Replacing Historic Buildings Burned Or Destroyed - Lessons from Greece, Italy, Japan, Poland, Thailand, UK, USA

Old buildings burn down. Why? Many causes have been reported. 

Natural causes. Broken glass is heated by the sun's rays. Dry wood burns more easily. Rubbish collects and becomes a fire risk. 

Squatters wire up electricity unsafely. They light camp fires to cook. They want to heat themselves and the building in hot weather. They light fires to create light.

Animals chew through wiring. This happened to my friends' home when they were on holiday.

Rats eat wiring. Rats ate wiring in my car in London.Why? To sharpen their teeth, like cats. Because they don't know if something is edible until they try eating it. (Our son, as a toddler, ate sand on the beach, thinking it was sugar. A nasty surprise!) 

Don't the animals know something hard is not edible? No. Nuts are hard. Tasty nuts are hidden inside hard shells.

Sometimes down and outs build fires to keep warm. Children set fires for fun. for the spectacle. Fire-fighters want the credit for rescue. Arsonists enjoy the power. Owners want to claim insurance. Owners want to clear the land quickly to replace with modern, higher, buildings they can sell. Burning is quicker and cheaper than paying for demolition. You cannot get permission to destroy, and/or it takes weeks of waiting. Finally, electricians using sparks to repair, rebuild, replace parts, accidentally set fire.

How can you find the cause?

Poland's Rebuilt Old Quarters

In Poland I visited the old quarter of Warsaw. The basement restaurants were clean and new. When I asked, I was told that what was destroyed in the war, had been rebuilt in the old style. 

The same applies to other historic old styles. I was impressed. We don't do that in England. Or do we? More often we replace the old with new. 

UK Listed Buildings

But now we have regulations protecting listed buildings. Renovations must be done in similar style.

UK and Mock Tudor

In England we built new buildings in new places copying old styles. Victorian buildings were often mock Tudor, black and white, a style favoured for some semi detached housing estates. 

Italy Influencing The USA

In Italy I was shown buildings with frontages which were Palladian style. I had never heard of Palladian style. But when I saw it, I recognized it immediately. Two or four or more columns at the front, not just over the doorway, but up two stories or more, to a flattened triangle across the whole roof area.

In the USA and UK, many public buildings are built this style. Called neo-classical. Such as a town hall, even a railway station. Many mansions and homes would be built in this style. In Washington DC, The White House.

The White House, Washington DC. USA. From Wikipedia.

Thailand Building Styles

In Thailand I visited the home of silk king, Jim Thompson. I learned that i that country, and other Asian countries (borders have changed over time), because of rainy season typhoons and flooding, houses were moved from place to place to avoid bad seasons and bad weather, or simply to relocate. 

Plugs and Panels

Instead of metal nails, traditional wooden plugs were used. Like modern Ikea furniture, the building could be flattened, compacted, made lighter, transported more easily. Re-assembled from a picture, or from memory of that building, practise on similar buildings, or skill and initiative. Like a jigsaw.

Buildings were traditionally built from prefabricated panels. Maybe they slotted in. Like modern sliding doors of glass, and sliding windows.

The living areas were above, on stilts, to avoid water below, where animals were kept. 

Singapore Style

Nowadays Singapore public housing can be built this style, around a central courtyard. Thai buildings had a flowering or perfumed tree in the middle of the courtyard to provide shade. A bit like cloisters in a European monastery, or the quad of colleges in Cambridge, England.  

Singapore city, designed by British Raffles, had shaded five foot ways to shade pedestrians (as well as the shops and shophouses) along streets of shops.

Just hope you don't end up with an extra plank or wooden plug, wondering, where did this go? Will my building fall down without this piece!

Singapore early housing estates were built with speed. The story goes that the minister, who had no experience of house building, was told to submit a plan by the end of the year. Instead he started building straight away. At the end of theyear his ony plan was to conitnue cosntructing equally quickly!

Japan And Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

In Japan, where historic and important buildings suffer from earthquakes, old buildings are replaced by the same style building, using the construction blueprints which are preserved elsewhere.

Plutarch's ship of Theseus Puzzle

If you replace a ship's planks one by one, at which point is it new? The planks are used to create the building elsewhere, and new planks copy the original indistinguishably in the old location, which is the original building?

AI and Reproduction

One might pose the same question about the Parthenon. If the reproduction is on the old site, but the original is in the British museum. Do the tourists really care which is old and which is new? Children might not know nor care.

Do we need an original photo, death mask, skeleton? Or will an AI image work as well?

Dead Bodies Tell Tales

I want the original skeleton of a living being because it contains DNA. It could prove murder, inheritable disease, lifestyle, diet. Or even create a clone. 

With cloned animals and plants more questions are raised. 

