What are the main benefits and costs of monetary union What are the Essay

What are the main benefits and costs of monetary union What are the main criteria for the optimality of a currency area - Essay Example Thus it eliminates a big hurdle in the way of trade. At the same time, countries get free from any exchange rate uncertainty; get smaller rates of transactions and more secure price transparency. A neutral body acts as central bank on behalf of all member nations of the monetary union. This body being neutral and free from influence of any nation makes it credible for not only all members of the monetary union, but also for outside world. For example, European Central Bank acts as a combined central bank of the European Union. Monetary union is the way of promoting greater economic alliance which is beneficial for all member states and the outside world. For example, it is easy today to deal with a group of 28 countries of Europe at a single platform named European Union. Optimal currency area is also known as optimal currency region. This area refers to single market areas having a single currency across the region. There are many elements that define the optimality of a currency area (Alexandre Swoboda, 1999). It is important to have these elements to become the member of an optimal currency area. So following is the main criteria for the optimality of a currency area: (University of North Carolina,

VitraHaus Construction Analysis

VitraHaus Construction Analysis The home of Vitra Home Collection, VitraHaus (2006-2010), is located on Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.1 It was designed by Basel-based architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and opened in 2010.2 The purpose of the VitraHaus was to provide a space to present Vitra Home Collection furniture arrangements in different style genres and also provide inspirational ideas for visitors home and their own taste in design.3 In Charles Ray Eames Showroom, this was overcome by use of precedents which includes minimalism and the architects previous projects in Munich, Basel, and Paris.4 A) Historical Introduction: The VitraHaus(fig.1) was initiated as the home of the Vitra Home Collection that launched in January 2004.5 The company Vitra is a manufacturer and retailer of many leading furniture designers works.6 Vitra is also known for the Vitra Campus(fig.2) that make up its premises in Wil am Rhein.7 It is where company s widely acclaimed architecture of museum, atelier, showrooms, warehouse and manufacturing buildings are situated which make up its premises.8 These buildings are known for its internationally recognized architects such as like Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Nicholas Grimshaw, Alvaro Siza and Antonio Citterio as well as structures by Jean Prouv? and Richard Buckminster Fuller.9 Since its foundation in 1950, the company focused mainly on office furnishings and has targeted business clients until they launched its Home Collection in January 2004 with a new target group in mind: individual customers with an interest in design.10 It features collection of unique home product s including design classics, re-editions, as well as works by contemporary designers.11 The Vitra Home Collection was displayed in a former factory building on the main Vitra production site until the company decided to have a space solely serve for the Home Collection.12 To construct an additional space on the Vitra Campus, the company commissioned two Basel based architects Herzog and de Meuron in 2006 to design the home of Vitra Home Collection the VitraHause.13 The design development took place from 2006 to 2007 and the construction continued from 2007 to 2009 where the VitraHaus opened in Feburary 22nd 2010.14 The construction of VitraHaus was also a starting of a new chapter in the history of Vitra Campus since it was the newest addition in sixteen years since the last building the Vitra Design Museum by Frank Gehry in1994.15 B) Spatial Organization and Planning: The VitraHaus is a five storey structure with twelve houses within the building.16 (fig.3) The Charles and Ray Eames showroom (fig.4) is located in the third floor of VitraHaus with dimension of approximately 90sq.meter.17 The visitors discovery on the path through the VitraHaus starts from fourth floor of the building towards the lower floors.18 As one starts their tour in fourth floor loft, they are introduced to a spectacular view of the Tullinger Hill and the history of Vitra and the VitraHaus.19 After one has been introduced to a brief knowledge of the Vitra and its history of furniture, The Vitra Classic awaits in the third floor (fig.5) where Charles and Ray Eames showroom is located.20 The Vitra Classic floor can be reached by three different paths throughout the building.21 First is to take the main stair which connects all the floors in the building.22 This main stair will introduce you directly to Charles and Ray Eames showroom which is located in the North East side of the floor.23 The second method is to take a lift which also connects all the floors in the building.24 However, the lift will lead you to the other collection of Vitra Classics which is located in the South West side of the floor.25 But one can easily walk to the other side of the floor.26 The third is a spiral stair which is accessible from the second floor.27 On the arrival of this spiral stair, one can choose to