Aqua Tower (Chicago)

Each skyscraper in Chicago is continuation of History of Skyscrapers which has begun for a city in 1885 with building Home Insurance Building. "Tower" in height of 42 meters (plus two floors have been completed in 1891, having finished height to 50 meters) became the first-ever building exceeding level in five floors. New Aqua Tower — height of 250 meters, the sculptural facade of a structure creating illusion of waves is unique.

The Unique Architectural Structure

Calcareous rocks, characteristic for area of Great Lakes became a prototype of a wavy facade.
Such architectural decision it has not only visual value, and is functional; waves are used as viewing platforms, and also a shadow veil.
Building parameters; 82 floors, 250 meters in height, 215 hotel rooms (with 1 on 18 floor), 476 apartments (with 19 on 52 floor), 5,100 sq. m. trading and office areas, an underground parking, a 8-storeyed cellar a total area of 32,000 sq. m., a terrace with gardens, pools, arbors, paths for walks and run.

The New Aqua Tower

VIA «Aqua Tower by Studio Gang»

• Moscow, Russia
• Los Angeles, California, USA
• Texas, USA
• China
• Africa
• Florida, USA
• Chicago Film Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Gary, Indiana, USA

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Feeling the love: The 57-year-old walked on stage to a standing ovation from her studio audience that was filled with her 'ultimate viewers'
Winfrey shouted 'We did it!' as the last shot of the finale showed Winfrey walking away with her cocker spaniel, Sadie.
Earlier she had walked on stage to a standing ovation from her studio audience. She thanked the viewers for watching her for a quarter of a century.
Heartfelt: Oprah was on stage alone for the duration of the show where she said that 'there are no words to match this moment'
'Twenty-five years and I'm still saying, "Thank you America,"' Winfrey said. 'Thank you so much. There are no words to match this moment.'
Excited: Hundreds of fans waited outside Oprah's Harpo Studios in Chicago yesterday to catch a glimpse of the media mogul on her last day
Queen of Talk: A dedicated fan paid her own tribute to the talk show host who has touched the hearts of many viewers in the past quarter of a century
First day: Oprah debuted her nationally syndicated show in 1986 and it has gone on to make her a self-made billionaire
What a send off: Winfrey's final show on will air on Wednesday. From left Oprah on stage with guests including Tom Hanks, Queen Latifah, Madonna, Dakota, Halle, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
The final taping nevertheless had its share of celebrities in the audience including Tyler Perry, Maria Shriver, Suze Orman and Cicely Tyson. None of them joined Winfrey on stage.
There were 404 audience members, according to Harpo Productions. The show received 1.4 million ticket requests throughout its final season.
Oprah will now be based in California at her Montecito home. She will focus her efforts on her new network, OWN which launched in January.

Raw Video: Oprah Says 'Until We Meet Again'

source: dailymail

VIA 'There are no words to match this moment': Oprah Winfrey takes her final bow after 25 years as reigning chat show queen

Burnham Pavilions by Ben van Berkel & Zaha Hadid

VIA «Burnham Pavilions in Millennium Park»

