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Posts tagged with "London":
A thrilling journey through the history of the car is on show in London
The automobile—a long-time fetish object of architects, the car is arguably the object that defines the 20th Century and one that has perhaps sent us crashing us into the 21st. The development of the car was once fuelled by optimism, able to set people free to go where they wanted, when they wanted. Today, however, its image has been tainted by its contribution to the climate crisis. The car is both personal and global, shaping lives, cities and nations, and it is the subject of the Victoria and Albert Museum's (V&A) latest exhibition: Cars: Accelerating the Modern World.
There's no Lamborghini Countach, no Citroen DS or Aston Martin DB5 here, this isn't that kind of show. Cars is a critique of the automobile and its impact. Expect instead to find posters about workers rights relating to Fordist assembly lines, maps tracking global oil production, the world's first commercial car designed using wind tunnel testing (the Tatra 77), and Graham, the viral, life-sized latex figurine born from the Transport Accident Commission of Australia that shows how humans could evolve to survive a car crash.
Tucking the exhibition into the new AL_A-designed Sainsbury Gallery at the V&A in London, curators Brendan Cormier and Lizzie Bisley have, through a welcome variety of mediums, given audiences a thrilling ride through the history of the car that's full of unexpected turns.
With regards to architecture, we're given Prussian-American architect Albert Khan's plans for the Henry Ford's Highland Park plant, the place where assembly lines were first used for industrial production. Next to it is a model of Italian architect Giacomo Mattè-Trucco's Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin, complete with rooftop test track. But nearby is something more sinister—a letter from a Highland Park factory worker's wife to Mr Ford. "The chain system you have is a slave driver! My God!" it reads, detailing the perils of the factory conditions.
It comes as no surprise to learn that Ford was a control freak. In 1926 he purchased land in Amazon Rainforest to produce his own rubber. Brazilian workers were banned from smoking, drinking alcohol and playing football, while American customs such as square-dancing in community halls and working in the sun, as well as hamburgers in the canteen, were introduced. The workers revolted and "Fordlandia", as it was known, was abandoned in 1945.
Factory revolts and angry letters to bosses may be fewer and far between now, particularly as machines usurp humans in factory line production. A lengthy and eerily slow panning projection of the inside of the BMW Group Plant in Munich duly demonstrates this. Here machines do the heavy lifting while humans keep watch.
Cars also delves into the wider spatial implications of the automobile. Le Corbusier, who was as obsessed with the car as any architect (maybe more), designed the Maison Citröhan (1922)—named in the car manufacturer's honor—to be as efficient as the car. Tire manufacturer Michelin, meanwhile, carried out an exhaustive photographic study of dangerous roads in America in the 1930s, highlighting the need for urgent improvement, and an array of photos from this shows just how poor America's roads once were. Missing, however, is Frank Lloyd Wright's conception of the garage. The car's impact on suburbs, roadside architecture (notably the work of Denise Scott-Brown), along with highways and freeways and drive-in cinemas is also amiss, but these do all feature in the exhibition's accompanying book, which has been beautifully produced.
"In the end we ran out of space," Cormier told AN. More important to the curators was to expose the rush for oil extraction the car created and the devastating effect this is having on the environment, which is understandable.
Throughout the exhibition, visitors are continually exposed to visions of a future which will never exist. One example: adverts and sci-fi films from 1950s, '60s, and '70s show many men in many cars, but none are stuck in traffic. By analyzing the automobile through the rear-view-mirror, Cars highlights how the car and modernity have failed to deliver on many promises. That hasn't stopped the industry, though. In the last room is 'Pop.Up Next', a concept from Italdesign which combines an electric car and a drone that is able to clip onto the pod-like vehicle—or rather, another attempt at a flying car, a never-realized fantasy of old which, like its predecessors, may be destined to forever belong in a museum.
Cars: Accelerating the Modern World runs through 19 April 2020.
Museum of Architecture's 2019 Gingerbread City explores transportation
Every year, London's Museum of Architecture challenges architects to create a fantastic and futuristic city made entirely out of gingerbread, marshmallows, and other sweet treats. Now in its fourth year, Gingerbread City is a miniature candy land designed to consider the future of the urban environment and spark public dialogue about architecture and how we interact with the cities around us. While the city itself is delightfully whimsical and theoretically edible, the ideas embodied within its sugar-coated walls represent real insights on technology and sustainability. With transportation as this year's theme, over 100 designers contributed imaginative ways of rethinking mobility in cities while shining the holiday lights on how architects and planners approach both the urban and natural landscapes. In order to participate, architects, designers, and engineers selected and purchased a plot from a master plan of the tiered city developed by Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design. Plot options ranged in size from "tiny" to "large," as well as plots for specific London landmarks, landscapes, and bridges. "Gingerbread City is a really important project for Tibbalds because of the way it makes everyone who visits think about cities and what they mean. It prompts questions about the many things that designers and place-makers have to deal with in creating interesting places that work for those that use them," said Hilary Satchwell, director of Tibbalds, said in a recent press release. "Fast, fun, edible urbanism is a great way into some important discussions about the value of place." Complete with lighting, an operational train, and tons of punny names such as "Waffle Iron Tower," "Wafer Bridge," and "Gingerbread Modern," this year's Gingerbread City takes place at Somerset House, or "Sugarset House" as Hawkins\Brown titled their submission. Participants include returning architects such as Foster + Partners, SOM, PDP London, PLP Architecture, and Phase3. Many other firms have joined for the first time including Grimshaw, KPF, and HKS. The city is complete with various districts including a University District, Cultural Quarter, Sustainable Quarter, Gingerbread Waterfront, Castle Hill, and London Quarter Island. Building types include mixed-use, bridges, houses, a stadium, university, train station, urban farm, ferry terminal, and many other spaces that are critical to the contemporary city. With more than 40,000 public visitors annually, this year's exhibition will also include a series of gingerbread house making workshops for families as well as a shop. The Museum of Architecture is also celebrating the launch of a new grant-giving fund which will support projects that engage the public with architecture. According to Melissa Woolford, the museum's founder and director, "The Gingerbread exhibition supports our year-round work as an architectural charity and this year sees us able to set up a grant-giving fund so we can support more public-facing and entrepreneurial projects." Gingerbread City is currently on display at Somerset House and will be on view through January 5, 2020.
Re-imagining the Avant-Garde re-examines the state of the field
"We are in pursuits of an idea, a new vernacular, something to stand alongside the space capsules, computers and throw-away packages of an atomic/electronic age," Warren Chalk, member of former British architecture studio Archigram once said. Chalk's quote epitomized Archigram's outlook and approach—daring, brave, looking firmly into the future, and slightly tongue-in-cheek. Archigram and its contemporaries of similarly brilliant names (Ant Farm, Superstudio and Archizoom) have since been canonized as being part of an elite group of supposedly Avant-Garde architects. But if that was the crème-de-la-crème of 50 years ago, what is the equivalent today? Re-imagining the Avant-Garde, on show at Betts Project in East London, might have the answer. If you want to see some good drawings, this is the place to go—not surprising given the star-studded exhibitor list: Ant Farm, Pablo Bronstein, Peter Eisenman, Sam Jacob, OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen, Jimenez Lai/Bureau Spectacular, and Aldo Rossi, to name a few, are all on show and none disappoint. Neither do the smaller studios: UrbanLab, WAI Think Tank, Warehouse of Architecture and Research (WAR), and Office Kovacs. Those exhibited are either mentioned in or have contributed to a special edition of AD Magazine which takes the same name as the exhibition at Betts Project. British duo Matthew Butcher and Luke Pearson, both academics, writers, and designers guest co-edited the magazine and co-curated this exhibition. "Avant-Garde" used in relation to architecture today brings to mind the work of Archigram et al., all of who sprouted from the fervent experimental ground of the 1960s and '70s. It's through this moment in architectural history which Re-Imagining the Avant-Garde attempts to frame contemporary architectural practice and thought. So how does the historical and contemporary sit next to each other? Rather comfortably, it turns out. As images and models, all arguably fall under the umbrella of Pop Architecture; British critic Reyner Banham's definition holding true. Take Belgium firm Office Kersten Geers' Border Wall, for example. The studio helped popularize the collage style of architectural representation a few years ago and it's a useful medium for Border Wall. Here it is employed to highlight tensions between territories—in this case, a walled forest in the middle of a desert divided by a fence. The desert landscape is a blurry image, while the tree trunks are conveniently hidden, all of which consequently obfuscates any sense of scale, adding a layer of ambiguity to the piece. Other exhibitors reference the Avant-Garde architectural canon explicitly, like WAR for example, who projects its architecture through a comic strip akin to the drawings of Archigram. L.A.-based Office Kovacs, run by Andrew Kovacs, meanwhile provides a palimpsest of readymade architectural artifacts in Miniature maze, a work that draws on the archive of affinities found in Kovacs' blog of architectural b-sides. As these works are displayed next to photos of Ant Farm's famous touring truck, and with other '60s radicals in mind, it's evident that the contemporary practices on show are producing work that is just as visually arresting as their predecessors. But what's the difference between then and now? "Yes, '70s utopian groups have influenced us—it's obvious, no? The difference is that we work out there in reality," Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius of the Berlin-based raumlabor told AN editor-in-chief William Menking in his article for the issue of AD Magazine. Like all good exhibitions, Re-imagining the Avant-Garde provokes more questions. Is this the Avant-Garde reimagined? Why are we being asked to re-imagine the Avant-Garde in the first place, is it the hope of stumbling upon another wave of Avant-Garde architects? Very few, if any, realize they are part of an Avant-Garde, even if they have Avant-Gardist ambitions (see Chalk's quote). The term is, for the most part, applied through a historical lens. We only realize there was an Avant-Garde once it has been and, sadly, gone. We might even find that the more we search for an Avant-Garde, the more it will evade us. When Abbot Suger worked with his Master Masons on the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 12th-Century France, he probably didn't expect the Gothic-style church he commissioned to end up defining the built landscape of Medieval Europe. Far less did Suger realize that he was part of an architectural Avant-Garde (or equivalent seeing as the phrase emerged some 700 years after). Defining a historical Avant-Garde imposes restrictions on a supposed contemporary Avant-Garde. Also writing in the same issue of AD Magazine, critic Mimi Zeiger argues that "The work of Italian radicals Superstudio [and others] provides endless fodder for appropriation," which is the case with much the work on show at Betts Project. Furthermore, the elite Avant-Garde club which Butcher and Pearson refer to is essentially an all-white gentleman's club. "Re-imagining the avant-garde might seem celebratory at first but unless radically re-contextualized and critiqued, it can be a trap. Old biases and omissions are reinforced: canons crystallized, hierarchies hardened, patriarchal practices protected," adds Zeiger. In light of this, instead of aspiring to be part of an Avant-Garde, today's architects should forget about the term altogether and strive to make a more sustainable planet. Much as how Chalk imagined building for an "atomic/electronic age," a similarly forward-thinking vision will surely prove to be Avant-Garde in time. Re-imagining the Avant-Garde runs through December 21.
Where are the so-called Eco-Visionaries coming to save our planet?