walk straight forward to the South West part of the floor or turn around to visit the Charles and Ray Eames collection.28 As you enter the showroom (fig.6), the front facade with glazed gable ends opens up the room to the view of landscape and the Vitra Campus.29 The daylight from the window also makes the room feel more spacious. On the East of the room is the display wall with wall mounted shelving and colour coded signage to categorize Charles and Ray Eames designs.30 To the West side of the space, chairs are displayed on the floor along the wall with different flooring that separates between the display area and circulation floor.31 The West side of the space also has the spiral stairs which opened up upper part of the wall which gives view of second floor which presents the Living, Eating, and Working at Home collections.32 C) Materials and Construction Method(s): The VitraHaus is a five storey structure of stacked volumes of the archetypal house which comprised of twelve houses.33 Five houses are set at the ground floor with seven more houses are stacked up, intersected and in support of one another.34 Stacked into a total of five storeys and breathtakingly cantilevered up to fifteen metres in some places, the twelve houses, whose floor slabs intersect the underlying gables, create a three-dimensional assemblage ? a pile of houses that, at first glance, has an almost chaotic appearance.35 The VitraHaus rises above the other buildings on the Vitra Campus with maximum dimensions of 57 metres in length, 54 metres in width and 21.3 metres in height.36(fig.7) The deliberate intention was to grant an overview of the surrounding landscape, the campus as well as an overview of the Home Collection by constructing a vertically oriented structure with a small footprint.37 The charcoal coloured stucco on the exterior of the building unifies the structure, and connects it to the surrounding landscape.38 (fig.8) A wooden plank floors made from the local larch wood defines an open central area, where five ground floor buildings are grouped.39 (fig.9) It performs as a conference area, Vitra Design Museum Shop, business lounge and a Vitrine exhibition space, the lobby with a reception area and a caf? with an outdoor terrace for summer use.40 As interior and exterior spaces interpenetrate, so do two types of forms: the orthogonal-polygonal, as perceived from the exterior, and the organic, which produces a series of spatial surprises in the interior. 41(fig.10) It is a secret world that is intended by Herzog de Meuron with a suggestive, almost labyrinthine character. 42 On the path through the five storeys, the complexity of the interior space arises not only from the angular intersection of the individual houses but also from the integration of a second geo metrical concept.43 All of the staircases are integrated into expansive, winding organic volumes that figuratively eat their way through the various levels of the building like a worm, sometimes revealing fascinating visual relationships between the various houses, at other times blocking the view.44 The individual houses, which have the general characteristics of a display space, are conceived as abstract elements.45 With just a few exceptions, only the gable ends are glazed, and the structural volumes seem to have been shaped with an extrusion press.46 An important feature of the VitraHaus is the glassed end gables(fig.11); a feature which gives the house two personalities.47 By day the surrounding countryside appears to be drawn into the interior and to become almost a part of the decoration; in contrast, however, when darkness falls, the illuminated interior of the building glows from within, while its physical structure seems to dissipate.48 The rooms open up; the glazed gable ends turn into display cases that shine across the Vitra Campus and into the surrounding countryside.49 D) Furnishings and Ornamentation: The philosophy of Vitra Home Collection is to provide inspirational ideas for individuals home and their own taste in design rather than an interior design system or a homogeneous product line.50 Vitra Home Collection wishes to inspire customers to furnish their home as a process of collage of products and objects according to one s individual preferences and circumstances.51 To allow one to be inspired, and encourage to explore and heighten their sense of design, the interior of the overall space is very simple and furnishings are used as minimal as possible.52 The interior walls are finished in white which gives priority to the furniture displays and allow the characteristics of furniture presents its fullest .53 Since the space is used to showcase the retail furniture, series of wall shelving and signage are used to display.54 The white shelves are mounted in different levels with colourful signage to categorize the types of Charles and Ray Eames chairs into plastic, wire, aluminu m, and ply wood groups.55 The rugs or different variety of floor furnishings are used to give the boundary to the additional furniture displayed on the floor.56 The spot lightings are mounted in the ceiling as ambient light as well as to emphasize the products.57 Since there are minimal use of ornamentations, the abstract structural volumes interacting through the space and the glazed gable ends adds rhythm to the space.58 The high ceiling, white finishes, light wood floors, and large windows give spacious feeling to the space.59 