Ar C.J. Walsh – Registered Architect, Fire Engineer & Independent Technical Controller …… International Expert on Accessibility for All (including Fire Safety) + 'Real' Sustainability Implementation !
2011-04-19: This year’s Osaka Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market is taking place right now … from 14 April until 20 April 2011 … at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) … the head office of Japan Mint … a governmental agency responsible for the supply of coins and medals, and the analysis, testing and certification of metals.
The 560 metre long Cherry Blossom Walk in Osaka is famous, throughout Japan, for its 352 Cherry (Sakura) Trees … comprising 128 Cherry Varieties. It is open for public viewing during one week each year, usually in April, when the flowers are in full bloom.
In 2010, there were 602,000 visitors … and I was very fortunate to be one of those !
Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
In 2011, the Themed Flowering Cherry is ‘IMOSE’ … so named, because it often bears two fruits from one flower. The flowers are light and dark red in colour … with around 30 petals, which bloom in two stages.
Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
Before the recent Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster in Japan … I would have automatically selected photographs which focused on the Cherry Blossoms, and had few if any people in view. Now, however, it is important to show ordinary Japanese people … people of all ages … enjoying a simple pleasure in life. These are the very same people who were caught up in the tragedy, and continue to suffer horrendously.
Now is the time, after the world’s short attention span has moved on to the next natural or man-made disaster, to continue to keep these people in our thoughts.
Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
2011 Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Appeal
I am a Member of the Ireland Japan Association (IJA). If you wish to make a donation, please go directly to the IJA WebSite … http://www.ija.ie/ … and please, please give generously. Thank you.
Colour photograph showing the 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing & Festival Market at the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-20. Click to enlarge.
The 1949 film: The Third Man – directed by Carol Reed, with the haunting zither music of Anton Karas, and starring Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard … also ‘stars’ the war-damaged city of Vienna, in Austria.
The film screenplay, based on his own original story, was written by Graham Greene.
Late in the Film … having discovered that Harry Lime (Orson Welles) is, after all, alive … Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) demands to meet him at the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel …
Click the Link Above to Download and/or View this Film Scene Clip (Flash Video File, 4.40 Mb)
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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Wiener Prater – the Prater in Vienna – is a large public park situated in the centre-city district of ‘Leopoldstadt’ … and located between the River Danube (German: Donau) and the Danube Canal. The Wurstelprater Amusement Park stands at one corner of the Prater and includes the Riesenrad (English: Giant Ferris Wheel).
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2008-03-15. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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The Prater Giant Ferris Wheel was built in 1896-97 by the engineer, Walter B. Basset … a retired British naval officer. He also built similar Wheels – very popular at the end of the 19th Century – in Chicago, London, Blackpool and Paris. Only the Prater Ferris Wheel, in Vienna, survives today.
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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The Giant Ferris Wheel is 61.0 metres in diameter and turns with a speed of 0.75 m per second. On a clear day, it presents a magnificent panorama of the city from each of its 15 cabins.
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing the Prater Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Austria. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2005-04-23. Click to enlarge.
2010-10-20:In Europe … we are experts at talking about an Accessible Built Environment … and hopeless when it comes to effective implementation …
Built Environment: Anywhere there is, or has been, a man-made or wrought (worked) intervention by humans in the natural environment, e.g. cities, towns, villages, rural settlements, roads, bridges, tunnels, transport systems, service utilities, and cultivated lands, lakes, rivers, coasts, seas, etc. … including the Virtual Environment.
Virtual Environment: A designed environment, electronically-generated from within the Built Environment, which may have the appearance, form, functionality and impact – to the person perceiving and actually experiencing it – of a real, imagined and/or utopian world.
However, I would like to share not just one single moment in Japan, but a Series of Special Moments … where I was observing and studying, up close and personal, the ‘real’ implementation of Accessibility-for-All in Public Places … including some discrete detailing at the Main Gate to Kanazawa Castle … Ishikawa-mon.
When I say Accessibility-for-All … I mean Accessibility Design, with all of the rambling philosophical bullshit removed. The emphasis can then properly be placed on a high level of quality in Actual Accessibility Performance provided for users of the built environment … all users, because many of the details shown in the photographs below make movement in and around public places safer and more convenient for everybody.
