• Oh, IMAX, the grand illusion of reality turned up to eleven! Who knew that watching a two-hour movie could feel like a NASA launch, complete with a symphony of surround sound that could wake the dead? For those who haven't had the pleasure, IMAX is not just a cinema; it’s an experience that makes you feel like you’re inside the movie—right before you realize you’re just trapped in a ridiculously oversized chair, too small for your popcorn bucket.

    Let’s talk about those gigantic screens. You know, the ones that make your living room TV look like a postage stamp? Apparently, the idea is to engulf you in the film so much that you forget about the existential dread of your daily life. Because honestly, who needs a therapist when you can sit in a dark room, surrounded by strangers, with a screen larger than your future looming in front of you?

    And don’t get me started on the “revolutionary technology.” IMAX is synonymous with larger-than-life images, but let's face it—it's just fancy pixels. I mean, how many different ways can you capture a superhero saving the world at this point? Yet, somehow, they manage to convince us that we need to watch it all in the world’s biggest format, because watching it on a normal screen would be akin to watching it through a keyhole, right?

    Then there’s the sound. IMAX promises "the most immersive audio experience." Yes, because nothing says relaxation like feeling like you’re in the middle of a battle scene with explosions that could shake the very foundations of your soul. You know, I used to think my neighbors were loud, but now I realize they could never compete with the sound of a spaceship crashing at full volume. Thanks, IMAX, for redefining the meaning of “loud neighbors.”

    And let’s not forget the tickets. A small mortgage payment for an evening of cinematic bliss! Who needs to save for retirement when you can experience the thrill of a blockbuster in a seat that costs more than your last three grocery bills combined? It’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to see your favorite actors’ pores in glorious detail.

    In conclusion, if you haven’t yet experienced the wonder that is IMAX, prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions and a potential existential crisis. Because nothing says “reality” quite like watching a fictional world unfold on a screen so big it makes your own life choices seem trivial. So, grab your credit card, put on your 3D glasses, and let’s dive into the cinematic abyss of IMAX—where reality takes a backseat, and your wallet weeps in despair.

    #IMAX #CinematicExperience #RealityCheck #MovieMagic #TooBigToFail
    Oh, IMAX, the grand illusion of reality turned up to eleven! Who knew that watching a two-hour movie could feel like a NASA launch, complete with a symphony of surround sound that could wake the dead? For those who haven't had the pleasure, IMAX is not just a cinema; it’s an experience that makes you feel like you’re inside the movie—right before you realize you’re just trapped in a ridiculously oversized chair, too small for your popcorn bucket. Let’s talk about those gigantic screens. You know, the ones that make your living room TV look like a postage stamp? Apparently, the idea is to engulf you in the film so much that you forget about the existential dread of your daily life. Because honestly, who needs a therapist when you can sit in a dark room, surrounded by strangers, with a screen larger than your future looming in front of you? And don’t get me started on the “revolutionary technology.” IMAX is synonymous with larger-than-life images, but let's face it—it's just fancy pixels. I mean, how many different ways can you capture a superhero saving the world at this point? Yet, somehow, they manage to convince us that we need to watch it all in the world’s biggest format, because watching it on a normal screen would be akin to watching it through a keyhole, right? Then there’s the sound. IMAX promises "the most immersive audio experience." Yes, because nothing says relaxation like feeling like you’re in the middle of a battle scene with explosions that could shake the very foundations of your soul. You know, I used to think my neighbors were loud, but now I realize they could never compete with the sound of a spaceship crashing at full volume. Thanks, IMAX, for redefining the meaning of “loud neighbors.” And let’s not forget the tickets. A small mortgage payment for an evening of cinematic bliss! Who needs to save for retirement when you can experience the thrill of a blockbuster in a seat that costs more than your last three grocery bills combined? It’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to see your favorite actors’ pores in glorious detail. In conclusion, if you haven’t yet experienced the wonder that is IMAX, prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions and a potential existential crisis. Because nothing says “reality” quite like watching a fictional world unfold on a screen so big it makes your own life choices seem trivial. So, grab your credit card, put on your 3D glasses, and let’s dive into the cinematic abyss of IMAX—where reality takes a backseat, and your wallet weeps in despair. #IMAX #CinematicExperience #RealityCheck #MovieMagic #TooBigToFail
    IMAX : tout ce que vous devez savoir
    IMAX est mondialement reconnu pour ses écrans gigantesques, mais cette technologie révolutionnaire ne se limite […] Cet article IMAX : tout ce que vous devez savoir a été publié sur REALITE-VIRTUELLE.COM.
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  • OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced

    Montreal City Hall – Beaupré Michaud and Associates, Architects in collaboration with MU Architecture, Montreal. Photo credit: Raphaël Thibodeau
    The Ordre des architectes du Québechas revealed the winners of its 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture.
    A total of eleven projects were recognized at a gala hosted by Jean-René Dufort at Espace St-Denis in Montreal.
    The Grand Prix d’excellence en architecture was awarded to the restoration of Montreal City Hall , a major project led by Beaupré Michaud et Associés, architects, and MU Architecture. This complex project successfully preserves the building’s historical qualities while transforming it into an exemplary place in terms of energy and ecology.  Guided by plans from the 1920s, the architects revived this building by equipping it with contemporary, efficient, more open, and more accessible features for residents. In addition to the heritage restoration, the team also reconciled old and contemporary technologies, energy efficiency, universal accessibility, and the reappropriation of spaces that had become dilapidated.
    The People’s Choice Award was presented to the Coop Milieu de l’île, designed by Pivot: Coopérative d’architecture. Located in Outremont, this 91-unit intergenerational housing cooperative was born from the initiative of a group of committed citizens looking to address the housing crisis by creating affordable, off-market housing. In the context of the housing crisis, the jury emphasized that this project, which is also the recipient of an Award of Excellence, designed by and for its residents, acts as a “breath of fresh air in Outremont.”
    Coop Milieu de l’île. Pivot: Architecture Cooperative, Montreal. Photo credit: Annie Fafard
    “The projects we evaluated this year were truly remarkable in their richness and diversity. The jury found in them everything that makes Quebec architecture so strong and unique: rigor, attention to detail, and respect for the context and built heritage. We saw emblematic projects, but also discreet gestures, almost invisible in the landscape. Some projects rehabilitated forgotten places, transformed historic buildings, or even imagined new spaces for collective living. All, in their own way, highlighted the powerful impact of built quality on our living environments,” said Gabrielle Nadeau, chair of the OAQ Awards of Excellence Jury.
    The jury for the 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture was chaired by Gabrielle Nadeau, principal design architect, COBE in Copenhagen. It also included architects Marianne Charbonneau of Agence Spatiale, Maxime-Alexis Frappier of ACDF, and Guillaume Martel-Trudel of Provencher-Roy. Élène Levasseur, director of research and education at Architecture sans frontières Québec, acted as the public representative.
    Through the Awards of Excellence in Architecture, presented annually, the Order aims to raise awareness among Quebecers of the multiple dimensions of architectural quality, in addition to promoting the role of the architects in the design of inspiring, sustainable and thoughtful senior living environments.
    The full list of winners include the following.

    Habitat Sélénite by _naturehumaine
    Habitat Sélénite – _naturehumaine, Eastman. Photo: Raphaël Thibodeau

    École secondaire du Bosquet by ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes
    École secondaire du Bosquet – ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes, Drummondville. Photo: Stéphane Brügger

    Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes
    Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy – Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes, Québec. Photo: Olivier Blouin

    Maison A by Atelier Pierre Thibault
    Maison A – Atelier Pierre Thibault, Saint-Nicolas. Photo: Maxime Brouillet

    Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche by BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain
    Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche – BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain, La Pêche. Photo: Stéphane Brügger / Dominique Laroche

    École du Zénith by Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc
    École du Zénith – Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc, Shefford. Photo: James Brittain / David Boyer

    Le Paquebot by _naturehumaine
    Le Paquebot – _naturehumaine, Montréal. Photo: Ronan Mézière

    Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie by ultralocal architectes

    Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie – ultralocal architectes, Québec. Photo credit: Paul Dussault
    Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt by atelier5 + mainstudio
    Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt – atelier5 + mainstudio, Cacouna. Photo: Stéphane Groleau