Each house has a touch screen catalogue(fig.12) where each visitor can insert their VitraHause keycard and browse through Vitra s catalogue, purchase a product on a spot or learn about particular design or designer.60 The Vitra Classic Collection also features the Photo me La Chaise Armchair which is set of a La Caise Armchair by Charles and Ray Eames with a camera that allows visitors to have memorable photo time upon their visit to the VitraHaus.61 The photo can be stored in a personal VitraHause keycard and can be emailed later.62 E) Functions and Signification: Since the company Vitra is a manufacturer and retailer company that acquired licenses for the designs of Charles and Ray Eames in 1951, it is not a surprise to see that one of the showrooms in VitraHaus was dedicated to the designs of Eames.63 The Charles and Ray Eames showroom functions as a space that showcases the works of Charles and Ray Eames in different range of groups.64 The groups are categorized by the materials used in the making of the chairs which includes but not limited to; plastic, wire, aluminum, and ply wood.65 As mentioned earlier, the deliberate intention of the building was to grant an overview of the surrounding landscape, the campus as well as an overview of the Home Collection by constructing a vertically oriented structure with a small footprint.66 This has been illustrated in the Charles and Ray Eames showroom with large window that has an overview of the campus and the opening for the spiral stair case allows an overview of the Home Collection on lower floors.67 The philosophy of the Vitra Home Collection also has been demonstrated successfully in the space.68 The Vitra Home Collection s intention was to provide inspirational ideas for individuals own taste in design so one can furnish their home as a process of collage of products and objects according to one s individual preferences and circumstances.69 This philosophy is successfully delivered through minimal interior design of the space.70 It allowed the unique characteristics of each chairs to be presented in its fullest with the contrast of the white wall.71 This contrast and display almost creates an imagery of pallets of colourfull paints on a white canvas which inspires visitors to explore and imagine their own design of space.72 The special photograph set and digital catalogue also adds excitement and convenience to the visit.73 The space that is solely dedicated in respect of the design classic, with the company s philosophy of provide a space that can inspire one to build and develop their own design world.74 This suggests that the space not only functions as a showroom, but it also functions as a space for an education, preservation of stories, personal knowledge and to be one s muse.75 F) Designer s Sources/Inspirations/Influences/Precedents: The concept of the VitraHaus contains two direct quotations of the themes that appear repeatedly in the oeuvre of Herzog de Meuron: the theme of the archetypal house and the theme of stacked volumes.76 Herzog de Meuron has aimed not for virtuosity but innovation, looking always to the broader culture and art for inspiration.77 Referring to Andy Warhol, Jacques Herzog has said, He used common Pop images to say something new. That is exactly what we are interested in: to use well known forms and materials in a new way so that they become alive again. 78 Their influences of the archetypal house and theme of stacked volumes can be seen in many of their work from precedents to future projects that are in progress.79 The Goetz Collection, in Munich 1989-1992 (fig.13), St. Jakob Turm in Basel 2005-2008 (fig.14), and Rue des Suisses in Paris 1996-2000 (fig.15) are one of the precedents that has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron.80 Another form of their precedents study can be found at the Herzog and de Meuron Exhibition at the Walker Art Centre in November 2000 to February 2001.81 The exhibition included from material studies to technical drawings and from initial models to full-scale prototypes(fig.16).82 Here, many prototypes of stack up of geometrical shapes can be found.83 In VitraHaus, it was especially appropriate since the primary purpose of the five-storey building is to present furnishings and objects for the home.84 Due to the proportions and dimensions of the interior spaces ? the architects use the term domestic scale ? the showrooms are reminiscent of familiar residential settings.85 Architect Jacques Herzog, naturally, sees the situation somewhat differently.86 For Herzog, the project was a chance to get away from development driven architecture and a rare opportunity to complete an author driven project.87 Through the stacking and interlacing you not only create a multitude of new forms and architectural spaces but achieve a wonderful paradox: a simple, familiar house design which appears complex on account of the numerous intersections.88 This perceived complexity is further enhanced by the combination of the external orthogonal-polygonal form and the more organic internal form which results, principally, from the spiral staircases and occa sional open spaces and small side windows.89 Principally the black exterior allows the effect of floating houses by allowing the structure to merge with the darkness.90 In addition the anthracite of the VitraHaus contrasts with the brilliant white of Frank Gehrys neighbouring Vitra Design Museum.91