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15686631/Absolute-inferno-Grade-II-building.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Thailand

What time is it in LA, Chicago, New York and London, England? Pacific, Central and Eastern time

Problem
A webinar asks me to sign up and choose a time. What time is it where?

Answers
The webinar says the times available are:

Pacific                                 Central                    Eastern
(Los Angeles)                     (Chicago)                New York
10 am                                  Noon                       1 pm

2 pm                                    4 pm                        5 pm

My laptop, set to UK time, says that the meeting starts one day or two ahead plus such and such a time which is 5 hours ahead.


Pacific                                 Central                    Eastern
(Los Angeles)                     (Chicago)                New York           UK
10 am                                  Noon                       1 pm                   6 pm

2 pm                                    4 pm                        5 pm                   UK 10 pm

I can't find a tab for columns on blogger.com in which I create posts for blogspot.com on which you read posts. However, I shall check to see this looks OK.

I now have a magic, easy to understand comparison of time zones in the USA, plus a comparison between the USA, all three regions, and the UK. I can sign up for a webinar, recommend it to friends in the UK when they are at home in the day rather than out for the evening, or returned from work.

As soon as I clicked publish on this post I got the feedback that people in the USA were the greatest number of those logging onto my post. But the second highest number was people in Germany. (Could be Americans in Germany.) So to help them I thought I must check the time difference between the UK and Germany.

I bet most people in Germany know. However, the clocks changed last week. Also, as a freelance writer and former sub-editor I know don't rely on what you think - ALWAYS CHECK!

Germany - and most of Europe, is one hour ahead. That means that 10 am in the UK is 11 am in Berlin.  11 am in the UK is noon - are they about to go out to lunch in Berlin? Or are they free to chat about non-work items and watch videos? Noon in the UK is 1 pm in Germany. 2 pm in the Uk is 3 pm 3 pm in German. 4 pm in the UK is 5 pm in German - are they going home - is their switchboard no longer answering? 6 pm in the UK will be 7 pm in Germany - are they home already, not keep to take business calls when they are with family? A really handy comparison.

When recording videos, podcasts, and speeches, I must remember not to say good morning, afternoon or evening, unless I explain when the recording was made, but instead say, hello. because people could be watching the recording any time.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please save and share links to your favourite posts.       

How to remove your own shadow from a photo, fix parallel lines, create silhouettes

Problem
I photograph an object on a table and the shadow of my mobile phone and my head is on the lower half of the photo.

Answers
Practise Eliminating Your Own Shadow
Practice with the phone in your hand before taking a photo.

Practise Indoors
1 Practise on your kitchen table.
2 Practise looking through the window at your own garden ready to snap a bird or fox.

(NB Americans simplify spelling, following Webster's dictionary, and use the same spelling for the noun and verb. In traditional British English, to verb uses S, 'to 'practise', but the noun has c, the usual practice'.) 

Outdoors
You won't have time when photographing a moving or living object such as an insect or passing car, so practise in advance likely situations.
1 Stand at a window watching traffic. Practise taking photo through a window to avoid getting your reflection or the street behind you when photographing through shop windows when window shopping or taking Christmas displays.

2 Go into the garden or park to photograph objects on the ground such as snails, or on a pond.

Indoors
Turn off the overhead light.
Move and photograph near a window which creates light all over the object.
Lean forward so your shadow covers enough of the object to leave just a small lighter contrast at the top of your photo which you can crop out.
Ask somebody else to hold an umbrella above you to mask out the overhead light. A white umbrella will cast light. The bigger the umbrella, the more options you have. When buying an umbrella, remember a white one would be handy when taking photos. In a studio a large white umbrella is used to create even light on a portrait. The umbrella is fixed on a tripod and can be tilted.

Light, Dark and Silhouettes
However, you might deliberately cut out light, for example, to create a silhouette. If standing with your subject's back to a window, their face is all in shadow, which is no good. However, if they stand sideways against the light (in French called contre jour) you get the profile of the forehead and nose and lips which can be interesting.

Ask an expert in your family. I did and was told:

Parallel Lines
Move the camera to one side or away from an object on a table. However, this may distort the picture by changing the parallel lines.

Edit distorted parallel lines with an option called perspective.

We bought a photo from a professional who took photos of the interior and exterior of Guildhall. Using a camera tilted up (to get the tops of buildings, columns, rooftops and spires), everything was leaning.

You might choose to leave a photo like this. Alternatively, you might leave it or do it deliberately to create a sense of being small and dominated by buildings looming over you.

Buying and Editing
Your own eye sees this but with a camera it is distorted. We paid for the photo we liked the most and downloaded it. Afterwards, having downloaded the photo we have paid for (which now has the watermark removed) we can correct and edit it ourselves.

