Italy
Italy the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Austria and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 and has a temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe. Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has been home to a myriad of peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout modern-day Italy, the most famous of which being the Indo-European Italics who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era and Carthaginians founded colonies in insular Italy and Genoa, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively; the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People.
The Roman Republic conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the peninsula, in some cases through the establishment of federations, the Republic expanded and conquered parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became the leading cultural and religious centre of Western civilisation, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's technology, economy and literature flourished. Italy remained the metropole of the Roman Empire; the legacy of the Roman Empire endured its fall and can be observed in the global distribution of culture, governments and the Latin script. During the Early Middle Ages, Italy endured sociopolitical collapse and barbarian invasions, but by the 11th century, numerous rival city-states and maritime republics in the northern and central regions of Italy, rose to great prosperity through shipping and banking, laying the groundwork for modern capitalism.
These independent statelets served as Europe's main trading hubs with Asia and the Near East enjoying a greater degree of democracy than the larger feudal monarchies that were consolidating throughout Europe. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science and art. Italian culture flourished, producing famous scholars and polymaths such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Machiavelli. During the Middle Ages, Italian explorers such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, John Cabot and Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Italy's commercial and political power waned with the opening of trade routes that bypassed the Mediterranean. Centuries of infighting between the Italian city-states, such as the Italian Wars of the 15th and 16th centuries, left the region fragmented, it was subsequently conquered and further divided by European powers such as France and Austria.
By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism and calls for independence from foreign control led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of foreign domination and political division, Italy was entirely unified in 1871, establishing the Kingdom of Italy as a great power. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Italy industrialised, namely in the north, acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained impoverished and excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite being one of the main victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, leading to the rise of a fascist dictatorship in 1922. Participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in military defeat, economic destruction and the Italian Civil War. Following the liberation of Italy and the rise of the resistance, the country abolished the monarchy, reinstated democracy, enjoyed a prolonged economic boom and, despite periods of sociopolitical turmoil became a developed country.
Today, Italy is considered to be one of the world's most culturally and economically advanced countries, with the sixth-largest worldwide national wealth. Its advanced economy ranks eighth-largest in the world and third in the Eurozone by nominal GDP. Italy owns the third-largest central bank gold reserve, it has a high level of human development, it stands among the top countries for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and a member of numerous international institutions, including the UN, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the WTO, the G7, the G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe, Uniting for Consensus, the Schengen Area and many more; as a reflection
Atomic Age
The Atomic Age known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear bomb, Trinity, on July 16, 1945, during World War II. Although nuclear chain reactions had been hypothesized in 1933 and the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction had taken place in December 1942, the Trinity test and the ensuing bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II represented the first large-scale use of nuclear technology and ushered in profound changes in sociopolitical thinking and the course of technology development. While atomic power was promoted for a time as the epitome of progress and modernity, entering into the nuclear power era entailed frightful implications of nuclear warfare, the Cold War, mutual assured destruction, nuclear proliferation, the risk of nuclear disaster, as well as beneficial civilian applications in nuclear medicine, it is no easy matter to segregate peaceful uses of nuclear technology from military or terrorist uses, which complicated the development of a global nuclear-power export industry right from the outset.
In 1973, concerning a flourishing nuclear power industry, the United States Atomic Energy Commission predicted that, by the turn of the 21st century, one thousand reactors would be producing electricity for homes and businesses across the U. S. However, the "nuclear dream" fell far short of what was promised because nuclear technology produced a range of social problems, from the nuclear arms race to nuclear meltdowns, the unresolved difficulties of bomb plant cleanup and civilian plant waste disposal and decommissioning. Since 1973, reactor orders declined as electricity demand fell and construction costs rose. Many orders and completed plants were cancelled. By the late 1970s, nuclear power had suffered a remarkable international destabilization, as it was faced with economic difficulties and widespread public opposition, coming to a head with the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, both of which adversely affected the nuclear power industry for many decades.
