Fresco

Fresco (plural frescoes) is any of several related painting types. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco ("fresh"), which has Germanic origins. Fresco paintings are done on wet plaster.

Selected examples of Italian frescoes:

Astelseprio
Italian Late Medieval-Quattrocento
Panels (including Giotto, Lorenzetti, Martini and others) in upper and lower Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi
Giotto, Cappella degli Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
Camposanto, Pisa
Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Piero della Francesca, Chiesa di San Francesco, Arezzo
Ghirlandaio, Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci, Milan (technically a tempera on plaster and stone, not a true fresco)
Sistine Chapel Wall series: Botticelli, Perugino, Rossellini, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio Luca Signorelli, Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto
Luciano Medevici, a monochromatic fresco, destroyed in a fire in 1944.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa) or simply The Tower of Pisa (La Torre di Pisa) is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa. It is situated behind the Cathedral and it is the third structure in Pisa's Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square).

Although intended to stand vertically, the tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift direction.

The height of the tower is 55.86 m (183.27 ft) from the ground on the lowest side and 56.70 m (186.02 ft) on the highest side. The width of the walls at the base is 4.09 m (13.42 ft) and at the top 2.48 m (8.14 ft). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 tonnes. The tower has 294 steps. The tower leans at an angle of 5.5 degrees. This means that the top of the tower is 4.5 meters from where it would stand if the tower was perfectly vertical.

This dome is an architectural marvel

No one knows how the Romans made a non-reinforced concrete dome that survived two millennia. Apparently, a dome of this size made from modern concrete would collapse under its own weight.

The ET ACETECH 2007 Exhibition

The ET ACETECH 2007 is an exhibition dedicated solely to the construction industry.

The Indian construction Industry is one of the fastest growing industries today and has a promising future. While the economy booms and each stratum of society upgrades socially and financially the demands on infrastructure increases. Observed from a strategic point of view, this increase in demands is also a sign of increased opportunity. And the best way to make the most of it is at The ET ACETECH 2007 where you get to highlight your equipment, products, services and technologies! Exciting Sponsorship opportunities make sure that you get maximum visibility in this mammoth event.

Where potential clients can easily compare and experience the different products, technologies, materials, rates, and services all under one roof, thus saving considerable time, energy, money & effort. From the oldest names in the business and classic philosophies to the latest global trends, designs combinations and generation-next talk, it's all going to be there!.

The Exhibition is being organized from 1st to 4th November 2007, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India.

For details contact :

THE ET ACETECH 2007 SECRETARIAT530, Laxmi Plaza, Laxmi Industrial Estate,New Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai - 400 053. India.
Website : www.etacetech.com

Exhibitor Profile:

CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENTS

• Earthmoving and road making machinery• Construction vehicles• Cranes/ Dozers/ Spiders• Pumps and Mixers• Materials handling machinery• Concreting machinery• Power generation and pumps• Manufacturing and fabrication workshop• Precast factory machinery• Glass and ceramics manufacturing plant and machinery• Brick making machinery• Stone cutting and Policing• Aggregates• Concrete• Admixtures• Foundation materials• Wall and facing materials• Component and service suppliers• Machines and plants for producing asphalt• Machinery & many more...

BUILDING MATERIALS

• Marble • Granites• Sanitary ware• Plumbing suppliers• Wall & floor tiles• Fiber composite• Water proofing & insulating materials • Brick & blocks• Precast products• Paint and finishes• Coating and colors• Construction chemicals• Sealants• Air-conditioning and electrical items

ELECTRICAL & LIGHT INDUSTRY

• Cables Wires & Accessories• Electrical, Electronics Components and Accessories• Energy Meters• Transformers & Capacitors• Engineering Projects• Industrial Control and Automation Systems• Lifts & Escalators & Many More...

STONES, CERAMICS & TILES

• Natural Stones (Granite, Marble, Sandstone, Slates, Wall & Floor Tiles etc.)• Mining, quarrying and cutting• Quarrying Machinery (Cutting & Polishing Units) • Abrasive and accessories• Diamond tools and many more...

Great Architectural Buildings

Here are some Inspirational Architectural Buildings:


Sofia : Bulgaria



Peyrepertuse: France





Orvieto:Italy



Merida : Spain




Chillon-Montreux : Switzerland






Castle du Marias : France



Aarburg: Switzerland

Architectural Quotes:

Here are some Architectural Quotes; Enjoy:

Light, God's eldest daughter, is a principal beauty in a building.

Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) British clergyman and author
Ah, to build, to build! That is the noblest art of all the arts. Painting and sculpture are but images, are merely shadows cast by outward things on stone or canvas, having in themselves no separate existence. Architecture, existing in itself, and not in seeming a something it is not, surpasses them as substance shadow.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) U.S.
No architecture is so haughty as that which is simple.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic.
An architect should live as little in cities as a painter. Send him to our hills, and let him study there what nature understands by a buttress, and what by a dome.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic.
When we build, let us think that we build for ever.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic.
Believe me, that was a happy age, before the days of architects, before the days of builders.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-65) Roman philosopher and playwright.
Form ever follows function.

Louis Henry Sullivan (1856-1924) U.S. architect.
All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) American architect.
I don't think of form as a kind of architecture. The architecture is the result of the forming. It is the kinesthetic and visual sense of position and wholeness that puts the thing into the realm of art.

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) American painter who was a founder and foremost pr
A structure becomes architectural, and not sculptural, when its elements no longer have their justification in nature.

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) French poet, writer and art critic.

THE STORY OF FALLINGWATER

Fallingwater is recognized as one of Wright's most acclaimed works, and in a 1991 poll of members of the American Institute of Architects, it was voted "the best all-time work of American architecture."

