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SALT LAKE CITY Its something no other hub airport in the U.S. has pulled off in the current century.

After a span of six years of construction preceded by about two decades of planning the Salt Lake City International Airport is about to open its brand-new, $4.1 billion airport on Tuesday, starting with a massive new terminal and its first concourse.

By the end of the year, a second concourse will open, and the old airport will begin to be razed to make way for the east side of Concourse A to be built right over the top of it.

What this means for Utahns and travelers across the globe isnt just a brand-new, shiny building to replace a more inefficient and aging facility. To airport officials here and nationally, its so much more.

I would dream to see in my career other cities across the country replicate what Salt Lake City has done, said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of Airports Council International-North America, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., that represents U.S. and Canadian airports.

Salt Lake City has taken an airport and turned it into a modern, 21st century facility, Burke said. Americas airports need to be modernized, and Salt Lake City has been on the cutting-edge of that.

To Burke and Utah government officials Salt Lake Citys new airport means the portal from Utah to the rest of the world just got much bigger and with so much more room to grow. It means the state has solidified its foothold in the global air travel industry and therefore positioned itself well for future economic growth as a now much more appealing travel touch point, destination, and home base for businesses.

To state leaders, thats a huge step for their ambitions to brand Utah as not just the Crossroads of the West, but the Crossroads of the World.

But as masterfully designed, impressive and beautiful as Salt Lake Citys new airport is, an invisible force has sucked some of the air out of its grand opening.

The global coronavirus pandemic has led nationwide flights to plummet, threatening the entire airline industry. After a year of averaging about 2.4 million passengers a day nationwide, that dropped to a low of 87,534 passengers nationwide during the height of COVID-19 closures on April 14, according to Transportation Security Administration checkpoint travel numbers.

In February, Salt Lake City International Airport saw a record high of 30,000 passengers each weekend. But when the pandemic hit home in Utah and the rest of the U.S., that number death spiraled to barely 1,500.

Over the past several months, more travelers have begun trickling back to airplanes. On Aug. 31, nationwide air travel was up to 711,178 passengers, according to the TSA. But thats still less than a third of the demand U.S. airports were seeing this time last year.

To Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Salt Lake City International Airport, the COVID-19 pandemic is worse than either of the two other major disruptions to the commercial aviation industry that hes lived through as an airport director.

Worse than 9/11. Worse than the Great Recession.

The pandemic has brought on not just economic hardship thats similar to what airlines and travelers experienced during the Great Recession, but also the fear and uncertainty of air travel that followed Sept. 11, 2001 but on a much more long-term basis, Wyatt said.

The thing about the pandemic is its global its affecting everybody all at the same time. And its invisible. You dont see the virus, but its everywhere around us, and so that has really affected the confidence of the traveling public, Wyatt said.

But still, as he has lived through other downturns, Wyatt said he feels pretty bullish about our future.

This isnt going to last forever, he said. I dont have any doubt the industry will survive, because I think its just too important to the U.S. and the world, really, to have commercial aviation. So I think probably the biggest question is, Whats it going to look like?

Airlines and airports have been forced to confront a new reality: one that requires them to take extraordinary measures like drastically reducing aircraft maximum capacity so there is enough space between seats to give travelers reassurance that their flights are safe. And most airlines have now begun requiring face coverings, making masks the new normal in airports across the country.

To Burke, Salt Lake Citys new airport opening comes at a perfect time when space and cleanliness are more important than ever.

Your timing was impeccable, he said.

In a strange way, Salt Lake Citys new airport is ushering a new era of air travel, when the importance of personal space, cleanliness and hygiene will likely outlive the COVID-19 crisis. So there have been a number of happy coincidences and silver linings that have surfaced as the COVID-19 pandemic aligned with Salt Lake Citys new airport opening.

For travelers traveling to, from and through Salt Lake Citys new airport, space will not be an issue in the massive new terminal and concourses. Everything is spacious from the bathrooms, to the seating areas, to the unique Greeting Room designed especially for large family greeting parties that are common in Utah, especially for families welcoming home loved ones returning from missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Theres also been logistical and budgetary silver linings. The dramatic drop in passenger numbers allowed Salt Lake airport officials to bump up the next phase of the airports construction by two years now on track to save about $300 million.

Instead of having to operate both the new and old airport as previously planned, the lower demand will allow all operations to move into the new facility by the end of October and pave the way for demolition of the old airport to begin sooner.

But looking beyond the pandemic, Burke said Salt Lake Citys grand airport opening has positioned Utahs capital well into the future for air travel meaning the state will reap economic benefits in the form of business and tourism growth for decades to come while other airports will struggle to keep up.

The reality is, air travel will come back, Burke said. People will begin to travel. A vaccine will be found. ... The good news for Salt Lake City: You now have an airport that can handle it all. It might not be full now, but it will be full soon.

Wyatt predicts the new airport, which is Deltas fourth-largest hub, will help usher in nonstop flights to Asia.

Thats something I can imagine in our future, Wyatt said. The natural assets of Utah will attract more tourism, and the burgeoning tech community here will definitely drive more traffic as well. But if we dont have a new facility thats efficient, we just cant handle it all.

Wyatt also predicted that airlines will likely scrap smaller, older aircraft to consolidate their maintenance costs.

When the green light comes on again, the industry is going to be a lot smarter, and its going to get a lot smaller, Wyatt said. So Delta and big carriers are getting rid of their older aircraft, older planes that arent as efficient. Its a good opportunity to reduce their fleet size.

