Like Venice, Genoa was an independent city-state made wealthy due to their participation in the Crusades and Venice's main commercial rival culminating into several major wars between the two.
The image isn't clear but see it here.
Because Italy is more than a geographic expression..
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Genoa: The Forgotten Merchant Power
Like Venice, Genoa was an independent city-state made wealthy due to their participation in the Crusades and Venice's main commercial rival culminating into several major wars between the two.
The image isn't clear but see it here.
Italic Face Of Industrial Hydraulic Pumps
Link to Marzocchi (currently owned by American company Tenneco) Canada.
It Stops With Brembo
It is the supplier for all MotoGP teams as well as Ferrari in Formula One.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW (to whom they have produced ceramic brakes for) are some of the world's great automobile companies that use Brembo brakes.
See site here.
Time To Shop For A Motorcyle Soon; Italian Bike Firms
It's been a long, long time waiting for me (16 years) but I've finally found the time to go and get my motorcycle license. Now begins my long journey into the world of motorcycle shopping. My "style" certainly leans Italian but it may be a little difficult finding and paying for one. The United States produces some interesting brands I'm pulled to. Japanese bikes are wicked (especially when it comes to price to value) but if I'm going to buy bike may as well be marks I've always liked growing up and those were usually Italian-British-American.
That being said, a couple of interesting articles from motorcycle.com:
Piaggio opened a design center in Pasadena, California in 2012.
"Piaggio announced it is opening a new design center in Pasadena, Calif., to be headed by Aprilia RSV4 designer Miguel Galluzzi.
Roberto Colaninno, chairman and chief executive officer of the Piaggio Group, announced plans for the new Advanced Design Center
at a dealer convention for the Piaggio Group Americas in Miami, Fla. At
the moment, North American customers usually have to wait a little
longer before they receive new Piaggio models, with most models arriving
on these shores months after they are available in Europe. Hopefully,
the new design center will help new models arrive sooner.
The new design center will work closely with Piaggio’s main style center as well as research and development centers in Italy, China, India and Vietnam. This network forms part of what Piaggio calls an “intelligence globalization” policy."
Meanwhile, Moto Guzzi (a highly influential motorcycle manufacturer) celebrated 90 years in 2011. It's entering its 93rd year. (Pic above).
- Along my internet browsing I came across Fantic Motors. Check them out here.
Ghezzi and Brian is a fairly new engineering firm established in 1995 with its own line of unique bikes.
That being said, a couple of interesting articles from motorcycle.com:
Piaggio opened a design center in Pasadena, California in 2012.
"Piaggio announced it is opening a new design center in Pasadena, Calif., to be headed by Aprilia RSV4 designer Miguel Galluzzi.
Roberto Colaninno, chairman and chief executive officer of the Piaggio Group, announced plans for the new Advanced Design Center
at a dealer convention for the Piaggio Group Americas in Miami, Fla. At
the moment, North American customers usually have to wait a little
longer before they receive new Piaggio models, with most models arriving
on these shores months after they are available in Europe. Hopefully,
the new design center will help new models arrive sooner.The new design center will work closely with Piaggio’s main style center as well as research and development centers in Italy, China, India and Vietnam. This network forms part of what Piaggio calls an “intelligence globalization” policy."
Meanwhile, Moto Guzzi (a highly influential motorcycle manufacturer) celebrated 90 years in 2011. It's entering its 93rd year. (Pic above).
- Along my internet browsing I came across Fantic Motors. Check them out here.
Ghezzi and Brian is a fairly new engineering firm established in 1995 with its own line of unique bikes.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
The Long, Deep Roots Of Italian Inventiveness
Of course, Italy's manufacturing and industrial know-how has roots found throughout its history dating as far back, of course, as Ancient Rome and later places like Bologna, Florence, and Venice in the Middle-Ages and after that in cities like Milan, Genoa and Turin (in the powerhouse regions of Lombardia, Liguria and Piemonte) in the 20th century.
