Norman Foster

Norman Foster  Ã‚  Norman Foster is a major contributor to twentieth century architecture both in the westernworld and further afield. After starting his studies in architecture over 50 years ago he has designeda range of buildings (and bridges) and continues to produce outstanding designs today. Aswell asexploring Foster's career this essay will focus primarily on two of Foster's buildings, Creek VeanHouse in Cornwall and the Willis Building in Ipswich (originally the Willis Faber and DumasHeadquarters).Born in Manchester on 1 June 1935 to working class parents, Foster was a bright studentwho after attending a private school and a grammar school was pressurised to leave early in order toearn a living. It wasn't until 1956 after working in a bakery, a city treasurer's office, a factory,selling furniture, spending time in the Royal Air Force on national service and studying commerciallaw that he finally started his studies in architecture.Graduating from Manchester university school of architecture and city planning in 1961, Foster won the Henry fellowship to study at Yaleuniversity where he obtained his master's degree and also met Richard Rogers, another Britisharchitect whom he became good friends with. In 1963 Rogers and Foster along with their  respective wives Su and Wendy formed ‘Team 4', a practice known for its high-tech designs and thegroup behind Creek Vean House. In 1967 Team 4 ended and Foster and Wendy set up Foster  Associates (now Foster and Partners).Between 1968 and 1983 Foster collaborated on a number of  Ã‚  projects including the Samuel Beckett Theatre project with Richard Buckminster Fuller whohappened to be one of his idols. Foster called him a â€Å"lone voice,† whose work with geodesicsdemonstrated how building form could be both economical and ecological. Orientation and  building form became, for Foster, touchstones in his design of ecological architecture. – Michael J. Crosbie, ArchitectureWeek.Foster Asso ciates has produced many well known works such as theSainsbury Centre in Norwich, the Hongkong and Shanghai bank, the Millau Viaduct in France, theBritish Museum Great Court in London and the Swiss Re tower in London to name but a few. Over  History and Theory of Architecture the years Foster Associates has achieved more than 190 awards and won over 50 competitions for  its work, in 1990 Foster was Knighted and in 1999 he was honoured with a life peerage giving himthe title Lord Foster Of Thames Bank, in the same year he became the 21 st Pritzker ArchitecturePrize laureate.Creak Vean house was the first work of group Team 4, built in 1964, it was commissioned  by Marcus Brumwell as a home for himself and his wife who were the parents of Su Rogers. Although Foster has concentrated more on buildings for the workplace, houses which showsimilarities to Creek Vean are the Jaffe house and Murray Mews which were also designed by Team4, these buildings are orientated to make the most of their views and have large slanting glass walls,similar to the glass walk way and large glass walls in Creek Vean. The Willis Faber ; Dumas Headquarters in Ipswich was built from 1971-1975 as aworkplace for around 1300 employees.Foster has mostly designed buildings for the workplaceand is very good at designing space for employees to enjoy their surroundings. The three storey  building is surrounded by a glass facade, similar to that in some of his later buildings such as HearstTower in New York City, the Swiss Re Headquarters in London, the HSBC UK Headquarters inLondon and City Hall in London. The facade also has a curved appearance, with no hard edges or  corners, similar to the Swiss Re and City Hall buildings, the American Air Museum and the newWillis Headquarters in London.Inside the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters escalators lead upthrough the central atrium, in Foster's Hongkong and Shanghai bank he uses a similar approach buton a larger scale with a ten storey at rium and the escalators leading up to the main banking hall. The  Ipswich building established a couple of themes that Foster returned to in project after project: howthe building meets the ground in an accommodating way; how light, views, and the interior  environment can be adjusted and modified; and how to introduce green space into an urbanenvironment such as an office building. ArchitectureWeek Creek Vean House is positioned overlooking the Fal estuary in Cornwall on a steepriverbank. The house is made up of two separate blocks at different angles to each other linkedtogether by a long glass-roofed corridor which was used as a gallery. One of the blocks is one storeyhigh and contains the bedrooms and studio and the other block is two storeys high and contains theliving room and dining room, the ground floor ooms are cut back into the hillside and the onestorey block's roof is covered in vegetation, this gives the impression the house is carved into thelandscape. All the mai n rooms have large sliding doors off the main corridor and are angled so thatthey have the best views possible out over the estuary, this results in the rooms being fan shapedwith very angular corners. The house is constructed of exposed concrete blocks and reinforcedconcrete slabs, the floors are slate. Outside the building, winding steps lead down the slope fromthe access road above the house.They step down through the building over the corridor that linksthe two blocks (the corridor has a solid roof at this point), emphasising the split in the two parts of  the building and continue down through the garden to a boat house on the shore below. The Willis Faber ; Dumas Headquarters is situated in Ipswich. unlike many office buildingsit is only three storeys high and is spread out to fit in with the shape of the surrounding streets, withthe curved glass facade showing reflections of the surrounding buildings. On entering the buildingthere is a central atrium with escalators leading right up to the rooftop restaurant.Overlooking theatrium are the different storeys with open plan office space, the layout of the office space and factthat it is so open plan gives the workplace a very communal feel. †¦ orientation is direct:you alwaysknow where you are, one can move freely, the sun penetrates everywhere and there are only a fewvisual barriers. – Norman Foster. The building was also built with a rooftop garden and aswimming pool for the employees to use in their lunch breaks but the swimming pool has since  been covered with a glass floor.Around the time Creek Vean was built (1964) James Sterling had just built the Leicester  University engineering building (1963). There are similarities between their work, both use a lot of  History and Theory of Architecture glass and non standard geometry for walls however where Foster's house tries to blend in with thesurrounding area the University building is very bold and brutal. Another house built around thesame period is Hanselmann House in Indiana, 1967 by Michael Graves. This house is verymodernist with lots of open spaces and like Creek Vean it uses steps as a link to the house.VannaVenturi House was built between 1962-1964 by Robert Venturi. Unlike Creek Vean which blends inwith its environment Venturi's house really tries to make a statement. Around the time the Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters was built (1971-1975),The Creek Vean House shows similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright's building's, particularlyFallingwater built from 1935-1937. Wright designed the house around the surroundings, similar toFoster and so it appears that the house is almost growing out of the rock beneath it. In both housessteps are used as a passageway from the house down to the water. History and Theory of Architecture