To planet Earth, the city of Venice being a designated UNESCO World Heritage site is meaningless. It can, and will, treat the city with abject indifference as was demonstrated earlier this month. In more recent climate chaos news, floods have devastated other parts of Italy, causing a viaduct to collapse near the city of Savona; meanwhile, across the other side of the world, fires are raging across the Amazon and Australia. Bizarrely, and tragically, many governments lack the impetus to make any meaningful change in this regard. We find ourselves in a dire situation, crying out for radical approaches that will galvanize the human race into action, something that Eco-Visionaries, which opened last weekend at London's Royal Academy of Arts (RA), strives to do. First of all, what an exciting name: "Eco-Visionaries," does it get more enticing than that? Upon entering the exhibition, audiences are greeted with a rotating model globe shrouded in green, murky dust. Playing through speakers in the background meanwhile, is Clara Rockmore's ominous rendition of Camille Saint-Saëns' Le Cygne (The Swan). This is Domestic Catastrophies nº3: La Planète en Laboratoire by French artist collective HeHe and it sets the tone for the rest of the exhibition, which is a sobering affair; but the vision of what, exactly, is as about as clear as HeHe's installation, despite being populated with visionaries. But that's not to say it's all doom and gloom either, despite the fact that the second installation you see features a giraffe being graphically shot, with blood spewing rapidly from its neck. A journey has been crafted by in-house RA curator Gonzalo Herrero Delicado (who worked with Pedro Gadanho and Mariana Pestana to curate the original show for Lisbon's MAAT) taking patrons through installations that highlight the climate crisis we find ourselves in and propositions that attempt to mitigate it. This seems like a natural progression one should take when addressing the issue of saving the planet: here's a problem and here's how we might solve it. However, Eco-Visionaries jumps between art as commentary and architecture as proposition, and struggles to get a strong grip on either. The architecture that does hint at radical change has to build upon the success of others—New York firm WORKac developed The Dolphin Embassy from Ant Farm, while Paris-based Studio Malka Architecture's Green Machine riffs on Archigram's Walking City. Both fall short, and architects don't come off as potential planetary saviors by any stretch. The strongest installations, meanwhile, are presented as art. An imaginative proposition comes from Turkish designer-artist-researcher Pinar Yoldas, whose Ecosystem of Excess envisages plastic-gobbling pelagic insects populating a post-human planet and cleaning it up in the process. On a similar strand, working alongside DeepMind artificial intelligence, artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg's recreation of a white rhinoceros is powerful. The now-extinct creature comes to life at a 1:1 scale, developing from a wandering cluster of pixels into a great beast that seems confused by the white box it finds itself in. Here we question, besides humanity, what lies ahead for the animals of this Earth. Extinction? Digital archival? That's certainly not the case for jellyfish, who, as it turns out, are seemingly the harbinger of the end times. The pulsating creatures thrive in the conditions created by climate change. "More warm water," says a narrator in the exhibition's final, and best, exhibit, "is a disaster for anything that breathes and a dream come true for anything that doesn't breathe much, like jellyfish." Titled win > < win, the installation is by Berlin-based artist group Rimini Protokoll and occupies a room in the third and last gallery of the exhibition. win > < win splits audiences in two with a circular tank filled with jellyfish—something the RA had to obtain a zoological license to host. With clever lighting, the two audiences are revealed and hidden from each other, the tank acting as both a mirror and portal for the divided audiences. Through headphones, we learn about the ascendance of jellyfish, a species that benefits from humans killing their predators with overfishing and pollution as plastic bags kill turtles and other animals. The influx of jellyfish has direct consequences for humans too, as they clog up nuclear power and desalination plants across the world. "Jellyfish will be the only survivors when everything else has fallen apart," the narrator ominously intones. Despite this sombre note, win > < win is fun, engaging and informative all at the same time and makes the $15 exhibition fee is worth it. It also represents a success for Delicado, who told AN that he wanted the exhibition "to talk a younger audience," hence the inclusion of more familiar names like Virgil Abloh and Olafur Eliasson, whose installations—a gold, supposedly sunken chair and pictures of melting ice, respectively—do little to inspire. And that's what we need, inspiration. In his book, The is no Planet B, author Mike Berners-Lee writes: "Whilst the idea of limiting climate change seems like essential damage limitation, in itself, it spectacularly fails to excite most of us. More often than not, it gets framed primarily as the need to forego things we enjoy. And since humans–all of us–hate thinking about anything unpleasant, the temptation to switch off is hard to resist."
Eco-Visionaries, as its title tantalizingly suggested, might change that. This was a great chance to show the world that we might, by the skin of our teeth, be able to claw ourselves out from climate change-induced catastrophe. In this regard, Eco-Visionaries falls short. Perhaps this was because the RA only allowed the exhibition to have three rooms, preventing it from going further. However, while filled with insight and inquisitive introspection into how humanity lives on this earth, the feeling of future inspiration is sadly lacking. Eco-Visionaries runs through 23 February 2020.
Extinction Rebellion sinks a house in the Thames for climate protest
Last Sunday, a sinking house in London's River Thames became a trending meme-of-the-day, specially manufactured by sculptor and fabricator activists from Extinction Rebellion U.K. to imitate conditions under a global climate emergency. The stunt worked particularly well in the U.K. as it happened to fall on the same day as flooding in Derbyshire and Yorkshire in Northern England, a coincidence—like the Venice City Council voting against climate legislation as high tides bathed Louis Vuitton shoppers on St. Mark's Square—likely to become increasingly more common. The image was that of a traditional peak-roofed brick-and-vinyl-sided house with a smokestack, half-submerged and heeling, as it floated down the river past the Tower Bridge. The actual prop was carefully constructed—a facsimile of a home made semi-real. Its brainchildren, sculptor Katey Burak and fabricator Rob Higgs, had been given a budget of $3,500 from Extinction Rebellion U.K.'s savvy arts group to make it a week before the early October week of global disobedience against the climate crisis, but it took a month to carefully craft the flooded house. Burak and Higgs constructed the likeness by hanging fiberglass panels on a metal frame, hooked onto a scaffolding attached to a life raft. It was carefully crafted ruse, with the aim of producing an image, Higgs said, of "our society drifting downstream one after the other." After assembling the parts in Cornwall that morning—a peninsula on the southwest tip of Britain experiencing increasingly severe winter storms—they dropped the raft onto the edge of the river at Hermitage Wharf Community Moorings in Wapping, Londo, during low tide, lowering down parts and painstakingly assembling them so the facade hung six inches below the water level. Working periodically as boat builders, they wanted to nail the corner of the house to perfection to sustain the illusion. Then, with the life raft's outboard motor, the team headed downstream to get the shot in front of the Tower Bridge. They were looking for a bit more of a close-up than the one that ended up being the project's signature, which shows skyscrapers rising on either side. The message is, in the end, is fairly self-explanatory. "To raise public awareness of the imminence of the rising sea level issue," Higgs said. "Just because it's a few millimeters now or 1.5 degrees, people don't realize its imminent severity. We're building up sea defenses rather than a deeper form of adaptation."
Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe bring a crystal paradise to Marlborough Gallery
Artist duo Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe have conjured a science-fiction fantasy of decrepit staged dioramas stashed with junk. Like an ode to their lust for illicit substances, traces of crystal meth that regularly show up in their previous projects become sublime again. The substance acts as the underlying central theme where "rock" motifs reoccur (i.e. the cactus sculptures growing out of geodes on metal tables in the lab and the arcade room's case of black market prizes). With eleven rooms that seem to have been abandoned by their junkie inhabitants, the exhibition fabricated by Wolfgang & Hite swallowed two floors of the Marlborough Gallery in London from September through October. Named Colony Sound, the exhibit is the pair's most recent work which offers up a speculative take on American history. Rooted in an obscure fantasy of their own, the premise is a past where a technological communication system made from a bacterial petri dish in California during the Cold War, "The Smile," brainwashes people. Set in present-day, the installation conjectures about how this technology could be adopted by new generations. After passing through what looks like a bullet-proof door abandoned by ticket counter clerks, one enters a mundane hallway lined with mailboxes and clocks arranged in a haphazard framework of four arbitrary time zones. The liar reveals itself with as a crack den living room, outfitted in 1970s mustard wallpaper, stalactite-like ceilings, and brown sofas. Read the full show breakdown on our interiors and design website, aninteriormag.com.
Official inquiry says renovation responsible for deadly Grenfell fire
An 856-page document of a government-led inquiry into London's Grenfell Tower fire states that the materials used on the building, including those from a 2016 renovation by Studio E Architects, failed to meet regulations and accelerated the fire which killed 72 people in June 2017. The news follows a 2018 report by fire specialists BRE Global which claimed that the fire wouldn't have spread so readily in the 43-year-old concrete tower block before it was renovated. The latest report released last Wednesday stated that the aluminum composite cladding added in 2016 was the "principal reason" for the blaze rapidly consuming the building, going on to say that it acted as a "source of fuel" and was further assisted by flammable insulation and materials around windows. In addition, Architect's Journal reported that "the 'decorative' architectural crown of the tower also played a 'significant role in enabling the fire to spread around the building.'" The cladding was made by the U.S. company Arconic and the fire is believed to have been sparked by a faulty Whirlpool refrigerator. The inquiry's report also criticizes the "gravely inadequate" response by the fire brigade. However, Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, disputed this characterization to the BBC: "The truth is that the fire spread the way it did because it was wrapped in flammable cladding," he said. "The firefighters turned up after that had happened, after the building had already been turned, in reality, into a death trap." Wrack went on to explain that while "nobody is trying to avoid scrutiny...we think that the ordering of the inquiry is completely back to front." Following last week's report, lawyers suspect the chances of criminal charges being brought in relation to the fire have increased significantly, according to The Guardian. The second phase of the inquiry will investigate how the inadequate design and construction, which was in violation of existing regulations, was allowed to have happened. Former judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick who led the inquiry stated that he will also look into "what was and should have been known" about the particular dangers posed by thermoplastic polymers within the construction industry and those responsible for setting fire safety standards in the central government. Following this initial report, Moore-Bick has issued a series of proposals to shore up fire safety for towers in the U.K.
Section of Architectural Workers sets up union efforts in London
The first union for architects has been founded in London. The Section of Architectural Workers (SAW) aims to improve the toxic design culture of overwork and address issues like stagnating wages, discrimination, and industry-wide attitudes towards mental health. SAW operates within the United Voices of the World (UVM), a relatively young but influential union based in London with 3,000 members. According to the Architects' Journal, a SAW spokesperson said some of its members had been working 60 hours of overtime per week, while others hadn't taken a weekend break for four months. The union is supported by many architects and administrators in the field, including notable alumni of the University College London Bartlett School of Architecture Thandi Loewenson, Jane Rendell, and David Roberts. They describe the unionization as a "landmark moment in the ethical production of the built environment." The industry has steadily felt the pressure to take on big-ticket, ground-up built projects with low-risk profiles to compensate for tight competition over projects and wages. Kate Macintosh, a London-based architect and union member, told AJ that the "toxic system" has penetrated the profession since 1979. "Those rights have been steadily eroded to the point where one in three of the workforce are on zero-hours contracts and typically work 25 hours a week." The culture of overwork trickles down even to unpaid interns, who often work from 9 a.m. to well into the evening—sometimes past midnight—consistently. This year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Junya Ishigama, made headlines after the press discovered the architect solicited unpaid interns to assist in its fabrication. Subsequently, it was revealed just how widespread the practice was. Not only was the inquiry illuminating of the lack of pay but also the degree of overwork even the youngest in the profession are expected to take on. An internship job posting for Lot-Ek also announced this in plain language last March:
Alleged email from Lot-ek Architecture & Design New York, March 2018. The office have been approached for comment - #arch4all #archishame
A post shared by Adam Nathaniel Furman (@adamnathanielfurman) on Mar 28, 2019 at 4:47am PDT
While architectural workers have attempted to unionize before and other varieties of unions like the construction-sector UCATT have tried to attract architects to join them, no effort has ever come to fruition quite like SAW. The breadth of professionals enveloped and supported by SAW, from architects to BIM technicians and cleaners, are using this platform to help support each other and therefore support their industry from top to bottom. "It will transform the environment in which we work, encouraging and empowering us all to step up and speak out to confront systemic social injustices and inequality, climate breakdown and biodiversity loss," said SAW, asserting that unionization will allow architects and their firms to focus on the projects that really matter, rather than who stays at their desk the latest.
Neiheiser Argyros inserts a central link in a global blockchain office
Generally speaking, no two people work the same way. Given that, global blockchain solutions company ConcenSys consensually chose an open, flexible working environment for its new London headquarters. Tasked with its refurbishment, local firm Neiheiser Argyros, creating a unique office identity and spaces for a range of different working styles. Taking form in the shell of a five-story office building, a number of workspaces and meeting rooms orbit around a central area swathed in plywood. While the office provides flexibility, partners Xristina Argyros and Ryan Neiheiser were skeptical of a floor plan that was too open-ended. Weary of seemingly endless rows of open desking, they opted instead for specific environments differentiated without partitions. On each floor, a central meeting space, or, if you will, "object," contains a kitchen, cluster of meeting rooms, and phone booths. This neutral space acts as a transition between a variety of distinct spaces, an arm that subdivides micro working environs that can be passed through without going having to open a door. Surrounding the central "objects" are an assemblage of working environments, each unique with their own material palette. Separated by theoretical boundaries, each space metaphorically alludes to a location that has an established identity for how work should be carried out—be that a study fo individual contemplation or group space to gather. In what Neiheiser Argyros call "The Laboratory," light grey flooring, white furniture, and sanitized fluorescent lights prescribe a quiet space for uninterrupted work. Meanwhile, "The Library" is outfitted with cork flooring and dark wood furniture, alluding to a medieval study that fosters personal reflection. Then, in "The Living Room" bright orange carpeting and custom built-in soft furnishings invite informal working and casual conversation. Read the full profile on our interiors and design website, aninteriormag.com.