Credits and Conditions
When loading up you might wish to check what the conditions are. Wikipedia has various conditions chosen by the original photographer, which may be free use including giving them credit, or simply using it, either allowing you to edit photos as you like, sometimes not changing it because you might distort it and this could reflect badly on the reputation of the photographer who created the original image.

Credits For Photographer and Editor
I generally put, 'photo taken by ...' (name of photographer), edited by ... (my name). This gives me credit for improvements. However, the photographer might disagree that my version is better, in which case to protect them and protect myself I have made it clear that there's another version by the original photographer.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

How To Add An Index, Contents Page, Page Number To Travel Notebooks

Problem - How To Keep Order Inside Language Notebooks

I have been making lists of German, Spanish and Italian words in my notebook as I do my daily lessons on Duolingo and add words picked up from other sources such as emails, newspaper articles, Facebook pages and food packaging. However, I now need to find the notebook pages which are only half full, and to use them to revise.

Answers - How To Organize Language Lists

 - Advantages Of Separate Notebooks

You might be wondering why I don't have a separate notebook for each language. I started doing that.  I would do that if I were taking language lessons in a class, instead of only online.

Advantages Of One Notebook

But I soon had a book for German, a book for French, a book for Spanish, Another for Latin, Greek, Welsh. The books cluttered up the working space and it took time stopping to find another book each time I found a new word. It was easier to have them all in one place, one notebook.

Notebook Size and Weight

I would also have to carry six or more notebooks with me on any trip out. The same applies on long travel.

Advantages of Small Notebooks

I soon started having one small, fat, thick notebook. It has a ribbon page marker and an elastic pen holder. It is small enough to go in my shoulder bag, and many jacket pockets.

The advantage of carrying it with me is that I can add words I think of or see or hear during the day.
The problem with taking the notebook out of my home or office is that I might lose it.

Advantages of Large Notebooks

My other book is A5 size and stays at home on the desk or nearby. Being large and brightly coloured, it is easier to find in a hurry on a cluttered desk or side table.

At this point the pages on languages need to be easy to find. They must be separate from other items such as To Do lists, travel directions, lists of websites, comic poems I compose and songs.

How To Number Notebook Pages

I now do what I should have done the day I started the notebook. It's what I have done to notebooks in the past. I write the page numbers on the top right of each right hand page, the odd numbers. Later, if I have the time and energy I will go back and write in the even numbers.

Indexes Hand-written

I can write an index on the back page and / or on the inside back cover.
If you start early in the book's usage history, you can count the number of pages first and leave enough lines for one line per page. I often draw a line down the middle of the index page or fold the page in two vertically to get more words on a page. This applies particularly on the larger A4 size book because the pages are so large. But it also applies to the smaller book because I want to cram in as many words as possible in that compact book before starting another to fill up my dwindling shelf space.

Creating Contents Pages List In A Notebook

Today I discovered another trick for finding space for the contents list. I had run out of space on the inside back cover, the back page and the front page. I closed my notebook and looked down at the blank front cover.  I thought, at least I can write down the subjects on the cover, the contents alphabetically, like I do on the outside of box files, without listing the pages.

I started to write the contents of the first page on the top left. Then I thought, I can make a complete index. The page already has a frame. A divided it into three columns. I counted the pages. Under 100. That meant about 30-page numbers down the left of each column. I listed the numbers, then drew horizontal lines with the aid of a ruler.

I tried to keep the handwriting neat. I wrote in capitals. I wrote slowly. I took care to keep the letters on the line, not floating above and not doing diagonally.

It would be neater to print the contents. When I have time I shall do so. There's nothing stopping me from sticking a neat type-written list on top of my hand-written contents list.

Storing Language Notebooks

Where do I find my latest notebook on languages? Alongside my dictionary of that language. Or in a shoe box or box file labelled with the name of the language.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and other languages.

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The joy of visiting museums

Europe and The Middle East
Berlin - refugees or immigrants, according to a BBC online news article, are delighted to find treasures from their past in a Berlin museum.

Here's a new aspect of the advantages of museums. Not just introducing your country's culture to others, but a reminder of home.

Europe and Greek Columns And Statues
I have never understood the demand by the Greeks for the return of the Elgin marbles. They are not short of statues or columns. I have been to Greece and every corner has relic.

They have too many. Not another column! Overload. Boredom. Yes, as for Greek columns and statues, after the first fifty you are completely tired of them.

Enough to give a column or statue to every country in the world and still have too many on display and in storage. I can understand asking for items in storage to be sent to a country which has no relics. This could be done as an exchange system worldwide.

Much better to have a few scattered about the world promoting Greece to other countries. Same goes for all countries. A museum enables children to enjoy countries of the world and the art, architecture and construction techniques of past ages.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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