You can see a nice industrial breakdown of Italian cities here.
The engineering feats of Rome are well-known and documented (Aqueducts, roads, bath houses etc.) as are many of modern Italy's structures. Florence's Ponte Vecchio (technically Medieval) for example was Europe's first stone segmental arch bridge and made legendary for being the only (of many unique ones) bridge to survive World War II. Florence is also where spectacles were invented and the technique of 'silk throwing' was mastered, while watermarks first made their appearance in Bologna. Pisa is where Fibonacci - Europe's greatest medieval mathematician - spread Arabic and Hindu numerals to Europe. In medicine, the idea of "quarantine" to protect against the Black Death was first introduced in Ragusa and Venice. The latter being a city that built an empire thanks to its genius in building a maritime empire through its shipbuilding abilities.
Hour glasses first appeared (or at least recorded) in Siena (a picturesque artistic town not too far from Florence in Tuscany). The polymath, physician and engineer Guido da Vigevano - who consulted King Philip IV of France on military concerns and was Emperor Henry VII and the Queen of France's personal physician - invented war machines (such as attack boats) for the Crusades.
More from link:
"In this precious manuscript it is possible to find drawings of many machines such as attack boats, pontoon bridges, and also two self-propelled battle wagons, one crank-driven and the other powered by a very sophisticated windmill on the back a wooden carriage. This last one is considered to be the prototype of the first autovehicle in history; the word "automobilis," meaning "self" and "moving," was created in the 14th century by the Italian engineer Martini, who invented but never built a crankshaft-driven, four-wheeled vehicle. King Philip never left for the Holy Land, however, and Guido's wonderful machinery was therefore never tested."
da Vigevano, in this way, preceded the great artist-engineers like Brunlleschi and Da Vinci.
Given Italian eminence in science, technology, philosophy, art and other areas in Europe, it's not surprising the first University was founded in Bologna.
You can see a nice industrial breakdown of Italian cities here.
The engineering feats of Rome are well-known and documented (Aqueducts, roads, bath houses etc.) as are many of modern Italy's structures. Florence's Ponte Vecchio (technically Medieval) for example was Europe's first stone segmental arch bridge and made legendary for being the only (of many unique ones) bridge to survive World War II. Florence is also where spectacles were invented and the technique of 'silk throwing' was mastered, while watermarks first made their appearance in Bologna. Pisa is where Fibonacci - Europe's greatest medieval mathematician - spread Arabic and Hindu numerals to Europe. In medicine, the idea of "quarantine" to protect against the Black Death was first introduced in Ragusa and Venice. The latter being a city that built an empire thanks to its genius in building a maritime empire through its shipbuilding abilities.
Hour glasses first appeared (or at least recorded) in Siena (a picturesque artistic town not too far from Florence in Tuscany). The polymath, physician and engineer Guido da Vigevano - who consulted King Philip IV of France on military concerns and was Emperor Henry VII and the Queen of France's personal physician - invented war machines (such as attack boats) for the Crusades.
More from link:
"In this precious manuscript it is possible to find drawings of many machines such as attack boats, pontoon bridges, and also two self-propelled battle wagons, one crank-driven and the other powered by a very sophisticated windmill on the back a wooden carriage. This last one is considered to be the prototype of the first autovehicle in history; the word "automobilis," meaning "self" and "moving," was created in the 14th century by the Italian engineer Martini, who invented but never built a crankshaft-driven, four-wheeled vehicle. King Philip never left for the Holy Land, however, and Guido's wonderful machinery was therefore never tested."
da Vigevano, in this way, preceded the great artist-engineers like Brunlleschi and Da Vinci.
Given Italian eminence in science, technology, philosophy, art and other areas in Europe, it's not surprising the first University was founded in Bologna.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Spotlight On Italian Cycling Blog
Buon anno a tutti!
