1.
San Francesco, Lodi
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San Francesco is a church in Lodi, Lombardy, northern Italy, dating to the late 13th century. Its main peculiarity are the two open sky double mullioned windows in the façade, which are the first example of an often repeated in northern Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries. The church was built between 1280 and the early 14th century, on the site a church of the Minor Friars dedicated to St. Nicholas. The construction was commissioned by the Lodi bishop Bongiovanni Fissiraga, in 1527 it was assigned to the Reformed Franciscan Order of St. Bernardino, who, in 1840, where replaced by the Barnabites. In the first years of their tenure, they carried on a restoration program. The church has an unfinished façade in cream-color brickwork, charactersized by a tall ogival cusped portico and this is flanked by two blind columns and surmounted by a large rose window in white marble, in turn sided by two double ogival mullioned windows. The wide interior is on the Latin cross plan, divided into a nave, the nave and the aisles are cross-vaulted, separated by ogival arches supported by large brickwork columns. In the right aisles are 16th-century frescoes depicting Madonna with St. Francis, St. Bonaventure and a Donor by the local painter Sebastiano Galeotti, the church contains the tombs of several notable people, including the poet Ada Negri and the naturalist Agostino Bassi. Bottini, Vittorio, Alessandro Caretta, Luigi Samarati
2.
Lodi, Lombardy
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Lodi is a city and comune in Lombardy, northern Italy, on the right bank of the River Adda. It is the capital of the province of Lodi, Lodi was a Celtic village, in Roman times it was called in Latin Laus Pompeia and was known also because its position allowed many Gauls of Gallia Cisalpina to obtain Roman citizenship. It was in an important position where a vital Roman road crossed the River Adda, Lodi became the see of a diocese in the 3rd century and its first bishop, Saint Bassianus is the patron saint of the town. A free commune around 1000, it resisted the Milanese. The old town corresponds to the modern Lodi Vecchio, frederick Barbarossa rebuilt it on its current location in 1158. Starting from the 14th century Lodi was ruled by the Visconti family, in 1423, the antipope John XXIII launched the bull by which he convened the Council of Constance from the Duomo of Lodi. The council would mark the end of the Great Schism, the town was then ruled by the Sforza family, France, Spain and Austria. In 1786 it became the capital of a province that between 1815 and 1859 would have included Crema. On 10 May 1796, in the first major battle of his career as a general, Piazza della Vittoria, listed by the Italian Touring Club among the most beautiful squares in Italy. Featuring porticoes on all its four sides, it includes the Basilica della Vergine Assunta, Piazza Broletto, with a Verona marble baptismal font dating to the 14th century. Beata Vergine Incoronata, Church in style of Lombard Renaissance, San Francesco - Gothic-style church built in 1280-1307. San Lorenzo, church with frescoes by Callisto Piazza, the original Romanesque structure was replaced in the 18th century. The interior has frescoes by Carlo Innocenzo Carloni and a Deposition attributed to Robert De Longe, santAgnese church in Lombard Gothic style. It includes the Galliani Polyptych by Albertino Piazza, and has, on the façade, San Filippo, Rococo-style church Palazzo Vescovile, of medieval origin but rebuilt in the 18th century. San Cristoforo, church designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi, Visconti Castle, a medieval castle now partially destroyed. Palazzo Mozzanica Torre di lodi a modern building high 70 meters about and it is collocated in the Business District, and it is the tallest building in the city. Business District is a modern place, there are many high-rise buildings, the tallest are Torre di Lodi, Lodi Hotel and via Hausmann Residential. Also there are Lombardy Region Office and the mall called My Lodi, corso Roma, a commercial street, the most important of the city
3.
