; an important landmark for ships passing the headland and its tidal race. The current lighthouse was refurbished in 1996 and became remotely controlled. It now contains a visitors' centre giving information and guided tours of the lighthouse.[33] As of June 2009, the lighthouse uses a 1 kW metal-halide US-made lamp with an operational life of about 4000 hours, or 14 months. Two earlier lighthouses stand further inland: one is an important observatory used by ornithologists, providing records of bird migration and accommodation for visitors.[33][34]
Portland Ledge (the Shambles) is an underwater extension of Portland Stone into the English Channel at a place where the depth of Channel is 20 to 40 metres (about 10 to 20 fathoms). Tidal flow is disrupted by the feature; at 10 metres (about 5 fathoms) deep and 2.4 kilometres (1.3 nmi) long, it causes a tidal race to the south of Portland Bill, the so-called Portland Race.[35] The current only stops for brief periods during the 12½ hour tidal cycle and can reach 4 metres per second (8 kn) at the spring tide of 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).
Ecology
Due to its isolated coastal location, the Isle of Portland has an extensive range of flora and fauna; the coastline and disused quarries are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest.[26][34] Sea and migratory birds occupy the cliffs in different seasons, sometimes these include rare species which draw ornithologists from around the country.[26][36] Rare visitors to the surrounding seas include dolphins, seals and basking sharks.[34] Chesil Beach is one of only two sites in Britain where the Scaly Cricket can be found; unlike any other cricket it is wingless and does not sing or hop.[36] A number of British primitive goats have recently[when?] been introduced to the East Weares part of the island to control scrub.[37]
The comparatively warm and sunny climate allows species of plants to thrive which do not on the mainland. The limestone soil has low nutrient levels; hence smaller species of wild flowers and grasses are able to grow in the absence of larger species.[34] Portland Sea Lavender can be found on the higher sea cliffs—unique to Portland it is one of the United Kingdom's rarest plants.[38] The wild flowers and plants make an excellent habitat for butterflies; over half of the British Isles' 57 butterfly species can be seen on Portland, including varieties that migrate from mainland Europe.[26] Species live on Portland that are rare in the United Kingdom, including the limestone race of the Silver Studded Blue.
Climate
The mild seas which almost surround the tied island produce a temperate climate (Koppen climate classification Cfb) with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The average annual mean temperature from 1971 to 2000 was 10.2 to 12 °C (50.4 to 53.6 °F).[40] The warmest month is August, which has an average temperature range of 13.3 to 20.4 °C (56 to 69 °F), and the coolest is February, which has a range of 3.1 to 8.3 °C (38 to 47 °F).[41] Maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the year are above England's average,[42] and Portland is in AHS Heat zone 1.[B] Mean sea surface temperatures range from 7.0 °C (44.6 °F) in February to 17.2 °C (63.0 °F) in August; the annual mean is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F).
The mild seas that surround Portland act to keep night-time temperatures above freezing, making winter frost rare: on average eight times per year — this is far below the United Kingdom's average annual total of 55.6 days of frost.[45][46] Days with snow lying are equally rare: on average zero to six days per year;[47] almost all winters have one day or less with snow lying. It may snow or sleet in winter, yet it almost never settles on the ground[41]—coastal areas in South West England such as Portland experience the mildest winters in the UK.[48] Portland is less affected by the Atlantic storms that Devon and Cornwall experience. The growing season in Weymouth and Portland lasts from nine to twelve months per year,[D] and the borough is in Hardiness zone 9b.[49][E]
Weymouth and Portland, and the rest of the south coast,[50] has the sunniest climate in the United Kingdom.[26][51] The borough averaged 1768.4 hours of sunshine annually between 1971 and 2000,[41] which is over 40 % of the maximum possible,[C] and 32 % above the United Kingdom average of 1339.7 hours.[45] Four of the last nine years have had more than 2000 hours of sunshine.[41] December is the cloudiest and wettest month (55.7 hours of sunshine, 90.9 millimetres (3.6 in) of rain) and July is the sunniest and driest (235.1 hours of sunshine, 35.6 millimetres (1.4 in) of rain).[41] Sunshine totals in all months are well above the United Kingdom average,[45] and monthly rainfall totals throughout the year are less than the UK average, particularly in summer;[45] this summer minimum of rainfall is not experienced away from the south coast of England.[50] The average annual rainfall of 751.7 millimetres (29.6 in) is well below the UK average of 1,125 millimetres (44.3 in).
Demography
Religion
%[52][F]
Buddhist
0.21
Christian
74.67
Hindu
0.03
Jewish
0.12
Muslim
0.30
No religion
15.89
Other
0.32
Sikh
0.03
Not stated8.43
AgePercentage[1]
0–1519.4
16–173.1
18–4438.3
45–5920.6
60–8417.2
85+1.5
The mid-year population of Portland in 2005 was 12,710;[A] this figure has remained around twelve to thirteen thousand since the 1970s. In 2005 there were 5,474 dwellings in an area of 11.5 square kilometres (2,840 acres), giving an approximate population density of 1100 people per km2 (4.5 per acre).[1] The population is almost entirely native to England—96.8 % of residents are of white ethnicity.[1] House prices in Weymouth and Portland are relatively high by UK standards, yet around average for most of the south of England—the average price of a detached house in 2007 was £327,569; semi-detached and terraced houses were cheaper, at £230,932 and £190,073 respectively, and an apartment or maisonette cost £168,727.[53][G]
Crime rates are below that of Weymouth and the United Kingdom—there were 9.1 burglaries per 1000 households in 2005 and 2006; which is higher than South West England (8.9 per 1000) but lower than England and Wales (13.5 per 1000).[1] Unemployment levels are lower in summer than the winter—1.8 % of the economically active population in July 2006 were not employed, and 5.3 % were unemployed year-round,[1] the same as the United Kingdom average.[54] The largest religion in Weymouth and Portland is Christianity, at almost 74.7 %,[52] which is slightly above the UK average of 71.6 %.[55] The next-largest sector is those with no religion, at almost 15.9 %,[52] also slightly above the UK average of 15.5 %.[
Transport
The A354 road is now the only land based access to the peninsula; formerly a railway ran alongside it. The road connects to Weymouth and the A35 trunk road in Dorchester. The road runs from Easton, splitting into a northbound section through Chiswell and a southbound section through Fortuneswell, then along Chesil Beach and across a bridge to the mainland in Wyke Regis.
