Renaissance Notes Essay Example for Free

Renaissance Notes Essay The 15th century artistic developments in Italy matured during the 16th century. The 15th century is thus designated the â€Å"Early Renaissance† and the 16th century the â€Å"High Renaissance†. Although there is no single style that defines the period, there is a distinct level of technical and artistic mastery that does. This is the age of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian, artists whose works exhibit such authority, that later generations of artists relied on these works for instruction. These exemplary artistic creations further elevated the prestige of artists. Artists could claim divine inspiration, thereby raising visual art to a status formerly only given to poetry. Painters, sculptors, and architects were elevated to a new level and they claimed for their work a high position among the fine arts. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 1519) was born in the small town of Vinci, near Florence. He trained in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio. He was brilliant man with many interests. His directions foreshadowed those that art and science would take in the future. A discussion of his many interests enhances our understanding of his artistic production. Those interests are seen in his Romulus sketchbooks filled with drawings and notes from his studies of the human body and natural world. He explored optics in-depth, allowing him to understand perspective, light, and color. His scientific drawings are artworks themselves. Leonardo’s ambition in painting, as well as science, was to discover the laws underlying the processes and flux of nature. Leonardo believed that reality in its absolute sense is inaccessible, and that humans can only know it through its changing images. He considered the eyes the most vital organs and sight the most essential function. In his notes, he repeatedly stated that all his scientific investigations made him a better painter. Around 1481, Leonardo left Florence, offering his services to Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. In his offer he highlighted his competence as a military engineer, mentioning his artistic abilities only at the end. This provided Leonardo with increased financial security and highlights the period’s instability. During his first trip to Milan Leonardo painted Virgin on the Rocks as a central panel of an altarpiece for the chapel of the confraternity of the Immaculate Conception in San Francesco Grande. The painting builds on Masaccio’s understanding and usage of Chiaroscuro. Modeling with light and shadow and expressing emotional states were, for Leonardo, the heart of painting. A good painting has two chief objects to paint man and the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter hard, for it must be expressed by gestures and the movement of the limbs A painting will only be wonderful for the beholder by making that which is not so appear raised and detached from the wall. Leonardo presented the figures in Virgin of the Rocks in a pyramidal grouping and more notably, as sharing the same environment. This groundbreaking achievement the unified representation of objects in an atmospheric setting was a manifestation of scientific curiosity about the invisible substance surrounding things. The Madonna, Christ Child, infant John the Baptist, and angel emerge through nuances of light and shade from the half light of the cavernous visionary landscape. Light veils and reveals the forms, immersing them in a layer of atmosphere that exists between them and the viewer. Atmospheric perspective is in full view. The figures actions unite them; prayer, pointing, and blessing. The angel points to the infant John. His outward glance involves spectators out of view, perhaps the viewers of the painting. John prays to the Christ Child and is blessed in return. The Virgin herself completes the series of interlocking gestures, her left hand resting protectively on John’s shoulder. The mood of tenderness, enhanced by caressing light, suffuses the entire composition. Leonardo succeeded in expressing â€Å"the intention of his soul.† For the refectory of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Leonardo painted Last Supper. Despite its ruined state (in part from Leonardo’s unfortunate experiments with his materials) and although it has often been restored ineptly, the painting is Leonardo’s most formally and emotionally impressive work. Christ and his twelve disciples are seated at a long table set parallel to the picture plane in a simple, spacious room. Leonardo amplified the drama by placing it in an austere room. Christ with outstretched hands, has just said, â€Å"one of you is about to betray me† Matt 26:21. A wave of intense excitement passes through the group as each disciple asks himself or his neighbor, â€Å"Is it I?† In the center, Christ appears isolated from the disciples and in perfect repose, while emotion swirls around him. The central window in the back frames Christ and has a curving pediment above it. The arc serves as a diffused halo. Christ’s head is the location of the single vanishing point on which the orthogonals converge, further emphasizing Christ. Leonardo presented the agitated disciples in four groups of three, united among and within themselves by the figures’ gestures and postures. The artist sacrificed traditional iconography to pictorial and dramatic consistency by placing Judas on the same side of the table as Jesus and the other disciples. His face in shadow, Judas clutches a money bag in his right hand and reaches his left forward to fulfill the Master’s declaration† :But yeah behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is on the table† Luke 22:21. The two disciples on the end contain the action by their quiet composure. Leonardo’s, Mona Lisa is the world’s most famous portrait. The sitter’s identity is not certain, but Vasari asserted that she is Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine hence, â€Å"Mona (an Italian contraction of ma donna, â€Å"my lady†) Lisa.† It is notable because it is a convincing representation of an individual, rather than serving as an icon of status. The ambiguity of the famous â€Å"smile† is really the consequence of Leonardo’s fascination and skill with chiaroscuro and atmospheric perspective. Her they serve to disguise rather than reveal a human psyche. The artist subtly adjusted the light and blurred precise planes Leonardo’s famous smokey sfumato (misty haziness) rendering the facial expression hard to determine. The lingering appeal of Mona Lisa derives in large part from Leonardo’s decision to set his subject against the backdrop of a mysterious uninhabited landscape. Originally Leonardo represented Mona Lisa in a loggia with columns. The painting was cropped later on (not by Leonardo) and the columns were eliminated. The remains of the column bases may still be seen to the left and right of Mona’s shoulders. Leonardo completed very few paintings; his perfectionism, relentless experimentation, and far ranging curiosity diffused his efforts. The drawings in his notebooks preserve an extensive record of his ideas. His interests focused increasingly on science in his later years, and he embraced knowledge of all facets of the natural world. One example is The Fetus and Lining of the Uterus, although not up to 20th century standards for accuracy, it was an astounding achievement in its day. Though not the first scientist, Leonardo certainly originated a method of scientific illustration, especially cutaway and exploded views. Scholars have long recognized the importance of these drawings for the development of anatomy as a science, especially in an age predating photographic methods such a X rays. Leonardo was well known as an architect and sculptor in his lifetime, but no existing building or sculptures can be attributed to him. From his drawings he was interested in the central style plan of buildings. Leonardo left numerous drawings of monumental equestrian statues of which one was made into a full scale model for a monument to Francesco Sforza (Ludovico’s). The French used it for a target and shot it to pieces when they occupied Milan in 1499. Due to the French, Leonardo left Milan and served for a while as a military engineer for Caesar Borgia, who, with the support of his father, Pope Alexander VI, who tried to conquer the cities of the Romagna region in North Central Italy and create a Borgia duchy. At a later date, Leonardo returned to Milan in the service of the French. At the invitation of King Francis I, he then went to France, where he died at the Chateau of Cloux in 1519. Julius II: The Warrior Pope Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere (1503 1513), was an individual whose interests and activities effected the course of the High Renaissance. Julius II was a very ambitious man who indulged his enthusiasm for battle in a supposed quest to expand the church and the Kingdom of Heaven by worldly means. This earned him a designation as the â€Å"warrior pope†. He selected his name Julius after Julius Caesar, and he ran the papacy using the Roman Empire as his model. Julius II’s papacy was notable for his contributions to the arts. He was an avid art patron and understood well the propagandistic value of visual imagery. After his election as pope, he immediately commissioned artworks that would present an authoritative image of his rule and reinforce the primacy of the Catholic Church. He commissioned a new design for Saint Peter’s basilica, the construction of his tomb, the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the decoration of the papal apartments. These large scale projects clearly required considerable finances. Because of this need, Julius sanctioned the huge increase in the selling of indulgences as a way to raise the revenue needed to fund the art, architecture, and the lavish papal lifestyle. This perception prompted disgruntlement among the faithful. Despite his exceptional artistic legacy, Julius II’s patronage contributed to the rise of the Reformation. Saint Peter’s Old Saint Peter’s had fallen into considerable disrepair and did not fit Julius II’s taste for the large, colossal, and glorious. He wanted control over all Italy and make the Rome of the Pope’s as glorious as or greater than that of the Caesars. This important commission was awarded to Donato D’Angelo Bramante (1444 1514). Bramante was trained as a painter. He went to Milan in 1481 and stayed till the French arrived in 1499. In Milan he abandoned painting and went on to become the most renowned architect of his generation. Influenced by Brunelleschi, Alberti, and perhaps Leonardo, who favored antiquity, Bramante developed the High Renaissance form of the