How are architects drawing in the world of digital culture?
We have a lot to thank computers for; the laptop I typed this article on can execute millions of instructions every second. This is a number us humans can't comprehend, but thankfully, computers can. Computers have changed the way we see and interact with the world around us: able to connect people across the globe and able to optimize oil extraction from prime sites decided through digital derivation. Those most grateful for our microprocessor-driven overlords should be architects: they may romanticize the analog medium of sketching, but the truth is every building constructed today is "drawn" up using a computer at some point and the computer allows them to conceive every shape and size imaginable. Depending on who you ask, this has either saved or ruined architecture, and this friction is acknowledged in Drawing Attention, currently on show at the Roca Gallery in West London, where drawings from 70 participants are on display. Drawing digitally is now part of the process of design, something historian Mario Carpo describes as the digital turn in architecture. Drawing Attention, curated by Jeremy Ficca, Amy Kulper, and Grace La, professors at Carnegie Mellon University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Harvard GSD respectively, attempts to unpack the manifestations of this and asks questions such as: Where does the advent of BIM (Building Information Modeling) leave 2D digital drawing? As evidenced in this exhibition, the second dimension is far from obsolete. In a post-digital age, and as digital representation techniques allow architects to obfuscate renderings and reality, we find these 2D drawings to be evermore abstract as they take on more artistic qualities, representing architectural ideas more so than buildings themselves. The 70 drawings are thematically displayed in the following categories: Drawing limits; Drawing omniscience; Drawing instrument; Drawing environments, and Drawing as world-making. In Drawing limits, architects like Zachary Tate Porter play with scale: his Topographic survey of two Sidewalk Holes in Downtown Los Angeles (see gallery above) is wonderfully ambiguous; the holes could easily be moon craters. "The digital model presents a crisis of scale," he argued, and the scroll of a mouse facilitates a "seamless" and "disquieting" transition between scales. Architect Achim Menges, meanwhile, achieves ambiguity in a different way. An abstract view of his Bundesgartenschau Wood Pavilion celebrates the structure's parametric qualities, something which is fitting for the exhibition's venue (the Roca Gallery was designed by Zaha Hadid). However, this view is a reminder of how alienating parametricism can be. Where Porter's scale subversion was playful and called upon the viewer to interrogate a terrain they see every day but probably ignore, Menges's drawing is devoid of any scalar reference; it could be any size—a daunting and maybe exciting prospect, but one thanks to Hadid, we've already experienced. Rightfully so, parametricism doesn't get much more of a look-in; but still many works on show exhibit the digital tropes from this period (fractals and excessive iteration) which is odd considering, by the exhibition's own definition, this is an examination of the contemporary. 'Drawing as world-making' showcases the industry's biggest names. Jimenez Lai of Bureau Spectacular; Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen (KGDVS); Mark Smout, Laura Allan, Geoff Manaugh, and Tom de Paor are all on show. All exhibit interesting works though only KGDVS's OFFICE 171 Crematorium from 2014 stands out, a hallmark of the post-digital 'style' pursued by other offices such as Point Supreme, Hesselbrand, and Fala Atelier, among others which aren't part of the exhibition. Drawing Attention also partially highlights how architects are representing the environment. C. J. Lim of Studio8 Architects goes against the grain of using endless amounts of data to inform a drawing, instead opting for a tongue-in-cheek cartoonish depiction of the ocean littered with plastic bags with phrases like "recycle or die" written on them. Lim's Ocean Cleaning falls under the 'Drawing Environments' section of the exhibition, which arguably misses a trick by omitting architects who are aggressively pursuing a more sustainable planet. As the academic Peter Buchanan argues, without the computer we could not grasp the complexities of climate change nor be able to design the built environment to ameliorate it. Where are the drawings that exhibit this way of thinking? We are in a climate crisis after all. That aside, there are some outstanding drawings on show: Sarah Wigglesworth's The Disorder of the Dining Table is a classic—dating back to 1997—but always a joy to see and still relevant, as evidenced by James Michael Tate's development of this drawing for an architecture office showcased adjacent. Meanwhile, Maj Plemenitas's MSFM — Territorial Printing with Ocean Currents riffs off graphic designer Peter Saville's timeless work on Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album cover. That work was informed by radio signals from a neutron star, whereas Plemenitas' piece is derived from a simulation of the autonomous "production" of islands, seamounts and resilient shorelines. "Drawing is taking a line for a walk," said artist Paul Klee in 1961. When he said this, he was invariably inferring a pen, pencil, or paintbrush being guided across a page by a human hand. Through drawing, architects conceive spaces and places; stage sets for the theater of life. British anthropologist Tim Ingold takes it a step further, proposing that life is carried out on such lines, not just within them. Today, however, algorithms, scripts, and strings of code are used to represent architecture, serving as more than architecture's final form before the hand-over to contractors and builders—the people that make architecture manifest in physical, tangible reality. However, contractors and builders will never use the drawings exhibited in Drawing Attention, for drawing digitally is not just a means to an end, like it was before Carpo's "digital turn", defined by him as a period between 1992–2012. We're now well beyond that and Drawing Attention gives us a glimpse of our post-digital trajectory.
The U.K. launches a National Design Guide—but why?
The U.K. has released a National Design Guide to help "create beautiful, enduring and successful places." The guide was published at the start of the month and unveiled by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, however, for all the "good design" the guide preaches, it is at odds with Jenrick's actual policies. To architects and designers, the principles outlined in the document will seem run-of-the-mill, even perhaps a little patronizing. But the guide is not for them; rather, it intends to ensure that all those involved in a project are on the same page. The focus of this design guide is on good design in the planning system, so it is primarily for:
Local authority planning officers, who prepare local planning policy and guidance and assess the quality of planning applications;
Councilors who make planning decisions;
Applicants and their design teams, who prepare applications for planning permission; and
People in local communities and their representatives.
A cursory scroll through the guide reveals a lot of images—almost all houses, with pitched roofs and brick facades along with a surprising amount of churches. A design guide issued by a Conservative politician seemingly calling for Victorian and Georgian villages a does incur a momentary feeling of dread (Poundbury is featured) but thankfully the guide is much more nuanced and ultimately offers some good advice. Ten "characteristics" for design are introduced in the guide, paying special attention to character, community and the climate:
Context – Enhances the surroundings. Identity – Attractive and distinctive. Built form – A coherent pattern of development. Movement – Accessible and easy to move around. Nature – Enhanced and optimised. Public spaces – Safe, social and inclusive. Uses – Mixed and integrated. Homes and buildings – Functional, healthy and sustainable. Resources – Efficient and resilient. Lifespan – Made to last.
The guide also takes into account the contemporary context we find ourselves in and looks to the future: "We expect continuing change as a consequence of climate change, changing homeownership models and technological changes. It is likely to emerge and embed in society rapidly." Furthermore, there is an added focus on inclusion and community cohesion, defined respectfully as: "Making sure that all individuals have equal access, opportunity and dignity in the use of the built environment;" and "A sense of belonging for all communities, with connections and trust between them. Diversity is valued and people of different backgrounds have the opportunity to develop positive relationships with one another." However, for all this positive rhetoric—which will hopefully make some impact—the guide is undermined by Jenrick's latest policy to allow homeowners to add up to two stories to their house without having to get planning permission. This is part of the Conservative party's push to "build up not out," and essentially allows homeowners to do what they want irrespective of their neighbors' objections, provided the building meets council guidelines and building regulations. Subsequently, it seems bizarre for the guide to talk about scale, height, relation to surroundings, and design quality, the latter of which will be most lacking as a result of such a policy. The guide also appears to feature mostly low-rise schemes and genuine examples of suburban sprawl with a straight face, the antithesis of building "up." "Publishing new design guidance alongside plans to extend permitted development rules, which allow projects to sidestep vital quality and environmental standards, just doesn't make sense," remarked RIBA President Alan Jones. "Although increasing permitted development rights is a step in the right direction, they will still be subject to heritage and conservation areas and viewing corridor type constraints," Vaughn Horsman, design director at the British practice Farrells told AN. "And whilst it supports wider densification, by the time the tangle of other constraints get overlaid, there is still very little available land and air space available for growth in London. Meaning more still needs to be done." Moreover, the design guide also seems to focus solely on housing. It has admittedly come from the Housing Secretary, but alternative typologies could at least be acknowledged, particularly as the industry moves towards adaptive re-use. Despite this, the guide has been for the most part warmly received by the profession. Teresa Borsuk, a senior adviser at the London-based Pollard Thomas Edwards, told the Architects' Journal:
[The guide] is a sound piece of work aimed at planning officers, councillors, applicants and local communities. And a lot of it is not new. But what a difficult time for its launch – with everything else going on just now; climate change, affordability, targets, undersupply, Brexit…
Speaking in the same article, Richard Dudzicki, director of Richard Dudzicki Associates, meanwhile called for an "anarchic version of the National Design Guide":
I started reading the National Design Guide thinking to myself this is not a bad idea, but I quickly thought of the successful places I love; Farringdon in the 90s or Peckham now. They do not fit in the government's '10 simple rules to good design'. The truth is very little good design or successful placemaking will fit in this dull, grey, pragmatic framework. It is about interventions. Predefining spaces will lead to failure; failure of design, failure of place and failure to create a society. Architecture as a profession should be calling out for more. In this profession, we read the brief, rip it up and throw it out of the window and try to come up with a new idea. Let's have an anarchic version of the National Design Guide.
Finally, the guide concludes by saying that it could be altered after the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission publishes its final report in December this year. This could likely cause groans in the profession: the Commission's re-appointed cochair, Roger Scruton, has previously voiced his distaste of modernism, and in particular, architects Norman Foster and Mies van der Rohe. "The words 'beautiful' and 'ugly' are dangerous when referring to architecture — they expose personal bias, when our industry is more restricted than ever, by budgets, political and technical constraints," Horsman added. "Urban homes at the scale we need today will struggle to fit everyone's view of 'pretty' –having our work, almost degraded, to such terms is frustrating. "How would ministers feel about a public vote on whether they're too ugly for the job?" The report can be found in full online, here.
Architectural Association earns degree granting rights
The Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in London has finally been given taught-degree awarding powers (TDAP), allowing the influential school to grant degrees for the first time in its 170-year history. While the school is the oldest independent architecture school in the U.K. and internationally renowned as a pioneering educational institution, graduates of the AA could not, until now, receive academic degrees backed by the U.K. government. Nonetheless, the illustrious alumni list of the institution includes Pritzker Prize winners Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers, and Zaha Hadid among other big names. The victory is a turning point for the AA, whose financial insecurity and an uncertain future was a major factor in pursuing accreditation earlier this year. The institution, which does not receive government funding, is reliant on student tuition dollars, particularly from foreign students whose visa status would remain on shaky ground as long as the school was unaccredited. While the road to gaining TDAP was years in the making, the school successfully petitioned the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education for the right this year. "Without TDAP, the AA Diploma–widely known and internationally acclaimed – is not an academic award recognised by the UK government, and AA graduates regularly encounter challenges when returning home or to other overseas countries for the purposes of professional development or further academic study," explained Eva Franch i Gilabert, directors of the school, in an interview with Dezeen last year. Franch i Gilabert was elected to the directorial position in March 2018 after receiving the largest majority of any candidate in almost three decades. Balancing the school's finances and securing TDAP status was a major point of Franch i Gilabert's administration. The decision to give degree-granting power is a much needed boon for the AA after the international architecture community protested staff cuts at the AA Files, the school's journal, under the previous interim director. Their acceptance into the circle of official higher education institutions is also a sharp turn for the AA, which maintains a reputation for its cutting-edge and radical educational style.


