Ethanol As An Alternative To Gasoline Essay Example for Free

Ethanol As An Alternative To Gasoline Essay Ethanol has lately been considered as a promising alternative to gasoline as fuels for automobiles. According to researchers, ethanol may be employed as fuel through the process of reformation, which involves the breakage of a water molecule to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases (Hill et al. , 2006). The hydrogen gas that results from this chemical reaction is employed as source of energy. Carbon dioxide is also generated as a by-product of the chemical reaction. It has been estimated that approximately 1 ounce of carbon dioxide gas is emitted from 4 ounces of hydrogen produced from ethanol. One advantage of using ethanol as fuel for automobiles is that there is ease in the transport of fuel instead of the previous candidate alternative of using solar power to run automobiles. In the case of solar-based automobiles, the accessibility of energy for fuel an automobile will be limited by the presence of sunlight, from which solar power is generated. Another advantage is that the conversion of ethanol to hydrogen is approximately 70 to 80% in energy efficiency, which is the same in terms of the energy efficiency using gasoline. Ethanol is also much cheaper than gasoline hence the switch from using gasoline to ethanol is advantageous. Ethanol also enhances the performance of the engine of an automobile. There is also less smoke emissions when ethanol is employed as fuel to automobiles. One disadvantage in using ethanol as an alternative to gasoline is that only a number of car brands design vehicles that carry engine that can utilize ethanol as fuel. There is still a need in creating more car models that are specialized to consume ethanol as fuel. In addition, the engines of ethanol-using vehicles are smaller in volumes hence there is still a need to produce engines that can take in larger volumes of ethanol.

Alfred Hitchcocks Use Of Sound Film Studies Essay

Alfred Hitchcocks Use Of Sound Film Studies Essay Many film historians and filmmakers believe that visual techniques are superior to audio ones. This belief has it roots in the early years of sound. With few exceptions, silent films were far superior to early talking pictures; the problem being that due to the technical intricacies of recording, the acting suffered, rendering many films painful to observe. Hitchcock constantly defined his style of filmmaking to that of pure film; film that expresses its meaning visually. But examining this term closely, it is apparent that he is objecting to an unnecessary reliance on dialogue as opposed to the use of sound overall. In his famous interview with Francois Truffaut Hitchcock stated: In many of the films now being made, there is very little cinema: they are mostly what I call photographs of people talking. When we tell a story in cinema, we should resort to dialogue only when its impossible to do otherwise. In writing a screenplay, it is essential to separate clearly the dialogue from the visual elements and whenever possible, to rely more on the visual than on the dialogue. Hitchcocks visual and aural goals were becoming clear and many of his production notes, increasingly throughout his directorial career, would feature detailed references to sound effects and music. Aside from the novelty of dialogue, audiences began to experience soun dscapes which, often utilising ambience sounds and effects occurring within a scene, accentuated the drama of Hitchcocks movies. His non reliance on dialogue harks back to the silent era where movie-goers would watch a film often with a live organist alongside performing either a complete musical work or emotion driven passages and stings to set the mood when the scenes required it. Alfred Hitchcocks use of sound in Blackmail (1929) and Murder! (1930) in particular is important in many respects. These films went against the ideas of the day of what was technically possible in filming with immobile cameras and uneditable sound systems. In addition, they represent Hitchcocks first major experiments in combining sound and image in ways that in which the visuals did not come second to the dialogue. Blackmail establishes Hitchcocks preference for integrating music and sound effects, and introduces most of his favourite audio motifs. Both films are interesting historically, but Blackmail is the more successful work of art because its audio techniques and motifs are an integral part of the film stylistically. Blackmails aesthetic integrity is all the more remarkable given the uncertain conditions under which it was produced circumstances that are frequently misreported in film histories. Despite its reputation, Blackmail was not technically the first British sound feature, although it was immediately hailed as such. It is in part the makeshift and transitional circumstances of the filming that allowed Hitchcock to use sound with a flexibility and creativity that distinguished it from other early sound efforts. Blackmails admirers have rarely mentioned any specifics except the expressionistic highlights, such as the knife sequence, the overloud doorbell, or the merging screams. From a historical viewpoint, however, Blackmail is just as unique in its treatment of dialogue. A close look at the dialogue sequences shows that the film contradicts almost every rule written in standard histories about the use of sound in the transitional period from 1928 to 1930. For example, whereas films of the period supposedly always showed the speaker because producers thought that the audience must see the source of sound, Hitchcock very often has the speaker out of shot. Whereas films were supposed to have been photographed in long master shots (because sound could not be cut), Hitchcock only does so three times. Finally, whereas cameras and people were supposed to remain relatively immobile, the director moves not only his characters but also his camera, and therefore the audience viewpoint, during synchro nised sequences, heightening the involvement of movie goers, placing them almost inside the action rather than making them feel like they were merely watching a theatre production. Blackmail has stilted moments, especially in the delivery of speech. Even the better actors at the time were hindered by the need to recite their lines distinctly for the relatively unresponsive microphones. However, Hitchcock