Las teorías del gótico y su representación gráfica en España el último tercio del siglo XIX. Un estudio sobre: Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain, de George Edmund Street

La tesis se centra en el estudio, descripción y análisis del libro publicado por el arquitecto británico George Edmund Street en 1865, bajo el título Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain. El libro dio a conocer una de la colecciones más importantes de dibujos realizada en el siglo XIX sobre la arquitectura gótica española, y por lo tanto fue una primera referencia para su estudio, hasta bien entrado el siglo veinte. El volumen incluyó 107 grabados de diversos tipos de edificios con perspectivas y detalles, y 25 láminas con 45 planos de plantas de iglesias y claustros, muchos de ellos publicados por primera vez. Gracias a varias campañas de verano por la mitad norte del país, la casi inexplorada -desde un punto de vista académico- arquitectura española medieval fue finalmente descubierta. Este hecho conduce a una pregunta intrigante que está en el origen de esta investigación ¿cómo pudo Street en pocos viajes sentar las bases de la historia del gótico español que hasta entonces los estudiosos españoles no habían sido capaces de definir? Esta tesis comienza describiendo la obra de Street en su contexto cultural con un breve repaso a su biografía y a su posición profesional y teórica. También su relación con las personas más representativas que participaron en el estudio de la arquitectura gótica, como Robert Willis, William Whewell, Augustus Pugin, o George G. Scott. Se ha prestado especial atención, en explicar su papel relevante en el Gothic Revival, para entender el significado de su interés en la arquitectura gótica continental. Estos capítulos preliminares son seguidos por una revisión del papel del dibujo como herramienta para la arquitectura de los viajeros en sus rutas en busca de la arquitectura gótica. También se trata la influencia de la Royal Academy y sus académicos, (entre los cuales estuvo Street) y su formación académica. Finalmente la tesis entra en el estudio de los planos arquitectónicos que Street hizo durante sus viajes continentales de arquitectura, seguido por una descripción detallada de sus dibujos de España, analizando su método, su técnica, y las nuevas características aportadas, que fueron una novedad en el contexto español. También se lleva a cabo algunos estudios comparativos de los dibujos de España, gracias a una recopilación exhaustiva de bocetos y dibujos originales de Street, que en su gran mayoría se conservan en los archivos del RIBA, cotejándolos con sus versiones finales, con dibujos de la época de otros autores sobre los mismos edificios, y con fotos recientes. La tesis deja claro por qué y cómo Street, gracias a su soporte teórico y habilidades para el dibujo, pudo realizar algo que había pasado desapercibido para los estudiosos españoles de la época (construcción, historia de los estilos, señalamiento de períodos constructivos), lo que le permitió encontrar el lugar adecuado de la arquitectura gótica española en la historia y en el mapa de la arquitectura gótica europea. ABSTRACT This thesis focuses on the study, description and analysis of the book published by the British architect George Edmund Street in 1865, under the title Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain. The book displayed one of the most significant collections of drawings on Spanish Gothic Architecture made in the nineteenth century, and therefore was a first reference for its study, until well into the twentieth century. The book included 107 engravings, the surveying of various types of buildings with perspectives and details, and 25 sheets containing 45 ground plans of churches and cloisters, many of them new and published for the first time. Thanks to several summer campaigns in the north half of the country, the almost unexplored -from a scholar point of view- medieval Spanish architecture was eventually revealed. This fact lead to an intriguing question that is at the origin of this research: how could Street in a few trips lay the foundations of the history of Spanish Gothic that until then Spanish scholars had not been able to define? This thesis begins inscribing this Street's work in his cultural context. A brief review of his biography and professional and theoretical positions has been seen as necessary. Also his debts and relationship with the most representative people involved in the study of Gothic architecture, like Robert Willis, William Whewell, Augustus Pugin, or George G. Scott are discussed. Special attention has been paid, taken into account his relevant role in the Gothic Revival, to understand the significance of his interest in continental Gothic architecture. These preliminary chapters are followed by a review of role of drawing as a tool for Architectural travellers in their Tours in search of the Gothic architecture. The influence of the Royal Academy and its academicians, (among which was Street) and his educational background are here tackled. Eventually this thesis enters into the study of the architectural drawings Street made during his continental architectural journeys, which is followed by a detailed description and analysis of the Spanish ones: his methods, his technique, and the new features which were a novelty in the Spanish context are explored. Also in this thesis is carried out some comparative studies thanks to a previous exhaustive gathering of Street's sketches and original drawings, most of which are preserved in the RIBA archives. Their final versions, drawings of the same buildings from other contemporary draughtsman and pictures of their current state are compared with them. This thesis makes clear why and how Street thanks to his theoretical back-ground and portraying skills could realize what have passed unnoticed by contemporary Spanish scholars (construction, genealogy of forms, dating of periods) allowing him to find the proper place of the Spanish architecture in the history and the map of European Gothic architecture.