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Alaska Airlines Details 'Saver Fares' Basic Economy Policy — Carry-On Bag Included
Emily McNutt
At the beginning of the year, Alaska Airlines announced that it was jumping on the basic economy bandwagon, planning to launch its own product by the end of the year. While launch details were pretty scarce as far as what Alaska's basic economy fare would entail, now we know more about what travelers can expect.
As SF Gate reports, Alaska's detailed what its Saver Fares will look like. One of the most detested aspects of basic economy is the lack of a carry-on bag — at least for United. Good news: Alaska's basic economy will allow passengers to bring both a carry-on bag and a personal item. While Delta has always had that baggage policy in place for BE ticket holders, American recently announced it would also start allowing BE passengers a carryon bag. On the other side, in the carrier's Q3 earnings call, United's Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella said United has no plans to change its BE policy, which restricts BE passengers to only a personal item.
Unlike other basic economy fares out there, Alaska's will also allow passengers to buy up to Premium Class or a better class if they so please — a feature that's expected to roll out in Q1 2019. Delta, American and United don't allow BE passengers to buy up. In addition, Alaska's going to allow its Mileage Plan members to earn elite-qualifying miles as part of its BE fare — a positive for those looking to pursue elite status.
Keep in mind that while many of these are great for passengers, as like all basic economy fares, there are some drawbacks. For example, BE passengers won't be able to make same-day changes, and there will be no standing by for earlier or later flights. Not even elite members will be able to bypass this policy. In addition, all seats will be assigned at check-in — not when purchasing a ticket.
Basic economy passengers with Alaska will also board last, meaning overhead bin space could be limited. However, Mileage Plan elite members are exempt from this restriction and can board with their applicable group. Elites will also want to know that they won't be eligible for complimentary upgrades, and no shows will be required to forfeit their itinerary.
Alaska is reportedly telling travel agents that it plans to begin selling the Saver Fares in November 2018 for travel beginning in January 2019. As the carrier slowly rolls out the new fare class, the airline is telling travel agents that first flights with a Saver Fares option might begin as early as December.
In September, JetBlue announced it would soon be adding its version of basic economy. With the inclusion of Alaska and JetBlue as airlines that offer a BE product, now all major US carriers with the exception of Southwest offer a saver fare option.
Emily McNutt is The Points Guy's Global News Editor and is based in London.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The 2016 season marked a tremendous upgrade for the Cal track and field team compared to years prior, ultimately sending 28 athletes to Regionals and ending with four at the NCAA Championships. Although no Bears qualified for tournament finals while in Eugene, Oregon, Cal had a season full of amazing highlights.
Some of the team's best moments came courtesy of seniors who will not be making the return to Edwards Stadium next year. Sydney Grey ran in a variety of distance races including the 1,500-meter and the 5,000-meter, and was the only Cal athlete to qualify for and compete in those two events at the NCAA West Regionals this year. Although she was unable to qualify for Championships, she placed in the top 20 of both events and just narrowly missed qualifying for the 1,500.
Success was also oftentimes carried by new faces, such as freshman Tyler Brendel and sophomore transfer Isabella Marten.
A low point for the Bears, however, was a groin injury sustained by junior mid-distance runner Eugene Hamilton III. Hamilton set a school record for the 800-meter during Cal's indoor season during the MPSF Championships, clocking in at 1:48.55. The injury prevented him from competing the rest of the season.
But the team experienced the highs that were even greater than their lows. Marten continually dominated the women's triple jump, even earning an All-American nod for the event during the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and Bethan Knight recorded many wins in distance events throughout the spring. Sophomore triple jumper Ashley Anderson, who lived in the prestigious shadow of Marten all season, even earned a berth to the NCAA Outdoor Championships herself.
And now, as Cal track and field director Tony Sandoval looks toward his 35th season as the head of the program after signing a contract extension, his team will likely be carried in the future by a crop of iron youth that flashed incredible promise this season. Freshmen Connor Meech in the 400-meter, Kai Benedict in the steeplechase, and Jordyn Colter and Rebecca Croft in the relays all will build on their impressive first campaigns, as will the rest of the veteran athletes.
Moving forward, the vital avoidance of the injury bug allowed for much success over the season, and fostered many first place finishes and personal records across the entire team.


