Laguiole Knives

LaguioleLaguiole Knives

Cyrano de Bergerac

In 2014 I spent some time in the Dordogne region of France and there – I presume it was in Bergerac, the city of Cyrano the Bergerac – I found this shop window full of Laguiole knives

The Laguiole Knife (French pronunciation: ​[laɡjɔl], locally [lajɔl]) is a high-quality traditional Occitan pocket-knife, originally produced in the “knife-city” of Thiers where 70% of the French cutting tool production comes from, and in the small village of Laguiole, both located in the Massif central region of France. “Laguiole” is neither a trademark nor a company name. Rather, the name “laguiole” became associated with a specific shape of a traditional knife common to this area.

via Wikipedia Laguiole Knife

Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian and duelist.

A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the seventeenth century. Today he is best known as the inspiration for Edmond Rostand’s most noted drama Cyrano de Bergerac which, although it includes elements of his life, also contains invention and myth.

Since the 1970s, there has been a resurgence in the study of Cyrano, demonstrated in the abundance of theses, essays, articles and biographies published in France and elsewhere in recent decades.

via Wikipedia Cyrano de Bergerac

Paris National Library

Paris, France.

On 14 July 1988, President François Mitterrand announced the construction and the expansion of one of the largest and most modern libraries in the world, intended to cover all fields of knowledge, and designed to be accessible to all, using the most modern data transfer technologies, which could be consulted from a distance, and which would collaborate with other European libraries. Book and media logistics inside the whole library was planned with an automated 6.6 km Telelift system. Only with this high level of automation, the library can comply with all demands fully in time. Due to initial trade unions opposition, a wireless network was fully installed only in August 2016.

In July 1989, the services of the architectural firm of Dominique Perrault (www.perraultarchitecture.com/en/homepage) were retained. The design was recognized with the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 1996. The construction was carried out by Bouygues. Construction of the library ran into huge cost overruns and technical difficulties related to its high-rise design, so much so that it was referred to as the “TGB” or “Très Grande Bibliothèque” (i.e. “Very Large Library,” a sarcastic allusion to France’s successful high-speed rail system, the TGV). After the move of the major collections from the rue de Richelieu, the National Library of France was inaugurated on 15 December 1996. As of 2016, the BnF contains roughly 14 million books on its 4 parisian sites (Tolbiac, Richelieu, Arsenal, Opéra) as well as printed documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps and plans, scores, coins, medals, sound documents, video and multimedia documents, scenery elements…” The library retains the use of the rue de Richelieu complex for some of its collections.

Source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que_nationale_de_France

Gehry in Paris

We Don’t Need No Photoshop

Recently I’ve mastered some simple tricks in Photoshop. Hoever I’ve visited the Louis Vuiton Museum in the Bois du Boulogne on a day and moment the wheather was purrrfect for photographers. Took many shots and didn’t need any (or hardly any) editing. Hence the Pink Floyd reference…..

Two nice photo’s unshopped of the building designed by Frank Gehry ….

Louis Vuiton Foundation by Frank Gehry

Louis Vuiton Foundation Paris by Frank Gehry

SS Oceanic – Dutch Design (66)

SS Oceanic

SS Oceanic

Becoming a member of PicFair inspires me to go through old photo’s to see if they are still of any interest.

At wikipedia I found out the ship was built in Italy in 1965

But at SS Maritime I found out something really interesting: It seems the design was of Dutch origin..by a designer of Maatschappij de Schelde. A huge yard at Vlissingen.

Question – “Who Really Designed The Oceanic”?

By William Vandersteel – Alpine, NJ – USA

Little known history behind the identity of the original designers of the SS Oceanic, steadfastly denied by the Italian shipbuilder and the CEO of Home Lines, is the true story of how it came into being. It goes back to a meeting between Aristotle Onassis, John W. Hupkus, Managing Director of the Dutch shipyard, Kon. Mij de Schelde and the writer, William Vandersteel, USA representative for de Schelde. The meeting took place in Monaco in 1957.

Ari Onassis had asked for the meeting to discuss his proposal for the De Schelde Shipyard to develop a design for two ships, specifically designed as cruise ships, and with trans Atlantic capability, to operate in the Mediterranean during the winter and the Caribbean during the summer. Onassis and Hupkes were friends and, except for specifying cruise speed and passenger capacity, Onassis left all design details to de Schelde.

In 1953, de Schelde had completed the Kungsholm II for the Swedish American Line and, during the maiden voyage to New York, which I attended, I mentioned to Hupkes that the new Kungsholm was a nice design in the traditional sense and observed that I could suggest some “improvements” to bring the design and styling into the modern age. After discussing my ideas, Hupkes was intrigued and suggested I meet with his naval architect during my next visit to Holland. In 1955, I met with de Schelde’s naval architect, Mr. Pieterse to discuss my ideas. Pieterse was a young chap and, initially, less than enthusiastic with my ideas. Unfortunately, he died prematurely from cancer at age 36, shortly after completing the design for the Onassis cruise ships.