Quaternary refugia of the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.): an extended palynological approach

Knowledge about the glacial refugia of the thermophilous European Castanea sativa Mill. (sweet chestnut) is still inadequate. Its original range of distribution has been masked by strong human impact. Moreover, under natural conditions the species was probably admixed with other taxa (such as Quercus, Fraxinus, Fagus, Tilia) and thus possibly represented by low percentages in pollen records. In this paper we try to overcome the difficulties related to the scarcity and irregularity of chestnut pollen records by considering 1471 sites and extending the palynological approach to develop a Castanea refugium probability index (IRP), aimed at detecting possible chestnut refugia where chestnuts survived during the last glaciation. The results are in close agreement with the current literature on the refugia of other thermophilous European trees. The few divergences are most probably due to the large amount of new data integrated in this study, rather than to fundamental disagreements about data and data interpretation. The main chestnut refugia are located in the Transcaucasian region, north-western Anatolia, the hinterland of the Tyrrhenian coast from Liguria to Lazio along the Apennine range, the region around Lago di Monticchio (Monte Vulture) in southern Italy, and the Cantabrian coast on the Iberian peninsula. Despite the high likelihood of Castanea refugia in the Balkan Peninsula and north-eastern Italy (Colli Euganei, Monti Berici, Emilia-Romagna) as suggested by the IRP, additional palaeobotanical investigations are needed to assess whether these regions effectively sheltered chestnut during the last glaciation. Other regions, such as the Isère Département in France, the region across north-west Portugal and Galicia, and the hilly region along the Mediterranean coast of Syria and Lebanon were classified as areas of medium refugium probability. Our results reveal an unexpected spatial richness of potential Castanea refugia. It is likely that other European trees had similar distribution ranges during the last glaciation. It is thus conceivable that shelter zones with favourable microclimates were probably more numerous and more widely dispersed across Europe than so far assumed. In the future, more attention should be paid to pollen traces of sporadic taxa thought to have disappeared from a given area during the last glacial and post-glacial period.

Geochemistry of basalts from ODP Leg 49, North Atlantic Ocean

The geochemistry of basalts recovered from seven sites in the North Atlantic is described with particular reference to minor elements. Three sites (407, 408, and 409) along the same mantle flow line, transverse to the Reykjanes Ridge at about 63°N, provide information on the composition of basalts erupted over a 34-m.y. interval between 2.3 and 36 m.y. ago. At Site 410, at 45°N, penetration into 10 m.y.-old crust west of the ridge axis permits comparisons with young basalts dredged from the median valley at 45°N. Three sites in the FAMOUS area at about 36°N provided material from very young (1 m.y.) basaltic crust (Site 411), and material to test the geochemical coherence of basalts of different ages (1.5 and 3.5 m.y.) on either side of a fracture zone (Sites 412 and 413). These sites complement earlier data from dredged and drilled sites (Leg 37) in the FAMOUS area. At Site 407, four geochemically distinct basalt units occur, with different normative and rare-earth element (REE) characteristics, and there is a clear correlation with magnetic stratigraphy. Yet there is a remarkable consistency in incompatible element ratios between these units, indicating derivation from an essentially similar mantle source. The basalts from the younger sites, 408 and 409, show a similar range of normative and REE variation, but incompatible element ratios are identical to those at Site 407, indicating that basalts at all three sites were produced from a mantle source which was geochemically relatively uniform. Rare-earth differences between the basalts can be interpreted in terms of variations in the degree and depth of partial melting causing HREE (+Y) retention in the source, although there may be some inter-site differences with respect to REE. A similar picture is presented at 45°N. Apparently a range of tholeiitic, transitional, and alkalic basalts were being erupted 10 m.y. ago, which have almost identical geochemical characteristics to those recently erupted in the median valley at 45°N. Incompatible element ratios are markedly different from those recorded at the Reykjanes Ridge. Basalts recovered from the FAMOUS sites are geochemically similar to previous samples recovered from the FAMOUS area, and their incompatible element ratios are similar, but not identical, to those at 45°N. However, total trace element levels are consistently lower than in 45°N basalts, which might imply smaller degrees of partial melting and/or greater depths of magma generation at 45°N, or higher trace element levels in the mantle source at 45°N. Few of the basalts recovered on Leg 49 have the geochemical characteristics of typical "MORB" (e.g., Nazca Plate, Leg 34). The data strongly support models invoking geochemical inhomogeneity in the source regions of basalts produced at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. However, the data also introduce an additional time factor into such models and demonstrate the uniformity of the mantle source at a particular ridge sector (over periods in excess of 30 m.y.), while emphasizing the marked differences along the ridge. Mixing models invoking "depleted" and "enriched" mantle sources would seem to be inadequate to account for the observed variations.

1927-1929 report of the West Chicago parks on the $10,000,000 bond issue ...

Mode of access: Internet.

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

M.U. Library construction [Front (north) of General Library]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds

University of Michigan Library. Selden Breck Construction [West Stack]

West stack. Albert Kahn, architect. Selden Breck contractors built stacks 1916-1918. Construction of General Library Building authorized June 1916. Two stacks built at right angles to 1898 stacks, which were retained. In 1918 Old Library was demolished and front (north side) of General Library begun. Completed in 1920. Photograph mounted on linen. From construction photo album received by Buildings and Grounds