Country crooner Scotty McCreery was the first to find out he had made it through followed by Lauren Alaina.
In... and out: Alaina celebrates as Haley Reinhart learns she has been eliminated from the show
Haley Reinhart, 20, kept her cool belting out Bennie And The Jets, without shedding a tear.
At the end of the song Haley said: 'You'll be seeing me, this ain't the end of this, this ain't the end of this thing - see you later!'
She then embraced her mother and father in the audience.
Reinhart had always seemed doomed on Idol. Unlike her remaining rivals the wavy-haired singer had been less definable and garnered fewer votes, landing at the bottom as one of the show's low vote-getters four times after weak performances of such songs as LeAnn Rimes' Blue and Blondie's Call Me.
No tears: Haley Reinhart, 20, kept her cool belting out Bennie And The Jets, without shedding a tear
This season's femme fatale found recent success by boldly tackling classic rock tunes.
She earned a standing ovation from the judges two weeks ago for a rousing rendition of The Animals' version of The House of the Rising Sun, and she was lauded again Wednesday for her performances of Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon and Led Zeppelin's What Is and What Should Never Be.
It was apparently too little, too late for Reinhart after 95 million viewer votes were cast Wednesday.
Well done: After her performance Haley ran to embrace her parents in the audience
While she was finding her groove throughout the finals, McCreery and Alaina had been delivering consistent country and pop performances since their attention-grabbing auditions.
McCreery never appeared at the bottom, and Alaina only did once two weeks ago.
Earlier in the evening as each of the three finalists were filmed visiting their hometowns.
I'll be back: Haley vowed that viewers hadn't seen the last of her
The show also featured a sizzling live performance by Nicole Scherzinger and 50 Cent and the U.S. debut of Italian boy-band and tenor trio Il Volo.
Haley Reinhart made a tearful return to her hometown of Wheeling, Illinois a village 30 miles north of Chicago where she was overwhelmed by the number of fans who came out to see her despite a downpour.
Scotty McCreery returned to his hometown of Garner, North Carolina for an all out concert performance - crying on camera as he was pictured leaving in his limousine.
Homecoming: Scotty McCreery sobs as he makes his triumphant return to him hometown
Emotional: McReery sobbed as he prepared for an all out concert performance in Garner, North Carolina
But the perhaps the most emotional return was for Southern belle Lauren Alaina returned to Rossville, Georgia to visit her old high-school before taking a tour of the nearby area, which was devastated by recent storms and tornadoes.
She wept as she past through the devastated communities meeting with some of the families whose lives had been torn apart by the disaster.
'I'm doing this for you guys,' she told the crowd.
Disbelief: Lauren Alaina returned to Rossville, Georgia to visit her old high-school before taking a tour of the nearby area, which was devastated by recent storms and tornadoes
I'm doing this for you: She wept as she past through the devastated communities meeting with some of the families whose lives had been torn apart by the disaster
McCreery and Alaina will face off Tuesday, with the 10th season Idol champion crowned on Wednesday.
It will mark the youngest finale matchup in Idol history.
Producers lowered the minimum age requirement to 15 years old this season, which allowed Alaina, who's been compared to fourth season Idol winner Carrie Underwood, the chance to audition last year.
Success: The judges are also winners, with a record 95-million votes were recorded after the semi-final show last night
The show featured a sizzling live performance by Nicole Scherzinger, she will co-host the U.S. X Factor
source: dailymail

VIA Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery to battle it out in American Idol final... as Haley Reinhart is eliminated

'Invisible woman': Nicole showed off her longs legs in a metallic grey dress with a studded belt, seen right the woman she replaced, Cheryl Cole on her first day of auditions in Los Angeles last month
Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid and Nicole Scherzinger beamed as they made their introductions.
And it was a case of ‘Cheryl, who’s Cheryl?’ as Miss Scherzinger, 32, was introduced to the crowd by Cowell as ‘our own answer to Cruella de Vil.’
It was as if Mrs Cole had never even been on set as the slender brunette then triumphantly punched the air, making it clear that she deserved the job, screaming: ‘What’s up New Jersey? How are you? Y’all feeling good today?’
It's Saula: Simon Cowell has given Nicole high praise, saying she is like a breath of fresh air, but it was Paula Abdul who he was lauding with attention as the pair shared a smooch as they arrived today
Pretty in pink: Paula stood out in a bright short dress, teamed with Christian Louboutin heels
Clad in a figure-hugging green jumpsuit and gold stilettos, the singer added: ‘I don’t know if you all know this, but today is my first day on the job for the X Factor – I’m here for you. I’m at your service, New Jersey.’
‘So please, please, lets have some fun and let’s show X Factor some love!’
The former Pussycat Doll singer was promoted from show co-host to a judge after Mrs Cole, 27, was removed from the panel after filming four auditions.
Unbreakable bond: Simon and Paula were very touchy-feely as they greeted the waiting media and fans outside the arena
Say cheese: Former Pussycat Doll Nicole poses with fellow judge L.A. Reid, who looked dapper in a suit with brown suede shoes
And speaking after the first round of auditions at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey, music mogul Cowell told the Daily Mail: ‘Didn’t’ Nicole do well? She was terrific.
‘She’s a great addition to the panel, she’ll be great. She’s just what we needed – she’s a breath of fresh air.’
The entire judging panel looked terribly cosy as Miss Abdul, 48 cuddled, up to Cowell , 51,and Miss Scherzinger bantered with record executive Reid.

