Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
BIRDS OF AMERICA - WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE BOOK
Birds of America was first published as a series of sections between 1827 and 1838. Only 119 copies were published of which fewer than a dozen are in private hands. Each of the printed book were colored by hand, and it was an extremely laborious process. Even by today's standards, the vividness of its illustrations of birds is extraordinary but when it was being released in the 1830s it was mindboggling.
Audubon employed a rather shocking technique to produce the book. He hunted the birds down and shot them before propping them up on wires to paint. Each drawing would take about 60 hours to complete. Ironically, many of his beautifully rendered subjects are now extinct, such as the Carolina Parakeet, Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Esquimaux Curlew, and Pinnated Grouse.
Audubon employed a rather shocking technique to produce the book. He hunted the birds down and shot them before propping them up on wires to paint. Each drawing would take about 60 hours to complete. Ironically, many of his beautifully rendered subjects are now extinct, such as the Carolina Parakeet, Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Esquimaux Curlew, and Pinnated Grouse.
Monday, November 29, 2010
FALCON-INSPIRED MUSEUM,UAE
Foster and Partners recently unveiled this design for a museum on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Named after UAE founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Zayed National Museum will be dedicated to the history and culture of the country.
Because of the Sheikh's love of falconry, the museum will feature five lightweight steel towers resembling birds’ wings. This theme is further celebrated by a gallery devoted to the subject, along with an outdoor arena for live displays with hunting birds.
Located within a man-made, landscaped mound, the galleries are anchored by a dramatic top-lit central lobby, which brings together shops, cafes, an auditorium and informal venues for performances of poetry and dance.
Because of the Sheikh's love of falconry, the museum will feature five lightweight steel towers resembling birds’ wings. This theme is further celebrated by a gallery devoted to the subject, along with an outdoor arena for live displays with hunting birds.
Located within a man-made, landscaped mound, the galleries are anchored by a dramatic top-lit central lobby, which brings together shops, cafes, an auditorium and informal venues for performances of poetry and dance.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
AZADI TOWER (TEHERAN, IRAN)
The architect, Hossein Amanat, won a competition to design the monument, which combines elements of Sassanid and Islamic architecture. It is part of the Azadi cultural complex, located in Tehran’s Azadi Square in an area of some 50,000 m². There are several fountains around the base of the tower and a museum underground. The iconic Monument des Martyrs in Algiers (built, 1982) shows a strong influence by this monument, in its general design as well as its details. Built with white marble stone from the Esfahan region, there are eight thousand blocks of stone. The stones were all located and supplied by Ghanbar Rahimi, whose knowledge of the quarries was second to none and who was known as “Soltan-e-Sang-e-Iran”. The shape of each of the blocks was calculated by a computer, and programmed to include all the instructions for the building’s work. The actual construction of the tower was carried out, and supervised by Iran’s finest master stonemason, Ghaffar Davarpanah Varnosfaderani. The main financing was provided by a group of five hundred Iranian industrialists. The inauguration took place on October 16, 1971.
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