In 1901, Frederick Soddy and Ernest Rutherford discovered that radioactivity was part of the process by which atoms changed from one kind to another, involving the release of energy. Soddy wrote in popular magazines that radioactivity was a “inexhaustible” source of energy, offered a vision of an atomic future where it would be possible to “transform a desert continent, thaw the frozen poles, make the whole earth one smiling Garden of Eden.” The promise of an “atomic age,” with nuclear energy as the global, utopian technology for the satisfaction of human needs, has been a recurring theme since. But "Soddy saw that atomic energy could be used to create terrible new weapons"; the concept of a nuclear chain reaction was hypothesized in 1933, shortly after Chadwick's discovery of the neutron. Only a few years in December 1938 nuclear fission was discovered by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann, proved with Hahn's radiochemical methods; the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction took place in December 1942 under the leadership of Enrico Fermi.
In 1945, the pocketbook The Atomic Age heralded the untapped atomic power in everyday objects and depicted a future where fossil fuels would go unused. One science writer, David Dietz, wrote that instead of filling the gas tank of your car two or three times a week, you will travel for a year on a pellet of atomic energy the size of a vitamin pill. Glenn T. Seaborg, who chaired the Atomic Energy Commission, wrote "there will be nuclear powered earth-to-moon shuttles, nuclear powered artificial hearts, plutonium heated swimming pools for SCUBA divers, much more"; the phrase "Atomic Age" was coined by William L. Laurence, a New York Times journalist who became the official journalist for the Manhattan Project which developed the first nuclear weapons, he witnessed both the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki and went on to write a series of articles extolling the virtues of the new weapon. His reporting before and after the bombings helped to spur public awareness of the potential of nuclear technology and in part motivated development of the technology in the U.
S. and in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would go on to test its first nuclear weapon in 1949. In 1949, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission chairman, David Lilienthal stated that "atomic energy is not a search for new energy, but more a beginning of human history in which faith in knowledge can vitalize man's whole life"; the phrase gained popularity as a feeling of nuclear optimism emerged in the 1950s in which it was believed that all power generators in the future would be atomic in nature. The atomic bomb would render all conventional explosives obsolete and nuclear power plants would do the same for power sources such as coal and oil. There was a general feeling that everything would use a nuclear power source of some sort, in a positive and productive way, from irradiating food to preserve it, to the development of nuclear medicine. There would be an age of peace and plenty in which atomic energy would "provide the power needed to desalinate water for the thirsty, irrigate the deserts for the hungry, fuel interstellar travel deep into outer space".
This use would render the Atomic Age as significant a step in technological progress as the first smelting of Bronze, of Iron, or the commencement of the Industrial Revolution. This included cars, leading Ford to display the Ford Nucleon concept car to the public in 1958. There was the promise of golf balls which could always be fo
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. It was inspired by aerodynamic design. Streamline architecture emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design, it was used in railroad locomotives, toasters, buses and other devices to give the impression of sleekness and modernity. In France, it was called the Style Paquebot, or "Ocean liner style", was influenced by the design of the luxurious ocean liner SS Normandie, launched in 1932; as the Great Depression of the 1930s progressed, Americans saw a new aspect of Art Deco, i.e. streamlining, a concept first conceived by industrial designers who stripped Art Deco design of its ornament in favor of the aerodynamic pure-line concept of motion and speed developed from scientific thinking. The cylindrical forms and long horizontal windowing in architecture may have been influenced by constructivism, by the New Objectivity artists, a movement connected to the German Werkbund.
Examples of this style include the 1923 Mossehaus, the reconstruction of the corner of a Berlin office building in 1923 by Erich Mendelsohn and Richard Neutra. The Streamline Moderne was sometimes a reflection of austere economic times; the style was the first to incorporate electric light into architectural structure. In the first-class dining room of the SS Normandie, fitted out 1933–35, twelve tall pillars of Lalique glass, 38 columns lit from within illuminated the room; the Strand Palace Hotel foyer, preserved from demolition by the Victoria and Albert Museum during 1969, was one of the first uses of internally lit architectural glass, coincidentally was the first Moderne interior preserved in a museum. Streamline moderne appeared most in buildings related to transportation and movement, such as bus and train stations, airport terminals, roadside cafes, port buildings, it had characteristics common with modern architecture, including a horizontal orientation, rounded corners, the use of glass brick walls or porthole windows, flat roofs, chrome-plated hardware, horizontal grooves or lines in the walls.