Local buses are run by FirstGroup, which has services from Portland to Weymouth town centre.[56] Weymouth serves as the hub for south Dorset bus routes; providing services to Dorchester and local villages.[56] Weymouth is connected to towns and villages along the Jurassic Coast by the Jurassic Coast Bus service, which runs along the route of 142 kilometres (88 mi) from Exeter to Poole, through Sidford, Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Bridport, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Wool, and Wareham.[57] Travellers can catch trains from Weymouth to London and Bristol, and ferries to the French port of St Malo, and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.[58]
There is a short airstrip and heliport just north of Fortuneswell at the northern end of the Isle.
Education
The Chesil Education Partnership pyramid area operates in south Dorset, and includes five infant schools, four junior schools, twelve primary schools, four secondary schools and two special schools.[1] 69.8 % of Portland residents have qualifications, which is slightly below the Dorset average of 73.8 %.[1] 10.2% of residents have higher qualifications (Level 4+), less than the Dorset average of 18.3 %.[1]
There are two infant schools on Portland—Brackenbury Infant School in Fortuneswell and Grove Infant School.[59] Portland has one junior school Underhill Community Junior School in Fortuneswell, (a second junior school, Tophill Junior School was absorbed into St George's Primary School in 2006) and two primary schools, St George's Primary School in Weston and Southwell Primary School.[59] Royal Manor Arts College in Weston is Portland's only secondary school,[1] however it has no sixth form centre. In 2007, 57 % of RMAC students gained five or more grade A* to C GCSEs.[60]
Some students commute to Weymouth to study A-Levels, or to attend the other three secondary schools in the Chesil Education Partnership. Budmouth College in Chickerell has a sixth form centre which had 296 students in 2006.[61] Weymouth College in Melcombe Regis is a further education college which has around 7,500 students from south west England and overseas,[62] about 1500 studying A-Level courses.[61] In 2006, Budmouth students received an average of 647.6 UCAS points, and Weymouth College students gained 614.1.[61] Some secondary and A-Level students commute to Dorchester to attend The Thomas Hardye School; in 2007, 79% of Hardye school students received five or more A* to C GCSEs, and 78 % of all A-Level results were A to C grades
Culture
Sport and recreation
In 2000, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy was built in Osprey Quay in Underhill as a centre for sailing in the United Kingdom. Weymouth and Portland's waters were credited by the Royal Yachting Association as the best in Northern Europe.[64] Weymouth and Portland regularly host local, national and international sailing events in their waters; these include the J/24 World Championships in 2005, trials for the 2004 Athens Olympics, the ISAF World Championship 2006, the BUSA Fleet Racing Championships, and the RYA Youth National Championships.[65]
In 2005, the WPNSA was selected to host sailing events at the 2012 Olympic Games—mainly because the Academy had recently been built, so no new venue would have to be provided.[66] However, as part of the South West of England Regional Development Agency's plans to redevelop Osprey Quay, a new 600-berth marina and an extension with more on-site facilities will be built.[67] Construction was scheduled between October 2007 and the end of 2008, and with its completion and formal opening on 11 June 2009, the venue became the first of the 2012 Olympic Games to be completed.[68][69][70][71][72]
Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour are used for other water sports — the reliable wind is favourable for wind and kite-surfing. Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour are used regularly for angling, diving to shipwrecks, snorkelling, canoeing, and swimming.[73] The limestone cliffs and quarries are used for rock climbing; Portland has areas for bouldering and deep water soloing, however sport climbing with bolt protection is the most common style.[74] Since June 2003 the South West Coast Path National Trail has included 21.3 kilometres (13.2 mi) of coastal walking around the Isle of Portland, including following the A354 Portland Beach Road twice.
Rabbits
Rabbits have long been associated with bad luck on Portland; use of the name is still taboo—the creatures are often referred to as "Underground Mutton", "Long-Eared Furry Things" or just "bunnies".[76] The origin of this superstition is obscure (there is no record of it before the 1920s) but it is believed to derive from quarry workers; they would see rabbits emerging from their burrows immediately before a rock fall and blame them for increasing the risk of dangerous, sometimes deadly, landslides.[77] If a rabbit was seen in a quarry, the workers would pack up and go home for the day, until the safety of the area had been assured.[76] Local fishermen too would refuse to go to sea if the word was mentioned.
