|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/dparrot/ |
Upload File : |
<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"
xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document>
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11">
<meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 11">
<link rel=File-List href="FT_files/filelist.xml">
<link rel=Edit-Time-Data href="FT_files/editdata.mso">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<title> </title>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Author>Dr. Richard L. Rubes</o:Author>
<o:LastAuthor>Dr. Richard L. Rubes</o:LastAuthor>
<o:Revision>2</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>7</o:TotalTime>
<o:Created>2006-09-12T02:55:00Z</o:Created>
<o:LastSaved>2006-09-12T02:55:00Z</o:LastSaved>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>1403</o:Words>
<o:Characters>8001</o:Characters>
<o:Company>R L Rubens, PhD, PC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>66</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>18</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>9386</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>11.8036</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:DisplayBackgroundShape/>
<w:SpellingState>Clean</w:SpellingState>
<w:GrammarState>Clean</w:GrammarState>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object
classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
p.copyright2, li.copyright2, div.copyright2
{mso-style-name:copyright2;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.SpellE
{mso-style-name:"";
mso-spl-e:yes;}
span.GramE
{mso-style-name:"";
mso-gram-e:yes;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='tab-interval:.5in'>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><a
href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/54dee67e-3fa0-11db-a37c-0000779e2340.html"><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t"
path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/>
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"/>
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"/>
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"/>
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/>
</v:formulas>
<v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/>
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/>
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="FT.com logo"
style='width:103.5pt;height:52.5pt'>
<v:imagedata src="FT_files/image001.gif" o:href="http://www.ft.com/FTCOM/Images/ftlogo2.gif"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img border=0 width=138 height=70
src="FT_files/image001.gif" alt="FT.com logo" v:shapes="_x0000_i1025"><![endif]></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-outline-level:3;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN'>Turning to stone<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN'>By Rachel Spence <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
8.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN'>Published: September 9 2006 03:00
| <span class=GramE>Last</span> updated: September 9 2006 03:00<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Since the days of ancient <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Egypt</st1:country-region></st1:place>, obelisks have been employed
by architects to signal the presence of sacred sites to pilgrims. "It is
the calling card of the city of stone," says Claudio D'Amato <span
class=SpellE>Guerrieri</span>, professor of architectural design at Bari
Polytechnic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>This week, a 15.5-metre example will loom over the
red-brick warehouses and docks of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>'s
medieval shipyard, marking the entrance to a special exhibition that is part of
the city's 10th Architecture Biennale. Appropriately, the show is called <i>Cities
of Stone </i>and the material is its undisputed star.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>At first consideration, this seems an eccentric choice.
Stone has been around since the Pharaohs. Surely there's nothing new to say
about it. But D'Amato, who <span class=SpellE>curated</span> the exhibition,
insists that it is stone's illustrious past that makes it the right medium for
the future, especially in southern <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>"Mediterranean cities are cities of stone, directly
generated by the Greek and Roman <span class=SpellE>civilisation</span>, by its
particular form of rationality," he explains. He worries that this
classical heritage is being swept away in a post-Corbusier tide of cement,
glass and steel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>"A city is like a person. If it forgets its
tradition, its memory, it loses its cultural identity."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>As an example, D'Amato cites the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><span
class=SpellE>Ara</span></st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><span
class=SpellE>Pacis</span></st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType>
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Rome</st1:City></st1:place>,
designed by the modernist Richard Meier to house an ancient sacrificial altar.