As for my background, I am an aeronautical engineer with a lot of experience as a youngster, sailing all over the globe with my family, giving me an abiding interest in ships. I also gained some styling design experience with my first job, after graduating from MIT, with the General Motors Styling Section for car design. The job lasted only 8 months when World War II broke out and I volunteered to join the US Army Air Corps to be trained as a fighter test pilot.

De Schelde’s Naval Architect, Mr. Pieterse and I sat down in 1955 to discuss my ideas, briefly outlined as follows;

Change the conventional curved sheer line to a straight line, parallel with the water line. Eliminate camber to make flat decks, like floors in any building ashore. Neither sheer nor camber serve any purpose on a large ship, or any ship for that matter, and they only add to cost. At first, Pieterse was horrified at the thought of a ship without a graceful sheer line as he had designed for the Kungsholm. Pieterse tried to defend camber on structural ground but eventually conceded that the same structural integrity could be achieved without camber. To achieve proper styling, all decks must be flat and parallel with the waterline.

Next, I insisted that all promenade decks be fully glass enclosed. I knew from experience that the first thing an experienced ocean traveller does after boarding, is to run for the deck steward and reserve a deck chair on the limited space of the fantail (stern), the only place where you don’t get blown away. Also, I insisted that the only promenade deck be at the very top level, also fully glassed in, with an unobstructed view of the ocean.

I also insisted that the lifeboats be stowed on a lower deck and not on the top deck so they would not detract from ship’s styling. My attempt to substitute life rafts for life boats was apparently not allowed by Lloyds’ rules, though they are obviously a safer and better solution. Naval ships only use life rafts even in the face of much larger risk.

Then, as a main feature of the ship, I envisaged an open space near the ship’s center, with a transparent sliding roof and a swimming pool as the central attraction. The beam sides to be fully glassed in with all seating (deck chairs) facing inwards, overlooking the swimming pool. The presumption is that passengers would rather stare at Bikinis than look at the ocean which they can see from their cabins or top deck. The sliding roof would close during inclement weather. I named this the Lido deck though I do not know if this name was original at that time.

After Pieterse completed the design, he had become an enthusiastic supporter of the new configuration and conceded that eliminating sheer and amber might reduce the total construction cost by as much as 10%. I was given a ten page copy of the completed design and I was satisfied that Pieterse had faithfully followed all my suggestions.

De Schelde’s proposal and drawings were presented by John Hupkes to Ari Onassis in a Paris meeting sometime late 1955. I was not present and do not know what transpired. Hupkes did indicate to me that Onassis was not ready to proceed with his plans. Though I have no first hand knowledge, I surmise that Onassis conveyed the drawings to his friend Eugen Eugenides, owner of the Home Lines. The Home Lines eventually contracted with the Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Reuniti del Adriatico of Monfalcone, Italy to build the Oceanic and it was delivered in 1963.

The significant fact is that every cruise liner, without exception as far as I know, built since the completion of the Oceanic has followed every feature and configuration which led to the Oceanic’s original design. That neither the Italian builder or the Home Lines, as far as I know, has ever claimed credit for introducing a wholly new design concept for cruise ships, probably stems from their concern that such a claim could lead to the revelation that the original design was made by Mr. Pieterse, Naval Architect for the Kon. Mij. De Schelde of Vlissingen, Holland.

William Vandersteel.

A bit of old skool piracy huh?

SS_Oceanic_in_Helsinki

After cruising for Pullmantur Cruises the Oceanic was chartered or owned by Peace Boat for a couple of years.

2000—2009: Career with Pullmantur Cruises

On 30 December 2000, the Big Red Boat I was acquired by the newly founded, Spain-based Pullmantur Cruises. She reverted to the name Oceanic and sailed to Cadiz, Spain for refurbishment. Following completion of her refurbishment, the ship entered service on cruises from Barcelona in May 2001. During her career with Pullmantur, Oceanic was gradually rebuilt by removing flammable materials so that the ship would be better in keeping with the new SOLAS regulations coming into effect in 2010.

Oceanic was reportedly due to be withdrawn from service with Pullmantur in September 2009. In March 2009, the ship was sold to the Japan-based Peace Boat, with delivery date already in April 2009.

2009 onwards: Career with Peace Boat

Oceanic entered service with Peace Boat on 23 April 2009, departing Yokohama on an around-the-world cruise that was due to conclude in Yokohama on 6 August 2009. Oceanic ’​s circumnavigation was Peace Boat’s 66th “Global Voyage for Peace”, and the first to feature extensive visits to various ports in Scandinavia, with a goal of learning about the northern European welfare and education systems.

Sometime during the week between 3 and 9 May 2010, the Oceanic came under attack by pirates while off the coast of Yemen. The ship was attacked by grenades, but managed to avoid being boarded by adopting zig-zag manoeuvres and blasting the pirates with high-pressure water hoses. Reportedly the pirates were subsequently apprehended by NATO forces.

Thereafter it seems having been scrapped in China in 2012.