Even today older Portland residents are 'offended' (sometimes for the benefit of tourists) at the mention of rabbits;[77] this superstition came to national attention in October 2005 when a special batch of advertisement posters were made for the Wallace and Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In respect of local beliefs the adverts omitted the word 'rabbit' and replaced the film's title with the phrase "Something bunny is going on"
Literature
Thomas Hardy called Portland the Isle of Slingers in his novels; the isle was the main setting of The Well-Beloved (1897), and was featured in The Trumpet-Major (1880).[78] The cottage that now houses Portland Museum was the inspiration for the heroine's house in The Well-Beloved. Portlanders were expert stone-throwers in the defence of their land, and Hardy's Isle of Slingers is heavily based on Portland; the Street of Wells representing Fortuneswell and The Beal Portland Bill. Hardy named Portland the Gibraltar of the North, with reference to its similarities with Gibraltar; its physical geography, isolation, comparatively mild climate, and Underhill's winding streets.[79]
In The Warlord Chronicles (1995-97), Bernard Cornwell makes Portland the Isle of the Dead, a place of internal exile, where the causeway was guarded to keep the 'dead' (people suffering insanity) from crossing the Fleet and returning to the mainland. No historical evidence exists to support this idea.[80]
The Portland Chronicles series of four children's books, set on and around Portland and Weymouth and written by local author Carol Hunt, draw on local history to explore a seventeenth century world of smuggling, witchcraft, piracy and local intrigue.
Vernacular
Bunnies - see above.
Kimberlin: slang for any 'strangers' not from the Island.[82]
Portland screw: fossil mollusc (Aptyxiella portlandica) with a long screw-like shell or its cast
Notable persons born here
•Edgar F. Codd (August 23, 1923 – April 18, 2003), British computer scientist and inventor of the relational model for database management.
•Former Premier League referee Paul Durkin.
(to see further pictures and read other information please go to the end of page!)
Flaktowers
Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Picture: Flakturm, Arenbergpark
The Vienna flak towers are six large, of reinforced concrete erected defensive and protective structures in Vienna, which were built in the years 1942-1945 as giant bomb shelters with fitted anti-aircraft guns and fire control. The architect of the flak towers was Friedrich Tamms (1904-1980).
Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Image: Terrace of the flak tower in Arenbergpark
The system of the Vienna flak towers consists as a whole of six buildings, three turrets, each with a Feuerleitturm (fire-control tower). The three bunker pairs are arranged in a triangle in the approximate middle of which the Stephansdom is situated. The towers are of different heights, but their upper platforms are in exactly the same altitude, so that an overall coordination of air defense was possible. The maximum operating radius of the four main guns (12.8 cm twin) of each tower was under ideal conditions 20 km. The smaller platforms of combat and fire-control towers were provided for 2 cm anti-aircraft guns, but they were never used in Vienna. In addition to its military crew the flak towers in Vienna served as makeshift hospitals, housed radio stations and partly war-relevant technical companies and offered on a large scale air raid shelters for the population.
Flakturm Augarten
Picture: Flakturm, Augarten
After the war, the Red Army undertook blasting tests in Gefechtsturm (flak tower with battle platform) Augarten, but a removal of the towers failed because of the proximity to residential areas. Nowadays, a removal of the towers would be possible, but now existing only an official decision as to the two anti-aircraft towers in Augarten from 5 April 2000 (GZ 39.086/2/2000) because all six buildings ex lege have been put under monument protection. Today, the towers are partially owned by the City of Vienna and partly owned by the Republic of Austria. There were repeatedly attempts to rebuild the flak towers and make it usable. The ideas range from depot for important backup data to a café or hotel.
Planning
Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Picture: Flakturm, Arenbergpark - Notstiege (Emergency flight of stairs)
Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Picture: Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Elevator shaft to the left, original instructions for lift usage right
After the battles of World War II also spread more and more to Vienna, Adolf Hitler ordered on 9 September 1942 the construction of flak towers in Vienna. The Air Force leadership provided for this purpose as building sites the Schmelz (Vienna), the Prater and Floridsdorf but Hitler rejected these places since the city center would not have been adequately protected because of the large distances. After discussions with Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) Baldur von Schirach, the final locations were determined. Instead of the Augarten, however, was initially the Roßauer barracks under discussion. The decisive factor for the choice of the places were on the one hand, the easy availability of the building ground and on the other hand the possibility to establish railway connections. The plan provided after the victorious end of the war to disguise the flak towers with marble and devote them as monuments to the fallen German soldiers. As with all the flak towers Friedrich Tamms was responsible for the planning, he was represented in Vienna by Anton Ruschitzka, construction management held Franz Fuhrmann from Vienna's city building department. The military leadership rested with Major Wimberger, which, however, had no mission staff. The material procurement was carried out by the Organisation Todt.
Construction
Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Picture: Flakturm, Arenbergpark
Emergency Exit Photo: Flakturm, Arenbergpark
With the construction of the flak towers the companies Philipp Holzmann and Gottlieb Tesch were commissioned, smaller firms being integrated via joint ventures. Since the availability of local workers due to conscription declined steadily, more and more prisoners of war, foreign and forced laborers were used in the course of the war. Cement was delivered primarily from Mannersdorf at Leithagebirge, to a lesser extent from Rodaun (situated in the outskirts of Vienna). The gravel stemmed from the gravel pits Padlesak in Felixdorf and Gustav Haager at Heidfeld at the Bratislava railway (Pressburger Bahn), about in the area of today's airport Wien-Schwechat. Sand was delivered in ships over the Danube Canal, which is why in the area of Weißgerberlände sand silos of the United Baustoffwerke AG were built. In this area was already in 1918 a feeder track of the tram through the Drorygasse. Although this was already in 1925 shut down it was restored in 1941 and enlarged in the following year after the construction of a new silo to two tracks. For the then due to the excavation of the foundations coming up overburden, at the Kratochwijlestraße (then Weissenbachstraße) in 22 District was created a landfill, which also got a tram connection.