central plan church. Bramante originally conceived the new Saint Peter’s to consist of a cross with arms of equal length, each terminated by an apse. Julius II intended the new building to serve as a martyrium to mark Saint Peter’s grave and also hoped to have his own tomb in it. A large dome would have covered the crossing, and smaller domes over the subsidiary chapels would have covered the diagonal axes of the roughly squared plan. The ambitious plan called for a boldly sculptural treatment of the walls and piers under the dome. His design for the interior space was complex in the extreme, with the intricate symmetries of a crystal. It is possible to detect in the plan nine interlocking crosses, five of them supporting domes. The scale was so titanic that, according to sources, Bramante boasted he would place the dome of the Pantheon over the Basilica Nova. During Bramante’s lifetime, the actual construction on the new Saint Peter’s basilica did not advance beyond the building of the crossing piers and the lower choir walls. After his death, the work passed on to other architects and finally to Michelangelo, whom Pope Paul III appointed in 1546 to complete the building. Not until the 17th century did the Church oversee the completion. An earlier building completed by Bramante is considered the perfect prototype of classical domed architecture for the Renaissance and after. The building is called Tempietto â€Å"Little Temple† because to contemporaries it had the look of a Roman pagan temple. The lower story was directly inspired by the round temples of Roman Italy that Bramante would have know in Rome. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain commissioned the Tempietto to mark the conjectural location of Saint Peter’s crucifixion. Available information suggests the project was commissioned in 1502, but there is dispute over the date. Bramante relied on the composition of volumes and masses and on a sculptural handling of solids and voids to set apart this building, all but devoid of ornament, from the structures built in the preceding century. Standing inside the cloister along side the church of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, and the Tempietto resembles a sculptured reliquary and would have looked even more like one inside the circular colonnaded courtyard Bramante planned for it but never executed. At first glance, the structure seems severely rational with its circular stylobate and Tuscan style colonnade. Wonderful harmony is achieved in the relationship of the parts (dome, drum, and base) to one another and to the whole. Conceived as a tall domed cylinder projecting from a wider lower cylinder of the colonnade, this building incorporates all the qualities of a sculpted monument. There is a wonderful rhythmic play of light and shadow on the form. Although the Tempietto may superficially resemble a Greek tholos, the combination of parts and details was new and original. If one of the main differences between Early and High Renaissance styles of architecture was the former’s emphasis on detailing flat wall surfaces versus the latter’s sculptural handling of architectural masses, then Tempietto certainly broke new ground and stood at the beginning of the High Renaissance. The architect Andrea Palladio credited Bramante as the â€Å"first to bring back to light the good and beautiful architecture from antiquity to that time had been hidden.† Round in plan, it is elevated on a base that isolates it from its surroundings. Michelangelo The artist whom Pope Julius II deemed best able to convey his message was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 1564), who received some of the most coveted commissions. Though a man of many talents, architect, sculptor, painter, poet, and engineer, he thought of himself first as a sculptor. He regarded sculptor as a superior calling to painter because the sculptor shares in something like the divine power to â€Å"make man.† Drawing a conceptual parallel to Plato’s ideas, Michelangelo believed that the image produced by the artists hand must come from the idea in the artist’s mind. The idea, then, is the reality that the artist’s genius has brought forth. But artists are not the creators of the ideas they conceive. Rather they find their ideas in the natural world, reflecting the absolute idea, which, for the artist, is beauty. One of Michelangelo’s best known observations about sculpture is that the artist must proceed by finding the idea the image locked in the stone, as it were. Thus, by removing the excess stone, the artist extricates the ideas, like Pygmalion bringing forth the living form. Michelangelo felt that the artist works through many years at this unceasing process of revelation and â€Å"arrives late at novel and lofty things.† Michelangelo sharply broke from his predecessors in a very important respect. He mistrusted the application of mathematical methods as guarantees of beauty in proportion. Measure and proportion, he believed, should be â€Å"kept in the eyes.† Vasari quotes Michelangelo as declaring that â€Å"it was necessary to have the compasses in the eyes and not in the hand, because the hands work and the eye judges.† Thus Michelangelo went against Vitruvius, Alberti, Leonardo, and others by asserting that the artist’s inspired judgment could identify other pleasing proportions. He believed that the artist must not be bound, except by the demands made by realizing the idea. This insistence on the artist’s own authority was typical of Michelangelo and anticipated the modern concept of the right of self expression of talent limited only by the artist’s own judgment. The artistic license to aspire far beyond the â€Å"rules† was, in part, a manifestation of the pursuit of fame and success that humanism fostered. In this context, Michelangelo designed architecture and created paintings that departed from High Renaissance regularity. He put in its stead a style of vast, expressive strength conveyed through complex, eccentric, and often titanic forms that loom before the viewer in tragic grandeur. Michelangelo’s self imposed isolation, creative furies, proud independence, and daring innovations led Italians to speak of the dominating quality of the man and his work in one word -terribilita, the sublime shadowed by the awesome and the fearful. David In 1501, the Florence Cathedral building committee asked Michelangelo to work a great block of marble left over from an earlier aborted commission. From this stone, Michelangelo crafted David, which assured his reputation then and now as an extraordinary talent. The form and its references to classical antiquity appealed to Julius II who associated himself with the humanists and Roman emperors. This sculpture and the acclaim that accompanied its completion lead to Michelangelo’s papal commissions. Like other David sculptures, Michelangelo’s had a political dimension. With the political instability of the time, Florentines viewed David as the symbolic defiant hero of the Florentine republic, especially given the statue’s placement near the west door of the Palazzo della Signoria. Forty years after David’s completion, Vasari extolled the political value of David claiming that â€Å"without a doubt the figure has put in the shade every other statue, ancient or modern, Greek or Roman this was intended as a symbol of liberty for the palace, signifying that just as David protected his people and governed them justly, so whoever ruled Florence should vigorously defend the city and govern it with justice.† Michelangelo depicted David, not in victory, but turning his head sternly watching the approaching foe. His whole body and face is tense with gathering power. This energy in reserve is characteristic of Michelangelo’s later figures. The Roman sculptor’s skill in precise rendering of heroic physique impressed Michelangelo. In David, without strictly imitating the antique style, Michelangelo captured the Lysippan athletes and the emotionalism of Hellenistic statuary. This David differs from Donatello’s and Verrocchio’s as Hellenistic statues depart from classical ones. Michelangelo abandoned the self contained compositions of the 15th century David statues by giving David’s head the abrupt turn toward Goliath. Michelangelo’s David is compositionally and emotionally connected to an unseen presence beyond the statue; a quality in Hellenistic sculpture. As early as David, Michelangelo invested his efforts in presenting towering pent up emotion rather than calm ideal beauty. Julius II’s Tomb The first project Julius II commissioned from Michelangelo in 1505 was the pontiffs own tomb. The original design called for a freestanding two story structure with some 28 statues. This colossal monument would have given Michelangelo the latitude to sculpt numerous human statues while providing the pope with a grandiose memorial which Julius intended to be in St. Peter’s. Shortly after the project began, it was interrupted, possibly because funds had to be diverted to Bramante’s building of St. Peters. After Julius II’s death in 1513, Michelangelo was forced to reduce the scale of the project step by step until, it became a simple wall tomb with one third of the originally planned figures. The tomb was completed in 1545 and was placed in San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, where Julius at one time had been a cardinal. It is with surety that the ambitious Julius II would have been bitterly disappointed. The spirit of the tomb may be summed up in the figure of Moses, which Michelangelo had completed in 1513, during a sporadic resumption of work. It was meant to be seen from below and to be balanced with seven other massive forms related to it in spirit. The position of Moses now in his rather paltry setting’ does not have its original impact. Michelangelo depicted the Old Testament prophet seated, the Tablets of the Law under one arm and his hands gathering his voluminous beard. The horns were a recognizable convention to identify Moses. Michelangelo used the turned head, which concentrates the expression of awful wrath that stirs in Moses’ powerful frame and eyes. The muscles bulge, the veins swell, and the great legs seem to begin slowly to move with pent up energy. Originally 20 sculptures of slaves in various attitudes of revolt and exhaustion, appear on the tomb. Bound Slave is one of those sculptures. Scholars question whether this sculpture and three other slave sculptures should have been part of Julius’s tomb. Many scholars also reject their identification as â€Å"slaves† or â€Å"captives.