also includes several scenes where dialogue is intentionally incomprehensible a daring device at the time. When two policemen come off duty, ten minutes into the film, dialogue is added for the first time, but not synchronised, and we are supposed to merely get the gist of their conversation. An early example of his understanding of sound is clear even from his first use in Blackmail. The opening appears almost comedic; heavy honky tonk pianos and hand cranked visuals seem to be at odds with what is a serious story. Initially it appears the film is to be a silent, there are no sounds or dialogue until ten minutes have passed, and even at that point it is introduced in an ambiguous manner, with sound being used sporadically. In his early movies, Hitchcocks experimentiative nature is as apparent with sound as with the visual development of filmmaking. As the story progresses, the main character Alice (Anny Ondra) stabs and kills her would-be attacker. Hitchcock uses offscreen sound that is relevant to his content. One frequent purpose of offscreen dialogue is to contrast Alices emotions with the lack of awareness of other characters. This contrast occurs in the knife sequence, and later when her boyfriend (Frank) and her harasser (Tracy) blackmail and counter-blackmail each other. Showing the girl while the mens conversation continues offscreen emphasises her emotional exclusion from the other characters. Hitchcock also begins here a use of nonparallel cutting to create tension between characters. Later in 1930, Hitchcock filmed Murder! Although the director was again facing great technical limitations, Murder is clearly a personal work, which in every scene shows Hitchcocks efforts to work creatively with sound despite the abundance of dialogue. The script requires a trial (which Hitchcock condenses through a complicated montage of sound and image) and jury deliberations which entail a thorough analysis of the issues. Because the deliberation scene is the longest and most dialogue heavy scene it was also the most challenging, and Hitchcock strains to enliven it. The scene is a first statement of three major techniques that the director would use to minimise the filming of talking heads during the rest of his career: camera movement, non-parallel editing of dialogue, and deep-focus sound. The scene is set up so that the jurors are seated on the outside arc of a table that forms two thirds of a semicircle, with the foreman in the centre chair and Sir John Menier at one extreme. As the scene opens the camera pans past eleven jurors while the foreman summarises the arguments. Later, the camera pans away from the foreman in one direction and then swings past him, panning the other way. In neither case does the camera movement wor k. The jurors are not defined enough visually for us to learn something new by watching them in turn. Much more successful is Hitchcocks nonparallel cutting of dialogue and image. He rarely ends a shot of a person speaking at the precise moment that the persons dialogue ends; usually cutting to a second speaker before the first has finished. In parallel cutting the simultaneous aural and visual cuts reinforce each other so we notice them; thus shock is generally created through parallel cutting, whereas smoothness and continuity are created by overlapping. Murders deliberation scene ends with a form of deep-focus sound that completely eliminates talking heads. The camera stays in the deliberation chambers after the jurors exit. We hear the verdict, the death sentencing, and the defendants last words as we watch a janitor cleaning up after the jurors. The effect is to lessen our interest in the reaction of the accused girl and to heighten our awareness of the responsibility of the jurors for her fate. The decision to stay outside of the room when a verdict is read emphasizes the impersonality and heartlessness of the trial, and Hitchcock uses the technique for similar effects as late as Frenzy, when another innocent defendant is sentenced to death. The technique for which Murder is most often remembered is the interior monologue of Sir John, which Hitchcock claims is the first in film history. This is a recurring motif used in many of his films, and represents the directors desire to move inside a characters mind and reveal his thoughts and feelings. Hitchcocks expressionistic impulses are somewhat obstructed in his British films by the limitations on technical resources, which forced him to become minimally dependent on mise-en-scà ©ne. In his American period the use of lavish tracking shots furthered his wish to explore physical depths which correspond to their psychological counterparts. Meanwhile, in the thirties he was more dependent on inexpensive means of penetrating surfaces; sound is a chief device of creating subjective experiences-a device that reaches its height of development in Secret Agent. By the time Alfred Hitchcock had made Murder he had already experimented with his two main options for using sound subjectively: the interior monologue, as in Murders shaving sequence, and the distortion of exterior sounds to suggest how they impinge on a characters consciousness, as in Blackmails, knife sequence. He would eventually settle on the impingement of the exterior world as the preferred choice, and even that technique would soon become subtler, less of a stylistic nourish, less expressionistic. Ultimately, by switching from the distortion to the intrusion of exterior sounds, he would find ways of creating the same effect in the more realistic style of his American films. By contrast, the interior monologue in the shaving sequence furthers Hitchcocks central point in Murder that Sir John is acting more out of amorous than moral motives when he becomes newly convinced about Dianas innocence and decides to find the real murderer. The radio is used as a form of scoring (in a film that is ostensibly limited to source music). An orchestra performs the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and Sir Johns thoughts have been carefully timed so that Wagners high points emphasize the emotional highs of the interior monologue, the love motif suggesting that Sir Johns motives involve feelings for the girl that he does not yet admit to himself. Sir John delivers the monologue in his distinctive, characteristically passionate, rhythmic phrases. We hear Sir Johns thoughts about saving Diana, but