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xtruss · 1 year ago

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Road Tripping Across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Crossing the Mackinac Bridge from Michigan’s Mitten to the U.P. is Passage to Another World. Explore the Spectacular Natural Beauty, Cultural History, and Small Towns of this Remote Region.

— By Stacey Cook

Top: See the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie! Built in the mid-1800s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Soo Locks raise and lower boats with a series of gates and chambers that are powered by the force of gravity alone. This ingenious engineering connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron and allows around 7,000 ships—including huge freighters—to pass from the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes annually. See it yourself from the Soo Locks Park and Observation Deck in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie) or take one of two boat tours. The Famous Soo Locks Boat Tour offers a lighthouse cruise—a half-day, fully narrated voyage that traverses the St. Mary’s River through the locks and all the way to the entrance of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. When you’re back on dry land, drop by the Baaweting Anishinaabe Interpretive Center to view culturally significant items donated by tribal members and the River of History Museum for a self-guided audio tour with stories of Native Americans, French fur traders, and others who shaped the region. Photograph By Alamy

Bottom: Experience the majesty of Tahquamenon Falls! Tahquamenon Falls State Park encompasses nearly 50,000 acres of forestland and several waterfalls that crash into the Tahquamenon River before it flows into Lake Superior. Tannins leached from cedar swamps give the river its distinctive amber color and the park’s nickname “Root Beer Falls.” There are two viewing areas in the park. The Upper Falls is one of the largest east of the Mississippi, spanning 200 feet wide with a single, nearly 50-foot drop. Take the accessible 0.4-mile paved pathway through old-growth forest to view it from an observation platform. To reach the series of Lower Falls, walk the four-mile hiking trail or drive down and view them from the Ronald A. Olson Pedestrian Island Bridge or by rowboat. The park is also an ideal place to birdwatch and see wildlife—including a resident pair of moose—and offers 25 miles of hiking trails and four campgrounds to extend your stay. Photograph From Shutterstock

Explore the cape at Whitefish Point! Known as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast, Whitefish Point is home to more than 200 shipwrecks preserved in the surrounding waters. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Whitefish Point Light Station are worth a visit to browse exhibits that include shipwreck artifacts, artwork, models, and maritime history programs. Admission includes a self-guided tour of the preserved 1861 Lightkeeper's Quarters, and the bell of the famous Edmund Fitzgerald steamer is on display. Walk past the museum to a boardwalk that leads to gorgeous Whitefish Point Beach. Sink your feet into fine dune sand, swim in Lake Superior's cold, clear water, and search for agates on the shore while seabirds and freighters coast by. For the truly adventurous, the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve offers several extraordinary dive sights for viewing the shipwrecks up close, with underwater visibility ranging from 20 to 150 feet. The local preserve organization places mooring buoys on the major shipwrecks for intrepid and experienced divers to discover. Photograph By Alamy

Discover Grand Marais, the gem of the U.P.! Set within a 50-mile stretch of Lake Superior shoreline, Grand Marais is a hiker’s and backpacker’s paradise. Trek along the Sucker River in the Grand Marais School Forest to explore scenic overlooks, waterfalls, bluffs, lakes, streams, and remote coves. Visit the Blind Sucker Flooding wetland in the Lake Superior State Forest for excellent bird-watching. The 7.3-mile Blind Sucker Pathway traverses a dense forest along the Blind Sucker River and the Lake Superior coast. The trail can be accessed at Blind Sucker No. 1 or No. 2 state forest campgrounds or the Lake Superior State Forest Campground. For a more leisurely day, head out to one of Grand Marais’ many beautiful beaches to hunt for agates, or hop on a bike to coast down quiet country roads where locals joke that five cars are a lot of traffic. Then head west to begin your journey to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with Sable Falls and the Grand Sable Dunes, five square miles of incredible, pristine dunes perched at the top of the 300-foot-high Grand Sable Banks that were formed by the retreat of ice sheets thousands of years ago and offer an incredible view. Photograph By Alamy

Hike and paddle along the colorful sandstone cliffs of Pictured Rocks! The small town of Munising is the gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which encompasses more than 70,000 acres and 40 miles of Lake Superior shoreline. The sculpted sandstone cliffs and formations are banded with orange, red, green, and blue hues from iron, copper, and other minerals and tower as high as 200 feet above the shore. There are 100 miles of forested trails, waterfalls, beaches, sand dunes, and scenic overlooks to explore in this beloved national park. Hike a 1.2-mile trail to see beautiful Chapel Falls, then continue another two miles to Chapel Rock, a solitary stack of Cambrian-age sandstone jutting up from the lakeshore with a lone white pine on top. Twelvemile Beach is a remote stretch of sandy shoreline that offers a clear, cold swim after a long day of hiking and a starry night at the rustic first-come, first-served 37-site campground. Get a bird’s-eye view from three overlooks at Miners Castle, one of the park’s most famous landmarks, and Grand Portal Point, the highest point along the ridge. To see the colorful striations up close, join a kayaking tour and glide through sea caves and the iconic archway of Lover’s Leap. Paddle even farther out or take a ferry to secluded Grand Island to spend the day exploring 13,500 acres of hardwood forest, pristine beaches, and inland lakes by foot, bike, or kayak. Photograph By Alamy

Soak in the arts and culture of Houghton-Hancock! The twin cities of Houghton and Hancock, connected by the iconic Portage Lake Lift Bridge, are together considered the gateway to the Keweenaw Peninsula. Houghton is the fastest-growing city in the U.P. and home to Michigan Technological University. Drop into the Carnegie Museum, which showcases the region’s cultural and natural history in a classic revival building and offers free admission, with donations appreciated. The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech exhibits the world’s finest collection of minerals from the Great Lakes region, and the Finnish-American Heritage Center at Hancock’s Finlandia University houses historical and family archives for the Finns who settled here in the 1800s and hosts cultural events. Pop on a hard hat and take a two-hour guided tour of Quincy Mine, home of the largest steam hoist engine in the world, to learn about the mine’s fascinating history and ride a rail-cog tram. Check out the events, activities, and gallery space at the Copper Country Community Arts Center, or catch a theater, music, or dance performance at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. When you get hungry, head over to the Library Restaurant, where books decorate the walls and tables overlook the canal, or try the pannukakku, a custardy oven-baked pancake served with raspberry sauce, and other traditional Finnish dishes at the Suomi Restaurant. Or grab a flaky meat or root veggie hand pie at Amy J’s Pasty (that’s PASS-tee) to go, and stroll along the Portage Canal boardwalk where flower gardens bloom and secret art installations are waiting to be discovered. Photograph By Alamy

Lose track of time in the Porcupine Mountains! Stop in the small town of Ontonagon to load up on supplies and chat with friendly locals before embarking on a great adventure in the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, a.k.a. “the Porkies.” Michigan’s largest state park encompasses 60,000 acres of hardwood forests, waterfalls, rivers, and pristine Lake Superior beaches. Hike up into the Summit Peak Observation Tower, the highest point in the park at nearly 2,000 feet above sea level, for a panoramic view. On clear days, you can see as far as the Apostle Islands and Isle Royale. Copper Peak offers the highest unobstructed vista in the Midwest, and its viewing platform is accessible via an 800-foot chair lift ride. There are great mountain biking trails at Copper Peak as well, including some heart-pounding descents. Lake of the Clouds is a sparkling blue gem ringed by lush green forest that’s one of the most photographed features in the U.P. You can drive to the accessible overlook to view it from above and snap your own photo or hike down the Big Carp River Trail or the Escarpment Trail. The lake offers catch-and-release bass fishing, but there are no boat rentals—you’ll need to carry light watercraft in or use waders. Ontonagon is also home to the Porcupine Mountains Music Festival. It’s held annually the weekend before Labor Day and features bluegrass, Americana, folk, rock, country, and blues acts over two days. Photograph By Alamy

Visit the vineyards and fish-packed bays of Escanaba! Beautiful Escanaba is a top contender for Walleye capital of the world. The Bays de Noc on Lake Michigan make one of the best freshwater fishing locations in the U.S., as more than 20,000 fish have been planted to sustain the fishery, and major professional fishing tournaments are held here. There’s also excellent fly fishing in the Escanaba River and ice fishing in the winter. The region is also a burgeoning wine country, thanks to new cold-hardy grapes designed to survive freezing winters. Drop by the tasting rooms at Northern Sun Winery and Leigh’s Garden Winery for a chance to try the U.P.’s own estate-grown wines. For a caffeine fix, Up North Roast has you covered, and be sure to grab a pint of Yooper Ale in the taproom at Upper Hand Brewery, a division of Michigan’s famous Bell’s Brewery. Dobber’s and Gram’s rule the pasty game in Escanaba and are both worth a visit. The Stonehouse Restaurant has been voted Escanaba’s best restaurant for 30 years and features an impressive array of dishes “from the water” as well as other substantial meals. The Escanaba Farmers Market has been a town staple for more than 100 years. Wander through the stalls and shop for locally grown fruit and vegetables, fresh baked goods, jams, meats, locally foraged mushrooms, and crafts. In July, check out the country and rock Northern Lights Music Fest at the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds. The inaugural 2023 festival features headliner Keith Urban. Photograph From Shutterstock

Ignite your imagination at Fayette Historic State Park and Townsite! Step back in time at Fayette Historic State Park on the shore of Lake Michigan’s Big Bay de Noc where a historic 19th-century townsite is beautifully preserved. The industrial community of Fayette was founded in the 1860s by Fayette Brown, a manager of the Jackson Iron Company, and it housed approximately 500 people, mostly immigrant workers and their families. The iron ore the company smelted was shipped to the lower Great Lakes where it was converted into railroad rails and steel during the Second Industrial Revolution. Wander through the park on a guided or self-guided tour to see the 150-year-old buildings, including the hotel, town hall, blast furnace, machine shop and school, and learn about what life was like here. When the company stopped smelting operations in 1891, most residents moved away, leaving the town to stand as an exhibit of Michigan history. The park also encompasses a modern campground, swimming area, and five miles of trails that offer views from 90-foot limestone cliffs surrounding Snail Shell Harbor. Photograph By Alamy

Immerse yourself in nature at an easy pace near Manistique! Head to beautiful Manistique to wander between the sweet downtown shops and admire the latest mural on Cedar St. Grab a bite at Cedar Street Cafe and Espresso Bar or the Upper Crust Deli, then stroll the wooden boardwalk bordered by dune grass for a panoramic Lake Michigan view with the bright red Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse in the foreground. Manistique is a perfect jumping-off point for short excursions, and it’s only a 1.5-hour drive from the Mackinac Bridge. Visit Palms Book State Park to see Kitch-iti-kipi, “The Big Spring,” which is indeed big at 200 feet across and 40 feet deep, where over 10,000 gallons of water gush per minute from fissures in the underlying limestone. Check out the crystal-clear water up close from a large, self-operated raft. Bring your binoculars to view migratory birds and other wildlife in the lush marshes, swamps, bogs, grasslands, and forests of Seney National Wildlife Refuge, a 96,000-acre protected wetland area with diverse habitats and species managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The pretty Colwell Lake Trail in the Hiawatha National Forest makes a nice day trip from Manistique with an accessible 2-mile loop around the lake. Photograph From Getty

#Road Tripping #Michigan #Upper Peninsula #Mackinac Bridge #Explore #Spectacular Natural Beauty #Cultural History #Small Towns #Remote Region

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theorangelifeofriley · 3 years ago

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Honolulu: Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl

July 24, 2021

We were to meet our driver at 8am this morning for our day at Pearl Harbor and the Punchbowl. There was much confusion about what to pack, since Pearl Harbor doesn’t allow bags at all – except maybe a small clear sandwich bag. I brought my home made wristlet – made out of a clear sandwich bag and some duck tape. We all packed things in my little wristlet for the day.

We got down to the little sitting area next to the pull-through driveway and our group was congregated with our guide for the day, Olav. Olav told us that we didn’t actually have anywhere to be until 1:30pm, so we had some time to make sure that we all had what we needed. And also that he would be with us all day and we’d be in the same car all day. He also strongly recommended hats and water bottles. We made several trips back up to the room to grab things. We also learned that Olav is unvaccinated, doesn’t believe in COVID-19, and is a staunch Republican who believes in his “Constitutional rights.” He is also an incredible font of knowledge about Pearl Harbor, and only occasionally threw in some of his slanted views. There is no way I’m going to be able to capture, or remember, all the information he told us – it was a continuous stream of knowledge for about 8 hours.

Eventually, we had all of our stuff, and we walked to the 15-passenger van, parked on the street behind the hotel. After we got settled, Olav took off through the city to the Punchbowl. The Punchbowl is a volcanic crater in the hills surrounding Honolulu. The center is a bowl – the crater – and they punched a hole through one of the crater’s rims to allow entry into the bowl. Hence the name – Punchbowl. Inside the Punchbowl is a national cemetery. There’s a monument at the end of it, and on the steps up to the monument is where Hawai’i holds memorial services for Veteran’s Day and Dec. 7. We’re not allowed to get out inside the Punchbowl, but we can drive through. Lining the driveway in the Punchbowl are Banyan trees donated to the US from China. China was our ally during World War II, and we helped to defeat the Japanese who had invaded and were conquering China. There are 48 trees, which represent the 48 states at the time of World War II. They’re beautiful trees that have been groomed to prevent additional roots from taking root.

The area is quiet and calm, and beautiful. There are no traditional white headstones like in Arlington. Instead, the headstones are flat. They used to be white wooden crosses but were changed to flat stone headstones to respect other religions – and allow for easier maintenance.