It is a supreme example of Frank Lloyd Wright's concept of organic architecture, which promotes harmony between man and nature through design so well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition.

Wright embraced modern technology to achieve this, designing spaces for living which expressed architecturally the expansive freedom of the American frontier.

For Fallingwater, designed in 1935 for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family of Pittsburgh, Wright responded to the family's love for a waterfall on Bear Run, a rushing mountain stream.

Mimicking a natural pattern established by its rock ledges, Wright placed the house over the falls in a series of cantilevered concrete "trays," anchored to masonry walls made of the same Pottsville sandstone as the rock ledges. Although the house rises over 30' above the falls, strong horizontal lines and low ceilings help maintain a sheltering effect.

Almost as much floor space is taken up by outdoor terraces as indoor rooms.Construction began in 1936, and ended with the completion of the guest house in 1939. The Kaufmann family used Fallingwater in all seasons as a weekend or vacation home until the 1950's, when their son inherited it.

Edgar Kaufmann, jr., by then a Curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, continued to use Fallingwater until he entrusted it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in 1963. His gift was lauded by the architectural community as a commendable act of preservation during a time in which many Wright-designed buildings were being demolished or in serious states of disrepair.

Fallingwater is the only great Wright house open to the public with its setting, original furnishings, and art work intact. Almost all of the original Wright-designed furnishings are still in place. Fine art, textiles, objets d'art, books, and furnishings collected by the Kaufmann family from the 1930's through the 1960's are on view, and represent the eclectic tastes of a sophisticated, world-traveled family. Included in the collections are works by Audubon, Tiffany, Diego Rivera, Picasso, Jacques Lipchitz, Richmond Barthe, and woodblock prints by Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai - gifts from Frank Lloyd Wright to the Kaufmanns.

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2007

A public square in Beirut, a skyscraper in Singapore and a renovated ancient city in Yemen are among the nine winners of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which celebrate the mundane to the magnificent around the globe.

The nine winning projects, announced on Tuesday, will share the US$500,000 (euro385,000) award _ the world's biggest prize for architectural excellence _ given once every three years by the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of agencies that seek to improve living conditions in poor countries.

The network is headed by Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims, a community of 15 million people living in 25 countries.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the awards at a ceremony in the Dewan Philharmonic Hall of the Petronas Twin Towers, which won the award in 2004.

Farrokh Derakhshani, the director of the awards, said the jury looks beyond visual appeal.
The award, established in 1977, recognizes architectural excellence in places where Muslims live. It covers the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement, historical preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of environment.

''You are not looking at a good nice facade, but (at) how do you go beyond it,'' Derakhshani said.
''It is the timing, the contemporary needs. We are trying to address the issues of the day: environment, collaboration, education, use of most modern technology.''

The projects that won the latest award are:

• The Samir Kassir Square in Beirut, named for a Lebanese journalist who was slain there, is a serene public space surrounded by hectic urban development and rebuilding. The award will go to architect Vladimir Djurovic, who ``created a space of reflection with two trees and a pool and made the square a focal point for the people of the city,'' said Derakhshani.
• The rehabilitation of the city of Shibam in Yemen. A centuries-old city of mud houses six to seven stories high. The city began degrading from water when plumbing was brought in. A five-year collaborative effort between a German agency and the Yemeni government helped preserve the city.
• The University of Technology Petronas in Malaysia, known for its high-tech architecture.
• The renovation of the walled city of Nicosia, Cyprus, a collaborative effort between the divided Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The project reversed the city's physical and economic decline.
• The Central Market in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. The architects introduced simple improvements to create an important space for civic exchange and trade.
• Restoration of the Amiriya Complex in Yemen, which protected a cultural heritage.
• The 28-story Moulmein Rise Residential Tower in Singapore, which uses innovative techniques for tropical design in high-rise living. It incorporates the traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that lets in breezes but not rain.
• The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a contemporary structure that merges with its local environment.
• A school in Rudrapur, Bangladesh. Using local material, this simple structure was hand-built in four months by the local community and volunteer architects from Germany and Austria.

The award jury was presented with 343 projects, of which 27 were shortlisted after onsite review by international experts. The number of winners varies in every award cycle. The projects need not be new.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2007

The Tenth Cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture ceremony will be held on the 4th of September 2007.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will join His Highness, Aga Khan in announcing the nine recipients of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

The ceremony will be by invitation only, will be held at the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (PETRONAS Philharmonic Hall), at the PETRONAS Twin Towers.The prize-giving ceremony will be followed by a seminar at Ballroom 1, Level 3, KL Convention Centre on 5th September.

The seminar is a public forum to discuss the relevant issues and trends that emerged during the Award Master Jury's deliberations and through the selection process. It will allow Malaysian professionals, students and journalists to ask questions of the members of the Award’s Steering Committee, Master Jury and the 2007 Award Winners. The award, established by the Aga Khan in 1977, spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim community, to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies, was also aimed at enhancing the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture expressed through architecture.

It is organised in a three-year cycle and is governed by a steering committee chaired by the Aga Khan.The award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs of aspirations of societies in which Muslims have a significant presence.The Award's method is to seek out and recognize examples of architectural excellence, encompassing varied contemporary designs, social housing, community improvement and development, restoration, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscaping and environmental issues.

Its selection process emphasizes architecture that not only provides for people's physical, social and economic needs, but also stimulates and responds to their cultural and spiritual expectations.Particular attention is given to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate technology in an innovative way and to projects likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere.

A total of nine awards will be given out, with prize money totaling US$ 500,000. This constitutes the largest architectural award in the world, and is presented every three years to projects selected by an independent Master Jury.