They were white or in subdued pastel colors. An example of this style is the Aquatic Park Bathouse in the Aquatic Park Historic District, in San Francisco. Built beginning in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration, it features the distinctive horizontal lines, classic rounded corners railing and windows of the style, resembling the elements of ship; the interior preserves much of the original decoration and detail, including murals by artist and color theoretician Hilaire Hiler. The architects were William Mooser Jr. and William Mooser III. It is now the administrative center of Aquatic Park Historic District; the Normandie Hotel, which opened during 1942, is built in the stylized shape of the ocean liner SS Normandie, it includes the ship's original sign. The Sterling Streamliner Diners were diners designed like streamlined trains. Although Streamline Moderne houses are less common than streamline commercial buildings, residences do exist; the Lydecker House in Los Angeles, built by Howard Lydecker, is an example of Streamline Moderne design in residential architecture.
In tract development, elements of the style were sometimes used as a variation in postwar row housing in San Francisco's Sunset District. In France, the style was called ocean liner; the French version was inspired by the launch of the ocean liner Normandie in 1935, which featured an Art Deco dining room with columns of Lalique crystal. Buildings using variants of the style appeared in Belgium and in Paris, notably in a building at 3 boulevard Victor in the 15th arrondissement, by the architect Pierre Patout, he was one of the founders of the Art Deco style. He designed the entrance to the Pavilion of a Collector at the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts, the birthplace of the style, he was the designer of the interiors of three cruise ships, the Ile-de-France, the l'Atlantique, the Normandie. Patout's building on Avenue Victor lacked the curving lines of the American version of the style, but it had a narrow "bow" at one end, where the site was narrow, long balconies like the decks of a ship, a row of projections like smokestacks on the roof.
Another 1935 Paris apartment building at 1 Avenue Paul-Daumier in the 16 arrondissement had a series of terraces modeled after the decks of an ocean liner. The defining event for streamline moderne design in the United States was the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, which introduced the style to the general public; the new automobiles adapted the smooth lines of ocean liners and airships, giving the impression of efficiency and speed. The grills and windshields tilted backwards, cars sat lower and wider, they featured smooth curves and horizontal speed lines. Examples include the 1934 Studebaker Land Cruiser; the cars featured new materials, including bakelite plastic, Vitrolight opaque glass, stainless steel, enamel, which gave the appearance of newness and sleekness. Other examples include the 1950 Nash Ambassador "Airflyte" sedan with its distinctive low fender lines, as well as Hudson's postwar cars, such as the Commodore, that "were distinctive streamliners—ponderous, massive automobiles with a style all their own".
Streamlining became a widespread design practice for aircraft, railroad locomotives, ships. Streamline style can be contrasted with functionalism, a leading design style in Europe at the same time. One reason for the simple designs in functionalism was to lower the production costs of the items, making them
Milan
Milan is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome, with the city proper having a population of 1,372,810 while its metropolitan city has a population of 3,245,308. Its continuously built-up urban area has a population estimated to be about 5,270,000 over 1,891 square kilometres; the wider Milan metropolitan area, known as Greater Milan, is a polycentric metropolitan region that extends over central Lombardy and eastern Piedmont and which counts an estimated total population of 7.5 million, making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and the 54th largest in the world. Milan served as capital of the Western Roman Empire from 286 to 402 and the Duchy of Milan during the medieval period and early modern age. Milan is considered a leading alpha global city, with strengths in the field of the art, design, entertainment, finance, media, services and tourism, its business district hosts Italy's stock exchange and the headquarters of national and international banks and companies.
In terms of GDP, it has the third-largest economy among European cities after Paris and London, but the fastest in growth among the three, is the wealthiest among European non-capital cities. Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and one of the "Four Motors for Europe"; the city has been recognized as one of the world's four fashion capitals thanks to several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair, which are among the world's biggest in terms of revenue and growth. It hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015; the city hosts numerous cultural institutions and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students. Milan is the destination of 8 million overseas visitors every year, attracted by its museums and art galleries that boast some of the most important collections in the world, including major works by Leonardo da Vinci; the city is served by a large number of luxury hotels and is the fifth-most starred in the world by Michelin Guide.
The city is home to two of Europe's most successful football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, one of Italy's main basketball teams, Olimpia Milano; the etymology of the name Milan remains uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum planus. However, some scholars believe that lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence Mediolanum could signify the central sanctuary of a Celtic tribe. Indeed, about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France bore the name "Mediolanum", for example: Saintes and Évreux. In addition, another theory links the name to the boar sow an ancient emblem of the city, fancifully accounted for in Andrea Alciato's Emblemata, beneath a woodcut of the first raising of the city walls, where a boar is seen lifted from the excavation, the etymology of Mediolanum given as "half-wool", explained in Latin and in French; the foundation of Milan is credited to two Celtic peoples, the Bituriges and the Aedui, having as their emblems a ram and a boar.