Window
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A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof or vehicle that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound by using sheet glass. Modern windows are glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material. Windows are held in place by frames, many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to exclude inclement weather. Windows often have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut, the Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria ca.100 AD. Paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, in England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century American west, greased paper windows came to be used by itinerant groups, modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were perfected. The English language-word window originates from the Old Norse vindauga, from vindr – wind and auga – eye, the Danish word is pronounced fairly similarly to window. Window is first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to a hole in a roof. Window replaced the Old English eagþyrl, which literally means eye-hole, many Germanic languages however adopted the Latin word fenestra to describe a window with glass, such as standard Swedish fönster, or German Fenster. The use of window in English is probably because of the Scandinavian influence on the English language by means of loanwords during the Viking Age, in English the word fenester was used as a parallel until the mid-18th century. Fenestration is still used to describe the arrangement of windows within a façade, as well as defenestration, in the 13th century, the earliest windows were unglazed openings cut in a roof to admit light during the day. Later, windows were covered with animal hide, cloth, or wood, shutters that could be opened and closed came next. Over time, windows were built that both protected the inhabitants from the elements and transmitted light, using small pieces of translucent material set in frameworks of wood. In the Far East, paper was used to fill windows, the Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt. It would be over a millennium before a window glass became transparent enough to see through clearly, over the centuries techniques were developed to shear through one side of a blown glass cylinder and produce thinner rectangular window panes from the same amount of glass material. This gave rise to tall narrow windows, usually separated by a vertical support called a mullion, mullioned glass windows were the windows of choice among European well-to-do, whereas paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the plate glass making processes were perfected
4.
Lintel
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A lintel or lintol is a structural horizontal block that spans the space or opening between two vertical supports. It can be an architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. It is often found over portals, doors, windows and fireplaces, in worldwide architecture of different eras and many cultures, a lintel has been an element of post and lintel construction. Many different building materials have been used for lintels, in classical Western architecture and construction methods, by Merriam-Webster definition, a lintel is a load-bearing member and is placed over an entranceway. Called an architrave, the lintel is an element that is usually rested on stone pillars or stacked stone columns. An example from the Mycenaean Greece cultural period is the Treasury of Atreus in Mycenae and it weighs 120 tons, with approximate dimensions 8.3 ×5.2 ×1.2 m, one of the largest in the world. A lintel may support the chimney above a fireplace, or span the distance of a path or road, examples of the ornamental use of lintels are in the hypostyle halls and slab stelas in ancient Egypt and the Indian rock-cut architecture of Buddhist temples in caves. Preceding prehistoric and subsequent Indian Buddhist temples were wooden buildings with structural load-bearing wood lintels across openings, the rock-cut excavated cave temples were more durable, and the non-load-bearing carved stone lintels allowed creative ornamental uses of classical Buddhist elements. Highly skilled artisans were able to simulate the look of wood, imitating the nuances of a wooden structure, the Hoysala Empire era was an important period in the development of art and architectural the South Indian Kannadigan culture. It is remembered primarily for its Hindu temples mandapa, lintels. The Maya civilization in the Americas was known for its sophisticated art, the Mayan city of Yaxchilan, on the Usumacinta River in present-day southern Mexico, specialized in the stone carving of ornamental lintel elements within structural stone lintels. The earliest carved lintels were created in 723 CE, at the Yaxchilan archaeological site there are fifty-eight lintels with decorative pieces spanning the doorways of major structures. Among the finest Mayan carving to be excavated are three temple door lintels that feature scenes of a queen celebrating the kings anointing by a god
5.
Transom (architectural)
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In architecture, a transom is a transverse horizontal structural beam or bar, or a crosspiece separating a door from a window above it. This contrasts with a mullion, a structural member. Transom or transom window is also the customary U. S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece. In Britain, the light is usually referred to as a fanlight if of a semi-circular shape. A well-known example of this is at the entrance of 10 Downing Street. In the later Gothic, and more especially the Perpendicular Period, the phrase over the transom refers to works submitted for publication without being solicited. The image evoked is of a writer tossing a manuscript through the window over the door of the publishers office. Similarly, the phrase is used to describe the means by which confidential documents, architectural details called ranma are often found above doors in traditional Japanese houses and buildings. These details can be anything from simple shōji-style dividers to elaborate wooden carvings, roof lantern Sidelight Skylight Fortochka Media related to Transom at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Moorish architecture
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Moorish architecture is the architectural tradition that appeared in the Maghreb region and the Iberian peninsula after the Arab Islamic conquest. Other notable buildings include the palace city of Medina Azahara, the church San Cristo de la Luz in Toledo. The term is used to include the products of the Islamic civilisation of Southern Italy. The Palazzo dei Normanni in Sicily was begun in the 9th century by the Emir of Palermo, there is archeological evidence of an eighth-century mosque in Narbonne, France. Arabic architecture Islamic architecture Arab-Norman culture Islamic influences on Christian art Moorish Revival* Moroccan architecture Mudéjar Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon Curl, a Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
7.