Some of the many Aspects in Japan which, together, facilitate this high level of quality in Actual Accessibility Performance …
A robust legal base mandating the provision of Accessibility-for-All ;
Determined political will ;
Sufficient financial resources ;
A compassionate and understanding bureaucracy – at all levels in society ;
Competence, i.e. education, training and experience, of spatial planners, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, etc … and members of construction organizations ;
Innovative, well-designed accessibility-related products which can be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’.
Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (82kb)
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Much of the Accessibility Detailing in Japan far exceeds, in quality of performance, what is described in the Proposed International Standards Organization (ISO) Accessibility-for-All Standard … to be published, hopefully(!), in 2011 … and here is a small taste …
Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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It is important to link one activity/task/function with the next … (please ignore the awkward step up at the entrance to the train carriage … instead, look at the wonderful entrance detail in the next photograph below) …
Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Nara, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-23. Click to enlarge.
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What a beauty !
Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-24. Click to enlarge.
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Common everywhere … a closer look at the information which can very easily be provided on all handrails …
Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Osafune, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-21. Click to enlarge.
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The Main Gate to Kanazawa Castle … Ishikawa-mon …
Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing Accessibility-for-All in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
2010-10-03: At an impressionable young age, I was exposed to the Landscape Design ‘Shock and Awe’ of the Palace Gardens at Versailles, just outside Paris in France. In Europe … we are convinced that we know it all … and that we have all the answers. Let me break the bad news … we don’t !
Japan is another world … another experience … jaw-dropping, eye-popping, breath-taking … a feast for the mind. Here is a very good example of a different approach … to me, a far more attractive approach … to shaping and moulding the landscape …
With an area of approximately 10 hectares … Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa City is the largest of the three famous Gardens in Japan (the others are in Mito and Okayama). It is also considered to be the most beautiful. The Park is an informally styled landscaped garden with characteristics typical of the Edo Period. Originally the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle, it is located on the slope facing the castle’s Main Gate … Ishikawa-mon. A busy road now separates the two !
This Park embodies the unification of the six qualities: honour, ceremony, expanse, artistic design, coolness, and scenic harmony.
Completed in 1837, the Park was first opened to the public on 7 May 1874. It was designated a National Site of Special Scenic Beauty on 20 March 1985.
Here are some random scenes … and a plan. Enjoy … and please notice the details …
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
Kotojitoro Lantern …
Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour image showing the plan of Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
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Colour photograph showing a scene in Kenroku-en Park in Kanazawa, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-27. Click to enlarge.
2010-06-07: People who visited this Post during the summer … some, many times … want more of an explanation. In this case … ‘Less was not More’ ! Apologies.
In the North of Kyoto City … Rokuon-Ji Temple – The Golden Pavilion … a very elegant three storey building, harmoniously integrated into the landscape … and clearly intended to be reflected in the water of Kyōko-chi (Mirror Pond).
Colour photograph showing The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2010-04-24. Click to enlarge.
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Looking more closely at the Pavilion, each of the Three Floors has a different Architectural Style:
1.Hō-sui-in … the Name of the First/Ground Floor … built in the palace style, known as Shinden-zukuri.
2.Chō-on-dō … the Name of the Second Floor … built in the style of samurai houses, known as Buke-zukuri.
3.Kukkyō-chō … the Name of the Third Floor … built in the style of Karayō, or Zen Temple.
Both the 2nd and 3rd Floors are covered with gold leaf on Japanese lacquer. The roof covering, throughout, is cedar wood shingle. The Phoenix, at the top, promises good fortune.
2009-10-08: Deeply interested … and ‘luuuving’ … a hands-on and direct involvement in the Sustainable Restoration of Buildings which are of Historical, Architectural or Cultural Importance … or even those buildings which are not so important … I am deeply frustrated and angry when I look around at what has happened … and continues to happen … in Ireland … horrible, damaging interventions and alterations of all kinds … too many of which cannot be undone.
Certain guru-like organizations and individuals must be robustly challenged !
Yes … in everyday practice, there are pressures concerning an improvement of energy performance (BER Certificates !) … an improvement of accessibility performance for people with activity limitations (2001 WHO ICF) … an improvement of fire safety performance, etc., etc. … and, in the next few short years, adaptation to climate change will require serious attention.