† What ever their intended purpose they are definitive. The figures do not represent an abstract concept, as in medieval allegory, but embody powerful emotional states associated with oppression. Michelangelo based his whole art on his conviction that whatever can be said greatly through sculpture and painting must be said through the human figure. The Sistine Chapel With the suspension of the tomb project, Julius gave the bitter and reluctant Michelangelo the commission to paint the Sistine Chapel in 1508. Michelangelo gave in hoping that the tomb commission would be revived. He faced enormous difficulties in painting the Sistine ceiling. He was inexperienced in fresco painting. The ceiling was some 5,800 square feet of surface to be covered and it was 70 feet above the ground. The vault’s height and curve created complicated perspective problems. Yet, in less than four years, Michelangelo produced an unprecedented work a monumental fresco incorporating the patron’s agenda, Church doctrine, and the artist’s interests. The theme of the creation, the fall, and the redemption of humanity weave together more than 300 figures. A long sequence of narrative panels describing the Creation as recorded in Genesis, runs along the crown of the vault. The Hebrew prophets and pagan sibyls who foretold the coming of Christ appear seated in large thrones on both sides of the central row of scenes from Genesis where the vault curves down. In the four corner pendentives are placed four Old Testament scenes with David, Judith, Haman, and Moses and the Brazen Serpent. Scores of lesser figures also appear. The ancestors of Christ fill the triangular compartments above the windows, nude youths punctuate the corners of the central panels and small pairs of putti (cherub little boys) support the painted cornice surrounding the entire central corridor. The overall concept a sweeping chronology of Christianity was keeping with Renaissance ideas about Christian history. Such ideas include interest in the conflict between good and evil and between the energy of youth and the wisdom of age. The conception of the entire ceiling was astounding in itself, and the articulation of it in its thousand details was a superhuman achievement. One of the ceilings central panels, the Creation of Adam, is also one of the most famous. Michelangelo created a bold, entirely humanistic interpretation of the momentous event. God and Adam confront each other in a primordial unformed landscape of which Adam is still a material part. The Lord transcends the earth, wrapped in a billowing cloud of drapery and borne up by his powers. Life leaps to Adam like a spark from the extended hand of God. The communication between Gods and man was common in myth and the connection here is clear. It emphasizes how High Renaissance thought joined classical and Christian traditions. Beneath the Lord’s sheltering arm is a female figure comprehensive but uncreated. Scholars traditionally have believed this to be Eve, but recent scholarship suggests that it may be the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child at her knee. If this is true, Michelangelo incorporated into the fresco the basic tenets of the Christian faith. Raphael While Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Ceiling, Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael (1483 1520) to decorate the papal apartments in 1508. Raphael painted the Stanza della Segnatura (Room of the Signature the papal library) and the Stanza d’Eliodoro (Room of Heliodorus). His pupils completed the other rooms, following his sketches. On the Four walls in the Stanza della Segnatura, under the headings of Theology (Disputa), Law (Justice), Poetry (Parnassus), and Philosophy (School of Athens), Raphael presented images that symbolize and sum up Western learning as Renaissance society understood it. The frescos refer to the four branches of human knowledge and wisdom while pointing out the virtues and learning appropriate to a pope. Given Julius II’s desire for recognition as both a spiritual and temporal leader, it is appropriate that the Theology and Philosophy frescos face each other. The two images present a balanced picture of the pope as a cultured, knowledgeable, individual, on the one hand, and as a wise, divinely ordained religious authority on the other. The Philosophy mural (the so called School of Athens) is the setting not of a school but a congregation of the great philosophers and scientists of the ancient world. Raphael depicted these luminaries rediscovered by Renaissance thinkers conversing and explaining their various theories and ideas. In a vast hall covered by massive barrel vaults that recall Roman architecture (and approximate the appearance of the new Saint Peter’s in 1509 when the painting was executed), colossal statues of Apollo and Athena, patron gods of the arts and of wisdom, oversee the interactions. Plato and Aristotle serve as the central figures around whom Raphael carefully arranged others. Plato holds his book Timaeus and points to heaven, the source of his inspiration, while Aristotle carries his book Nichomachean Ethics and gestures toward the earth, from which his observations of reality sprang. On Plato’s side are the ancient philosophers, men concerned with the ultimate mysteries that transcend this world. On Aristotle’s side are the philosophers and scientists concerned with the nature of human affairs. At the lower left, Pythagoras writes as a servant holds up the harmonic scale. In the foreground, Heraclitus (probably a portrait of Michelangelo) broods alone. Diogenes sprawls on the steps. At the right, students are around Euclid, who demonstrates a theorem. This group is especially interesting; Euclid may be the portrait of the aging Bramante. At the extreme right, just to the right of the astronomers Zoroaster and Ptolemy, both holding globes, Raphael included his own portrait. The figures’ self assurance and natural dignity convey the very nature of calm reason that balance and measure the great Renaissance minds so admired as the heart of philosophy. In this work Raphael placed himself among the mathematicians and scientists. His convincing depiction of a vast perspective space on a two dimensional surface was the consequence of the union of mathematics, with pictorial space, here mastered completely. All the characters in the School of Athens, communicate moods that reflect their beliefs, and the artist’s placement of each figure tied these moods together. From the center, Raphael arranged groups of figures in an elliptical movement around Plato and Aristotle. It seems to swing forward, looping around the two foreground groups on both sides and then back again to the center. Moving through the wide opening in the foreground around the floor’s perspective pattern, the viewer’s eye penetrates the assembly of philosophers and continues, by way of the reclining Diogenes, up to the here reconciled leaders of the two great opposing camps of Renaissance philosophy. The perspective’s vanishing point falls on Plato’s left hand, drawing the viewer’s attention to Timaeus. In the works in the Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael reconciled and harmonized not only the Platonists and Aristotelians but also paganism and Christianity, surely a major factor in his appeal to Julius II. Galatea Pope Leo X (Giovanni de Medici, 1513 1521), the son of Lorenzo de Medici, succeeded Julius II as Raphael’s patron. Leo was a worldly, pleasure loving prince who spent huge amounts on the arts. Raphael moved in the highest circles of the papal court, the star of a brilliant society. He was young, handsome, wealthy, and adulated, not only by his followers, but also by Rome and all Italy. Genial, even tempered, generous, and high minded. Raphaels personality contrasted with the mysterious and aloof Leonardo, or the tormented and obstinate Michelangelo. The Pope was not Raphael’s only patron. His friend Agostino Chigi, an immensely wealthy banker who managed the papal state’s financial affairs, commissioned Raphael to decorate his palace, the Villa Farnesina, on the Tiber with scenes from classical mythology. Outstanding among the frescos was Galatea, which Raphael based on Metamorphoses, by the ancient Roman poet Ovid. In Raphael’s fresco, Galatea flees from her uncouth lover, the Cyclops Polyphemus, on a shell drawn by leaping dolphins. Sea creatures and playful cupids surround her. The painting erupts in unrestrained pagan joy and exuberance, an exultant song in praise of human beauty and zestful love. Raphael enhanced the liveliness of the composition by placing the sturdy figures around Galatea in bounding and dashing movements that always return to her energetic center. The cupids, skillfully foreshortened, repeat the circling motion. Raphael conceived his figures sculpturally. Galatea’s body is strong and vigorous in motion suggesting the spiraling motion of Hellenistic statuary, and contrasting with Botticelli’s, almost dematerialized Venus. Pagan myth presented in monumental form, in vivacious movement, and a spirit of passionate delight resurrects the naturalistic art and poetry of the classical world. Pope Paul III Pope Paul III maintained the lavish lifestyle of previous popes and was a great patron of the arts. He commissioned a palace for himself while he was still Cardinal Farnese. The Palazzo Farnese in Rome was designed by Antonio Da Sangallo the Younger (1483 1546) who established himself as the favorite architect of Pope Paul II and received many commissions that might have otherwise gone to Michelangelo. Antonio was from a family of architects and was an assistant and draftsman for Bramante. Antonio built fortifications for almost the entire papal state and received more commissions for military than for civilian architecture. The Palazzo Farnese set the standard for the High Renaissance palazzo and fully expresses the classical order, regularity, simplicity, and dignity of the High Renaissance. It was finished by Michelangelo after Antonio’s death in 1546. The Last Judgment Many of Pope Paul III’s commissions were part of an orchestrated campaign to restore the prominence of the Catholic Church in wake of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation was the result of widespread dissatisfaction with the leadership and practices of the Catholic Church. Led by Clerics such as Martin Luther (1483 1546) and John Calvin (1509 1564) the Reformation directly challenged papal authority. The disgruntled Catholics voiced concerns about the sale of indulgences, nepotism, and high Church officials pursuing personal wealth. This reform movement resulted in the establishment of Protestantism, with sub groups such as Lutheranism and Calvinism. Central to Protestantism is a belief in personal faith rather than adherence to decreed Church practices and doctrines. This personal relationship between an individual and God, in essence eliminated the need for Church intercession central to Catholicism.