This report is based on an article in the
WIKIPEDIA - The Free Encyclopedia
and is licensed under the GNU license
Free Documentation Creative Commons CC -BY- SA 3.0 Unported.
On Wikipedia there is List of the authors Available .
de.wikipedia.org
The monstrous remnants of the "Third Reich"
District II (Leopoldstadt), anti-aircraft towers in the Augarten, tram line 31 from metro station Scots ring/Schottenring (U2, U4).
On 15 March 1938 gathered some 200 000 Wiener (Viennese people) on Heldenplatz in order to celebrate the "Anschluss" of Austria to the so-called fatherland Germany, something, since the end of the first World War I many had been longing for. Adolf Hitler himself appeared on the balcony of the Neue Burg and announced: "As leader and Chancellor of the German nation and the Reich I report before story now the entry of my home in the German Reich". Then he boarded a plane back to Germany, the rest, as they say, is history. A few years later the magnificent Heroes Square (Heldenplatz) was dug up to plant vegetables there, they needed food for the distraught people who suffered the privations in Hitler's zusammenbrechendem (breaking down) "millennial Reich".
Right: Gefechtsturm in the Augarten
In Leopoldstadt
Below: The Leitturm (control tower) in Arenbergpark
In III. District highway (Landstraße).
The already existing and sometimes bombastic Viennese architecture the occupiers seems to have pleased, no major buildings were added during their reign. On 9 September 1942, however, Hitler decreed that the city center of Vienna like in Berlin and Hamburg should be protected by some huge flak towers, three pairs should form a defensive triangle, St. Stephen's Cathedral was the center. 1943/44, the German troops began the construction of two flak towers in the Augarten and defaced in this way Austria's oldest still existing and in 1712 laid out baroque garden. Another pair of flak towers emerged in Arenberg Park in III. District (Landstraße), a third near the Mariahilferstraße (in Esterházypark and in the courtyard of the barracks Stiftskaserne) in the VI. resp. VII. District (Mariahilf/Neubau). The towers have been made of almost indestructible, 2.5 to 3.5 meters thick reinforced concrete and were self-sufficient, and they possessed their own water and power supply, first aid station and air filters if it should come to a gas attack. Each pair of flak towers contained a big, provided with a heavy gun flak tower and a smaller control tower for communication. The first is either a square tower in the style of a fortress, like the one in the Arenbergpark (neunstöckig - nine storeys), 41.6 meters high, 57 meters in diameter) or a round tower, in fact, sixteen -sided, as in the Augarten Park and the yard of the Stiftskaserne Barracks (zwölfstöckig - twelve storeys, 50.6 meters high, 43 meters in diameter). The heaviest artillery gun (105-128 mm) was standing on the roof, on the projecting balconies below there were lighter guns (20 to 30 millimeters). The Leittürme, from which the air defense was coordinated, were all rectangular (neunstöckig - nine storeys, 39 to 51.4 meters high, 24 to 39 feet long) and equipped with a lighter gun, they possessed communication devices and searchlights on the roof. Toward the of the war the towers only just were functional. They also served as air-raid shelter for the people in the area and each tower had space for 30 000 people. In the event that the war ended with a victory, the architect, the builder of the Reichsautobahn Friedrich Tamms, already had prepared designs to dress up the towers with black marble plates in which the names of the dead German soldiers should be engraved in gold letters. So the towers would also have been victory and war memorials (and thus in a strange way similar to the Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna or the Castel de Monte in Apulia).
In the bureau of an architect of Berlin were even found plans to demolish the Jewish Quarter in the Leopoldstadt and to build a huge Nazi forum. Today, however, there is in Leopoldstadt again a thriving Jewish life and the flak towers are frozen monuments to the darkest times of Viennese history (in fact, the Russians tried to destroy the tower in Augarten with dynamite, which later on was mistaken for the vandalism of a few schoolboys, by mistake a forgotten weapon depot setting on fire).
In a famous quote Hitler Vienna compared with a pearl, which he wanted to give a socket. Towards the end of war, however, this socket only consisted of bombed-out buildings and abandoned flak towers, silent witnesses of the delusion of their builder. As a result, only the Leitturm was used in Esterhazy Park, and today in it the house of the sea (Zoo - Haus des Meeres) is accommodated. Outside there is a climbing wall with 25 different routes, and the vertical wall and the projecting balconies give a perfect imitation of an overhanging cliff of 34 meters of height. A conservatory (or biotope) with a miniature rain forest along with monkeys and birds has been added on one side; it is entered through a door that only with difficulty could be broken in the two and a half meters thick reinforced concrete, but this also ensures a uniform temperature for aquariums and vivariums in the tower.
The stable temperatures also have the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) brought to take advantage of the flak tower in Arenberg Park as a magazine and occasional exhibition space; in the meantime it is known as Contemporary Art Tower (CAT).
A former air-raid shelter at the base of the Leitturm in Esterhazy Park now contains the Museum of Medieval legal history: the history of torture
Excerpts from
Duncan J. D. Smith; Only in Vienna
A travelling guide to strange places, secret places and hidden attractions
Translated from English by Brigitte Hilzensauer
Photographs by Duncan JD Smith
"The streets of Vienna are paved with culture, the streets of other cities with asphalt". Karl Kraus (1874-1936)
Vienna is certainly one of the greatest and also the most homogeneous capitals in Europe. And it is one of the most fascinating. The overabundance of travel guides that are out there to buy, presents the not too demanding visitor a magical (and easily accessible) abundance of museums, churches, palaces and culinary venues, and they recount the history of the city since the times of the Romans over those of the Habsburg Empire to the present.