BUT – BUT – BUT … in dealing with these buildings (a priceless heritage for our children, and their children, which cannot be replaced !) … some absolutely core principles must influence the minds of decision-makers in client and construction organizations, national authorities having jurisdiction, regulators … and, most importantly, the minds and souls of architects and engineers. (I am wondering … do engineers have souls ?)
From practical experience, I have found the 16 Principles of the 1964 Venice Charter to be enormously helpful …
ARTICLE 1 The concept of an historic monument embraces not only the single architectural work but also the urban or rural setting in which is found the evidence of a particular civilization, a significant development or an historic event. This applies not only to great works of art but also to more modest works of the past which have acquired cultural significance with the passing of time.
ARTICLE 2 The conservation and restoration of monuments must have recourse to all the sciences and techniques which can contribute to the study and safeguarding of the architectural heritage.
ARTICLE 3 The intention in conserving and restoring monuments is to safeguard them no less as works of art than as historical evidence.
ARTICLE 4 It is essential to the conservation of monuments that they be maintained on a permanent basis.
ARTICLE 5 The conservation of monuments is always facilitated by making use of them for some socially useful purpose. Such use is therefore desirable but it must not change the lay-out or decoration of the building. It is within these limits only that modifications demanded by a change of function should be envisaged and may be permitted.
ARTICLE 6 The conservation of a monument implies preserving a setting which is not out of scale. Wherever the traditional setting exists, it must be kept. No new construction, demolition or modification which would alter the relations of mass and colour must be allowed.
ARTICLE 7 A monument is inseparable from the history to which it bears witness and from the setting in which it occurs. The moving of all or part of a monument cannot be allowed except where the safeguarding of that monument demands it or where it is justified by national or international interest of paramount importance.
ARTICLE 8 Items of sculpture, painting or decoration which form an integral part of a monument may only be removed from it if this is the sole means of ensuring their preservation.
ARTICLE 9 The process of restoration is a highly specialized operation. Its aim is to preserve and reveal the aesthetic and historic value of the monument and is based on respect for original material and authentic documents. It must stop at the point where conjecture begins, and in this case moreover any extra work which is indispensable must be distinct from the architectural composition and must bear a contemporary stamp. The restoration in any case must be preceded and followed by an archaeological and historical study of the monument.
ARTICLE 10 Where traditional techniques prove inadequate, the consolidation of a monument can be achieved by the use of any modem technique for conservation and construction, the efficacy of which has been shown by scientific data and proved by experience.
ARTICLE 11 The valid contributions of all periods to the building of a monument must be respected, since unity of style is not the aim of a restoration. When a building includes the superimposed work of different periods, the revealing of the underlying state can only be justified in exceptional circumstances and when what is removed is of little interest and the material which is brought to light is of great historical, archaeological or aesthetic value, and its state of preservation good enough to justify the action. Evaluation of the importance of the elements involved and the decision as to what may be destroyed cannot rest solely on the individual in charge of the work.
ARTICLE 12 Replacements of missing parts must integrate harmoniously with the whole, but at the same time must be distinguishable from the original so that restoration does not falsify the artistic or historic evidence.
ARTICLE 13 Additions cannot be allowed except in so far as they do not detract from the interesting parts of the building, its traditional setting, the balance of its composition and its relation with its surroundings.
ARTICLE 14 The sites of monuments must be the object of special care in order to safeguard their integrity and ensure that they are cleared and presented in a seemly manner. The work of conservation and restoration carried out in such places should be inspired by the principles set forth in the foregoing articles.
ARTICLE 15 Excavations should be carried out in accordance with scientific standards and the recommendation defining international principles to be applied in the case of archaeological excavation adopted by UNESCO in 1956.
Ruins must be maintained and measures necessary for the permanent conservation and protection of architectural features and of objects discovered must be taken. Furthermore, every means must be taken to facilitate the understanding of the monument and to reveal it without ever distorting its meaning.
All reconstruction work should however be ruled out ‘a priori’. Only anastylosis, that is to say, the reassembling of existing but dismembered parts can be permitted. The material used for integration should always be recognizable and its use should be the least that will ensure the conservation of a monument and the reinstatement of its form.