Price Determination in Market Forces of Demand and Supply

Price Determination in Market Forces of Demand and Supply Introduction It is inevitable that world prices of commodities are increasing substantially. The increase of commodity prices does not only affect producers and consumers, but also governments. Around the world, governments face renewed pressure to reform their budgeting processes, including Malaysia. Malaysia has a well-established infrastructure and is one of the most economically advanced countries in South Asia. This essay is opted to discuss the rational of price hikes and its impacts to the cost of living particularly in the Malaysian context as well as providing the blueprint for Malaysian government in bracing the price hikes. 2.0 Do Oil Price Increases Cause Higher Other Commodity Prices? Current commodity price hikes are not only affecting the Malaysian economy and society, but also affecting the whole world. According to OECD Economics Department Policy Notes, commodity prices have risen considerably since mid-2010. The rational of price hikes is due to the price hikes of world’s primary sources like crude oil, food, steel, wheat and such. Oil is one of the world’s basic necessities and the backbone of most countries, especially developing countries, as some developed countries do have renewable resources as alternatives in their productions of commodities. OECD Economics Department Policy Notes states that higher energy prices have contributed to rising food prices, because energy accounts for over one-third of the cost of grain production. 2.1 Scarcity of Oil as One of the Important Natural Resources This is further encouraged by the scarcity of natural resources and raw materials. It is expected that world supply and production of oil are falling into depletion. This problem is commonly referred to as â€Å"peak oil†, where the production of oil reaches a maximum and will subsequently begin to decline until full depletion is ultimately reached. According to Hassan (2010), it is expected that the world’s oil supply will be completely diminished by 2025. Prices are Set by Both International and Local Market Factors Commodity prices are largely determined by international market powers within regional basis at most of the time. This shows that commodity prices are in-part out of government’s control in most countries around the world including Malaysia. 3.1 Mixed Economy in Malaysia Malaysia is practicing a mixed economic system and not exempted by international price changes. The economic activities in Malaysia are carried out by entrepreneurs in the production activities of goods and services as well as by the government that provides public goods and services to Malaysian citizens in terms of education, transportation, health and others. Based on Price Control Act 1961, Malaysian government is controlling only seven types of goods—white refined sugar, petrol, diesel, liquid petroleum gas, flour, cooking oil, and facemask (as illustrated in table 1). According to Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, Malaysian government previously controlled other five goods which are steel (price control was repealed on 12 May 2008), chicken (price control was repealed on 12 May 2008), cement (price control was repealed on 5 June 2008), sweetened condensed milk (price control was repealed on 1 April 2009) and white bread (price control was repeale d on 1 Jan 2010). Table 1: List of Controlled Goods Source: Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) Commodity Price Increases in Malaysia According to Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, Ayer Hitam MP and MCA Deputy President, 2014 is seen as a tough year for Malaysians as the prices hikes, including the impending ones that impacting the middle-income earners and below (Foong, 2014). The price hikes are assumed as one of the impacts of the Malaysian government’s rationalisation exercise of fuel subsidies and the electricity tariff in the effort of reducing the nation’s economic burden. 4.1 Reducing Nation’s Economic Burden The Malaysia’s federal government is in a bad state because it is spending more than it earns, causing a persistent budget deficit. Malaysia’s debt-to-GDP ratio is higher than officials would like. With the exception of India, that deficit burden is the highest among the Non-Japan Asian economies (KPMG, 2011). According to Deputy of Ministry of Finance Datuk Ahmad Maslan, at the end of June 2013, the federal government owed tax of RM 284.7 billion, which is 28.8% of Malaysian GDP (Bernama, 2013). Until September 30, 2013, the shortfall is funded by the federal government incurring more debt, which was in total of RM529.2 billion or 53.6% of GDP (Bernama, 2013). 4.2 Subsidy Removal According to Shanmugam, â€Å"In Malaysia, the electricity tariff, food prices and toll rates on urban highways are all going up in 2014 as the government cuts subsidies and reigns in its operating expenditure†. Scrapping energy subsidies has become a target for government austerity measures over the past years. In complying with the latest budget, Malaysia has recently cut its annual subsidy on petrol and electricity (The Economist, 2014). Malaysia slashed its petrol subsidies by 20 cents a litre and by 20 to 80 cents on diesel (BBC News, 2013). This is the first time in more than two years that Malaysia cuts fuel subsidies as it tries to reduce its budget deficit. On the other hand, the electricity tariff in Malaysia is increased by an average of about 14.89% for Peninsular Malaysia, and by about 17% for Sabah and Labuan starting January 1st, 2014 as shown in Table 2 (Shagar, 2013). This is in line with the Government’s effort towards gradually reducing energy subsidi es to industries through the Subsidy Rationalisation Program. Table 2: The table on implications of the revised rate on domestic users Impacts of price hikes to Malaysian cost of living It is pretty clear that the cost of living in Malaysia is going to rise substantially as we stepped into 2014. According to Alliance Financial Group Bhd. and Malaysian Rating Corp., the 14 percent increase in sugar cost starting in October 2013 and 11 percent increase of petrol in September 2014 as well as 15 percent increase of electricity in January 2014 could inhibit private consumption growth by 0.9 percentage point in 2014 (Chong, 2014). Chong (2014) anticipates that Malaysia’s middle class is harshly hit by the price increases with elevated household borrowings as slower pay increase than the lower-income earners. According to Wan Saiful Wan Jan, the chief officer at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, with as little as RM 3,000 salary per month, the middle-income earners or the ‘Sandwich Class’ is not benefitting as much as other higher and lower classes from the government income tax cuts (Chong, 2014). Despite the increase cost of living, the Malaysian Employers Federation estimates that there will be lower salary increases as well as bonuses in the private sector in 2014, where executives will get a 5.63 percent average increase in salaries and non-executives will get a 5.65 percent raise as the results of an MEF survey of 257 companies (Choong, 2014). The producers are the ones that expected to gain much of the price hikes, especially for those who take advantage by their hidden charges through overprice selling of goods on consumers. However, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry is taking serious actions to protect consumers’ rights. Figure 1: Food Prices Comparison between 2013 and 2014 Source: Utusan Online—3 January 2014 How do Malaysian government brace such increases in commodity prices? In many ways, Malaysia has been an early adopter of important financial reform programs. According to Shanmugam, the opposition has claimed that corruption and wastage are the main reasons the government is not able to spend within its means, thus increasing its spending that leads to high debt. Nevertheless, the technocrats in the Cabinet, Dato’ Seri Idris Jala and Dato’ Seri Abdul Wahid Omar say that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s administration has spelt out clear measures to tackle leakages in government spending and end corrupt practices. 