Last week, we had a day trip to #Torquay but rather than drive or take the train, we decided on a different route. The first leg was a #cycle trip to #Exmouth, about 17 km, followed by a boat trip around the #Devon #coast. The weather was a bit changeable but there were only prospects of short showers.

Well the first shower- didn't take long to arrive and here you can see the drops falling into the #EnglishChannel in the #wake of the #boat. An interesting combination of periodicity and irregularity on the water's surface.

But soon the rain cleared up and the Sun poked through the broken clouds.

The first part of the #coast travelling #west is primarily #sandstone with its distinctive orange colour. You can see the layers tilted through geological action. #Erosion is always evident at the surface but on the action is the sea. The rocks are dated at about 250 million years.

On to a bit of #EngineeringGeology and #GeotechnicalEngineering, the erosion is a serious problem for any structures built on or near the coast and there is a mainline railway track on the route to London which runs along it on this stretch. #NetworkRail is busy trying to stabilize and strengthen the cliffs using #RockAnchor, #RockBolts and #meshing to retard the process. Here you can see workers #abseiling as part of their work.

The erosion causes all manner of interesting irregular shapes in the rocks which make ideal place for #Seabirds to live. These include #Cormorants, #Shags and #Gulls.

As you travel further west, the stratum abruptly changes to #limestone which is over 300 million years old. The form of erosion is also different as limestone is also chemically eroded by slightly acidic water. You can also see that the colour of the sea here is a very deep green.

The #limestone also forms small #islets just off the #coast, again on which birds alight.

A close approach to an islet reveals the beautiful detailed patterns of #rock and #vegetation.

Approaching our destination, some brave souls were clambering over this islet and perhaps were preparing to dive into the water.

#MyWork #MyPhoto #CCBYSA #DSLR #Nikon #D7000 #Summer #Devon

A medieval Gothic Monastery built using CAD / CAM

#cnchacks #interest #architecture #cad #carmelitemonks #carving #cnc #gothic #limestone #monastery #hackaday
posted by pod_feeder_v2

Art Imitates Life - Pt. 2

Art shows too.
In limestone, plus plumbing hardware.

#postcard #art #sculpture #limestone #COVID #toiletpaper

Brooks + Scarpa releases concept for Holocaust memorial in Florida

LA studio Brooks + Scarpa has released designs for a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust to be constructed outside of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee.

The firm designed the project to address different aspects of the tragedy in the context of Florida. The state has the highest number of living Holocaust survivors in the US, and five museums and memorials dedicated to the victims.

Brooks + Scarpa's sculpture was recently chosen to be built by the Holocaust Memorial Review Committee, formed by the state government in 2015.

Brooks + Scarpa won a competition to design a Holocaust memorial for the Florida State Capitol

Lawrence Scarpa, who grew up in Florida, says that the design was personal. "Half of my cousins were Bar/Bat mitzvah’d and Jewish culture was always part of my life" he said. "Additionally, many of my direct relatives were killed in the holocaust."

"I feel like by winning the competition and being the designer of a memorial with such a historical significance, that in some way, by being able to design the memorial it also memorializes my own family’s grief, suffering, survival, hope and success," added Scarpa.

Called Passage of the Heart, the memorial will be placed in the Florida State Capitol complex, designed by Edward Durell Stone. The sculpture, composed of triangular stone forms, was designed so that visitors could walk through it.

The sculpture will have a limestone exterior and a bronze interior

The objective of the design is "to become a symbol of the celebration of life, but also a journey of transition and hope, where the visitor travels thru the memorial, back in time while contemplating the future," said Brooks + Scarpa in the description for its submission.

The Florida limestone exterior is meant to symbolise stones placed at the graves of the dead, with the Hebrew word for "stone" carved in the face of the material. At the base will be etchings of the names of all the largest concentration camps.

Randomised numbers cut into the bronze will symbolise the tattoos forced on victims

Inside, a bronze-clad interior will be divided into 22 panels, symbolising the number of countries directly affected by the Holocaust.

On these panels, random numbers akin to those assigned to prisoners at the camps will be cut into the metal surface. The numbers will cover the entirety of the bronze panels to show "the magnitude of the loss of life".

The panels will be backlit at night so that the numbers shine through even in the dark, as a symbol of "enduring life thru tragedy".