Alciato credits Ambrose for his account. The Celtic Insubres, the inhabitants of the region of northern Italy called Insubria, appear to have founded Milan around 600 BC. According to the legend reported by Livy, the Gaulish king Ambicatus sent his nephew Bellovesus into northern Italy at the head of a party drawn from various Gaulish tribes; the Romans, led by consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, fought the Insubres and captured the city in 222 BC. They conquered the entirety of the region, calling the new province "Cisalpine Gaul" – "Gaul this side of the Alps" – and may have given the site its Latinized Celtic name of Mediolanum: in Gaulish *medio- meant "middle, center" and the name element -lanon is the Celtic equivalent of Latin -planum "plain", thus *Mediolanon meant " in the midst of the plain". In 286 the Roman Emperor Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. Diocletian himself chose to reside at Nicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Milan.
Maximian built several gigantic monuments, the large circus, the thermae or "Baths of Hercules", a large complex of imperial palaces and other services and buildings of which fewer visible traces remain. Maximian increased the city area surrounded by a new, larger stone wall encompassing an area of 375 acres with many 24-sided towers; the monumental area had twin towers. From Mediolanum the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, granting tolerance to all religions within the Empire, thus paving the way for Christianity to become the dominant religion of Roman Europe. Constantine had come to Mediolanum to celebrate the wedding of his sister
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of 76,164 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed to be the modern capital of Monferrato. People have lived around what is now Asti since the Neolithic period. Before their defeat in 174 BC by the Romans, tribes of Ligures, the Statielli, dominated the area and the toponym derives from Ast which means "hill" in the ancient Celtic language. In 124 BC the Romans built a castrum, or fortified camp, which evolved into a full city named Hasta. In 89 BC the city received the status of colonia, in 49 BC that of municipium. Asti become an important city of the Augustan Regio IX, favoured by its strategic position on the Tanaro river and on the Via Fulvia, which linked Derthona to Augusta Taurinorum. Other roads connected the city to the main passes for what are today France; the city was crucial during the early stages of the barbarian invasions which stormed Italy during the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
In early 402 AD the Visigoths had invaded northern Italy and were advancing on Mediolanum, the imperial capital at that time. Honorius, the young emperor and a resident in that city, unable to wait for promised reinforcements any longer, was compelled to flee from Milan for safety in the city of Arles in Gaul. However, just after his convoy had left Milan and crossed the River Po his escape route through the Alps was cut off by the Gothic cavalry; this forced him to take emergency refuge in the city of Hasta until more Roman troops could be assembled in Italy. The Goths placed Hasta under siege until March when General Stilicho, bringing reinforcements from the Rhine and defeated them at the Battle of Pollentia. After this first victorious defence, thanks to a massive line of walls, Hasta suffered from the barbarian invasions which stormed Italy after the fall of the Western Empire, declined economically. In the second half of the 6th century it was chosen as seat for one of the 36 Duchies in which the Lombards divided Italy.
The territory of Asti comprised a wide area, stretching out to the Maritime Alps. This remained when northern Italy was conquered by the Franks with the title of County. In the late Carolingian age Asti was ruled directly by his bishops, who were the main landlords of the area. Most important are Audax and Bruningus, who moved the episcopal seat to the Castel Vecchio, where it remained until 1409; the bishopric of Asti remained a powerful entity well into the 11th century, when Pietro II received huge privileges by emperor Henry II. In the second half of the century, Bishop Otto tried to resist the aims of the powerful countess Adelaide of Susa, who damaged the city several times. During Otto's reign, a commune and the consul magistrates are mentioned for the first time and make this City-State the first republic of Europe. Asti was one of the first free communes of Italy, in 1140 received the right to mint coins of its own by Conrad II; as the commune, had begun to erode the lands of the bishop and other local faudataries, the latter sued for help to Frederick Barbarossa, who presented under the city walls with a huge army in February 1155.