it is the performance of Tristan und Isolde on the radio which conveys the emotions. Sir John leaves the music playing after shaving and moves into an adjacent room for the next scene, in which he speaks to an assistant. Because the love theme is still playing, we realise that during these transactions he is thinking more about Diana than about the business at hand. The interior monologue as a means of getting inside a characters mind in Murder, then, is not altogether satisfactory on three counts: it does not really convey underlying emotion, it does not involve the audience, and it is grafted onto a film that is otherwise quite different in style. By contrast, the solution of showing how exterior sounds impinge on a character in Blackmail has become a much more integral part of Hitchcocks style. Specifically, his challenge in Blackmail was to find techniques for externalising the heroines guilt. The solution, which entails stylisation and distortion, is the aural equivalent of visual expressionism. To show that the expressionistic uses of sound in Blackmail are indeed stylistically integral to the film it is necessary to examine the film in detail. Hitchcock first makes us aware that he is distorting the sound subjectively when he exaggerates the loudness of bird chirpings to stress Alices agitation on the morning after the murder. When the mother enters Alices bedroom to wake her, she uncovers the cage of Alices canary. Once the mother leaves the room, the chirping is loudly insistent while the girl takes off the clothes she wore the night before and puts on fresh ones. The chirps are loudest, unnaturally so, when she is looking at herself in the mirror. The sound reminds us of the tiny, birdlike jerkings that the girl made immediately after stabbing the artist. After the knife sequence there is another subjective distortion of sound, when a customer rings a bell as he enters the store. We are in the breakfast parlour, and yet the bell resonates louder than it does elsewhere in the film. The camera is on a close-up of Alices face to indicate that it is her point of view, once again, from which we hear. In a sense the use of bird noises in the bedroom scene should be distinguished from the other techniques mentioned here. Whereas aural restriction and distortion of loudness are related to character point of view, the choice specifically of bird sounds has a particular meaning for Hitchcock independent of the film. This sequence marks the beginning of an ongoing association of murder and bird noises in the directors mind which accrues meaning from film to film, from Blackmail and Murder through to Sabotage (1936), Young and Innocent (1937), and Psycho, and culminates in The Birds. Commentators have regarded the knife sequence as an isolated gimmick, but the scene as a whole should be seen as the culmination of a larger movement to which Hitchcock has been building since the murder. The scenes showing Alices retreat from the artists rooms and her subsequent wanderings through the streets have each used elements that unite in the knife sequence. The sequence occurs while Alice breakfasts with her parents. In the doorway leading from the parlour to the fathers shop stands a gossip, talking about the previous nights murder. Alices parents go about their business, not giving much attention to the gossipy neighbour but Hitchcocks cutting shows that the guilt ridden Alice is already more sensitive to the womans speculations about the crime. As the gossips speech becomes more graphic, the director suggests Alices increasing sensitivity by panning from the girl to the chattering neighbour. From here on in her dialogue becomes almost abstract: it alternates between muff led speech and the word knife five times. Offscreen the father says, Alice, cut us a bit of bread, as the camera tilts down to Alices hand approaching the knife (which resembles the murder weapon). We hear knife five more times: in the gossips voice, at a fast pace, with the intermediate words eliminated. Hitchcock, a possessor of a great aural imagination, increases the volume of the word to emphasise the subjectivity of the moment, still further matching the visual intensity of the close-up with the intensity of the loudness. On the sixth repetition the word knife is screamed, and the actual knife seems to leap out of Alices hand and falls onto a plate. Hitchcock related later in his career that, despite any relevant education in the required fields, he saw himself as a composer or a conductor but typically he had less control over the music than over the other aspects of production. His use of music in Blackmail reflects his need to observe various conventions and his desire to be personally creative with the music using pure instinct. It is complicated by the films midstream switch to synchronized sound: the director therefore has to deal with both the silent-film conventions of scoring for live orchestra and with the early talkie expectations that a character would perform a song in synchronism. Musical themes introduced in the first reel recur later in the film, associated with similar images. For example, a string agitato theme identified with the image of the spinning wheel comes back both when we see the wheel again and during the museum chase. There is a central theme arranged for full orchestra associated with Scotland Yard , and also a pizzicato phrase which ascends the scale almost every time a character climbs a flight of steps. Nevertheless, Hitchcock managed to assert his personality over the scoring by controlling not the content so much as the placement of it. Whereas it was typical of the period to use either continuous music or none, the director had already hinted at his future style by eliminating scoring under most dialogue sequences and by insisting on silence during most moments of tension. Not until Secret Agent would Alfred Hitchcock once again find a vehicle appropriate for extensive experimentation with the use of expressionistic sound. By 1936 re-recording practices were more sophisticated. Therefore, much of the impetus to use sound creatively in Secret Agent must have come not (as in Blackmail) from the challenge of overcoming stringent technical limitations but from a wish to explore the new range of expressive possibilities available with technically sophisticated equipment, and further involving his audience emotionally in his movies.