From the Punchbowl, we drove to Pearl Harbor, and to the USS Missouri BB 63, which is now a museum. As we drove through the city, Olav pointed out a neighborhood that burned when a bomb went astray on Dec. 7, 1941. He also described in detail what happened on Dec. 7, 1941 – the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. We learned about the SS Cynthia Olson which was sank en route from the mainland and Honolulu by a Japanese submarine on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. The passenger ship was carrying two soldiers to Honolulu but was a passenger ship. There’s a photo of the Cynthia Olson as it was sinking taken by a Japanese soldier on the submarine. The Cynthia Olson got a may day call out, and another passenger ship heard the call. That second passenger ship confiscated all the passenger’s binoculars and assigned watch duty to the passengers. When that ship landed, the USA government confiscated all of their radio records and logs. Olav believes the records were confiscated because they show the time of the Cynthia Olson’s may day call. If that call happened before the bombing at Pearl Harbor, but was ignored, it would look very bad for the US military command.

As we entered the Pearl Harbor base, we drove to a parking lot and Olav left us to get an officer who cam back and searched our van for bags. Once that was done, we drove over the bridge to Ford Island and the USS Missouri BB-63. BB-63 stands for Battle Boat 63 – the 63rd battleship the US built. This is necessary because there have been four USS Missouri’s. The current USS Missouri is a submarine that was also docked at Pearl Harbor today. Of course you can’t call it BS-63 (battleship 63) – so battle boat 63 it is. The BB-63 was the last battleship built in the world, the most powerful, and the last one to retire. It was launched during World War II, saw battle in the Battle of Okinawa, was where the Instrument of Surrender was signed by the Japanese to officially end World War II, served in the Korean War, was decommissioned in the 60s, then refitted in the 80s, saw duty in Desert Storm, before finally being retired in the early 90s, then being made into a museum. Its parked in Battleship Row – where all the Battleships were anchored on Dec. 7.

Olav told us a lot about how the Pacific Fleet came to be in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 – but then he seemed to contradict himself. The first story was that FDR ordered the Pacific Fleet to all be at Pearl Harbor as a “show of strength” to deter the Japanese. The Admiral of the Pacific Fleet thought this was stupid, because normally the Pacific Fleet rotated between several locations, and there was not enough of a supply chain, let alone docking berths, to allow the entire fleet to be in Pearl Harbor. He resisted, basically told FDR he was dumb, and lost his job. He had worked on the supply line, though, and worked on the docking situation too – which is how Battleship Row came to be.

As he told this story, I gathered that the next Admiral did as FDR wished and assembled the entire Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor. Olav made a point to say that FDR ignored the military advisors, and his Admiral, and all their knowledge to demand the fleet be in Pearl Harbor. Later, he told us that every year, the Admiral of the Pacific Fleet was required to inspect the fleet in Pearl Harbor. This always occurred on the Monday after the first Sunday in December. In 1941, that was Dec. 8. The Fleet was required to report to Pearl Harbor 24 -48 hours in advance of the inspection. Which then means that the fleet was assembled in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 in preparation for the inspection on Dec. 8 – which doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with FDR.

The deck of the Mighty Mo is covered in teak, which they did to preserve the steel deck, to lower the temperature inside the boat, and to provide a natural nonslip surface. The teak on the deck has been replaced three times, all using different processes. One time they messed up trying to save money by putting 1 inch of Douglas Fir below 1 inch of team (instead of 2 inches of teak) – not realizing that Douglas Fir rots faster than teak.

During WWII, the Missouri was attacked by a Kamikaze, which was captured perfectly on camera. We saw the place where the Kamikaze’s wing impacted with the Missouri. We also saw footprints on the deck where our personnel stood as they buried the Kamikaze pilot at sea as directed by the Missouri’s captain.

We toured the inside of the ship, which was interesting. They had several displays with stuff from the Missouri, the history of the Missouri, remnants from the Kamikaze attack, etc. We walked through the galley, the kitchens, the offices – including the dental office – the food lines, including the donut shop, the fast food line, and the Truman line, so called because the Truman family visited and used that food line. There were crew quarters everywhere – berths stacked 3 high, and each sailor’s locker. The kitchens were crazy – the appliances were huge, and they had everything you could want! Well, all the kitchen toys you could want. The Missouri was the first ship to have a network of interconnected computers which they called MO-Net. This was all before the internet was created. The inside of the Missouri was extensive – it seemed to go on and on. We saw throughout the ship ammunition chutes. And a couple of places that would be vulnerable to armor piercing rounds which can pierce through 16” of steel – so these areas were outfitted with 17” think steel. The guns on the ship were huge and could take out a target 25 miles away. The guns had to be fired over the water, because the rounds were fired at twice the speed of sound, and the concussion would tear the ship apart if the guns were fired over the ship. Missouri, the state, was responsible for providing the fancy silverware and place settings – which is interesting. There was a great map that showed where all of the different USS Missouris served. We saw the Chief’s lounge, and the Captain’s lounge, which was also used as a war room, and the tables can be used as operating tables in a pinch. It was a great insight into what the ship would have looked like while it was in service.

When we were finished touring the inside of the boat, we went to the deck, and then to the Quarter Deck. On the Mighty Mo, the Quarter Deck has been renamed the Surrender Deck, because it was where the Japanese surrendered to the Allied Forces to end World War II. Olav told a story about how MacArthur stepped out of the navigation bridge to walk down to the Quarter Deck but noticed that the Japanese contingent hadn’t arrived yet. So he went back inside, saying, “I’m not going to wait for them. They will wait for me.” He also told us that the British brought a fancy table they wanted to use for the signing, but the papers they were signing were too large to fit on the table. The Missouri’s Captain ordered a seaman to grab a folding table from the ship, and they used that. One of the Japanese had a false leg, and as he was coming up to sign the papers, he stumbled and hit one of the legs of the folding table. The crew, who knew it was a folding table, held their breath for the rest of the ceremony – hoping that the table didn’t collapse. (It didn’t.)

On the Surrender Deck, there is a plaque where the table was and the documents were signed. There’s also a display with replicas of the documents. On the replicas, you can see that the Canadian representative signed on the wrong line on the first document. There’s a picture of someone making sure that he signed on the correct line on the second copy!

They’ve positioned the Missouri so that the bow of the battleship points to the bow of the USS Arizona. The ship that started the US involvement in WWII and the ship where WWII ended pointing to each other.

We finished on the Missouri, went to the gift shop, got some Dole Whip, and then drove to the Pearl Harbor Memorial area for lunch. Lunch was at a permanent food truck outside, and was decent, although Meg and Marie didn’t like their nachos or hot dog. After lunch, we went to watch a 20-minute movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor, before making our way to the ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Olav detailed how the attack happened but of course I’m not going to remember everything. There were three waves of attacks – the dive bombers, the torpedoes, and the other type of bombers. Eek. They came from different directions, and in two separate waves. There were about… or over?... 300 planes in total. The battle lasted for 2 hours. Most all of the ships that were sunk were eventually retrieved and put back into service, except for the Arizona, the Oklahoma, and the Utah. The Japanese adjusted bombs? Or torpedoes? With an additional fin that allowed them to fun in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor and hit Battleship row. I think Olav also indicated that the aerial bombers were not the ones that caused the most damage, generally – it was the torpedoes.

The ride out to the memorial was quick – the warnings about not misbehaving on an active Navy boat were almost as long as the ride itself. Once the ferry docks, we disembarked, and headed back to the back room. The memorial itself is a white concrete building. The architect was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and wanted to build the memorial to remember the lives that were spent to save and free so many across the world, including in the concentration camps. The structure is a loose U-shape. The low point in the middle represents initial defeat at Pearl Harbor. The inclines on either side represent the slow climb to victory in Europe and the slow climb to victory in the Pacific. There are seven cut outs along either side and the top, which were for structural integrity, but have later been said to represent a 21-gun salute. The structure is situated across the middle of the sunken USS Arizona – the ship heaviest hit by the attack on Dec. 7. 1,177 seamen were lost with the Arizona and never recovered. Another 41 of the survivors, or relatives of those lost, have chosen to be interred in the Arizona.

As soon as I set foot on the dock, I smelled the oil or gasoline from the wreck. You could see it on the water, too. There is oil still leaking from the ship and will continue to leak for decades more. There were a lot of people at the memorial, but it was mostly quiet, as is fitting. We walked right back to the room where the names of those buried here are displayed. It’s made of the same marble as the headstones in Arlington. The room is beautiful but somber.

Just outside of that room is a hole in the floor of the structure that is situated over a part of the ship. I didn’t see much there. Outside, on either end of the structure, there are two white buoys that represent where the bow and the stern of the ship are. There are also pieces of the ship, like the gun turrets, and the flag staff, that are still sticking out above the water. It was a moving experience.

After the ferry back to the main site, we went and toured the USS Bowfin – a retired submarine that is only 27’ in circumference. It was tiny, and holy cow does it seem miserable to have served on it. They call it the Silent Service – the work of the submarines. The Bowfin was launched on Dec. 7, 1942, and was therefore nicknamed The Pearl Harbor Avenger. The kitchen was tiny, and only had minimal toys. Olav tells us that the food was cooked on the mainland, frozen, and placed in the submarine’s freezers.

The worst thing was hot bunking. There were only 36 bunks on board the submarine, but about 86 sailors on board. So they rotated beds – multiple people shared a bed. With the temperatures on the submarine running in the 90s or 100s, the beds were wet with the other guy’s sweat. Yuck.

The doorways between the areas of the ship were so small and short too! It was a workout to squat and contort myself through the doorways.

After the Bowfin, we drove back to the city Olav was kind enough to drive us to Costco. This Costco is the busiest on in America. I didn’t go in, but the parking lot was crazy! Anne, Aimee, and Marie went in to get food for the next few days, and they did a great job! Then, it was back to the hotel, and our time with Olav was over. He is a knowledgeable, talkative tour guide to be sure!

Back in the room, some of us split up for naps and downtime until dinner at 6:30. Rileys, Drew, and Todd stayed at our place to watch the Olympics and drink the 5th of rum we bought the night before. Todd made us a whole series of frozen drinks that were great, and did the job! We had a raucous good time watching Men’s Street Skateboarding, where the athletes wiped out more than they landed tricks. It was brutal!

We had tacos for dinner, and continued watching the Olympics, and the activity on the ocean. From our view from the living room and our balcony, we can see all the hundreds of surfers always hanging out on the water, and the couple that actually make surfing runs. There’s a lot of boat traffic, including a lot of boats that go out to watch the sunset. There’s also a surprising number of large cargo ships that travel pretty close to this beach. It was a great time tonight!

#alohabeaches #july24 #2021 #hawaii #honolulu #pearl harbor #punchbowl

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wtf-triassic · 5 years ago

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Hypsognathus fenneri

By Ashley Patch

Etymology: High Jaw

First Described By: Gilmore, 1928

Classification: Biota, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Asgardarchaeota, Eukaryota, Neokaryota, Scotokaryota, Opimoda, Podiata, Amorphea, Obazoa, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Choanozoa, Animalia, Eumetazoa, Parahoxozoa, Bilateria, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Olfactores, Vertebrata, Craniata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiformes, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Amniota, Sauropsida, Diapsida?, Parareptillia, Procolophonomorpha, Ankyramorpha, Procolophonia, Procolophonoidea, Procolophonidae, Leptopleuroninae, Leptopleuronini

Time and Place: Between 228 and 202 million years ago, from the Carnian to the Rhaetian of the Late Triassic

Hypsognathus is known from a wide variety of formations, including the Wolfville and Blomidon Formations of Nova Scotia, the New Haven Formation of Connecticut, and the Passaic Formation of New Jersey.

Physical Description: Hypsognathus was a Parareptile, a group of odd creatures much more common in the Permian but had their last hurrah during the Triassic. These animals were some of the most varied and fascinating creatures of their time, including some of the first bipeds, first megafauna, and first aquatic reptiles. In the Triassic, most looked like your generic tetrapod - lizards, except without their specializations and long tails; salamanders but with scales. Some, however, kept doing weird things, including our friend Hypsognathus here. Hypsognathus was about 33 centimeters long, with stocky limbs and a thick trunk. Its head was almost half as wide as the body was long at 12.5 centimeters, and it wasn’t very mobile (or kinetic) - instead, fixed in place for extra support and sturdiness. Notably, Hypsognathus had extensive spikes and protrusions coming off of its head to the sides and down on the face, making it look rather monstrous from the front. These spikes may have even been longer than the fossil indicates, covered by keratin for display purposes. Its jaw was curved upwards, giving it a weird sort of permanent smile, and it had giant teeth protruding from its mouth. These teeth were blunt and thick, allowing for strong mashing of food. These teeth were also fascinating because there was clear tooth replacement, usually alternating - in the sequence of ABABABAB, the A’s would get replaced, and then the B’s. The rest of its body was fairly standard for a Procolophonid - with short, splayed out legs for walking slowly and from side to side; wide and thick fingers and toes for gripping the ground; and a short stubby tail not used for much at all. It would have probably been covered in something akin to scales, and well adapted for dry conditions as a result.

Diet: Hypsognathus was an herbivore, feeding on high-fiber, tough plant material.

Behavior: Hypsognathus was, more likely than not, a burrowing animal. The lack of kinesis in the skull allowed it to use it like a shovel, which may have been one of the uses of the spikes on its face. It could then dig into the ground to hide from predators, burrowing deep and not worrying about the fact that the rest of its body is relatively unprotected since it is being hidden by the dirt. This also explains the lack of ornamentation elsewhere on the body, and its squat and short structure. A long tail, or long limbs, would not have aided in hiding in the dirt! In addition, those wide and thick fingers and toes would have helped in kicking up dirt and escaping from predators quickly. The spikes may have also been able to anchor Hypsognathus within the burrow itself, preventing it from being dug out by a small predator. These spikes would have also been decent as display structures, with longer or more ridiculous looking ones appearing Fancy to other Hypsognathus. This could have been added on to with more keratin sheaths, reflecting the ability of an individual Hypsognathus to waste energy - and burrow space - on more elaborate horns because it was doing so well. It would then emerge from the burrows to feed on roughage and tough plants - though it may have been able to feed on roots and tubers underground as well. Given it could have used the horns for display, it was probably at least somewhat social; however, we have no idea how much or if it took care of its young, or had any other complex behaviors. Juvenile and young specimens are known, and they also have spikes, so if they served for communication, social life may have been a part of youth as well as adulthood.