Vietnam Challenges in Development

â€Å"What are the major obstacles in your country’s development to achieve long-term and sustainable growth and in addressing such obstacles what public policies need to be put in place, particularly in relation to national technology and innovation capability? † Vietnam’s reform process named Doi Moi (Renovation) since 1986 witnessed success of market-oriented changes. Not only has Vietnam been one of the world’s fastest growing economies (averaging over 7 per cent p. a. GDP growth), it has made great strides towards eliminating poverty, achieved national food security and become a major exporter of agricultural commodities.However, the process of shifting from agricultural dominance to industrial dominance has also created number of negatives effects for the country that public policies should be put in place to address. Three main obstacles, which Vietnam has to face up with, are those issues of growth, society and environment: Firstly, the countryâ₠¬â„¢s economic growth primarily is factor-based and quantity-based while knowledge-based development accounts for minimal proportion. The growth made by input capitals (foreign investment, natural resources) makes the results do not deserve with investment.IMF experts make a comparison of Vietnam case with Thailand and Philippine in the past 2 decades, when two country experienced same position as Vietnam currently, 30-40% total revenue of the nation created 12% growth rate, while Vietnam’s investment up to 60% of total revenue but growth rate is only 6-7%/year. It’s the time to pay attention on economic effectiveness rather than just targets setting. Secondly, economic growth in short time has lead to series of social issues.Inequality and the gap between rich and poor, rural and urban, plains and mountainous areas has been widened not only in terms of income but also living standards and chances. The rapid growth of urban economy and industry has not been linked harm oniously with rural economy and society. While many new jobs continue to withdraw young labors from the rural, they also worsen the unbalance of rural family life, gender and age. More jobs are created but unsecured, life in industrial zone or city suburban with rental house, low-income and manual job can not secure a future.The rest of people stay with agriculture, however, the growth of and is being contracted, constraining the application of hi-technologies; farming syste agricultural production (so far mainly relying on in labor and natural resources – intensive investment) has no longer enjoyed favorable conditions. Agricultural land is scattered m is still based on habitant and qualitative; products are low competitiveness. Thirdly, environment is damaged seriously. Pollution is increasing, urban and industry waste is poured to the rural. Some natural resources are over exploited for exports purpose without planning.Fossil fuel is the main source for the economy, techno logy to create alternative energy is slowly applied. In addition, the happening of epidemic, climate changes is becoming complex. Long term policy to adapt with climate change is still in the beginning stage of formulation while the country have to struggle with day to day disasters. In order to addressing those obstacles, new strategic orientation should be identified; main approaches of public policy in the new period are as follows: Distribute equally the growth results.Remove all barriers and create favorable conditions for the development of resource markets in the rural (labor, land, capital and science and technology) so that the market mechanism and internal capacity of rural people can be mobilized to regulate effectively all available resources; mobilize abundant rural labor resource, urban savings, and international capital to upgrade rural infrastructure and develop rural services and crafts (including industry and non-agriculture activities in the rural); move the urban and industry to rural areas, export and take rural labors to the urban.Focus investment on education to improve the human resource capability through appropriate vocational training policy; develop health care system in the rural, especially in difficult and poor areas; stimulate economic sectors to provide services in the urban and favorable areas; gradually, narrow the gaps of service quality between the rural and the urban. Stimulate all economic sectors to participate in the development and application of science and technology to create higher quality products.The State should concentrate its investment in science and technology applied for public services in agriculture, extension, in difficult and poor areas Identify clearly necessary criteria and areas for economic-environment balance; ensure the sustainable social and environmental development; actively make harmoniously economic, social and environmental planningIn conclusion, entering new development phase, Vietnamâ€⠄¢s development course requires new policy solutions to change investment direction into knowledge-base, mobilize hidden resources, create motivation for a large number of people to achieve a long-term and sustainable growth in which national technology and innovation capability enhancement play an crucial role.