Buying the Perfect Horse :: Free Essay Writer

Buying the Perfect Horse Last weekend a Mr. Charlie Goodrich called my office. He told me that an old friend of mine, who had given me very high recommendations, had referred him to me. Mr. Goodrich said that he was looking for a horse. He was not sure what exactly he was going to use it for, but he was examining a couple possibilities. Since my job is to help people decide which breed of horse would best suit their plans and lifestyles, I needed to know exactly what it was he wanted to use a horse for. He told me that he owned a very reputable stable, with a variety of expensive breeds, and he was looking to expand his stock. Mr. Goodrich said that he wanted a stallion with a future in racing, and good siring bloodlines. That is what many owners do with retired racehorses. After the horse’s racing career is over they are sent to what is like a retirement home for horses. Here they live out the rest of their lives, breeding and siring many young foals. I explained to him that two of the best horses for racing were the Thoroughbred and the Arabian. My personal favorite is the Arabian, I told him, because of it’s unique beauty and rich heritage. In order to try and find which would be the best for him I researched both breeds and presented him with the results. While both the Thoroughbred and the Arabian are very beautiful, and both are well reputed in the racing world, the Arabian horse is far superior. Its ancient, mysterious origins, and unique beauty make it a very desirable horse. It excels on the track, and produces incredible offspring. The Arabian stallion has also been the subject of many novels, etching its figure into many hearts, and making it even more popular. Origins The term Thoroughbred describes a breed of horse whose ancestry traces back to three foundation sires – the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the Byerly Turk. Named after their respective owners – Thomas Darley, Lord Godolphin, and Captain Robert Byerly – these three stallions were brought to England around the turn of the 17th century and bred to the stronger, but less intelligent, native horse. They were bred to native spring mares – very probably Scottish Galoways – and the resulting foals were the first real thoroughbreds.

Mango Street Essay Essay

Throughout history, women have been seen as inferior to men. In the novel, The House On Mango Street, the main character, Esperanza sees many examples of women who are treated lower by their husbands. These women are imprisoned in their own homes on Mango Street. The author, Sandra Cisneros uses the motif of Imprisoned Females to show that women have been seen as inferior to men. There were many chapters in the novel in which women were seen as inferior to men. On page 79 in the novel, Rafael gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at. Rafael is just one of the many victims of Imprisoned Females on Mango Street. She is scared to leave because she thinks her husband will do something, he doesn’t want other man to take her away from him. Esperazana could also been considered a â€Å"Imprisoned Female. All she wants to do is live in a house she can call her own and be free but she is stuck on Mango Street where she meets all these other women who are stuck like her and she thinks she will never get out. Men treat women like they are nothing. Why? Because they are scared. Scared that women will leave them for someone better. Scared that women will tell someone of all the awful things they have done to them. Scared that women will finally tell the truth.

Descriptive Essay on Soccer Ball

Most would take for granted how a soccer ball looks. They would put it as an pointless detail to the sport. To those people, they see this wonderful object as just a b all. Nothing more and nothing less. Others, however, know better. At first look you may n twice the specific black and white color coordination belonging only to the soccer ball. A closer look will reveal twenty white, hexagonal and twelve black, pentagonal surface s that make up the covering of the ball.When rotating the ball you may notice name Ross cuts along to the surface of the ball, the dust, crosshatched lining peeking out fro m under. Spots of mud all over the surface of the soccer ball. If the ball is so close to your face you can smell the scent of dirt and grass mix De with the light smell of rain that perfumes the ball in your grasp. When you breathe deep you can almost taste the dirt and grass on your tongue, a bittersweet flavor that SST says In your mouth, the taste of the rain adding to the already fun ky odor and flavor I n your mouth.The feeling of the ball is something entirely unto itself. If you pick up a soccer ball and hold it in your hands, you can feel the smoothness of the covering and how or undo in shape it is. As your hand curves around the ball, you feel the graininess of the rediscovered surface between your hand and the surface. As your hands contain u to move your hand around the ball's surface, you are able to tell the difference when your fingers fall into the smooth cracks of the stitching, same as to the delicately or ugh cuts and scrapes on the surface of the ball, made from the bounce against a solid wall.A perfect ball, if squeezed, it will be squeezed a little because of the pressure of your fingers on the ball. If kicked properly, the fierce kick of your foot hitting the baa II does not hurt at all. In fact you will feel strong after a good kick. Rolling the ball under y our foot, oh get a feel for its shape, how it moves, and how it's resistance to your body The feeling of a ball hitting your body can sometimes be a bad encounter. If ski eked with enough force, the impact of flesh and soccer ball can be really painful.Though h a the ball may not feel hard when held, when it is flying at a rapid pace and comes to an sudden stop when it meets your stomach, chest, leg, forehead, and even face, it can f eel as hard and solid as a rock. The sound of a soccer ball is really something special. You can tell by the soon d the ball makes how good your kick was. Essentially, the sound aimed for is a loud, Dee , popping sound. This shows you have kicked the ball in the right area.