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Tags: Trump Administration | ninth | circuit | court | conservative | judges
Trump Conservatives Filling Notoriously Liberal 9th Circuit
By Eric Mack | Sunday, 22 December 2019 03:53 PM
Long considered the most liberal court in America, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is far closer to be fair and balanced than ever, Politico reported.
When President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, Democrat-appointed judges held a 20-9 edge in the 9th Circuit, which made it a go-to court for Democrat challenges with a jurisdiction of 60 million Americans.
After the two most recent Trump confirmations this month, the Democrat-advantage is down to just three 16-13, according to the report.
President Trump had called the 9th Circuit, "a complete and total disaster" and a "big thorn in our side.
"Republicans politicize the judiciary so they can accomplish policy goals that they wouldn't be able to do through the democratically elected branches of government," Chris Kang of Demand Justice, a liberal activist group, told Politico.
It has been the court liberal activists have used to resist and obstruct the Trump administration on healthcare, contraception, abortion, immigration, the travel ban, and various other parts of the progressive agenda.
"The 9th Circuit is a very important circuit, and the presence of more conservative judges puts in peril all of American healthcare reform," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., lamented to Politico.
The 1st Circuit in Boston and 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia have flipped to Republican majorities under President Trump, per the report.
"Forum shopping will be less attractive now that you have a basically balanced bench as far as Republican or Democratic nominees," Katie Glenn, government affairs counsel for Americans United for Life, told Politico.
Trump Winning 'Hostile Takeover' of Liberal 9th Circuit Court
Trump Says 'Nothing's as Bad' as 9th Circuit
Long considered the most liberal court in America, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is far closer to be fair and balanced than ever, Politico reported.When President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, Democrat-appointed judges held a 20-9 edge in the 9th...
ninth, circuit, court, conservative, judges
Sunday, 22 December 2019 03:53 PM


