Architects Herzog & de Meuron have developed design of the central office for Spanish bank group BBVA.
Bank on suburbs of Madrid
The building, which building is planned to finish in 2013 year, will be on suburbs of Madrid.
The building is in new area, is surrounded by office centres, the commercial real estate and residential buildings. In this cold, reserved place architects have suggested to erect an artificial garden, an oasis which would involve outside inside. The linear structure of a three-storyed structure is laid out by a carpet, following district topography. The cool and damp microclimate is inside created.
Spanish bank BBVA
The design plan promotes dialogue: instead of spending time in lifts, employees can walk in parallel corridors and meet with each other. The big degree of a transparency creates sensation of a generality whereas rather small working compartments allow employees to keep feeling of own identity.
The digital facade on the area of Songs (Plaza de las Letras) is a result of investments of city administration of Madrid; now media laboratory Prado had a possibility to show to the public results of own researches of art, to combine them with requirements of a wide audience and the advanced technologies.
The given artless invention advances very important values and skills: social responsibility, an information transfer, social interaction.
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Tributes: The world of sport is mourning the passing of Spanish Golf Legend Seve Ballesteros, who died today aged 54 Tributes have been pouring in from the world of sport following the news that golfer Seve Ballesteros has died. World No1 golfer Lee Westwood tweeted: ‘It's a sad day. Lost an inspiration, genius, role model, hero and friend. Seve made European golf what it is today. RIP Seve.’ Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, said: ‘RIP Ballesteros. One of golf’s greats.’ Ballesteros had suffered a 'severe deterioration' as he battled a brain tumour, his family said. Ballesteros and his wife Carmen in 2004 at Spanish Crown Prince Felipe of Bourbon's wedding The five-time major winning Spaniard was recovering from surgeries performed in 2008 to remove a malignant tumor from his brain. Other sports stars who have been paying tribute include Spanish tennis star Rafa Nadal, who said: 'Seve is one of this country's great sportsmen. I've been lucky enough to meet him and play golf with him.’ In a statement on Ballesteros' website today, the family said the 54-year-old golfer passed away at 2:10 am local time at his home at Pedrena, in northern Spain, where he has mostly been since undergoing four operations in late 2008. Family man: Ballesteros with his former wife Carmen and their son Baldomero after winning the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth in 1991 In a statement, the Ballesteros family says it 'is very grateful for all the support and gestures of love that have been received since Seve was diagnosed with a brain tumour on 5th October 2008'. Ballesteros had earlier been blessed by a priest in a ceremony reserved for Catholics who are dangerously ill or close to death. The golfing legend received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, according to Spanish national newspaper El Mundo. Battle: After a second course of chemotherapy in February 2009, Ballesteros said it was a 'miracle to be alive' at a press conference in Madrid Volvo World Match Play Championship just eight months later During the ceremony a priest uses olive oil to bless a patient on the forehead and hands while reciting prayers. The paper said the sportsman had received Extreme Unction, an older term for the sacrament, but gave no further details. The Anointing of the Sick is one part of the Last Rites ritual in the Catholic Church. Comedy moment: Seve Ballesteros's sense of humour will be sorely missed Vintage: Ballesteros saw off defending champion Tom Watson in memorable fashion, winning the second of his three Open championships, at St Andrews in 1984 Seve was the last of his kind There will never be another golfer quite like Seve Ballesteros. Perhaps no other sportsman quite like him either. Put together the charisma of Arnold Palmer and the shot-making skills of Tiger Woods and you come close. Yet at his peak, hard though it might be to believe, his appeal was greater than the sum of those two giants of the game. In the 1980s Europe became blessed with a ‘Big Five’ of Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam. True great: Seve Ballesteros holds the Ryder Cup trophy in the rain in 1997 after Europe beat the United States Legend: Seve Ballesteros reacting as he wins the British Open golf championship at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's in Lancashire Severiano Ballesteros "The Matador"
The cave paintings of the Altamira caves in the northern Spain region Cantabria, one of the most important in the world and recognized as World Heritage, will be put at risk by the reopening of them to the public.Bison from the Cave of Altamira in Spain, considered the Sistine Chapel of cave painting [Credit: The Gallery Colection/Corbis]
El Pais on Thursday reported that the Pre-History Department of Madrid's Complutense University had sent a letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) criticizing the cave management and saying that ''the new program of the Spanish culture ministry, a plan that entails the opening of the cave to visitors, raises important questions about conservation and puts fragile heritage that is enormously important for the understanding of Paleolithic society at risk.''