Ecosystem: Hypsognathus was a consistent feature of Northeastern North America during the Late Triassic, present in a variety of environments and ecosystems along the geologically active area that would eventually open up to begin forming the Atlantic Ocean. It generally favored sandy beaches lining seasonal lakes and rivers, with a variety of coniferous trees and swamp trees rooted in the lake. There were also ferns, cycads, and plankton abundant around and within the water. There were also proto angiosperms! While Hypsognathus lived with a wide variety of animals, some creatures kept popping up over and over again - the Aetosaur Stegomus, Phytosaurs such as Belodon and Rutiodon, Rhynchosaurs like Scaphonyx and Colobops, predatory Pseudosuchians such as Erpetosuchus and Rauisuchians, the weirdo Tanystropheid Gwyneddichnium and the Allokotosaur Teraterpeton, other Procolophonids like Scoloparia and Acadiella, the Temnospondyl Metoposaurus, the Cynodont Arctotraversodon, and there were also early dinosaurs and late Dicynodonts (though only footprints were preserved). In fact, Hypsognathus is most commonly preserved alongside footprints, lending credence to the idea that it would burrow in wet, sandy places, and get trapped and preserved there in the same events that preserved the prints.

Other: This strange burrower with a spikey head was a very successful animal - it was found all over Eastern North America, throughout the Late Triassic, and seems to have only gone extinct because of the end-Triassic extinction. This is notable, because it is one of the last surviving Parareptiles, ever. The other Parareptiles of the Triassic were also small, squat lizard-like burrowers, many with interesting head ornamentation as well. While the heyday of Parareptiles was behind them, they managed to put on an excellent (and adorable) final act. In fact, morphological diversity of Parareptiles went down from a wide variety of shapes and forms and lifestyles to just one, the Procolophonids like Hypsognathus. This makes Hypsognathus a unique example of an ancient lineage, survivors of one Mass Extinction just to be finished off by another.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut

Carroll, R. L., E. S. Belt, D. L. Dineley, D. Baird, and D. C. McGregor. 1972. In D. J. Glass (ed.), Guidebook: Excursion A59. Vertebrate Palaeontology of Eastern Canada 1-113.

Colbert, E. H. 1946. Hypsognathus, a Triassic reptile from New Jersey. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 86: 225 - 274.

Ford, D. P., R. B. J. Benson. 2020. The phylogeny of early amniotes and the affinities of Parareptilia and varanopidae. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4: 57 - 65.

Gilmore, C. W. 1928. New Fossil Reptile from the Triassic of New Jersey. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 73(7):1-8.

Lucas, S. G. 2018. Late Triassic Terrestrial Tetrapods: Biostratigraphy, Biochronology, and Biotic Events. The Late Triassic World, Topics in Geobiology 46: 351 - 405.

Macdougall, M. J.; D. Scott, S. P. Modesto, S. A. Williams, R. R. Reisz. 2017. New material of the reptile Colobomycter pholeter (Parareptilia: Lanthanosuchoidea) and the diversity of reptiles during the Early Permian (Cisuralian). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 20: 1 - 11.

MacDougall, M. J.; N. Brocklehurst, J. Frobisch. 2019. Species richness and disparity of pararpetiles across the end-Permian Mass Extinction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286: 2018572.

Olsen, P. E., and D. Baird. 1986. The ichnogenus Atreipus and its significance for Triassic biostratigraphy. In: K. Padian (ed.), The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs: Faunal Changes Across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 61-87.

Olson, P. E. 1988. Paleoecology and Paleoenvironments of the Continental Early Mesozoic Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America: In Manspeizer, W. (ed.), Triassic-Jurassic Rifting and the Opening of the Atlantic Ocean, Elsevier, Amsterdam, p. 185-230.

Palmer, D. 1999. The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions.

Sues, H. D., P. E. Olsen, D. M. Scott, P. S. Spencer. 2000. Cranial Osteology of Hypsognathus fenneri, a latest Triassic procolophonid reptile from the Newark Supergroup of Eastern North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (2): 275 - 284.

Sues, H.D. 2019. The Rise of Reptiles: 320 Million Years of Evolution. JHU Press.

Tsuji, L. A. 2017. Mandaphon nadra, gen. Et sp. Nov., a new procolophonid from the Manda Beds of Tanzania. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37 (supp1): 80 -87.

Zaher, M., R. A. Coram, M. J. Benton. 2018. The Middle Triassic procolophonid Kapes bentoni: computed tomography of the skull and skeleton. Papers in Palaeontology 5 (1): 111 - 138.

#hypsognathus #parareptile #procolophonid #triassic #triassic madness #triassic march madness #prehistoric life #paleontology

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Architecture of 2020: Buildings of the Year

Architecture in 2020, Buildings of the Year, Architects, Major Property Designs, Photos

Architecture of 2020: New Buildings

e-architect Selection of Key Contemporary Architectural Developments

post updated 13 May 2021 ; post updated 1 Jan 2021 ; 20 + 19 + 18 Dec 2020

Major Architecture of 2020

The winner is clearly REE Campus, Madrid, Spain, polling a massive 37.46%, with a total of 481 votes

REE Campus, Madrid, Spain Architects: IDOM photo : Aitor Ortiz REE Campus in Madrid

In second place is the Loop of Wisdom, Chengdu, China, with 28.58% of the total vote, and 367 votes

Loop of Wisdom, Chengdu, south west China Architects: Powerhouse Company photo : Jonathan Leijonhufvud Architectural Photography Loop of Wisdom Museum in Chengdu

In third place is Cosmote TV HQ and Studios, Athens, Greece, with 25.23% of the vote and 324 votes.

Cosmote TV HQ and Studios, Athens, Greece Design: LC Architects photo © Nikos Daniilidis Cosmote TV HQ and Studios in Athens

Happy New Year to our readers!

e-architect have selected some key buildings of 2020.

Our parameters? Architecture designs that stimulate, buildings that ask significant questions, designs that show creativity and innovation.

We have considered the year’s international architecture highlights to pick out the key buildings of the year. We are deliberately not considering the complex task of selecting ‘winners’.

(Adrian Welch, e-architect editor)

We are focusing this year only on completed buildings, not building designs (ie unbuilt proposals).

Buildings / designs are listed in georgaphical order, per our folder structure.

We are still adding projects today, this list wll be finalised over the weekend!

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A further selection of buildings around the world – shortlisted but not in the final cut:

Buildings of 2020

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Yes, you can now vote on your favourite project:

Architecture of 2020 – which is best?

Major Buildings completed in 2020

Architecture in 2020 – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

AMERICA – USA

False Bay Writer’s Cabin, San Juan Islands, Washington Architects: Olson Kundig photo : Tim Bies / Olson Kundig False Bay Writer’s Cabin, San Juan Island This five-hundred-square-foot cabin serves as a private writer’s retreat and guest cottage. The owners of False Bay Writer’s Cabin asked for a space that felt connected to its island setting—the mild climate, scenic views, and proximity to wildlife. At the same time, they needed a structure that could be easily secured when not in use.

Red Rocks Residence, Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona Architect: The Ranch Mine photograph : Roehner + Ryan Red Rocks Residence in Phoenix, Arizona Clinging to the side of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, a Spanish Colonial Revival style house has been transformed into a modern dwelling that creates and elevates a variety of experiences with both the natural and man-made environment.

LR2 Residence, Pasadena, California Design: Montalba Architects photography : Kevin Scott LR2 Residence in Pasadena, California The modern American esidence overlooks Pasadena and its adjacent mountains from its hillside perch. This new 4,200-sqft house is made up of several distinct living volumes and programs.

AMSTERDAM

Diamond Exchange, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Design: ZJA photo © Capital C Amsterdam Diamond Exchange, Capital C Amsterdam The Diamond Exchange, Capital C Amsterdam in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been awarded with a prestigious MIPIM Award 2020 for ‘Best Refurbished Building’ at the Paris Real Estate Week. The historical building, designated as a national monument, has undergone a major renovation designed by the architectural office ZJA in collaboration with Heyligers design + projects.

ATHENS

Cosmote TV HQ and Studios, Athens, Greece Design: LC Architects photo © Nikos Daniilidis Cosmote TV HQ and Studios Designed by London-based architecture and design practice LC Architects, Cosmote TV HQ and Studios is a new, innovative building inspired by contemporary media and the constant flow of information.

BANGKOK

Power Wing, Bangkok, Thailand Design: Openbox Group and Openbox Architects photo : Panoramic Studio Car Parking Solar Roof Bangkok After many success OPENBOX design interventions for large scale projects, B. Grimm Power send us a brief to help creating an awareness of the important of sustainable energy to public. The brief was to create an iconic piece of landmark at their Headquarters Office, that can send a strong message.

BEIJING

Courtyard Kindergarten, Beijing Design: MAD Architects photo © ArchExist Courtyard Kindergarten by MAD Architects A kindergarten sited next to a senior citizens’ apartment, reflecting the client’s “intergenerational integration” ethos that blends pre-school education and elder care. The 9,275 sqm site consists of an 18th century Siheyuan courtyard, an adjacent replica courtyard built in the 1990s, and a four-story modern building.

Beijing Zhongshuge Lafayette store interior, Beijing Architects: X+LIVING photo : Wu Qingshan Beijing Zhongshuge Lafayette store design It’s the second time for Zhongshuge bookstore to land in Beijing. This time it joins Lafayette department store, where the classical gardens and the reading space collided from three different perspectives in the fashionable commercial area.

CANADA

New Central Library, Alberta Architects: Snøhetta and DIALOG photography © Michael Grimm New Central Library in Calgary Calgary’s New Central Library aims to welcome over twice as many as previously annual visitors to its 240,000 SF of expanded facilities, the library will fill a vital role for the rapidly expanding city. As Calgary’s largest public investment since the 1988 Olympics, the library signals the beginning of a new chapter in the life of the city, one centered on the creation and innovation of knowledge and culture.

CHINA

Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Center, North east China Design: MAD Architects photo © ArchExist Yabuli Entrepreneurs’ Congress Center Nestled in the snow-covered mountains of Northeastern China, the project was commissioned by the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum (Yabuli CEF), one of China’s most influential business organizations. November 18th to 20th saw the venue’s opening ceremony and its first event, the Yabuli CEF’s 20th annual conference, attended by over 600 entrepreneurs.

Regeneration – Free Spring Morning, Suzhou, China Design: LACIME Architects photo © SHANJIAN Photography Studio Free Spring Morning, Suzhou Building As rational consumerism prevails, the traditional real estate design model of spending a lot of money to build a luxury sales office is fading away. The sales office is one of the most important design elements in real estate design, and this element is now going to two extremes – permanent sales offices are paying more attention to the pursuit of high quality, and temporary sales offices are increasingly looking for rapid efficiency.

Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum, Fujian, South East China Design: Atelier Alter Architects photograph : Atelier Alter Architects Yingliang Stone Natural History Museum, Fujian Over the years of stone mining, the manufacture has discovered numerous fossils. The manufacture decides to dedicate the headquarter building to a museum to tell the history of the fossils and the natural science of researching the fossil. There are two major challenges during the renovation process.

OCT Chuzhou Minghu Experience Center, Chuzhou, Anhui Province Design: Lacime Architects photograph : Schran Images OCT Chuzhou Minghu Experience Center The project site is located in the Minghu Lake area, the southeastern part of the planned new town of Chuzhou city, Anhui Province. It is adjacent to Chuzhou-Yangzhou Expressway and the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway, surrounded with a favorable landscape environment.

Changzhou Culture Center Architect: gmp · von Gerkan, Marg and Partners · Architects photography © Schran Images Changzhou Culture Center Building In the Chinese province of Jiangsu, within the catchment area of Shanghai, lies the city of Changzhou which, with its about 5 million inhabitants, has developed into an important industrial metropolis in the Yangtze Delta region. In the newly created city center of Changzhou, the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) have created a cultural center with an art museum, library, hotel, offices, and retail areas.

SigMann Showroom, Guangzhou Architects: Spring Design Office image : b+m studio/ Kelvin SigMann Showroom Guangzhou SigMann is a cabinet and home furnishings brand, the name of which is derived from “Sig” and “Manna”. “Sig” is the abbreviation of “special interest group”, which represents cultivated, decent and tasteful elites, while “Manna” comes from Bible and implies food for thought.

Longfu Life Experience Center, Puyang County, Henan Province, China Design: LUO studio photo : Jin Weiqi Longfu Life Experience Center Real estate sales center is a kind of temporary architecture that can only last several months or few years at most, which is usually dismantled after houses are sold out. Even if it can be preserved in few cases, functions are completely transformed.

Loop of Wisdom, Chengdu, south west China Architects: Powerhouse Company photo : Jonathan Leijonhufvud Architectural Photography Loop of Wisdom Museum, Chengdu Living up to the suggestiveness of its name, the Loop of Wisdom embodies a timeless architectural concept. Powerhouse Company’s design for a technology museum and reception center for a new neighborhood in Chengdu, China, is much more than an exuberant landmark.

Imperial Kiln Museum, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Architects: Studio Zhu-Pei photography : schranimage, Tian Fangfang, Zhang Qinquan, courtesy of Studio Zhu-Pei Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, Jiangxi Located in the center of the historical area, the site of the Imperial Kiln Museum is adjacent to the Imperial Kiln ruins surrounding many ancient kiln complexes. Jingdezhen is known as the “Porcelain Capital” in the world because it has been producing pottery for 1,700 years.

Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Shenzhen, south east China Design: OPEN Architecture photo © Zeng Tianpei Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Shenzhen In tandem with China’s economic boom and rapid urbanization, theaters have sprung up throughout the country in the past decade. Most have extravagant exteriors, but are often spatially monotonous and far detached from the general public and everyday urban life, greatly underutilizing the tremendous public resources invested in them.

Yifang Art Center, Chongqing, south west China Design: YIHE Landscape Architecture photo : Arch-Exist Yifang Art Center in Yubei District, Chongqing The Yifang Art Center project is in a newly developed Dazhulin district in the north of Chongqing downtown. When YIHE Landscape Architecture first visited the site, it had an unfinished concrete structure from previous development.

Kaihua County 1101 Project and Urban Archives, Kaihua County, Zhangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China Design: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd photo © Zhou Yifan Kaihua County 1101 Project and Urban Archives This bold Chinese architectural project was commissioned by Kaihua County Urban Construction and Development Co., Ltd. to design a comprehensive office building with three functional requirements: the Urban Archives and the Civil Defense Command Center and the Housing and Construction Bureau at the entrance of the scenic spot. The project has a superior geographical position.

Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen Architects: Rocco Design Architects Associates image courtesy of architects office Chinese University of Hong Kong Campus Shenzhen The CUHK SZ brings the global perspective and academic excellence to the city Shenzhen – China’s rapidly-growing innovation and tech hub.

White Square, G54 exhibition center, Nanjing Design: MINGGU DESIGN photograph : Xia Zhi White Square, G54 exhibition center White Square, located at No.99 Yunxi road, the central area of Nanjing airport city. With the construction development of new airport city, a vast comparative maturity residential area has been built.

Gongshu Intelligence Valley’s Eye, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Interior design: E+LAB photograph : Schran Images – Su shengliang Gongshu Intelligence Valley’s Eye Hangzhou The Eye of Intelligence Valley is the exhibition center in the intelligence valley town in Hangzhou. It is a multi-functional public building for culture display, investment attraction, office meeting, recreation and etc. The design philosophy starts with the geometric relation of ‘round sky and square earth’.

Sunac · Grand Milestone Modern Art Center, Xi’an City Interior design: Cheng Chung Design (HK) photo © Qilin Zhang Sunac · Grand Milestone Modern Art Center in Xi’an Erecting in the magnificent ancient capital Xi’an with a modern and stylish gesture, Sunac · Grand Milestone Modern Art Center appears like a large crystal “gift box”, which brings amazing fashionable touches to the land featuring a long history and profound culture. It aims to become a city landmark, and to lead the trend of the era.

Shou County Culture and Art Center, Anhui Architects: Studio Zhu-Pei photograph : Schran Images Shou County Culture and Art Center Shou County is located in the center of Anhui Province, on the south bank of Huai River. In ancient times, it was the home of the Chu culture and where Liu An, King of Huainan, edited a compendium of ancient Chinese philosophy and composed poetry.

National Maritime Museum, Tianjin, north east China Design: Cox Architecture photograph : Terrence Zhang National Maritime Museum of China in Tianjin Major new cultural landmark for China takes its place on the Global stage China’s first National Maritime Museum has now commenced formal operation, the culmination of a 6-year process which began with an international design competition, followed by an intensive design and construction process.

COSTA RICA

Santiago Hills Villa Santa Teresa, Costa Rica Architects: Studio Saxe photograph : Andres Garcia Lachner Santiago Hills Villa in Santa Teresa This stunning wing-like roofline houses a dramatic white villa in the Costa Rica jungle.

DUBAI

The Opus, Dubai, UAE Design: Zaha Hadid Architects photograph : Laurian Ghinitoiu The Opus Hotel in Dubai Home to the new ME Dubai hotel, The Opus is located in the Burj Khalifa district adjacent to Downtown Dubai and Business Bay on the Dubai Water Canal.

FRANCE

Belaroia Hotel and Apartments, Montpellier, France Design: Manuelle Gautrand Architecture photo © Luc Boegly Belaroia Hotel and Apartments in Montpellier Belaroia Hotel and Apartments is an important project for the City of Montpellier and its development agency, the SERM, as it holds a strategic position between the city’s hyper-centre, characterised by its escutcheon form in plan, and new surrounding districts that have appeared in succession.

MEETT Exhibition and Convention Centre, Toulouse, southern France Design: OMA photograph : Marco Cappelletti, Courtesy of OMA MEETT Exhibition and Convention Centre MEETT, Toulouse’s new Exhibition and Convention Centre designed by OMA / Chris van Duijn, has been completed, becoming the third largest parc des expositions in France outside of Paris.The 155,000 sqm project incorporates exhibition halls, a convention centre, a multi-function event hall, a car park silo for 3,000 cars and a transportation hub with a new tram station.

GREECE

Two Summer Houses in Andros, northern Greek Cyclades archipelago Design: Praxitelis Kondylis Architects image from architecture office Summer Houses in Andros Nestled among Andros’ wild mountains, fecund valleys and waterfalls, this complex consists of two detached houses covering around 600m2 in land of 9200m2. Modern and rigorous, the design bears clear lines and is organically linked to the natural landscape of Andros.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

Hankook Technoplex, Pangyo, outskirts of Seoul Design: Foster + Partners photo : TIME OF BLUE Hankook Technoplex in Pangyo The new building embraces several themes that are symbolic of Hankook’s desire to create a dynamic office environment that supports flexible working styles, as the company looks towards the future.

Galleria Department Store, Gwanggyo Design: OMA Photography by Hong Sung Jun, courtesy of OMA Galleria Department Store in Gwanggyo The Galleria is Korea’s first and largest upscale department store franchise founded in the 1970s, and has remained at the forefront of the premium retail market in the country since then.

MADRID

REE Campus, Madrid, Spain Architects: IDOM photo : Aitor Ortiz REE Campus Red Eléctrica de España has commissioned IDOM for the comprehensive rehabilitation of two buildings in the Tres Cantos Technology Park (Madrid). The action includes a comprehensive adaptation to the new training and technological needs of the company, modernizing the set of buildings through an envelope that enables compliance with energy efficiency requirements.

MANCHESTER

The Oglesby Centre, Manchester, England, UK Architects: Stephenson Studio photos : Daniel Hopkinson Architectural Photography Extension to Hallé St. Peter’s, Ancoats The new extension, The Oglesby Centre, is conceived as a classically proportioned modernist metaphor of the existing proportions of St Peter’s massing.

MEXICO

Solaz Los Cabos Hotel, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico Design: Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos photograph : Rafael Gamo Solaz Los Cabos Hotel in San José del Cabo The extraordinary natural surroundings of the peninsula of Baja California with its semi-desert landscape provides an ideal selected context for the construction of a new landmark hotel for the country.

MILAN

MEET Digital Arts Center, Milan, Italy Design: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota photograph : Michele Nastasi MEET Digital Arts Center CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota unveil MEET – Milan’s center for digital culture and creative technology. Occupying a newly renovated historic palazzo, the building revolves around a 15-meter-high vertical plaza. The design investigates how physical space can foster serendipity and unexpected connections between people in a digital world. MEET will open to the public on October 31st, 2020.

MONTREAL

Caffettiera Caffé Bar, Montréal, Québec, Canada Design: Ménard Dworkind Architecture & Design – MRDK photo © David Dworkind Caffettiera Montréal Caffé Bar In Italy, going to the coffee bar is not just about the coffee. It’s about taking a break from the day, meeting up with friends or taking the time to contemplate life. Caffettiera Caffé Bar aims to bring that culture to North America at its 745-square-foot commercial space in the heart of downtown Montreal.

MOSCOW

n.n. – Residence, beside the River Moskva near Moscow, Russia Design: J. MAYER H. und Partner, Architekten mbB, with Alexander Erman architecture & design photo : Ilya Ivanov n.n. – Residence near Moscow n.n. represents a spatial exploration between concealment and exposure. This layered topography blurs the line separating landscape and construction. It is the private residence of a family in a rural area along the River Moskva.

NEW YORK

111 West 57th Street, Manhattan, NYC Design: ShoP Architects photograph courtesy of 111 West 57th Street A design tour de force embraces the classic New York skyscraper and artisan tradition and thoughtfully restores the cultural landmark Steinway Hall. A bold yet graceful residential tower that soars perfectly centered over Central Park in Midtown Manhattan.

PARIS

Public Condenser, Ile-de-France, France Design: Muoto Architects photograph : Maxime Delvaux Public Condenser in Gif-sur-Yvette, Paris-Saclay The project is a public facility, situated on the new campus of Paris-Saclay. The building hosts a mix of activities including indoor and outdoor sports facilities, a restaurant, cafeteria, and various public spaces: a pedestrian square, street terraces, park areas for deliveries, bikes and cars.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

North Perth House, Perth, Western Australia Design: Architect Nic Brunsdon photo : Ben Hosking North Perth House The North Perth House is an urban-infill project in inner-city Perth. Located on a small block, the design responds by providing a variety of spaces, determined by a simple structural arrangement.

PRAGUE

Five, Smíchov, Prague, Czech Republic Design: QARTA ARCHITEKTURA photo : BoysPlayNice Five Smíchov “History meets future”, declares the fitting motto chosen for the project Five, located in Prague 5 – Smíchov. A tram depot building occupied the project site, but that could have been called a relic even when it was built. While forming an important endpoint in the city transport system, complicated access had been its disadvantage right from the beginning.

QATAR

Doha Metro Network, Doha, Qatar Architects: UNStudio Interior Msheireb (interchange) Station. photo © Hufton+Crow Doha Metro Network Stations With the Doha Metro, Qatar Railways has created one of the most advanced and fastest driverless metro systems in the world. Phase one of the project involved the construction of three metro lines (Red, Green and Gold), with 37 stations currently having been completed.

ROTTERDAM

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Design: MVRDV, architects Aerial photograph of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen © Ossip van Duivenbode Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the first publicly accessible art depot in the world designed by MVRDV, has completed construction. Located in Rotterdam’s Museumpark, the depot features a new type of experience for museum visitors: a sturdy engine room where the complete collection of 151,000 objects is made accessible to the public.

SAUDI ARABIA

KAPSARC, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Design: Zaha Hadid Architects – ZHA photo : Hufton+Crow King Abdullah Petroleum Studies & Research Centre King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre is a non-profit institution for independent research into policies that contribute to the most effective use of energy to provide social wellbeing across the globe. The 70,000 sqm KAPSARC campus incorporates five buildings.

King Fahad National Library, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Design: Professor Eckhard Gerber – Gerber Architekten photograph : Christian Richter King Fahad National Library Riyadh The King Fahad National Library, one of the most important cultural buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was completed and went into use for its intended purpose in 2015. This project sees Professor Eckhard Gerber and his Gerber Architekten team accomplishing one of the most important urban development and cultural projects in the capital, Riyadh.

SHANGHAI

Suzhou Financial Center Exhibition Hall, Shanghai, China Architects: Shanghai Riqing Architectural Design Co., Ltd. photograph : Schran Images Suzhou Financial Center Exhibition Hall This architectural project is located in the central section next to Suzhou Canal, where there is a grand canal view in the distance and urban trunk road in close proximity. The architects explore inherent logic of local cultural form and language and apply them to the design to stimulate the vitality of surrounding open space and make it the city parlor for residents.

Ports 1961, Shanghai, China Architects: UUfie photo : Shengliang Su Ports 1961 Flagship Store Located at a major high-end commercial district at the intersection of Changde Road and Nanjing West Road, a new façade is created for the flagship store of fashion house Ports 1961.

SINGAPORE

Apple Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Design: Foster + Partners photo : Finbarr Fallon Apple Marina Bay Sands A new distinctive 30-metre-diameter structure is a fully glazed dome with a black glass base, complementing the sister pavilions through its scale and materiality.

SPAIN

House Of The Sun, Marbella, Costa del Sol, Andalucia, Southern Spain Design: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos image from Fran Silvestre Arquitectos House Of The Sun in Marbella Fran Silvestre Arquitectos have always been fascinated by the work of Andreu Alfaro “The door of the Universe” made in 1983. A circle rotated and suspended over a square.

House Of The Silence, Valencia, eastern Spain Design: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos photo : Fernando Guerra, FG + SG House Of The Silence, Valencia The House Of The Silence project consists of making a musician’s studio coexist with his home. It is located in a residential area near Valencia, where neighboring houses are very close to each other.

SWITZERLAND

Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland Design: David Chipperfield Architects Berlin photograph : Noshe Kunsthaus Zürich Building After twelve years of planning and construction, the extension for the Kunsthaus Zürich is now complete. On 11 December 2020, the keys to the new building were handed over to its future user in an online ceremony. The house will open to the public in October 2021.

SYDNEY

The Waterfront Retreat, Newport, New South Wales, Australia Architecture: Koichi Takada Architects photo : Tom Ferguson Photography The Waterfront Retreat Newport, NSW The Waterfront Retreat is the epitome of an Australian dream home, adorned with a private beach, garden and open-plan living. Responding the clients’ brief – a house offering sanctuary and entertainment, the Waterfront Retreat is designed to allow nature to lead, offering maximum seclusion and connection to its surrounds and outlook.

THAILAND

Apple Central World, Bangkok, Thailand Design: Foster + Partners with Architects 49 Ltd. photograph © Apple Apple Central World Bangkok Apple Central World in Bangkok welcomed its first visitors. Located in one of the city’s iconic urban centers, the new store establishes a quiet sculptural presence at the heart of the bustling Central World Square on the intersection of Rama I and Ratchadamri roads.

TAIWAN

Lè Architecture, Taipei, Taiwan Architects: Aedas photo courtesy of architects Lè Architecture in Taipei Designed by Global Design Principal Dr Andy Wen, Lè Architecture in the Nangang district of Taipei redefines Taipei’s rapidly developing skyline. Its design drew inspiration from the shape of the river pebbles along the Keelung River, developing a unique aesthetic concept that conveys the idea of roundness and elegance, as well as strength and character.

