MARK BURRY

Architect Santiago Calatrava accused of ‘bleeding Valencia dry’

Leftists accuse top architect of raking in escalating amounts of cash from regional government to build giant cultural park

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Giles Tremlett in Madrid

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 May 2012 19.11 BST

A view of a large part of the City of the Arts and Sciences, by architect Santiago Calatrava. Photograph: Heino Kalis/Reuters

Stunning bridges, airports and daring buildings have made him famous around the world, but now Santiago Calatrava is facing fierce criticism for his dealings with the local government in his home region of Valencia.

The architect, who designed the roof of the Athens Olympic stadium, is under fire from political opponents of the conservative-run authority, and a website highlighting fees paid to him by Spanish taxpayers has been launched.

Calatrava has charged some €100m (£81m) to the Valencia government, according to the website, established by the leftwing Esquerra Unida party. The party says it has managed to see copies of bills paid by the People’s party regional government to the architect, who is now based in Zurich.

Esquerra Unida says contracts were given to him via “an unpublicised negotiating system establishing his payments as a percentage of the final cost of each project, which doubled or tripled in respect to the original budgets”.

via Architect Santiago Calatrava accused of ‘bleeding Valencia dry’ | World news | guardian.co.uk.

Oops, I invented the rocket! The explosive history of serendipityVelcro, Vaseline, Teflon, penicillin, and now perhaps the rocket – they were all happy accidentsShare 49Comments 26 A man lets off fireworks during a festival in Guangzhou. Chinese alchemists created explosive mixtures in their quest for an elixir of life. Photograph: China Photos/GettyAny scientist will tell you – probably at length, if youre buying the drinks – that as much as they love their career, the day-to-day benchwork can be somewhat repetitive.Its the eureka moments that make science worthwhile, and such moments are all the sweeter when theyre unexpected. What the Dutch call geluk bij een ongeluk “happiness by accident” and English speakers call serendipity – although when an irritating colleague receives serendipitys blessing, were more likely to call him or her a jammy bastard.Happy accidents have a secure place in scientific history. Perhaps the best known example is of Alexander Fleming, who was working at St Marys Hospital in 1928 when he noticed that a culture of Staphylococcus aureus had become contaminated with mould – and the mould was destroying the bacteria. This chance observation led, ultimately, to the development of penicillin and other antibiotics. Similarly, x-rays, radiation and pulsars – and in a less exotic vein, Velcro, Vaseline and Teflon – all owe their discovery or existence to serendipity.Now it seems we should consider adding another item to that illustrious list: the rocket. Long held as an exemplar of Chinese technological inventiveness, the rocket – dating from the Sung Dynasty of AD 960-1279 – has changed the face of civilisation. But Frank Winter, working with colleagues from the Smithsonian Institution and Sydneys Powerhouse Museum, claims that the rocket was almost certainly an accidental invention.

via Oops, I invented the rocket! The explosive history of serendipity | Corrinne Burns | Notes & Theories blog | Science | guardian.co.uk.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/29/singularity-university-technology-future-thinkers !

http://vaeggen.copenhagen.dk/en/

Interesting statistics such as 800 tonnes of copper per km for undersea transmission cables.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sJHzX-aGSkiiCN7UW24NA7A/view.m?id=15&gid=environment/2012/apr/11/iceland-volcano-green-power&cat=top-stories

The Urbanist: where’s the money for public transport?Alan Davies of Crikey blog The Urbanist writes:It seems Australian governments don’t want to tax and they don’t want to spend. Given the enormous changes happening in our cities, that’s an untenable strategy.As I noted recently, the revenue foregone by the abolition of indexation of the fuel excise is now estimated to be $5 billion per annum but the government isn’t prepared to do anything about it. At the same time, Wayne Swan isn’t merely afraid to spend, he wants to cut 2.6% out of the Australian economy in 2012-13 so the government can honour a political promise to balance the budget.Tim Colebatch says the impact on the economy would be “equivalent to shutting down the entire electricity industry, all arts and entertainment venues and all airline travel for a year”. It could be catastrophic:”That is 2½ times the fiscal contraction imposed by the Hawke government in 1986-87, or the Howard government in 1996-97. It is the stuff recessions are made of.”The reluctance to tax and spend is likely to have very severe implications for our cities. If they keep growing, if established suburbs continue to densify, and if travellers continue to shift from cars to public transport — all of which seems highly likely — then the demand for urban infrastructure will soar to unheard of heights.

via Gmail – Star probe: s-x and a resignation, James Murdoch walks the plank, Newman’s arts attitude, Kohler on the RBA disconnect, triple j’s tastemaster.

Living on the fringe can make people sick

March 15, 2012

OPINION

Public health must be an objective of urban planning.

AFFORDABLE housing is something that every state government likes to say it has delivered, and every opposition likes to say is no longer attainable. The prospect that home ownership might slip from the grasp of most people is so potent a political threat that in recent decades governments of both persuasions have yielded to pressure from developers to release cheap new land on the urban fringe.

As we report today, however, the relentless expansion of the urban boundary is itself imposing a massive cost on taxpayers, in the form of chronic health and social problems in the new suburbs.

In evidence presented to the Legislative Council’s environment and planning committee, outer suburban councils have presented an alarming picture of poorly planned housing developments without basic community services. In parts of the City of Wyndham in Melbourne’s west – the fastest growing municipality in Australia in percentage terms – people have either no or very little access to public transport, coupled with insufficient parkland and leisure facilities.

via Living on the fringe can make people sick.

Sick suburbs

March 15, 2012

Point Cook resident Loren Bartley and her children Owen, 8, Zoe, 3 and Elliott, 6. Photo: Jason SouthPoorly planned new housing estates on Melbournes fringes are causing an outbreak of anxiety, diabetes and obesity among residents.ONE wet Saturday morning, Loren Bartley bundled her three young children into their waterproof jackets and packed their towels and bathers into a bag. Despite the torrential rain, they were making a trip on public transport from their home in Point Cook, a growth suburb in Melbournes outer west, to their nearest indoor public swimming pool.A member of the Point Cook Residents Association, Bartley wanted to use the expedition to demonstrate to Wyndham Council the need for an aquatic leisure centre in her suburb, which the group says has a dearth of indoor recreation facilities.

via Sick suburbs.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/smwetvNGrNBIPSkOd_cicLg/view.m?id=15&gid=commentisfree/2012/mar/25/henry-porters-kings-cross-new-concourse&cat=commentisfree

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/smwetvNGrNBIPSkOd_cicLg/view.m?id=15&gid=commentisfree/2012/mar/25/henry-porters-kings-cross-new-concourse&cat=commentisfree