The International Style in Architecture

The International Style in Architecture From the 1920s until 1930s, the international style has gained its popularity globally, and it is expressed in all kinds of expressions, including the expression of volume rather than mass, where the spaces have more priority than the solidity of the building. There is also a stress on balance rather than symmetry, where the function of different parts of the building is arranged in balance, and the shape and form of the building is unlikely to be in symmetry. The international style also presents itself by regular and basic geometric forms, open interiors and the choice of materials such as glass, steel, and reinforced concretes. It is read as the style that broke free from the conventional style of architecture, where the buildings are of simplicity and without decorations and ornaments without specific function. The style is most adopted in the design of skyscrapers, where the faà §ade is made up of structural steel and glass as the envelope. The floor plans are always logical, functional and balanced in the sense that the whole building has the same usage rate all over. Few of the most pioneering architects in international style are Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe himself. One thing that relates closely to the international style is the modern architecture, or known as the modern movement. Modern architecture uses materials similar to the international style, which is mostly of steel, glass and concrete. It is also a style that explores more abstract forms of a building, and always played with space and light to enhance the quality of space. Buildings of this kind of architecture also favor the use of only grey, black, white and off-white in their facades. Form follows function is one of the famous maxims that follow the modern movement, which stressed the utility of the building rather than just on the exterior aesthetic. It was said that, the aesthetic from the simplicity in design is more significant than those with unnecessary ornamentations. Ludwig Mies van der Rohes biography Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born the youngest of five children in Aachen, Germany on March 27, 1886. He did an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and worked in his fathers stone-cutting shop, gaining valuable experience that later on helped him much in doing architecture. Before leaving his family and hometown, Mies worked for several local design firms and gained some experience. At the age of nineteen (1905), he moved to Berlin and worked under Bruno Pauls interior design office. It was then he was exposed to and worked on furniture designs. Miess architectural career started at the age of 22 when he enroll himself as Peter Behrens apprentice (1908-1912), learning together with Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. An architect specialized in designing factories and houses, Peter Behrens taught Mies through exploring modern design theories and exploiting his own talent in doing architecture. It was during this time Mies received his first commission, a private residence for a professor at the university in Berlin. After his apprenticeship was finished, Mies worked for the German Embassy in Saint Petersburg, Russia as one of the construction manager. Soon, his talent was recognized and steadily embarked on his own professional career in architecture. To celebrate his rapid transformation from a craftsman to an established architect, he adopted his mothers surname van der Rohe which is what people known of him now. 1912-1914, Mies worked as an independent architect until he was called to serve the army. Mies was enrolled into the military service during the World War One (1915), only to participate in construction companies and exempted from all the battles. The war changed how Mies perceive architecture, and how he conveys it in his designs. Previously designing more towards neoclassical approach, Mies then has the intention to express his ideas of the modern era and revolution through architecture. Still designing conventional residential units in Germany, Mies started to explore futuristic and modern design approach, producing several proposals that made him recognized as one of the most potential progressive architect, although the proposals were not built at all. Examples of the proposal are the competition proposal for the FriedrichstraÃŽÂ ²e skyscraper in 1921 and the Glass Skyscraper in 1922, both with ornaments totally ripped off from the faà §ade. Soon, he also adds in futuristic furniture into his designed spaces to create a modern environment as a whole. In August 1930 Mies became the director of Bauhaus in Dessau upon the request from Walter Gropius. The Nazis then forced him to end the government-financed institute. Felt restricted from furthering his intention in architecture, Mies moved to United States in 1937. Living in Chicago, Mies was offered and served as the head of department for the Illinois Institute of Technology. There, he had the chance to further develop his own steel and glass structure style by designing the new buildings and master plan for the department building. Mies became an official American citizen at 1944. His architectural ideas and projects soon gave impact to the locals and with the20th century new style of expressing architecture, Miess idea eventually merged into the local Americans culture, and soon the global culture. His style was imitated extravagantly but none of it is compatible with his original creation. Some of Miess crowing works during his lifetime are the Barcelona Pavilion the Tugendhat House, the Crown Hall (home of the architecture department, IIT), the Farnsworth House, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, the Seagram Building, the New National Gallery, the Toronto-Dominion Centre and etc. Miess pioneering intention and project works were also been recognized officially by several awards, namely the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1959, the AIA Gold Medal in 1960, and the J. Lloyd Kimbrough Medal in 196. The American Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 was awarded to Mies, and he was the first architect to receive that award in history. Mies lead some other awards too, they are the prizes from the city of Munich and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and from the Bund Deutscher Architekten in 1966. Mies was the first recipient of the prizes. Mies passed away at the age of 83 in Chicago, on August 17, 1969. After cremation, his ashes were buried in the Chicagos Graceland Cemetery. Ludwig Mies van der Rohes philosophy I felt that it must be possible to harmonize the old and the new in our civilization. Each of my buildings was a statement of this idea and a further step in my search for clarity. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe For over the first half of the 20th century, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was famous for his philosophy less is more, and his skin and bone style of building design. Mies favors the use of simple rectilinear and planar form in his building designs. He is not interested in inventing new forms, rather, preferred to present buildings as clear and simple structures in terms of construction and the current technology. He expressed these ideas in these words: It is absurd to invent arbitrary forms, historical and modernistic forms, which are not determined by construction, the true guardian of the spirit of the times. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe To him, attention should be put on the construction of structure itself, and that structure is composed of elements that relates to each other, or a form constructed with all details perfectly planned. Mies is very concern about the properties of building materials, and favors the use of luxurious and expensive materials in expressing his simplicity and elegancy in building design and despised ornamentation that are functionless and deceiving. These intentions can be further traced from his words: The unswerving determination to dispense with all accessories and to make only what is essential the object of the creative work, the determination to confine oneself to clear structure alone is not a limitation but a great help. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwid Mies van der Rohes lifelong effort had developed a new era in architecture world. Along with le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, the international style became an identity of the times. Besides that, Mies also experiments with new materials and their potentials. He favors the use of materials which can be industrially manufactured, light weight, weatherproof, soundproof and insulating. Mies also opt to produce all parts of building material in factory so that he can save construction cost. Less manpower is needed on site as compared to the traditional construction method because only the assembly of precast parts takes place on site. As one of the pioneer in developing and introducing the Modern Movement, or so called the International Style, Mies did not discover this piece of theory or principle over night. Through experience and his own perception or point of view towards the conventional design styles, along with some inspiration from other architects ideas and opinions about the traditional architecture, Mies soon developed his own style in expressing his favorite quote, less is more. Several expressive art and design thinking that broke out at the time also influenced how Mies sees and conveys his own style in architecture. One of the most prominent is Adolf Loos, who declared that ornament is a crime, similar to what Mies had in mind. Adolf Loos too, despised the unnecessary and meaningless ornaments that hide the true beauty of a building. Adolf Loos also has the idea that, out of the most simple and humble forms of modern building, we can find the elegancy and nobility that are most outstanding of all. This particular piece of idea was what Mies admired and impressed of. Some other conceptual influence such as the Russian Constructivism and the Dutch De Stijl group with their principle in using industrialized modern materials in constructing a structure and using simple rectilinear, straight forward combination of planes and openings, and simple use of pure colour in design too, impressed and affected how Mies do in architecture. The Seagram Building The Seagram Building Less is more. It is Mies van der Rohes functional architecture philosophy, potrayed in the Seagram Building. Many people, including Mies himself, assume the Seagram Building as one of his crowning masterpiece. The Seagram Building is a more complete and refined piece of work as compare to the in Chicago finished in 1951. Mies van der Rohe adopted most of the latters design element and reassemble them, creating a better planned and more detailed building out of the Seagram Building. Both buildings have glass enclosed lobby, raised tower, slab marquee, and continuous pavement, only that they are more refined in the Seagram Building. The Seagram Building was designed in collaboration with Phillip Johnson, a well known American architect. Phillip took care of most of the interior designs in the building and even their material choice. The Severud Associated was the structural engineering consultants while Kahn Jacobs were the associate architects, in charged of the technical drawings. The building is designed for office use, with the design concept of minimalism, simplicity and honesty based on the technology of the time. Being the most expensive building at the time, the Seagram Building cost a total of 4.1 million pound plus a 5 million for the building parcel. The fact that Mies dislikes unnecessary ornaments to the building, he put a lot of attention material wise, which cost a 3.2 million pound. Upon completion, the building used up some 1500 tons of bronze and other expensive materials of high quality such as marble and travertine. The interior was extravagantly decorated too, designed to have glass and bronze finishing and decoration scheme to express the building as a unified whole. Located at 375 Park Avenue, New York City, the 516-foot (517m) tall, 38-storey Seagram Building was design as the new headquarter for the Seagrams Company Ltd, replacing the old one at Montreal, Canada. Samuel Bronfman, the owner of the building, was persuaded by his daughter, the architect Phyllis Lambert to commission Mies for the project. Phyllis said, Mies draws you in. You have to go deeper. You might think this is austere strength, this ugly beauty, is terribly severe. It is, and yet all the more beauty in it. Architecture And true enough, the Seagram Building, upon its completion of construction in 1958, immediately gained its fame globally, for the outstanding international style, and how Mies express his idea of modern architecture so detailed and sophisticatedly. Built out of the International Style, the characteristic of the building is to express the structure of the building externally. This style then influenced the American architecture style greatly, leading to mass production of similar skyscrapers in the area. The strength of the style is that the functional utility of the buildings structure elements, when made visible as the facade, are able to express greater aesthetic value than any additional building embellishments. A buildings structural elements should be visible, Mies thought. The Seagram Building was built put of steel frame structure and non-structural glass walls hung in between. Mies preferred the stee l frame to be visible, but the American building codes required all structural steel to be covered in fireproof materials, usually concrete, because improperly protected steel columns or beams may soften and fail in confined fires. To add in the concrete part totally opposes Miess design intention, thus he came out with the idea of using non-structural bronze-toned I-beams to create a sense of structure from the facade. Thus, the facade shows the mullion-like beams running vertically surrounding the large glass windows. People from the street will see the unreal tinted-bronze structure, which covers the real one. Since then, the method of construction using an interior reinforced concrete shell to support a larger non-structural covering has been widely used in other buildings. Corner detail of the Seagram building Mies wanted the facade to look organized and to have a uniform appearance, thus the interesting window blinds he installed. He designed the window blinds in a way that they can only be adjusted into three positions, that are either fully closed or opened, and half way opened. This design overcame the problem of the irregularity seen from outside the building, which Mies dislikes. The Seagram Building combines a steel moment frame and a steel and reinforced concrete