Alhambra of Granada
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The Alhambra, the complete Arabic form of which was Qalat Al-Hamra, is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It was converted into a palace in 1333 by Yusuf I. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Alhambras late flowering of Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain during the decline of the Nasrid dynasty who were subject to the Christian Kings of Castile. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the inspiration for many songs, Moorish poets described it as a pearl set in emeralds, an allusion to the colour of its buildings and the woods around them. The palace complex was designed with the site in mind. The park has a multitude of nightingales and is filled with the sound of running water from several fountains. These are supplied through a conduit 8 km long, which is connected with the Darro at the monastery of Jesus del Valle above Granada, Alhambra was extended by the different Muslim rulers who lived in the complex. However, each new section that was added followed the consistent theme of paradise on earth, column arcades, fountains with running water, and reflecting pools were used to add to the aesthetic and functional complexity. In every case, the exterior was plain and austere. Sun and wind were freely admitted, blue, red, and a golden yellow, all somewhat faded through lapse of time and exposure, are the colors chiefly employed. Much of this ornament is carved stucco rather than stone, tile mosaics, with complicated mathematical patterns, are largely used as panelling for the lower part. Similar designs are displayed on wooden ceilings, muqarnas are the main elements for vaulting with stucco, and some of the most accomplished dome examples of this kind are in the Court of the Lions halls. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus, the literal translation of Alhambra, the red, reflects the color of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed, however, the buildings as seen today are reddish. Another possible origin of the name is the designation of the Nasrid Dynasty, known as the Banu al-Ahmar Arabic, Sons of the Red. One of the early Nasrid ancestors was nicknamed Yusuf Al Ahmar, the first reference to the Qal‘at al-Ḥamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of the ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Reconquista supporters working to end Spains Moorish rule
8.
Romanesque architecture
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Romanesque Architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the late 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches, examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman Architecture. The Romanesque style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture, each building has clearly defined forms, frequently of very regular, symmetrical plan, the overall appearance is one of simplicity when compared with the Gothic buildings that were to follow. The style can be identified right across Europe, despite regional characteristics, Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by churches. The most significant are the great churches, many of which are still standing, more or less complete. The largest groups of Romanesque survivors are in areas that were less prosperous in subsequent periods, including parts of southern France, northern Spain and rural Italy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word Romanesque means descended from Roman and was first used in English to designate what are now called Romance languages, Romance language is not degenerated Latin language. Latin language is degenerated Romance language, Romanesque architecture is not debased Roman architecture. Roman architecture is debased Romanesque architecture, the first use in a published work is in William Gunns An Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture. The term is now used for the more restricted period from the late 10th to 12th centuries, Many castles exist, the foundations of which date from the Romanesque period. Most have been altered, and many are in ruins. By far the greatest number of surviving Romanesque buildings are churches, the scope of Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture was the first distinctive style to spread across Europe since the Roman Empire. In the more northern countries Roman building styles and techniques had never been adopted except for official buildings, although the round arch continued in use, the engineering skills required to vault large spaces and build large domes were lost. There was a loss of continuity, particularly apparent in the decline of the formal vocabulary of the Classical Orders. In Rome several great Constantinian basilicas continued in use as an inspiration to later builders, the largest building is the church, the plan of which is distinctly Germanic, having an apse at both ends, an arrangement not generally seen elsewhere. Another feature of the church is its regular proportion, the plan of the crossing tower providing a module for the rest of the plan. These features can both be seen at the Proto-Romanesque St. Michaels Church, Hildesheim, 1001–1030, the style, sometimes called First Romanesque or Lombard Romanesque, is characterised by thick walls, lack of sculpture and the presence of rhythmic ornamental arches known as a Lombard band
9.
Gothic architecture
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Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
10.