    The post OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced appeared first on Canadian Architect.
    #oaq #awards #excellence #winners #announced
    OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced
    Montreal City Hall – Beaupré Michaud and Associates, Architects in collaboration with MU Architecture, Montreal. Photo credit: Raphaël Thibodeau The Ordre des architectes du Québechas revealed the winners of its 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture. A total of eleven projects were recognized at a gala hosted by Jean-René Dufort at Espace St-Denis in Montreal. The Grand Prix d’excellence en architecture was awarded to the restoration of Montreal City Hall , a major project led by Beaupré Michaud et Associés, architects, and MU Architecture. This complex project successfully preserves the building’s historical qualities while transforming it into an exemplary place in terms of energy and ecology.  Guided by plans from the 1920s, the architects revived this building by equipping it with contemporary, efficient, more open, and more accessible features for residents. In addition to the heritage restoration, the team also reconciled old and contemporary technologies, energy efficiency, universal accessibility, and the reappropriation of spaces that had become dilapidated. The People’s Choice Award was presented to the Coop Milieu de l’île, designed by Pivot: Coopérative d’architecture. Located in Outremont, this 91-unit intergenerational housing cooperative was born from the initiative of a group of committed citizens looking to address the housing crisis by creating affordable, off-market housing. In the context of the housing crisis, the jury emphasized that this project, which is also the recipient of an Award of Excellence, designed by and for its residents, acts as a “breath of fresh air in Outremont.” Coop Milieu de l’île. Pivot: Architecture Cooperative, Montreal. Photo credit: Annie Fafard “The projects we evaluated this year were truly remarkable in their richness and diversity. The jury found in them everything that makes Quebec architecture so strong and unique: rigor, attention to detail, and respect for the context and built heritage. We saw emblematic projects, but also discreet gestures, almost invisible in the landscape. Some projects rehabilitated forgotten places, transformed historic buildings, or even imagined new spaces for collective living. All, in their own way, highlighted the powerful impact of built quality on our living environments,” said Gabrielle Nadeau, chair of the OAQ Awards of Excellence Jury. The jury for the 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture was chaired by Gabrielle Nadeau, principal design architect, COBE in Copenhagen. It also included architects Marianne Charbonneau of Agence Spatiale, Maxime-Alexis Frappier of ACDF, and Guillaume Martel-Trudel of Provencher-Roy. Élène Levasseur, director of research and education at Architecture sans frontières Québec, acted as the public representative. Through the Awards of Excellence in Architecture, presented annually, the Order aims to raise awareness among Quebecers of the multiple dimensions of architectural quality, in addition to promoting the role of the architects in the design of inspiring, sustainable and thoughtful senior living environments. The full list of winners include the following. Habitat Sélénite by _naturehumaine Habitat Sélénite – _naturehumaine, Eastman. Photo: Raphaël Thibodeau École secondaire du Bosquet by ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes École secondaire du Bosquet – ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes, Drummondville. Photo: Stéphane Brügger Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy – Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes, Québec. Photo: Olivier Blouin Maison A by Atelier Pierre Thibault Maison A – Atelier Pierre Thibault, Saint-Nicolas. Photo: Maxime Brouillet Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche by BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche – BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain, La Pêche. Photo: Stéphane Brügger / Dominique Laroche École du Zénith by Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc École du Zénith – Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc, Shefford. Photo: James Brittain / David Boyer Le Paquebot by _naturehumaine Le Paquebot – _naturehumaine, Montréal. Photo: Ronan Mézière Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie by ultralocal architectes Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie – ultralocal architectes, Québec. Photo credit: Paul Dussault Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt by atelier5 + mainstudio Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt – atelier5 + mainstudio, Cacouna. Photo: Stéphane Groleau The post OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced appeared first on Canadian Architect. #oaq #awards #excellence #winners #announced
    WWW.CANADIANARCHITECT.COM
    OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced
    Montreal City Hall – Beaupré Michaud and Associates, Architects in collaboration with MU Architecture, Montreal. Photo credit: Raphaël Thibodeau The Ordre des architectes du Québec (OAQ) has revealed the winners of its 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture. A total of eleven projects were recognized at a gala hosted by Jean-René Dufort at Espace St-Denis in Montreal. The Grand Prix d’excellence en architecture was awarded to the restoration of Montreal City Hall , a major project led by Beaupré Michaud et Associés, architects, and MU Architecture. This complex project successfully preserves the building’s historical qualities while transforming it into an exemplary place in terms of energy and ecology.  Guided by plans from the 1920s, the architects revived this building by equipping it with contemporary, efficient, more open, and more accessible features for residents. In addition to the heritage restoration, the team also reconciled old and contemporary technologies, energy efficiency, universal accessibility, and the reappropriation of spaces that had become dilapidated. The People’s Choice Award was presented to the Coop Milieu de l’île, designed by Pivot: Coopérative d’architecture. Located in Outremont, this 91-unit intergenerational housing cooperative was born from the initiative of a group of committed citizens looking to address the housing crisis by creating affordable, off-market housing. In the context of the housing crisis, the jury emphasized that this project, which is also the recipient of an Award of Excellence, designed by and for its residents, acts as a “breath of fresh air in Outremont.” Coop Milieu de l’île. Pivot: Architecture Cooperative, Montreal. Photo credit: Annie Fafard “The projects we evaluated this year were truly remarkable in their richness and diversity. The jury found in them everything that makes Quebec architecture so strong and unique: rigor, attention to detail, and respect for the context and built heritage. We saw emblematic projects, but also discreet gestures, almost invisible in the landscape. Some projects rehabilitated forgotten places, transformed historic buildings, or even imagined new spaces for collective living. All, in their own way, highlighted the powerful impact of built quality on our living environments,” said Gabrielle Nadeau, chair of the OAQ Awards of Excellence Jury. The jury for the 2025 Awards of Excellence in Architecture was chaired by Gabrielle Nadeau, principal design architect, COBE in Copenhagen. It also included architects Marianne Charbonneau of Agence Spatiale, Maxime-Alexis Frappier of ACDF, and Guillaume Martel-Trudel of Provencher-Roy. Élène Levasseur, director of research and education at Architecture sans frontières Québec, acted as the public representative. Through the Awards of Excellence in Architecture, presented annually, the Order aims to raise awareness among Quebecers of the multiple dimensions of architectural quality, in addition to promoting the role of the architects in the design of inspiring, sustainable and thoughtful senior living environments. The full list of winners include the following. Habitat Sélénite by _naturehumaine Habitat Sélénite – _naturehumaine, Eastman (Estrie). Photo: Raphaël Thibodeau École secondaire du Bosquet by ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes École secondaire du Bosquet – ABCP | Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux | Bilodeau Baril Leeming Architectes, Drummondville (Centre-du-Québec). Photo: Stéphane Brügger Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy – Saucier + Perrotte Architectes et GLCRM Architectes, Québec (Capitale-Nationale). Photo: Olivier Blouin Maison A by Atelier Pierre Thibault Maison A – Atelier Pierre Thibault, Saint-Nicolas (Chaudière-Appalaches). Photo: Maxime Brouillet Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche by BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain Nouvel Hôtel de Ville de La Pêche – BGLA Architecture et Design Urbain, La Pêche (Outaouais). Photo: Stéphane Brügger / Dominique Laroche École du Zénith by Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc École du Zénith – Pelletier de Fontenay + Leclerc, Shefford (Estrie). Photo: James Brittain / David Boyer Le Paquebot by _naturehumaine Le Paquebot – _naturehumaine, Montréal (Montréal). Photo: Ronan Mézière Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie by ultralocal architectes Coopérative funéraire la Seigneurie – ultralocal architectes, Québec (Capitale-Nationale). Photo credit: Paul Dussault Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt by atelier5 + mainstudio Site d’observation des bélugas Putep’t-awt – atelier5 + mainstudio, Cacouna (Bas-Saint-Laurent). Photo: Stéphane Groleau The post OAQ Awards of Excellence winners announced appeared first on Canadian Architect.
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  • An excerpt from a new book by Sérgio Ferro, published by MACK Books, showcases the architect’s moment of disenchantment

    Last year, MACK Books published Architecture from Below, which anthologized writings by the French Brazilian architect, theorist, and painter Sérgio Ferro.Now, MACK follows with Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays, the second in the trilogy of books dedicated to Ferro’s scholarship. The following excerpt of the author’s 2023 preface to the English edition, which preserves its British phrasing, captures Ferro’s realization about the working conditions of construction sites in Brasília. The sentiment is likely relatable even today for young architects as they discover how drawings become buildings. Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays will be released on May 22.

