To compose this piece in 1899, Maurice Ravel was inspired by the Princess of Polignac. The title refers to Ravel’s idea of describing “a pavana that a little princess may have danced in the old times at the Spanish court”. But It is also said that Ravel chose the title because he was fascinated by the sound of its pronunciation.
The piece is original for piano but the composer made an orchestral version too. We present our own transcription for guitar quartet, performed at the “Salone dell’Arengo” (Novara), a magical hall dating back to the 12th century. We hope you like It.
The Local Project – (May 2, 2023) – Tucked into an alpine environment, Forest House by Faulkner Architects is a cabin in the woods surrounded by thick pine trees, Fir trees and basalt rock.
Video timeline:00:00 – Introduction to the Cabin in the Woods 00:22 – The Site and Surrounding Landscape 00:38 – Saving the Landscape Around the Home 00:55 – The Clients and the Initial Brief 01:44 – A Concealed Entry 02:00 – A Walkthrough of the Home 02:38 – An Experience Space 02:58 – Working with the Sun 03:25 – A Focus on Sustainability 03:49 – The Materials Used 04:09 – A Reflection of the Surrounding Landscape 04:35 – The Most Exciting Space and its Successes
Desiring to save and protect the landscape, the architects saved 95 per cent of the trees on the property by leaving the front land largely untouched. As the clients delivered a simple brief with an open mindset, the architects were able to create a cabin in the woods that respected its surrounds and did not fall to the arbitrary aesthetics of larger homes in the area. Due to its nature-rich location, the home remains neutral and respective by allowing the landscape to breathe and embrace its structure.
As the house tour moves inside, the front of the home opens into the living, dining and kitchen areas. Tucked behind the kitchen is a small family room, while an addition of a hidden office allows for further separation of spaces where the clients can find a place to work, study and rest. Additionally, the master suite has been left on the main level, while the three ensuite guest rooms are positioned upstairs for increased separation of private and public spaces. Described as a cabin in the woods that is an atmospheric exercise in form and light, the architects began the process of designing Forest House by looking to the sun.
The Walk Street Videos (May 1, 2023) – Siem Reap, a resort town in northwestern Cambodia, is the gateway to the ruins of Angkor, the seat of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th–15th centuries. Angkor’s vast complex of intricate stone buildings includes preserved Angkor Wat, the main temple, which is pictured on Cambodia’s flag. Giant, mysterious faces are carved into the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom.
Sotheby’s (May 1, 2023) – Returning each season to live and paint in Truro elevated Hopper’s art, allowing him to concentrate on the simplification of forms and the depth of both light and color woven into the surrounding landscape.
Both his technical approach to painting and his perception of the world from 1930 onwards are greatly informed by the Cape. Cobb’s Barns, South Truro derives its bright palette and topographical features from Hopper’s immediate environment, and is emblematic of the profound influence that life in South Truro had on his manner of painting.
Group of Houses, dated 1923-24, stems from a pivotal stage in the development of Edward Hopper’s career. Residential homes occupy much of Hopper’s subject matter in these early watercolors, and Group of Houses is no exception. These charming saltbox houses are typical for the Cape Ann region, whose architectural style reflects its coastal New England atmosphere.
The Battery, Charleston, S.C., dated 1929, is the result of Hopper’s three-week stay in the charming southern city, which is renowned for its Georgian-style architecture and cobblestone streets lined with lush palm trees. His Charlestown pictures possess an inherently tropical feeling, which sets them apart from his otherwise New England-focused oeuvre.
Red Barn in Autumn Landscape is among the limited number of watercolors that Hopper completed during the fall of 1927 in Vermont, and embodies the rustic quality of the New England scenery that drew Hopper to this region in the first place. Hopper routinely sketched his surroundings in coastal towns on the Cape or along the Maine shore, but Red Barn in Autumn Landscape is quite unique in that it captures a specific fall moment as the leaves gradually fade from green to burnt orange and red. The present work is emblematic of the simplicity and charm that characterize Hopper’s New England watercolors.
Archwalks (May 1, 2023) – A tour of BAM – Biblioteca degli Alberi Milano – a contemporary botanical garden in the heart of Porta Nuova in Milan. It houses 500 trees arranged in 22 rings and 135,000 plants.
Video timeline:0:00 – Intro 1:05 – Map 1:12 – Biblioteca degli Alberi Milano 5:24 – Green playground 8:28 – Labyrinth 12:45 – Outdoor fitness area 14:51 – Lotus oasis 16:39 – Poppy fields 19:19 – Riccardo Catella Foundation 22:08 – Bosco Verticale 24:18 – Google HQ 27:41 – Terraces 28:44 – Piazza Gae Aulenti 32:51 – Urban landscape view
The park is enriched by a children’s play area, a fitness area, a relax area with wooden chaise lounges and soft lights, picnic areas equipped with benches, a labyrinth of bushes, a pond with aquatic plants which creates a favorable ecosystem for insects and birds. We will see also Bosco Verticale, Google HQ and towers of Piazza Gae Aulenti.
