Post Independece Industrial City Rourkela, India

http://pdfcast.org/pdf/post-independece-industrial-city-rourkela-india

Evolution of Thimphu settlement

Evoution of Thimphu Settlement

URBANIZATION

URBANIZATION- IS THE PROCESS OF PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER WITH DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS TRYING TO UNITE....

Review on Invisible Cities

Title of the book: Invisible Cities


Author: Italo Calvino

Introduction

The book was first published in 1972, and later translated from the Italian by William Weaver. Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in San Remo, Italy. He is an essayist and journalist as well as a novelist. The book was published in Picador. In 1973 Italo Calvino won the prestigious Italian literary award, the Premio Feltrinelli.

Review

The book explores imagination and the imaginable through description of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo. The book is framed as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor Kublai Khan, who constantly having merchants to describe the state of his expanding and vast empire, Polo. The majority of the book consists of brief prose poems of 55 cities, apparently narrated by Polo. Short dialogues between the two characters are interspersed every five to ten cities and are used to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including linguistics and human nature.

Marco Polo and Kublai Khan do not speak the same language. When Polo is explaining the various cities, he uses objects from the city to tell the story. The implication is that that each character understands the other through their own interpretation of what they are saying. They literally are not speaking the same language, which leaves many decisions for the individual reader.

The book gives a strong moral value in the end to the readers, as in the book said by Polo, as in this review phrased below.

And Polo said: ‘the inferno of living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.’

The above phrase is addressed to the great king; it reminds him that acceptance is easier than bringing a change in his desire for a modern city.

The book, because of its approach to the imaginative potentialities of cities, has been used by architects and artists to visualize how cities can be, their secret folds, where the human imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function.





Invisible Cities

Cities and Memory

Diomira the massive city, Isidora the city with a youth mentality, Zaira the city with its memory in vain, Zora the forgotten city and Maurilia the city with a new memory.

Cities and Desire

Anastasia a treacherous city which traps your desire and empties your pocket, Despina a piece of paradise between the two desert the ocean and the sand, Fedora a city which desires another city and Zobeide a city built to capture the object in the dream of the people.

Cities and Sign

Tamara the city full of sign boards, Zirma the city which repeats itself that it’s redundant, Zoe the city with a different language which does not speak of inside or outside, Hypatia the city underwater and Olivia with a spirit of free life and refined civilization.

Thin Cities

Isaura the concentric city on water, Zenobia the city on high pilings of a dry bed, Armilla the unfinished city, Sophronia a city with two halves one permanent and one temporary and Octavia the spider web city.

Trading Cities

Euphemia the city where memories are traded every solstice and equinox, Chole the city crowded with strangers, Eutropia the city on a chessboard which repeats the same scenes with actors interchanged, Ersilia the city of strings and Esmeralda the city of waters where the shortest distance is zigzags.

Cities and Eyes

Valdrada the ying-yang city with a reflection, Zemrude the city with no return route, Baucis the city up in the clouds on stilts, Phyllis the city which plays with your eye and Moriana the city only a face and its obverse.

Cities and Names

Aglaura the city that speaks of has much of what is needed to exist, Leandra the city which is always left behind, Pyrrha the city high above the bay, Clarice a city which has always been only a confusion of obsolete and Irene the city in a distance.

Cities and the Dead

Melania the unwell city, Adelma city of the dead, Eusapia twin city of life and dead, Argia the city underground and Lavdomia the city of the unborn.

Cities and the Sky

Eudoxia the city which spreads both upwards and downwards with winding alleys, Beersheba the celestial city, Thekla a city under construction, Perinthia the city of the astrologers and Andria a city where its best to remain motionless.

Continuous Cities

Leonia the city surrounded by enormous piles of garbage, Trade, Procopia, Cecilia illustrious city and Penthesilea a city with no focus or central point.

Hidden Cities

Olinda city grows like the concentric circles on a tree trunk; Raissa an unhappy city contains a happy city, Marozia in search of salvation, Theodora, Berenice an unjust city w

book review on lost architecture...

About this book

This volume prov

Name of the Book                           : Lost Architectures

Author                                                 : Neil Spiller

Publisher                                            :Wiley Academy

Year                                                      :2001, in Great Britain

Pages                                                   :127 pages

Introduction

With the series of unfolding of the some of the architectures which, if greatness be said about those projects then it was only felt and found in papers as they were never executed due to so many reasons. The book actually deals its rather superficial explanation on the some of the projects which could have turned into some architectural masterpiece had it been converted from drawing to the buildings on the ground. With today’s age, many if not always been said to be the era of modern architecture could well be something else which could have come from those architectures which never were built on the off-the –paper. With discussion and disclosure of few projects, it explains the reason behind the failure while it also doesn’t forsake the reasonable argument to prove why is it that we feel it lost.