    If I remember correctly, it was in 1958 or 1959, when Rodrigo and I were second- or third year architecture students at FAUUSP, that my father, the real estate developer Armando Simone Pereira, commissioned us to design two large office buildings and eleven shops in Brasilia, which was then under construction. Of course, we were not adequately prepared for such an undertaking. Fortunately, Oscar Niemeyer and his team, who were responsible for overseeing the construction of the capital, had drawn up a detailed document determining the essential characteristics of all the private sector buildings. We followed these prescriptions to the letter, which saved us from disaster.
    Nowadays, it is hard to imagine the degree to which the construction of Brasilia inspired enthusiasm and professional pride in the country’s architects. And in the national imagination, the city’s establishment in the supposedly unpopulated hinterland evoked a re-founding of Brazil. Up until that point, the occupation of our immense territory had been reduced to a collection of arborescent communication routes, generally converging upon some river, following it up to the Atlantic Ocean. Through its ports, agricultural or extractive commodities produced by enslaved peoples or their substitutes passed towards the metropolises; goods were exchanged in the metropolises for more elaborate products, which took the opposite route. Our national identity was summed up in a few symbols, such as the anthem or the flag, and this scattering of paths pointing overseas. Brasilia would radically change this situation, or so we believed. It would create a central hub where the internal communication routes could converge, linking together hithertoseparate junctions, stimulating trade and economic progress in the country’s interior. It was as if, for the first time, we were taking care of ourselves. At the nucleus of this centripetal movement, architecture would embody the renaissance. And at the naval of the nucleus, the symbolic mandala of this utopia: the cathedral.
    Rodrigo and I got caught up in the euphoria. And perhaps more so than our colleagues, because we were taking part in the adventure with ‘our’ designs. The reality was very different — but we did not know that yet.

    At that time, architects in Brazil were responsible for verifying that the construction was in line with the design. We had already monitored some of our first building sites. But the construction company in charge of them, Osmar Souza e Silva’s CENPLA, specialized in the building sites of modernist architects from the so-called Escola Paulista led by Vilanova Artigas. Osmar was very attentive to his clients and his workers, who formed a supportive and helpful team. He was even more careful with us, because he knew how inexperienced we were. I believe that the CENPLA was particularly important in São Paulo modernism: with its congeniality, it facilitated experimentation, but for the same reason, it deceived novices like us about the reality of other building sites.
    Consequently, Rodrigo and I travelled to Brasilia several times to check that the constructions followed ‘our’ designs and to resolve any issues. From the very first trip, our little bubble burst. Our building sites, like all the others in the future capital, bore no relation to Osmar’s. They were more like a branch of hell. A huge, muddy wasteland, in which a few cranes, pile drivers, tractors, and excavators dotted the mound of scaffolding occupied by thousands of skinny, seemingly exhausted wretches, who were nevertheless driven on by the shouts of master builders and foremen, in turn pressured by the imminence of the fateful inauguration date. Surrounding or huddled underneath the marquees of buildings under construction, entire families, equally skeletal and ragged, were waiting for some accident or death to open up a vacancy. In contact only with the master builders, and under close surveillance so we would not speak to the workers, we were not allowed to see what comrades who had worked on these sites later told us in prison: suicide abounded; escape was known to be futile in the unpopulated surroundings with no viable roads; fatal accidents were often caused by weakness due to chronic diarrhoea, brought on by rotten food that came from far away; outright theft took place in the calculation of wages and expenses in the contractor’s grocery store; camps were surrounded by law enforcement.
    I repeat this anecdote yet again not to invoke the benevolence of potential readers, but rather to point out the conditions that, in my opinion, allowed two studentsstill in their professional infancy to quickly adopt positions that were contrary to the usual stance of architects. As the project was more Oscar Niemeyer’s than it was our own, we did not have the same emotional attachment that is understandably engendered between real authors and their designs. We had not yet been imbued with the charm and aura of the métier. And the only building sites we had visited thus far, Osmar’s, were incomparable to those we discovered in Brasilia. In short, our youthfulness and unpreparedness up against an unbearable situation made us react almost immediately to the profession’s satisfied doxa.

    Unprepared and young perhaps, but already with Marx by our side. Rodrigo and I joined the student cell of the Brazilian Communist Party during our first year at university. In itself, this did not help us much: the Party’s Marxism, revised in the interests of the USSR, was pitiful. Even high-level leaders rarely went beyond the first chapter of Capital. But at the end of the 1950s, the effervescence of the years to come was already nascent: this extraordinary revivalthe rediscovery of Marxism and the great dialectical texts and traditions in the 1960s: an excitement that identifies a forgotten or repressed moment of the past as the new and subversive, and learns the dialectical grammar of a Hegel or an Adorno, a Marx or a Lukács, like a foreign language that has resources unavailable in our own.
    And what is more: the Chinese and Cuban revolutions, the war in Vietnam, guerrilla warfare of all kinds, national liberation movements, and a rare libertarian disposition in contemporary history, totally averse to fanaticism and respect for ideological apparatuses ofstate or institution. Going against the grain was almost the norm. We were of course no more than contemporaries of our time. We were soon able to position ourselves from chapters 13, 14, and 15 of Capital, but only because we could constantly cross-reference Marx with our observations from well-contrasted building sites and do our own experimenting. As soon as we identified construction as manufacture, for example, thanks to the willingness and even encouragement of two friends and clients, Boris Fausto and Bernardo Issler, I was able to test both types of manufacture — organic and heterogeneous — on similar-sized projects taking place simultaneously, in order to find out which would be most convenient for the situation in Brazil, particularly in São Paulo. Despite the scientific shortcomings of these tests, they sufficed for us to select organic manufacture. Arquitetura Nova had defined its line of practice, studies, and research.
    There were other sources that were central to our theory and practice. Flávio Império was one of the founders of the Teatro de Arena, undoubtedly the vanguard of popular, militant theatre in Brazil. He won practically every set design award. He brought us his marvelous findings in spatial condensation and malleability, and in the creative diversion of techniques and material—appropriate devices for an underdeveloped country. This is what helped us pave the way to reformulating the reigning design paradigms. 