Free Essays on WalMart Stores Inc

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world’s largest retailer, with $256.3 billion in sales in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2004, 1.6 million associates worldwide, and more than 3,600 facilities in the U.S. and 1,570 units elsewhere. It is estimated that more than 138 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide. Wal-Mart has four retail divisions – Wal-Mart Supercenters, Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets, and SAM’S CLUB warehouses. Each of these is guided by a passion for customer satisfaction and â€Å"Every Day Low Prices.† Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, opened his first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. In recent years, Wal-Mart has been named â€Å"Retailer of the Century† by Discount Store News and has topped the FORTUNE 500 list. (www.walmartfacts.com) Sam Walton’s basic beliefs were simple: â€Å"Give people high value, low prices and a warm welcome.† Walton built a culture based on one principle: make the customer number one and four basic beliefs: excellence in the workplace, respect for the individual, customer service, and â€Å"everyday low pricing.† Wal-Mart built its own warehouses so it could buy in bulk and have room to store the merchandise, then built stores in areas around the distribution points which cut the company’s costs and gave it more control over operations. Wal-mart lead the way with the development of their â€Å"hub-and-spoke† distribution system as more and more stores were opened. This allowed Wal-Mart to re-stock its stores quickly and kept the amount of unproductive store space to an absolute minimum which in turn resulted in higher sales per square foot and rapid inventory turnover (www.walmartstores.com). As 2003 came to a close, Wal-mart faced some major challenges; some of them being, an unstable business environment, weak economic growth, and nervous consumers. All of which lead to minimal growth opportunities. European retailers wer... Free Essays on WalMart Stores Inc Free Essays on WalMart Stores Inc Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world’s largest retailer, with $256.3 billion in sales in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2004, 1.6 million associates worldwide, and more than 3,600 facilities in the U.S. and 1,570 units elsewhere. It is estimated that more than 138 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide. Wal-Mart has four retail divisions – Wal-Mart Supercenters, Discount Stores, Neighborhood Markets, and SAM’S CLUB warehouses. Each of these is guided by a passion for customer satisfaction and â€Å"Every Day Low Prices.† Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, opened his first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. In recent years, Wal-Mart has been named â€Å"Retailer of the Century† by Discount Store News and has topped the FORTUNE 500 list. (www.walmartfacts.com) Sam Walton’s basic beliefs were simple: â€Å"Give people high value, low prices and a warm welcome.† Walton built a culture based on one principle: make the customer number one and four basic beliefs: excellence in the workplace, respect for the individual, customer service, and â€Å"everyday low pricing.† Wal-Mart built its own warehouses so it could buy in bulk and have room to store the merchandise, then built stores in areas around the distribution points which cut the company’s costs and gave it more control over operations. Wal-mart lead the way with the development of their â€Å"hub-and-spoke† distribution system as more and more stores were opened. This allowed Wal-Mart to re-stock its stores quickly and kept the amount of unproductive store space to an absolute minimum which in turn resulted in higher sales per square foot and rapid inventory turnover (www.walmartstores.com). As 2003 came to a close, Wal-mart faced some major challenges; some of them being, an unstable business environment, weak economic growth, and nervous consumers. All of which lead to minimal growth opportunities. European retailers wer...