6.1 Long-Term Agreement One of the ways that is taken by the Malaysian government in bracing the price increases is by having agreement with the resources supplying countries. For example, the government is able to control sugar price because of its long-term agreement with Brazil in supplying raw sugar to Malaysia. Nevertheless, sugar is pressured by price hikes due to the usage of sugar canes as primary supplier of raw sugar in biofuel (Department of Information, 2008). This causes sugar canes for the use of biofuel having high demand in the world market. Outcome-Based Budgeting The government has also introduced the Outcome-Based Budgeting (OBB) which is also known as Performance-Based Budgeting in Budget 2014 as a way to allocate resources based on achieving agreed upon objectives, program goals and measured results. This will help in improving the implementation of efficiencies, reducing redundancy and systematically evaluate the performance of all ministries. Furthermore, according to Dato’ Seri Abdul Wahid, the government is now more focusing on public-private partnerships, where the private sector implements the projects and end-users pay for it. He said that â€Å"there will be less emphasis on private finance initiatives (FPI) where the government has to pay annual lease payments, which contribute to a growing operating budget† (Shanmugam, 2013). Goods and Services Tax Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a broad based consumption tax which will generally be applicable on all goods and services, where consumers pay only on what they consume. Any registered business that charges GST can offset the GST it pays against the tax it collects before forwarding the balance to the government, so that the tax is ensured to be imposed only once. This is called as an â€Å"input tax credit mechanism†, where businesses are able to operate without tax cost and the final 6% tax is borne by the end consumer (Kumaran and Simpson, 2013). However, basic goods such as unprocessed meat, cooking oil, and sugar as well as public services like education, healthcare, tolls, financial services and life insurance will be exempt from GST (Kumaran and Simpson, 2013). This will help Malaysians in curbing their expenses with the increasing living cost. Furthermore, under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2010, it is illegal for businesses to increase prices by 4% across the board with the introduction of GST (Kumaran and Simpson, 2013). Pricing decisions by businesses are also obliged to be justifiable or else stringent penalties will be taken by domestic trade cooperatives and consumerism ministry. In brief, instead of making everything more expensive in addition to international price hikes, GST is going to help Malaysians by providing a more transparent, streamlined and fairer tax based on our consumption patterns (Kumaran and Simpson, 2013). Conclusion In conclusion, despite the drawbacks of price hike to the cost of living particularly in the Malaysian context, price hikes are seen as a good cause in reducing the government’s burden. The government does need to reduce its fiscal deficit for the long term economic wellbeing. Therefore, cuts in government subsidies executed by the Malaysian government are viewed as a rational approach. Based on the blueprint discussed in this essay, it shows that the government also has proposed some measures to curb the impacts of price hikes to consumers. The government and its people are supposed to be partners in their shared journey of development and progress, thus both parties have to play their parts in fiscal consolidation. References BBC News. (2013, September 3). BBC NEWS BUSINESS. Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23926411 Bernama. (2013, November 25). Hutang negara RM284.7b pada akhir Jun tahun ini, lapor Kementerian Kewangan. Retrieved from The Malaysian Insider: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/hutang-negara-rm284.7b-pada-akhir-jun-tahun-ini-lapor-kementerian-kewangan Chong, P. K. (2014, January 7th). Malaysians Seen Curbing Spending as Living Costs Surge: Economy. Retrieved from Bloomberg News: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-07/malaysians-seen-curbing-spending-as-living-costs-surge-economy.html Choong, P. (2014, January 7). Malaysians Seen Curbing Spending as Living Costs Surge: Economy. Bloomberg News. Malaysia: Bloomberg L.P. Department of Information. (2008). Clarification on Subsidies and Price Increases of Goods and Services. Kuala Lumpur: Perkasa Nilam Sdn. Bhd. Foong, P. (2014, January 6). Malaysian Politics 2014: Tough explaining price hikes to people, says Dr Wee. Retrieved from The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/01/06/Malaysian-politics-2014-Wee-Ka-Siong-MCA-Barisan-Nasional/ Hassan, M. (2010, July 19). Bersediakah kita menuju negara hijau? Retrieved from Utusan Online: http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2010dt=0719pub=Utusan_Malaysiasec=Rencanapg=re_06.htm KPDNKK. (2014, January 10). Price List of Controlled Items. Retrieved from Offical Portal of Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism: http://www.kpdnkk.gov.my/en/pengguna/penguatkuasaan/brg-kawalan/harga-brg-kawalan KPMG. (2011, September). Outcome-based Budgeting: A Six Nation Study. Making the Transition. KPMG International Cooperative. Kumaran, R., Simpson, T. (2013, October 21). Real impact of GST on cost of living. Retrieved from The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2013/10/21/Real-impact-of-GST-on-cost-of-living-It-helps-change-the-way-we-pay-tax-provides-more-transparent-s.aspx/ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). The Effects of Oil Price Hikes on Economic Activity and Inflation. Economics Department Policy Note No. 4. OECD. Shagar, L. K. (2013, December 2). Electricity tariff up by average 15% from Jan 1. The Star. Malaysia: Star Publications (M) Bhd. Shanmugam, M. (2013, December 23). Shake-up in the economy. Malaysia: The Edge Malaysia Weekly. Star Publications (M) Bhd. (2014, January 21). Traders to pay for steep prices. Retrieved from The Star Online: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/01/21/Traders-to-pay-for-steep-prices-Shop-owners-will-be-taken-to-court-if-they-violate-regulation/ Tenaga Nasional Berhad. (2014). Tariff Rates. Retrieved from Tenaga Nasional: http://www.tnb.com.my/residential/pricing-and-tariff/tariff-rates.html The Economist. (2014, Jan 11th). Fuelling controversy. The $9 Trillion Sale (Almost) Everything Must Go! The Economist Newspaper Limited. The copyright of Nur Nisrin Alina Abdul Aziz (MBA Services Management, UniRazak)Page 1

Modernisme in de architectuur

Modernisme in de architectuur Inleiding Het modernisme in de architectuur, dat zijn ontstaan vond rond de jaren 20 van vorige eeuw, maakt vandaag de dag duidelijk deel uit van de architectuurgeschiedenis en is op deze manier deel van de traditie die zich onbewust voortzet in ons denken over architectuur. De kerngedachte van het modernisme is echter samen met zijn grootste pionier, Le Corbusier, gestorven. Het modernisme is een belangrijke inspiratiebron geweest voor verscheidene denkers in architectuur en daarbuiten. Omdat ze voor een radicale breuk zorgde met de bestaande traditie in het denken over architectuur en het realiseren van ideeà «n. Maar na onderzoek te verrichten binnen het modernisme, blijkt er een verschil te zijn tussen het schoolse voorbeeld van modernisme en de toepassing op woningen. Zo vindt men de basis ideologie wel terug, maar hanteert men in woningen zachtere en voorzichtigere toepassingen. pDe kerngedachte van het modernisme stond haaks op wat de overblijfselen van de 19de eeuwse architectuur, die zich vooral richtte op de faà §aden van woningen, ons toont. Er was niet veel sprake van leef- en woonkwaliteit, en de modernisten trachtten hierin een verandering te brengen, het interieur moest als een woonmachine beschouwd worden. Hierbij krijgt het functionele karakter voorrang op de vorm, waarbij licht, lucht en zicht vooropgesteld werd. Ontwerpers verlaten het ornament en zoeken naar eenvoud en eerlijkheid. Sobere en geometrische vormgeving wordt verwezenlijkt door het gebruik van moderne materialen. Op vlak van interieur betekende dit vooral dat er meer open ruimtes