Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier loved Manhattan. He loved its newness, he loved its Cartesian regularity, above all he loved its tall buildings. He had only one reservation, which he revealed on landing in New York City in 1935. The next day, a headline in the Herald Tribune informed its readers that the celebrated architect finds American skyscrapers much too small. Le Corbusier always thought big. He once proposed replacing a large part of the center of Paris with 18 sixty-story towers; that made headlines too.

He was born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in Switzerland in 1887. When he was 29, he went to Paris, where he soon after adopted his maternal grandfather's name, Le Corbusier, as his pseudonym. Jeanneret had been a small-town architect; Le Corbusier was a visionary. He believed that architecture had lost its way. Art Nouveau, all curves and sinuous decorations, had burned itself out in a brilliant burst of exuberance; the seductive Art Deco style promised to do the same. The Arts and Crafts movement had adherents all over Europe, but as the name implies, it was hardly representative of an industrial age. Le Corbusier maintained that this new age deserved a brand-new architecture. "We must start again from zero," he proclaimed.

The new architecture came to be known as the International Style. Of its many partisans — among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius in Germany, Theo van Doesburg in Holland — none was better known than Le Corbusier. He was a tireless proselytizer, addressing the public in manifestos, pamphlets, exhibitions and his own magazine. He wrote books — dozens of them — on interior decoration, painting and architecture. They resembled instruction manuals. An example is his recipe for the International Style: raise the building on stilts, mix in a free-flowing floor plan, make the walls independent of the structure, add horizontal strip windows and top it off with a roof garden.

But this makes him sound like a technician, and he was anything but. Although he dressed like a bureaucrat, in dark suits, bow ties and round horn-rimmed glasses, he was really an artist (he was an accomplished painter and sculptor). What is most memorable about the austere, white-walled villas that he built after World War I in and around Paris is their cool beauty and their airy sense of space. "A house is a machine for living in," he wrote. The machines he admired most were ocean liners, and his architecture spoke of sun and wind and the sea.

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India is Asia's top spot for billionaries

India's emerging economic clout has made it Asia's top spot for billionaires with its 40 richest businesspeople worth a collective $170 billion, up from $106 billion last year, according to leading American business magazine Forbes.

"India's top ten, worth $112 billion, account for two-thirds of that wealth," it said in a special Monday noting, "India's rising fortunes are underscored by the increasing prosperity of its wealthiest citizens."

"India was one of the world's poorest economies when it won its independence from Britain in 1947. Incredibly, 60 years later, the country's emerging economic clout has made it Asia's top spot for billionaires," Forbes said.

This year, for the first time in two decades of wealth tracking, Forbes counted more Indian than Japanese billionaires in its annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people.

Three Indians even made it to the list of the top 20 of the world's richest. Only the US had more billionaires in the top global ranks.

India's hot stock market, up 39 per cent this year, and its robust real estate market helped swell most fortunes. The minimum net worth needed to make the cut rose to $790 million, up from $590 million.

Lakshmi Mittal, who lives in London and forged a landmark deal in June to acquire Luxembourg rival Arcelor, remains No. 1 and is worth $25 billion. Mukesh and Anil Ambani unseated Azim Premji, who had been India's richest resident for years.

The two brothers, who split their business empire last year after a much-publicised feud, have found life alone much richer. Mukesh's fortune rose by $11.5 billion while Anil's increased by $9.3 billion.

Forbes said India was a relatively sleepy place for the world's wealthiest until three years ago with just nine billionaires in 2004, none ranked higher than 58. That's when wealth began taking off, with the fast-rising stock market and booming real estate sector bringing prosperity as never before.

Happy 60th, India!

Happy 60th Independence Day!

15th August, 2007.

Top 10 trends in home design

Tomorrow's homes are on the drawing board and they are nothing like the places you may recall from your childhood. New materials and new technologies are reshaping the way we build. Floor plans are also changing to accommodate the changing patterns of our lives. And yet, many architects and designers are also drawing upon ancient materials and building techniques. So, what will the homes of the future look like? Watch for these important trends.

1. Earth-Friendly Design

Perhaps the most exciting and most important trend in home design is the increased sensitivity to the environment. Architects and engineers taking a new look at ancient building techniques that used simple, bio-degradable materials. Far from primitive, today's "earth houses" are proving comfortable, economical, and rustically beautiful.

2. "Prefab" Construction

Factory-made prefabricated homes have come a long way from flimsy trailer park dwellings. Trend-setting architects and builders are using modular building materials to create bold new designs with lots of glass and steel. Prefabricated, manufactured housing comes in all shapes and styles, from steamlined Bauhaus to undulating organic forms.