Essay Sample on Barrack Obama Voting for the President

Essay Sample on Barrack Obama Voting for the President Can Barrack Obama be the next President of the USA? Barrack Obama is a Junior United States Senator from Illinois, and a running candidate for the Democratic Partys nomination for the 2008 Presidential elections against Hilary Clinton, ex-First wife of Ex-President Bill Clinton. Obama already broke boundaries as the fifth and current African-American serving in the US Senate. He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. However, Obamas blackness was put in question because of his inheritance. His father came from Kenya and his mother is white American. This was put into question every time talks about America being ready for a Black president emerge. As with the pros and cons, Obamas political agendas are not any different from Clintons platform. It’s just that he is Black and male, and Clinton is white and female. Both are banking on their weakness points (Black and Female) to arouse vote sympathies and to prove that one can go beyond his or her weakness point to serve the great country of America, if he or s he would be elected President. Obama being black however rouses more questions instead of sympathies for him. Recent polls showed Clinton being 40 points higher than him. However, when it comes to black polls, Obama leads Clinton with a sweeping 24 points, but this is in the Black community. Nonetheless, a survey among Black citizens whether America is ready for a Black President showed that most of them dont believe that this is the time for it; or that they would live long enough to witness it. If Black citizens have this mindset, what more the White citizens? Part of Obamas problem with black voters is that he is viewed by whites as the first black candidate with a legitimate shot at the White House. When white America has embraced a candidate as they have with Barrack Obama there is a certain amount of distrust that goes with this among a number of African Americans, Wilson said (cnn.com). The only advantage that can be seen once Obama wins Presidential election is having an educated man with an educated list of priorities and programs that if dealt with and completed thoroughly, United States would perhaps be still the greatest nation in the world. The drawback however, is the unprepared ness, still, of most Americans, as well as abroad in dealing with a Black President. There might be an issue of bias leaning towards the favor of Blacks and Whites may see it as threat (hopefully not leading for Civil War II). Nonetheless, in terms of readiness, America is ready, actually, but to exercise clearly that readiness through voting might still be impossible. Yes, they are open but somehow theres this secret power that keeps them from making their â€Å"open-mindedness† known through voting Obama for President. So we have seen the gradual maturing of an America which now accepts that Blacks can do more than play sports and entertain them. The reality is thateven though Blacks in positions of influence owe their success to the Thurgood Marshalls, Martin Luther Kings, Fannie Lou Hamers and Jesse Jacksonsthis success is not the alternative to civil rights activism. It is the result of civil rights activism, then and now. This does not mean racism no longer exists, and it certainly does not mean that all America will embrace a Black commander in chief. But it does mean that the climate is set for an active strategic minority to mobilize the majority to victory (Sharpton, 2007).

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs Phrasal Verbs Phrasal Verbs By Jacquelyn Landis A phrasal verb is one that’s followed by an adverb or a preposition, and together they behave as a semantic unit. (The adverb or preposition following the verb is called a particle.) A phrasal verb functions the same way as a simple verb, but its meaning is idiomatic: The numbers don’t add up. That’s an offer he can’t turn down. Call off the wedding. Phrasal verbs are among the most difficult concepts for ESL students to grasp; the particle changes the verb in a way that’s entirely colloquial. Some phrasal verbs are separable: their particles can be separated from the verb and a noun inserted. Others cannot be separated. Separable: She added up the numbers. She added the numbers up. Inseparable: We have enough to fall back on. He broke into the conversation. Some are both separable and inseparable, depending on their meaning. Separable: She threw the ball up. Inseparable: She was so nauseated, she felt like throwing up. One of the biggest difficulties with phrasal verbs is that there’s no guideline for which ones are separable and which are not. Native English speakers grow up incorporating phrasal verbs into their daily conversation and know how to form them intuitively. Unfortunately, non-native speakers must rely solely on memorization. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?Precedent vs. Precedence10 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills

WK1_Public Leadership Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

WK1_Public Leadership Paper - Essay Example Adopting better management principles by public leaders forms crucial part of establishing efficient public institutions. The public sector needs to engage in good governance that embraces acceptable ethics. Discipline within the public sector should begin with the top cadre dropping down. As a result, there exists efficient integration of human resources. Public servants, in the lower cadre models what happens at the top. The approach may involve centralized or decentralized leadership. However, whether leadership embraces a centralized or decentralized approach, good governance is essential. In this respect, public leaders should instill the necessary principles and values that promote prudent governance within the society (Birney et al., 2010). Further, public leadership entails working towards facilitating sustainable development. The leadership features in the public sector require, a demonstration of commitment regarding the advocacy for development policies. The role of the pu blic sector involves ensuring its citizens access a sustainable development and future. In this sense, good governance is important in not compromising the livelihood of citizens. In addition, public leadership entails resources reaching all citizens of a nation. This includes dealing with issues such as bureaucracy that impedes on better management of public institutions, and delay in service delivery to citizens. ... Public leadership does not involve polarizing the population for personal gains, but helping the population to embrace a sustainable future. (Birney et al., 2010). The leadership in the public sector concentrates on ensuring citizens gets proper health care, housing facilities, education, security and appropriate infrastructure. Public leadership also entails creating employment and investment opportunities for the citizens. Public leaders are in office purposely to aid the improvement of its citizen’s living standards. To promote favorable environment for development, safety of citizens is crucial. Where there is a proper established public leadership, the establishment can improve on institution necessary to promote civility within a country or nation. Leadership in the public sector means readiness to work for all regardless of other circumstances known or unknown. Public leaders act as an example to the rest of the citizens. The key responsibility required among leaders in volves service delivery to the population. In this regard, public leadership requires a discard of malpractices such as corruption, nepotism and high handedness. Governing ethics within the public sector is vital in setting up principles that promotes good governance. This entails maintaining a high level of integrity, required to safeguard the public interest. Good governance requires a benchmark to measure the values of public leaders. This ensures that those in public office specifically work for the betterment of the entire population and not personal gains. Most countries across the globe fail because of poor governance by not vetted public leaders. In general terms, public leadership entails upholding high level of

Research Based Argument - The Necessity of Capital Punishment Essay

Research Based Argument - The Necessity of Capital Punishment - Essay Example The stunning revelation in the article is that in the State of California, the annual legal costs related to capital punishment are estimated at $184 million. Also, it is claimed that by replacing death penalty with life sentences, this amount can be brought down to just $ 11.5 million. Admittedly, this claim Fagan makes seems attractive only to some hardcore do-gooders. People with a sane mind will easily identify that the lives of the citizens in a country cannot be put into jeopardy for economic benefits. It can be admitted that capital punishment invites extensive legal jargons in the forms of appeals and reviews. However, one has to remember the fact that this delay and higher expenditure only shows the ineffectiveness of our legal system; not the ineffectiveness of capital punishment. So, it is evidently irrational to set serial killers free to save the money spent on legal works. Also, as Nugent argues, locking up such insane shooters in jails for the rest of their lifetime wi ll cost taxpayers millions of dollars. One is forced to think whether it would not be a better administration of justice if the killer is executed and this millions of dollars are paid as compensation to the next of kin of the victims. Moreover, as Nugent points out, it costs only ‘a 25 cent bullet’ to eliminate the criminal in cases like the Tucson shootout. If any money more than that is spent on legal battles, it is the justice system to be blamed; not capital punishment. Also, the figures put forward by Fagan are under criticism for lack of evidence. In fact, the work ‘Death penalty and sentencing information’ by Sharp points out that life without parole (LWOP) is nearly $1.2 to $3.6 million more expensive than death penalty. Another minor argument seen in the article of Fagan is that sometimes the society seems as guilty as the culprit in certain crimes. For example, the killer of a 22 year old female is found to be mentally unstable and brain-damaged. The investigation proves that the killer had a very horrible upbringing as a child as he had his birth as an impoverished Mono tribe American Indian. Also, he was taken away from his alcoholic parents at a very early age and was molested and abused in foster homes and other institutions. As a result, he was addicted to heroin and other drugs by the time he turned 5. Thus, Fagan argues that in such cases, giving capital punishment to the criminal is unjustifiable as the culprit is not guiltier than the family and society he lives in. It is with this insight that the article says that if capital punishment is replaced with life imprisonment, â€Å"you would also run no chance of executing an innocent person† (Fagan). However, the fact is that laymen or the citizens of a country cannot bear the brunt of setting mentally deranged people free. For example, Nugent writes in The Washington Times about the Tucson shootout which killed six and wounded 13. As Fagan argues in his artic le, in this case too, the culprit was mentally deranged. As a result, he is going to spend the rest of his life in the comfort of jail eating up the tax paid by obedient citizens. As Nugent argues, â€Å"you don’t need to be an overpaid prison psychologist to determine that (the criminal is mentally deranged) no