Kitten is no longer on hiatus!
Hello, darlings! I am KittyBlue(KittenBlue, Kitty, KB, Kitten, Blue) and I am a fanartist!
Interested in: YYH, IY, Naruto, Black Butler(Kuroshitsuji), Kamisama Hajimemashita, Rose Princess's Kiss, Uta-Pri, Fruits Basket, Ouran Highschool Host Club...to name a few.
Skype kittenbluestudios@gmail.com NEW add me!


Mattie Clarke played for Shamrock Rovers F.C. as a defender.Clarke joined originally as a forward but was converted to a defender. Clarke spent 12 years at Rovers winning the Cup on 4 occasions having appeared in 5 cup finals. The only occasion he did not wina winners medal was in 1946 when he captained the Rovers team.
He won his one and only senior cap for the Republic of Ireland national football team on 10th May 1950 in a 5-1 defeat to Belgium in Brussels.
In the 1950/51 season Mattie was awarded a testimonial for his eleven years service at Milltown.
Games in which Mattie Clarke was a Substitute.


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Rogan Brown - Paper Sculptures
© ROGAN BROWN
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand"
(William Blake)
My work comes into being in the space where science fact and science fiction meet and merge.
Inspired by the narratives of scientific discovery and innovation that increasingly dominate contemporary culture my work is an attempt by a non-scientist, an outsider, to visualize, comprehend and assimilate these new ideas and new ways of seeing the world, whether it's to do with our changing perception of bacteria or the paradigm shifts in our comprehension of the physical world that emerge from quantum physics.
My choice of paper cutting as a vehicle for this exploration of our changing perception of nature is based on its accessibility and simplicity as a medium. The transformation of a banal, quotidian material into something visually extraordinary parallels and echoes the radical changes in our vision of the familiar world that science engenders.
But a recurrent theme in my work is the limitations of science when confronted by the vast scale and complexity of nature. Science's goal of containing and defining nature is constantly subverted and fractured by the sheer volume and variety of data that needs to be observed, analysed and classified. This is figured in the excessive detail that characterizes my work as I attempt to overwhelm the eye through the scale and volume of what I depict.
Process and material are crucial; the large hand cut pieces are dissected from sheet after sheet of paper in careful scientific fashion with a scalpel knife, sometimes taking months to complete, the slow act of cutting repeating the long time-based processes that dominate nature: growth, decay and re-growth; whereas the laser cut works push both machine and material to their limits.
Paper, my chosen material, embodies the paradoxical qualities that we see in nature: its fragility and durability, its strength and delicacy; there is a pleasing poetic symmetry in taking this material that was cut from the forest and by cutting and transforming it once again returning it to its origins.