That could mean plane tickets are going to get more expensive as airlines must establish a new pricing structure when theyre expected to keep middle seats open to maintain passenger confidence in safety and cleanliness, Wyatt said.

If the industry is smaller and demand rebuilds quickly, there will be more passengers than seats, and its entirely possible it could be more expensive, he said, though he added hes confident that when a vaccine is established airlines will likely go back to flying relatively full planes.

Burke said any city with a brand-new airport has a competitive advantage. Businesses want to know that you can get your people and cargo in and out safely and efficiently, so a new airport is an asset to your company no matter what industry youre in, he said.

Still today, airports across the country struggle to provide comfortable, efficient and modern spaces for passengers to enjoy rather than just endure in their travels, Burke said. He called Salt Lake Citys new airport a window into what airports should look like.

Having a brand-spanking-new airport in Salt Lake City is a great example of what a community can do to work together to create an airport of the future, Burke said.

The reality is in the airport system in this country, the average terminal is about 40 years old. And that was all pre-9/11, he said, noting that passenger traffic and expectations surrounding air travel have soared since then.

Up until now, Denvers International Airport that opened in 1995 has been the U.S.s newest large hub airport built from scratch. Other airports like the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport which opened its newest terminal in 2008 have a similar linear layout to Salt Lake Citys new airport, with underground tunnels connecting parallel concourses (through Detroit has something Salt Lake City doesnt: an indoor train). Airport officials consider the long, straight concourse design a gold standard for efficiently moving planes to and from gates while avoiding wait times and bottlenecks.

The new airport was designed by the global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm HOK, which has been behind multiple state-of-the-art projects, including New York Citys LaGuardia Airports new Terminal B.

Moments before the curtain was about to drop during an opening ceremony for Salt Lake Citys new airport last month, Wyatt admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic which he called the single-biggest financial hit to the commercial aviation industry in history gave him feelings of concern and doubts of whether the new airport would finish on time.

It would really come down to Delta, Salt Lake Citys largest stakeholder in the project, which calls Salt Lake City home to its fourth-largest hub.

After consulting with Delta, the answer from Atlanta was, Put your foot on the gas pedal, Wyatt said.

Scott Santoro, vice president of sales for Deltas West Coast, said the new airport solidifies Delta as the airline for passengers to, from or through Salt Lake City for business and leisure travelers for many, many years to come.

Its been very easy for us to look at this and slow it down due to the pandemic, but although the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our day-to-day business, it has not impacted our commitments to you, commitments to the community that we serve, Santoro said during a recent opening ceremony for the airport. Regardless of the level of service that we provide, the promises that we made to you and those we partner with we kept.

Santoro said the pandemic has allowed us to reprioritize our efforts and ... throttle forward and accelerate projects like this one.

About 19,000 Delta employees took early retirement packages in July to help Delta through this crisis, he said.

In written responses to the Deseret News for this story, Santoro said Delta has remained a dedicated and strategic partner to Salt Lake City for the past 60 years, and intends to continue that relationship for another 60 years. He said Salt Lake Citys new airport marks the first strategic milestone within our $12 billion investment to modernize our nations aviation infrastructure.

The SLC airport has and continues to be a valued hub for our network, enabling our customers to reach their travel destination with ease and comfort, Santoro said. This new SLC airport affords customers a more convenient travel experience, intertwined with luxury and innovation. We are so proud to have been a strong, strategic partner to the SLC airport and look forward to only strengthening our relationship with them, the city of Salt Lake, and the people of Utah for years to come.

While the pandemic has brought about challenges, Santoro said, Delta continues to deliver on strategies that streamline our business and operations.

In a way, COVID-19 has allowed the airline to take a breath and look the future, he said.

This period of time has allowed for us not to pause, but pull the future forward in a way we may have not been able to do so in the past, he said, calling the new airport one such example, and we were able to deliver this project both on budget and on time. As a significant hub location for our network, this new SLC airport holds tremendous value for our network at large and has and will continue to give Delta a competitive advantage in the region.

To Burke, Delta doubled down on its commitment to Salt Lake City as an investment in the future positioning itself to rebound swifter with a major hub that will be appealing to travelers as the economy bounces back.

Burke and Wyatt said Salt Lake City also has an advantage of being home to a hub airport since hub airports have been better off financially amid the crisis than smaller airports throughout the country.

Delta carries about 60% of Salt Lake Citys total airport traffic.

Wyatt acknowledged Salt Lake City has put a lot of our eggs in one basket with Delta, but he said if he were to choose any partner, it would be that airline.

I would much rather be in our position than almost anyone else, Wyatt said. If youre going to identify a carrier ... I think theyre the strongest at the moment. Theyre incredibly well managed. They made a really big commitment here, which I think is very important, but theyre also just a great hub carrier.

Maureen Riley, who was executive director of the Salt Lake City International Airport before she retired in 2017, is given much of the credit for the foresight and financial planning that enabled Utahs capital to make the new airport possible. Wyatt credited her, his predecessor, with squirreling away a big bundle of cash so the airport could start the project in a financially strong position.

I dont think very many people get to experience what Ive experienced to see a dream come true, said Riley, who anticipated when she began saving money for the project in 2008 that she likely would retire before its completion. But she got to attend last months opening ceremony, where she was repeatedly credited for making it possible.

It was a very big dream, she said, crediting so many other people involved, their teamwork, and untold hours of planning bring it to fruition.