Sutton Place, Surrey
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Sutton Place,3 miles north-east of Guildford in Surrey, is a Grade I listed Tudor manor house built c.1525 by Sir Richard Weston, courtier of Henry VIII. It is of importance to art history in showing some of the earliest traces of Italianate renaissance design elements in English architecture. In modern times, the estate has had a series of owners, a trend started by J. Paul Getty, then the worlds richest private citizen. Its current owner is the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, a definitive history of the house and manor, first published in 1893, was written by Frederic Harrison, jurist and historian, whose father had acquired the lease in 1874. What a different message this was to that placed above the gates of Dantes Inferno, Lasciate ogne speranza, voi chintrate, Abandon all hope, a more deliberately dissonant juxtaposition would be hard to imagine, yet that is what Sir Richard ordered to be erected. Sutton is clearly a house with a message to proclaim, which would not have been, could not have been, the house is built of red brick and was originally of four blocks enclosing a quadrangle exactly 81 ft.3 ins. square. The northern block or wing was demolished in 1782, giving the house its present open appearance of a U-shape and it is set within a separately listed formal parkland at the end of a long driveway. The decorative elements made from moulded terracotta on the facade are renaissance italianate and they consist of designs made from 40-50 different moulds, most strikingly comprising a panel of two rows of amorini immediately above the entrance door. With very minor exceptions, no stone was used in the building and decoration of Sutton Place, only brick, thus, the bases, doorways, windows, string-courses, labels and other dripstones, parapet, angles, cornices, and finials are all of moulded clay. Such usage is found in two other contemporary English buildings, East Barsham Manor in Norfolk and Layer Marney Tower in Essex. Its use was, however, rapidly abandoned in England, to appear only in the Victorian era. The terracotta proved very hard-wearing and was described by Harrison in 1899 as sharp, two completely new small windows were, at the same time, created from terracotta in the gables of the quadrangle. Other terracotta decorative elements include framed monograms of R W, the builder, the tun was a play on the last syllable of Weston. The concave-ended barrel is shown between two goose heads, the significance of which is unclear, unless it be the French word Oie plus -tun. Another recurring terracotta element is a bunch of grapes, thought by some to represent hops. Harrison believes the story of Weston having been the Kings brewer unfounded, similar hop-like bunches of grapes also feature at Layer Marney, and there is no evidence of Lord Marney, captain of the royal bodyguard, having been similarly a brewer. The hall windows contain fine painted glass, much installed contemporaneously with the building of the house and these consist of shields of arms and other rebuses. There are, in total,14 windows containing 92 separate lights and they are of different dates and quality, belonging to three separate epochs, but mostly relating to the builders family
11.
Joseph Nash
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Joseph Nash was an English watercolour painter and lithographer, specialising in historical buildings. His major work was the 4-volume Mansions of England in the Olden Time, Nash was born in Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire, the oldest son of the Reverend Okey Nash who owned Manor House School in Croydon which Joseph went on to attend. Despite being involved in a number of disputes with the Society and he also exhibited at the Royal Academy, British Institution and the New watercolour Society. He concentrated on the aspects of the buildings, which, using the example of Joseph Strutt. The volumes were very popular, with the lithographs circulated widely by newspapers, architects, the book was so effective it was claimed in Parliament that it was causing an increasing number of people to visit historical buildings. In 1846 he lithographed David Wilkies Oriental Sketches and in 1848 a set of views of Windsor Castle from his own drawings. Other works to which Nash contributed were Lawsons Scotland Delineated, Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851, McDermots The Merrie Days of England, and English Ballads. In 1854 he was described as suffering from fever and sold his studio later that year—the quality of his work declined dramatically from then on. He died at Hereford Road, Bayswater, London on 19 December 1878 and his only son, Joseph Nash Jnr. was a marine painter and also a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Nash. Joseph Nash on Artnet The Drawing Room, Broughton Castle The Porch of a Medieval Church Joseph Nash Gallery
12.
Wood
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Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees, and other woody plants. It is a material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers which are strong in tension embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, in a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots, Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. In 2005, the stock of forests worldwide was about 434 billion cubic meters. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy, in 1991 approximately 3.5 billion cubic meters of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction, a 2011 discovery in the Canadian province of New Brunswick discovered the earliest known plants to have grown wood, approximately 395 to 400 million years ago. Wood can be dated by carbon dating and in species by dendrochronology to make inferences about when a wooden object was created. People have used wood for millennia for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, artworks. Constructions using wood date back ten thousand years, buildings like the European Neolithic long house were made primarily of wood. Recent use of wood has changed by the addition of steel. The year-to-year variation in tree-ring widths and isotopic abundances gives clues to the climate at that time. This process is known as growth, it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem. These cells then go on to form thickened secondary cell walls, composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, if the distinctiveness between seasons is annual, these growth rings are referred to as annual rings. Where there is little seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be indistinct or absent, if the bark of the tree has been removed in a particular area, the rings will likely be deformed as the plant overgrows the scar. It is usually lighter in color than that near the portion of the ring. The outer portion formed later in the season is known as the latewood or summerwood. However, there are differences, depending on the kind of wood
13.
Aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
14.
I. M. Pei
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Ieoh Ming Pei, FAIA, RIBA, commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese-American architect. In 1948, Pei was recruited by New York City real estate magnate William Zeckendorf, Pei retired from full-time practice in 1990. Since then, he has taken on work as an architectural consultant primarily from his sons architectural firm Pei Partnership Architects and he went on to design Dallas City Hall and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. He returned to China for the first time in 1975 to design a hotel at Fragrant Hills, and designed Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, a skyscraper in Hong Kong for the Bank of China fifteen years later. In the early 1980s, Pei was the focus of controversy when he designed a glass-and-steel pyramid for the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He later returned to the world of the arts by designing the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Miho Museum in Japan, the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, in 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture. Peis ancestry traces back to the Ming Dynasty, when his family moved from Anhui province to Suzhou, finding wealth in the sale of medicinal herbs, the family stressed the importance of helping the less fortunate. Ieoh Ming Pei was born on April 26,1917 to Tsuyee Pei and Lien Kwun, the family eventually included five children. As a boy, Pei was very close to his mother and she invited him, his brothers, and his sisters to join her on meditation retreats. His relationship with his father was less intimate and their interactions were respectful but distant. Peis ancestors success meant that the family lived in the echelons of society. The younger Pei, drawn more to music and other forms than to his fathers domain of banking. I have cultivated myself, he said later, at the age of ten, Pei moved with his family to Shanghai after his father was promoted. Pei attended Saint Johns Middle School, run by Protestant missionaries, academic discipline was rigorous, students were allowed only one half-day each month for leisure. Pei enjoyed playing billiards and watching Hollywood movies, especially those of Buster Keaton and he also learned rudimentary English skills by reading the Bible and novels by Charles Dickens. Shanghais many international elements gave it the name Paris of the East, the citys global architectural flavors had a profound influence on Pei, from the Bund waterfront area to the Park Hotel, built in 1934. He was also impressed by the gardens of Suzhou, where he spent the summers with extended family and regularly visited a nearby ancestral shrine. The Shizilin Garden, built in the 14th century by a Buddhist monk, was especially influential and its unusual rock formations, stone bridges, and waterfalls remained etched in Peis memory for decades
15.
Muntin
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A muntin in US usage is a strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window. Muntins are also called muntin bars, glazing bars, or sash bars, muntins can be found in doors, windows and furniture, typically in western styles of architecture. Muntins divide a window sash or casement into a grid system of small panes of glass. In UK usage a muntin is a member in timber panelling or a door separating two panels. Windows with true divided lights make use of thin muntins, typically 1/2 to 7/8 wide in residential windows, positioned between individual panes of glass. In wooden windows, a fillet is cut into the edge of the muntin to stop the pane of glass in the opening. The inner sides of wooden muntins are typically milled to traditional profiles, in the U. S. the thickness of window muntins has varied historically, ranging from very slim muntins in 19th century Greek revival buildings to thick muntins in 17th and early 18th century buildings. Many considered the division of a window or glazed door into smaller panes to be more attractive than use of large panes. In the UK and other countries, muntins were nevertheless removed from the windows of thousands of buildings during the nineteenth century in favor of large panes of plate glass. Restoration of these buildings in the following century increasingly included reinstatement of the glazing bars, muntins are often confused with mullions, and astragals. In the UK, the term tends to be used only when there are bars sandwiched within the insulated glass glazing unit. Double- or triple-layer insulated glass can be used in place of ordinary single panes in a divided by muntins. In furniture, a muntin is the vertical member of the framework of a piece of furniture
16.
