Latest news with #landscape
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Made in Cleveland: Local factory grows as companies shift back to U.S. manufacturing
In just three months, the landscape at Jergens Inc. has changed. The local factory floor is now filled with equipment and employees. Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Alien landscapes, Arctic artists and pioneers of pleasure – the week in art
Folkestone Triennial: How Lies the Land?Dorothy Cross, Katie Paterson, Cooking Sections and many more take part in a sprawling seaside summer art special. Various venues, Folkestone, Kent, from 19 July until 19 October Alien Shores A landscape-themed group show with Georgia O'Keeffe, David Hockney and Glenn Brown among the artists enjoying the fresh air. White Cube Bermondsey, London, until 7 September Panorama: New Views of a City A recreation of Robert Barker's 18th-century panorama of the Edinburgh skyline, with contemporary responses by Lucas Priest and Amanda Thomson. Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, until 21 December Arctic Expressions The art and material culture of Arctic peoples is celebrated by this British Museum touring show. Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar, until 28 September Louise Bourgeois: Drawings from the 1960s Works on paper by the revered artist record her inner life of dream and memory. Courtauld Gallery, London until 14 September John Knuth's striking paintings aren't made by the artist putting in hours with a pointillist brush. His works are created using flies regurgitating a mixture of coloured paint and sugar water on to canvasses. After he lost his home and entire archive in the California wildfires earlier this year, his work has taken on a new perspective. Read more here. The Bayeux tapestry is the most engaging depiction ever made of a mighty battle AI, social media and virtual identities are transforming our understanding of beauty A new 10,000 sq ft London arts centre aims to spotlight global majority voices A show of tactile art curated by blind people aims to challenge 'ocularcentrism' Plans for the corporate rebranding of a London tube line dismayed our critic Podcaster George the Poet joined an initiative to make masterpieces more accessible Jean-François Millet's masterpiece The Angelus electrified modern art Sign up to Art Weekly Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions after newsletter promotion Photographer Paz Errázuriz's tender images outraged Chilean society A new art trail through the City of London is full of echoes of ancient ritual The Shore at Egmond-aan-Zee by Jacob van Ruisdael, circa 1675 Seaside views from the 17th century are rare. It shows how precocious Dutch art and life were in the 1600s that Van Ruisdael depicts people visiting the shore for fun – strolling on the sands, enjoying the strong sea breeze, flirting to the splash of the waves. Of course, they don't strip off and swim – the figures in the water are fishing folk. Sea bathing wouldn't become fashionable until about a century later, and the hedonism of modern beach life would gradually appear in art, from impressionist Normandy to Picasso and Matisse on the Riviera. All of that lies in the future here – and to be honest those looming clouds don't augur well for a day at the seaside. But these beachgoers are pioneers of pleasure. National Gallery, London If you don't already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Townhall discussion on proposed landscape office turns heated
Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh (in pink baju kurung) with national landscape department deputy director-general Ahmad Syaharuddin Kamaruddin at the townhall yesterday evening. KUALA LUMPUR : A townhall to discuss the proposed construction of a national landscape department office, which would see a section of a forest cleared in Bukit Kiara, turned heated yesterday after residents said their concerns were being ignored. Some of the residents had expressed fear that the clearing of the forest would result in landslides, noting that three landslides had already occurred in the area. The slope where the proposed office would be located has been cut. Meanwhile, residents staying along Jalan Abang Haji Openg in Taman Tun Dr Ismail feared the loss of more greenery. The residents became irate at one of the speakers, a representative from Jaaz Architects Sdn Bhd, whom they perceived as being dismissive of their concerns. A shouting match erupted when the representative, who was presenting the building plans, responded to a question by a resident on the need for a parking lot at the department's proposed office. The resident suggested that the new office be public transport-friendly, to which he replied: 'You're living in an ideal world. Why don't we stop people from using cars, then we don't need car parks.' Another resident then accused the architect of being condescending. A second exchange occurred when a resident questioned the environmental impact of the development, and what carbon offset measures were in place. The representative said the proposed development would only take up a small area of the forest reserve, and that the residents still had the rest of the reserve. This led to a chorus of 'no's' from the residents. Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh then intervened and asked the national landscape department how many trees would be felled. The department's deputy director-general Ahmad Syaharuddin Kamaruddin said about 300 trees would be chopped down, but that 85% of these trees were rubber trees, which were an 'invasive species'. He said the department would replant about 600 trees. Some of the residents had no issue with the department's plan to build an office, saying one was needed in Bukit Kiara which is also a popular hiking spot. They said there was a need to 'look at the bigger picture' and advised detractors against getting too emotional. Syaharuddin earlier said that the department needed an office in Bukit Kiara to better serve the needs of residents around the area in a timely manner. He said there was a need for regular track maintenance for hikers, the removal of fallen trees, and research on the flora and fauna in the forest reserve. 'Right now, we need to travel all the way from Putrajaya to Taman Tun Dr Ismail (to do maintenance work). It is not practical,' he added.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ed Miliband would let a turbine farm destroy Brontë country. We need net zero, but at what cost?