In 2014, when construction began, the Salt Lake airport was the only hub airport in the U.S. without debt. Now, Salt Lake City does have a fair amount of debt to help pay for it, but 19% was paid for with cash. Of the $4.1 billion price tag, over 60% is paid for using bonds, 5% is paid for with rental car fees, 4.5% is paid for by the Transportation Security Administration, which will provide funding for the baggage system, and 7.2% is paid for by fees collected from passenger airline tickets, according to airport officials.

Federal COVID-19 relief, through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, provided the Salt Lake City International Airport with a years worth of debt service payments, Wyatt said, which helps bring financial stability for the project. By the time phase two, which includes Concourse B, opens in 2024, Wyatt said hes pretty confident that the COVID-19 situation is going to be well resolved by that time.

So I would say were in a pretty enviable position, he said. Were opening the new facility just as this business gets to take off again, literally and figuratively.

Riley said when the pandemic hit and she pondered its impact on the project, she recalled that airport officials had built in a couple of discrete stopping points in case of an economic downtown, including one that could have been this fall with the opening of the first concourse.

I thought, Well, if they need to stop, they can stop, she said. But word of Deltas commitment was very encouraging.

All of us want to believe there will be a vaccine and we will get through this, and it may take longer than we know, she said. But this is a project of the future.

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How Salt Lakes new airport is ushering in the future of air travel - Deseret News

Dutchtown is one of the archetypal neighborhoods in St. Louis. It seems like everyone has heard of it, many people have roots in it, and few who do not or did not grow up within its boundaries truly understand it. It's one of the largest and most densely populated neighborhoods in St. Louis, and its past and future arecritical to the overall health of the Southside. Even people who do not live in Dutchtown should care about what happens in this neighborhooddue to its location right in the middle of the city.

The neighborhood's boundaries are a little hazy, depending on who you ask. The official City of St. Louis considers Dutchtownmuch smaller than anyone who grew up there recognizes and carves off a chunk for the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The iconic You are in Dutchtown signs, which youll find around the Southside east of Grand Boulevard, generally place the boundaries as Chippewa dog-legging up Compton to Utah on the north, the Mississippi River on the east, Walsh and Eichelberger on the South, and the Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks on the west (which went out of business in 1982). DutchtownStL.org, however, considers the modern city neighborhoods of Gravois Park, Marine Villa, Mount Pleasant, and Dutchtown to all be part of the Greater Dutchtown area.

What I love about the neighborhood is the amazing diversity laid down on what is basically a rigid and standardized street grid; there are only a couple of major streets that break the repetitive rectangular blocks that march south ignoring the gentle rolling hills in what was once the St. Louis Common Fields. And here and there are larger blocks that point back to earlier institutions that once anchored the neighborhood.

The largest break in the street grid is the former home of what was originally Maryville Academy, which sits at the corner of Meramec and Nebraska. The post office, built on one corner of the grounds, retains the name and memory of the former occupant. Founded in 1872 by the Society of the Sacred Heart, an advertisement in The Missouri Republican on August 21, 1872, announced its new location in what was then out in the country (Compton and Drys 1876 Pictorial St. Louis barely fit the northern part of Dutchtown into its publication). A 10-month session was $250, which was a good sum of money at the time, and applicants were to apply with the Mother Superior. Languages, including French, music, and painting were all part of the curriculum.

To the west are the spires of St. Antony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, which still anchors the corner of Meramec and South Compton Avenue. Restored after a fire, the church is also linked to a Franciscan monastery on site. As is common in St. Louis, there was originally another church on the site, but what is interesting in this instance was its architect being a Franciscan brother, Adrian Wewer. When the current church was built, another Franciscan brother, Anselm Wolff, provided the design in German and Italian Romanesque Revival style. But as Ive often mentioned about St. Louis architecture, there is a certain flair and breaking of the rules in Brother Wolffs church: The nave is far too wide, bright and airy, and the windows are too large to have been a Medieval church. We can tell that modern technology, such as steel or iron trusses, have cured some of the original defects of the Romanesque style. It is a beautiful church, and its presence, spotted through the trees and houses of the Southside is an inspiring sight.

Heading down Virginia Avenue, once known as Stringtown Road and one of the few streets to break the grid, the back of Cleveland High School appears. The large parcels of land on the west side of Virginia Avenue allowed for the building of large Italianate villas, such as the Villa Padua, demolished for Cleveland. A photograph of the Barnard Residence below, at the corner of Virginia and Meramec, gives an idea of the opulence of these country homes. Cleveland High School was one of William B. Ittners masterpieces, wedding the beauty of English Tudor schools with modern American technology when it opened in 1915. It sits empty, and was the victim of several fires.

Those landmarks are certainly part of Dutchtown, but the houses where everyday people live, for me, are what make the neighborhood special. The majority of the building stock dates from around the first decades of the 20th century, but there are some interesting exceptions. Here and there, you can spot an old Greek Revival country house, with its center hall floorplan. These are incredibly rare houses, and it is all the more amazing that they have survived. They can be spotted due to their front porches resembling a Greek temple front and symmetrical design.

But some of my favorite houses are the one-story houses, with their elaborate cast iron cornices. I learned from an older Dutchtown resident that he helped his father make these during the winter, and then builders would pick up and install them in the spring as bricklaying and construction started up again in warmer temperatures. These one-story houses are deceptively large; theyre economical, and they have a strong sense of architectural finesse to them, even for relatively inexpensive houses. There are thousands and thousands of these houses in Dutchtown and the rest of South St. Louis, and instead of being boring, the imagination and creativity of the bricklayers gave the faades of each house individuality in the red, tan, or buff brick.

