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László Toth, a Hungarian Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, emigrates to the United States after World War II in search of a new life. After a rough start, a wealthy businessman recognises his talent and offers him a job that will change his life. This is a very brief summary of Brady Corbets film The Brutalist, which stars Adrien Brody as Toth. While the protagonist of this almost four-hour film is fictional, his story is inspired by many real figures. During the rise of Nazism in Germany, and especially after the de facto demise of the Weimar Republic in 1933, many intellectuals, scientists and other educated people chose to emigrate in search of a more favourable climate in which to work. For many, it was also a matter of life and death. The legacy of Bauhaus Many of these émigrés were architects associated with the Bauhaus, the famous school of design and architecture established in 1919 in Weimar. The institution, which later moved to Dessau and then to Berlin, left a legacy that endures to this day. Bauhaus directors were among those who left Germany in this period. This included architect and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, who headed the school in Weimar and then Dessau, and designed the new building there. His Dessau successor Hannes Meyer also left, as did Mies van der Rohe, who headed the school in Dessau and Berlin, where the school was closed by the Nazi government. The Bauhaus building in Dessau, designed by Walter Gropius. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons] The Bauhaus was an indisputable cornerstone of interwar Germanys cultural, political and social development, and while its architecture course was not established until about halfway through its existence, the school is worth studying from an architectural perspective. While they each had different methods and priorities, the three aforementioned architects espoused a form of modern architecture that reflected a much broader movement that sought to change with only partial success the aesthetics and ethics of architecture, and even of life, at the time. All three taught their students to break with the styles of the past to offer a progressive architecture that met the eras physical, aesthetic and cultural needs. Of course, these men were not the only émigrés from Nazi Germany, but their stories (and those of other Bauhaus figures), can help us better understand this emigration that is often widely misunderstood. The Bauhaus American dream? When we refer to this emigration of German architects and intellectuals (or those culturally linked to Weimar Germany), the first image that comes to mind is emigration to the US, the land of opportunity The Brutalists fictitious architect László Toth does just this. This migration is the best known, certainly the most common, but not the only one. Moreover, it usually inspires images of the individualistic architect, a (male, of course) creative genius who puts his constructive ideals above everything else. This image was popularised by Ayn Rands 1943 novel The Fountainhead, and by the 1949 King Vidor film of the same title, starring Gary Cooper. Gary Cooper and Kent Smith in The Fountainhead, 1949. [Image: Warner Brothers] In truth, the picture is more complex and problematic. While our three architects all have elements in common a commitment to modern and transformative architecture that shaped, and was shaped by, contemporary life they did not all emigrate to the US. Nor did they go at the same time, or with the same aspirations, political and ethical commitment, or prizing their own architecture above all else. Walter Gropius, who was from a well-off family, initially left Germany in 1934 for the UK before settling in Boston, Massachusetts in 1937 as a prominent faculty member of the newly established Harvard University Graduate School of Design. There, in addition to teaching, he set up an architectural practice called The Architects Collaborative. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, undoubtedly the most brilliant of the group, remained in Germany until 1938, where he continued to work in a not entirely hospitable political climate. He eventually settled in Chicago as director of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and began a brilliant career that would make him the US (an perhaps the worlds) defining post-war architect. His work was key to, among other things, developing the corporate office building that would epitomise American expansionist capitalism after the war. Portrait of Lilly Reich. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA] Here, it is worth mentioning his longstanding Berlin business partner, designer and architect Lilly Reich, who also taught at the Bauhaus. Until recently Reich was overlooked, both for her direct role in much of Mies van del Rohes work and her individual output. Fortunately, researchers such as Laura Martínez de Guereu are now shining a light on her life and work. For her part, Reich opted to remain in her native Germany. Her status as a woman would undoubtedly have contributed to this decision, though it is difficult to say to what extent. Socialist architectural visions As we can see, there were indeed women architects working in Germany at the time, even if their gender rendered them all but invisible. There were also, undoubtedly, many architects whose profile did not fit the mould of the strong-willed creative genius, but rather that of the progressive, politically committed intellectual. In many cases, these people were very close to communism and the alternative offered by Soviet Russia at the time. Hannes Meyer in 1928 [Photo: Hermann Bunzel/Wikimedia Commons] Hannes Meyer, the least well-known of the three Bauhaus directors mentioned here, chose this other path. His search for the ideal place to work did not include the individualistic, commercialised society of American capitalism, but rather, following his own communist leanings, that of the USSR, where he arrived in the late 1930s. His model was that of the