Let's kick things off with a blog about cycling with Italian Cycling Journal.
I found this blog snooping around looking at bike frames and landed on these neat clips of Columbus.
Let's kick things off with a blog about cycling with Italian Cycling Journal.
I found this blog snooping around looking at bike frames and landed on these neat clips of Columbus.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Bike Saddles: Made In Italy
My bicycle came with a Selle Italia saddle.
Fizik is another quality Italian saddle manufacturer.
In choosing a saddle, like most anything else, it really comes down to personal preference.
Fizik is another quality Italian saddle manufacturer.
In choosing a saddle, like most anything else, it really comes down to personal preference.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Facts About Italy
62 facts about Italy.
Interesting, if not insufficient given Italy's diabolically long and deep history. Something tells me you can add a '0' to that figure and it still won't scratch the surface.
Although not sure why the fact the University of Bologna was the world's first university wasn't mentioned in #13: "The University of Rome is one of the world’s oldest universities and was founded by the Catholic Church in A.D. 1303. Often called La Sapienza (“knowledge”), the University of Rome is also Europe’s largest university with 150,000 students.'
It's not the first time I hear #6 in some form or another:
Interesting, if not insufficient given Italy's diabolically long and deep history. Something tells me you can add a '0' to that figure and it still won't scratch the surface.
Although not sure why the fact the University of Bologna was the world's first university wasn't mentioned in #13: "The University of Rome is one of the world’s oldest universities and was founded by the Catholic Church in A.D. 1303. Often called La Sapienza (“knowledge”), the University of Rome is also Europe’s largest university with 150,000 students.'
It's not the first time I hear #6 in some form or another:
" Italy is said to have more masterpieces per square mile than any other country in the world."The other thing said is "it's estimated 40% of the world's and 60% of Europe's artistic treasures reside within its borders."
Saturday, December 14, 2013
10 Years On - Sanelli Knives Still In My Kitchen
For the price to value, I would consider them excellent. Mario Batali I believe uses Sanelli sometimes.
Now I'm looking at getting ceramic knives.
Sanelli operates in the municipality of Premana in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Italy's Rich Motorcycle Legacy On Display
SFO Museum (from youtube):
"The Italian propensity for artistic design, historically demonstrated in a wide range of manufactured goods, has perhaps never been better exemplified than in the beautiful motorcycles that graced Italy's racetracks and roadways in the 1950s and 1960s. Over the course of two decades, an unprecedented number of Italian firms, many of them lost to history, produced a dizzying array of small-sized motorcycles for a country with a desperate need for mobility after World War II. These machines were created at a time of impoverished resources, but were consistent with a characteristically Italian insistence on producing, and demanding, objects of extraordinary design and beauty. Nineteen motorcycles, ranging from singularly produced racers such as Carlo Ubbiali's 1951 Mondial 125cc Bialbero Grand Prix to 50cc production bikes from the late 1960s, demonstrate that while necessity breeds invention, the results can be truly stunning.
Moto Bellissima: Italian Motorcycles from the 1950s and 1960s is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby, San Francisco International Airport. The exhibition is on view to all Airport visitors from November 5, 2011 to April 28, 2012. There is no charge to view the exhibition."
My Lord these bikes are beautiful.
Is there a greater country with as deep a design history as Italy?
The only nations that come to mind are USA or Japan.
"The Italian propensity for artistic design, historically demonstrated in a wide range of manufactured goods, has perhaps never been better exemplified than in the beautiful motorcycles that graced Italy's racetracks and roadways in the 1950s and 1960s. Over the course of two decades, an unprecedented number of Italian firms, many of them lost to history, produced a dizzying array of small-sized motorcycles for a country with a desperate need for mobility after World War II. These machines were created at a time of impoverished resources, but were consistent with a characteristically Italian insistence on producing, and demanding, objects of extraordinary design and beauty. Nineteen motorcycles, ranging from singularly produced racers such as Carlo Ubbiali's 1951 Mondial 125cc Bialbero Grand Prix to 50cc production bikes from the late 1960s, demonstrate that while necessity breeds invention, the results can be truly stunning.