Critical Essay Outline

Critical Essay Outline Critical Essay Outline Critical Essay Outline Critical essay outline is a tool that helps you to organize your material logically and helps you to sort and to classify the material systematically. As a result, you are empowered to see the relationships that exist between ideas in your critical essay writing. Outline writing helps you to develop and organize plan for presenting the material. The goals of the outlines are to present logically the general information, to summarize it schematically, and to provide a visual and conceptual plan of the writing process. An outline reflects logical thinking and classification of your ideas. Prior to writing an outline, you should set up the purpose of the critical essay, write down the thesis of essay and think about the ideas you plan to cover. At this stage you can write all of the ideas you want to include in your critical essay writing, plan the work by grouping ideas together that are related to each other, organize the work by dividing the material into groups ranging from the gene ral to the specific, or from abstract to specific. Critical Essay Format Create a title page if it is necessary. Use MLA style for headings, headers and pagination. Type in 12-point font, for example, Arial which is the easiest to read, make it double-spaced with one-inch margins. Always make a back-up copy of your essay on diskette and an additional hard copy. Usually, short critical essay must be minimum 2-3 full pages; the longer critical essay must be minimum 5-7 full pages in length. In the short critical essay, you must include at least three quotes from the works you are analyzing. Add quotation marks around direct quotations; identify the sources of all paraphrased information. Be careful and avoid plagiarism while writing a critical essay: Writing a Critical Essay The purpose of writing a critical essay is to evaluate somebody's work, to express your ideas on the raised theme, and to reveal your understanding of the material. Critical essay is a paper in which you should express your opinion or provide evaluation of the text. Prior to writing a critical essay, have a clear topic in mind. Once more read the text, be sure that the topic in mind correspond to the essay's topic. Develop an argument and state it in your first paragraph. The argument should prove your chosen position. If no one would disagree with what you're saying, it's not an argument. Critical Essay Help It is not easy to write a good critical essay without outline. Moreover, it is even harder to write a good critical essay on the topic you are not familiar with. You are welcome to ask for assistance. We are ready to write an impressive critical essay for you on any topic! In addition, you receive free title page, outline, and bibliography list. Related posts: Hamlet Thesis Dissertation Writers Dissertation Subjects Dissertation Paper Dissertation Help

Fruits to make a fruit battery Essay Example

Fruits to make a fruit battery Essay Example Fruits to make a fruit battery Paper Fruits to make a fruit battery Paper Magnesium, due to its reactivity, has a very high potential energy, so the electrons travel from it to the copper, which has a very low potential energy due to its unreactivity. The difference in the potential is called the cell potential difference. If the difference of potential energy is large, then clearly the voltage produced by the galvanic cell will also be large as voltage is potential difference. From the electrochemical series, magnesium has a standard electrode potential of -2. 37, and copper has one of +0. 34. The difference between the potentials is 2. 71, which is large, and therefore this will mean more electrons will be conducted creating a larger current, and also the difference between the potentials will also mean a higher voltage. If the anode was zinc (-0. 76) then the difference would be 1. 1 not as large a difference as the magnesium due to it being less reactive. Other examples could be zinc and magnesium, a difference of 1. 61, lead (-0. 13) and iron (0. 04), a difference of 17 and so on. This is how galvanic cells operate, storing chemical energy that is released as electrical energy when a conductor is connected between the two electrodes. This scientific theory supports my initial prediction that the magnesium and copper will produce the highest voltage due to their potential energy difference. Evaluation: I think that the experiment went quite well. It is hard to spot anomalous results on a bar graph, but I think my results are pretty accurate, and fit my prediction. However I feel accuracy was limited and could have been improved if a set of 3 results was taken, because I only took 2, it is possible that one result could have been wrong and changed the average, while accuracy is increased with three results. : There was not enough time to do this though. I think that the results gained using zinc and magnesium were more unreliable than the others, because there were big differences between the two results that were taken. For example, using lead and zinc the first time (in the grapefruit) a voltage of 0. 17 was produced, while the second reading was 0. 49V. This could be because we didnt change the metal strips after every fruit, meaning they had been reacting with both the air and the electrolyte/fruit. Accuracy could also have been lacked due to the difficulty in cutting out equal sized strips. We had to use a steel nail of similar surface area because iron foil was unavailable. Fruits are also very unpredictable and vary. I think that we should have perhaps focused on one fruit, like the lemon, and used three different lemons to increase accuracy. This would perhaps be a more useful approach. I believe further investigations are needed to help fulfill the aim of the experiment. I think that acids and alkaline solutions should be used instead of fruits due to their unreliability. This will make the experiment quicker too. The outcome would be more predictable. The distance between the two metals in the fruit could be varied in further work to again test the voltages produced using different combinations of magnesium, iron, zinc, lead and copper. You could start them with a centimetre difference between them, and then increase this by a cm until it reaches 5 cm. A variety of fruits could again be used as a variable in this method. Other variables to be tested are the surface area of the metals and how that would affect the voltage produced, as it clearly seemed to affect my results.