Finally, I spotted these two-family apartments one day. I was struck at just how much thought and work had been put into the design and construction of what are rental properties. This brought me back to my original thought about diversity in Dutchtown: There are mansions sitting right next to apartments buildings, large houses right next to small houses. The beauty of Dutchtown is not just in its rich history, but in how its built environment encourages a strong sense of community across social classesif we are willing to see it.

Chris Naffziger works as the archives researcher in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of the City of St. Louis. His email is naffzigerc@stlouis-mo.gov.

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'You Are in Dutchtown': The many architectural styles of the Southside - St. Louis Magazine

An aerial view of the construction site

Initial construction of the Cathedral was supposed to commence in April this year after the laying of a foundation stone on March 5 this year.

However, a visit by the Daily Graphic in July to the 14.5-acre land next to the Parliament House established that the construction of the Cathedral had been halted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Secretary to the Board of Trustees for the National Cathedral, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, said the construction came to a standstill due to some complications.

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He explained, It had to be delayed because there were few complications with regards to the people who were going to be working on the project.

According to Rev Kusi Boateng, most of the workers were outside the country, and because of the closure of borders, work on the Cathedral had to stop.

If not for the COVID, it would have been middle of this year but because of the COVID, its been rescheduled to October now that the borders are open, he said.

Rev Kusi Boateng also noted that the selection of a contractor for the project had almost concluded.

By the grace of God, the contractor for the project has almost been approved and so by the first or second week of October, construction will start, he said.

He also expressed optimism that the project would be completedonschedule.

Weve made a lot of adjustmentsif all goes on then instead of four years, by the grace of God, in three years we will be near completion of the project.

National Cathedral

The National Cathedral of Ghana is an inter-denominational Christian church that is being built as part of the legacy to commemorate the countrys 60th anniversary.

It was proposed by the government in March 2017 and is expected to be a physical embodiment of national unity, harmony and spirituality.

The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in March 2018. He said at the time that the construction of the cathedral was in fulfilment of a promise he made to God in the run-up to the general election in 2016.

The cathedral will have a 5,000-seater capacity with chapels, a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery and a Bible museum. The site will also house a music school, an art gallery and a museum dedicated to the Bible.

Construction work is expected to be completed within the next five years and is estimated to cost over $100 million.

A board of trustees to supervise its construction was inaugurated in March 2017 and is chaired by a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Most Rev. Samuel Asante Antwi, with the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, as Vice-Chairperson, and the Founder and General Overseer of Power Chapel Worldwide, Prophet Kusi Boateng, as Secretary.

It has a heavy representation of the heads of many churches, both orthodox and charismatic.

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Work on National Cathedral to resume in October - Graphic Online

In a Zoomed press preview this morning about Until, Nick Caves monumental, injustice-addressing collection of installations opening Saturday at the Momentary in Bentonville, Crystal Bridges curator Lauren Haynes provided a poignant show-stopper of an observation: Under the Crystal Cloud, I feel like I can breathe. For an African American who witnessed the smothering of George Floyd earlier this summer, that would be a precious feeling.

The Crystal Cloudscape is Caves piece within Until that helps illustrate the question, Is there racism in heaven? Until, which premiered in 2016 in a vast gallery at MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which like the Momentary is in an old industrial building), was born of what the shows first curator, Denise Markonish, described as a tragically American moment:the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

Thats when everything came together, Cave said of his planning for the work: The legal maxim Innocent until proved guilty has become for African Americans in this country guilty until proven innocent. Known for his sound suits, sound-maker encrusted suits made to be worn by dancers as a form of performance art, Cave was inspired to immerse the visitors to the 18,000-square-foot space at MASS MoCA with millions of objects in six installations that would encourage consideration of disparate forms of justice. At MASS MoCA, Until was about the black experience; when it appeared at SydFest in Sydney, Australia, the treatment of aboriginal people was front of mind.

Until is entered through the Kinetic Spinner Forest, an installation of thousands of spinning objects hung from the ceiling, a dizzying field of kaleidescope-like discs on which images guns, bullets and targets are imposed. The Beaded Cliff Wall contains millions of netted plastic pony-tail beads, shoelaces and rope in which a such things as a peace symbol, a smiling face and a rainbow are woven. Shimmering party streamers make up Flow Blow; a video installation puts viewers in the center of a room of staring eyes in Hy-Dyve; a bronze hand pointing skyward like the gravestone art of the 18th century is surrounded by a flower wreath in Unarmed. Haynes freeing installation, Crystal Cloudscape, is made up of 24 chandeliers ensconced in a thick crystal cloud; viewers will be able to see it from above, from ladders, or below, from the lower mezzanine.

In contrast to the serious matter of injustice, the shows physical elements of joy bright chandeliers, beads, crystals, glass spinners are also meant to inspire hope. Until, Cave said, is an interventional installation where people can confront the isms that are global issues and concerns. While he initially had doubts about the Momentarys space on his first visit, he said, I was like its not possible. The Crystal Cloud cannot fit in here he has seen an evolution. It has taken on a whole different format . It is really quite magnificent. The Momentary has gained an entire otherness that had never happened anywhere else.

For him, there are elements of Until that bring him comfort, Cave said. And so that is the takeaway: that everyone is going to come to it from all sorts of directions. But no one is going to leave without seeing what commitment looks like, what standing up for something looks like.