    We had to do what Flávio had done in the theatre: thoroughly rethink how to be an architect. Upend the perspective. The way we were taught was to start from a desired result; then others would take care of getting there, no matter how. We, on the other hand, set out to go down to the building site and accompany those carrying out the labor itself, those who actually build, the formally subsumed workers in manufacture who are increasingly deprived of the knowledge and know-how presupposed by this kind of subsumption. We should have been fostering the reconstitution of this knowledge and know-how—not so as to fulfil this assumption, but in order to reinvigorate the other side of this assumption according to Marx: the historical rebellion of the manufacture worker, especially the construction worker. We had to rekindle the demand that fueled this rebellion: total self-determination, and not just that of the manual operation as such. Our aim was above all political and ethical. Aesthetics only mattered by way of what it included—ethics. Instead of estética, we wrote est ética. We wanted to make building sites into nests for the return of revolutionary syndicalism, which we ourselves had yet to discover.
    Sérgio Ferro, born in Brazil in 1938, studied architecture at FAUUSP, São Paulo. In the 1960s, he joined the Brazilian communist party and started, along with Rodrigo Lefevre and Flávio Império, the collective known as Arquitetura Nova. After being arrested by the military dictatorship that took power in Brazil in 1964, he moved to France as an exile. As a painter and a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, where he founded the Dessin/Chantier laboratory, he engaged in extensive research which resulted in several publications, exhibitions, and awards in Brazil and in France, including the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1992. Following his retirement from teaching, Ferro continues to research, write, and paint.
    #excerpt #new #book #sérgio #ferro
    An excerpt from a new book by Sérgio Ferro, published by MACK Books, showcases the architect’s moment of disenchantment
    Last year, MACK Books published Architecture from Below, which anthologized writings by the French Brazilian architect, theorist, and painter Sérgio Ferro.Now, MACK follows with Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays, the second in the trilogy of books dedicated to Ferro’s scholarship. The following excerpt of the author’s 2023 preface to the English edition, which preserves its British phrasing, captures Ferro’s realization about the working conditions of construction sites in Brasília. The sentiment is likely relatable even today for young architects as they discover how drawings become buildings. Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays will be released on May 22. If I remember correctly, it was in 1958 or 1959, when Rodrigo and I were second- or third year architecture students at FAUUSP, that my father, the real estate developer Armando Simone Pereira, commissioned us to design two large office buildings and eleven shops in Brasilia, which was then under construction. Of course, we were not adequately prepared for such an undertaking. Fortunately, Oscar Niemeyer and his team, who were responsible for overseeing the construction of the capital, had drawn up a detailed document determining the essential characteristics of all the private sector buildings. We followed these prescriptions to the letter, which saved us from disaster. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine the degree to which the construction of Brasilia inspired enthusiasm and professional pride in the country’s architects. And in the national imagination, the city’s establishment in the supposedly unpopulated hinterland evoked a re-founding of Brazil. Up until that point, the occupation of our immense territory had been reduced to a collection of arborescent communication routes, generally converging upon some river, following it up to the Atlantic Ocean. Through its ports, agricultural or extractive commodities produced by enslaved peoples or their substitutes passed towards the metropolises; goods were exchanged in the metropolises for more elaborate products, which took the opposite route. Our national identity was summed up in a few symbols, such as the anthem or the flag, and this scattering of paths pointing overseas. Brasilia would radically change this situation, or so we believed. It would create a central hub where the internal communication routes could converge, linking together hithertoseparate junctions, stimulating trade and economic progress in the country’s interior. It was as if, for the first time, we were taking care of ourselves. At the nucleus of this centripetal movement, architecture would embody the renaissance. And at the naval of the nucleus, the symbolic mandala of this utopia: the cathedral. Rodrigo and I got caught up in the euphoria. And perhaps more so than our colleagues, because we were taking part in the adventure with ‘our’ designs. The reality was very different — but we did not know that yet. At that time, architects in Brazil were responsible for verifying that the construction was in line with the design. We had already monitored some of our first building sites. But the construction company in charge of them, Osmar Souza e Silva’s CENPLA, specialized in the building sites of modernist architects from the so-called Escola Paulista led by Vilanova Artigas. Osmar was very attentive to his clients and his workers, who formed a supportive and helpful team. He was even more careful with us, because he knew how inexperienced we were. I believe that the CENPLA was particularly important in São Paulo modernism: with its congeniality, it facilitated experimentation, but for the same reason, it deceived novices like us about the reality of other building sites. Consequently, Rodrigo and I travelled to Brasilia several times to check that the constructions followed ‘our’ designs and to resolve any issues. From the very first trip, our little bubble burst. Our building sites, like all the others in the future capital, bore no relation to Osmar’s. They were more like a branch of hell. A huge, muddy wasteland, in which a few cranes, pile drivers, tractors, and excavators dotted the mound of scaffolding occupied by thousands of skinny, seemingly exhausted wretches, who were nevertheless driven on by the shouts of master builders and foremen, in turn pressured by the imminence of the fateful inauguration date. Surrounding or huddled underneath the marquees of buildings under construction, entire families, equally skeletal and ragged, were waiting for some accident or death to open up a vacancy. In contact only with the master builders, and under close surveillance so we would not speak to the workers, we were not allowed to see what comrades who had worked on these sites later told us in prison: suicide abounded; escape was known to be futile in the unpopulated surroundings with no viable roads; fatal accidents were often caused by weakness due to chronic diarrhoea, brought on by rotten food that came from far away; outright theft took place in the calculation of wages and expenses in the contractor’s grocery store; camps were surrounded by law enforcement. I repeat this anecdote yet again not to invoke the benevolence of potential readers, but rather to point out the conditions that, in my opinion, allowed two studentsstill in their professional infancy to quickly adopt positions that were contrary to the usual stance of architects. As the project was more Oscar Niemeyer’s than it was our own, we did not have the same emotional attachment that is understandably engendered between real authors and their designs. We had not yet been imbued with the charm and aura of the métier. And the only building sites we had visited thus far, Osmar’s, were incomparable to those we discovered in Brasilia. In short, our youthfulness and unpreparedness up against an unbearable situation made us react almost immediately to the profession’s satisfied doxa. Unprepared and young perhaps, but already with Marx by our side. Rodrigo and I joined the student cell of the Brazilian Communist Party during our first year at university. In itself, this did not help us much: the Party’s Marxism, revised in the interests of the USSR, was pitiful. Even high-level leaders rarely went beyond the first chapter of Capital. But at the end of the 1950s, the effervescence of the years to come was already nascent: this extraordinary revivalthe rediscovery of Marxism and the great dialectical texts and traditions in the 1960s: an excitement that identifies a forgotten or repressed moment of the past as the new and subversive, and learns the dialectical grammar of a Hegel or an Adorno, a Marx or a Lukács, like a foreign language that has resources unavailable in our own. And what is more: the Chinese and Cuban revolutions, the war in Vietnam, guerrilla warfare of all kinds, national liberation movements, and a rare libertarian disposition in contemporary history, totally averse to fanaticism and respect for ideological apparatuses ofstate or institution. Going against the grain was almost the norm. We were of course no more than contemporaries of our time. We were soon able to position ourselves from chapters 13, 14, and 15 of Capital, but only because we could constantly cross-reference Marx with our observations from well-contrasted building sites and do our own experimenting. As soon as we identified construction as manufacture, for example, thanks to the willingness and even encouragement of two friends and clients, Boris Fausto and Bernardo Issler, I was able to test both types of manufacture — organic and heterogeneous — on similar-sized projects taking place simultaneously, in order to find out which would be most convenient for the situation in Brazil, particularly in São Paulo. Despite the scientific shortcomings of these tests, they sufficed for us to select organic manufacture. Arquitetura Nova had defined its line of practice, studies, and research. There were other sources that were central to our theory and practice. Flávio Império was one of the founders of the Teatro de Arena, undoubtedly the vanguard of popular, militant theatre in Brazil. He won practically every set design award. He brought us his marvelous findings in spatial condensation and malleability, and in the creative diversion of techniques and material—appropriate devices for an underdeveloped country. This is what helped us pave the way to reformulating the reigning design paradigms.  We had to do what Flávio had done in the theatre: thoroughly rethink how to be an architect. Upend the perspective. The way we were taught was to start from a desired result; then others would take care of getting there, no matter how. We, on the other hand, set out to go down to the building site and accompany those carrying out the labor itself, those who actually build, the formally subsumed workers in manufacture who are increasingly deprived of the knowledge and know-how presupposed by this kind of subsumption. We should have been fostering the reconstitution of this knowledge and know-how—not so as to fulfil this assumption, but in order to reinvigorate the other side of this assumption according to Marx: the historical rebellion of the manufacture worker, especially the construction worker. We had to rekindle the demand that fueled this rebellion: total self-determination, and not just that of the manual operation as such. Our aim was above all political and ethical. Aesthetics only mattered by way of what it included—ethics. Instead of estética, we wrote est ética. We wanted to make building sites into nests for the return of revolutionary syndicalism, which we ourselves had yet to discover. Sérgio Ferro, born in Brazil in 1938, studied architecture at FAUUSP, São Paulo. In the 1960s, he joined the Brazilian communist party and started, along with Rodrigo Lefevre and Flávio Império, the collective known as Arquitetura Nova. After being arrested by the military dictatorship that took power in Brazil in 1964, he moved to France as an exile. As a painter and a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, where he founded the Dessin/Chantier laboratory, he engaged in extensive research which resulted in several publications, exhibitions, and awards in Brazil and in France, including the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1992. Following his retirement from teaching, Ferro continues to research, write, and paint. #excerpt #new #book #sérgio #ferro
    An excerpt from a new book by Sérgio Ferro, published by MACK Books, showcases the architect’s moment of disenchantment
    Last year, MACK Books published Architecture from Below, which anthologized writings by the French Brazilian architect, theorist, and painter Sérgio Ferro. (Douglas Spencer reviewed it for AN.) Now, MACK follows with Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays, the second in the trilogy of books dedicated to Ferro’s scholarship. The following excerpt of the author’s 2023 preface to the English edition, which preserves its British phrasing, captures Ferro’s realization about the working conditions of construction sites in Brasília. The sentiment is likely relatable even today for young architects as they discover how drawings become buildings. Design and the Building Site and Complementary Essays will be released on May 22. If I remember correctly, it was in 1958 or 1959, when Rodrigo and I were second- or third year architecture students at FAUUSP, that my father, the real estate developer Armando Simone Pereira, commissioned us to design two large office buildings and eleven shops in Brasilia, which was then under construction. Of course, we were not adequately prepared for such an undertaking. Fortunately, Oscar Niemeyer and his team, who were responsible for overseeing the construction of the capital, had drawn up a detailed document determining the essential characteristics of all the private sector buildings. We followed these prescriptions to the letter, which saved us from disaster. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine the degree to which the construction of Brasilia inspired enthusiasm and professional pride in the country’s architects. And in the national imagination, the city’s establishment in the supposedly unpopulated hinterland evoked a re-founding of Brazil. Up until that point, the occupation of our immense territory had been reduced to a collection of arborescent communication routes, generally converging upon some river, following it up to the Atlantic Ocean. Through its ports, agricultural or extractive commodities produced by enslaved peoples or their substitutes passed towards the metropolises; goods were exchanged in the metropolises for more elaborate products, which took the opposite route. Our national identity was summed up in a few symbols, such as the anthem or the flag, and this scattering of paths pointing overseas. Brasilia would radically change this situation, or so we believed. It would create a central hub where the internal communication routes could converge, linking together hithertoseparate junctions, stimulating trade and economic progress in the country’s interior. It was as if, for the first time, we were taking care of ourselves. At the nucleus of this centripetal movement, architecture would embody the renaissance. And at the naval of the nucleus, the symbolic mandala of this utopia: the cathedral. Rodrigo and I got caught up in the euphoria. And perhaps more so than our colleagues, because we were taking part in the adventure with ‘our’ designs. The reality was very different — but we did not know that yet. At that time, architects in Brazil were responsible for verifying that the construction was in line with the design. We had already monitored some of our first building sites. But the construction company in charge of them, Osmar Souza e Silva’s CENPLA, specialized in the building sites of modernist architects from the so-called Escola Paulista led by Vilanova Artigas (which we aspired to be a part of, like the pretentious students we were). Osmar was very attentive to his clients and his workers, who formed a supportive and helpful team. He was even more careful with us, because he knew how inexperienced we were. I believe that the CENPLA was particularly important in São Paulo modernism: with its congeniality, it facilitated experimentation, but for the same reason, it deceived novices like us about the reality of other building sites. Consequently, Rodrigo and I travelled to Brasilia several times to check that the constructions followed ‘our’ designs and to resolve any issues. From the very first trip, our little bubble burst. Our building sites, like all the others in the future capital, bore no relation to Osmar’s. They were more like a branch of hell. A huge, muddy wasteland, in which a few cranes, pile drivers, tractors, and excavators dotted the mound of scaffolding occupied by thousands of skinny, seemingly exhausted wretches, who were nevertheless driven on by the shouts of master builders and foremen, in turn pressured by the imminence of the fateful inauguration date. Surrounding or huddled underneath the marquees of buildings under construction, entire families, equally skeletal and ragged, were waiting for some accident or death to open up a vacancy. In contact only with the master builders, and under close surveillance so we would not speak to the workers, we were not allowed to see what comrades who had worked on these sites later told us in prison: suicide abounded; escape was known to be futile in the unpopulated surroundings with no viable roads; fatal accidents were often caused by weakness due to chronic diarrhoea, brought on by rotten food that came from far away; outright theft took place in the calculation of wages and expenses in the contractor’s grocery store; camps were surrounded by law enforcement. I repeat this anecdote yet again not to invoke the benevolence of potential readers, but rather to point out the conditions that, in my opinion, allowed two students (Flávio Império joined us a little later) still in their professional infancy to quickly adopt positions that were contrary to the usual stance of architects. As the project was more Oscar Niemeyer’s than it was our own, we did not have the same emotional attachment that is understandably engendered between real authors and their designs. We had not yet been imbued with the charm and aura of the métier. And the only building sites we had visited thus far, Osmar’s, were incomparable to those we discovered in Brasilia. In short, our youthfulness and unpreparedness up against an unbearable situation made us react almost immediately to the profession’s satisfied doxa. Unprepared and young perhaps, but already with Marx by our side. Rodrigo and I joined the student cell of the Brazilian Communist Party during our first year at university. In itself, this did not help us much: the Party’s Marxism, revised in the interests of the USSR, was pitiful. Even high-level leaders rarely went beyond the first chapter of Capital. But at the end of the 1950s, the effervescence of the years to come was already nascent:  […] this extraordinary revival […] the rediscovery of Marxism and the great dialectical texts and traditions in the 1960s: an excitement that identifies a forgotten or repressed moment of the past as the new and subversive, and learns the dialectical grammar of a Hegel or an Adorno, a Marx or a Lukács, like a foreign language that has resources unavailable in our own. And what is more: the Chinese and Cuban revolutions, the war in Vietnam, guerrilla warfare of all kinds, national liberation movements, and a rare libertarian disposition in contemporary history, totally averse to fanaticism and respect for ideological apparatuses of (any) state or institution. Going against the grain was almost the norm. We were of course no more than contemporaries of our time. We were soon able to position ourselves from chapters 13, 14, and 15 of Capital, but only because we could constantly cross-reference Marx with our observations from well-contrasted building sites and do our own experimenting. As soon as we identified construction as manufacture, for example, thanks to the willingness and even encouragement of two friends and clients, Boris Fausto and Bernardo Issler, I was able to test both types of manufacture — organic and heterogeneous — on similar-sized projects taking place simultaneously, in order to find out which would be most convenient for the situation in Brazil, particularly in São Paulo. Despite the scientific shortcomings of these tests, they sufficed for us to select organic manufacture. Arquitetura Nova had defined its line of practice, studies, and research. There were other sources that were central to our theory and practice. Flávio Império was one of the founders of the Teatro de Arena, undoubtedly the vanguard of popular, militant theatre in Brazil. He won practically every set design award. He brought us his marvelous findings in spatial condensation and malleability, and in the creative diversion of techniques and material—appropriate devices for an underdeveloped country. This is what helped us pave the way to reformulating the reigning design paradigms.  We had to do what Flávio had done in the theatre: thoroughly rethink how to be an architect. Upend the perspective. The way we were taught was to start from a desired result; then others would take care of getting there, no matter how. We, on the other hand, set out to go down to the building site and accompany those carrying out the labor itself, those who actually build, the formally subsumed workers in manufacture who are increasingly deprived of the knowledge and know-how presupposed by this kind of subsumption. We should have been fostering the reconstitution of this knowledge and know-how—not so as to fulfil this assumption, but in order to reinvigorate the other side of this assumption according to Marx: the historical rebellion of the manufacture worker, especially the construction worker. We had to rekindle the demand that fueled this rebellion: total self-determination, and not just that of the manual operation as such. Our aim was above all political and ethical. Aesthetics only mattered by way of what it included—ethics. Instead of estética, we wrote est ética [this is ethics]. We wanted to make building sites into nests for the return of revolutionary syndicalism, which we ourselves had yet to discover. Sérgio Ferro, born in Brazil in 1938, studied architecture at FAUUSP, São Paulo. In the 1960s, he joined the Brazilian communist party and started, along with Rodrigo Lefevre and Flávio Império, the collective known as Arquitetura Nova. After being arrested by the military dictatorship that took power in Brazil in 1964, he moved to France as an exile. As a painter and a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Grenoble, where he founded the Dessin/Chantier laboratory, he engaged in extensive research which resulted in several publications, exhibitions, and awards in Brazil and in France, including the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1992. Following his retirement from teaching, Ferro continues to research, write, and paint.
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  • Anthropic launches new Claude service for military and intelligence use

