GAMPA and Sfra with Public Spaces of Automatic Mills in Pardubice / pka architektiSave this picture! Ale JungmannCultural ArchitecturePardubice, Czech RepublicArchitects: pka architektiAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:2522 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Ale Jungmann Lead Architects: Jan Brta, Marek Fischer, Jan pka More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The complex of the former Winternitz Automatic Mills in Pardubice, one of the first implementations of the architect Josef Gor, ceased to serve its purpose in 2013. A year later, it became a national cultural monument. Our intention was to integrate the listed building into the new complex, where it will have a central position. The city, the region and a private person participated financially in the whole event. The aim was to create a new multifunctional urban space for cultural, educational institutions, and private activities. Thus, a kind of triangle of important urban spaces and objects was created, consisting of the Renaissance castle, Pertn Square and the complex of the Automatic Mills. By removing some existing buildings, we enhance the dominant frontal portal with the entrance arch and at the same time allow an unobstructed view of the entire site from the side of the historic part of the city. The creation of two new public spaces, which intentionally have a different character and function, is absolutely fundamental from the point of view of the revitalization of the mills. We confirm the main entrance with a designed square with a sycamore bosquet, where a water channel made of bricks for irrigation is led to each tree. It is primarily a quiet, representative entry point, but we assume that, for example, markets can be held here. Inside the new complex, we are creating the Mill Courtyard, which will be a lively space for holding exhibitions, concerts, or theatre performances in the open air. The proposed public spaces are considered only for the movement of pedestrians. An integral part of the overall concept is the colour solution. The entire complex includes a number of objects of various functions, which were treated by four architectural studios. It was therefore very important to coordinate individual plans together. Our effort was to harmonize all new interventions into a uniform colour that follows the existing brick colour of the Automatic Mills. With this, we wanted to make the entire area more unified, including the walking areas, which are made of bricks and red mortar. The variety of individual objects with various functional uses should not create a chaotic impression.Save this picture!The new building of the GAMPA and Sfry encloses the proposed block of the complex of the former Winternitz automatic mills in Pardubice from the north side. These are two objects financed by the city, each of which has its own special programme. The Gallery of the City of Pardubice GAMPA is located on the ground floor, and the object of the Central Polytechnic Workshops Sfra levitates above it. We left a gap between the two with a view to the surroundings so that the large mass of the new building does not act as a barrier. Thanks to the elevation of the Sfra building, the quiet necessary for students' work is ensured on the higher floors, while GAMPA, which is located in the lower part, is more connected to the public space. The gallery represents a kind of plinth; its roof is also publicly accessible. The building is completely brick and connects to the public space of the Automatic Mills, which thus acquires another dimension by the fact that an amphitheatre for 250 people is located here, where a number of open-air events can be organized in the summer. The outdoor scene is covered by the cantilevered part of the workshop mass and it is possible to completely cover it with a retractable blind. From the public space, the visitor can enter directly into the foyer, where the reception, cloakrooms and toilets are located. Furthermore, it is possible to continue directly to the gallery, which goes around the entire circumference of the area under consideration and is designed over two floors. We primarily work with overhead lighting in all exhibition halls, then in the main area we deliberately allow a view from the window towards the main entrance to the entire mill complex. The gallery is divided into several rooms that can be closed with sliding and accordion doors. Therefore, a number of different exhibitions, or one larger