Some would argue that the airy glass, concrete and travertine structure brings
a spirit-lifting touch of modernity to the banks of the <st1:place w:st="on">Tiber</st1:place>
but D'Amato disagrees. "It's like putting <span class=SpellE>Beauborg</span>
[the Pompidou Centre] on the Grand Canal in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Yet to dismiss D'Amato as a stuffy traditionalist would
be a mistake. His ideal Mediterranean city is the fruit of a marriage between
traditional stonemasonry and advanced technology. "There is nothing to say
that glass and steel are intrinsically modern or that stone is necessarily
ancient. It depends on how they are used."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Take the stone barrel vault, originally conceived by an
18th-century French geometrician, Joseph <span class=SpellE>Abeille</span>,
which acts as the <span class=SpellE>centrepiece</span> for the section of the
show entitled "The art of the stonecutter". <span class=SpellE>Abeille</span>
studied the traditional flat vault, commonly used to build staircases in the
servants' quarters of grand houses where vertical space was lacking. "He
developed a way of varying the stone grid that supports the arch, which would
have allowed lots of different models to be built. But he couldn't translate it
into practice," D'Amato explains.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>The professor and his students fed the centuries-old
plans into a computer-aided design <span class=SpellE>programme</span> and not
only <span class=SpellE>realised</span> them but developed them further,
turning the flat surface back into an arch. The result is an impeccable curve
with a pristine grid of stone that interlocks so snugly no mortar was
necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>"Only the ancient Greeks could have produced a
barrel vault without mortar," D'Amato says proudly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Also on display are projects for two bridges, both
intended for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>,
whose fluid arcs illustrate the vault's practical <span class=GramE>uses.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>A new vogue for stonecutting will have welcome
consequences for the way we live. "Houses built of stone have huge
advantages over those built in cement," D'Amato explains, and not only in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Mediterranean</st1:place>. "You have only to look
at the great country houses of Sir Edwin <span class=SpellE>Lutyens</span> to
see how preferable stone is to a cement cage. Now, thanks to the technical
possibilities of the material allied to the new technology, you can create <span
class=SpellE>marvellous</span> spaces with, say, arched or vaulted ceilings or
cupolas."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>His barrel vault, historically used as an intermediary
floor in staircases, would be the ideal ceiling for a ground-floor salon. Other
ideas that could transform domestic spaces include a spiral staircase, lunette
windows and <span class=SpellE>balustraded</span> terraces, all rendered in
three-dimensional models.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Of course, houses in the <st1:place w:st="on">Mediterranean</st1:place>
have traditionally been built of stone for practical reasons. "It retains
the heat in winter and stays cool in summer," D'Amato says. "It's the
best choice by far. But the tradition has been lost recently and houses are
much less comfortable as a result."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>The main section of the exhibition, Project South, aims
to change that. It showcases the <span class=SpellE>shortlisted</span> entries
for an international competition to renovate - with stone - rundown areas in
four southern Italian coastal cities: <st1:City w:st="on">Syracuse</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Crotone</st1:City>, <span class=SpellE>Pantelleria</span> and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Bari</st1:City></st1:place>. All possess great natural
beauty but have been scarred by brutal modern buildings often erected without
planning permission.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>The proposals will see the four sites transformed into
places of cultural interest. In <st1:City w:st="on">Syracuse</st1:City>, the <span
class=SpellE>Latomie</span> <span class=SpellE>dei</span> <span class=SpellE>Cappuccini</span>
is home to a medieval botanical garden created around ancient caves while <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Bari</st1:City></st1:place> has the 12th-century
Basilica of San Nicola. Changes that highlight these traditional structures
should attract visitors as well as providing a much more comfortable
environment for residents.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>In the <span class=SpellE>harbour</span> of <span
class=SpellE>Pantelleria</span>, potentially one of the prettiest marinas in
the Mediterranean, one competition entry's proposal for new dwellings will take
the traditional local style - in which walls are slightly angled away from 90
degrees like the lower half of a pyramid - and update it in a contemporary
style.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>D'Amato also hopes to see architects suggesting
"continuous fa�ades" of houses. "Well-planned cities must
project a coherent face to the world," he says, citing the elegant rows of
Georgian townhouses that one sees in <st1:City w:st="on">London</st1:City> or <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Bath</st1:City></st1:place> as role models.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Unlike many high-profile competition designs, those
proposed in Project South might just get <span class=SpellE>realised</span>,
thanks to its inclusion in the government-backed <span class=SpellE>programme</span>
