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Design, Housing, Reviews, Sustainability, Videos

Sustainable Design: ‘Rapid Assembly Housing’ (2023)

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Dezeen Films (May 17, 2023) – In this video produced by Dezeen for Holcim, Norman Foster introduces a housing prototype for displaced people that the Norman Foster Foundation developed with the building materials company and unveiled in Venice during the launch of the Architecture Biennale.

The Essential Homes Research Project is a housing concept designed to sustainably provide rapidly assembled housing for people displaced by natural and manmade disasters. The prototype was designed by the Norman Foster Foundation and realised by Holcim using its materials. The homes have been designed to offer a durable alternative to tent shelters in order to withstand the elements.

They can be built on-site in order to expedite construction during emergencies. The project responds to the fact that displaced people often end up living in temporary accommodation for more than a decade, and require homes that offer safety and dignity. “Disasters lead to the need for instant accommodation and camps – mostly tented – offering scant protection from the elements,” Foster said in an exclusive video interview with Dezeen.

“What if there would be something that would be more permanent, more durable, offering greater protection from the elements, but which could be realised very quickly?”

Read more on Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/tag/holcim/

Art, Arts & Literature, Collections, History, Profiles, Videos

Artists: Post-Impressionist Paintings Of Paul Gauguin

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Sotheby’s (May 16, 2023) – Vice Chairman of Global Fine Arts, Simon Shaw, discusses a few extraordinary works coming to Sotheby’s this May from the Ambroise Vollard Collection, including Paul Gauguin’s Nature morte avec pivoines de chine et mandoline.

An exquisite example of Gauguin’s unbound creative spirit, Nature morte avec pivoines de chine et mandoline is filled with the sort of rich, jewel-like hues and striking tonal and textural contrasts that characterize the artist’s greatest works. The present painting was executed in 1885 at a watershed moment in Gauguin’s career, during which time he began to move away from the Impressionist aesthetic that had previously influenced his painting toward a new and more expressive stylistic idiom.

Expanding upon the bold coloration and defiant brushwork pioneered in works like Nature morte avec pivoines de chine et mandoline, Gauguin soon became a leading figure in the Post-Impressionist movement.

Analysis, Reviews, Transportation, Travel, Videos

Reviews: Can California Finish Its High-Speed Rail?

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CNBC (May 16, 2023) – In 2008, California voted yes on a $9 billion bond authorization to build the nation’s first high-speed railway. The plan is to build an electric train that will connect Los Angeles with the Central Valley and then San Francisco in two hours and forty minutes.

Chapters: 1:35 Intro 1:41 The Vision 4:48 Progress 8:17 Setbacks and challenges

At the time, it was estimated the project would be complete by 2020 and cost $33 billion. But 15 years later, there is not a single mile of track laid, and there isn’t enough money to finish the project. The latest estimates show it will cost $88 billion to $128 billion to complete the entire system from LA to San Francisco. Inflation and higher construction costs have contributed to the high price tag. Despite the funding challenges, progress has been made on the project.

119 miles are under construction in California’s Central Valley. The project recently celebrated its 10,000th worker on the job. The infrastructure design work is complete, and 422 out of 500 miles have been environmentally cleared. CNBC visited California’s Central Valley, where construction is underway, to find out what it will take to complete what would be the nation’s largest infrastructure project.

Home Design, Homes, Sustainability, Tours, Videos, Views

Australia Architecture: A Tour Of Montfort House

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The Local Project (May 16, 2023) – Drawn to the coastline of Montfort Beach, Chris McKimm, Founding Director of InForm and home owner, wanted to infuse this surf lovers dream house with an abundance of natural light, sweeping views and open spaces.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to The Ultimate Surf Lovers Dream House 00:39 – The Beachside Location 00:57 – The History of InForm 01:26 – The Unknown Surf Break of Montfort Beach 02:03 – A Desire for a Home that Blended with the Environment 02:24 – Hitting the Brief 03:02 – The Design of the House and a Walkthrough 03:58 – Create Spaces Safe from the Wind 04:13 – Designing the Garden for Privacy 04:40 – Overcoming the Neighbourhood Challenges 05:22 – A Reflective Material Palette 06:02 – The Most Enjoyable Space in the Home

Positioned on top of a sand dune 600 metres from the ocean, Montfort House is one of seven homes built on the site. Due to a deep knowledge of the terrain and the overall development, Chris delivered a difficult brief to the architects, where he requested a dream home that blends into its environment. Within the brief, there was a necessary request of harnessing the views to the south and allowing the surf lovers dream house to embrace the winter sun that came from that direction.

With a need for the home to be designed with Chris and his family in mind, the architects had to keep in mind that they would predominantly live on site, while their children and grandchildren would regularly visit. To cater to this need, Montfort House has been deliberately zoned to cater to the different aspects of living in a surf lovers dream house. As one begins the house tour, the design starts with stairs that lead up to the front door, which has been complemented with a deliberately large window to the side that offers a glimpse to the southern views.