ARTICLE 16 In all works of preservation, restoration or excavation, there should always be precise documentation in the form of analytical and critical reports, illustrated with drawings and photographs. Every stage of the work of clearing, consolidation, rearrangement and integration, as well as technical and formal features identified during the course of the work, should be included. This record should be placed in the archives of a public institution and made available to research workers. It is recommended that the report should be published.
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Note on BER Certificates for Historical Buildings in Ireland
Unless and until that magnificent marketing and public relations firm … Energy Ireland (SEAI) … can openly show that the DEAP Software has been properly modified to handle buildings of historical, architectural or cultural importance … and this modification is fully transparent … Building Energy Rating (BER) Certification for these building types must be put on hold.
2009-03-31: ‘Sustainable’ … ‘Sustainability’ … ‘Sustainable Development’ … what’s all this about ? … and where to begin ?
Words much abused … not only in English … but definitely in French !
Words much confused … for example, in the USA … where ‘Sustainable’ and ‘Green’ can be interchanged in the same conversation without apparent rhyme or reason.Is there a difference between the two ?Some people don’t want to admit that there is … those working in the Green Building Council … or those peddling the LEED Environmental Building Rating System around the more economically advanced developing countries in the world. In India … you can find a ‘LEED’ Building, minimally adapted to local conditions and having used many imported products and systems in its construction (from you-know-where !) … sitting prettily in the neighbourhood of a slum.
In Ireland … remember the good old days, 12-18 months ago … when Economists could afford (?!?) to talk about ‘Sustainable Economic Development’ … did they really mean economic development which is compatible with sustainable development ?No, they didn’t !
Is there any level of awareness amongst our Politicians ?In the National Development Plan (2007-2013), Mr. Brian Cowan T.D., then Minister for Finance, wrote in a January 2007 Foreword to the Plan …
” This National Development Plan is about the future of those young people, their parents, and their grandparents. It establishes a blueprint for the economic and social development of this island for future generations.
In this Plan, we have a unique window of opportunity to get it right: in terms of spatial planning, support infrastructure, environmental sustainability and economic growth.”
… an unusual limitation on the use and context for the word ‘sustainability’ … which should now also be exhibited in the National Gallery of Art !?!
Some Organizations openly state that they are dealing with … or they will only be dealing with … environmental aspects of sustainable development.That is a silly waste of time … and counterproductive !
Properly Defining Sustainable Development
Let us quickly re-wind back to the end of the 20th Century …
… not as far back as the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which met in Sweden, from 5-16th June 1972 … which, for us, was a very interesting exercise …
… but to the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), which was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway).Mansour Khalid (Sudan) was Vice-Chair of the Commission.
The definition of ‘Sustainable Development’ appears at the beginning of Chapter 2 …
” Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.It contains within it two key concepts:
–the concept of ‘needs’, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given ; and
–the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”
Many readers may only be familiar with the first sentence above but, in isolation, that leaves the definition of ‘sustainable development’ so vague that it is almost meaningless. And let us be clear in our own minds … an ambiguous definition will continue to be rejected by the Developing and Least Developed Regions of the World … the concept being viewed as an unaffordable luxury and/or a means of continued domination and control by the ‘North’.
Other readers may be surprised by the second, and more important, half of the WCED/Brundtland Definition.It is clear, however, that it was always intended that there would be more than 3 Aspects of Sustainable Development … Environmental, Social and Economic … to be identified and examined. How, on this Earth, was it possible for anybody to ever bring into existence that clumsy 3-Circle Diagram ???
The 1987 WCED/Brundtland Report continues a little further on …
” The satisfaction of human needs and aspirations is the major objective of development.The essential needs of vast numbers of people in developing countries – for food, clothing, shelter, jobs – are not being met, and beyond their basic needs these people have legitimate aspirations for an improved quality of life.A world in which poverty and inequity are endemic will always be prone to ecological and other crises.Sustainable Development requires meeting the basic needs of all and extending to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life.”
Sustainable Development is the greatest challenge ahead of us in this 21st Century. It remains very much an intricate, open, dynamic and evolving concept …
… and a clear choice must be made: decide to pursue the detailed elaboration of this concept … either with the aim of practical implementation … or of intellectual masturbation.
We made that choice many years ago … back in the mid-1990’s.
Practical Implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development
In order to make any ‘real’ progress … how can we establish, agree upon and achieve a wide international consensus on what the ‘basic needs of all’ are … and with some precision ?