gecreà «erd werden, muren worden weggelaten, elektrisch licht die vanuit techniek omgezet wordt naar vormgeving. Inbouwmeubilair werd niet langer beschouwd als een meubel, maar nam plaats in als onderdeel van de ontworpen ruimte. Nog een belangrijke aanpassing was een eigen voordeur als onderdeel van de identiteit van elke woning, wat voorheen niet gebruikelijk was. Het modernisme diende als inspiratiebron op gebied van vormentaal, werkwijze en materialen in de latere stromingen. Vele van deze stromingen zijn echter een zwak afstammeling van wat het modernisme voor de architectuur betekend heeft. Wat de modernisten vaak verweten wordt, is dat de ruimtes die ze verwezenlijkten niet bestemd waren om in te wonen. De oorzaak is volgens ons te vinden bij de oorsprong van hun inspiratie. Modernisten hanteerden principes die afgeleid waren van gebouwen die de tand des tijd doorstaan hebben. Zo vond Le Corbusier zijn typologie uit tempels, die voor hem zuiverheid voorstelden. Ook Mies Van der Rohe tekende ruimtes die een meerwaarde bieden, maar die niet gebouwd zijn met de noden van een samenleving in het achterhoofd. Ze zijn het product van een denken, en zijn dus logischerwijze ook een product van de tijd waarin Mies van de Rohe leefde. Maar anderzijds wilde hij zich bezighouden met de architectuur op zich, en niet met de fenomenen die zich aandienden in de maatschappij. Zijn architectuur is op een bepaalde wijze volmaakt en correct, en net daarom wordt ze onbewoonbaar. Le Corbusier, echter, hield er geschriften op na waaruit zijn diepgaande interesse in de maatschappij bleek en de mate waarin zijn architectuur in die maatschappij voluit kon functioneren. Standaardisatie is, kort omschreven, wat Le Corbusier propageerde een kleine honderd jaar geleden. En dit is juist de paradox van het modernisme. Enerzijds brengt het vernieuwing teweeg, gesteund door idealisme dat onze grenzen verlegt. Maar eenmaal die vernieuwing voor weelde zorgt, verdwijnt het idealisme. De vernieuwing verspreidt zich niet meer, maar evolueert ter plaatse. Een belangrijke zijstroming van het modernisme, is het functionalisme, ook wel het Nieuwe Bouwen genoemd. Deze term wordt in de Nederlandse architectuurgeschiedenis gehanteerd tussen 1925 en 1940 voor modernistische architectuur binnen Nederland. Het gaat niet noodzakelijk om een nieuwe bouwstijl, maar eerder een nieuwe bouworganisatie, die een antwoord moest bieden aan de economische en demografische schaalvergroting, die problematisch bleek in die tijd. De aanhangers van het modernisme waren er van overtuigd dat de stijgende bevolkingsdensiteit niet langer kon gehuisvest worden, indien men bleef vasthouden aan de gebruikelijke manier van bouwen. Standaardisatie en schaalvergroting stonden centraal bij het functionalisme. De voorgestelde oplossingen bleken echter radicaal. Ze richtten zich op collectieve bouw, met praktische indeling, comfort en licht. De publieke ruimte werd voorzien van parken en pleinen. Ontwerpers trachtten de confrontatie met de straat, die in hun ogen te direct was, te veranderen. Zonlicht en natuur dienden de agressiviteit van de straten te verzachten. Naar woningen toe werd dit uitgebreid door ruim verglaasde gevels te plaatsen. Zadeldaken, schoorstenen en donkere gevels werden vervangen door pleisterwerk, glas- en metaalconstructies. In de ogen van modernisten waren dit, stuk voor stuk, nederige materialen die waardevol bleken vanwege de inherente schoonheid van hun lijnvoering en vormgeving die ze teweeg brachten.1 De gebouwen hadden een zwaar uiterlijk, maar stonden dankzij staal- en gewapend betonconstructies verheven boven het straatniveau. Architecten die tot het Nieuwe Bouwen gerekend werden, vonden steun bij het Bauhaus en Le Corbusier. Ze groepeerden zich in de 8 en Opbouw, waaronder Van Eesteren, B. Bijvoet, J. Duikers, W. Van Tijen, J.J. Van Loghem, J.J.P. Oud, J.A. Brinkman en L.C. Van der Vlught. Deze laatste twee hebben de Van Nellefabriek in Rotte rdam verwezenlijkt en zijn zeker noemenswaardige architecten binnen deze stijl. Wat ze voor ons in deze essay belangrijk maakt, zijn hun bewoonbare woontypologie. Een van die huizen is het inmiddels gerestaureerde woonmuseum Huis Sonneveld. Het huis Sonneveld is ondertussen een boegbeeld geworden voor het Nieuwe Bouwen. Huis Sonneveld Om het modernisme in zijn totaal beeld beter te begrijpen, leek het ons het beste een concreet voorbeeld te bespreken en hierin alle aspecten van het tijdsbeeld duidelijk te maken. De verwezenlijking dat ons hiervoor uitermate geschikt leek, is het reeds eerder vermelde huis Sonneveld. Sonneveld is gelegen aan de Jongkindstraat nabij het museumpark in Rotterdam. De woning werd omstreeks 1933 ontworpen door het architectenbureau Brinkman en Van der Vlugt. Zij hadden eveneens de fabriek ontworpen voor Albertus Sonneveld. Deze laatste was zodoende tevreden dat hij een verzoek deed om zijn woning ook te ontwerpen. A. Sonneveld was een vicedirecteur van de Van Nellefabriek in Rotterdam. Door zijn reizen naar Amerika wist hij wat er zich afspeelde op gebied van hygià «ne, luxe en comfort. Van zijn functionalistische architecten verwachte hij ook niet anders dan dat dit ook werd toegepast op zijn woning. De opdrachtgever was gefascineerd door technologie die het dagelijkse leven kon vereenvoudigen. Huis Sonneveld wordt gekenmerkt door gesamtkunstwerk. De betrokken architecten hebben weliswaar niet alles zelf ontworpen, maar waren bij elk aspect van de woning betrokken. Op deze manier hebben ze doorheen het hele gebouw hun stempel opdrukken. De woning wordt gekenmerkt door licht, lucht en ruimte. De vaststelling bleek duidelijk door het kijken naar de architectuur, het kleurgebruik en het interieur met modernistisch meubilair. Als we enkel naar het exterieur van het gebouw kijken, merken we veel gelijkenissen op met de bekendere architect, Le Corbusier. Huis Sonneveld werd opgebouwd uit drie bouwlagen met bovenop een dakterras. De voor- en achtergevel zijn witgepleisterd en bevatten bandramen om een relatie te creà «ren tussen binnen en buiten. Le Corbusier ontwierp woonmodules gelijkaardig aan waaruit deze woning is opgebouwd. De woonmodules worden op elkaar gestapeld en men tracht de buitenwereld binnen te halen. Vandaag is er niet veel meer van te merken, aangezien de natuurlijke omgeving in Rotterdam heeft plaatsgemaakt voor een museumpark. De toegepaste panoramavensters, het dakterras, de witte gevel en een vrij plan, vinden we ook reeds terug in de pijlers van Le Corbusier. Om een vrij plan te verzekeren werd een staalskelet toegepast. Betonvloeren verzekerde grotere overspanningen, waarbij men de aftekening van de bekisting in sommige ruimtes nog zichtbaar liet. Er wordt gespeeld met een verbinding tussen binnen en buiten, deels door een accurate toepassing van glas, anderzijds door open elementen te hanteren. Alle vertrekken staan in directe toegang met de tuin of de verscheidene terrassen. Deze verbinding geeft dat de woning verlengd wordt van het interieur naar buiten toe. De ruime en talrijke buitenruimtes bieden lucht en ruimte aan het geheel. Behalve de woning, werd ook de tuin en het volledige interieur ontworpen door de architecten Brinkman en Van der Vlugt. Beschrijving ontwerp De ideologie van het modernisme, het Nieuwe Bouwen, is duidelijk terug te vinden in het interieur van Huis Sonneveld. Zo werd er gebruik gemaakt van materialen die het tijdperk kenmerken. In de woning treffen we betonnen vloeren, stalen kolommen en stalen kozijnen aan. Die kozijnen zijn inmiddels tijdens de restauratie vervangen door aluminium kozijnen. Door de toepassing van een stalen skeletbouw werd de woning vrijgesteld van dragende wanden. Zoals het werd voorgedaan door Le Corbusier, werd de binnenruimte ingedeeld met een vrij plan en bandramen, die een overvloedige lichtinval verzekeren. Het platte dak biedt een plaats voor het dakterras. Van de drie bouwlagen, is de begane grond van het huis de enige die geen woonfunctie bevatte, vergelijkbaar met Villa Savoie van Le Corbusier dat enkele jaren voordien werd opgeleverd. Op dit niveau bevond zich de inkom, een garage en de dienstenvertrekken. Ook bevond zich hier de studeerruimte van de dochters Sonneveld. Aan de benedenverdieping te zien, is het duidelijk dat het hier om een kapitaalkrachtig gezin