Sash window
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The oldest surviving examples of sash windows were installed in England in the 1670s, for example at Ham House. The invention of the window is sometimes credited, without conclusive evidence. Others see the window as a Dutch invention. To facilitate operation, the weight of the panel is usually balanced by a heavy steel, lead. The sash weight is connected to the window by a braided cotton sash cord, or a chain, breakage of this cord requires disassembly, or destruction, of the trim pieces to gain access for repair. The term sash windows is used interchangeably with the term box sash windows in the United Kingdom, historically box sash windows are heavier and more stately in nature than modern sash windows, but both terms are used within the industry when referring to the same type of window. The name hung sash window, which is usual in the United States than in the United Kingdom. These windows are found in older buildings in warmer climates. A significant advantage of double-hung windows is that they provide efficient cooling of interiors during warm weather, a double-hung window where the upper sash is smaller than the lower is termed a cottage window. A single-hung window has two sashes, but normally the top sash is fixed and only the bottom sash slides, triple- and quadruple-hung windows are used for tall openings, common in New England churches. Construction is usually of softwood, and these sashes were traditionally only single-glazed, early sash windows were made from high-quality wood that has lasted generations and should, if at all possible, be repaired with similar-quality slow-growth wood rather than being replaced. The glass in old windows can be as important as the sashes themselves, old glass is easily recognised by its imperfections which give a degree of distortion both when looking through it and when looking at it from the outside. Of these, the glass still currently being manufactured in the traditional way is cylinder. All other old glass is therefore irreplaceable and should be carefully conserved and/or protected before any work is carried out, modern double-glazed sash windows are now available, but depending on their aesthetic style, can be frowned upon. Traditional problems with solid wooden sash windows include rot, swelling or distortion of the woodwork or rattling in the wind and these problems can be solved by careful repair and the introduction of draught stripping. It is also a problem for inexperienced painters to paint the sash stuck. The sliding mechanism makes sash windows more vulnerable to these problems than traditional casement windows, sash windows are relatively high maintenance, but offer advantages in return. However, well-maintained sash windows should last generations without needing parts replaced and it is also possible to clean all the glass from within the building by sliding the two panes to different positions
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Curtain wall (architecture)
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A curtain wall system is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep the weather out and the occupants in. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material, when glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is that natural light can penetrate deeper within the building. The curtain wall façade does not carry any dead load weight from the other than its own dead load weight. The wall transfers horizontal wind loads that are incident upon it to the building structure through connections at floors or columns of the building. A curtain wall is designed to resist air and water infiltration, sway induced by wind and seismic forces acting on the building, curtain-wall systems are typically designed with extruded aluminum members, although the first curtain walls were made of steel. The aluminium frame is infilled with glass, which provides an architecturally pleasing building. However, parameters related to solar gain control such as thermal comfort, other common infills include, stone veneer, metal panels, louvres, and operable windows or vents. Buildings were constructed with the walls of the building supporting the load of the entire structure. The exterior walls could be non-load-bearing and thus much lighter and more open than the masonry load-bearing walls of the past and this gave way to increased use of glass as an exterior façade, and the modern-day curtain wall was born. Oriel Chambers and 16 Cook Street, both built in Liverpool, England, by architect and civil engineer Peter Ellis, are characterised by their extensive use of glass in their facades. Towards the courtyards they even boasted metal-framed glass curtain walls, which makes two of the worlds first buildings to include this structural feature. The extensive glass walls allowed light to penetrate further into the building, utilizing more floor space, oriel Chambers comprises 43,000 sq ft set over five floors without an elevator which had only recently been invented and was not yet widespread. An early example of a curtain wall used in the classical style is the Kaufhaus Tietz department store on Leipziger Straße, Berlin. Some of the first curtain walls were made with steel mullions, eventually silicone sealants or glazing tape were substituted, using a glass mullion system. Some designs included a cap to hold the glass in place. The first curtain wall installed in New York City, in the Lever House building, was this type of construction, earlier modernist examples are the Bauhaus in Dessau and the Hallidie Building in San Francisco. During the 1970s began the use of aluminium extrusions for mullions. Aluminum offers the advantage of being able to be easily extruded into nearly any shape required for design
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Elizabethan era