VIETNAM

EcoKid Kindergarten, Vinh, near Hanoi, Vietnam Architects: LAVA with Module K and Viet Décor photo : Hiroyuki Oki EcoKid Kindergarten Vinh, Vietnam The design of a new eco-kindergarten by LAVA with Module K and Viet Décor features spaces encouraging curiosity, activity-based learning and interaction with nature for the next generation of Vietnamese children.

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Vote please! Vote

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A further selection of buildings around the world:

Buildings of 2020

Architecture Awards

Contemporary Architectural Awards – selection:

RIBA Awards

Stirling Prize

RIBA Royal Gold Medal

Key Architects Links

Zaha Hadid

Frank Gehry

Herzog de Meuron

Key Architectural Links

American Architecture

Contemporary Architecture

Modern Houses

Buildings of the Year Archive

Architecture of 2013: Buildings of the Year

Building Designs of 2013

Architecture of 2012: Buildings of the Year

Architecture of 2011

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 5 years ago

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Bathornis

By Ripley Cook

Etymology: Tall Bird

First Described by: Wetmore, 1927

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Inopinaves, Telluraves, Australaves, Cariamiformes, Bathornithidae

Referred Species: B. celeripes, B. cursor, B. fax, B. fricki, B. geographicus, B. grallator, B. minor, B. veredus

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: From 37 to 20 million years ago, between the Priabonian of the Eocene of the Paleogene and the Burdigalian of the Miocene of the Neogene

Bathornis is known from a very wide number of formations - which makes sense, given how many species have been referred to the genus. Bathornis is known from the Chadron Formation, the Brule Formation, the Willow Creek Site (not Formation, that’s from the Cretaceous because people keep reusing names), the Washakie Formation, and the Willwood Formation - and it is possible that it is also known from other locations throughout North America. It appears to have concentrated on the western half, however, being known from formations in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Physical Description: Bathornis was a large, flightless predatory dinosaur from the Cenozoic - and, despite being in the same general group of birds as they, it isn’t a terror bird! Bathornis, unlike the Terror Birds, still had decently sized wings (even though they couldn’t be used in flight) and, more importantly, it had a well-developed hind toe, whereas the Terror Birds had reduced hind toes. Still, it was doing essentially the same thing, but in North America. It had long, thin legs, built well for running; a squat body; small-ish wings; reduced musculature in the shoulder and chest area; large heads, and long, sharp beaks. These beaks weren’t as tall as those found in the Terror Birds, but that didn’t take away from their ability to pack a devastating bite. The variety of species ranged widely in size, with some as short as 60 centimeters, and some as tall as 2 meters (though it is possible the smaller species were just juveniles).

By Julio Lacerda

Diet: Bathornis was a terrestrial carnivore, able to utilize its large beak to grab and crush large prey - even large mammals. It is even possible that in many environments, Bathornis was one of the primary large predators, similar to the Terror Birds of the south.

Behavior: Bathornis, being a very large terrestrial predator, would have spent a good portion of its time on the move. Its long, strong legs were good for running, as well as probably kicking. Not being able to fly, they would have relied on their legs to get around and chase prey. Powerful kicks of the legs would have aided Bathornis in killing its prey, however, it would have primarily relied upon its beak to deliver the final blows. The powerful crushing action of the beak would have allowed it to break apart extremely tough prey, potentially even crushing bone. It may have still used its wings in some flapping action to aid in hunting, though it doesn’t seem likely it used them as much as the earlier terrestrial raptors of the Mesozoic era. Being a predator, it doesn’t seem likely that Bathornis was very social; modern Seriemas hunt primarily alone, and there’s no evidence Bathornis did otherwise. Still, it probably did care for its young in some capacity.

By Nix, CC BY-NC 4.0

Ecosystem: Bathornis is known from a variety of ecosystems across Northwestern America in the Cenozoic Era; it seems, however, it favored wetlands to open savanna and grassland. It may have also been found in more sparse woodland. This means that, while it was fast, running great distances across open habitat wasn’t its usual activity. It may have even used its long legs to aid in wading through the water towards sources of food. That doesn’t mean it never inhabited open areas, of course - just that it probably preferred bogs and swamps to prairies. Bathornis often lived alongside large mammals, including large mammalian predators such as Haenodonts, Entelodonts, and Nimravids. Odd-toed ungulates like Megacerops and Merycoidodon were often found closely associated with Bathornis, indicating that they were common sources of prey for this dinosaur. It also was often found with its close relative, Paracrax, which would have been direct competition for it. Many other dinosaurs are known to have lived alongside Bathornis, more than I can reasonably list; but it probably encountered the fowl Procrax, the flighted predator birds Phasmagyps and Palaeoplancus, the tody Palaeotodus, the flighted ratites Lithornis and Paracathartes, the large herbivorous bird Gastornis, the flightless wading birds Geranoides and Palaeophasianus, the owl Eostrix, the mousebirds Anneavis and Eobucco, and the Sandcoleid sandcoleus. It’s interesting that Bathornis quite probably encountered Gastornis, given that Gastornis used to be thought to have Bathornis’ job, and is now known to have been a similarly-sized large herbivore instead.

By José Carlos Cortés

Other: Bathornis was very closely related to the contemporaneous (but Southern) Terror Birds, but it actually evolved for the same niche independently. This happened all over their group of dinosaurs, the Cariamiformes (Seriemas and their many, many extinct relatives). This indicates that the long-legged terrestrial predatory lifestyle of the Seriema group made them especially prone to growing larger, and losing their flight capabilities. The common nature of Bathornis and its relatives in the Northern Hemisphere is also important biogeographically. Many think that the Terror Birds went extinct due to the influx of large mammal predators after North and South America combined. However, Bathornis lived alongside these North American Large Mammals - and even thrived in its environment. So, clearly, large avian predators and large mammalian predators were perfectly capable of coexisting. So why did Bathornis - and then, later, their southern Terror Bird cousins - go extinct? Jury is, sadly, still out.

By Scott Reid

Species Differences: There are a wide variety of species of Bathornis, though some may not be the same species, and it is entirely possible that these animals shouldn’t be grouped under one genus from a phylogenetic standpoint. B. veredus is known from the Eocene and Oligocene of the Chadron Formation, and was about the size of a living emu. B. cursor is different from B. veredus primarily because of differences in the ankle, and it was slightly larger and earlier in time. B. geographicus is known from South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and it may be a descendant of B. veredus; it was larger than both veredus and cursor, and it is possibly the largest species in the genus. B. fax is the smallest species known, but it also lived with B. veredus and is probably just the juvenile form. B. celeripes is known from the end of the Oligocene, and it was about the same size as B. cursor, so a mid-sized species of the genus. B. fricki is from the Early Miocene, making it one of the youngest species of all; it may have been a direct descendant of B. celeripes, to which it was very similar. B. minor lived in the same time and place as B. fricki, and they differ due to small changes in the leg bones. B. grallator, finally, is the best known form; coming from the Eocene, it was originally called Neocathartes before being combined into Bathornis by Mayr in 2016. It was originally thought to be flighted, but further research has shown it was also flightless. It was actually first thought to be a vulture! Life is funny like that.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut

Angolin, F. L. 2009. Sistemática y Filogenia de las Aves Fororracoides (Gruiformes, Cariamae). Fundación de Historia Natural Felix de Azara: 1 - 79.

Benton, R. C., D. O. Terry, E. Evanoff, H. G. McDonald. 2015. The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press.

Carroll, R. L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution 1-698

Cracraft, J. 1968. A review of the Bathornithidae (Aves, Gruiformes) with remarks on the relationships of the suborder Cariamae. American Museum Novitates 2326: 1 - 46.

Cracraft, J. 1971. Systematics and evolution of the Gruiformes (Class Aves). 2, Additional comments on the Bathornithidae, with descriptions of new species. American Museum Novitates 2449: 1 - 14.

Galbreath, E. C. 1953. A contribution to the Tertiary geology and paleontology of northeastern Colorado. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions Vertebrata 4:1-120.

Lambrecht, K. 1933. Handbuch der Palaeornithologie. 1-1024

Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Mayr, G., J. Noriega. 2013. A well-preserved partial skeleton of the poorly known early Miocene seriema Noriegavis santacrucensis (Aves, Cariamidae). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Mayr, G. 2016. Osteology and phylogenetic affinities of the middle Eocene North American Bathornis grallator - one of the best represented, albeit least known Paleogene cariamiform birds (seriemas and allies). Journal of Paleontology 90 (2): 357 - 374.

Mayr, G. 2017. Avian Evolution: The Fossil Record of Birds and its Paleobiological Significance. Topics in Paleobiology, Wiley Blackwell. West Sussex.

Olson, S. L. 1985. Farner, D. S., ed. The Fossil Record of Birds, section X. A. I. b. The Tangle of the Bathornithidae. Avian Biology 8. New York: Academic Press. 146 - 150.

Wetmore, A. 1927. Fossil birds from the Oligocene of Colordao. Proceedings of the Colorado Museum of Natural History 7 (2): 1 - 14.

Wetmore, A. 1944. A new terrestrial vulture from the Upper Eocene deposits of Wyoming. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 30: 57 - 69.

Wetmore, Alexander (1950). "A Correction in the Generic Name for Eocathartes grallator". Auk. 67 (2): 235.

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carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory · 5 years ago

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Ohio River Dance

Thousands of wading birds beneath a lightning-fractured sky greet visitors to National Geographic: 50 Greatest Wildlife Photographs, an exhibition on view in the museum’s R.P. Simmons Family Gallery until May 25. The image, a featured work enlarged to wall mural size, documents a 2016 visit by National Geographic photographer Randy Olson to observe migrating sandhill cranes along Nebraska’s Platte River.

The great annual gatherings of sandhill cranes along the Platte demand artistic documentation, so too the routine behaviors of the majestic birds at far smaller concentrations in other seasons, locations, and times.

Dancing Sandhill Cranes, Photo credit: International Crane Foundation

All 15 of the world’s crane species dance. Performances by the long-legged and long-necked birds involve repeated leaps, wingbeats, pirouettes, and bows. Dancing is a vital part of crane courtship behavior, but because dance movements are frequently performed outside of pair bonding situations, the displays seem to have broader social functions.

Crane dancing has long captivated human observers. Across the five continents where crane species occur, the long legacy of human fascination includes sculptures, folktales, poems, and, of course, dances.

In eastern North America, long before the Ohio River became a highway for American settlers heading west, an unknown artist carved an image of dancing sandhill cranes into an expanse of river-edge sandstone near what is now Weirton, West Virginia. The rock unit and its art work were lost in the early decades of the 20th Century when the adjacent river channel was deepened for navigation.

Image from Rock Art of the Upper Ohio Valley, Graz: Akadem. Druck-u. Verlagsanst., 1974

Today we’re able to admire some intrinsic aspects of this Ohio River dance because of the careful work of Harold B. Barth, a farsighted amateur archaeologist from East Liverpool, Ohio. During 1908 and 1909, Barth took measurements, photographs, and imprints of the crane images and other associated rock carvings. In 1974, when Carnegie Museum of Natural History curator James L. Swauger published a comprehensive, 15-year study of regional carvings titled, Rock Art of the Upper Ohio Valley, the vanished, but well documented crane pair merited a full-page plate.

In speculation about carving dates for rock art he studied at several dozen sites in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, Swauger provides himself with centuries of wiggle room by siting the “five hundred and fifty years from A.D. 1200 to about 1750.” In assigning meaning to the cranes and hundreds of other rock renderings, the late scientist is refreshingly honest, professing to be “… as ignorant concerning interpretation of designs now as I was when I started the study.”

For additional information about crane species, please visit the International Crane Foundation.

National Geographic: 50 Greatest Wildlife Photographs is developed and traveled by the National Geographic Society.

Patrick McShea works in the Education and Visitor Experience department of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

#Carnegie Museum of Natural History #Sandhill Cranes #Cranes #Ohio River #Natural History #Natural History Museum

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dustedmagazine · 6 years ago

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Listed: Elena Setién

Elena Setién is an artist defined by her vivid songwriting and nuanced compositions. The multi-instrumentalist grew up during a period of political upheaval in Spain in the Basque region. The turmoil of the post-dictatorship period of the 1980s and the intensive civic actions left her with a sense of duty to fight for progress. A brief encounter with Laurie Anderson more recently also profoundly affected Setién. Specifically, Anderson’s parting thoughts on being an artist today: “You just have to make something beautiful and free.” Setién's new album, Another Kind of Revolution, is out now on Thrill Jockey. In his review, Isaac Olson called it, "entrancing, and almost uncanny.”

Milford Graves Full Mantis—Directed by Jake Meginsky and Neil Young

vimeo

Last year I was directed to this film on social media... it immediately caught my attention. Luckily the film was shown at Dock of The Bay, music documentary film festival here in San Sebastián. It is moving and utterly inspiring! As a musician I couldn't feel more related to this film- it is a beautiful portrait of a true and existential music and life explorer. Go and see this film if you can!!!

Love or Emptiness—Johanna Borchert

youtube

I met Johanna back in 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was a great improviser, a pianist who sounded more like a guitarist... a musician who has inspired me for years. Her latest solo album is beautiful!

Snowflakes are dancing—Isao Tomita

youtube

Japanese synth guru, Isao Tomita, did the most wonderful, spaced versions of Debussy's music. His album Snowflakes are Dancing is mind blowing. My father had it in his record collection for decades but it was not until he recently died, that I seriously valued it.

In Between The Notes: A Portrait of Pandit Pran Nath—directed by William Farley

youtube

In 2017, my Scandinavian agent, Tone Chamber, set a series of concerts in Denmark. I was playing double bills with US duo Probosci. It was great to travel and share stages- Timba Harris, Gyan Ryley and I. Our conversations led to how drone based music came to the west back in the sixties and this film is a little jewel that gives us an insight on north Indian Pandit Pran Nath's journey to the US and how he met Terry Riley. A life changing encounter of two musicians who instantly felt related- a voyage into the soul of music.