Until runs through Jan. 3, 2021. The show is free, and no reservations are required, but visitors must wear face coverings and maintain social distancing. There will be a limit placed on visitors to the museum.

A lineup of virtual, in-person and popup programming is being scheduled with local and regional performers and artists, Haynes said.

Continue reading here:
Monumental at the Momentary: Nick Cave's "Until" - Arkansas Times

Visit Larry Harrisons home around this time last year, and youd find a peeling, dripping and water-stained ceiling, a tangle of wires sticking out haphazardly from the electrical box, and a front-porch step crumbled to near nothing.

That step, although bolstered with new wood in the time since, still makes for a steep drop-off, giving Harrison trouble each time he heads out his front door.

Its rough getting down there, Harrison admitted.

Harrison, a Navy veteran, contracted polio as an infant, and, later on, lost his knee cap when he was involved in a bad truck wreck. So walkings not always so easy.

But because his washer and dryer are located in a storage shed outside his house, he has to do an awful lot of it lugging heavy baskets of laundry down off that sloping, decaying porch each time he does his wash.

Yeah, it is tirin, Harrison said. Its limited me on climbing and getting up and walking all the time.

But thanks to a series of grants obtained by the Habitat for Humanity of Smith Countys ReHabitat program which provides seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and low-income individuals with critical home repairs that porch will soon be fixed, and the washer and dryer will be relocated inside the 1623 E. Line St. home.

Since last October, the house has made massive progress, already.

My electrical has been redone, Harrison began. They put a new meter box out there and they put all new windows in and new doors. They insulated the ceiling, theyve done some sheet rock in there that fell down. So far, its goin good.

As with most things, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the service projects offered up through Habitat for Humanity.

The cost of critical repairs has grown as shifts in supply and demand caused the cost of lumber to skyrocket its increased probably 200 percent, Raimund Gideon, director of construction, estimated and lengthened the time it takes to get the job done.

While Gideon expects Harrisons home repairs will be completed sometime before the years end, Harrison hopes they come sooner rather than later.

We just have to get it finished, he said, chuckling.

Harrison inherited the home built in 1935 from his mother, and has lived in it sporadically since the early 60s.

After living in it for that period of time, it was just goin down hill, Harrison said. Its been kind of rough.

In Smith County and beyond, Harrison is far from alone in those experiences.

There is a substantial need, Gideon said. A lot of times, you drive around the neighborhood and you have no idea what the conditions look like inside. The 10 years that Ive been here, we have averaged about 150 critical repairs a year. Its an eye opener.

Some homes dont have exterior doors. Many times, the roofs are failing and water will pour straight through, Gideon said. And with so many needed repairs, health and safety take first priority.

Basically, what I do is a triage of the house, Gideon said. ... Is there leaking water? Are the gas appliances outdated? Is everything functioning properly to where somebody could live safely in the home?

The answer, he said, is often no.

Gideon then works with funding agencies to acquire the grants necessary to ensure those homes are repaired and made safe and livable once again.

Over the course of the past year, Harrison has seen his house transformed with the installation of a heating and cooling system, much-needed foundation and roof repairs, and fresh coats of paint that have rendered his home an unmistakable baby blue.

I think it was really a big mental transformation, Gideon said of Harrisons reaction to the recent updates. Their attitude about themselves and their environment changes dramatically (when their homes are repaired). If you live in a house thats decrepit and in need of repair it leads to a level of depression. When their homes are fixed, they can take pride in them again.

Harrisons begun that part, already, and added that hes very grateful for the help thats allowed him to feel comfortable at home once again.

Its hard to find people who does things like that, Harrison said. People just, I dont know, they seem to not care. So this is well appreciated.

See the rest here:
Pandemic or no, ReHabitat for Humanity continues to aid area veterans with home repairs - Tyler Morning Telegraph

New Jersey, United States, The Smart Vent Market report 2020 provides a detailed impression, describe the product industry scope and the market expanded insights and forecasts up to 2027. It shows market data according to industry drivers, restraints and opportunities, analyzes the market status, the industry share, size, future Trends and growth rate of the market. The Smart Vent Market report is categorized by application, end user, technology, product / service types, and other, as well as by region. In addition, the report includes the calculated expected CAGR of chitosan acetate-market derivative from the earlier records of the Smart Vent Market, and current market trends, which are organized with future developments.

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Smart Vent Market is Thriving Worldwide 2020 | Trends, Growth and Profit Analysis, Forecast by 2027 - The Daily Chronicle

What does it mean to hold a biennial exhibition in a year like this one?

Beyond the practical limitations, compounded by the fact that many participating artists cant travel to their own shows, any major art event taking place in 2020 necessarily makes a statement about the world we live in. In the case of the 11th Berlin Biennale, the curatorial vision that guided it came to form over the last two years, largely before the pandemic changed everything. So it is especially poignant that the shows central issuespostcolonial struggle, gender-based and race-based injustice, queer-phobia, and the unequal impacts wrought by climate changehave met a world where these very same problems have reached an unbearable climax.

Postponed from June to September, the show, called The Crack Begins Within, welcomed socially-distanced visitors across its four locations last weekend as one of the few international art events to physically open in Europe this year, despite rising infection rates. Curators Mara Berros, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, and Agustn Prez Rubiowho are all based in South Americainvited artists largely hailing from the Global South. The majority are women, many identify as queer, and few have yet to be widely exhibited in Europe.

Curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, f. l. t. r.: Renata Cervetto, Agustin Perez Rubio, Maria Berrios, Lisette Lagnado. Photo: F. Anthea Schaap

It makes us extremely sad that we cannot welcome most of the participants personally at this years biennale because they live in high-risk areas, Berlin Biennales director Gabriela Horn said in a video statement sent to the media in lieu of a press conference on preview day last Friday, September 4.

The artworks on viewand indeed the 76-strong artist listoffers an antidote to the long-dominant white, christian mindset and the patriarchy that enshrines it, by countering what the curators describe in the videotaped statement as patriarchal rampage and colonial capitalism. Set in three main parts against institutions of the church, the museum, and the body politic, the curators find a way of rebelling against each one that is radical overall: through artworks centered on collectivity, solidarity, and compassion.

Zehra Doan, Xzn Diz [The Hidden Drawings] (201820). Installation view (detail), 11th Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Courtesy Zehra DoanPhoto: Silke Briel

During their allotted time slots, press streamed through the now extra-spacious halls at two of Berlins major art institutions, the Gropius Bau and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, as well as the daadgalerie. This last chapter of the biennial was preceded by three smaller prelude shows, the first of which opened exactly one year ago at ExRotaprint, a historical former printing press that was occupied by a tenant co-operative in the early 2000s and now functions as a community-driven cultural initiative. Thats a model that sits well with the curators message. During the biennial final chapter, the main exhibition, this location serves as an archive of the entire biennial research and exhibition process.

Meanwhile at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the curators present a chapter themed The Antichurch that offers visceral perspectives on the violence of patriarchy and the subversion of it. Among the most striking works are monumental drawings by Argentinian artist Florencia Rodriguez Giles. Generously installed around the institutions main floor, the detailed canvases in the 2018 series Biodelica depict otherworldly, sometimes nightmarish figures that are part-human, part-animal, and part-vegetable. The figures tout female genitalia and engage in actions driven by the pursuit of pleasure.

Galli, Installation view, 11th Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary.Photo: Silke Briel

Similarly alluring in their fleshliness are the paintings of entangled, blood-red limbs and torsos by Galli, installed on KWs second floor. A female member of Berlins Junge Wilden generation of the late 1970s and early 1980sa bohemian, male-dominated group of artists, including Albert Oehlen, who all favored an expressive style of painting over the minimalist visual language of that timeGallis works have rightfully gained latent appreciation in the past five years. Alongside several canvases, her books of collages are also on display in glass cases as well as in a video. The artists hands, filmed leafing through the pages, hint towards her differently abled body.

However, its a common drawback of exhibitions that seek to convey forms of community dissent, resistance, and activism through artistic means that they end up feeling more preachy than subversive, more dryly didactic than revolutionary. Too many artworks in the show, which is heavy on video art, fall into this trap. And the effectiveness of much of it is deeply reliant on wall texts. Whats more, if a feminine sensibility, as the argument here goes, is the favorable alternative to masculine rampage, why not cast it in roles less associated with victimhood?

Andrs Pereira Paz, EGO FVLCIO COLLVMNAS EIVS [I FORTIFY YOUR COLUMNS] (2020). 11th Berlin Biennale, Gropius Bau. Courtesy Andrs Pereira Paz; Crisis Galera, Lima; Galera Isla Flotante, Buenos Aires. Photo: Mathias Vlzke.

The conceptual thread that runs through the chapter installed at Gropius Bau takes the museum as another patriarchal structure in need of critical overhaul. Titled The Inverted Museum, this segment includes generous installations that meld sensuous experiences and intellectual engagement. Of the three shows-within-the-show, it is the most successful.

Take Bolivian artist Andrs Pereira Pazs 2020 installation I Fortify Your Columns, commissioned and co-produced by the biennial, a landscape of minimalist sculptures that occupy the floor, walls, and ceiling of a darkened gallery. A birds call resonates throughout the space. Its the sound of the Amazonian guajoj; when its habitat was ravaged by catastrophic blazes last year, a single specimen managed the extraordinary flight to Bolivia, where its sighting became a local sensation. An asylum seeker rather than a migrating bird, it has no home to return to.

Aykan Safolu, Zero Deficit (in Refusal) (2020). Installation view, 11th Berlin Biennale, Gropius Bau. Prints by Lamarts, Istanbul. All works Courtesy Aykan Safolu. Commissioned and produced by Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. In collaboration with Lamarts, Istanbul. With the support of SAHA Association. With thanks to Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, PhD in Practice, doc.funds. Photo: Mathias Vlzke

While the show largely lands on South American soil, several works focus more directly on Europe-centered stories. Turkish artist Aykan Safolu digs into his own childhood and education at a renowned German-Turkish school in Istanbul. In a video work narrated by the artist, he weaves his personal history with 19th-century Prussian-Ottoman relations, which were based on Europes financial and colonial interests in Ottoman-run Anatolia (modern day Turkey), and the debt collected by European companies who leeched a bankrupt Ottoman Empire. Safolu notes that, as a German-speaking man in Istanbul, he is better accepted by German society than his relative who came within a huge Turkish cohort to Germany in the 1960 as guest workers.

Other works addressed even more direct situations of persecution. At KW, formerly jailed Kurdish journalist and artist Zehra Doan showed The Hidden Drawings, which she made on 103 sheets of paper sent from a friend while Doan was imprisoned in Turkey. The drawings and textsraw and austere, albeit not without hopeare presented on a long table behind glass, the pages form a graphic novel that depicts experiences lived and witnessed during her incarceration, contextualized within the history of the Kurdish struggle in Turkey that has been going on since the 1980s.