I'm so excited to share our latest wedding with you all today because Amy and Ben are two amazing people. They are so full of love for each other, their daughters, and their family. Amy got her hair and makeup done at Vision Salon, then made her way to Bali Hai Golf Club to get into her gorgeous dress. After which, we had some time to get a few nice bridal portraits and some fun shots of her and her twin sister & maid of honor. Meanwhile, Jason met up with Ben at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel, where he and his best man were getting ready themselves. Amy and Ben wanted to keep things traditional, so they chose not to have a first look. Ben saw his beautiful bride for the first time as she walked down the aisle. After the ceremony, where Amy and Ben exchanged their own personal vows to each other, we took a golf cart ride to the beautiful golf course grounds for some portraits of the new Mr. and Mrs. alone together.
The reception that followed was full of funny toasts, dancing, and mingling among friends and family!


Reviews– Canon PIXMA MP 628 is a high-performance Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer with Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. This is a change all the rules about how and where you easily print photos and documents. print wirelessly from anywhere in your home via the WIFI function. Want to go directly to computer Print free? Or the network via an Ethernet cable and you want to print from the computer cables that are in different rooms. Printing photos directly from memory cards improve the quality of the image and want to preview on a 2.5-inch LCD screen. Or want from a compatible digital camera or smart device to print directly Bluetooth device via Bluetooth interface is optional BU-30, you can simply get it done.
Canon PIXMA Mp628 Inkjet printer driver is the center of the programming used to connect printers between machines. we need to download Canon PIXMA Mp628 Inkjet printer driver on the Canon website, the real driver living suitable for the working frame to select that you load.
Be that as it may, scan drivers for Canon PIXMA Mp628 Inkjet Canon website is confused, on the grounds that there are different types of Canon drivers for the various distinctive type of items: printer, Polaroids, fax machines, scanners.


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Annual Medal Award
ICMCI
Practice Member
Graduate Member
Annual Affirmation
Showcased Profiles
Using Consultants
Appointing Consultants
Client Enquiry Service
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Vacancy Search
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Director of Strategy and Business Planning
Home/Director of Strategy and Business Planning
Vacancy Type:
Practice or Client:
HEAnet
https://www.mazars.ie/Home/Services/Consulting/Management-consulting/Executive-recruitment
HEAnet is Ireland's National Research and Education Network, providing Internet connectivity and ICT shared services across all levels of the Irish education system, reaching 1,000,000 end users. We connect learners and researchers across Ireland to education resources and to fellow national educational and research networks in Europe, and the rest of the world.
HEAnet is seeking a Director of Strategy & Business Planning to join the Senior Leadership Team reporting to the Chief Executive Officer.
As Director of Strategy & Business Planning, you will support shaping the company's future strategic direction and oversee the execution of strategy in terms of business planning and future business development. The HEAnet strategy for 2020-2022 is to provide quality digital solutions to Education and Research in Ireland. Responsibility will also extend to shaping and executing on Group Strategy in partnership with our subsidiary company, EduCampus Services DAC.
The purpose of the role is to engage with HEAnet Board members, clients, stakeholders, and the HEAnet organisation, in the planning, development and execution of future strategy. This also includes identifying and evaluating new opportunities, developing compelling business cases that secure funding to enhance and expand our shared services portfolio. The role will co-ordinate strategy execution and business planning across the company. It will involve designing annual delivery plans with contributions from key business areas. This role will have responsibility for our Project Management Office (PMO), and our Innovation R&D team.
The role will focus on delivering value and business benefits to our clients and wider education community, ensuring our services portfolio remains relevant and continues to serve the needs of our client members and stakeholders now and into the future.
Business development will extend to identifying new opportunities and innovations that align with company and sectoral strategy. This should also extend to Group strategy considerations. Areas of potential opportunity include digital transformation, cyber security, analytics, open science, and associated research supports.
Essential Requirements
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate evidence of:
•Experience in developing, planning, and implementing successful strategies and delivery relating to multiple goals.
•Experience of advising and/or executing on technology and innovative strategies
•Experience of successful business case design, evidencing strong commercial acumen, with a focus on viability and sustainability of business models.
•Proven experience of strategy execution in terms of organising teams and resources to execute strategic goals.
•A background in technology and/or education/research, with demonstrated effective engagement across a breadth of stakeholders.
•Experience of Business Development, ideally in an education and research technology setting
•Experience of Business Planning, to effectively manage people, money, and time
•Strong commercial and financial acumen to support business case/model design/financial viability considerations
•Experience developing constructive and collaborative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time, including communicating up to a senior stakeholder level
•Proven organisational management and people management ability
•Proven experience of change management in a flexible and agile environment
•Excellent analytical and organisational skills
•Experience of securing funding in a public sector environment.
•Experience of public procurement
•Consultancy experience in the context of business case and business model design
•Knowledge of the Irish education and research sector
Application Email:
execrecruit@mazars.ie
Application Phone Number:
Looking Back and Looking Forward – Masterclass Recording 19/01/2023
IMCA CHRISTMAS ARRANGEMENTS 2022 20/12/2022
State of the Market Survey 08/12/2022
IMCA CHRISTMAS PARTY 28/11/2022
Practice Presentations
Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers,
C/O Lionheart
38 Fitzwilliam Square
Dublin 2, DO2 NX53
Phone: + 353 1 9610030
Email:admin@imca.ie
Web: https://www.imca.ie
© 2023 IMCA | All Rights Reserved. Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers is a company limited by guarantee and is registered in Dublin (registered number 81899). The registered office address is Unit 9 Bailey House, The Courtyard, Fonthill Business Park, Dublin 22 D22 XK59, Ireland.
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From pouches and pockets to pads and cushions, J.A.C. Custom Pouches, Inc. provides custom applications and innovative solutions for your need to carry, protect and organize. We combine straps with snaps, clips, hooks, loops, Velcro®, or zippers and more with the most durable, yet attractive materials available today.
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To quote your specialty sewing requirements, please call 1-800-941-2761 or email info@jaccp.com. We look forward to serving your needs.
Copyright © 2010 J.A.C. Custom Pouches, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Q: vue pwa webpack axios process.env not escaping url and crashing webpack Hello I am having an issue with setting a base url from an environment variable in config/prod.env.js in the pwa template that is loaded from webpack.
i am setting API_URL to 'http://localhost:3000' where I am running a express js rest api.
source code line where the error is originating from
return axios.create({
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    baseURL: process.env.API_URL
  })

webpack output from browser
return __WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2_axios___default.a.create({
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    baseURL: http://localhost:3000/
  });

error from the browser console
152:40 Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token :
    at Object.<anonymous> (app.js:1682)
    at __webpack_require__ (app.js:679)
    at fn (app.js:89)
    at eval (main.js?1c90:1)
    at Object.<anonymous> (app.js:1207)
    at __webpack_require__ (app.js:679)
    at fn (app.js:89)
    at Object.<anonymous> (app.js:1199)
    at __webpack_require__ (app.js:679)
    at app.js:725

package.json dependencies
"dependencies": {
    "axios": "^0.18.0",
    "vue": "^2.5.2",
    "vue-router": "^3.0.1",
    "vuex": "^3.0.1"
  },