Moto Bellissima: Italian Motorcycles from the 1950s and 1960s is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby, San Francisco International Airport. The exhibition is on view to all Airport visitors from November 5, 2011 to April 28, 2012. There is no charge to view the exhibition."
My Lord these bikes are beautiful.
Is there a greater country with as deep a design history as Italy?
The only nations that come to mind are USA or Japan.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Brumidi: The Man Behind The Capital Building Frescoes
These "accidents of activity" doesn't flow one way either. Just like Italy influences, it has been enormously influenced and impacted by other nations as well. You can't exist for 2500 years and not be impacted by other civilizations during that time. All nations learn from one another. Especially Italy with its long, tortured, sometimes parochial, glorious past replete with successes of empire and failures of national unity. It has been invaded so many times, it's hard to pinpoint how many customs and ideas their borrowed.
More poignantly, the legacy of inspiration they leave behind eventually does get rediscovered as was the case with Brumidi who was largely an obscure figure until the determined Myrtle Cheney Murdock found out who the artist behind the Capitol art (including the Brumidi Corridors) was.
Next time you dismiss an artist as being paranoid for fear of becoming forgotten, think of Brumidi.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Juventus Stadium A Modern Architectural And Engineering Success
A couple of years back, Juventus officials were keeping secret the details of the construction of its new Stadium in Turin (Torino).
From Bleachereport:
"...For the last few years Juventus have been constructing what is set to be not only one of the best looking stadiums in the world but the most technologically advanced arena in the world. Word from the Juventus camp is that the stadium will seat 41,000 people, comprise of a shopping centre and have a heated pitch. Seats in the stadium are now closer than ever to the pitch, whilst they also form a pattern that can be seen from afar."
Indeed, it is an example of architectural and engineering achievement in environmental technology. From Wiki:
- Reductions of greenhouse gases
- No air pollution
- No risk of fire
- Integration with district heating
- Containment of waste
- Intensive exploitation of solar energy through solar tracker tools
- No production of chemical or acoustic emissions
- Reuse of rainwater
- Reduction of at least 50% of water needed for irrigation of the field
As for the capacity. I'm not sure why it was capped at 41 000. I reckon it's a combination of Juve and Serie A not generally surpassing those numbers and environmental considerations. However, it was designed so that it could add another 15 000 seats if required.
More details here.
And who was charged to build Juventus Stadium?
Pininfarina.
"A futuristic, environment-friendly stadium built with cutting-edge technology to offer maximum comfort and security in all areas. The new Juventus stadium was conceived not only as a venue where people will watch football, but also as a meeting and recreation centre, to be enjoyed seven days a week. In this perspective, Pininfarina Extra’s contribution was fundamental, developing once again an unmistakable style for what is an icon of the city of Turin."
Sharp pics in link.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Italian Funds Fuels Diplomas For Blind Journalists
A cultural news item of note I feel.
From the Anna Lindh Foundation:
"The first diplomas in a course for blind journalists have been awarded in a ceremony in Beirut, a project co-funded by Italy with 150,000 euros.
As part of the same initiative, Italy also funded the publication of a Braille weekly distributed with daily An Nahar.
The training programme has two objectives: improving the ability of reporters through the most recent media technologies and encouraging blind youths to take up journalism as a profession. (ANSAmed)."
From the Anna Lindh Foundation:
"The first diplomas in a course for blind journalists have been awarded in a ceremony in Beirut, a project co-funded by Italy with 150,000 euros.
As part of the same initiative, Italy also funded the publication of a Braille weekly distributed with daily An Nahar.
The training programme has two objectives: improving the ability of reporters through the most recent media technologies and encouraging blind youths to take up journalism as a profession. (ANSAmed)."
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