After a short siege, Asti was burnt. Subsequently, Asti adhered to the Lombard League against the German emperor, but was again defeated in 1174. Despite this, after the Peace of Constance, the city gained further privileges; the 13th century saw the peak of the Astigiani economic and cultural splendour, only momentarily hindered by wars against Alba, Savoy and the Marquesses of Montferrat and Saluzzo. In particular, the commune aimed to gain control over the lucrative trade routes leading northwards from the Ligurian ports. In this period, the rise of the Casane Astigiane resulted in contrasting political familial alliances of Guelph and Ghibelline supporters. During the wars led by Emperor Frederick II in northern Italy, the city chose his side: Asti was defeated by the Guelphs of Alessandria at Quattordio and Clamandrana, but thanks to Genoese help, it recovered easily. After Frederick's death, the struggle against Thomas II of Savoy became fierce: the Astigiani defeated him on February 23, 1255, at the Battle of Montebruno, but Thomas replied ordering all traders from Asti to be arrested in Savoy and France.
This move showed worry on the part of Asti's neighbouring states over the excessive power gained by the city, which had captured Alba and controlled both Chieri and Turin. This state of affairs led to the intervention of Charles I of Anjou King of Naples and the most powerful man in Italy. After some guerrilla actions, Asti signed a pact of alliance with Pavia and William VII of Montferrat. In 1274 the Astigiani troops were defeated at the Battle of Cassano, but, on December 12, 1275, were victorious over the Angevins at the Battle of Roccavione, ending Charles' attempt to expand in Piedmont. In the 1290s, after William VII had been defeated, Asti was the most powerful city in Piedmont. However, internal struggles for the control of trading and banking enterprises soon divided the city into factions; the most prominent faction were the powerful bankers of the Solari family, who, in 1314, gave the city to king Robert of Naples. The free Republic of Asti ceased to exist. In 1339 the Ghibelline exiles recaptured the city, expelling their allies.
In 1342 however, the menace of the Solari counteroffensive led the new rulers to submit to Luchin
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, Hon. FAIA was a Danish architect, most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia; when it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon became only the second person to have received such recognition for one of his works during his lifetime, after Oscar Niemeyer. Other noteworthy works include Bagsværd Church near Copenhagen and the National Assembly Building in Kuwait, he made important contributions to housing design with his Kingo Houses near Helsingør. Utzon was born in Copenhagen, the son of a naval architect, grew up in Aalborg, where he became interested in ships and a possible naval career; as a result of his family's interest in art, from 1937 he attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under Kay Fisker and Steen Eiler Rasmussen. Following his graduation in 1942, he joined Gunnar Asplund in Stockholm where he worked together with Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen, he took a particular interest in the works of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
After the end of World War II and the German Occupation of Denmark, he returned to Copenhagen. In 1946 he visited Alvar Aalto in Helsinki. In 1947–48 he travelled in Europe, in 1948 he went to Morocco where he was taken by the tall clay buildings. In 1949, he travelled to the United States and Mexico, where the pyramids provided further inspiration. Fascinated by the way the Mayans built towards the sky to get closer to God, he commented that his time in Mexico was "One of the greatest architectural experiences in my life."In America, he visited Frank Lloyd Wright's home, Taliesin West, in the Arizona desert and met Charles and Ray Eames. In 1950 he established his own studio in Copenhagen and, in 1952, built an open-plan house for himself, the first of its kind in Denmark. In 1957, he travelled first to China and India, before arriving in Australia in 1957 where he stayed until 1966. All this contributed to Utzon's understanding of factors which contribute to successful architectural design.
Utzon had a Nordic sense of concern for nature which, in his design, emphasized the synthesis of form and function for social values. His fascination with the architectural legacies of the ancient Mayas, the Islamic world and Japan enhanced his vision; this developed into what Utzon referred to as Additive Architecture, comparing his approach to the growth patterns of nature. A design can grow like a tree, he explained: "If it grows the architecture will look after itself." In 1957, Utzon unexpectedly won the competition to design the Sydney Opera House. His submission was one of 233 designs from 32 countries, many of them from the most famous architects of the time. Although he had won six other architectural competitions the Opera House was his first non-domestic project. One of the judges, Eero Saarinen, described it as "genius" and declared he could not endorse any other choice; the designs Utzon submitted were little more than preliminary drawings. Concerned that delays would lead to lack of public support, the Cahill government of New South Wales nonetheless gave the go-ahead for work to begin in 1958.