Nowhere does landscape marry passion quite so much as in Yorkshire's Wuthering Heights. The tempestuous Pennine contours and tumbling streams perfectly frame Emily Brontë's turbulent romance. Wild storms and dark gullies echo the cries of Heathcliff, Cathy and sexual jealousy. From moorland peaks to the historic Brontë village of Haworth below, the scene is unspoilt. I cannot think of any British government for half a century that would have dreamed of destroying this place. Yet the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, apparently wants to do so, with the largest onshore windfarm in England, the Calderdale Energy Park. He clearly regards this unique landscape as the perfect spot for 41 giant wind turbines, each no less than 200m tall. Their height would top Blackpool Tower by 40m. This is near unbelievable. The glorious Pennine Way, which traverses the area, would be reduced to a stroll through an industrial park visible for miles around, one of roads, depots and servicing trucks. The Saudi-backed firm behind the scheme, Calderdale Wind Farm Ltd, only recently agreed not also to coat the surface peat in solar panels. At the end of this month, a demonstration of about 500 protesters will re-enact Kate Bush's ballad Wuthering Heights on Penistone Hill, immediately overlooking Haworth. They follow a parliamentary petition of 15,000 signatures and cries for help from defenders of the moor's site of special scientific interest and various other now-enfeebled landscape protections. The arguments Miliband uses for onshore wind power are familiar. Even though Britain's contribution to net zero can only be negligible, he wants to show willing. He and Keir Starmer take a peculiar delight is deriding opponents of their renewable projects as nimbys. To them, the defenders of Yorkshire's moors are fuddy-duddy romantics deaf to global salvation and to Britain's need for growth. The language in which we conduct these debates matters. Yes, renewable energy is a good idea and the world needs to move in that direction. But as soon as the general is reduced to the particular, judgments have to be made and compromises reached. Many argue that the cost of Britain's net zero – a political ambition rather than a plausible target – contributes towards UK households paying some of the highest energy bills in the world. The basis of these bills, and Miliband's unrealised pledge to reduce them, is a series of near-incomprehensible algorithms. We pay huge subsidies to renewable companies and pour money into reckless nuclear plants. The present government does nothing to curb the construction industry, one of the biggest emitters of carbon at 25% of the nation's total. The environmental audit committee protested in 2022 that not a single government measure had aimed to curb this, and there has been no action since then. The reason is simple. This government equates construction with growth, which takes precedence over net zero. The Treasury imposes VAT on all building conversion and retrofitting, yet it exonerates carbon-intensive new building completely. In effect the British taxpayer is subsidising global heating. The hypocrisy is blatant. Clearly a judgment should be made as to where, if anywhere, onshore wind turbines should be located. They are peculiarly intrusive, imposing their presence, their height and their motion on their surroundings. I have seen them sited in industrial zones and brownfield areas, to which it is hard to take exception. I have also seen them wreck rural Northamptonshire and they are about to deface the mountains of mid-Wales. The obvious place for them is offshore on the shallow shelf around the British Isles. There they are less intrusive and less controversial. But since onshore is cheaper, Miliband has reversed the previous policy bias against it and is eager to get building. He dismisses opposition as self-interested, and has removed any power that local councils might use to oppose him. Unless we rediscover a language to discuss the beauty of place, we cannot conduct this debate. Money will always do the talking. When town and country planning was formalised in the 1940s, it was on the basis of a consensus that certain landscapes were beautiful and should enjoy protection. When town conservation areas were introduced in 1967, the same consensus applied. There was an assumption of aesthetic value that has obtained ever since. It is plain that it no longer does so. I am not aware of the present government having ever deigned to mention beauty with regard to the environment, built or natural. That a foreign conglomerate can honestly expect to be subsidised by the British taxpayer to wreck the Pennine Hills suggests a cabinet with no idea what merits protection and what does not. I would like to see how Miliband's Camden neighbours would react if he proposed a field of 200m turbines on the slopes of his local beauty spot, Parliament Hill Fields. He might argue that the turbines should be cheap to build and need few pylons to get to market. He might say Camden has a duty to save the world, and might even knock a hundred quid off local energy bills, as he has suggested elsewhere. But I imagine Miliband's Hampstead backyard would erupt as never before. If he then gave way to them, what would be his argument? I rather wish Miliband would indeed try a turbine park in Parliament Hill Fields. We might learn a lot. Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
A quick and easy way to add contemporary elegance to your garden
