Archive for 28/01/2014
Biomimetic Products- Exhibition
Grapevines in Jerez, Spain
Location of Emona within present day central Ljubljana, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emona
Ljubljana is celebrating 2000 years since Emona, a Roman settlement, was founded. Emona belonged to the province of Italy and had around 5000 inhabitants. Modern Ljubljana overlaps with site of old Emona. Roman remnants are to be seen in archaeological parks, galleries, architecture and museums across Ljubljana. I’ve found a ’73 year booklet about Emona frescoes yesterday. It is fascinating to discover Emona homes were as neatly decorated as they are today. I am particularly fond of floral motifs used on Emona frescoes , they tell us the story of nearby flora of the time , of the artists of the time, of the pigments used and of the social importance of the beauty that is telling its story even after 2000 years! Here are some illustrations from the booklet:
Ljudmila Plesničar Gec, Emonske freske, Ljubljana 1973
Imagine a Hampstead Garden Suburb built for working people. Better still, if you’re in London take the Tube and get off at Acton East and visit the Old Oak Estate where you’ll find just such an estate.
We’ve looked at the work of the LCC’s Architects’ Department Housing of the Working Classes branch before – at the Millbank Estate, at Totterdown Fields, and at the White Hart Lane Estate. These are all fine arts and crafts-inspired estates but to Susan Beattie, Old Oak stands as ‘the culminating achievement of the Council’s venture into garden suburb planning before the first world war’ – a work of ‘splendid maturity’. (1)
Rising costs of land and labour were forcing the LCC to look to what were then the London fringes. In 1905, the Council purchased 54 acres in Hammersmith from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at a cost of £29,858. Eight acres…
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Old School Garden 