[

Read:

Short film offers tour of Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names by Studio Libeskind

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/10/07/short-film-dutch-holocaust-memorial-studio-libeskind/)

"We want to prompt visitors to think about their moral and ethical responsibilities when they see injustice," said Brooks + Scarpa.

Interactive aspects are also incorporated into the design. Digital projections will be projected on the stone face for educational purposes and small gaps will be left between the walls of the memorial where visitors can leave mementos.

Visitors will be able to walk through the sculpture

In 2018 an additional memorial recognising the victims of American slavery was also approved for the Florida State Capitol Complex, although the current status is "unclear" according to a release on the project.

Memorials for the victims of the Holocaust remain extremely relevant. Last year, Daniel Libeskind, the designer of the Jewish Museum of Berlin as well as the planner of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex, completed a memorial to the Dutch victims of the Holocaust in Amsterdam.

Imagery is courtesy of Brooks + Scarpa.

The post Brooks + Scarpa releases concept for Holocaust memorial in Florida appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #cultural #news #usa #bronze #florida #memorials #sculptures #brooksscarpa #limestone

SOM designs UAE diplomacy building with Middle Eastern motifs in Manhattan

Architecture firm SOM has designed a limestone-clad building patterned with symbolic palm leaves for the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in Manhattan.

The building represents the United Arab Emirates' (UAE's) diplomacy to the United Nations (UN) and is located in Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighbourhood, close to the UN headquarters.

The building features palm leaf motifs

The Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations is an organisation set up by the UAE to champion the UN and is headed by ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.

Indiana limestone, sourced from the same quarries that provided the facades for the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center, clads the diplomacy building.

It is located in Manhattan's Turtle Bay, close to the UN headquarters

The 10-storey tower was designed to blend with the scale of the rest of the neighbourhood while also representing the UAE.

SOM added palm leaf motifs to the building's canopy and entrance as an international symbol of peace.

The facade's tapering limestone piers echo narrowing palm leaves

As the tower rises, the facade's vertical elements attenuate to cater to privacy and light-related needs within the building, which also echoes the narrowing spine of a palm leaf.

"The palm is represented by the tapering limestone piers extending skywards from the second floor to the roof," SOM design partner Chris Cooper told Dezeen.

Middle Eastern courtyards informed the building's interiors

Visitors enter the building via a 40-foot-tall (13-metre) double-height hallway that was designed to echo a courtyard in a traditional Middle Eastern house.

"On the interior, the concept of hospitality blends Middle Eastern tradition with diplomatic decorum," continued Cooper.

SOM designed the project to be symbolic of international exchange

"The space brings guests and staff together in an environment that is dignified, understated, and symbolic of international exchange."

Split into three zones, the building's first two storeys house the entry hall and event spaces, while floors three to six feature an amenity level and staff offices.

Office spaces are included in the building

Levels seven and eight are reserved for executive areas, and at the top portion of the building, there is a roof terrace with impressive views of the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza below and the East River beyond.

"The layout of each floor of the building is inspired by the principle of the central courtyard, with a central reception and gathering space that is accessible from the elevator lobby," explained Cooper.

"These spaces choreograph the visitor's progression through the building – heeding the hospitable nature of Middle Eastern culture."

Throughout the building, interiors pay tribute to the Middle East. Conference rooms include a traditional geometric pattern known as mashrabiya, which features in every UAE diplomatic office around the world.

Lebanese designer Nada Debs created the interiors for the building's entry hall with a palette of natural materials intended to evoke serenity, such as Northern Canadian limestone.

Neutral interiors are intended to reflect the diplomatic nature of the building

Amenity spaces were designed with flat-cut American walnut and Calacatta marble, while executive spaces house Majlis areas for entertaining guests.

"In designing the mission, we endeavored to integrate Middle Eastern and local motifs, symbolising the power and importance of cross-cultural exchange and rooting the building in New York City's architectural traditions," said Cooper.

Marble features in amenity spaces

SOM is an American firm founded by Louis Skidmore, Nathaniel Owings and John Merrill in 1939. The office was recently chosen to design a mass-timber Olympic village for the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics.

The photography and drawings are courtesy of SOM.

The post SOM designs UAE diplomacy building with Middle Eastern motifs in Manhattan appeared first on Dezeen.

#cultural #all #architecture #usa #marble #unitedarabemirates #skidmoreowingsmerrill #newyorkcity #limestone #unitednations #newyork