Sipo Phantasma—Koldo Almandoz

vimeo

After almost twenty years of living abroad in England and Denmark, I moved back to Spain in 2015. I got to know film maker, Koldo Almandoz's work by chance. Sipo Phantasma is a great artistic documentary film... it was intended to be an observationist documentary film on cruise ship holidays but became something quite different.

Baby's Got a Hole in Her Head—Tys Tys

Listen on Spotify

In 2002, after having decided I didn't want to pursue a career as a classical violinist, I followed my intuition and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, in search of a music scene. I wanted to sing, and I wanted to find my own voice. Very early on I was drawn to the improv underground scene. Maria Laurette Friis and her project, Tys Tys, changed my concept of what "jazz singing" and composition was.

Fanny and Alexander—Ingmar Bergman

youtube

Another childhood memory of a film that broadened my horizons. A magnificent film that tells a story through the eyes of a young boy... all feelings are shown, the good and the bad ones. I identified with Alexander and was in love with him at the same time.

The Dark Crystal—Jim Henson and Frank Oz

youtube

Back in the early eighties, being a little girl, I was lucky to drive to Paris with my family, to see the grand opening of a major crystal exhibition. It was at the Paris Museum of Natural History. As part of the opening, there was a film: The Dark Crystal. Seeing that film and the crystal exhibition made a huge impact on me- those crystals were around five times my height and I felt I had literally stepped into a mystical world.

Debussy: Clair de Lune—Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya

youtube

Again an early memory of an artistic expression that made an impact on me. This version of Debussy's Clair de Lune by French guitar duo Ida Presti and Lagoya, is incredibly beautiful: frail and yet deeply strong.

Un Perro Andaluz—Luis Buñuel

youtube

One of my first childhood memories of seeing something radically different, something I didn't understand. My father was a big Buñuel fan- he introduced me in surrealism.

#dusted magazine #listed #elena setien #milford graves #full mantis #johanna borchert #isao tomita #pandit pran nath #koldo almandoz #tys tys #ingmar bergman #the dark crystal #debussy #Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya #luis buñuel

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creativinn · 2 years ago

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UCI ‘Dissolve’ Art Exhibition Will Be Open Through The Fall Season

“Dissolve” is the newest exhibition at the Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art (IMCA), organized by the UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

“Dissolve” is focused on the transfiguration of both personal and physical forms and the process of dissolution in between two solid states.

UCI professor of African American studies Bridget R. Cooks curated the gallery, which consists of loaned pieces and other selected artworks from the Langson IMCA’s permanent collection as well as two original artwork from Kenyatta AC Kinkle and Linda Grass.

Hinkle is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on historical events, healing and her own personal relationship with the past in her work. Hinkle’s artwork and writings have also been displayed at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Project Row Houses, The Hammer Museum, The Museum of Art at The University of New Hampshire and many more. For more information about Hinkle you can visit her official website.

Hinkle’s piece, “THEY: A Temple of Black Personality ⟮Allensworth⟯” is a three-part, multi-medium collage that functions as the centerpiece of “Dissolve.” Hinkle merges family photos and paintings to display the history of Allensworth, the first settlement in California to be constructed and occupied entirely by African Americans.

Altogether, Hinkle’s piece explores the metamorphosis of Allensworth from a town to a national park. Bright colors create a celebratory mood that is contrasted by the lack of solidity in the image. The piece elicits the bittersweet feeling that accompanies grieving something that isn’t sad, like saying goodbye to an old home.

Environmental activist and artist Linda Grass collaborated with UCI professor of anthropology Valerie Olson, on the ever-changing landscape of the Santa Ana River, to create “When We Listen to the Watershed,” made from layers of sheer woven cloth. Together, they explore how the formation of the river has been rerouted by human intervention after it was taken from Native Americans.

Grass uses her work to merge activism and art by recreating maps of stitching and embroidery.

In an interview with ShoutOutLA, Grass shared, “growing up in Los Angeles during the drought in the late 1970s made me aware of the preciousness of water and that realization turned into a passion for incorporating water and land use issues and the impact of climate change into my art.” There is a nostalgia and youthfulness to her art that contrasts the complicated problems of climate change and water pollution.

“Dissolve” also features three works by Ana Terea Fernández: “Ice Queen,” “Of Bodies and Borders” and “Siren Song.” These pieces explore the idea of femininity and the painful social pressures women are asked to endure.

There are two pieces by Joe Goode. “Vandalism II” depicts the destruction of California sunsets through careless human intervention of nature, while “Photo Cloud” explores the medium of photography through paint.

Works by artist Lia Cook, “Gridlock” and “Passport,” contemplate what is lost when human figures are digitally recreated.

Sonia Romero offers two pieces, “Fall” and “Inner Landscapes,” which explore the process of surrendering. In the plaque beside her art, Romero states, “By falling or surrendering, one can gain a feeling of support… the feeling that you’re not alone.”

Other works featured in the gallery include a painting by William Wendy “Santa Ana River,” photography by Erica Deeman, “Blush/Wave/Hybrid” by Eric Zemmitt, “Centers” by Chris Fraiser and two sculptures by Dewain Valentine and Helen Pashigian.

“Dissolve” is open from Sept. 21 to Dec. 10, from 12-6 p.m. It is located in the University Art Gallery at 712 Arts Plaza. It is free to enter and viewers can stay as long as they would like. For more information, you can visit the “Dissolve” webpage.

Hinkle and Cooks will also converse about the artist’s creative process and research on Nov. 8. There will also be a short film screening of Hinkle exploring Allensworth. Register and learn more about the event here. Emma McCandless is an Entertainment Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at .

This content was originally published here.

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gystink · 4 years ago

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Residency: 2021 Mary Olson Farm Artist in Residence (Auburn, WA)

https://www.auburnwa.gov/city_hall/parks_arts_recreation/art 2021 Mary Olson Farm Artist in Residence - City of Auburn, WA 910 Ninth Street SE Auburn, WA 98002 APPLY NOW https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=8267 Contact Email: [email protected] Call Type: Residencies Eligibility: Regional State: Washington Entry Deadline: 2/25/21

REQUIREMENTS: Media Images - Minimum: 5, Maximum: 10 Video - Minimum: 0, Maximum: 2 Total Media - Minimum: 5, Maximum: 10

ABOUT THE RESIDENCY The Mary Olson Farm Artist in Residence program offers an annual opportunity for an artist to pursue their work in, and to be inspired by, the unique and beautiful setting of the Mary Olson Farm in Auburn, Washington. The residency lasts approximately two months during the months of June and July.

The residency will provide:

A $3,500 stipend (funds can be used at will towards art supplies, transportation, meals, etc.)

A large historic barn “studio space,” approximately 450 sq. ft., on an historic 67-acre property (accommodations not provided)

Opportunities to tour and learn about the property and the other six historic buildings, as well as Auburn’s history as shared by the White River Valley Museum

An exhibition opportunity, reception and well-publicized artist talk in the City of Auburn

Expectations of the selected artist include:

A minimum of ten hours per week times eight weeks, creating work on-site at the Mary Olson Farm “studio space”

Two “open-studio” weekend afternoons for the public to view works in progress and talk with the artist (dates TBD between selected artist and city staff)

One free artist-led workshop demonstrating techniques or inspiration to the public

Participation in a final artist talk/presentation, reception and exhibition

Artists provide their own art supplies, and transportation to and from Mary Olson Farm in Auburn, Washington

ELIGIBILITY

Individual artists or artist team currently residing in the Pacific Northwest working in two and three-dimensional media, including but not limited to: drawing, painting, photography, textiles, sculpture, installation, woodworking, printmaking, etc.

Other than individual artists, collaborative projects will also be considered

SELECTION CRITERIA & PROCESS The review process will be competitive and the selection process will be made by a jury including: the City of Auburn Arts Coordinator, the Mary Olson Farm and White River Valley Museum Director, at least one other City of Auburn staff person and a panel of local artists or arts professionals.

All applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:

Artistic excellence as demonstrated in work samples

Artist’s residency proposal: strength, creativity and originality in concept, material implementation, and engagement with the site as described in proposal

Feasibility of artist’s ability to create innovative work during the residency, participate actively in all expected open studio days, artist talks, public workshop, final exhibition, etc.

Applicants should use the residency proposal to provide the selection committee with a comprehensive idea of the planned project, how it will draw inspiration from the Mary Olson Farm or surrounding natural landscape, and why the proposed project should be the one chosen. To get an idea of what kind of experience you can expect at the Mary Olson Farm Artist in Residence, we welcome interested artists to make appointments to come visit the farm and meet with the City of Auburn staff.

PROCESS Phase One

Submit application by deadline at 10:59 PM Pacific Time on February 25, 2021

Applications will be reviewed by the jury and finalists will be selected

Finalists notified of results by late March 5, 2021. Finalists move on to phase two.

Phase Two

Finalists will be invited to interview with jury and city staff on March 10, 2021 between 2-5 pm to discuss proposed project in more depth (so please plan ahead to be available)

Final selection and artist notifications by March 12, 2021

Phase Three

Selected artist receives contract, and coordinates dates of residency events/workshops

Artist participates in residency in June and July of 2021 (including two open weekend studio afternoons and a free public workshop)

A final art exhibition, reception and artist talk/presentation will be scheduled for a later date TBD by artist and City staff

ABOUT THE FARM Alford Olson, a Swedish immigrant, purchased the property in 1879. Throughout its existence, the farm has diversified its activities, but it has always essentially operated as a subsistence farm. In its early days it was a source of timber and hops. After hops declined in value, the Olson family moved into raising cows for dairy and veal, poultry and egg farming, apple harvesting, and potato farming. Mary wove rag rugs and her son Alfred took up hunting and sold pelts and bartered apples and veal.

In the 1970's the farm was rented out to various tenants and some renovations were begun on the buildings, but never completed. In 1994, after many years of vacancy and deteriorations, the City of Auburn purchased the 67 acre farm. After several years of planning and fundraising, restoration work began on the major buildings, as well as projects surrounding the restoration on Olson Creek and reclaiming the pastures from years of neglect and invasion by Himalayan blackberries. The final restoration projects were finished in 2011 and the Mary Olson Farm opened that summer for the first time to the general public. Today, visitors can tour inside the restored 1897 barn, pause and consider what life was like on a rural farm in the 1902 farmhouse, or wander through the century-old orchard and learn about the many varieties of apples and cherries Alfred Olson cultivated. Other restored and preserved structures on the property include a garage, weaving shed, chicken coop, outhouse, smokehouse, and 19th century wagon road.

Amenities available for use in the barn artist “studio space” include: large indoor works space complete with electrical outlets and lights, water available from an exterior hot and cold sink or hose, Sanican bathroom onsite, and tables and chairs available for artist’s use. More information about the Mary Olson Farm can be found at: http://wrvmuseum.org/visit_the_farm.html SELECTED PARTICIPANTS MUST AGREE TO

Sign agreement with the City of Auburn about residency plans, expectations and guidelines.

Leave the space in the same or better condition as when they moved in. The farm is on the National Register of Historic Places and as such absolutely NO changes can be made to the buildings, gardens or landscape.

Understand that the initial $2,000 portion stipend payment is made at the beginning of the residency, and that payments cannot be made until contracts have been fully processed. The remaining $1,500 will be retained until all of the expected residency requirements are completed.

Understand that the artwork displayed must be appropriate for the public realm.

Install and de-install your own work in a professional fashion for the final exhibition.

Partner with the City of Auburn to market and promote the exhibition. Exhibits are publicized through city-generated press releases, printed materials, social media, and the City’s web site at www.auburnwa.gov/arts.

Artists are welcome to offer their works for sale, but are not required to do so. All sales are handled privately between the artist and the buyer. The City of Auburn does not take a commission on any works sold through the galleries or residency program.

The artist agrees to make available their photos taken of the farm during the residency, for use by the City of Auburn and the White River Valley Museum to promote the program.

The selected artist must agree to participate in the entire residency program including all events, the final exhibition, etc. No exceptions.

Artists are welcome to have visitors during the residency, but must notify the farm caretaker of planned visitors and receive advance permission.

Comply with all federal, state, and local laws.

No pets or children are allowed.

APPLICATION CHECKLIST

1. WORK SAMPLES

5-15 digital images that demonstrate the artist’s past work (required) Artists applying as a team who have no examples of joint work in the past should submit 3-5 images of each artist’s work. Individual artists are advised to submit 10 images.

File Format: Submit according to CaFE requirements with the highest resolution allowed.

File Labeling: Files must be titled with the applicant’s last name followed by a number indicating the viewing order. Use a “0” in front of single digit numbers and use only letters, numbers, and underscores. For example: Smith_01.jpg; Smith_02.jpg. If using Mac OS 8 or later, be sure to include a “.jpg” extension at the end of each image title.

3 online videos that demonstrate the artist’s past work (optional) Please provide the exact web address(es) where the online videos can be viewed. The panel will view a minimum of 1 minute and a maximum of 3 minutes of each video.

2. WORK SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS Provide the following information on the online application upload for each image:

Title of each work represented in the image

Media & dimensions (H x W x D)

Description if needed. If work is presented as part of a collaboration, explain your role in the larger project

For videos longer than 3 minutes, note what 1-3 minute segment you want reviewed

3. RESIDENCY PROPOSAL Please write a statement outlining the work you would like to create or display if selected for the Mary Olson Farm Artist in Residence opportunity. We encourage proposals crafted from inspiration provided by the farm and its history. The proposal should briefly outline the materials, concept, any necessary technical installation details or plans of how to hang/display your work.