Courtesy
Christian Brandstätter Verlag mbH
The publishing service for museums, businesses and public authorities
www.brandstaetter - verlag.at
Total, totalitarian, dead
Picture: Flak tower in 1943 /44, Augarten
At the zero point of the knowledge about the progress of the world stands since 11 September 2001 "Ground Zero". The debris field of the World Trade Center was used as a metaphor, which for its part marks a zero point. "Ground Zero" is called the area that lies in the center of a nuclear explosion. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki this area has been explored, the experiments that began with Albert Einstein's warning of a nuclear policy of Nazi Germany, were successful beyond measure. The name for the nuclear program, "Manhattan Project". With the beginning of the new millennium "Ground Zero" is real returned to where it had once taken its nominal starting point. The skyscraper obviously is able to stimulate the imagination of physicists, ballistics and aeronauts. In the skyscraper the obsessions of the 20th century are concentrated, self-sufficiency and utopia become one in the sky billowing tower. It is the exalted and the sublime. It provides a beacon, of the construction as well as of the destruction.
As the World Trade Center each of the Viennese "flak towers" come along as pairs: One serves as control tower, the other as a flak tower. The central component is the platform, it was needed in high altitudes in order to have a clear field of fire over the city. The tower architecture, which thereby became necessary, one used for bunker systems, no fewer than 40,000 people should here find shelter. For other facilities there was also space: the Gaupropagandaleitung (Regional propaganda direction) for example, the radio station, a munitions factory. At three locations in the city - the triangle that they abzirkelten (encircled), took in Vienna's historic center - in the years 1943/44 had established an own self-contained world, with it corresponded an outside, the world of total war. The flak towers gave this world the architectural icon.
On 14 February 1943, the British Air Force had carpet bombings on German cities announced after it adversary those commitments to civility, just in war of some validity, namely to protect non- military targets, long ago had abandoned. It was a strategy that should give World War II a decisive turn. The Germans had their production concentrated on weapons with immediate penetrating power, especially on fighter planes and tanks. The Allies, however, swore on sustainability, on long-range bombers that now more and more were used. Against such so-called "flying fortresses" should prepare the city's flak towers.
On 18 February 1943 already, the Nazi regime had reacted propagandistically. Joseph Goebbels delivered in the Sportpalast (Sports Palace) those infamous speech in which an unleashed crowd at the top of its voice loud the hysterical question "Do you want total war?" applauded. From then on, the action would no longer overridingly occur on the fronts. Now, as Goebbels put it, the "phalanx of the homeland" was at stake. The war would be carried to the cities. In their midst, in the urban milieu that would now lose all nonchalance and any worth of life. Also, and just that is what the flak towers stand for: their comfort is the security wing, their promise the ammunition depot. They guarantee offensive and defensive in one. In this hard as reinforced concrete alignment, imagined the regime each of every Volksgenossen (member of the German nation).
The flak towers are the architecture of total war par excellence: monumental exclamation marks for military preparedness, towering icons of the resistiveness, uniform archetypes of a technical, an instrumental progress, to which the Nazi state with due atavism was always committed. Furthermore, comes to some extent the domestic political effect: The flak towers are citadels against the own population, reduits in the face of a psychological and social situation, which solely by forced violence, by martial law and concentration camps could be overmastered.
The prototype of the flak towers built up in Berlin, as well as their principle was conceived in the capital, especially by Albert Speer, the Minister for the war economy. But as a kind of urban identification mark they stand in Vienna, and also for this the logic of total war can be used. It is the logic of destruction, the so-called "Nero-command", which after Hitler's disposal would have provided the destruction of all remaining infrastructure in the German Reich. It is the logic of a perverted Darwinism, which would have applied the dictum of unworthy life in the moment of defeat on the own population.
In one of his table talks in May 1942, Hitler blustered about the "huge task to break ... the supremacy of Vienna in the cultural field ...". The hatred toward the city of his youth was notorious, and one may assume that the flak towers, whose placement the "Führer" personally ordered, the enemy, in a manner of speaking, definitely should stake out a target area. Because naturally, the towers would increasingly attract attacks on themselves. But they have the war unscathed as hardly another building survived. That they are standing for the long shot, the totalitarism this very day is clear. To eliminate them, would mean to turn the city with them in rubble.
North Avenue Beach
Chicago, IL
July 15th, 2014
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
The notable Hungarian photographer, Mai Mano's former home and studio, now The Hungarian House of Photography, exhibition hall, bookshop and café.
Architects: Nay & Strausz, 1894. Eclectic Neo-renaissance style.
www.flickr.com/photos/nora-meszoly/sets/72157645682699802
www.flickr.com/photos/nora-meszoly/sets/72157647652442301
Mai Manó House, The Hungarian House of Photography operates in a studio-house built for the commission of Mai Manó (1855-1917), Imperial and Royal Court Photographer. His eight-story studio-house and home was built in fourteen months, in 1893-94.
This special, eight-story neo-renaissance monument is unique in world architecture: we have no knowledge of any other intact turn-of-the-century studiohouse. In addition, it serves its original goal, the case of photography again.
Mai Manó was a professional photographer and specialist, in his time he was one of the best specialists of child portraits. His status in the professional community of that time is uncontested. He was also the founder and editor of the periodical called A Fény (The Light, launched in 1906)
The building's richly decorated neo-renaissance façade clearly served ideological purposes: Mai Manó wanted to lend a past to the young trade, hardly considered to be a form of art by anyone at that time. Take the majolica putti between the ground floor and the mezzanine or the façade paintings on the third floor showing the "six muses of photography".
