Scrivere di architettura intorno al 1780: Andrea Memmo e Francesco Milizia tra il Veneto e Roma

Andrea Memmo ist in der Geschichte der Architekturtheorie vor allem deswegen bekannt, weil er durch die Veröffentlichung der 'Elementi d'architettura lodoliana, ossia l'arte del fabricare con solidità scientifica e con eleganza non capricciosa' (Rom 1786) entscheidend dazu beigetragen hat, die originellen architektonischen Konzepte der Nachwelt zu überliefern, die der venezianische Franziskaner Carlo Lodoli zwischen 1730 und 1750 mündlich verbreitet hatte. Der vorliegende Beitrag unternimmt es, anhand des bislang für verloren gehaltenen 'Piano Accademico', den Memmo um 1767 für die venezianische Akademie zum Zwecke der Unterrichtsreform der bildenden Künste (Skulptur, Malerei und Architektur) ausgearbeitet hatte, klarzustellen, welche wichtige Rolle der Aufenthalt in Rom für Memmo gespielt hat. Dies wird auch durch die Briefe belegt, die er während der Ausarbeitung seines Werkes über Lodoli verfasst hatte. Im Rom der 1780er Jahre waren für ihn ausschlaggebend 1. die Beziehungen zur dortigen Accademia di S. Luca und 2. seine Freundschaft zum spanische Botschafter José Nicolas de Azara. Azara hatte ihn dazu ermutigt, über den Padre Lodoli zu schreiben, um dessen Gedanken denen des mit Azara befreundeten Francesco Milizia gegenüberzustellen.

Book review of “Germany in Transit: Nation and Migration, 1955-2005”. 588 pages, University of California Press, 2007, by Deniz Göktürk, David Gramling and Anton Kaes (eds.)

Though migration is an age-old feature of human activity, driven by various circumstances, its current place in the midst of global dynamics and the phenomenon of globalization is becoming increasingly critical. International immigration and its regulation have been largely shaped by the policies in the receiving countries, often determining preferences for nationality cohorts and work skills to satisfy their labor and human capital requirements. When immigration has been necessitated by political strife, host countries have displayed immense magnanimity as well. However, the growing realization of resource limitations and the strange quirks of cultural pluralism are in turn creating waves of dissonance. Literature and the media are now replete with an in depth look into the immigration debate in various nations of the world in trying to seek new directions and satisfactory solutions.

Solar forcing of North Atlantic surface temperature and salinity over the past millennium

There were several centennial-scale fluctuations in the climate and oceanography of the North Atlantic region over the past 1,000 years, including a period of relative cooling from about AD 1450 to 1850 known as the Little Ice Age1. These variations may be linked to changes in solar irradiance, amplified through feedbacks including the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation2. Changes in the return limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation are reflected in water properties at the base of the mixed layer south of Iceland. Here we reconstruct thermocline temperature and salinity in this region from AD 818 to 1780 using paired δ18O and Mg/Ca ratio measurements of foraminifer shells from a subdecadally resolved marine sediment core. The reconstructed centennial-scale variations in hydrography correlate with variability in total solar irradiance. We find a similar correlation in a simulation of climate over the past 1,000 years. We infer that the hydrographic changes probably reflect variability in the strength of the subpolar gyre associated with changes in atmospheric circulation. Specifically, in the simulation, low solar irradiance promotes the development of frequent and persistent atmospheric blocking events, in which a quasi-stationary high-pressure system in the eastern North Atlantic modifies the flow of the westerly winds. We conclude that this process could have contributed to the consecutive cold winters documented in Europe during the Little Ice Age.