In a separate room at KW, German artist Christine Meisner presents her 2020 work Unsharpness In A Possible, Episode 1: Submissions from Berlin, in which she explores the archives of the weekly Der Strmer, a tabloid published between 1923 and 1945 that propagated anti-Semitic and Nazi ideologies (its founder was sentenced to death in the Nuremberg trials). Meisner digs out the immense amounts of anti-Semitic material submitted for publication by readers from all over Germany and Nazi-occupied territories; her installation helps to illustrate the culpability of German society at large. It is an issue that persists: Only a week ago, protesters demonstrating against state measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 stormed the steps of the German federal parliament, several waving flags associated with extreme far-right and Neo-Nazi views.

If the biennial title, The Crack Begins Within, is at first interpreted as a call for change worldwidethat breaking with old ways begins with personal responsibilitythis one work in particular serves as a grim reminder of the dangerous potential this holds. The crack is open, but no one can predict how deep it will get.

The 11th Berlin Biennaleis on view until November 1, 2020 at various locations across Berlin.

To learn more about Berlin Art Week here.

More:
Dominated by Female Voices and Queer Perspectives, the Berlin Biennial Amplifies the Plights and Triumphs of Marginalized Communities - artnet News

For millions of us, homeworking is here to stay for a while longer at least and some anticipate that they will never return to the office. However, many have struggled to find a satisfactory spot in their home where they can get on with their work undisturbed.

So its not surprising that lots of homeowners have been eyeing up their garden as a potential new working environment.

Research by Direct Lines home insurance arm found that since lockdown began almost 1 million homeworkers have splashed out on a shed or similar outbuilding to use as an office or workspace and a further 1.1 million are planning to do so in the next 12 months.

Companies specialising in shed offices (or shoffices) and garden rooms have reported a surge in inquiries and orders. That applies to the mass-market retailers, where the most basic summerhouses start at only a few hundred pounds, all the way up to the high-end players, whose often architecturally striking creations can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

The boom in demand means that some designs are out of stock or you may have to wait several months for a delivery.

The average shed worker spent just over 3,300 on their garden workspace, according to research from the digital bank Starling, carried out a few weeks before lockdown.

The average size of a garden workspace was 65 sq ft (6 sq metres), according to the survey.

There is a vast array of options depending on your budget and aesthetic taste.

Go online and its not hard to find small wooden summerhouses for under 500 but something that cheap is only really going to be usable in good weather.

Realistically, you will need to spend a few thousand pounds for something you can comfortably use all year.

At the specialist site Sheds.co.uk, insulated garden rooms and buildings start at 5,694 for a 3x3 metre structure, going up to 9,899 for a 6x4 metre one (these prices include delivery and installation). The walls, floor and roof are fully insulated and the windows are double-glazed.

At the log cabin specialist Summer House 24, offices start at about 2,400 but installation, insulation and roofing cover typically cost extra. For example, the 3.2x3.2 metre Nora B log cabin is priced at 2,430 but using its installation service costs an extra 850, while a floor and roof insulation kit is 570 and a roof shingle kit is 180. On its large Hansa log cabin offices costing 14,500, installation alone adds an extra 3,500 to the price.

John Lewis sells garden offices and studios made by Norfolk-based Crane Garden Buildings, including a 3x3 metre one costing 8,499, including installation and delivery. It is made in the UK from FSC-certified Scandinavian redwood, features floor-to-ceiling glass panels and is fully insulated, lined and double-glazed.

What is and isnt included when you buy can vary hugely. Sometimes the shed will come without a roof covering or the wood will be untreated. Importantly, you will need a solid, level base for your building. Some shed firms will be able to sort you out with a concrete base but you may be charged 1,000, or much more. You may have a local builder who could do it for a lot less.

If youre handy when it comes to DIY and joinery, you may be able to create a garden workspace for a lot less cash. A lot of DIYers will look at the cheaper options and do it themselves, says William Letterese, a director at Sixty Stores, which owns Sheds.co.uk.

For example, you could buy a cheaper shed and insulate it for perhaps a few hundred pounds. You can buy insulation boards for walls and floors well-known brands include Celotex, EcoTherm and Kingspan. There are lots of websites and blogs offering help and advice.

How about the Escape Pod, a striking structure clad in cedar shingles and made of birch ply and European oak? The Gloucestershire-based firm Podmakers says that with its adaptable interior, heating (woodburner or underfloor), electrics and insulation, the Escape Pod has the potential to be used in lots of ways but at the moment its really offices that people want weve just put one in where theres two people working.

The starting price is 19,800 plus VAT (or 17,900 in kit form). They are delivered and installed using a forklift or crane, though if there are problems with access, the components can be carried through the house and assembled on site (with this option, installation costs 2,000).

Generally, no. Sheds and other outbuildings are considered to be permitted developments, not requiring planning permission, provided certain conditions are met. In England the main ones include: the building must be single storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and a maximum overall height of 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof, or 3 metres for any other roof; it cannot be used as a separate home to live in; and it cannot include a veranda, balcony or raised platform higher than 300mm.

Some firms offer a service where they will connect your garden building to the houses electricity supply but many dont, so you may need to pay a professional electrician.

Some say you need to dig a trench so you can run an armoured power cable underground. Others say its OK to put the cable under some gravel or run it along the fence. If you know a friendly electrician, ask his or her advice.