    Anthropic on Thursday announced Claude Gov, its product designed specifically for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. The AI models have looser guardrails for government use and are trained to better analyze classified information.The company said the models it’s announcing “are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security,” and that access to those models will be limited to government agencies handling classified information. The company did not confirm how long they had been in use.Claude Gov models are specifically designed to uniquely handle government needs, like threat assessment and intelligence analysis, per Anthropic’s blog post. And although the company said they “underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models,” the models have certain specifications for national security work. For example, they “refuse less when engaging with classified information” that’s fed into them, something consumer-facing Claude is trained to flag and avoid. Claude Gov’s models also have greater understanding of documents and context within defense and intelligence, according to Anthropic, and better proficiency in languages and dialects relevant to national security. Use of AI by government agencies has long been scrutinized because of its potential harms and ripple effects for minorities and vulnerable communities. There’s been a long list of wrongful arrests across multiple U.S. states due to police use of facial recognition, documented evidence of bias in predictive policing, and discrimination in government algorithms that assess welfare aid. For years, there’s also been an industry-wide controversy over large tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon allowing the military — particularly in Israel — to use their AI products, with campaigns and public protests under the No Tech for Apartheid movement.Anthropic’s usage policy specifically dictates that any user must “Not Create or Facilitate the Exchange of Illegal or Highly Regulated Weapons or Goods,” including using Anthropic’s products or services to “produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life.” At least eleven months ago, the company said it created a set of contractual exceptions to its usage policy that are “carefully calibrated to enable beneficial uses by carefully selected government agencies.” Certain restrictions — such as disinformation campaigns, the design or use of weapons, the construction of censorship systems, and malicious cyber operations — would remain prohibited. But Anthropic can decide to “tailor use restrictions to the mission and legal authorities of a government entity,” although it will aim to “balance enabling beneficial uses of our products and services with mitigating potential harms.” Claude Gov is Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT Gov, OpenAI’s product for U.S. government agencies, which it launched in January. It’s also part of a broader trend of AI giants and startups alike looking to bolster their businesses with government agencies, especially in an uncertain regulatory landscape.When OpenAI announced ChatGPT Gov, the company said that within the past year, more than 90,000 employees of federal, state, and local governments had used its technology to translate documents, generate summaries, draft policy memos, write code, build applications, and more. Anthropic declined to share numbers or use cases of the same sort, but the company is part of Palantir’s FedStart program, a SaaS offering for companies who want to deploy federal government-facing software. Scale AI, the AI giant that provides training data to industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, signed a deal with the Department of Defense in March for a first-of-its-kind AI agent program for U.S. military planning. And since then, it’s expanded its business to world governments, recently inking a five-year deal with Qatar to provide automation tools for civil service, healthcare, transportation, and more.See More:
    #anthropic #launches #new #claude #service
    Anthropic launches new Claude service for military and intelligence use
    Anthropic on Thursday announced Claude Gov, its product designed specifically for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. The AI models have looser guardrails for government use and are trained to better analyze classified information.The company said the models it’s announcing “are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security,” and that access to those models will be limited to government agencies handling classified information. The company did not confirm how long they had been in use.Claude Gov models are specifically designed to uniquely handle government needs, like threat assessment and intelligence analysis, per Anthropic’s blog post. And although the company said they “underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models,” the models have certain specifications for national security work. For example, they “refuse less when engaging with classified information” that’s fed into them, something consumer-facing Claude is trained to flag and avoid. Claude Gov’s models also have greater understanding of documents and context within defense and intelligence, according to Anthropic, and better proficiency in languages and dialects relevant to national security. Use of AI by government agencies has long been scrutinized because of its potential harms and ripple effects for minorities and vulnerable communities. There’s been a long list of wrongful arrests across multiple U.S. states due to police use of facial recognition, documented evidence of bias in predictive policing, and discrimination in government algorithms that assess welfare aid. For years, there’s also been an industry-wide controversy over large tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon allowing the military — particularly in Israel — to use their AI products, with campaigns and public protests under the No Tech for Apartheid movement.Anthropic’s usage policy specifically dictates that any user must “Not Create or Facilitate the Exchange of Illegal or Highly Regulated Weapons or Goods,” including using Anthropic’s products or services to “produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life.” At least eleven months ago, the company said it created a set of contractual exceptions to its usage policy that are “carefully calibrated to enable beneficial uses by carefully selected government agencies.” Certain restrictions — such as disinformation campaigns, the design or use of weapons, the construction of censorship systems, and malicious cyber operations — would remain prohibited. But Anthropic can decide to “tailor use restrictions to the mission and legal authorities of a government entity,” although it will aim to “balance enabling beneficial uses of our products and services with mitigating potential harms.” Claude Gov is Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT Gov, OpenAI’s product for U.S. government agencies, which it launched in January. It’s also part of a broader trend of AI giants and startups alike looking to bolster their businesses with government agencies, especially in an uncertain regulatory landscape.When OpenAI announced ChatGPT Gov, the company said that within the past year, more than 90,000 employees of federal, state, and local governments had used its technology to translate documents, generate summaries, draft policy memos, write code, build applications, and more. Anthropic declined to share numbers or use cases of the same sort, but the company is part of Palantir’s FedStart program, a SaaS offering for companies who want to deploy federal government-facing software. Scale AI, the AI giant that provides training data to industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, signed a deal with the Department of Defense in March for a first-of-its-kind AI agent program for U.S. military planning. And since then, it’s expanded its business to world governments, recently inking a five-year deal with Qatar to provide automation tools for civil service, healthcare, transportation, and more.See More: #anthropic #launches #new #claude #service
    WWW.THEVERGE.COM
    Anthropic launches new Claude service for military and intelligence use
    Anthropic on Thursday announced Claude Gov, its product designed specifically for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. The AI models have looser guardrails for government use and are trained to better analyze classified information.The company said the models it’s announcing “are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security,” and that access to those models will be limited to government agencies handling classified information. The company did not confirm how long they had been in use.Claude Gov models are specifically designed to uniquely handle government needs, like threat assessment and intelligence analysis, per Anthropic’s blog post. And although the company said they “underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models,” the models have certain specifications for national security work. For example, they “refuse less when engaging with classified information” that’s fed into them, something consumer-facing Claude is trained to flag and avoid. Claude Gov’s models also have greater understanding of documents and context within defense and intelligence, according to Anthropic, and better proficiency in languages and dialects relevant to national security. Use of AI by government agencies has long been scrutinized because of its potential harms and ripple effects for minorities and vulnerable communities. There’s been a long list of wrongful arrests across multiple U.S. states due to police use of facial recognition, documented evidence of bias in predictive policing, and discrimination in government algorithms that assess welfare aid. For years, there’s also been an industry-wide controversy over large tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon allowing the military — particularly in Israel — to use their AI products, with campaigns and public protests under the No Tech for Apartheid movement.Anthropic’s usage policy specifically dictates that any user must “Not Create or Facilitate the Exchange of Illegal or Highly Regulated Weapons or Goods,” including using Anthropic’s products or services to “produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life.” At least eleven months ago, the company said it created a set of contractual exceptions to its usage policy that are “carefully calibrated to enable beneficial uses by carefully selected government agencies.” Certain restrictions — such as disinformation campaigns, the design or use of weapons, the construction of censorship systems, and malicious cyber operations — would remain prohibited. But Anthropic can decide to “tailor use restrictions to the mission and legal authorities of a government entity,” although it will aim to “balance enabling beneficial uses of our products and services with mitigating potential harms.” Claude Gov is Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT Gov, OpenAI’s product for U.S. government agencies, which it launched in January. It’s also part of a broader trend of AI giants and startups alike looking to bolster their businesses with government agencies, especially in an uncertain regulatory landscape.When OpenAI announced ChatGPT Gov, the company said that within the past year, more than 90,000 employees of federal, state, and local governments had used its technology to translate documents, generate summaries, draft policy memos, write code, build applications, and more. Anthropic declined to share numbers or use cases of the same sort, but the company is part of Palantir’s FedStart program, a SaaS offering for companies who want to deploy federal government-facing software. Scale AI, the AI giant that provides training data to industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, signed a deal with the Department of Defense in March for a first-of-its-kind AI agent program for U.S. military planning. And since then, it’s expanded its business to world governments, recently inking a five-year deal with Qatar to provide automation tools for civil service, healthcare, transportation, and more.See More:
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  • Serpentes: 10th Anniversary Edition [10% Off] [$5.40] [Action] [Windows] [macOS] [Linux]