Lively: Nicole was loving all the attention she was getting as she posed for photos and spoke to the Press
And when asked if they knew who Mrs Cole was, audience members professed ignorance and one said: ‘We don’t know her in America.’
An onlooker said: ‘It was as if Cheryl had never been there at all, everyone looked happy and relaxed. It was like she had been rubbed out of the show.’
Mrs Cole is yet to make a public appearance after flying home to England from the auditions in Chicago two weeks ago.
The star was removed from the U.S. judging panel after being told by TV executives that she had lost her ‘sparkle.’
Meet my new BFF: Nicole posted a picture with fellow U.S. X Factor judge Paula on her Twitter page
The move then sparked a 10-day standoff beween her and Cowell that ended in her snubbing a £2.5 million offer to return to the U.K. X Factor – and finally an 11th hour offer to try again as a judge on the U.S. show.
She turned down the offer to return to America on Monday, leaving Miss Scherzinger - who was a guest judge at the U.K. X Factor auditions last year - to fill her high heels.
A show source said: ‘Nicole is feisty, she’s loud, she gets the crowd going – and she’s ambitious.
‘In short, she’s exactly what the X Factor needs. She was great on the first day and managed to spar with Cowell and the rest of the judges.’
Speaking earlier this week, Cowell told the Mail that it had been a ‘rough few weeks.’
Having a blast: Crowds assemble outside the Prudential Center in New Jersey
What a line-up: These are the first auditions to be filmed with Scherzinger as a judge
Coming soon: X Factor starts airing from September in the U.S. on the Fox network
Hot competition: A neon-clad Paula Abdul took on former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger in a battle of puffball frocks as the X Factor auditions kicked off in New Jersey yesterday
source: dailymail

VIA 'A breath of fresh air': Leggy Nicole is a hit at U.S. X Factor auditions as Cheryl becomes 'the invisible woman'

Experienced: Scherzinger had previously replaced Cole on the UK X Factor when she was seriously ill with malaria
She was also said to ‘lack chemistry’ with fellow judge Paula Abdul, according to U.S. gossip website TMZ.
There were suggestions last night that TV executives now want Cole to return to the British version of the show.
Scherzinger, 32, the girlfriend of Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, was formerly in U.S. pop band Pussycat Dolls.
She will join Simon Cowell, record boss LA Reid and Miss Abdul on the panel.
Delighted: Scherzinger leaves Los Angeles airport LAX yesterday with a wide smile on her face
The show is not due to hit TV screens until September, but in recent weeks the judges have been auditioning hopefuls. Cities so far visited included New York and Chicago.
After months of speculation, it was finally confirmed on May 5 that she was joining the programme.
With Cowell’s support, she secured a £1.2million contract. But producers included a get-out clause so they could drop her after the first series if she failed to win over viewers.
source: dailymail

VIA Cheryl Cole 'SACKED from X Factor USA... and replaced by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger

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In 2010: Miss Cole was much thinner last summer, performing at Wembley Stadium in June 2010
She showed off her tanned legs in navy shorts, which she teamed with a white vest, patterned blazer, flat cap and sunglasses.
But there are signs Miss Cole's newfound curves may not stick around for long, as she has already embarked on an exhaustive fitness regime with the help of Gwyneth Paltrow's personal trainer.
TV bosses are said to be keen for a style consultant to create a new image for Miss Cole and help make her a U.S. household name.
As part of their plan to transform her, they have sent her to personal trainer Tracy Anderson, whose A-list clients have also included Madonna and Jennifer Aniston.
Success: Paula Abdul has been applauded for her outfit choices on the programme so far and Miss Cole could use a stylist to ensure she isn't outshone
But Miss Cole may also need some help in the fashion stakes after being criticised for her choice of outfits on the show so far, while fellow judge Paula Abdul, 48, has won plaudits.
Although the Girls Aloud star has secured a £1.2million-a-year contract to appear on the U.S. X Factor panel, producers have included a get-out clause so they can drop her after the first series if she fails to win over viewers.
There have already been concerns that her Geordie accent could prove baffling to an American audience.
source :dailymail

VIA Cheryl's curves: How American way of life is giving Miss Cole a fuller figure

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"The fact of the matter is that physical weathering, deterioration and damage to marble and other architectural stones present a serious problem for the preservation of sculptures, monuments and buildings," said Luzin.

David: A sculpture made from Carrara marble

Before its relocation in Galleria dell'Accademia, David, the "Giant", was  symbolically displayed in the political heart of Renaissance Florence, the Piazza della Signoria. Over a period of almost three centuries, the statue was exposed to the action of weather, historical events and inappropriate restoration works. These coexisting factors prevented the appropriate preservation of a masterpiece that, already at the time of its creation, was regarded as challenging by many artists—due to the presence of taroli, imperfections of the marble.

Today David is in a highly stable condition but still presents a contemporary scientific challenge from a conservation point of view. Researchers are monitoring marble cracking of the 4.3 metre David with a system of sensors that record vibrations, rotations and environmental conditions. [1] Conservationists monitor the sculpture because it is thought that even small mechanical impacts and small temperature variations are detrimental to marble.