Upload as a PDF

500 words/3000 characters or less

Name your residency proposal file as follows: “Last Name_ Residency Proposal.pdf”

4. ARTIST STATEMENT Provide us with a brief artist statement to give us a sense of your work, inspiration, materials or techniques. Feel free to describe your work overall, or describe a past project or body of work.

Upload as a PDF

500 words/3000 characters or less

Name your artist statement file as follows: “Last Name_ Artist Statement.pdf”

5. ARTIST RESUME/CV Provide information which may include: education, exhibition record, awards, residencies, visiting artist lectures, relevant work experience or training, publications, etc. If submitting as a group, a current resume should be submitted for the contact person and all group members.

Upload as a PDF

3 pages or less

Name your resume file as follows: “Last Name_ Resume.pdf”

QUESTIONS & MORE INFORMATION Contact: Allison Hyde City of Auburn Arts Coordinator [email protected] 253.804.5043

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melinathurmond · 5 years ago

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*We Did It*

In this entry, I will examine the critical questions: Why/how is this artifact a counterpublic? What is its rhetorical message? How is it empowering and/or limiting?

To investigate this question, I examined the infamous Rose the Riveter photo from 1942 that depicts Naomi Parker saying the words “We Can Do It!” while flexing her muscles as my artifact. In addition, I will also look at the “American Rosie the Riveter Foundation” website that gives a bit of history on who she is and what they have done to upkeep her legacy. This artifact represents the counterpublic of women workers during World War II, a time where they were often thought of as inferior to men and used as a trophy to their husbands, empowering women by depicting them as strong and vibrant.

Rosie became an iconic figure to women in the workforce during World War II. She was a large advocate for women working outside of the home, which in turn led to an unprecedented number of women working in industrial labor forces. By starting this movement, she was able to encourage women to move outside of the stereotypical work they do within the home and create an identity for themselves. Naomi Parker, using the pseudo-name Rosie, never got the credit she deserved for being the woman in the picture until two years before her death in 2018. This only helps prove her cry for equality for women in every aspect of the word.

Squires (2001) goes into great depth to explain the counterpublic. Squires defines this idea as this subgroup of society that creates their own rules and faces for themselves through the media, newspaper, and word of mouth. The author highlights the Black counterpublic that was created overtime and how this brought more limelight to the inequality that they were facing. Specifically, he states, “The black press facilitated the growth of internal aspects of the public sphere through its production and transmittal of alternative Black identities and fostering the imaginations and discussions of Blacks across the nation” (120). This idea that an inferior group of society created a life for themselves because the opposing public would not hear them is what Squires overall tried to encompass within this article. He also gives hope to other counterpublics through this piece because it is seemingly understood that voices were being heard and acts of justice were starting to become more natural.

Rosie became an icon to many women during World War II. She was not keen for the spotlight, but started an uproar with the little screen time she did have. This artifact helps separate women from their husbands, making them a person of their own. As seen in the picture, Rosie is saying “We Can Do It!”, which emphasizes the importance of women as a whole. The idea of “we” highlights that no woman is by herself in this fight for her own freedom. Throughout most of the 1900’s, men often used their wives as a “trophy” for the town to see. They dressed their best while cooking up three course meals and sewing every stitch of their husbands clothes by hand. Most of this was because they did not have a husband to come home to, since most men during this time were overseas (nationalWW2museum.org). With this extra time and the leash being loosened, women were able to start constructing their identity by themselves and working in places that paid them and were out of their comfort zone. By creating that narrative, Rosie is building a counterpublic for women that will help represent women as a whole in the workforce and in the public eye.

The use of color is super important when looking at this picture. Red is often seen as a strong and sexy color, while yellow is a bright and illuminating color. The use of blue as a clothing color also signifies this idea of a “blue collar worker”. What Rosie was wearing was clear from many sources, but the colors are still questionable. Women, especially in the early 1900’s, were depicted as sexy and well kept, put in their best clothes that often included red pieces, to emphasize their beauty over the rest of them. The yellow background used in the picture helps put more emphasis on Rosie herself, making her look like a brighter and a more determined young woman. She stands tall in her blue jumpsuit, encapsulating her strong arm and grit from the look on her face. With the little pay that she might be getting from this job, she is being understood as a strong worker in a physically demanding job. This paints an ideal for women that says they can do anything they set their minds to. Regardless of if they are doing it in high heels or broken down tennis shoes, this picture portrays a strong will of women that the media has not seen yet.

This image and the foundation that was created behind this picture is empowering. This picture created a new wave of feminism that would not have been seen if it were not for Rosie in the workplace. According to the History Channel, though, this picture was not an open gate for women to get all the recognition they deserved. This picture was only published for forty days and then taken down, after being sold to many news media platforms (Pruitt). This was a step in the right direction, surely, and it gave women more confidence to create a life that they wanted. In the same way, this sparked a foundation to form. On December 7th, 1998, the “American Rosie the Riveter Foundation” was formed to highlight her work as well as what former president Franklin D. Roosevelt did for the progression of women. This home was a space and comfortable living area for FDR and is now used as a museum to encompass his life during World War II as well as women in the workplace (rosietheriveter.net). Within the walls of the foundation, they have merchandise that has Rosie’s face on it and all the proceeds go to help keep the museum afloat. The rich and real history that this foundation puts forth is one thing, but the impact that the picture has is another. While the picture might not have seen drastic measures during the time in which it was taken, it did leave hope for future women and allowed them to believe that they, too, can do it.

Kimble and Olson (2006), in their essay about facts and myths of feminism in response to the Rosie the Riveter poster, they compute a different argument and say that the image did not spark as much of an uproar as it is nowadays. This idea that working as a riveter makes any citizen believe it is a man's job. It is labor intensive, hot working conditions, and according to the authors, unfeminine (534). Rosie, unsure of the outcome, took the leap of faith and did it anyway, not necessarily for herself, but to prove everyone else wrong. What is still prevalent, regardless of what context and time period this poster is being talked about, is the encouragement for women to join the workforce. The underlying message of this poster is simply put: Women can work and need to work in this time of need (that time being World War II era). Regardless of if they could do the work or not, they were needed, and that is a step forward in a hopeful direction. Though it might not be the best encouragement from the government to promote women in the same way as men, they were at least getting some light on the situation at hand and being recognized for the hard work they were doing. What the authors do, in this case, is frame Rosie as a radical feminist, when in fact she was merely asked to pose how she thought best fit her in the job. This illustrates the power of the media and surely how counterpublics are used for good, but sometimes seen as bad because of the picture somebody else paints for them.

Overall, Rosie paved a pathway for women and feminists that is still being walked on today. She illustrated what it is like to be a women worker in a perceived “man’s job”. The counterpublic that has been created around women over centuries has encompassed many waves of feminism and during the World War II era, this allowed another wave to begin. Rosie empowered women to do what is best for them, not their husbands, and granted an opportunity for many women to be seen for their grit and stamina versus their outward appearance. By painting this message that “We Can Do It!”, Rosie gave hope to women and defied odds that no women thought was possible at that time.

References

American Rosie the Riveter Association (2012-2020). https://rosietheriveter.net/

Asen, R. & Brouwer D. C. (2001). Counterpublics and the state. State University of the New York

Press. pp.111-136.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/wom

en-wwii

Kimble, J. J. & Olson, L. C. (2006). Visual rhetoric representing Rosie the riveter: Myth and

misconception in J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” poster. Rhetoric and Public

Affairs, 9(4), pp. 533-569.

Pruitt, S. (2018). Uncovering the secret identity of Rosie the riveter.

https://www.history.com/news/rosie-the-riveter-inspiration

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archinect · 5 years ago

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Olson Kundig unveils new images of Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture https://arcnct.co/2seaMek

#archinect #architecture #buildings #featured projects

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evoldir · 5 years ago

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Fwd: Job: UAlabama.MarineBiolEvolution

Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Job: UAlabama.MarineBiolEvolution > Date: 26 October 2019 at 08:29:51 CEST > To: [email protected] > > > The Department of Biological Sciences at The University of > Alabama, Tuscaloosa invites applications for a full-time (9 month) > tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Marine Biology to begin > Fall 2020. This position will be based at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab > (DISL; www.disl.org) on the Alabama Coast near Mobile. DISL offers > excellent research facilities and support. We seek a highly innovative > and collaborative scientist with a strong academic background in Marine > Biology. The successful candidate will use modern analytical techniques > to address fundamental questions in their area of expertise, establish > an extramurally funded research program, demonstrate a commitment to > teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and participate > in departmental, college, and university service. Candidates whose > research investigates how climate change and anthropogenic activities > are impacting coastal and/or marine processes, biological invasions, > and evolutionary adaptations in response to these factors, are especially > encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will be a highly motivated > individual with the ability to interact with other faculty members in the > Department of Biological Sciences and at the DISL. Minimum qualifications > include a PhD in biology or related discipline, post-doctoral experience, > and a strong record of publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Teaching > responsibilities will include an undergraduate course taught during the > summer program as well as specialized undergraduate and graduate courses > in the successful candidate's area of expertise. > > Questions about the position should be addressed to the chair of the > search committee, Dr. Julie Olson ([email protected]). To apply, go to > https://ift.tt/1ouwf8l, complete the online application (Job #45968), > and upload: (1) a cover letter; (2) CV; (3) statement describing past > research achievements and future goals; (4) statement of teaching > interests and philosophy; and (5) a list of three to five references > (including contact information). The search committee will request letters > of reference as needed. Consideration of applications will begin December > 2, 2019, and will continue until the position is filled. Prior to hiring, > the final candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment background > investigation. The start date is August 16, 2020. Additional information > about the Department of Biological Sciences and this position can be found > on our website at http://bsc.ua.edu. Applications from women and members > of underrepresented groups in Biology are especially encouraged. The > University of Alabama is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer and > actively seeks diversity among its employees. > > > Kevin M. Kocot > Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences > Curator of Invertebrates, Alabama Museum of Natural History > The University of Alabama > 307 Mary Harmon Bryant Hall > 500 Hackberry Lane > Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 > office 205-348-4052 > fax 205-348-4039 > [email protected] | www.kocotlab.com > > > > > "Kocot, Kevin" > via IFTTT

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nofomoartworld · 7 years ago

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Hyperallergic: A Retrospective of Andrew Wyeth, a Painter Both Loved and Loathed

Andrew Wyeth, “Anna Christina” (1967) tempera on panel, 21 ½ x 23 ½ in. jointly owned by the Brandywine River Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, anonymous gifts, 2002 (© 2017 Andrew Wyeth/Artists Rights Society (ARS))

CHADDS FORD, Pa. — Riddle me this: Is the Whitney Biennial a real Whitney Biennial if it goes without protest? In 1960, back when the exhibition was held annually, Edward Hopper urged Andrew Wyeth to sign his letter protesting the near exclusion of realist painting. The artist declined, distancing himself from the New York art world’s socio-political arguments, content with what was in front of him, like Giorgio Morandi with his bottles. Yet, from the late ’60s on, Wyeth would be labeled a reactionary — which is rather like taking issue with a rock for not taking issue with you — and conservative, overlooking John F. Kennedy honoring him in 1963 with a Medal of Freedom for depicting “verities and delights of everyday life” in the “great humanist tradition.” To this day his East Coast critics spend a surprising amount of energy dismissing his relevance.

Jerry Saltz’s 2009 obituary on Wyeth begins by claiming “almost no one in the art world ever thought of or cared much about [him]” thereby slighting Alfred Barr, Elaine de Kooning, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, for starters. More, Robert Hughes did a 180 switch, lauding the painter after his death. “[I]n over three decades in the art world, I have never heard one artist, art student, teacher, critic, collector, or curator mention his name,” Saltz goes on. One wonders whether he missed his wife Roberta Smith’s 1998 New York Times review “New Light on Wyeth’s Outer and Inner Landscapes” on Wyeth’s Whitney Museum show. Was he also completely unaware of photographer Collier Schorr’s obsession with Wyeth’s Helga pictures? “Wyeth was considered so conservative,” Saltz continues, “that even the Metropolitan Museum of Art declined an offer to exhibit his work.” No. The first one-person exhibition the Met ever gave to a living American artist was “Two World’s of Andrew Wyeth: Kuerners and Olsons” curated by director Thomas Hoving in 1976, previewed by Grace Glueck and reviewed by Hilton Kramer in The New York Times, where more argument ensued.

Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw doesn’t ignore art history in her recent piece “Andrew Wyeth’s Black Paintings,” published in the exhibition catalogue for the Brandywine River Museum of Art’s present retrospective on the painter; she rewrites it. It’s not apparent she saw her claimed point of departure: the 2001 “Andrew Wyeth: Close Friends” exhibition of seventy-four works he made of his African-American friends and neighbors over a seventy-year span. But in Shaw’s retelling, Wyeth is a racist oppressor who exploited poor blacks for his own artistic ends. “My issue is more with my field, rather than with the paintings,” Ted Loos cites her as saying, which implies a personal agenda guiding her efforts. It’s helpful to understand this motive, because doing so gives context to the reliably derogatory insinuations and defamatory takes on Wyeth and his art — all free of responsible research.

Shaw makes much of Wyeth’s lifelong black friend and frequent model David Lawrence’s nickname “Doo-Doo,” (which the Wyeth family spelled “Dodo”) to insinuate Wyeth gave him this disparaging moniker. Unmentioned is who dubbed him this — Dodo’s cousin, mom, the mailman? — and that it was only decades later (in the 1950s) “doo-doo” picked up its scatological connotations. So, for the record, Wyeth did not in fact call his best friend “shit.” But Shaw did substantially misrepresent two people’s lives by getting the etymology of six letters wrong. It may seem trivial to address this, but one must select examples of her speculative trivialities when their accumulation is the whole of her piece.