The letter, signed by 17 professors, was also backed by the History Institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which 70 researchers are part of. The letter, on the webpage of the Pre-History Department, stated that the ''actions undertaken by the culture ministry are a clear threat to conservation'' of heritage that should be preserved for future generations. It also urges UNESCO and other international organizations involved in heritage conservation to ''take note of the risks that political decisions entail'' for Altamira.
The site, closed to the public since 2002 after a report commissioned by the culture ministry and a team led by the French national Gael de Guichen, was reopened in 2012 to selected visits by small groups of five people and a guide. In one year, 250 people visited the caves, according to the program that ended in February. The next meeting of Altamira sponsors will have to decide whether to make the visits a regular occurrence. Experts say that this would lead to irreversible damage.
Google Inc. and the ministry of culture of Italy have agreed about scanning of ancient books of national library of the country, informs The Wall Street Journal.
The Italian agreement
The corporation will be engaged in scanning of books in library of Rome and Florence. The agreement between the international corporation and the European country — the 1st for Italy. Google has similar agreements are available with the several large educational centres, for example: Oxford University, the Bavarian state museum and Madrid's Complutense University. All scanned materials will take places on web hosting by Google.
According to the representative of the ministry of culture of Italy Mario Resca, thanks to scanning of old books, access to knowledge which contain in these books, will become simpler for many people.
There is also one more benefit for Italy: the corporation has promised to incur all expenses on scanning of books and to construct in the country the special centre. It means, that the project will give hundreds workplaces. Besides it, corporation Google intends to invest in building of a new webhosting in suburb of Rome.
By JODY THOMPSON On set: Johnny, Penelope and Ian McShane in a still from the forthcoming new movie Spanish beauty Penelope Cruz has revealed that she only knew two phrases in English when she moved to the U.S. to try and make it in the movies - and one of them was 'I want to work with Johnny Depp'. The star, who turned 37 last month, revealed that it was her dream to work with the 47-year-old star - and that the only other English words she knew when she arrived in Hollywood were 'How are you?' Penelope, who was born in a suburb of Madrid, first worked with Johnny a decade ago in movie Blow and they have remained close friends ever since - so she explained she jumped at the chance to work with him again on Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. She explained: 'When I first came to America I only knew two phrases in English. One was, "How are you?" and the other was, "I want to work with Johnny Depp." 'Then after I worked with him on Blow, I learned how to say, "I want to work with Johnny Depp again!" He’s very addictive and he just gets better and better over the years.' Shiver me timbers: Penelope plays Angelica in the movie, an old flame of Johnny's Captain Jack Sparrow, and the daughter of Ian McShane's Blackbeard However, she explained there was a slight problem with working with him again - trying not to laugh during shooting. She told the Mirror: 'The only problem is he has a very peculiar sense of humour – and even though I know all his tricks, he can still crack me up. 'I can’t stop laughing when we are working so we had a few problems on the set. One time we were stuck for two hours and couldn’t finish the scene because we couldn’t stop laughing.' Avast me hearties! Huge banners advertising Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides went up on the facade of the Carlon Hotel in Cannes ahead of the 64th Cannes Film Festival this month Oscar-winner Penelope also revealed that they have a shared love of animated comedy show South Park - and Johnny created a fancy dress outfit based on the show's Mr Hanky The Christmas Poo that she had to wear as a forfeit on set. Penelope laughed: 'Johnny made this outfit for me and we had a bet which I lost. And I had to wear the Poo outfit on the set. Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens in cinemas on May 18.
According to the representative of the ministry of culture of Italy Mario Resca, thanks to scanning of old books, access to knowledge which contain in these books, will become simpler for many people.