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The Elizabethan era is the epoch in English history marked by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historians often depict it as the age in English history. In terms of the century, the historian John Guy argues that England was economically healthier, more expansive. This golden age represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music, the era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of Englands past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home and it was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland. The Elizabethan Age may be viewed especially highly when considered in light of the failings of the periods preceding Elizabeths reign, the Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism. England was also compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had come to an end under the weight of Spanish domination of the peninsula, France was embroiled in its own religious battles due to significant Spanish intervention, that would only be settled in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes. The one great rival was Spain, which England clashed both in Europe and the Americas in skirmishes that exploded into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 and this drained both the English Exchequer and economy that had been so carefully restored under Elizabeths prudent guidance. English commercial and territorial expansion would be limited until the signing of the Treaty of London the year following Elizabeths death, economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade, persistent theft of Spanish treasure, and the African slave trade. The Victorian era and the early 20th century idealised the Elizabethan era, the Encyclopædia Britannica maintains that he long reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603, was Englands Golden Age. Merry England, in love with life, expressed itself in music and literature, in architecture and this idealising tendency was shared by Britain and an Anglophilic America. In popular culture, the image of those adventurous Elizabethan seafarers was embodied in the films of Errol Flynn, in response and reaction to this hyperbole, modern historians and biographers have tended to take a more dispassionate view of the Tudor period. Elizabethan England was not particularly successful in a military sense during the period, having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility. Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and this general peace and prosperity allowed the attractive developments that Golden Age advocates have stressed. The Elizabethan Age was also an age of plots and conspiracies, frequently political in nature, high officials in Madrid, Paris and Rome sought to kill Elizabeth, a Protestant, and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic. That would be a prelude to the recovery of England for Catholicism. In 1570, the Ridolfi plot was thwarted, in 1584, the Throckmorton Plot was discovered, after Francis Throckmorton confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England
19.
Came
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A came is a divider bar used between small pieces of glass to make a larger glazing panel. There are two kinds of came, the H-shaped sections that two pieces together and the U-shaped sections that are used for the borders. Cames are mostly made of lead, zinc, copper, brass or brass-capped lead, of the metal strips, lead is softer and more flexible, making it easier to cut and bend. The harder metals are used to work with slightly curved lines and pieces that require greater structural support and they can also be used as border came, once again for stability and support. Came serves three purposes, it joins the pieces of glass, forms the lines within the glasswork and provides the metal to be soldered, came comes in varying face sizes and shapes. They can be round, flat or colonial shaped strips and they can also be narrow or have wide faces. It has either a flat or rounded profile and its width is the measurement given when a came size is listed, the channel runs the length of the came. H-shaped came has 2 back-to-back channels that hold adjoining glass pieces in position on the interior of a glass panel. It can also be used as a border came in certain situations, U-shaped came has only one channel and is used as a border around the perimeter of panels. The heart is the part of the came that the glass pieces rest against inside the channel, the width of lead came pattern lines is usually 1/16 inch and allows for the thickness of the cames heart to fit between the adjoining pieces of glass. The width and depth of the used to assemble the piece affect the pattern for cutting glass. Border cames are U-channel cames that are used on the edges of works. The selection of the metal of the came may vary depending upon the work, for instance, zinc may be a solid selection for free-hanging panels, because it is rigid, but lightweight. Architectural panels, on the hand, are often enclosed in framing. Bumpers, or lead spacers, are pieces of cut came strips that are left over and they can be used temporarily in the glasswork process to hold together two pieces of glass to estimate the spacing of the finished project
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Stained glass
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The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, mosques, although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has extended the term stained glass to include domestic leadlight. As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together by strips of lead. Painted details and yellow stain are used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass. Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as illuminated wall decorations, Stained glass is still popular today, but often referred to as art glass. It is prevalent in luxury homes, commercial buildings, and places of worship, artists and companies are contracted to create beautiful art glass ranging from domes, windows, backsplashes, etc. During the late Medieval period, glass factories were set up there was a ready supply of silica. Silica requires very high heat to become molten, something not all glass factories were able to achieve, such materials as potash, soda, and lead can be added to lower the melting temperature. Other substances, such as lime, are added to rebuild the weakened network, Glass is coloured by adding metallic oxide powders or finely divided metals while it is in a molten state. Copper oxides produce green or bluish green, cobalt makes deep blue, much modern red glass is produced using copper, which is less expensive than gold and gives a brighter, more vermilion shade of red. Glass coloured while in the pot in the furnace is known as pot metal glass