exhibition, can be held here. In summer, it is possible to completely open the parterre with the help of sliding walls towards the courtyard and allow a greater connection with the interior of the gallery. The offices are located on the second floor and are accessible via a separate staircase. In the opposite part of the treated area, there is a residential studio intended for the work of visiting artists.Save this picture!Sfra is located above the GAMPA and is accessible by two staircases, which at the same time create a static support for the object. The workshops are intended primarily for primary and secondary school students and offer top-class equipped classrooms and laboratories for teaching technical and natural sciences. The entrance hall on the fourth above-ground floor, where the reception and cloakrooms are located, can be reached through the main entrance on the ground floor, which also serves as an entrance to the gallery. Vertical communication is enabled by both the mentioned staircases and lifts, while we always declare one as the main entrance and the other as an escape route. Each of the two floors has two classrooms on the sides, namely workshops or laboratories. A staff room is located next to the entrance hall and classrooms. There are toilets opposite. In the very centre of the building, we designed a two-story projection space with a centrally located sphere on which it is possible to project and simulate the natural phenomena of our planet. The lower floor of the textile, graphics, wood, and metal workshops has natural window lighting. On the contrary, the laboratories of physics, chemistry, natural science, and robotics on the top floor have overhead lighting with skylights covered by shades in the form of pyramids. On the same floor as the laboratories, we also find a room with a spherical playground, which is intended for preschool children and where they get to know natural and physical phenomena in the form of games. For better orientation, in collaboration with UMPRUM (Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague) teachers and students, we designed creatively negotiated niches that respond to individual workshops. Collages were created from wood, textile, metal, and graphic matrices. In part of the roof there is a boiler room with an engine room, accessible by one of the vertical staircases.Save this picture!When solving the object, we asked ourselves the question of the truthfulness of the architectural expression. Our answer is recognized construction and material design. Where we see the bricks are actually masonry load-bearing walls, where there is exposed concrete, it is a load-bearing concrete structure, and where there is weathering-steel sheet cladding, there is a non-load-bearing shell of panels. The effort was to design a coherent material design in the interior and exterior. The lower part of the gallery is brick, and thus follows the industrial construction of the mills. Brickwork not covered with plaster does not only mean a reference to a monument-listed building, but it is a natural effect of the wall itself, which plays a central role in shaping the space. It is a "bare" wall that does not need to be covered, but requires careful craftsmanship. The same can be said about other structural elements, such as ceilings, walls, and floors. The entire building tells us what and how it was really made. We colour matched all the materials to the brickwork. In the case of concrete, almost 30 different samples in the form of cubes had to be cast before the colour could be mixed. We decided to wall these cubes into the brickwork in the entrance hall as a memory of finding the right shade. In the case of the workshops, we used coloured concrete for the structures and floors. The construction of the workshops is based on load-bearing concrete ribs in a grid of 3 3 meters, which support X-beams at the edges near the faade. We are helped to bridge the nine-meter spans by one-meter beams with openings that allow the installation of approved distribution systems in the interior. Thus, classrooms do not have to have additional internal supports. X-beams are a kind of hybrid perforated wall, which at the same time ventilate the entire building around the perimeter. Light panels with insulation, covered with weathering-steel sheet, are placed on the outside.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Pardubice, Czech RepublicLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officepka architektiOffice