The British engineering consultancy Ove Arup and Partners put out tenders without adequate working drawings and construction work began on 2 March 1959. As a result, the podium columns had to be rebuilt; the situation was complicated by Cahill's death in October 1959. The extraordinary structure of the shells themselves represented a puzzle for the engineers; this was not resolved until 1961, when Utzon himself came up with the solution. He replaced the original elliptical shells with a design based on complex sections of a sphere. Utzon says his design was inspired by the simple act of peeling an orange: the 14 shells of the building, if combined, would form a perfect sphere. Although Utzon had spectacular, innovative plans for the interior of these halls, he was unable to realise this part of his design. In mid-1965, the New South Wales Liberal government of Robert Askin was elected. Askin had been a'vocal critic of the project prior to gaining office.' His new Minister for Public Works, Davis Hughes, was less sympathetic.
Elizabeth Farrelly, Australian architecture critic has written that at an election night dinner party in Mosman, Hughes's daughter Sue Burgoyne boasted that her father would soon sack Utzon. Hughes had no interest in architecture or aesthetics. A fraud, as well as a philistine, he had been exposed before Parliament and dumped as Country Party leader for 19 years of falsely claiming a university degree; the Opera House gave Hughes a second chance. For him, as for Utzon, it was all about control. Utzon soon found himself in conflict with the new Minister. Attempting to rein in the escalating cost of the project, Hughes began questioning Utzon's capability, his designs and cost estimates, refusing to pay running costs. In 1966, after a final request from Utzon that plywood manufacturer Ralph Symonds should be one of the suppliers for the roof structure was refused, he resigned from the job, closed his Sydney office and vowed never to return to Australia; when Utzon left, the shells were complete, costs amounted to only $22.9 million.
Following major changes to the original plans for the interiors, costs rose to $103 million. The Opera House was completed, opened in 1973 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia; the architect was not invited to the ceremony, nor was his name mentioned during any of
Machine Age
The Machine Age is an era that includes the early 20th century, sometimes including the late 19th century. An approximate dating would be about 1880 to 1945. Considered to be at a peak in the time between the first and second world wars, it forms a late part of the Second Industrial Revolution; the 1940s saw the beginning of the Atomic Age, where modern physics saw new applications such as the atomic bomb, the first computers, the transistor. The Digital Revolution ended the intellectual model of the machine age founded in the mechanical and heralding a new more complex model of high technology; the digital era has been called the Second Machine Age, with its increased focus on machines that do mental tasks. Artifacts of the Machine Age include: Reciprocating steam engine replaced by gas turbines, internal combustion engines and electric motors Electrification based on large hydroelectric and thermal electric power production plants and distribution systems Mass production of high-volume goods on moving assembly lines of the automobile Gigantic production machinery for producing and working metal, such as steel rolling mills, bridge component fabrication, automobile body presses Powerful earthmoving equipment Steel framed buildings of great height Radio and phonograph technology High speed printing presses, enabling the production of low cost newspapers and mass market magazines Low cost appliances for the mass market that employ fractional horsepower electric motors, such as the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine Fast and comfortable long distance travel by railroad and aircraft Development and employment of modern war machines such as tanks, aircraft and the modern battleship Streamline designs in automobiles and trains, influenced by aircraft design The rise of mass market advertising and consumerism Nationwide branding and distribution of goods, replacing local arts and crafts Nationwide cultural leveling due to exposure to films and network broadcasting Mass-produced government propaganda through print and motion pictures Replacement of skilled crafts with low skilled labor Growth of strong corporations through their abilities to exploit economies of scale in materials and equipment acquisition and distribution Corporate exploitation of labor leading to the creation of strong trade unions as a countervailing force Aristocracy with weighted suffrage or male-only suffrage replaced by democracy with universal suffrage, parallel to one-party states First-wave feminism Increased economic planning, including five-year plans, public works and occasional war economy, including nationwide conscription and rationing Exploitation of natural resources with little concern for the ecological consequences.
Release of synthetic dyes, artificial flavorings, toxic materials into the consumption stream without testing for adverse health effects. Rise of petroleum as a strategic resource Conflicts between nations regarding access to energy sources and material resources required to ensure national self-sufficiency; such conflicts were contributory to two devastating world wars. Climax of New Imperialism and beginning of decolonization The Machine Age is considered to have influenced: Dystopian films including Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Fritz Lang's Metropolis Streamline Moderne appliance design and architecture Bauhaus style Steampunk Modern art Cubism Art Deco decorative style Futurism Music Second Industrial Revolution
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