Geologically marble is formed by the alteration (metamorphism) of limestone under high temperature and high pressure. The metamorphic process causes a complete recrystallization of the original rock into an interlocking mosaic of calcite and/or dolomite crystals with very specific mechanical behaviour.

Carrara marble, the stone used by Michaelangelo in sculpting David, was  one of the most popular types of marble in the world because of its beauty and high lustre. For centuries it was quarried from the Apuan Alps in Tuscan Italy.

The popularity of Carrara marble was due in part to the wide range of varieties available (statuary, flowered, veined, brecciated, bardiglio, etc.), to the constancy of its quality, scarcity of defects, large size of single blocks that could be extracted, excellent physical and mechanical characteristics, and long-lasting strength and beauty." [2]        

However the suitability of marble from the Carrara area of Italy for buildings and artworks has been questioned because of 'spectacular bowing behaviour' of marble slabs on numerous modern buildings including the Amoco building in Chicago and the Grand Arche de la Defense in Paris.

A study of Carrara marble by a group of investigators led by Luzin have confirmed that microstresses caused by temperature variation and the thermo-mechanical properties of the marble itself help explain the deterioration. Co-investigators are Dimitry Nikolayev of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Moscow and Siegfried Siegesmund of theUniversity of Göttingen in Germany.

The investigators were interested in the different environmental conditions that influence marble deterioration and had to reproduce factors known to be important to the process of deterioration. Temperature effects were among those known to cause mechanical stress.

Luzin and collaborators used non-destructive neutron diffraction to confirm that thermally-induced microstress from a single thermal exposure can cause microcracking in the marble and therefore be responsible for weathering and deterioration of the marble [3].

"Neutron diffraction is a useful tool and a non-destructive method to investigate the texture, phase composition and spatial and orientation dependence of strain in a bulk marble sample," explained Luzin.

Although the commercial use of statue-grade Carrara marble is no longer allowed, an exception is made for restoration works and scientific research. Freshly cut marble from a quarry in Carrara, Italy was used for the testing.

"Although not easy, stress measurements in geological materials, such as marble are feasible and provide valuable characterisation," said Luzin.

He explained that the challenges are related to the need to measure two phases with sufficient accuracy. It is necessary to use a large gauge volume because of the coarse grain microstructure and longer measurement time in order to capture very delicate effects of microstress in calcite and dolomite—which are also very weak neutron scatterers.

The neutron high resolution powder diffractomter, Echidna, determined the amount of each phase in two cube samples of marble. In one sample, the dolomite comprised a volume fraction of 28 per cent  and in the other it was 18 per cent, which is not surprising given the highly visible non-uniform distribution of dolomite in the marble.

The Kowari diffractometer was used to produce pole figures, graphical representations that   capture the preferred crystallographic orientation (texture) of the calcite and dolomite. "A weak crystallographic texture in both phases was confirmed in the neutron diffraction experiment," said Luzin.

The stress experiments were carried out using the Kowari diffractometer in a specially designed sample environment unit in order to control temperature. "We took measurements of the calcite and dolomite phases at room temperature and at 80° C."

Using a technique to measure the stiffness of an elastic material, the researchers were able to accurately measure the accumulated damage after a thermal exposure that could be unambiguously attributed to microcracking.

"Evidently, a significant change in microstress caused micro-cracking in the marble sample due to temperature changes," said Luzin.

Although exaggerated temperature might not be relevant to real daily and seasonal temperature variation, smaller, more numerous natural temperature variations during long periods of time might result in even greater accumulated damage. There are historical examples of sculpture which deteriorated into a pulverised state after a century of exposure to temperature variation.

"We have a responsibility to try and preserve great works of art and architecture with non-destructive techniques and nuclear technologies give us the means to do this. Hopefully David and other important monuments can be preserved in the centuries to come," said Luzin.

References

[1] Giovanni Pascale, Filippo Bastianini, Roberto Carli, "Monitoring Marble cracking in the David by Michaelangelo Proc. Art'11, 10th Int. Conf. on Non-Destructive Investigations and microanalysis for the diagnostics and conservation of cultural and environmental heritage, Florence, April 13th-15th, 2011, NDT44

[2] Stephano Merlino Paolo Orlandi "Carraraite and zaccagnaite, two new minerals from the Carrara marble quarries: their chemical compositions, physical properties, and structural features" American Mineralogist, Volume 86, pages 1293–1301

[3] 310.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.777.148. Luzin, V; Nikolayev, D and Siegesmund, S, Temperature Induced Internal Stress in Carrara Marble, Mater. Sci. Forum 777, 148-154 (2014)

Source: Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) [June 22, 2015]