As comets approach the center of the Solar System, they send off trails of gas and dust. (Credit: Nazarii_Neshcherenskyi)NewsletterSign up for our email newsletter for the latest science newsThere arent many comets that are visible to observers without binoculars or telescopes. But one may be coming, and coming soon. Dubbed the "New Years Comet" for its imminent arrival, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is currently traveling closer and closer to the center of our Solar System, and is set to come closest on Monday, January 13, 2025. The comet will theoretically be brightest to observers on and around that date, with the best chances of catching it being in the Southern Hemisphere. A Southern SpectacleObserved for the first time in April 2024, the comet will come within its closest proximity to the Sun and Earth on Monday, January 13, 2025, when it will travel within 8.3 million miles of the Sun and 8.7 million miles of Earth. Thats so close that the comet may appear brighter than the stars. In fact, the comets perihelion, or its closest proximity to the Sun in its orbit, is three times closer than Mercurys. At the time of its perihelion, Comet C/2024 G3 may shine about as brightly as Venus, at around negative 4.5 magnitude. But although the comet may be brighter than any other in 2025, it will not be visible to all. Thats because the comet is positioned to be seen better by viewers in the Southern Hemisphere than those in the Northern Hemisphere.Catching the CometAccording to the Planetary Society, the best sightings of the comet are anticipated in the Southern Hemisphere in mid- to late January 2025, when Comet C/2024 G3 will appear in the sky immediately after sunset around the constellation Capricornus.At that time, observers in the Southern Hemisphere may be able to spot the comet above the western horizon, in a similar area of the sky as the setting Sun. In mid-January, the comet will appear closer to the setting Sun but brighter, while in late January, it will appear farther from the setting Sun but dimmer.While Southern-Hemisphere observers may be able to view Comet C/2024 G3 without binoculars or telescopes, observers ability to see the comet will depend on a number of factors, including their vision and location, as well as the weather. The comets appearance in a similar area of the sky as the Sun also adds difficultly for observers, who should take care to avoid staring at the Sun. If you are a Southern-Hemisphere observer hoping to see the comet this January 2025, look for a darker location, far away from cities and other producers of light pollution, where the western horizon will be visible. (Another option is checking out the comet online, through the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, which may be an altogether better sighting.) Brief But BrightA cosmic clump of frozen dust and ice, Comet C/2024 G3 may be born from the frozen leftovers of the Solar Systems formation. According to the Planetary Society, the comet probably originated in the Oort Cloud, a collection of comets and comet-like objects that surround the Solar System, orbiting the Sun from afar. As comets travel along their orbits and come closer to the Sun, they start to thaw, spewing gas and dust into a shimmering, sunlit trail. These trails, called comet tails, stretch millions of miles across the black backdrop of space, making a stunning sight for observers on Earth, as long as they are bright enough to be spotted. While some comets survive their travels around the Sun, others do not, spouting so much gas and dust that they disintegrate, breaking apart as they approach perihelion. Analysis of Comet C/2024 G3 suggests that its current trip around the Sun isnt its first, improving its chances of survival.If the comet survives, it should shoot around the Sun, then towards the outer Solar System once again, following its approximately 160,000-year orbit. While its trip around the Sun will certainly be brief, it may be bright, too, bringing potentially brilliant views to those who catch them.Article Sources:Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:The Planetary Society. How to Spot Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS)NASA. Comets NASA. Oort CloudSam Walters is a journalist covering archaeology, paleontology, ecology, and evolution for Discover, along with an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more As a Minnesota native, I cant stand listening to the meteorologists winter weather predictions. Theyre basically never right. Either they say well get a foot of snow, and we get squator vice versa. I recently canceled plans because they warned everyone of freezing rain and icy roads, and guess what? It was a beautiful winter day.Thats why Im shutting off the news and downloading this real-time weather radar app. I know we all have free weather apps on our phones, but Weather Hi-Def Storm Watch Plus has future-generated forecasts, so you can actually make plans. Use code FESTIVE30 at checkout to get lifetime access for $27.99 (reg. $39.99) until January 12.I may have missed out on a day of thrifting and a pizza buffet with my friends because of some guy on TV, but never again. Now, I can see a 10-day forecast that shows snowfall, winter storm conditions, and temperatures.On the day of my plans, I can open map overlays to see icy road conditions and snowfall on a map. Anyone whos had to drive to work on the day of a blizzard knows how critical this information is before trekking their way to the office.Im also pumped to use this weather radar app in the summer. You already know Im from Minnesota, so I need to maximize every day of warm weather with outdoor activities. Any information about incoming rainfall and lightning alerts will be so clutch.Code FESTIVE30 expires January 12 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Get your Weather Hi-Def Storm Watch Plus lifetime subscription for $27.99 (reg. $39.99).StackSocial prices subject to change.Weather Hi-Def Radar Storm Watch Plus: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal

A new analysis of the 6,000-year-old stone circle known as Rujm el-Hiri (also Gilgal Refaim) in Golan Heights suggests that it was not built to observe the heavens.

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For years, Gearbox Software's Borderlands franchise has been one of the biggest names in the gaming industry. While its 2024 movie may not have lit the world on fire, the video game series has seemingly gone from hit to hit, with the highly anticipated Borderlands 4 looming on the horizon. It remains to be seen if the studio can capture players' attention once more, but if they can, then there's no telling where the series will go from here. Unfortunately, the Tiny Tina's Wonderlands series may not be following.

Out of all the Straw Hats, Zoro is definitely the one with the strongest resolve. His ability to remain calm under pressure and assess situations with precision speaks to a mind as disciplined as his swordsmanship. As a warrior, Zoro has clearly trained not only his body but also his psyche to withstand the chaos of life on the Grand Line in One Piece.

A credible insider has outlined three more major Xbox games that may show up on PlayStation 5 this year. Xbox is already treating PlayStation users to a couple of day one first-party game releases in 2025, but it seems the company is also digging into its back-catalog with multiplatform intentions.

Realmlords

The Apothecary Diaries wasnt just my favorite anime of 2024, but my favorite show altogether. Based on the light novel series of the same name, The Apothecary Diaries is a perfect blend of medical procedural and period drama, sprinkled with a delicious slow-burn romance between one of my favorite tropes of grumpy girl and flirty guy. Its so damn good, and every episode immediately made me want to queue up the next one.Fortunately, the second season kicks off this week. Unfortunately, because the episodes drop weekly, I cant binge them all at once. But if you havent seen this anime yet, you have the perfect opportunity to catch up on all of season 1 and have a nice backlog of season 2 to dig into. I envy you![Ed. note: This essay contains some setup spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries.]The Apothecary Diaries takes place in a fictional country thats basically patterned after Tang dynasty China and follows Maomao, the adopted daughter of an apothecary, who studies medicine herself. She works in the red-light district, often helping courtesans and other brothel workers. After being kidnapped, shes sold into indentured servitude, working in the Imperial Palaces rear palace, where the emperors concubines live. Initially, she keeps her head down, but when a medical mystery arises, Maomao cant help but poke her nose into solving it. She catches the attention of Jinshi, the eunuch who runs the rear palaces administration, who ends up promoting her to a lady-in-waiting and taste tester to one of the emperors favored concubines.For the most part, the show takes on a new mystery every episode, usually focused on some sort of medical malady or mysterious death. Since its a period piece, those medical puzzles often have compelling twists that modern viewers might not expect (for instance, Maomao uses cocoa beans to brew a powerful aphrodisiac, which definitely would work on people who havent tried chocolate before). The mysteries themselves are intriguing, and Maomaos particular approach morbid fascination combined with tenacious curiosity makes them even more fun. Shes all too eager to experiment with poisons and examine sick patients and dead bodies.Slowly, the medical mysteries build up to political intrigue. Through Maomao, we learn more about the drama going on in the emperors palace, from the rivalries between concubines to military geniuses with secret motives. That intrigue extends past the palace and into Maomaos previous life, especially after she learns about her fathers secret connection to court life. Its the sort of plot that comes to a shocking head in the first seasons finale, but looking back its evident that it was all seeded in from the beginning. All of those seemingly disjointed medical puzzles weave into greater mysteries and political plots at hand.But what really makes The Apothecary Diaries so dang wonderful is Maomao herself. Shed rather not get caught up in court politics, thank you very much. But nothing gets her going like a good medical mystery and a chance to test out new medicine and poisons. She swoons over the prospect of getting her hands on rare healing ingredients, but bristles when the concubines try to dress her up. Shes also incredibly intelligent, and when she isnt gushing over poisons and remedies, shes coolly analyzing her surroundings and calculating her next move.Maomao is a gem of a character, and because shes so distinct, her relationships with the other characters shine even more. She talks candidly with the concubines about their lives (and even gives a sex talk to two of the newer ones). She understands the order of the Imperial Palace means that she needs to keep her head down and be respectful of her superiors, but at the same time, shes not afraid of them when it comes to voicing or defending her findings.But the juiciest relationship is the one she has with Jinshi, whos just as cunning as she is. He maintains a flirtatious and carefree demeanor, but in reality, he carefully schemes behind the scenes to advance his own position and balance some secret duties. Hes also completely smitten with Maomao, even though she thinks hes silly. But every time she glares at him, he melts a little. They have wonderful banter, both of them hiding bigger secrets from each other.The first season ended with some of those big secrets coming to light, setting up some rich ground to dig into for the next season. The Apothecary Diaries is the type of show where each episode answers a bunch of questions, then immediately asks a dozen more which is what makes it the type of show that had me eagerly clicking next episode the moment the end credits rolled. And theres no better time to watch it than now, with a whole season to dive into and more coming out week by week. I cant wait for more medical mysteries, more political intrigue, and more Maomao.The Apothecary Diaries is available to stream on Crunchyroll. The first episode of season 2 is out now, with new episodes premiering on Fridays.