core for lateral stiffness. The concrete core shear walls extended up to the 17th floor, and diagonal core bracing extending up to the 29th floor. According to Severud Associates, the structural engineering consultants, the Seagram Building is the first tall building using high strength bolted connections, the first to combine a braced frame with a moment frame, one of the pioneers to use a vertical truss bracing system and the first skyscraper adopting a composite steel and concrete lateral frame. The Seagram Building is set back from the street by ninety feet and thirty on the side, the setting back of the building from the street creates a granite forecourt which eventually became an urban open space in town, achieving Miess initial intention of doing so. The forecourt is decorated by reflecting pools and low boundary in green marbles, which are designs taken from Miess previous Pavilion of Barcelona (1929). The low polished granite north and south walls made of dark green marbles that slopes gently towards Lexington Avenue are one of the favorite seating place in that area. The two rectangular reflecting pools are located at the north and south ends of the plaza. Previously, a huge Henry Moore sculpture was placed off-center, and then replaced by several sculptures one after another. View to the west from the lobby of the seagram building, showing the Racquet and Tennis Club across Park Avenue The Seagram Buildings plaza is believed to prompt the enacting of the 1916 Zoning Resolution of New York City. Seeing the success of the plaza as a popular gathering place for the public, the government encourages the installation of privately owned public spaces by offering incentives to the developers involved. However, the resolution did not show much success. William H. Whyte, an American sociologist, took the Seagram Buildings plaza as his site for a landmark planning study. Produced in conjunction with the Municipal Art Society of New York, the film Social Life of Small New York plots the daily routine of the public socializing and using the plaza area. The objective is to compare how the public use the space and the intention of the architect that designs the space. Designed by Philip Johnson, the Four Seasons Restaurant was one of the most elegant design and one of the citys most expensive restaurants, competent enough to locate itself in the Seagram Building. All of its retail frontage was designed to face the avenue and suggests discretion. Thus, the building appears more personalized yet institutional, disagreeing speculations and commercialism. The restaurant has a large entrance. Upon entering, a staircase then leads to a dining room at the south, and a bar in the south base wing of the building. A corridor stretches the restaurant to the north base wing. There, a huge work of Pablo Picasso is hung, namely The Three-Cornered Hat. The walls and floor are made up of travertine. The upper part of the wall of the dining room is decorated with expensive French walnut panels with high quality. A Richard Lippold brass sculpture found in the room appears floating in the space. A dining balcony and a private dining room can be found in the east end of the restaurant. The north dining room has a different approach as compared to the south dining room. It has more landscaping elements and a large square pool at the centre. Similarity is that both rooms have large windows, along with long chain curtains that highlights the glistening of the water pool and the Lippold sculpture. However, the south dining room is comparatively more popular among visitors than the north dining room, which is relatively more nicely decorated. Some said that it is simply because; visitors have to pass through the south wing to reach the north dining room. Thus most people prefer the south dining room so that they can see everyone entering the restaurant, provided they stayed long enough. The restaurant has gained its fame as the citys most expensive and high class dining place. It is also its highlight that the restaurant changes its menu seasonally. An Abstract Expressionist painter, Mark Rothko was initially commissioned to draw murals for the restaurant, but he decided to give up on the project because he felt that his art is not suitable for the space. Another restaurant is found in the basement, namely the Brasserie Restaurant. The entrance is on the 53rd street. This restaurant claimed its name that it is opened for 24 hours a day. This restaurant is relatively more affordable than the Four Seasons Restaurant, and it offers a nice experience at its entrance. Going down a flight of stairs, the visitors can enjoy the whole brightly lit space with many Picasso art pieces. Seagram Building Commentary The inescapable drama of the Seagram Building in a city already dramatic with crowded skyscrapers lies in its unbroken height of bronze and dark glass juxtaposed to a granite-paved plaza below. The siting of the building on Park Avenue, an indulgence in open space unprecedented in midtown Manhattan real estate, has given that building an aura of special domain. The commercial office building in this instance has been endowed with a monumentality without equal in the civic and religious architecture of our time.The use of extruded bronze mullions and bronze spandrels together with a dark amber-tinted glass has unified the surface with color.The positioning of the Seagram Building on the site and its additive forms at the rear, which visually tie the building to adjacent structures, make for a frontal-oriented composition. The tower is no longer an isolated form. It addresses itself to the context of the city. -A. James Speyer. Mies van der Rohe. p30. The Creators Words Skyscrapers reveal their bold structural pattern during construction. Only then does the gigantic steel web seem impressive. When the outer walls are put in place, the structural system, which is the basis of all artistic design, is hidden by a chaos of meaningless and trivial formsInstead of trying to solve old problems with these old forms we should develop new forms from the very nature of the new problems. We can see the new structural principles most clearly when we use glass in place of the outer walls, which is feasible today since in a skeleton building these outer walls do not carry weight. The use of glass imposes new solutions. -Mies van der Rohe. from Martin Pawley, introduction and notes. Library of Contemporary Architects: Mies van der Rohe. p12. Conclusion It is no doubt that the Seagram Building is one of the most iconic indications of the success of the international style and its architect, Mies van der Rohe. Thoughtout his life, Mies explored and introduced his construction method in skyscrapers and successfully gained the fame for his courage and innovation. Following this is the imitation of his skin and bone construction all over America, and then globally and the construction of glass and steel structures. Yet, none of the latter creations are compatible with his work in terms of detailing and functional planning of the space. This can be traced form one of his famous quotes, God is in the details. To him, design simplicity and structural detail is the perfect combination to convey his style in architecture. Mies also favor the use of expensive and top grade materials such as bronze, travertine, marble, plate glass, steel and etc. Thus his buildings are all elegant and classy although the design might be as simple.

Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich. :: Essays Papers

Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich. The name Adolph Hitler often brings to mind images of either a madman or an evil military genius. While Hitler was arguably an evil madman, he was no military genius. Hitler attempted to use Germany’s military muscle to overpower the world and make room for the Nazi party to survive and create what he called a thousand-year Reich. Hitler’s political activity was part luck and part skill; he found a way to turn the sentence of treason that was against him and turn it into a political stepping-stone to power. While Hitler and his generals successfully changed the world, they made too many mistakes, both military and otherwise, for the Nazi party ever to lead the world into Hitler’s dream of the thousand-year Reich. After the Beer Hall Putsch and Hitler’s subsequent imprisonment at Landsberg, he was told that he would receive a public trial. This public trial brought Hitler’s spirits up as he felt that this would give him the mass media coverage he needed and the chance to show how evil, stupid and cowardly his Government truly was. He was right, a Nazi sympathizer in the Bavarian Government chose all of the judges. These judges allowed Hitler to speak as long as he wished in his own defense, interrupt his opposition, cross-examine witnesses, and use the courtroom as a tool to spread pro-Nazi propaganda throughout the press. Hitler’s political luck had allowed him to use his daring to spread thoughts throughout the people of Germany with comments such as, "I alone bear the responsibility. But I am not a criminal because of that. If today I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a revolutionary against the revolution. There is no such thing as high treason against the traito rs of 1918." While Hitler’s luck had allowed him the chance to promote his beliefs, his ability to manipulate people allowed him to receive the outcome that he had desired. While Hitler was still convicted, it was only at the command of the presiding judge, and even then the sentence was weak and allowed him many extravagances that allowed him to further his power. However, Hitler made many more mistakes than he made intelligent maneuvers. Perhaps one of Hitler’s largest mistakes was to start the war as early as he did. The German Luftwaffe had only enough fuel to last around six months of heavy combat, it lacked well-trained commanders, and Germany only held enough bombs to last around 3 weeks.

Shakespeare - Artisan of the Atmosphere in Macbeth :: Free Essay Writer

Shakespeare - Artisan of the Atmosphere in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeare in his tragedy Macbeth removes any doubt that he is a true artist at developing atmosphere. Let us examine his construction of the atmosphere in this tragedy.    Lily B. Campbell in her volume of criticism, Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes: Slaves of Passion, explains how the atmosphere of terror and fear is built up:    Macbeth is, however, not only a study of fear; it is a study in fear. The sounds and images in the play combine to give the atmosphere of terror and fear. The incantation of the witches, the bell that tolls while Duncan dies, the cries of Duncan, the cries of the women as Lady Macbeth dies, the owl, the knocking at the gate, the wild horses that ate each other, the story, the quaking of the earth - all of these are the habitual accompaniments of the willfully fearful in literature. (238-39)    Charles Lamb in On the Tragedies of Shakespeare comments on the atmosphere surrounding the play:    The state of sublime emotion into which we are elevated by those images of night and horror which Macbeth is made to utter, that solemn prelude with which he entertains the time till the bell shall strike which is to call him to murder Duncan, - when we no longer read it in a book, when we have given up that vantage-ground of abstraction which reading possesses over seing, and come to see a man in his bodily shape before our eyes actually preparing to commit a muder, if the acting be true and impressive as I have witnessed it in Mr. K's performance of that part, the painful anxiety about the act, the natural longing to prevent it while it yet seems unperpetrated, the too close pressing semblance of reality, give a pain and an uneasiness [. . .]. (134)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows how the atmosphere is altered for the better at the end of the play:    This theme is at its clearest where we are most in sympathy with the nemesis. Thus at the end of Macbeth, after the proclamation "the time is free," and of promises to make reparations of Macbeth's tyranny "Which would be planted newly with the time," there will be a renewal not only of time but of the whole rhythm of nature symbolized by the word "measure," which includes both the music of the spheres and the dispensing of human justice [.

Isolation of Bacteria

Different types of bacteria in various forms are found all around us, and it is a microbiologist’s job to be able to identify these bacteria. Using various staining techniques and physiological tests, an isolated bacterium can be identified. In this experiment, a single bacterial colony was isolated form Mycorrhizal spores, and further tests done on that colony. Sub culturing was done after each week to ensure that the bacterium has sufficient nutrients required for optimum growth that will last the duration of the entire experiment. A flow chart was created based on the results of the physiological tests in order to identify the isolated bacterium. After 4 weeks, the isolated bacterium was identified as XXXXX for reasons stated in the results and discussion. The main goal of this experiment was to identify the isolated bacterium that was obtained from Mycorrhizal spores. In order to identify the bacterium, the experiment was conducted in 4 parts: (a) isolation of an unknown bacterium from soil; (b) identification of the bacterium using various staining techniques; (c) determining the motility of the bacterium; and (d) determining the physiological characteristics of the bacterium. Part (a) of the experiment involves isolating a single bacterial colony from the culture. The remaining 3 parts will be conducted on that colony. In part (b), it is shown that various staining techniques test for different characteristics. As the name suggests, a gram stain is conducted to identify the bacteria as gram negative or gram positive. Two other stains were carried out. To determine the motility of the bacterium, wet mounts of the bacterium were observed and the motility was confirmed by using soft agar plates and soft agar deeps for part (c). The physiological characteristics were identified in part (d). Some of these tests include growth temperatures and salt tolerance, degradation of polysaccharides, proteins and lipids, oxygen requirements etc. Based on the results for the above, the unknown bacterium can be identified by comparing it to cultures in the Bergey’s manual. A flow chart can be drawn up to correctly identify the bacterium by using the physiological test results.