architect fully in service to society, and he shunned any aesthetic or artistic protagonism. He was convinced that this type of architecture could only be practised in a classless society where the means of production belonged to the proletariat. He remained in Moscow until 1936, when the country, under Stalins dictatorship, became increasingly closed off to foreign presence. After returning to Germany, he emigrated again to Mexico in 1939, and worked prolifically for ten years amidst the progressive social and political reform programmes of president Lázaro Cárdenas. He eventually returned to his native Switzerland, where he died in 1954. The émigrés who followed in Meyers footsteps not only wanted to avoid the US, but also sought refuge where they could (or believed they could) best pursue their ideals. Instead of beautiful buildings, they envisioned an architecture that would help forge a new society and a new humanity. In fact, as per the architect and scholar Daniel Talesnik, there was arguably a Red Bauhaus made up of modern architects who, following their escape from Nazi Germany, worked for the Soviet government. These other cases, whose trajectory we have barely sketched here, have been less well known to both the general public and, until recently, to academics. However, this does not diminish their significance, and they deserve a greater place in history than they seem to have been given. José Vela Castillo is a professor of theory, history and architectural projects at the IE School of Architecture and Design at IE University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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From devastating climate change to ongoing wars to the dismantling of the globe’s largest aid agency, theres no shortage of problems facing the world. And now we can add another one to the list: An asteroid could conceivably hit the planet in just under eight years. And while the chances of that happening are very small, they have now nearly doubled. In December, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile, developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA, discovered the existence of an asteroid known as 2024 YR4. That ATLAS should discover an asteroid is no surprisethere are millions of them in our cosmic neck of the woods alone. However, 2024 YR4 triggered the alarm at ATLAS because theres a not-insignificant chance that the asteroid, which is about the size of the Eiffel Tower, may slam into Earth in 2032. Impact odds are rising At the time of the object’s discovery, NASA calculated that the chance of the asteroid actually hitting Earthwhat it calls the Impact Probabilitywas about 1.3%. That means there was a 98.7% chance that the asteroid would miss us. Or to put that another way, there was a 1 in 83 chance that 2024 YR4 would hit us. Unfortunately, the impact probability of 2024 YR4 has now risen. As a matter of fact, the probability of the asteroid hitting Earth has nearly doubled to 2.3%, according to Sentry: Earth Impact Monitoring, an online tool provided by NASAs Center for Near Earth Object Studies. Now Sentrys Impact Probability rating is classified as 2.3e-2, which means there is now a 2.3% chance of 2024 YR4 slamming into the planet. NASA says this means the odds of impact are now 1 in 43. Yellow Zone warning NASAs Sentry tool also reveals that the asteroid has a maximum hazard rating of 3 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale. Torino is a scale that categorizes the effects an asteroid or comets impact would have on the Earth. The Torino Scale assigns both numeric ratings and color codes to such objects. The Torino Impact Hazard Scale runs from 0 to 10. A 0 rating means that a heavenly object poses no threat to the planet, while a 10 means, basically, were all going to die. (NASA is more tactful in its description of a level 10 event, stating, A collision is certain, capable of causing global climatic catastrophe that may threaten the future of civilization as we know it, whether impacting land or ocean.) Numerical classifications are further grouped into colors as well. A 0 is white, a 1 is green, 2-4 is yellow, 5-7 is orange, and 8-10 is red. A level 3 rating on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale means that 2024 YR4 is in the yellow zone, which the scale says merits attention by astronomers. A close encounter, meriting attention by astronomers, the Yellow Zones description reads. Current calculations give a 1% or greater chance of collision capable of localized destruction. However, there is some good news: A Yellow Zone warning doesnt mean that impact is a certainty. Most likely, new telescopic observations will lead to re-assignment to Level 0, the zones description continues. But it also notes that Attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away. The asteroid 2024 YR4 is less than a decade away. When might the 2024 YR4 asteroid hit Earth? Even though the odds of 2024 YR4 hitting Earth have risen, it is still much more likely than not that the asteroid will miss Earth entirely. However, if it were to impact Earth, it would likely do so on December 22, 2032. But thats just its first chance to strike Earth. If it misses us then, 2024 YR4 gets more chances in 2039, 2043, 2047, and 2079. You can track NASAs updates about the asteroid by using its Sentry: Earth Impact Monitoring tool. Should I worry about asteroid 2024 YR4? It seems pointless to worry because theres not anything you as an individual can do about 2024 YR4. Besides, the odds are still in our favor that 2024 YR4 will miss Earth. And even if it hits us, it wont be a civilization-ending event, though, depending on where it hits, it could devastate even a large city. And if its any consolation, NASA knows of no other asteroid that has the impact probability rating 2024 YR4 does. “Currently, no other known large asteroids have an impact probability above 1%, NASA said in a January statement. So things will probably be fine in 2032 and beyond. Of course, even if we are spared an asteroid impact, we still have the zombie spiders to worry about.