Contemporary Senses. Started in 2003 as a joint initiative between the Venice
Biennale and the ministries of finance and cultural heritage, the <span
class=SpellE>programme's</span> aim is to <span class=SpellE>revitalise</span>
southern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>
through investment in contemporary art and architecture. The average income is
40 per cent of that in the north and corruption and crime continue to flourish.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>"We want the Biennale's influence to extend beyond <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Venice</st1:City></st1:place>," says Alberto
Versace, director-general of the department for political development in the
finance ministry. On October 7, the final exhibition in this year's Biennale, <i>City-Port</i>,
will open in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Palermo</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Contemporary Senses is already having an impact. Art
exhibitions have been held in <st1:State w:st="on">Sicily</st1:State>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Naples</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Lecce</st1:City>, <st1:City
w:st="on">Bari</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Potenza</st1:City> and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Matera</st1:City></st1:place>. Meanwhile the
mayor of <st1:City w:st="on">Bari</st1:City> has been to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Moscow</st1:City></st1:place> to ask his Russian counterpart to
consider investing in Project South - the Basilica receives thousands of
Russian Orthodox pilgrims every year. The half-built skeletal apartments that
mar his city's landscape are scheduled to be dynamited next spring.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>It's clear from all these initiatives that, even though
they claim to focus on southern <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>,
D'Amato and others are most concerned with Italian architecture. <i>Cities of
Stone</i> is dedicated to the visionary Milanese architect Aldo Rossi, who
directed the 1985 Biennale and died in 1997. "There used to be an Italian
line [of architecture] that was respected but the last great name is
Rossi's," D'Amato says.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>His determination to highlight Italian style is reflected
throughout the Biennale. The new Italian pavilion in the <span class=SpellE>Arsenale</span>
will display national architects, while the Italian pavilion in <span
class=GramE>the <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>public</span> gardens will
show an international selection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>"It was a conscious decision to <span class=SpellE>prioritise</span>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>,"
Biennale president <span class=SpellE>Davide</span> <span class=SpellE>Croff</span>
explains. "<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>
deserves to be at the centre of attention because our architectural and
artistic heritage demands it."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>In <i>Cities of Stone</i>, the desire to celebrate
Italian architecture culminates in the section entitled "The other
modernity". Dedicated to what D'Amato describes as the "golden age of
1930s masonry architecture", this part of the show aims to prove that
modern Mediterranean cities have been successfully constructed out of stone -
many of them by Italian architects working in the neoclassical style that became
the signature of Mussolini's empire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Photographs and critical studies illustrate and <span
class=SpellE>analyse</span> the broad streets - ideal for military processions
- clean porticoes and angular, <span class=SpellE>spartan</span> buildings of <span
class=SpellE>Portolago</span>, the foundation city built by Italian architects
on the Greek of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">island</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><span class=SpellE>Leros</span></st1:PlaceName></st1:place>,
an Italian colony between 1912 and 1947. We see the pristine neoclassical
palace that was built to house the ministry of foreign affairs in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Albania</st1:country-region> (not an Italian colony) by <span
class=SpellE>Florestano</span> <span class=SpellE>di</span> <span class=SpellE>Fausto</span>
between 1928 and 1932 and the severe, commanding facades that overlook the
seafronts at <st1:City w:st="on">Bari</st1:City> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Taranto</st1:City></st1:place>. Less obviously imperial are the
buildings the Italians built on <st1:place w:st="on">Kos</st1:place>, their
austere lines softened by Ottoman-style crenellations and Moorish arches.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Earlier D'Amato had claimed that <i>Cities of Stone </i>was
"anti-<span class=SpellE>globalisation</span>" but the reality is
more complicated. For armies - and architects - are no respecters of national
boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:15.6pt;
background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>'Cities of Stone' is part of the Venice Architecture
Biennale, which runs from September 10 until November 19. Tel: +39 041 51 8711;
www.labiennale.org<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=copyright2 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:
EN'><a href="http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/copyright"><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Copyright</span></a> <span
class=GramE>The</span> Financial Times Limited 2006</span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:7.5pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>