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Contemplative Caregiver Course uses the teachings of mindfulness and turning towards what�s difficult to�cultivate a Zen�approach�to aging, sickness, and dying. Here, some of the participants in the course express their deepening understanding of service.
The Zen approach to sickness, old age, and death is: to be with what is. Waking up to the reality of impermanence; that our bodies, minds and everything we know and love will fade and disappear. For me, contemplating sickness, old age, and death can sometimes be uplifting and inspiring�� helping me focus on what is important, to act in accordance with my values and intentions ��and sometimes it can be a bit of a bummer. These areas of life can be unpleasant: physical and mental pain, feelings of loss. It takes resilience to be able to face these inevitable parts of life with equanimity. And resilience takes practice; sitting with an itch today so we can sit with greater discomfort later. . .
. . . To thoroughly investigate what it means to be of service to others, and undertake the hard work required to open up and come to terms with our own hesitations and self-limiting behavior, seems the most fundamental work of all � in any realm.
The skills I learned last year . . . have become a part of my life. I know that my medical practice is different because of the Contemplative Caregiver Course. I continue to do my compassion meditation and . . . meditate . . . Now [I] have realized that I am happiest when dealing with patients one-on-one in the office . . . I just wanted you to know how much of an influence you and the whole group have had�on the last year of my life.
As I was working with a student today, I recognized how much more present I am for my students because of your classes. Today I was able to listen and share a student's journey without trying to fix or help, and that is just what she needed from me. And then I took some time for myself to meditate and process.
I am further along in cultivating care for myself. When I become aware of judgmental self talk, I intervene on my own behalf [and] . . .call forth kindness. . . When suffering is inescapable, I attempt to engage a gentle and supportive response amidst my discomfort. . .My choice is to observe my mind and engage with it rather than tear it apart in hopes of designing a new me.
I normally see failure as a means to understanding but, the CCC has helped me with my relationship to experiencing it. It has further energized my wishes to gain bring wisdom and compassion from this course to my clients. I will keep moving forward, take chances, make a fresh vow. I want to live my practice for the benefit of others [and] have compassion for myself on a daily basis.
The following excerpt is�from the April 1995 issue of the�Zen Hospice Project Newsletter. In it, Paul Haller, the Urban Temple Teacher at City Center who also teaches chaplaincy, reflects on caregiving.
So how do you come without any agenda and come with an agenda to alleviate the suffering of others?�Sometimes we call Buddhism finding the middle way, and so that's one guide. We could say, how do you find the middle way?�… I think: �Don't come to fix somebody.� Don't come into the situation thinking, I know what should happen and my job is to make it happen. That puts constraints on the situation. That limits it. So that's part of it. Then [we have a]�tendency to . . . let our needs dictate the situation. This leads to codependency and other unhealthy or simply unhelpful dynamics.
So when you come with the agenda of addressing the other person's needs, this will help us to not get stuck in making our own needs primary in the situation. Both approaches are pointing at how we experience the interconnected nature of existence. They're both addressing ways in which the situation can get out of balance. How we lose the middle way and drift over to the self.
In Buddhism, these admonitions, when we truly aspire to them, are called perfections. Any time we aspire to perfection, we see imperfection. When we bring forth the guideline of not having any agendas, we start to see the agendas we have.
The question, �Okay, what's in it for me?� is very different from saying, �How can I help?� You have a different experience of the situation. We're getting an opportunity to experience life in a different way, and when we embrace that opportunity, we often find ourselves experiencing the benefit and the nourishment of being generous. Of having our hearts be more open. Of having ourselves being more caring. We realize that not only is this not a deficit, but that it is actually a nourishment. There's something in that way of meeting that nourishes us. So we also experience the benefit. A gift. Our act of service becomes a gift and a joy.
Sometimes nourishing is even too glamorous a word. Sometimes it just lets you see�…�we do have an agenda. Most of us want an intense intimate exchange that's deeply meaningful, and then someone says, �Could you empty the garbage?� And we feel, �This isn't meaningful, this isn't intense, this isn't what I want.� And then we could say, �Oh, I see, I have expectations. I want something from this situation.� So in some ways noticing our agenda can be a strict teacher. And in some ways it shows us that to be of service is to be of service. Generosity is giving. Giving without making it a trade. And that's just how it is.
I remember someone complaining to me, �All I do is take people out to smoke cigarettes. And I hate smoking and I don't think it�s good for them.� What could I say? A box of matches is a very useful item for a volunteer to have.


text:
Q: G Suite Martkeplace: Get user who granted domain wide delegation to an app Assume we have an app on G Suite Marketplace, and a G Suite domain administrator wants to delegate domain-wide access to the domain's users' data (as explained here).
For signup purposes, the 3rd service itself needs to know the domain name and the username of the administrator who performed domain-wide delegation of authority. This is needed to be able to use the Directory API (see note here)
I can easily get the domain name (by using Universal Navigation Extension, and adding ${DOMAIN_NAME} to the callback URL, as explained here). However, I didn't find a way to programmatically access the username of the administrator who performed DWD.
Any hints how to do that? Or if that is possible at all?
Thanks in advance!

A: Method 1:
When the user clicks in the launcher link (or just during installation with the configuration link you can configure) you need to do the OAuth2 flow and obtain the user email. Then you use the email assuming it is from an admin and it usually should be. If not, just return an error and wait for the admin login.
Method 2: ONLY TO GET THE DOMAIN, not the user.
Use the Marketplace License API https://developers.google.com/gsuite/marketplace/v2/reference
You can periodically use the list endpoint and find the user that installs (or removes) your application.
In any case you should store the list of domain super admins to be used when necessary.


text:
Faculté des Lettres et des Langues
Département d'Anglais
The Quest for utopia semuel butler to Bertrand Russell
Benmechiche, Hacène
This thesis studied the evolution and impact of utopian thought in the English-speaking world from the late nineteenth century up to the present times selecting for consideration texts produced in the late nineteenth century, which coincided with the crisis of capitalism, the first half of the twentieth century, characterised by the crisis of modernity and a general mood of pessimism with regard to the capacity of science or socialism to lead to ―eutopia‖‖, and texts envisioning the reconstruction of a human society, threatened by division, conflicts and ultimately possible extinction, as a global utopia. This ultimate utopia, which would represent the culmination of the Enlightenment project and the temporary materialization of the Liberal Idea, would, unlike the traditional static utopias, remain open to criticism and improvement. The study, which takes its theoretical bearings from the sociology of knowledge and sociolinguistics, considers language use as a form of social action, thinking as tightly conditioned by being; action whereby social subjects / agents mediate their world. Drawing upon the critical concepts and categories elaborated by Karl Mannheim, Paul Ricoeur, Mikhail Bakhtin, Michel Foucault, and Norman Fairclough, I attempt to argue the claim that, as texts, the utopias I studied in their ongoing dialectical intercourse with other texts of the utopian tradition as well as their respective contexts performed critical function which purported to improve the texts through regular revisiting, and society through ongoing criticism, and reconstruction. Hence utopia, as a man-centered Pelagian project, has sought the progressive perfection of man and human society in the present world. In the last resort, utopianism, whether in its textual or practical version, appeared more as a critical companion, a faithful bedfellow to ideology, whose flaws it unveils and which it has helped to improve and vie. Hence, in their quest for utopia, the Authors considered in the present thesis: Samuel Butler, Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, H.G.Wells, and Bertrand Russell drew upon the utopian tradition, which they reworked creatively, to achieve a balance between individual freedom and happiness on the one hand, with social order and stability, on the other hand. Observed from the perspective of a member of ―the backward races‖, which are integrated as resources and extensions in the Anglo-Saxon Enlightened utopian project, one cannot fail to suspect the difficulty these authors face, as supposed ‗advocates of the interests of the whole', to overcome Mannheim‗s paradox and totally emancipate themselves from the outlook of a society in which they are culturally immersed. This ethnocentric attitude can be interpreted as a form of will to power‖ which has recently led to the emergence of a global hegemon. None the less, given the authors' audacious ideas on such issues as power, governance, education, demography, ethics and environment, one may say on their behalf that they have been made the reluctant accomplices of a power thirsty ideology which they will not fail to unveil and resist as such.
Département d'Anglais [33]