    "Brainmelting Snake"

    Serpentes is back
    An updated offering of blissful boomer arcade goodness is here! It's Snake, but every fruit has 5 effects assigned to it randomly. Eat the fruits to reveal their effects, then use them to your advantage... or die trying.
    Based on a hellishly addictive hidden gem made by Benjamin Soulé in 2015, this new Serpentes got a second serving of 11 fresh fruits to unlock, mix, and match with the old ones, featuring new mechanics, reworked old ones, and a new original soundtrack by Pentadrangle.
    Boomer Arcade at its crunchiest
    Select two bonuses to start your run, then score the best possible score in 60 seconds. Death is inevitable, but dying only means retrying the very next second, as the fruits' properties get reshuffled. As you reach higher scores and fill up the leaderboard, you'll unlock new bonuses to select at the start, and new fruits to mix into the game for new effects.
    Strategize on the fly
    The fruits have 5 rows of properties. The first row is simply score. The second one adds and removes lengths of tail. The third one adds enemies, obstacles, it makes your snake faster, and some other fun things. The fourth row makes your next fruit more valuable, or maybe you'll get a wider selection of fruits, or you'll get a way to destroy some of the enemies and obstacles. Finally the fifth row holds a variety of powerful bonuses and mini-games that play through the game of Snake.
    Complete a row on all the fruits to get 20 extra seconds on the timer. Quickly pick up 5 of a same fruit to unlock its fifth property. Try different priorities. Adapt your strategy to the effects you uncover. Or die and restart. After all, a run is just 1 minute.
    Pay to win
    The free demo for this game is essentially the same as the full game.
    However, the demo only lets you select one starting bonus, instead of two. This makes it considerably harder than the full game, though not impossible, and we believe it's representative enough to get an idea of whether this game is for you.
    Besides this, the demo mostly features the fruits from the original version, and only 2 of the 11 unlockable new ones.
    Controls
    This game plays entirely with the keyboard, or with a gamepad.Use directions to move your snake, and hold them to move faster. That's it.