ging. De twee bedienden die steeds aanwezig waren in de woning beschikten over een eigen slaapkamer en een bescheiden leefruimte, afgescheiden van de werkgevers. Deze verdieping onderscheidt zich van de bovenliggende verdiepingen die de woning huisvesten van de familie Sonneveld. Men ontving gasten in de hal, waarna deze via de trap naar de woonvertrekken van het gezin kon worden geleid. Deze brede trap is bekleed met zwart marmer, waar rubber op stroken is bevestigd om het geluid te dempen. De trap draait als een schroef door het hele huis. De centrale as is open en de glanzend chromen leuningen werken als feestelijke serpentines, die de vorm begeleiden. Voor het personeel was er een apart trappenhuis voorzien om zich in alle bescheidenheid over de verdiepingen te begeven. Deze stond in directe verbinding met de keuken en een elektrische lift voor de afgeleverde goederen. Men had echt nagedacht over circulatie, privacy en voornamelijk technologie. De indeling van deze verdieping werd open opgevat. De ontwerper concipieerde een leefniveau met vloeiende overgangen. Men kiest voor een enkele leefruimte te ontwerpen, waarbinnen alle handelingen kunnen gebeuren, maar waarbij men steeds opteert de connecties van andere functies te betrekken. Echter blijkt wel dat er hier een beetje voorzichtig werd omgesprongen met die openheid. Er is namelijk een afscheidende schuifwand aanwezig. Hierin onderscheidt het Huis Sonneveld zich wel met het modernisme in vergelijking met Le Corbusier, waarbij meer gedurfd wordt te experimenteren met het vrije plan. Aan de andere kant kan dit ook toespelen op de discussie, i.v.m. de leefbaarheid van het modernisme. De schuifwand scheidt namelijk de woonkamer af van de bibliotheek en de eetkamer, waardoor binnen het gezin een soort van privacy kan gegarandeerd worden. De meubels die in deze ruimte zijn geplaatst, werden door de architecten en de opdrachtgever uitgekozen via een catalogus van Gispen Dat voor A. Sonneveld technische voorzieningen een vereiste was, is eerder al vermeld. Maar wat opmerkelijk blijft, is de doorgedrevenheid van die technische voorzieningen. Zo zou de woning vandaag nog steeds beschouwd kunnen worden als een luxewoning. Een ingebouwde luidspreker verbond tien telefoontoestellen, voor de communicatie binnenshuis. Twee andere telefoontoestellen verzorgde communicatie met de buitenwereld. De goederenlift die zich naast de openhaard bevond, werd gebruikt om hout vanuit de kelder naar boven aan te voeren. De keuken werd op alle manieren als een laboratorium beschouwd. De oorspronkelijke aankleding van de keukenkastjes bestond uit stalen deurtjes, die nadien bij restauratie vervangen werden door houten panelen. Ook de aparte circulatie van het dienstpersoneel doet dit vermoeden. Vanuit de keuken kon eten worden doorgegeven via een luik naar de eetkamer toe. Op de bovenste verdieping, bevonden zich de grote slaapkamer, kleedkamer en badkamer van de ouders evenals de slaapkamers en aparte badkamer van de dochters. In deze badkamer waren een ligbad, een toilet en twee wastafels beschikbaar. Ook was er een logeerkamer en een linnenkamer aanwezig. Op het dak werd er ook een dakterras voorzien. Maar ook op de eerste en tweede verdieping waren buitenruimten gecreà «erd, onder de vorm van balkons. De slaapkamers van de dochters waren beiden ingericht met identieke meubels en hier zijn ingebouwde kasten een deel van het geheel. De dochters bezaten elk over een eigen balkon. Aan de andere kant van de gang van deze verdieping bevond zich de riante slaapkamer van de ouders. Deze bezat aan twee zijden een buitenterras. Vanuit de ruime slaapkamer was ook een eigen badkamer bereikbaar voor de ouders. Deze badkamer symboliseerde in de jaren 30 de apotheose van het modernisme. Ze was ruimer dan de andere badkamer, bezat eveneens een ligbad. Een ultramoderne Amerikaanse douche vervolledigde het tijdsbeeld. De douche bezat 1 grote douchekop en werd aangevuld met 9 massagesproeikoppen. Vernieuwingen in materialen In het huis werd moeite noch geld gespaard om de nieuwste materialen en technieken voor te stellen. In tegenstelling tot donkere parketvloeren met handgemaakte tapijten, vindt men hier vloeren uit linoleum en rubber. De leidingen werden doordacht weggestoken in schachten, die soortgelijk waren aan hedendaagse leidingschachten. Deze detaillering werd nagedaan van fabrieksontwerpen. Behalve de studeerkamer van de dochters, werd er in elke kamer een linoleum of rubberen vloer gelegd. Dit materiaal was in die tijd vrij duur en werd tot dan doe enkel geplaatst in ziekenhuizen, vanwege zijn hygià «nische kenmerken. Linoleum is ook niet vochtdoorlatend en werd naar onderhoud toe geà «xalteerd door gebruikers. De bewoners bevonden dit materiaal eerder kaal en ongezellig. Er werd daarom geopteerd om de ruimte aan te kleden met een warmer materiaal, dat een leefbaarder antwoord bood. Moderne tapijten bleken de geschiktste aankleding. Het meubilair en de verlichting werden door Gispen ontworpen. Meestal ging het over een meubelstuk dat verkrijgbaar was in de bestaande handel van Gispen, maar sommige meubels werden aangepast aan de visie van de architecten. Gispen begon al in een vroeg stadium van het modernisme te experimenteren met moderne verlichting. Hij stelde zijn lampontwerpen samen uit zuivere vormen. Liefst waren zijn creaties zuiver geometrisch opgebouwd, zoals van een modernist werd geacht. De buislampen, die reeds veel weg hebben van TL-lampen, in Huis Sonneveld, zijn van de hand van Gispen. Zijn bewondering voor de buisstoelen van Marcel Breuer, zorgde ervoor dat hij zelf begon te experimenteren met buismeubelen. In 1928 startte de productie van zijn stalen buismeubelen. De stalen buismeubelen paste door vormgeving, functionaliteit en transparantie bij het Nieuwe Bouwen. Door met een minimum aan materiaal een stoel te ontwerpen werd een open structuur verkregen. Verder maakte een minimalisering van stoffering, glanzende chroomafwerking en de toepassing van transparante tafelbladen, het mogelijk om de meubels seriematig te produceren. De serieproductie gaf ook aanleiding om het produceren van een catalogus, waardoor nieuwe meubels toegankelijker werden voor het grote publiek. Het algemene devies ven het Nieuwe bouwen: licht, lucht en ruimte werd hier wel gealterneerd in een luxe uitvoering ervan: sfeer, hygià «ne en comfort.2 Kenmerken die A. Sonneveld eiste. Het totaalconcept moest ook kloppen en men ging zelfs zo ver dat er ook serviesgoed en glazen speciaal werden ontworpen. Kleurgebruik Het kleurgebruik werd voor de restauratie geanalyseerd om de juiste kleuren te kunnen weergeven, aangezien de tijd ervoor had gezorgd dat kleuren vervaagden of overschilderd werden. Het kleurenprogramma van Huis Sonneveld werd ontworpen door kunstenaar Bart van der Leck. Volgens de restauratiearchitect, Joris Molenaar, kan het kleurgebruik opgedeeld worden in drie zones. De eerste zone was de woonkamer, de tweede zone betrof de eetkamer en studio en de laatste zone bestond uit de dienstenvertrekken. De woonkamer met bijhorende bibliotheek werd uitgebeeld in aardtinten. Bruin, brons en beige waren de aangenamere versies van het puristische wit, waar door modernisten zo graag naar werd gegrepen. Elk detail van deze ruimte werd door een kleurenschema bepaalt, zo zijn de gordijnen, de tapijten en zelfs de schuifwand in diezelfde kleuren. De bekleding van de meubels steekt een beetje meer af ten opzichte van de sobere ruimte, maar blijven steeds binnen hetzelfde thema. De volgende kleurgroep spreidt zich over de eetkamer en de studio. In tegenstelling tot het vorige kleurenschema, waar de kleuren aan elkaar aangepast waren, domineren de kleuren de ruimte hier. Primaire kleuren confronteren de pasteltinten die aanwezig zijn. Tenslotte werden de dienstvertrekken uitgevoerd in beige met als accentkleur dieprood. Op de gangen wordt datzelfde beige gecombineerd met gele deurvlakken. In elk aspect van het huis is even modern en conceptueel opgevat, zo werd er opgemerkt dat de kleedkamer van de ouders en de badkamer van de dochters afweek van het kleurenschema. De kleedkamer werd uitgevoerd in appelgroen. De badkamer van de meisjes werd dan weer bekleed met bolle tegeltjes in een pastelgroen. Deze twee vertrekken lijken eerder Art Nouveau dan Modernisme.