Description

It discusses about the series of those projects which couldn’t be executed. The inspiring architects who worked in the twentieth century before the mechanics of computer empowered the architecture field put their works with certain sense of aesthetics blending undeniably with the angularity of certain correctness and mechanics.

The hi-tech period might have been bringing genuine fastness and precise dimensions, some of the architects whose work is present in the book might well be in a genuine situation of regret or in the deep sense of having missed to tower the genuine piece, that too in the times when things were done merely with hands rather than computer.

With the concepts of the projects being discussed, the author endeavors to uncover the mysteries behind the ideas, the journey takes us more into ourselves being asked for the answer. It demands our instinct and personal experience in worldly wisdom which those architects have thought of. Whether the concepts could have been the source of failure behind the project, or the otherwise, it remains to be debated. It has in-depth soul on reaching the souls of those lost architectures which otherwise could have become one very exemplary architecture of modern times.

My take on it

Architecture to a person who is involved so much with his soul and head in what he is doing, it means a lot to him when he experiences the form and shape he has started with pencil on paper being raised to conquer certain dimensions and attain the built form. But when it is lost, with architecture, the soul at times loses its breathe. It takes architecture to level where its worth loses its credibility, beauty and soul.

ides the reader with an integrated overview of  philosophy and ethics of design in engineering and a

Amplify your life..............

I am driving in my Ferrari enzo through the low grassland in Holland where the world have the best and lonely roads which are stretched straight for miles and miles with my sun-glasses on , I can smell the black road giving its aroma that sweet smell which goes into your nose from below because of the wetness of the road. With the pedal on the floor speeding on the road where the meter does not go below 200 miles per hour, my glass pulled down slowly feeling the freshness of the wet land and the road where the air rushes in your nose suffocating, where nothing comes to your ears but the sweet music of the speed vrooooooooooommmmmmmmm.... The suns behind the clumps of cloud which avoids the glare from the road and the grassland aside and the world appears much more greener.leaning back low and relaxed where my mind is empty and my legs relaxed on the floor hand hung on my steering wheel where the efficiency of energy altogether is way crossed 100 %This is the kind of peace that every man is searching regardless of the situation......all this is equal to drinking the cold water from the cooler in my rum bottle and smoking a cigar and watching amplifier's video....P.S- amplify your life....go imagine!!!

I am an idiot........

life has become a race becaue we think of efficiecy so its by virtue that some lead and some left behind in the race and that is the ugly contribution of science and technology that mankind is replaced by machine hence increase in unemployment,poverty and all issues related to it , i understand why we cant go slow becasue it was already a racewhen i was born . I had only two option participate or give up...and to change all that is almost impossible or almost possible because there is no absolute selflessness...thats why i am an idiot.....

realization.......

REALIZATION BY DEFINITION MEANS A STATE OF MIND WHERE ONE UNDERSTANDS OF THE CONSEQUENCES AND IMPACTS AND PURPOSE OF BASICALLY LIVING.
REALIZATION BY ANALYSIS MEANS THE PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING SITUATION AND EVENT,A GOAL,OR THE REASON FOR AN ACTION.
EVERY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IS IN A DIFFERENT STAGE OF REALIZATION , I GUESS THAT’S WHY WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURAL STYLES IN A SAME PERIOD OF TIME.THE POWER OF REALIZATION IS NOT SEEN BECAUSE ITS MORE THAN LOGIC WHICH CAN CAPTURE THE VISUALIZATION OF REALIZATION BUT THE WHOLE WORLD IS TURNING IN THE REALM OF REALIZATION, I GUESS THAT’S WHY ARCHITECTURE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN WHAT WE UNDERSTAND AS ARCHITECTURE… IT KEEPS PUSHING ITSELF TO THE NEXT LEVEL…
REALIZATION HAS TAKEN MANKIND A STEP FORWARD IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
IN THIS MODERN ERA OF REALIZATION HAS BECOME CERTAIN BUT LESS BECAUSE OF THE FAST MOVING WORLD THAT WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO STOP AND OBSERVE THINGS HAPPENING WITHOUT A REASON FOR YOU.WE ONLY OBSERVE WHATS RELATED TO US AND MAKE THE FULL UTILIZATION OF WHAT WE HAVE .. BUT WE DON’T CONSERVE AND SAFE WHAT IS NOT RELATED TO US LIKE THE DECLINING FOREST AND THE INCREASING DEMANDS….
I SAY ARCHITECTURE IS MORE TO DO WITH REALIZATION OF HOW THE WORLD IS TURNING AND THAN REACT TO IT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE … IF I HAVE TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF REALIZATION AND ITS IMPORTANCE … I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE IT WITH AN EXAMPLE…. IF I ASK MY FRIENDS DO YOU LIKE ARCHITECTURE? MOST OF THE ANSWERS ARE HAPHAZARD AND MOST COME UP WITH” IS IT WORTH IT!”...THAN I TELL THEM THAT ITS NOT THAT THEY ARE STRESSED WITH ARCHITECTURE BUT IN FACT YOU ARE STRESSED WITH THE SCHOOL….REALIZATION CAN CHANGE THE MEANING OF LIFE, THAN WHAT IS ABOUT DESIGN THAT THEY CANT CHANGE?
ARCHITECTURE HAS A DIFFERENT ROLE AND CAN REPRESENT SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH CONCERNED WITHE SPACE , FORM AND SATISFACTION OF FUNCTIONAL DEMANDS, ARGUABLY ARCHITECTURE PRIMARY ROLE IS SYMBOLIC….BECAUSE ARCHITECTURE IS NOT ONLY FRAME WORK FOR PERSONAL OR FAMILY LIFE, IT CREATES THE FRAME WORK FOR NATIONAL LIFE AND THEREBY REPRESENTS THE PRIME CHARACTERISTICS OF A CULTURE…AND HENCE ARCHITECTURE BECOMES THE MOST PERVASIVE MIRROR OF MANS PRESENCE…..