    Praise for Serpentes
    "It captures the spirit of the original Snake perfectlyand then dials it up to eleven."
    — Derek Yu"Each variation of the Snake theme has generally been the same until Benjamin Soulé released 'Serpentes'."
    — Indie Retro News"I love the way it feels in my brain."
    — The Beauty of Games, by Frank Lantz

    This game was partially funded on Patreon by people like you!
    Our 3€-per-month Patreon subscription gives you our games as they come out, starting with the last game that came out when you subscribe. At this time, that means this game!
    If you have the means, subscribing for 5€ per month makes your name appear in the credits of the games that come out while you are subscribed, and gives you the OST of the games on Bandcamp. For 10€ per month, you also get access to a Discord channel where we frequently post news, articles and other resources we find interesting or helpful.
    The games are given out as Itch keys and Steam keys to be redeemed on our website. The games initially release on Itch, and then come to Steam a bit later. When the game releases on a platform, the corresponding key appears. You can cancel your subscription at anytime and it won't revoke your game keys.

    This game is currently an Itch exclusive. But it will come out on Steam eventually. If you feel so inclined, wishlisting Serpentes there would be very helpful to us!
    Buying the game here on Itch, or getting it through our Patreon subscription, will get you a Steam key when it releases there.

    Discord
    If you'd like you can come to our Discord to share your best scores and compare strategies!
    It's also a great place to talk with us and get news for this and our next projects!

    Are you press or a content creator?
    If you're a streamer, youtuber, or press and you'd like to cover the game, you can request a press key using this form! We've also uploaded a few assets you might find useful, including screenshots and thumbnail material! Find them here!


    About PUNKCAKE
    As PUNKCAKE Délicieux we make a new game every month, which you can get by subscribing to our Patreon for 3€/month or buy separately on Itch io for 6$!
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    Changelog:
    Quickpatch 1.0b:

    Fixed the Lychee unlock.
    Fixed a crash when trying to delete highscores.
    More informationPurchaseGet this game and 23 more for USDSerpentes Release Sale! View bundleBuy NowUSD or moreIn order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the
    minimum price of USD. You will get access to the following files:Download demo
    #serpentes #10th #anniversary #edition #off
    Serpentes: 10th Anniversary Edition 🐍 [10% Off] [$5.40] [Action] [Windows] [macOS] [Linux]
    🍉🍋🐍🍇🍎 "Brainmelting Snake" Serpentes is back An updated offering of blissful boomer arcade goodness is here! It's Snake, but every fruit has 5 effects assigned to it randomly. Eat the fruits to reveal their effects, then use them to your advantage... or die trying. Based on a hellishly addictive hidden gem made by Benjamin Soulé in 2015, this new Serpentes got a second serving of 11 fresh fruits to unlock, mix, and match with the old ones, featuring new mechanics, reworked old ones, and a new original soundtrack by Pentadrangle. Boomer Arcade at its crunchiest Select two bonuses to start your run, then score the best possible score in 60 seconds. Death is inevitable, but dying only means retrying the very next second, as the fruits' properties get reshuffled. As you reach higher scores and fill up the leaderboard, you'll unlock new bonuses to select at the start, and new fruits to mix into the game for new effects. Strategize on the fly The fruits have 5 rows of properties. The first row is simply score. The second one adds and removes lengths of tail. The third one adds enemies, obstacles, it makes your snake faster, and some other fun things. The fourth row makes your next fruit more valuable, or maybe you'll get a wider selection of fruits, or you'll get a way to destroy some of the enemies and obstacles. Finally the fifth row holds a variety of powerful bonuses and mini-games that play through the game of Snake. Complete a row on all the fruits to get 20 extra seconds on the timer. Quickly pick up 5 of a same fruit to unlock its fifth property. Try different priorities. Adapt your strategy to the effects you uncover. Or die and restart. After all, a run is just 1 minute. Pay to win The free demo for this game is essentially the same as the full game. However, the demo only lets you select one starting bonus, instead of two. This makes it considerably harder than the full game, though not impossible, and we believe it's representative enough to get an idea of whether this game is for you. Besides this, the demo mostly features the fruits from the original version, and only 2 of the 11 unlockable new ones. Controls This game plays entirely with the keyboard, or with a gamepad.Use directions to move your snake, and hold them to move faster. That's it. 🍌🍑🐍🍒🥑 Praise for Serpentes "It captures the spirit of the original Snake perfectlyand then dials it up to eleven." — Derek Yu"Each variation of the Snake theme has generally been the same until Benjamin Soulé released 'Serpentes'." — Indie Retro News"I love the way it feels in my brain." — The Beauty of Games, by Frank Lantz🍋🍊🐍🥝🍍 This game was partially funded on Patreon by people like you! Our 3€-per-month Patreon subscription gives you our games as they come out, starting with the last game that came out when you subscribe. At this time, that means this game! If you have the means, subscribing for 5€ per month makes your name appear in the credits of the games that come out while you are subscribed, and gives you the OST of the games on Bandcamp. For 10€ per month, you also get access to a Discord channel where we frequently post news, articles and other resources we find interesting or helpful. The games are given out as Itch keys and Steam keys to be redeemed on our website. The games initially release on Itch, and then come to Steam a bit later. When the game releases on a platform, the corresponding key appears. You can cancel your subscription at anytime and it won't revoke your game keys. This game is currently an Itch exclusive. But it will come out on Steam eventually. If you feel so inclined, wishlisting Serpentes there would be very helpful to us! Buying the game here on Itch, or getting it through our Patreon subscription, will get you a Steam key when it releases there. 🍋🍑🐍🥑🍉 Discord If you'd like you can come to our Discord to share your best scores and compare strategies! It's also a great place to talk with us and get news for this and our next projects! 🍎🍍🐍🍊🍓 Are you press or a content creator? If you're a streamer, youtuber, or press and you'd like to cover the game, you can request a press key using this form! We've also uploaded a few assets you might find useful, including screenshots and thumbnail material! Find them here! 🍌🍒🐍🍓🥝 About PUNKCAKE As PUNKCAKE Délicieux we make a new game every month, which you can get by subscribing to our Patreon for 3€/month or buy separately on Itch io for 6$! Subscribe to our newsletter! Join our Discord! Follow our Bluesky! Subscribe to our Youtube! 🍇🍋🐍🍍🍊 Changelog: Quickpatch 1.0b: Fixed the Lychee unlock. Fixed a crash when trying to delete highscores. More informationPurchaseGet this game and 23 more for USDSerpentes Release Sale! 🐍🍒View bundleBuy NowUSD or moreIn order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of USD. You will get access to the following files:Download demo #serpentes #10th #anniversary #edition #off
    PUNKCAKE.ITCH.IO
    Serpentes: 10th Anniversary Edition 🐍 [10% Off] [$5.40] [Action] [Windows] [macOS] [Linux]
    🍉🍋🐍🍇🍎 "Brainmelting Snake" Serpentes is back An updated offering of blissful boomer arcade goodness is here! It's Snake, but every fruit has 5 effects assigned to it randomly. Eat the fruits to reveal their effects, then use them to your advantage... or die trying. Based on a hellishly addictive hidden gem made by Benjamin Soulé in 2015, this new Serpentes got a second serving of 11 fresh fruits to unlock, mix, and match with the old ones, featuring new mechanics, reworked old ones, and a new original soundtrack by Pentadrangle. Boomer Arcade at its crunchiest Select two bonuses to start your run, then score the best possible score in 60 seconds. Death is inevitable, but dying only means retrying the very next second, as the fruits' properties get reshuffled. As you reach higher scores and fill up the leaderboard, you'll unlock new bonuses to select at the start, and new fruits to mix into the game for new effects. Strategize on the fly The fruits have 5 rows of properties. The first row is simply score. The second one adds and removes lengths of tail. The third one adds enemies, obstacles, it makes your snake faster, and some other fun things. The fourth row makes your next fruit more valuable, or maybe you'll get a wider selection of fruits, or you'll get a way to destroy some of the enemies and obstacles. Finally the fifth row holds a variety of powerful bonuses and mini-games that play through the game of Snake. Complete a row on all the fruits to get 20 extra seconds on the timer. Quickly pick up 5 of a same fruit to unlock its fifth property. Try different priorities. Adapt your strategy to the effects you uncover. Or die and restart. After all, a run is just 1 minute. Pay to win The free demo for this game is essentially the same as the full game. However, the demo only lets you select one starting bonus, instead of two. This makes it considerably harder than the full game, though not impossible, and we believe it's representative enough to get an idea of whether this game is for you. Besides this, the demo mostly features the fruits from the original version, and only 2 of the 11 unlockable new ones. Controls This game plays entirely with the keyboard, or with a gamepad. (keyboard still required to input your name at least once for the leaderboard) Use directions to move your snake, and hold them to move faster. That's it. 🍌🍑🐍🍒🥑 Praise for Serpentes "It captures the spirit of the original Snake perfectly [...] and then dials it up to eleven." — Derek Yu"Each variation of the Snake theme has generally been the same until Benjamin Soulé released 'Serpentes'." — Indie Retro News"[about Serpentes] I love the way it feels in my brain." — The Beauty of Games, by Frank Lantz🍋🍊🐍🥝🍍 This game was partially funded on Patreon by people like you! Our 3€-per-month Patreon subscription gives you our games as they come out, starting with the last game that came out when you subscribe. At this time, that means this game! If you have the means, subscribing for 5€ per month makes your name appear in the credits of the games that come out while you are subscribed, and gives you the OST of the games on Bandcamp. For 10€ per month, you also get access to a Discord channel where we frequently post news, articles and other resources we find interesting or helpful. The games are given out as Itch keys and Steam keys to be redeemed on our website. The games initially release on Itch, and then come to Steam a bit later. When the game releases on a platform, the corresponding key appears. You can cancel your subscription at anytime and it won't revoke your game keys. This game is currently an Itch exclusive. But it will come out on Steam eventually. If you feel so inclined, wishlisting Serpentes there would be very helpful to us! Buying the game here on Itch, or getting it through our Patreon subscription, will get you a Steam key when it releases there. 🍋🍑🐍🥑🍉 Discord If you'd like you can come to our Discord to share your best scores and compare strategies! It's also a great place to talk with us and get news for this and our next projects! 🍎🍍🐍🍊🍓 Are you press or a content creator? If you're a streamer, youtuber, or press and you'd like to cover the game, you can request a press key using this form! We've also uploaded a few assets you might find useful, including screenshots and thumbnail material! Find them here! 🍌🍒🐍🍓🥝 About PUNKCAKE As PUNKCAKE Délicieux we make a new game every month, which you can get by subscribing to our Patreon for 3€/month or buy separately on Itch io for 6$! Subscribe to our newsletter! Join our Discord! Follow our Bluesky! Subscribe to our Youtube! 🍇🍋🐍🍍🍊 Changelog: Quickpatch 1.0b: Fixed the Lychee unlock. Fixed a crash when trying to delete highscores. More informationPurchaseGet this game and 23 more for $66.00 USDSerpentes Release Sale! 🐍🍒View bundleBuy Now$6.00 $5.40 USD or moreIn order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5.40 USD. You will get access to the following files:Download demo
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  • أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! ElevenLabs

    أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! ElevenLabs
    #أفضل #أداة #لتحويل #النصوص #إلى
    أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! 🎙️🔥 ElevenLabs
    أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! 🎙️🔥 ElevenLabs #أفضل #أداة #لتحويل #النصوص #إلى
    WWW.YOUTUBE.COM
    أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! 🎙️🔥 ElevenLabs
    أفضل أداة لتحويل النصوص إلى صوت طبيعي باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي! 🎙️🔥 ElevenLabs
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  • The 2025 São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will be held from September 18 to October 19

    html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" ";
    The São Paulo International Architecture Biennale is one of the most important venues for the promotion and discussion of Brazilian architectural culture. Its history begins in 1951, when it was part of the São Paulo Art Biennale as the International Architecture Exhibition. There were eleven editions between 1951 and 1971. Under 1973, the first BIAsp under the current format was conducted. Over two million individuals are thought to have attended the 13 biennales since then; certain editions, such as the 12th, had over 300,000 guests.This year, the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will take place from September 18 to October 19, 2025, at the Oca Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, an iconic building designed by Oscar Niemeyer.The curatorial proposal is "Extremes: Architectures for an Overheated Planet", emphasizing the problem of climate extremes. The point of no return challenges us to reconsider how we live on Earth, looking for solutions not just in production studies and scientific discoveries but also in the knowledge of Indigenous villages, quilombos, and urban peripheries. By offering tangible solutions to global warming and methods for adjusting to the extreme occurrences we are already seeing, the Biennale will act as a meeting place for various knowledge systems.The 14th BIAsp's curators have identified five thematic axes that will direct the event's talks, ideas, and proposals, drawing inspiration from the IPCC'sfindings, especially the AR6 report:–Preserving Forests and Reforesting Cities–Embracing Water–Refurbishing More and Building Green–Moving and Reaching Places Together with Renewable Energies–Ensuring Climate Justice and Social HousingSix architects—Renato Anelli, Karina de Souza, Marcos Cereto, Clevio Rabelo, Marcella Arruda, and Jerá Guarani—are part of the collective curatorship for the 14th BIAsp this year. Through their professional activities, they represent many regional contexts throughout Brazil.The top image in the article courtesy of São Paulo International Architecture Biennale.> via São Paulo International Architecture Biennale
    #são #paulo #international #architecture #biennale
    The 2025 São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will be held from September 18 to October 19
    html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "; The São Paulo International Architecture Biennale is one of the most important venues for the promotion and discussion of Brazilian architectural culture. Its history begins in 1951, when it was part of the São Paulo Art Biennale as the International Architecture Exhibition. There were eleven editions between 1951 and 1971. Under 1973, the first BIAsp under the current format was conducted. Over two million individuals are thought to have attended the 13 biennales since then; certain editions, such as the 12th, had over 300,000 guests.This year, the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will take place from September 18 to October 19, 2025, at the Oca Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, an iconic building designed by Oscar Niemeyer.The curatorial proposal is "Extremes: Architectures for an Overheated Planet", emphasizing the problem of climate extremes. The point of no return challenges us to reconsider how we live on Earth, looking for solutions not just in production studies and scientific discoveries but also in the knowledge of Indigenous villages, quilombos, and urban peripheries. By offering tangible solutions to global warming and methods for adjusting to the extreme occurrences we are already seeing, the Biennale will act as a meeting place for various knowledge systems.The 14th BIAsp's curators have identified five thematic axes that will direct the event's talks, ideas, and proposals, drawing inspiration from the IPCC'sfindings, especially the AR6 report:–Preserving Forests and Reforesting Cities–Embracing Water–Refurbishing More and Building Green–Moving and Reaching Places Together with Renewable Energies–Ensuring Climate Justice and Social HousingSix architects—Renato Anelli, Karina de Souza, Marcos Cereto, Clevio Rabelo, Marcella Arruda, and Jerá Guarani—are part of the collective curatorship for the 14th BIAsp this year. Through their professional activities, they represent many regional contexts throughout Brazil.The top image in the article courtesy of São Paulo International Architecture Biennale.> via São Paulo International Architecture Biennale #são #paulo #international #architecture #biennale
    WORLDARCHITECTURE.ORG
    The 2025 São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will be held from September 18 to October 19
    html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" The São Paulo International Architecture Biennale is one of the most important venues for the promotion and discussion of Brazilian architectural culture. Its history begins in 1951, when it was part of the São Paulo Art Biennale as the International Architecture Exhibition. There were eleven editions between 1951 and 1971. Under 1973, the first BIAsp under the current format was conducted. Over two million individuals are thought to have attended the 13 biennales since then; certain editions, such as the 12th, had over 300,000 guests.This year, the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale will take place from September 18 to October 19, 2025, at the Oca Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, an iconic building designed by Oscar Niemeyer.The curatorial proposal is "Extremes: Architectures for an Overheated Planet", emphasizing the problem of climate extremes. The point of no return challenges us to reconsider how we live on Earth, looking for solutions not just in production studies and scientific discoveries but also in the knowledge of Indigenous villages, quilombos (traditional communities of enslaved people who have escaped), and urban peripheries. By offering tangible solutions to global warming and methods for adjusting to the extreme occurrences we are already seeing, the Biennale will act as a meeting place for various knowledge systems.The 14th BIAsp's curators have identified five thematic axes that will direct the event's talks, ideas, and proposals, drawing inspiration from the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) findings, especially the AR6 report:–Preserving Forests and Reforesting Cities–Embracing Water–Refurbishing More and Building Green–Moving and Reaching Places Together with Renewable Energies–Ensuring Climate Justice and Social HousingSix architects—Renato Anelli, Karina de Souza, Marcos Cereto, Clevio Rabelo, Marcella Arruda, and Jerá Guarani—are part of the collective curatorship for the 14th BIAsp this year. Through their professional activities, they represent many regional contexts throughout Brazil.The top image in the article courtesy of São Paulo International Architecture Biennale.> via São Paulo International Architecture Biennale
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