Is there an internationally recognized document, already long in existence, where these ‘basic needs’ are not only specified for all people, but are protected and guaranteed ?
Reading through the 1948 UDHR, it might be helpful if a distinction is made between human rights and social rights …
Social Rights:
Rights to which an individual person is legally entitled, e.g. the right to free elementary education (Art.26(1), UDHR), but which are only exercised in a social context with other people, and with the active support of a competent legal authority, e.g. a Nation State.
Commentary: In contrast to Human Rights, it is not protection from the State which is desired or achieved, but freedom with the State’s help.
Social Rights, as distinguished here, include and extend beyond current understandings of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
This is why, almost a generation after the 1987 WCED/Brundtland Definition ofSustainable Development …
… Sustainable Design International, has defined Sustainable Human & Social Development as follows …
Development which meets the responsible needs, i.e. the Human & Social Rights*, of this generation – without stealing the life and living resources from future generations, especially our children … and their children.
* As defined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN OHCHR).
Furthermore … for a sizeable group of people in all of our societies, the sole route of access to the human and social rights set down in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights … is the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities … which became an International Legal Instrument on 3rd May 2008 … just short of 60 Years after the UDHR was adopted on 10th December 1948 !
A 3rd International Instrument to be placed at the top of this Framework of Basic & Responsible Needs, i.e. Rights … is the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO) … adopted in Paris, on 2nd November 2001 … and which came into being shortly after the World Trade Center (9-11) Incident in New York, on 11th September 2001.
The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity raises cultural diversity to the level of the common heritage of humanity … as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature … and makes its defence an ethical imperative which is robustly linked to, and cannot be separated from, respect for the dignity of each individual person.
Paris, at the end of 2001, presented the world with a valuable opportunity …
–to reaffirm the unshakable conviction that intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of peace ;and
–to reject outright the theory of the inevitable clash of cultures and civilizations.
So … once it is possible to construct an initial, robust framework of International Human & Social Rights Instruments … specifying the ‘basic needs of all’ … which underpins and cuts down to the core of a far more elaborate and hard-edged, 2nd Generation Definition of Sustainable Human & Social Development …
Colour image showing an extract from CJ Walsh’s Presentation: ‘Sustainable Fire Engineering’, at a Building Seminar in Dubayy(UAE) towards the end of October 2008. The Initial Framework of International Human & Social Rights Instruments underpinning Sustainable Human & Social Development. Click to enlarge.
… we can roll out the ‘Sustainability’ Agenda … and begin the serious task of transforming our Human Environment (see a previous post) by gradually improving and monitoring ‘real’ Sustainability Performance … using …
–Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) … see a previous post ;
2009-02-02: The 1949 film: The Third Man … directed by Carol Reed, with the haunting zither music of Anton Karas, and starring Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard … also ‘stars’ the war-damaged city of Vienna, in Austria.
Although talked about right from the beginning, we never actually see the character of ‘Harry Lime’, played by Orson Welles, until late in the film.It is a pivotal scene.He is just a black shadow standing in a dark doorway … when suddenly, a light from an upstairs window across the street shines on his face … and we see that roguish smile !
Black and white image of ‘Harry Lime’, played by Orson Welles, in a pivotal scene late in the film: ‘The Third Man’. Click to enlarge.
Click the Link Above to Download and/or Play this Film Soundtrack Clip (mp3 File, 3.23 Mb)
Finding and following the film locations for The Third Man offers a very interesting way to discover today’s Vienna.The ‘doorway’ is located off Schreyvogelgasse, on Mölker Bastei.Here are three recent photographs, taken in March 2008 …
2009-01-11: Claude Monet (14 November 1840 – 26 December 1926) devoted the last twenty five years of his life to painting the water lilies which floated on the large pond at the bottom of his garden at Giverny … in Normandy, France.There are approximately 250 ‘Water Lilies’ in this series.
Colour Photograph of ‘Water Lilies & Willow Tree’ in Claude Monet’s Garden at Giverny, Normandy. Click to enlarge. Photograph taken by CJ Walsh. 2004-08-29.
This photograph was taken on 29 August 2004.It shows those same water lilies on the pond, and that same willow tree by the bank. Please enjoy.