Actual photographing took place in the Sunlight-studio on the second floor, we restored in 1996-97. During the restoration, we found the original frescoes hiding bethind the white wallpaper for decades. These used to serve as background for Mai's portraits. His studio worked in the house for four decades, until 1931. It was followed by a luxury-bar, Arizona, which was closed in 1944.
After the Second World War, a number of institutions and companies moved into the house and a few private apartments were separated as well. In spite of all the vicissitudes, the house kept its original character. It was declared a piece of national heritage in 1996 considering its special architecture, ornaments and industry-historical significance.
www.maimano.hu/maimanohaz_en.html
www.maimano.hu/maimanohaz_02_en.html
Guggenheim Museum and La Salve Bridge - Bilbao, Spain.
I guess no trip to Bilbao would be complete without a take-home shot of this architectural wonder. I've seen Frank Gehry's work in Dusseldorf and in Prague, and this I can also add to my collection. The nice thing about the materials that Gehry uses for his designs - mostly titanium steel - is that they are very receptive to light and reflects the colors surrounding it. The building basically looks different in color during different times of the day.
One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the Guggenheim has been hailed as a "single moment in the architectural culture" because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something. The museum was named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.
Camera/Lens: Nikon D700; 24-70mm f/2.8;
Exposure: 30 sec.; Aperture: f/16; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 24mm;
Copyright 2010 - Yen Baet - All Rights Reserved.
Do not use any of my images without permission.
TABRIZ, East Azerbaijan, Iran — Looking up the tall brick minarets of the Tabriz mosque with its imposing Persian architecture and beautiful Arabic calligraphy of Quranic verses within blue ceramic tiles, typical elements of Islamic Iranian art and architecture and the Silk Road.
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©2018 Germán Vogel - All rights reserved - No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of the photographer.
June 11th, 2013
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
At some point in every commission, the question of economy of scale plays an important role in concept development, especially when it comes to extremely large models. Rather than developing any sort of template for specific types of buildings, I opted to give each of the more than 300 buildings their due, resulting in no two being alike. In fact, over the years, I have found that the concept of economy of scale in any large landscape model is inherently present due to the nature of the real-world architectural subject matter. For example, Roman temples were typically raised on a high podium with front-facing steps to the entry portico, thus giving each example in the layout more efficiency of design. Perhaps in a similar mode of efficiency, Roman architecture itself actually borrowed from the Greeks for the basis of their temple designs. Likewise, the variation in polychromy throughout the model is relatively uniform between buildings of the same hierarchy.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on October 18, 1997, by former King Juan Carlos I of Spain. Built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Cantabrian Sea, it is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.
One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture", because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.
North Avenue Beach
9/8/2012
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
Chicago, IL
7-21-2012
All photos © Joshua Mellin per the guidelines listed under "Owner settings" to the right.
This image was taken a few days back at Stourhead, Wiltshire.
Weather conditions were mixed with cloud to blue skies and then finishing off with some cloud and rain. Good conditions for landscapes photography then. The Turf Bridge, lake, Pantheon and the surrounding trees help to create the most iconic view of Stourhead.
The Bahá'í House of Worship
The Lotus of Bahapur - A magnet for the heart.
There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one. - Bahá'í Holy Writings
"...the purpose of places of worship and edifices for adoration is simply that of unity, in order that various nations, divergent races, varying souls, may gather there and among them amity, love and accord may be realized.
In the heart of New Delhi, the bustling capital of India, a lotus-shaped outline has etched itself on the consciousness of the city's inhabitants, capturing their imagination, fuelling their curiosity, and revolutionising the concept of worship. This is the Bahá'í Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, better known as the "Lotus Temple". With the dawning of every new day, an ever-rising tide of visitors surges to its doorsteps to savour its beauty and bask in its serenely spiritual atmosphere.
Since its dedication to public worship in December 1986, this Mother Temple of the Indian sub-continent has seen millions of people cross its threshold, making it one of the most visited edifices in India. From its high-perched pedestal, this 'Lotus' casts its benevolent glance over vast green lawns and avenues covering an expanse of 26 acres of land. Its soothingly quiet Prayer Hall and tranquil surroundings have touched the hearts of the Temple's numerous visitors, awakening in them a desire to trace its inspirational source and capture a bit of its peace for themselves.
As an evocative symbol of beauty and purity, representative of divinity, the lotus flower remains unsurpassed in Indian iconography. Rising up pure and unsullied from stagnant water, the lotus represents the manifestation of God. The architect used this ancient Indian symbol to create a design of ethereal beauty and apparent simplicity, belying the complex geometry underlying its execution in concrete form. Twentieth-century architecture has been characterised by a high degree of technological prowess; however, it has been, by and large, unexceptional in aesthetic value. The Lotus Temple provides one of the rare exceptions with its remarkable fusion of ancient concept, modem engineering skill, and architectural inspiration, making it the focus of attention amongst engineers and architects the world over. In the absence of sophisticated equipment, the extremely complex design called for the highest order of engineering ingenuity to be implemented by means of traditional workmanship. No wonder, then, that the Lotus Temple, as a symbol of faith and human endeavour expended in the path of God, became the recipient of accolades and world-wide acclaim.