Art Trip (April 30, 2023) – A tour of the new exhibition – ‘Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map’, at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The first New York retrospective brings together nearly five decades of Smith’s drawings, prints, paintings, and sculptures in the largest and most comprehensive showing of her career to date.
This exhibition is the first New York retrospective of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940, citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation), an overdue but timely look at the work of a groundbreaking artist. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map brings together nearly five decades of Smith’s drawings, prints, paintings, and sculptures in the largest and most comprehensive showing of her career to date.
Smith’s work engages with contemporary modes of making, from her idiosyncratic adoption of abstraction to her reflections on American Pop art and neo-expressionism. These artistic traditions are incorporated and reimagined with concepts rooted in Smith’s own cultural practice, reflecting her belief that her “life’s work involves examining contemporary life in America and interpreting it through Native ideology.” Employing satire and humor, Smith’s art tells stories that flip commonly held conceptions of historical narratives and illuminate absurdities in the formation of dominant culture. Smith’s approach importantly blurs categories and questions why certain visual languages attain recognition, historical privilege, and value.
The Flying Dutchman (April 30, 2023) -The Aareschlucht (Aare River Gorge, Aare Gorge) is the only way into the upper Aare valley, called Haslital. It is the original connection between the two villages Innertkirchen and Meiringen. Today there is a road across the Kirchet, the mountain ridge around the gorge, which blocks the valley. It is also called Querriegel (crossbeam), which is not a name but an old term which expresses that it runs across the valley and block it.
The Aare river is fed by rainwater and melting water from the Alps, and here it already has a decent size. The river is about 30 m wide and quite fast flowing. But the gorge is much narrower, typically about 10 m wide, and as a result the water flows faster and is quite deep. And if there is heavy rainfall in the catchment area or in spring during snowmelt the river has much more water and the level inside the gorge rises substantially.
The Hidden North Travel Guides (April 30, 2023) – This walk goes through the neighbourhood of Nordnes, Norway, a peninsula built out into the Bergen harbour. Along the way, I discuss the history of the region and pass by some of the best-preserved wooden houses in Bergen city centre.
Vågen, Byfjorden, and Puddefjorden surround the peninsula. The Bergen Aquarium is located at the tip of the peninsula. The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research and Fredriksberg Fortress are also located on Nordnes.
The walk includes historic information and images about Nordnes, as well as practical information about what you can do for your visit.
DW Documentary (April 30, 2023) – Statistically, a large ship is lost in the world’s oceans almost once every seven days. One reason for this: monster waves that appear to come from nowhere. Unlike tsunamis, they are completely unpredictable. That means there’s no way to issue any kind of warning.
Scientists still know astonishingly little about these freak waves. For centuries, many people dismissed them as the stuff of legend. The first scientific proof of their existence didn’t come until 1995. A laser on the Draupner oil rig in the North Sea measured a wave almost 26 meters high. Wave models in use at the time deemed this to be an impossibility.
But the data, captured by chance, changed the course of research forever. Scientists have focused on three theories in their bid to explain the emergence of freak waves. The first is the current model: currents flowing in opposite directions reduce the length of the waves, pushing them together to create a monster surge. But freak waves are also a phenomenon in regions where currents aren’t particularly strong.
That’s why researchers came up with a second theory: superposition. In this linear process, faster, longer waves catch up with short, slower waves. They overlap and form monster waves. But in some places, freak waves occur with a frequency that can’t be explained by this linear theory, either.
For several years now, scientists have been considering a third possibility: when non-linear wave trains are unstable, they can develop into monster waves through a highly complex energy “theft”. Research is divided over whether it’s the linear or non-linear effects that form freak waves out at sea – a question that’s crucial for shipping!
Kirsten Dirksen Films (April 30, 2023) – When we planned a visit to NYC, our friend Hasier Larrea, who makes “furniture with superpowers” offered us a tiny studio filled with his robotic furniture to see how it could expand to fit our family of 5.
On the 54th floor of a skyscraper overlooking downtown Manhattan, the space starts small, but the moving walls expand into an office pod and a walk-in closet and the bed drops from the ceiling to convert the living room into a bedroom. Setting up for the night in an apartment made for two was an experiment. We had single air mattresses and expanding rooms.
Hasier’s colleague at Ori suggested opening the Pocket Closet and Pocket Office to create bedrooms. The closet was a few inches too small, but the office was just the right size. Our 10-year-old claimed the window seat for his bed, with the best view in the house. Hasier told us to test the furniture. He said it wouldn’t break and would stop when it sensed an obstacle. Our 10-year-old spent a lot of time sitting on the bed while his sisters tried to raise it (it wouldn’t) and getting in and underneath moving parts that left him without a scratch.
All the transforming took a few extra minutes, but being able to tuck away the bed without having to make it was a bonus. The whole experience felt a bit nautical with adapt-as-you-need-it furniture and panoramic views.
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