3. Adaptive Reuse

New buildings aren't always entirely new. A desire to protect the environment and to preserve historic architecture is inspiring architects to repurpose, or re-use, older structures. Trend-setting homes of the future may be constructed from the shell of an outdated factory, an empy warehouse, or an abandoned church.

4. Healthy Design

Some buildings can literally make you sick. Home designers are becoming increasingly aware of the ways our health is affected by synthetic materials and the chemical additives used in paints and composition wood products. The most innovative homes aren't necessarily the most unusual; they are the homes constructed without relying on plastics, laminates, and fume-producing glues.

5. Storm-Resistance

Every shelter should be built to withstand the elements, and engineers are making steady progress in developing storm-ready home designs. In areas were hurricanes are prevalent, more and more builders are relying on insulated wall panels constructed of sturdy concrete.

6. Flexible Floor Plans

Changing lifestyles calls for changing living spaces. Tomorrow's homes have sliding doors, pocket doors, and other types of movable partitions allow flexibility in living arrangements. Dedicated living and dining rooms are being replaced by large multi-purpose family areas. In addition, many houses include private "bonus" rooms that can be used for office space or be adapted to a variety of specialized needs.

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How to remove paint safely and quickly

Paint stripper works wonders for removing paint. AsktheBuilder.com host Tim Carter shares some paint removal pointers to help you get rid of your paint quickly and safely.

How to save electricity on lighting

• Consider using high-intensity discharge (also called HID) or low-pressure sodium lights.
• Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs because of their long life. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with a cold weather ballast since standard CFLs may not work well below 40°F.
• Turn off decorative outdoor natural gas lamps; just eight such lamps burning year-round use as much natural gas as it takes to heat an average-size home during an entire winter.
• Use outdoor lights with a photocell unit or a motion sensor so they will turn on only at night or when someone is present. A combined photocell and motion sensor will increase your energy savings even more.
• Consider using 4-watt minifluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights. Both lights are much more efficient than their incandescent counterparts. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.
• If you have torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps, consider replacing them with compact fluorescent torchieres. Compact fluorescent torchieres use 60% to 80% less energy, can produce more light (lumens), and do not get as hot as the halogen torchieres. Halogen torchieres are a fire risk because of the high temperature of the halogen bulb.
• Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight.
• Recessed downlights (also called recessed cans) are now available that are rated for contact with insulation (IC rated), are designed specifically for pin-based CFLs, and can be used in retrofits or new construction.
• Use CFLs in all the portable table and floor lamps in your home. Consider carefully the size and fit of these systems when you select them. Some home fixtures may not accommodate some of the larger CFLs.
• Consider using 4-watt minifluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights. Both lights are much more efficient than their incandescent counterparts. The luminescent lights are cool to the touch.
• Use 4-foot fluorescent fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for your workroom, garage, and laundry areas.
• Consider three-way lamps; they make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not necessary.
• Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.
• Turn off the lights in any room you're not using, or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.
• Install task lighting – such as under-counter kitchen lights or bathroom mirror lights – to reduce the need for ambient lighting of large spaces.
• Use dimmers, motion sensors, or occupancy sensors to automatically turn on or off lighting as needed and prevent energy waste.
• Install fluorescent light fixtures for all ceiling- and wall-mounted fixtures that will be on for more than 2 hours each day.
• Use ENERGY STAR labeled lighting fixtures.
• Consider light wall colors to minimize the need for artificial lighting.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in place of comparable incandescent bulbs to save about 50 percent on your lighting costs. CFLs use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer.
• Turn your lights off when you leave a room. Standard, incandescent light bulbs should be turned off whenever they are not needed. Fluorescent lights should be turned off whenever you'll be away for 15 minutes or more.
• During winter, open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows
• Installing a skylight can provide your home with daylighting and warmth. When properly selected and installed, an energy-efficient skylight can help minimize your heating, cooling, and lighting costs.

Dirt pick up on exteriors

Accumulation of dirt, dust particles and/or other debris on the paint film; may resemble fungus or algae.

POSSIBLE CAUSES:

• Use of a low quality paint, especially lower grades of satin types.

• Air pollution, car exhaust fumes and flying dust collecting on houses.

SOLUTION:

• Wash off all surface dirt before priming and painting, using a scrub brush and detergent solution, followed by a thorough rinse. Heavier dirt accumulations may require the use of a power washer. While dirt pickup can't be eliminated entirely, top quality exterior water-based paints typically offer superior dirt pickup resistance and washability. Also, higher gloss paints are more resistant to dirt pickup than matt paints, which are more porous and can more easily entrap dirt.

• Regular wash down will give longevity to the paint film.