Early international recognition came its way soon after completion, when the International Federation for Religious Art and Architecture, based in the United States, conferred upon Mr. Sahba the award for "excellence in religious art and architecture for 1987". In 1988, the edifice received its second international award, this time for its structural design, from the Institute of Structural Engineers of the United Kingdom. The citation award reads: "For producing a building so emulating the beauty of a flower and so striking in its visual impact". That same year, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America conferred its international award on the Temple for the excellence of its outdoor illumination. In 1990, the American Concrete Institute presented an award to the Temple as one of the most finely built concrete structures. In 2000, GlobArt Academy of Vienna, Austria, granted its "GlobArt Academy 2000" award in recognition of "the magnitude of the service of [this] Taj Mahal of the 20th century in promoting the unity and harmony of people of all nations, religions and social strata, to an extent unsurpassed by any other architectural monument world-wide".
The value of beauty and symmetry in architecture by itself is not sufficient to immortalise a building. What is important is the response the structure evokes in the hearts of the people. Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro, recalls that he was "so deeply moved visiting this great beautiful place, that I find no words to express my feelings". All that Dizzy Gillespie, the late renowned Baha'i jazz musician, could exclaim was: "I cannot believe it! It is God's work". An Indian diplomat was moved to describe the Temple as a "symbol of spiritual refinement of mankind". Indeed, the construction of the Baha'i House of Worship of Bahapur was a significant chapter in the making of Baha'i history on the Indian sub-continent.
Obedient to the command of Baha'u'llah enshrined in the most holy book of the Baha'i religion, "0 people of Creation, build ye houses as perfect as can be built on earth in the Name of Him who is the Lord of Revelation...", Baha'is have endeavoured to their utmost to build houses of worship as beautiful and distinctive as possible. They have been inspired by the divine outpourings from the pen of Baha'u'llah and His son 'Abdu'1-Baha, and by the noble example set by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, who initiated the process by raising up the magnificent edifices at the World Centre of the Baha'i religion in Haifa, Israel. The houses of worship in North and Central America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Western Samoa each reflect a pristine beauty and freshness of approach. This flowering of Baha'i architecture was further perpetuated by the blossoming of the 'Lotus of Bahapur'.
The Bahá'í Temple in New Delhi, however, occupies a unique position. Not only does it embody the spiritual aspirations and basic beliefs of the world-wide Bahá'í community, but, significantly in a land of myriad religions, it has begun to be seen as providing a unifying link, bringing divergent thoughts into harmony by virtue of its principle of oneness - of God, religion, and mankind. This, perhaps, is the secret of its unabated popularity.
Against the backdrop of a religious milieu which encourages the fragmentation of the Supreme Reality into innumerable gods and goddesses, each personifying a specific attribute of the Almighty, the Bahá'í Temple, with its total absence of idols, elicits bewilderment as well as favourable response. When the main entrance gate was first opened to the general public on 1 January 1987, visitors flocked to the 'Lotus Temple' out of sheer curiosity. The vast lawns, the massive white structure, the high-ceilinged Central Auditorium and a Temple without idols standing so near the ancient 'Kalkaji Temple' aroused the interest of all.
Indian visitors, from the most urbane to the simplest rural folk, expressed perplexity at the absence of any deity. Explaining the all-pervasive nature of the Creator which defies deification became a challenge. Many times guides helping to maintain decorum inside the Prayer Hall were startled by the astonished exclamations of visitors wondering aloud where the object of adoration was. Some of them, in their simplicity, paid obeisance to the lectern, surreptitiously placing a flower or two - an amusing as well as a touching sight. Awed by the beauty and grandeur of the edifice, they struggled to grasp the spiritual significance of this material structure.
As understanding dawned, a typical response became: "Few temples radiate the atmosphere of sublimity, peace, and calm so necessary to elevate a devotee spiritually as the Bahá'í House of Worship". Other repeated comments included: "Where there is silence, the spirit is eloquent" and "One feels one is at last entering into the estate of the soul, the state of stillness and peace". The visitors were aided in their efforts by the serenity of the Prayer Hall and the assistance of volunteer guides and staff who explained the raison-d'etre of the Temple. The innate sense of reverence of the Indian for the Omnipresence often manifested itself in the act of reverently touching the steps leading into the Prayer Hall.
Visitors from the West often came to critically appraise a structure which had gained fame as a marvel of 20th-century architecture. For them it was sometimes a grudging, sometimes a spontaneous realisation that the phenomenon called faith transcends logic and that the universal ethic of love envelops all. They, too, were humbled at this altar of faith and love.
No matter what the identity of the visitors, from the Orient or the Occident, from North or South, of humble origins or exalted positions, all have been unanimous in their appreciation of both the physical grandeur as well as the lofty purpose of the House of Worship. One visitor commented: "The most beautiful experience. Its magnificence, charm and glamour are awe-inspiring. It reflects the dream of all humanity to bring together a new civilisation for all people." A renowned visitor from India opined, "Architecturally, artistically, ethically, the edifice is a paragon of perfection."
The aura of silence surrounding the Prayer Hall instills reverence. Some were moved by what they termed the 'eloquent silence'; others said that the 'divine atmosphere' inside touched the heart. All were affected in various degrees by the peace and beauty of the sanctum sanctorum.