Cities, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: A Tour Of Dublin City Centre, Ireland (4K)

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Walking With Peter Films (May 15, 2023) – A cinematic walking tour of Dublin City Centre in Ireland on Saturday Afternoon, 13th May 2023. The tour begins in Rathmines in Dublin 6 and includes Camden Street, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green and more.

The centre of Dublin has a very organic feel to it, with its winding, narrow streets and low buildings. There is only one grand avenue in the centre and that is O’Connell Street. The rest of the streets is much more human in scale. Few buildings in the city centre are more than four stories high and an appealing mix of 18th century Georgian and 19th century Victorian styles dominates most streets in the centre. Life in Dublin’s city centre is charming, slightly chaotic and fairly laid back.

Analysis, Business, Entertainment, Films, Reviews, Television, Videos

TV: Inside The Hollywood Film And TV Writer’s Strike

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Wall Street Journal (May 15, 2023) – The Hollywood writers’ strike has more than 11,000 movie and television writers in the Writers Guild of America on strike for the first time in 15 years.

Video timeline: 0:00 Writers’ strike has brought productions to a halt 0:50 How streaming has transformed the industry 4:20 The 2007-2008 writers’ strike 4:59 The writers’ demands 7:13 The strike’s impact on the entertainment industry

WSJ sat down for exclusive interviews with the showrunners of “Abbott Elementary” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” to understand the key sticking points that led to the writers’ strike and what’s next for the entertainment industry.

Analysis, Luxury, Retail, Reviews, Videos

Business: Inside LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton

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CNBC (May 15, 2023) – The luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton controls 75 Maisons, or brands, including Tiffany & Co., Sephora, Dior, Givenchy and TAG Heuer. At the helm of the luxury empire is the richest person in the world,

Chapters: 0:00 – Introduction 2:20 The Rise Of Louis Vuitton 8:45 A Culture Company, Not Just Luxury 16:46 The Future Of Luxury

Bernard Arnault, whose five children all hold senior executive roles within the company. With a keen eye for luxury, ruthless negotiation skills and an effective business acumen, Arnault has acquired some of the biggest names in the world. Most recently, in 2021, the company bought Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion after a bitter dispute about price due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and to salvage the luxury sector’s biggest-ever deal.

Though most companies struggled during the pandemic, LVMH’s stock steadily rose while it continued to report record revenue year after year as wealthy consumers participated in what McKinsey & Co. called “revenge spending.” For the first quarter of 2023, LVMH reported a 17% increase in revenue from the same period a year earlier. The Asia market, which had seen the most significant drop due to Covid-19 closures, had a 14% rise in revenue after an 8% decrease in the fourth quarter of 2022. In April 2023, LVMH became the first European company to surpass $500 billion in market value.

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Tours, Videos

Art: ‘Anselm Kiefer-Hortus Conclusus’ In Hong Kong

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abstract painting with gold leaf
Anselm Kiefer, Danaë, 2014

Gagosian (May 15, 2023) – Gagosian Hong Kong is pleased to announce  Anselm Kiefer: hortus conclusus, an exhibition that surveys four decades of the artist’s landscape paintings. Capping a year of exhibitions across Europe and the United States, this is the first to feature his work in Hong Kong for more than ten years.

ANSELM KIEFER – Hortus Conclusus
May 17–August 5, 2023

Rubble is like a plant’s blossoms; it is the radiant highpoint of an incessant metabolism, the beginning of a rebirth.
—Anselm Kiefer

Anselm Kiefer: hortus conclusus, Hong Kong, May 17–August 5, 2023 | Gagosian

Kiefer’s thirteenth solo exhibition at Gagosian since 1998, hortus conclusus follows Questi scritti, quando verranno bruciati, daranno finalmente un po’ di luce (Andrea Emo) at Palazzo Ducale, Venice (2022–23) and Exodus, a bicoastal exhibition presented at the gallery in New York (2022) and at Gagosian at the Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles (2022–23).

This coming October, Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut (LaM) in France will present Anselm Kiefer: Photography at the Beginning, the first exhibition dedicated to the artist’s photographs.

Gardens, Travel, Videos, Views

Spring 2023 Roses In Japan: Jindai Botanical GardenS

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Japan BackpackersXpress Films (May 15, 2023) – Jindai Botanical Garden is a world-class 42 hectare (105 acre) garden in Chofu City, in the west of Tokyo, that offers seasonal beauty all year round. Jindai Botanical Garden is Tokyo’s main botanical garden, being the only one operated by Tokyo Metropolis.

It has the biggest rose garden in Tokyo, and is famous too for its plum and cherry trees, which blossom in spring. The Garden includes adjacent free-entry facilities like an aquatic plant area and a plant information center.

Jindai Botanical Gardens are creatively designed, immaculately maintained, and are well worth the trip from Tokyo, together with a visit to the neighboring Jindaiji Temple, Tokyo’s second oldest.

Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: An Aerial Tour Above Antarctica (4K)

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Andrew Macdonald Films (May 14, 2023) – Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in terms of total area. (It is larger than both Oceania and Europe.) Antarctica is a unique continent in that it does not have a native human population.

There are no countries in Antarctica, although seven nations claim different parts of it: New Zealand, Australia, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Chile, and Argentina.