Learning Disabilities Contributor Essay

This paper will discuss students with nonverbal learning disabilities syndrome. Nonverbal learning disabilities NLD will be addressed as to what is NLD and what students are usually have. This will be an overview of how to not only identify students with NLD but how to assists students with NLB. This paper will go over important strategies and inventions that will help students with NLD. NLD has been around for fifteen years. NLD is a disorder that is not mentioned or heard a lot in education. This disorder is mentioned in medical and psychological literature. In this paper the author will discuss the issues of NLD and why educators should ignore the characterizes and signs of this disorder. Research will show that this disorder could have come from variety of neurological and development conditions. This could have happened either from a brain injury, untreated disease, or Asperger syndrome. There are strategies to help students that suffer from NLD. NLD is a poorly understood disorder it is a disorder that can be not only be understood but can be helped. With the strategies and inventions that we will be going over in this paper will help students with NLD have a fighting chance. What is nonverbal learning disabilities? Students who have NLD usually show signs in strong verbal than perceptual cognitive skills, weak pyschomotor, deficiency in math, difficulty in complex tasks and social deficits. Students with NLD do better when information is given to them verbally than shown to them visually. This student can process the information better when the information is being given to them orally. When this type of student is receiving the information visually the student is unable to receive it cognitively. Where as the information is being given to them verbally then the information will process properly because this student has a strong verbal process. Weak pyschomotor is another trait that students with NLD have(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002). These students usually show signs in having a hard time with playing certain games such as skipping rope or riding a bike. NLD students have a hard time with life skill tasks such as dressing themselves and other self care skills. Deficiency in math is another area that students with NLD have a problem with. Students with NLD usually do well in reading and spelling but math is a huge hurdle they have to accomplish. The symbols and procedures in math are a hard concept for students who have NLD to understand. Difficulty in complex tasks are another problem for students with NLD. These students have a hard time in social setting because of this problem. They usually demonstrate that they have a hard time with problem solving. The problem solving skills also effects poor judgment skills. These students are very impulsive with their behavior and do not have a sense of personal space. A student with NLD has a hard time verbally communicating what the problem is and how to explain what they really meant or need(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002).. Students with NLD can get the help they need. If a student with NLD has problems with psychomotor there are things in the classroom to help students with this problem. If the student has an issue finishing a writing task then you can give the student extra time to finish the writing task. If the student has a real issue with writing and the student is good a typing then you can let the student type instead of writing. Another way to help students with psychomotor is to give a them a multiple test instead then an essay test. Teachers need to make sure that lectures don’t have that many note taking tasks. These are a few strategies to help and relieve stress for students with psychomotor problems(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002).. It is important for these students to focus on learning and not be stressed out about tasks that they can not complete. Teachers can use these strategies for students that have deficiency in math. Students that have a deficiency in math can use manipulatives to help these students. One way example of a manipulative that a student can use is a calculator. Using a calculator can help students do math problems and learn how to to add, subtract or multiply. Having students memorizing additions problems, subtracting problems and multiplication problems. Direct instruction on math on step by step with verbal instruction. Showing students one on one instruction on math concepts and checking strategies to help students get better and confidence in math(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002). Students with NLD have issues with problem solving skills. These students need to focus on various social situations. One good way for these students to learn problem solving skills is to role play. Role play is a good way to show students examples of problems that arise in certain situations. By role playing students are able to learn how to take action on their own and to also build confidence(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002). The more practice in role play the more the student is to learn how to do the problem solving on their own. Another way to learn problem solving skills is to set rules for these student to follow. Setting rules will help students learn what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. This will help set guidelines for student to follow and learn in the process. Social skills are another issue that students with NLD. Role playing is very important for these students to learn from. These students need direct instruction on how to make appropriate eye contact, how to greet others and to learn other appropriate social skills. It is also important for these students to learn how to make and keep friends. It is also important for these students to learn how to act appropriately act in a work setting. If these students want to succeed in life learning how to act in a working environment is key. Learning how to behave appropriately in a work setting will help them keep a job and live a successful independent life. The last issue that a student with NLD usually deals with is psychosocial adjustment problems. These students need to learn how to control impulsive behavior and inattention. Students that have a hard time with dealing with this issues and need to learn how to self-monitor themselves. NLD students need to learn how to slow down and be aware of what they are doing instead of just reacting(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002). Another problem these students have is not thinking for speaking. These students need to learn ways to think about what they want to say before just saying it. Students that display these issues need to learn relaxation skills to help reduce anxiety.  These students need to learn how to ask for breaks or help when they are feeling stressed out. The author has gone over what NLD symptoms and characteristics of what to look for in students that may be suffering fro this problem. The author has also gone over strategies to help students that have NLD. The strategies and methods that were mentioned are tools to not only help the students but to help the students learn the proper tools to help themselves outside the classroom. With any student that is having a hard time in school it is the teacher’s job to make sure that students needs are being met. Students that have NLD need strategies and methods to help them so they can focus less on their problems and more on learning(Telzrow & Bonar, 2002). By using strategies on students with NLD this will help these students learn the tools that they need to deal with the world around them. References Telzrow, C. F., & Bonar, A. M. (2002). Responding to students with nonverbal learning disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(6), 8-13.