Shaw holds up Senna Moore as the most artistically violated of his models, especially in “Dryad” (2000/2007), where the painter darkens her skin to envelop her within a tree’s shadow. (Dryads are mythological beings that live inside trees.) The incurious takeaway is, in Wyeth’s paintings, “black bodies could be eliminated entirely.” Despite her simplistic reading, Shaw indicates no knowledge that Senna Moore is actually alive — and perhaps available for an interview (as is a male model). In opting out of this exchange, to quote the writer’s own words, Shaw “eliminated entirely” the very black female voice she arrogated herself to speak on behalf of. Knowing none of Wyeth’s models or the artist, Shaw could, to recall her accusation, “exert a great deal of control over how [s]he imagined them.”

Andrew Wyeth painting “Vivian”; still from Andrew Wyeth: Self-Portrait (Snow Hill), directed by Bo Bartlett

In Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania over 100 works by Andrew Wyeth are on display at the Brandywine for Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect, a comprehensive exhibition covering works from 1936 to his last in 2008, titled “Goodbye.” An agrarian in an age of war, living “farm to table” in contemporary parlance, his subjects — neighbors, the fields, woods, and streams, dilapidated houses, interiors mixed with still lifes, scandalizing nudes, shorelines, boats, and boots — have potential to inspire and disgust, weary and delight, according to the viewer and often the era’s politics.

Were Wyeth not so beloved by the general public, it’s unlikely the critics — mostly writing in the popular press — would have been so committed to scorning him. The policing of borders separating fine art from illustration was first-order, boring business for critics whose opinions on Wyeth were evidently ignored, if they registered at all with collectors and postcard-buyers alike. Surveys conducted in 1973 and 2006, years bookending Wyeth’s most tarred and feathered moments in the press, evidenced no alteration in the museum-going public’s approval: 86% for “enjoyment” of his paintings, according to exhibition exit polls by Wanda M. Corn and Lynda M. O’Leary. Wyeth sought to make images widely intelligible and by succeeding in that, rendered third-party mediation largely irrelevant, surely a sore spot for professional mouthpieces of taste. This meant authoritative interpretation of his art was his own, exemplified by Thomas Hoving’s choice to interview the artist for the 1976 exhibition catalogue, rather than commission essays.

Wyeth, elsewhere, writes: “I think one’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes. I see no reason for painting but that. If I have anything to offer, it is my emotional contact with the place where I live and the people [I know].

This quote is slightly revolting in its sentimentality. We rid ourselves of softer emotions in 20th-century art. But “deep love” is not saccharine if we imagine that Wyeth had been a poet, novelist, or essayist. Think of beauty, for example.

“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.”

Okay, that one’s by Toni Morrison. See? It’s nice. It’s a literary attitude, perhaps, that’s needed to enter the world of Andrew Wyeth, which is not to say it’s easy. Francis Weiss, in the academic reader Rethinking Andrew Wyeth, posits Robert Frost as akin to Wyeth in artistic aim. “You and I have something in common,” Frost wrote Wyeth, “that almost makes me one wonder if we hadn’t influenced each other, been brought up in the same family.” They both aimed their art at the common viewer, eschewing urbane tastes, crafting work within a familiar tradition.

Despite the criticism claiming Wyeth’s weathered pastorals were escapist, the works are, like Frost’s poems, a space for darker dreaming and experiencing alienation, isolation, and a distinctly 20th-century form of anxiety. “At its most aesthetically convincing,” Donald Kuspit holds, “Wyeth’s art brings us to consciousness of the body’s existence — bodiliness as such, bodiliness as the essence of existence.” This seems right. All of his works, at least from the late 1940s on, are relentlessly focused at an observational level, almost cruel at times, while suffused with a range of moods, from the austere to the theatrical, as if visual facts were a container for fictions. Or, invoking the novelist Émile Zola’s words: “a corner of creation seen through a temperament.”

The Japanese see abstract meanings too. In the new catalogue for the Brandywine exhibition, Shuji Takahashi reveals why Wyeth’s work is collected in Japan more than in any other country but this one, and why Wyeth felt more understood there. His paintings reflect “the Japanese sense of life and death, a belief … that people are part of the great cycle of nature.” The tempera “Thin Ice” (1969) in the show is the most abstract piece, and is exhibited in America for the first time in decades. The orange and brown leaves in a stream under an ice sheet suggest a painter who could’ve been an accomplished abstract artist had he not found the genre dull.

The Japanese never succumbed to the form of western modernity Wyeth’s art rejects, that is, the separation of truth from beauty. Here, what is beautiful cannot be true, and what is true cannot be beautiful. Europe caught this earlier, with the First World War — hence Dadaism — and then this view rose in the United States with WWII. Jackson Pollock and the Abstract Expressionist’s bent toward self-obliteration was incommensurable with a tenacious realism holding forth that humans are inherently dignified. Pop Art then successfully brought back realist imagery, but only by exhausting the meaning of the images’ referents. It’s striking to note Wyeth’s painting of Tom Clark in “Chester County” (1962) was made the same year Warhol introduced his serialized images of Campbell’ Soup. Wyeth was pursuing the human affect in his paintings that Pop Art was laying to rest.

When Robert Rosenblum said in 1977 that Andrew Wyeth was both the most overrated and underrated living American artist, he had it right. The “best” and “worst” artist would’ve been better candidates, but in accounting for collective perceptions, Wyeth did divide. This friction is playing out at the Museum of Modern Art right now. “Christina’s World” (1938), the famous painting of crippled Christina crawling up a hill toward home, was acquired as a work then considered categorically modern, surrealist. But as its popularity grew with the public, the museum’s curatorial thrust instead went toward Abstract-Expressionism, forcing MoMA into its present fix. It keeps the painting at home to do the heavy lifting — it’s their Mona Lisa for ticket sales and merchandising — but rejects displaying it as a great work of art. It’s rarely lent, citing concerns about its condition, a claim contradicted by their relegating it to the heavily trafficked hallway, to be appreciated en route to the toilet. Thus the rub: the museum’s curators let visitors know Wyeth is not a canonical artist, to be put in an legitimate gallery space, while also being substantially reliant on his work for financial support.

The artist’s watercolor landscapes are often considered his best works, or to his dedicated detractors, the least bad — which might in part be due to their purported affinity to Abstract Expressionism. Regardless, they are great works. There are no physical, mental, or material intermediaries between the artist’s spirit and his image. Wyeth’s brush does not represent the subject; it discovers it. The painting is a visual artifact and its process of making are the result of an experiential whole of pointed intention. Mistaking his facility as bravura, which is often done with these works, is like mistaking the beauty in an athlete’s skill — hard won by discipline — for ease.

Given that so much handwringing has been generated about Wyeth for at least the last fifty years, his work is already interesting. The criticisms against him are more rich, varied, and contradictory than any other artist of the 20th century, with him being both lascivious and sexually repressed, impossibly fantastical and boringly descriptive, embarrassingly sentimental and oppressively racist, idyllic and depressed, undeservedly famous and nobody at all. The reasons to like him are less fanciful and few. He was a good guy, made likable pictures, and was a fantastic painter with a rare deftness of touch, able to make innumerable paintings of the same hill and never repeat himself, nail a subject in six seconds or six months, paint from imagination a picture more convincing than a photograph, keep brushes wet for 75 years, and have it in him to paint a “Goodbye” when he knows it’s time to go.

Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect continues at the Brandywine River Museum of Art (1 Hoffman’s Mill Road, Chadds Ford, PA) through September 17, 2017.

The post A Retrospective of Andrew Wyeth, a Painter Both Loved and Loathed appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Architecture of 2020: Buildings of the Year

Architecture in 2020, Buildings of the Year, Architects, Major Property Designs, Photos

Architecture of 2020: New Buildings

e-architect Selection of Key Contemporary Architectural Developments

18 Dec 2020

Major Architecture of 2020

e-architect have selected some key buildings of 2020.

Our parameters? Architecture designs that stimulate, buildings that ask significant questions, designs that show creativity and innovation.

We have considered the year’s international architecture highlights to pick out the key buildings of the year. We are deliberately not considering the complex task of selecting ‘winners’.

(Adrian Welch, e-architect editor)

We’ve divided up completed buildings and building designs (ie unbuilt proposals).

Buildings / designs are listed in no particular order

Major Buildings completed in 2020

Architecture in 2020 – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

AMERICA – USA

False Bay Writer’s Cabin, San Juan Islands, Washington Architects: Olson Kundig photo : Aaron Leitz False Bay Writer’s Cabin, San Juan Island This five-hundred-square-foot cabin serves as a private writer’s retreat and guest cottage. The owners of False Bay Writer’s Cabin asked for a space that felt connected to its island setting—the mild climate, scenic views, and proximity to wildlife. At the same time, they needed a structure that could be easily secured when not in use.

AMSTERDAM

ATHENS

CHINA

Regeneration – Free Spring Morning, Suzhou, XuShuGuan, Huqiu District, Suzhou, China Design: LACIME Architects photo © SHANJIAN Photography Studio Free Spring Morning, Suzhou Building As rational consumerism prevails, the traditional real estate design model of spending a lot of money to build a luxury sales office is fading away. The sales office is one of the most important design elements in real estate design, and this element is now going to two extremes – permanent sales offices are paying more attention to the pursuit of high quality, and temporary sales offices are increasingly looking for rapid efficiency.

OCT Chuzhou Minghu Experience Center, the South Drum district, Chuzhou, Anhui Province, Design: Lacime Architects photograph : Schran Images OCT Chuzhou Minghu Experience Center The project site is located in the Minghu Lake area, the southeastern part of the planned new town of Chuzhou city, Anhui Province. It is adjacent to Chuzhou-Yangzhou Expressway and the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway, surrounded with a favorable landscape environment.

International Campus of Zhejiang University, Haizhou East Road, Ninghai Design: UAD (The Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd.) photo : Zhao Qiang International Campus of Zhejiang University The campus planning breaks away from the conventional planning model with functional zones as the key. The design adopts the British-style “residential college” as the basic framework and establishes a functional structure of “college + teaching and service complex + public scientific research platform”.

MADRID

MALAYSIA

YTL Corporation Berhad, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Interior Design: MOD, Architects photo : David Yeow Photography YTL Corporation Berhad YTL Corporation Berhad, a large Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate founded in 1955, grew from a small construction firm into a global infrastructure company spanning oil & gas, cement, construction, property development and hotels.

MANCHESTER

MEXICO

Hyatt Regency Andares, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico Architects: Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos photograph : Rafael Gamo Hyatt Regency Andares in Zapopan, Jalisco The mixed-use Andares complex is the visionary urban complex that has positioned the Puerta de Hierro zone as a new center for the city of Zapopan. The Andares Master Plan formally commenced with the building of the shopping mall and the high-rise residential building, but an expansion was always planned.

MILAN

MONTREAL

Lightspeed offices – Phase 2, Montréal, Québec, Canada Architects: ACDF Architecture photo © Adrien Williams Lightspeed offices Phase 2 Lightspeed commissioned ACDF Architecture – the designers for the first phase of the firm’s headquarters – to create a new floor dedicated to product development. The workspace of the point-of-sale software company is located on the ground floor of a 19th-century railway hotel, the chateau-style Viger Railway Station.

Caffettiera Caffé Bar, downtown Montréal, Québec, Canada Design: Ménard Dworkind Architecture & Design – MRDK photo © David Dworkind Caffettiera Montréal Caffé Bar In Italy, going to the coffee bar is not just about the coffee. It’s about taking a break from the day, meeting up with friends or taking the time to contemplate life. Caffettiera Caffé Bar aims to bring that culture to North America at its 745-square-foot commercial space in the heart of downtown Montreal.

MOSCOW

n.n. – Residence near Moscow, beside the River Moskva, Russia Design: J. MAYER H. und Partner, Architekten mbB, with Alexander Erman architecture & design photo : Ilya Ivanov n.n. – Residence near Moscow n.n. represents a spatial exploration between concealment and exposure. This layered topography blurs the line separating landscape and construction. It is the private residence of a family in a rural area along the River Moskva.

PARIS

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

North Perth House by Nic Brunsdon, Perth, Western Australia Design: Architect Nic Brunsdon photo : Ben Hosking North Perth House The North Perth House is an urban-infill project in inner-city Perth. Located on a small block, the design responds by providing a variety of spaces, determined by a simple structural arrangement.

PRAGUE

QATAR

ROTTERDAM

SAUDI ARABIA

SHANGHAI

SINGAPORE

SPAIN

SWITZERLAND

Ispace Installation, Rossa, Moesa Region, canton of Graubünden, Switzerland Design: Davide Macullo Architects photo : Corrado Griggi Ispace Installation Rossa Ispace is a project born out of an idea combining art and architecture in the creation of environments that stimulate people to perceive the influence of a space on their moods. It is a re-evaluation of the territory, allowing us to rediscover our bond with nature.

SYDNEY

THAILAND

Apple Central World, Ratchaprasong, Bangkok, Thailand Design: Foster + Partners with Architects 49 Ltd. photograph © Apple Apple Central World Bangkok Apple Central World in Bangkok welcomed its first visitors. Located in one of the city’s iconic urban centers, the new store establishes a quiet sculptural presence at the heart of the bustling Central World Square on the intersection of Rama I and Ratchadamri roads.

TAIWAN

VIETNAM

********************

A further selection of buildings around the world:

Buildings of 2020

Architecture Awards

Contemporary Architectural Awards – selection:

RIBA Awards

Stirling Prize

RIBA Royal Gold Medal

Key Architects Links

Zaha Hadid

Frank Gehry

Herzog de Meuron

Key Architectural Links

American Architecture

Contemporary Architecture

Modern Houses

Buildings of the Year Archive

Architecture of 2013: Buildings of the Year

Building Designs of 2013

Architecture of 2012: Buildings of the Year

Architecture of 2011

Comments / photos for the Architecture of 2020 page welcome

Website: Building

The post Architecture of 2020: Buildings of the Year appeared first on e-architect.

#e-architect

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