The Failure of Software Copyright Law Essay -- Technology Computers Pa

The Failure of Software Copyright Law A Definition With the Copyright Act of 1980, the following was added to the existing copyright laws: A "computer program" is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result.1 A "program" or "software" instructs the "hardware," the computer, in its task of adding, storing, exchanging data, etc.2 At the base level, a program is simply a mathematical algorithm, a stream of on/off states, which the hardware uses. Copyright and patent law has generally excluded mathematical algorithms from legal protection due to the social benefits of their widespread dissemination.3 Software, however, is primarily protected by copyright law under the premise that an author is entitled to the financial incentive. The debate is this: "Is there a way to protect innovators without strangling further innovation?"4 The Harms of Protection Early makers of computers handed out free accompanying software particular to their machines.5 Their thought was that this would encourage the purchase of their hardware. Soon, however, software producers began to copyright their products and the result was that each computer-maker had incompatible software.6 A company with sufficient lead-time ... ... 58 West's 3d, 10.4. 59 West's Feb. '90, 308. 60 ibid., 422. 61 Menell, 1084. 62 Menell, 1088. 63 Menell, 1087. 64 Menell, 1082. 65 Menell, 1088. 66 Weigner, 137. 67 Menell, 1078. 68 Barinaga, Marcia, "Computer microcode instructions judged within copyright," Nature 16 February 1989: 591. 69 Business Week, 122. 70 Menell, 1060. 71 Hammonds, 86.

The War :: essays research papers

The Persian Gulf War all started because of one country’s greed for oil. Iraq accused Kuwait of pumping oil and not sharing the benefits, and Kuwait was pumping more oil than allowed under quotas set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, it decreased the price of oil, Iraq's main export. Iraq's complaints against Kuwait grew more and more harsh, but they were mostly about money. When Iraqi forces began to assemble near the Kuwaiti border in the summer of 1990, several Arab states tried to intervene the dispute. Kuwait did not want to look weak so they did not ask for any help from the United States or other non-Arab powers for support. Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Saudi Arabia, on August 1, 1990, but that meeting resulted only in charges and countercharges. A second meeting was planned to take place in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, but Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day, leading some people to think that Iraqi presiden t Saddam Hussein had planned the invasion all along.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Iraqi attack began shortly after midnight on August 2. About 150,000 Iraqi troops, many of them veterans of the Iran-Iraq War, easily overwhelmed the unprepared and inexperienced Kuwaiti forces, which numbered about 20,000. By dawn, Iraq had assumed control of Kuwait City, the capital, and was soon in complete control of the country. The United Nation Security Council and the Arab League immediately condemned the Iraqi invasion. Four days later, the Security Council forced an economic restriction on Iraq that forbidden nearly all trades with Iraq. Any armed attempt to roll back the Iraqi invasion depended on Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Iraq and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia did not have the power to fight Iraq alone .So Saudi rulers did eventually open the country to foreign forces, in mainly because they were worried by Iraq's aggressive negotiations also U.S. intelligence reports claimed that Iraqi forces were well positioned for a strike against Saudi A rabia. Beginning a week after the Iraqi take over of Kuwait and continuing for several months, a large international force called the â€Å"international coalition† gathered in Saudi Arabia. The United States sent more than 400,000 troops, and more than 200,000 additional troops came from Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, France, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Senegal, Niger, Morocco, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

Factors That Influence Infant Development

From the moment of conception, there are so many factors and hazards expecting parents must consider ensuring a safe pregnancy and healthy baby. All of which are very important to growth and development. In this essay, I will focus in on the key points an expecting mother should pay close attention to during pregnancy, labor, and the birth of her baby. Caring for yourself and the life growing inside of an expecting mother is a wonderful experience and sometimes a challenge. From the moment a couple decides to have a baby is when they should begin thinking about their future offspring. Taking care of yourself first is key to having an optimally healthy body to house a developing baby. Eating healthy, exercising and refraining from drugs, smoking and alcohol is of the utmost importance. Some mothers who are trying to conceive also take the extra measure of taking prenatal vitamins. It is also a good idea for a couple to visit their doctor to make sure they are in good health and given the â€Å"green light† to begin to work toward conceiving. Making sure you are in good physical health prior to conception is important to lessen the chances of complications during pregnancy. Once the joyous day arrives and you learn that you are expecting, it is very important to see your doctor and have him verify the news. Then begins the task of finding an OBGYN to care for you and your baby throughout the pregnancy and deliver the child when the time comes. Regular, consistent prenatal care is by far the most important factor in insuring the healthiest, safest pregnancy and delivery one can have. Your doctor will see you every month in the beginning of the pregnancy and track your baby’s growth as well as your weight and overall health. During these visits it is important to talk openly with your doctor about any questions or concerns you are having. Your doctor will prescribe prenatal vitamins and run regular tests throughout the pregnancy. When the due date gets closer a mother visits her OBGYN more frequently to track her progress and prepare her for the impending birth. Preventative care while pregnant is important to the growing fetus as well as the expecting mother to monitor progress and deal with any complications that may arise, such as gestational diabetes. What I feel is the most obvious hazard and precaution an expecting mother must consider is refraining from unhealthy activities, such as consuming alcohol, smoking or drug use. These toxins often have major and detrimental effects on a developing baby. There are many birth defects and disorders directly connected to expectant mothers unhealthy lifestyles during pregnancy, for example â€Å"fetal alcohol syndrome, which can cause deformities, mental retardation, learning disorders, vision difficulties and behavioral problems and are irreversible. †(www. mayoclinic. com) Drugs, smoking and alcohol all affect a baby that is in a critical time period of development and growth. An expecting mother must put the needs of her unborn child first. In this essay I have covered just a few important factors in the health and safety of a growing baby; but there are many, many more to consider. A couple planning to conceive must be aware of the hazards to their developing child and the precautions that must be heeded. Creating a new life is a wonderful, life changing experience. Every expecting parent should always do what is best for their child, from conception through the crucial first years of development on into adulthood.

Prophet Muhammad as Role Model for Religious Teachers

ENGLISH ESSAY: PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) AS A ROLE MODEL FOR RELIGIOUS TEACHERS Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the example par excellence for his ummah, especially for religious teachers with his good example and noble personality. His behavior in all cases is the behavior that is not contrary with the Qur'an, in fact his behavior reflects the contents of the Qur'an such as his patient, sincere and forgiving character. In education, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has provided many lessons especially for religious teachers which can be applied on students.Firstly, as religious teachers we must always be patient as was done by Prophet Muhammad when he was performing prayers and Uqbah bin Abi Muit threw waste on him where he did not get angry instead He continued His prayer. Therefore, accept the students behaviour in whatever manner they are. Secondly, teaching sincerely is very important for religious teachers in which we should not hope for any rewards, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, â€Å"Verily Allah will not accept charity unless the charity is exercised in good faith and done solely to please Allah. † Even Prophet Muhammad did not hope for any material rewards when delivering knowledge.Lastly, we must emulate the forgiving character of Prophet Muhammad where He was tested by a Jewish woman who tried to poison Him and He forgave her instead of having a grudge against the her. So as religious teachers, we have to forgive our students for whatever mistakes they make to guide them to seek Allah’s pleasure and Grace. In conclusion, religious education would be pointless if the teachers themselves behave badly. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) exemplary conduct is the one and only to emulate to help us perform our duties as religious teachers effectively in order to get Allah’s Blessings. (281 words)