There are various options for extending your wifi to your garden office. Probably the simplest and cheapest is a wifi booster, a smallish device you simply plug in and which amplifies your signal, although the shed probably needs to be no more than 30 metres away. You can get fairly decent wifi boosters from companies such as Netgear and TP-Link for 20-40. Then there are so-called powerline adaptor kits, sometimes known as HomePlugs, which typically cost about the same.

Or you could run an ethernet cable from the house to the garden building (you could run it alongside your main power cable).

Many buildings insurance policies extend cover to outbuildings as standard, which means you would be covered against weather damage, Moneysupermarket.com says. The contents will typically be covered by your home insurance but you need a good idea of what the items are worth, and to let your insurer know, it adds. Dig out the paperwork and if in doubt, contact your insurer(s).

You may not have the cash or space for a separate home office, but there are ways to make a spare room or corner, into a work space.

Buy second hand. For example, Recycled Business Furniture, based in High Wycombe, offers a basic package of a desk and a quality adjustable chair for 150 plus VAT, and an executive package of an electric desk and a Herman Miller chair for 475 plus VAT (this option was sold out at the time of writing). Or you can just buy a chair for 40 or 95, both with VAT on top.

If you do end up buying new, websites such as Expert Reviews and TechRadar have detailed guides to the best office chairs for homeworking. Here are a few of their top picks:

45 Ikeas Torkel swivel chair. This month, Expert Reviews called it the best budget office chair.

About 50 Life Carvers mesh middle back office chair. Available on Amazon and elsewhere.

120 Argoss Home Orion swivel chair. It has a faux leather finish and a high back.

179 Ikeas Markus swivel chair. It comes with a 10-year guarantee.

TechRadar says the Furinno computer desk is, according to TechRadar, the best budget (and space-saving) office desk around, highlighting model 12095GYW, at about 107 and measuring 100cm wide by 86cm high by 40cm deep. If space is really at a premium, Argos sells a compact folding office desk for 40 that gets very good reviews. It is 86cm wide by 84cm high by 62cm deep, and folds flat.

Read more:
Shed quarters: how to set up an office in your garden - The Guardian

Nobody was injured and the ceiling was quickly repaired, say officials

The repaired section of ceiling on the first floor at Dubai Mall. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

The repaired section of ceiling on the first floor at Dubai Mall. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

The repaired section of ceiling on the first floor at Dubai Mall. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

Nobody was hurt when a section of ceiling collapsed at Dubai Mall. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

A section of the ceiling at Dubai's largest mall has been repaired after it fell on Monday night.

The section fell near Laduree on the first floor of Dubai Mall but no one was injured, authorities said.

An image of the collapsed section of ceiling was shared on social media. It showed part of the ceiling facade hanging by wires as small groups of people looked on from a safe distance.

Dubai Mall has taken immediate measures to restore the damage caused to a small section of the ceiling yesterday evening. There were no injuries and all precautionary measure are in place to ensure the highest safety for Dubai Mall's visitors. pic.twitter.com/ctarQtaP9u

On Tuesday, Dubai Media Office said the mall took "immediate" measures to fix the broken ceiling and that "all precautionary measure are in place to ensure the highest safety for Dubai Mall's visitors."

The emirate's malls reopened at full capacity in June, after months of restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Visitors are still required to undergo temperature screening on entry to the mall, wear protective face masks and maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from others.

Other key safety measures include the provision of an isolation room for suspected cases of the virus and the installation of hand sanitiser dispensers.

Updated: September 8, 2020 05:56 PM

See the article here:
Ceiling that collapsed at Dubai Mall is repaired - The National

Both the Savannah and Albany come with a smaller footprint but designed with todays families in mind an open floorplan that feels spacious and roomy at a very affordable price.

UNIONTOWN, Ohio (PRWEB) September 11, 2020

Wayne Homes, an Ohio-based custom home builder that specializes in on-your-lot custom homes, has released two new floor plans today, the Albany and the Savannah.

The Albany is a single-story, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with just over 1,300 square feet of living space, while the Savannah is a two-story floor plan with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and 1,710 square feet.

The Albany is the smallest ranch floor plan that Wayne Homes offers but includes big features, such as an open concept main living area, large island with a flush eat ledge and plenty of counter space in the kitchen, and a roomy owner suite with a walk-in closet.

The Savannah, now Wayne Homes smallest two-story floor plan, includes a large walk-in closet and bathroom in the owner suite, and larger-sized secondary bedrooms. The spacious kitchen allows room for an island and the dining room will comfortably fit the whole family for holiday meals.

Building a new home has become a reality to more people than ever before, Maurie Jones, Senior Vice President of Marketing, said. With interest rates at historic lows and low numbers of existing homes for sale, families are looking at new construction as an option. Both the Savannah and Albany come with a smaller footprint but designed with todays families in mind an open floorplan that feels spacious and roomy at a very affordable price.

Both the Albany and the Savannah are available in four exterior elevations, including the Classic, Craftsman, Farmhouse, and Tradition elevations.

For more information about building a custom home with Wayne Homes and the Albany or the Savannah, please visit WayneHomes.com.

About Wayne Homes

Wayne Homes is a custom home builder in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia (see all Model Home Centers). We offer over 50 fully customizable floor plans and a team dedicated to providing the best experience in the home building industry. For more information, Ask Julie, our online sales team, by live chat or call us at (866) 253-6807.

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Wayne Homes Releases Two New Floor Plans, the Albany and the Savannah - PR Web