One reason for the immense popularity of the House of Worship of Bahapur is the fact that media attention, both Indian and foreign, focused on it even before its completion. Construction News, a technical journal from the United Kingdom, was the first to give the Lotus Temple the appellation of Taj Mahal of the 20th Century' in its April 1986 issue, a description that has been subsequently used by many other publications. The comparison brings to mind the words of the famous Indian poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, who described the Taj as "a teardrop on the cheek of eternity". Considering that the Bahá'í House of Worship is an affirmation and a celebration of man's love for his Creator, and not a mausoleum, the Lotus Temple could be described as "a dewdrop on the brow of eternity". Indian Express, in its issue of 20 November 1986, aptly referred to the fact that "while the Taj is an expression of deep personal love, for the Baha'is the Temple symbolizes love between Man and God". In World Architecture 1900-2000: A Critical Mosaic, Volume 8, South Asia, the Lotus Temple appears as one of the 100 canonical works of this century. The book is part of a series of 10 books organised by the Architectural Society of China and endorsed by the International Union of Architects, in co-ordination with the XX World Architects Congress convened in June 1999 in Beijing, China. Part of the text reads: "A powerful icon of great beauty that goes beyond its pure function of serving as a congregation space to become an important architectural symbol of the city".
The physical sun, resplendent in its halo of light, has traversed the expanse of heaven from east to west in its fiery chariot. As it pauses awhile on the horizon before plunging out of sight, it casts its luminous shadow on a white 'Lotus', standing majestically on its red pedestal, giving it a warm glow. An intangible aura of fulfilment surrounds the 'Lotus'. Ark-like, it had ridden the waves of people swirling around it during the day with composure. The last ripples are slowly moving away, casting longing glances behind at the 'Lotus' as if beseeching it to take them back into its fold.
Spectators in the lobby area of Oslo Opera House during the intermission at a soirée.
The Oslo Opera House (in Norwegian, Operahuset) is the seat of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building lies in Bjørvika, in the center of Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. Its builder was Statsbygg, a government-run property owner. The architects were the Norwegian firm Snøhetta who were also the architects of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the Library of Alexandria) in Egypt. The theatre designers were Theatre Projects Consultants based in London, the acoustic designers were BrekkeStrandArup, a joint venture between local consultant Brekke Strand Akustikk and international acousticians Arup Acoustics. Norwegian construction company Veidekke was awarded one of the largest building contracts of the project. The structure provides a total area of 38,500 m² and includes 1,100 rooms, one of which has 1,350 seats and another has up to 400 seats. Total expenditures for the building project were planned at 4.4 billion NOK, but finished ahead of schedule, and 300 million NOK under budget.
The Opera House was finished in 2007 with the opening event held on 12 April 2008. King Harald V of Norway opened the Opera House that evening at a gala performance attended by national leaders and royalty, including President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The main stage is 16 meters wide, and can be made up to 40 meters deep.
The Opera won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in October 2008. Jury member Sir Peter Cook said of the Opera House that it "...in its scale, ambition and quality has raised the bar for Norwegian architecture."
More information on the building from Snøhetta architects.
HDR from three handheld exposures (+/- 2 EV). Processed and tonemapped using Photomatix.
Best seen large and on black.
I have finally consulted an architect and builder to construct a townhouse in this lot beside the studio.
We're Here! : World Architecture
Running out of ideas for your 365 project? Join We're Here!
Located at the New York City Public Library. Third Floor, Room 315
The Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room is a majestic public space, measuring 78 feet by 297 feet—roughly the length of two city blocks—and weaving together Old World architectural elegance with modern technology. The award-wining restoration of this room was completed in 1998, thanks to a fifteen million-dollar gift from Library trustee Sandra Priest Rose and Frederick Phineas Rose, who renamed the room in honor of their children.
The other side of the big brown dividing wall is an equally large room identical to this side.
Cabinet portrait, around 1910s
Format: Promenade gross
www.flickr.com/photos/37578663@N02/sets/72157645682699802
Photographer/Fényképész: Mai és Társa (Mai & Co.)
Budapest
Nagymező utca 20.
saját házában, az Andrássy út közelében
(in his own house, next to Andrássy Avenue)
No. 22 156
"Willst du haben Frieden viel, thu' wie dein Weib es haben will."
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About Mai Manó: www.maimano.hu/maimanohaz_en.html
Mai Manóról: hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Man%C3%B3.
Mai Manó (1855-1917) was a professional photographer and specialist, in his time he was one of the best specialists of child portraits. His status in the professional community of that time is uncontested. He was also the founder and editor of the periodical called "A Fény" (The Light, launched in 1906).
Mai Manó House - The Hungarian House of Photographers operates in this house. His eight-story studio-house and home was built in fourteen months in 1893-94.
The special, eight-story neo-renaissance monument is unique in world architecture: we have no knowledge of any other intact turn-of-the-century studiohouse. In addition, it serves its original goal, the case of photography again.
I committed to bringing trophies for the World Architecture theme. I thought it would be fun to make a "triumphal arch", which seems to incorporate the theme of architecture along with triumphing. I think they look better in person. I was also severely limited in color and piece count and all the rest. Oh well.
For added extra fun, I'm going to give a presentation on cheese slope mosaics Sunday morning.
Then I'm going to write an article about the convention for Hispabrick Magazine. Busy times!
A tear in urbanity. Where facades should align in rigid order, an anomaly has taken root, emerging from the ground like the remnant of a shattered world. Architecture, once unyielding and domesticated, seems to have lost its footing against the intrusion of an unknown fragment. A shard of steel and glass, like a prism from another dimension, has inserted itself into reality without warning.
Light grazes its sharp surfaces, unveiling a paradoxical geometry, a distortion where the urban landscape is reflected. But are these reflections still true to reality, or are they mere illusions projected by a material that does not belong to our world? Around it, silence weighs heavy. Mist rises from the ground, a sign of an impending collapse, a transition underway between two states of existence.
This fractured monolith carries the memory of an elsewhere. It evokes both a fall and an ascension, a rupture and a revelation. Could it be a wreck from the future, an architecture that has yet to find its era? Or the awakening of a mineral entity attempting to tear through the veil of the rational world?