My childhood's most memorable place.....

When I was young; I was a traveler, an explorer. I had been from place to place and met people after people. I often find myself conversing with oldies; I guess the quality which charmed people around me was my playful and fun-loving nature. In my childhood days I had been throughout the valleys of my homeland, Bhutan by car and on foot; on the road of great Indian delta of Ganges and the red soil valley of Kathmandu Nepal.

My childhood’s most memorable places had come in a sequence on my first journey to Bodhgaya in Bihar. And the long but an authentic journey of Buddhist pilgrimages from my home town. We started our journey very early in the morning before the sunrise. And have seen my first sun rise in plains where the sun starts from way below  the horizon which was quite unusual for me as I see my sunrise from a back of a high mountain in my homeland wondering why was the sun so near and low. And I saw the sky changing from varieties of color from orange, yellow to blue for the first time as well; which made me senseless of my long and tiring bus ride and found myself breathless and with a blank mind. I guess that’s what you called breathtaking and mind blowing. Or a glance of happiness without an achievement but just by presence. Even the air gave a different aroma and aroma of peace, calm and humble. I felt the fast gushing of air on my face and the high speed moving trees and the stationary sun rising above the horizons. And the road with which ends into a dot.

Even today the memories of those days inspire and give me the strength I need to tackle my obstacle. It also frees my mind of tensions and just be there contained. For the first time in my life I was comfortable being still, and the sun set revealing the stars and the moon slowly climbing its way up. Two days and two nights my mind was lost with the sun and the running trees. Next day the bus came to its halt and then off to camping not so far away from the great Mahabodhi temple of Bodhgaya.

Inside the Mahabodhi temple premises are thousands of people circumambulating around the sunken but tall temple with sculptures all over its outer and inner façade. I remember myself running around through the crowd imagining myself riding a bike in a race, vroom, vroom….. Beside the temple was a lake, a very dirty one. The water has turned black but I was startled by the abundance of slimy fish in that lake. An over grown Fish Lake it was in the name of freeing the small fishes in the market which won’t fetch fisher a good deal by killing it.         

I met two of my most memorable friends down there.  They are from Sikkim and they also came on their vacation. I can’t remember their name and am not in touch with them I guess that’s why I could never forget them. They were two sisters and my first encounter with them was amusing. They were hiding behind their parents and suddenly two heads popped out form the backs of their parents and both look very similar which got me scratching my head and amused. One was very sensitive and the other one was tuff.

The most memorable moment I had with the two first girl friends from Sikkim was at an abandoned half done house. Grey was the concrete not painted and can still feel the exposed mortar within the brick which was not plastered. The place was rustic perfect for an adventure as an explorer. It is also the place where I got my first two kisses from each of them. I still remember how one use to blush but the other one was tuff.

Night time the temple premises was lit up with light and butter lamps as and offerings and the temple stood  more attractive and I often find myself alone meditating  and offering my bows. Hundred and eight bowings I offered every night and one of the nights I met my first guru a Buddhist guru (khempo). We had conversed a lot but I can only remember him telling me the word circumambulating for the first time. I had mediated under the same bodhi tree where Buddha got enlightened just outside the temple aside from the main entrance on the right side.

The day when I was leaving back home was a sad scene, I missed my first two girl friends, my first guru and the temple. Today I thank god for giving me this most sensational memories which at times become my strength and my inspiration. “Sometimes the place gives its own sense.  Sometimes people and activities around you gives a new sense and meaning to your life with no justification. Both cannot be compared because the two are completely different and difference should not be challenged but rather it should be relished and celebrated of its uniqueness “. While going back in the same bus and on the same seat and when I saw the sun setting I smiled back at the sun with memories replaying all over in my head.