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Its game time for Metas wearables: The tech giant has bought two ad spots for its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses during Sundays Super Bowl broadcast, including one that has Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt wreaking havoc on Kris Jenners art collection. The star-studded spot is part of a bigger push to bring AI-powered wearables to the masses. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company had sold more than one million of its high-tech Ray-Bans in 2024, and hinted at plans to sell many more in the near future. This will be a defining year that determines if we’re on a path towards many hundreds of millions and eventually billions of AI glasses, he told investors during the companys Q4 2024 earnings call. To that end, Meta plans to introduce new versions of its smart glasses later this year, including a high-end model that reportedly includes a small display capable of showing notifications and real-time translation. And the competition is not waiting around. Samsung has hinted at plans for developing its own AI glasses, and Chinese startups are looking to target U.S. consumers with Ray-Ban copycats this year. All this means that millions of people could soon walk around with cameras on their faces, challenging our understanding of privacy, and inevitably leading to friction. An AI wearable that sees what you see Meta released a first version of camera-equipped glasses in cooperation with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica in 2021, followed by a second-generation model in the fall of 2023. At first glance, the glasses look very similar to a typical pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, save for a camera and a recording indicator that are visible upon closer inspection. The glasses also have dual speakers integrated into their temples, and an array of five microphones that can be used for both voice control and communication. Ray-Ban Meta glasses can take photos, record short video clips, and livestream via Instagram when paired with a smartphone. They can also be used as a replacement for wireless earbuds, allowing wearers to listen to music or podcasts, or take phone calls when paired via Bluetooth to a smartphone. The feature set that Meta leans into most these days is the ability to directly query the companys AI assistant: Ray-Ban owners can ask Metas AI assistant to tell them about anything theyre looking at, which results in the glasses taking a photo and uploading it to the cloud. They can ask Meta AI what a street sign says, have it translate text, and even ask it to come up with recipes based on what the camera can spot in their fridge. Earlier this year, Meta even added the ability to have continuous conversations with its AI assistant using its Ray-Ban glasses. During those chats, video of everything the wearer is seeing is sent to the cloud and analyzed, allowing for complex back-and-forth interactions with follow-up questions while browsing store shelves, looking through record collections, or shopping at the farmers marketa pretty impressive feat, despite Meta AI still occasionally getting confused by very basic objects. Surprisingly little backlash, so far Inevitably, these features can also lead to bystanders getting captured by Metas glasses. When Google pioneered camera glasses in 2013, it faced a huge public backlash against this perceived invasion of privacy. Users of the Google Glass device were being called glassholes by critics, and the company discontinued the device soon after. Meta has gone to great lengths to avoid a similar fate. The glasses include a visible recording indicator, and second-generation Ray-Ban Metas block any photo and video capture if a user tries to cover that indicator light in any way. Meta also advises Ray-Ban wearers to respect other peoples privacy, and for instance not to wear them in public bathrooms, schools, or houses of worship. That hasnt stopped some Ray-Ban owners from accidentally getting into trouble. Last fall, a Ray-Ban owner reported on Reddit that they had gotten thrown out of a movie theater over piracy allegations. I wear RaybanMeta with prescription lenses so I can see, the user in question wrote. I did not live stream or anything, but apparently they’re banned from cinemas. Other users have said they have gotten reprimanded for wearing their Ray-Bans in airplanes; two Harvard students made waves when they combined the glasses with image recognition technology to figure out the identity of random people on the street (a feature that the glasses themselves do not support out of the box). More insidiously, the alleged New Orleans bomber reportedly wore Metas smart glasses to scout locations for his attack. Despite all this, there has been relatively little backlash against the device yet. That could change once there are millions more in use. There will be bad actors with that many pairs of glasses in market, acknowledges Moor Insights & Strategy analyst Anshel Sag. He thinks Meta could do more educating people about the way these glasses function. I’ve had some people assume it’s just always recording, he says. That’s not true. Next up: New devices, including one with a display Meta has plans to launch half a dozen additional wearables in the future, the companys CTO Andrew Bosworth recently told staffers in a leaked memo. Part of that line-up will reportedly also be a first model with a visual component. With an integrated display in just one lens, it will be a far cry from the kind of augmented reality glasses Meta wants to sell in a few years. Users wont be able to view 3D holograms or play immersive games with it, and the size of the virtual display will be comparably small. Still, by positioning its first generation of AR glasses as supercharged smart glases, Meta may have found a way to make people embrace lower-end specs. Keeping these kinds of devices simpler comes with lots of added benefits, says David Goldman, the VP of marketing of AR optics startup Lumus. Youre going to have a much longer battery life with a smaller display, he explains, adding that functionality like live translation of a person talking to you actually is less disruptive with a smaller display. People will be pleasantly surprised by the added value, Goldman says. At the same time, Meta will continue to make AI glasses without displays, with a recent Bloomberg report suggesting that the next wave of models will include at least one optimized for outdoor sports. Zuckerberg told investors recently that the company was aiming to sell up to ten million units of its next-generation AI glassesa number that Sag believes is within reach. The Super Bowl ad will most likely be a planting the seed moment in a lot of people’s eyes who haven’t met someone wearing them yet, he says. Then, we might get a new model this year paired with an aggressive ad campaign to push sales into the 510 million territory.
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