Some plants have an uncanny ability to add contemporary elegance to a garden, magically leavening the visual weightiness of trees, shrubs and more traditional perennials with the airy grace of their growth habit and flowers. Umbellifers are without equal in this regard. Threaded through an otherwise conventional mixed border, or used in a gravel garden, or a display of summer pots, they quickly transform any outdoor space in a way that feels distinctly modern. Part of the reason for this is their umbel-shaped flowers, which are similar to those of some of our loveliest and best-known wildflowers, such as cow parsley, hedge parsley, alexanders, pignut and wild carrot. Each umbel – technically known as a 'compound inflorescence' – is a thing of precise geometric beauty made up of a series of umbellets that radiate out from its centre, with each umbellet typically comprising a number of tiny flowers. But it's not just their good looks that earns them a place in many gardens. Umbellifers' nectar and pollen-rich, umbrella-shaped, decorative blooms are also famously attractive to a diverse range of pollinating insects. Yet another part of their great charm is that long after they have faded, the handsome silhouettes of those distinctive flowers can continue to provide long-lasting interest right until the first harsh frosts, while their often tall, hollow, grooved stems offer a safe berth for beneficial garden insects to overwinter. READ MORE White coriander flowers. Photograph: Getty Ferula communis, the giant fennel. Photograph: Getty All are members of what was long known as the Umbelliferae plant family but is now classed as Apiaceae. This huge group includes well-known garden favourites such as fennel, dill, lovage, coriander, celery, culinary parsley, angelica, ammi, bupleurum, astrantia and orlaya, as well as other lesser-known but equally graceful umbelliferous species. Examples of the latter include the pink-flowering Pimpinella major 'Rosea'; Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum); the towering, yellow-flowered giant fennel (Ferula communis); the stately Himalayan cow parsley (Selinum wallichianum); the statuesque, lime-flowered Peucedanum verticillare; and the lilac-pink flowering hairy chervil (Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum'). Astrantia japonica. Photograph: Getty Wild angelica. Photograph: Getty These plants, often used in naturalistic planting combinations, have become the hallmark of a now established style of gardening that's less strait-laced and more in tune with the planet. Some, it should be said, are easier to grow than others. For example, the exquisite Bupleurum longifolium 'Bronze Beauty', a sun-loving perennial prized for its intricately beautiful flowers that look as if they were dusted in powdered gold, is notoriously short-lived as well as challenging to raise from seed (the latter must be sown fresh and exposed to cold winter temperatures). Meanwhile, fashionable annual and biennial umbellifers such as Orlaya grandiflora and ornamental carrot (Daucus carota), loved equally by gardeners and florists, can frustratingly fall victim to carrot fly. Others, such as dill and common fennel, can become invasive when growing conditions are too much to their liking, self-seeding themselves around the place with abundance, or in the case of sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata), also spreading via their very vigorous root systems. Another case in point is the famously persistent perennial weed known as ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria), originally introduced as a medicinal herb used to treat gout before its unwelcome ability to rapidly colonise large areas of ground was recognised. That said, there's no denying the graceful beauty of its pale umbelliferous flowers, while it's also quite delicious fried in butter and garlic. [ How to make the best of light and shade in your garden Opens in new window ] I should add another word of warning when it comes to this group of plants, which is to be ultra wary of those wild umbelliferous species that pose a risk to human health. Chief among them is giant hogweed, Heraclium mantegazzianum, a non-native perennial now naturalised through large parts of Ireland and found growing in damp ditches, woodland edges and along riversides. Originally introduced as a garden ornamental – a cautionary tale if ever there was one – it's what's known as a phytotoxic species, where a combination of exposure to bright sunlight and direct contact with its sap quickly results in very painful blistering and then scarring of the skin. While easy to identify at this time of year when its lofty flower stems can reach a height of 5m, that task is more challenging when it's in its earlier stages of growth, making accidental injury more of a risk. Others, such as hemlock (Conium maculatum), hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), fool's parsley (Aethusa cynapium) and lesser water parsnip (Berula erecta) are poisonous both to humans and animals (the Greek philosopher Socrates famously died of poisoning by drinking hemlock tea). Great care should be taken not to confuse them if foraging for other edible umbelliferous species such as alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) and wild angelica (Angelic sylvestris). On the other hand, and as mentioned above, many of our kitchen garden favourites are also umbellifers. If you've ever let parsley, parsnip, coriander, celery or carrot go to seed rather than harvesting them, for example, then you've probably been both charmed and surprised by the beauty of their pollinator-friendly flowers, proof that they can be every bit as decorative and beneficial to nature as they are useful. This week in the garden Preserve the flavour of fresh garden-grown herbs for use later in the year by drying tied bunches in a cool, dry room, freezing the chopped leaves in ice cubes, or adding some sprigs of leaves to small, sealed bottles or jars of olive oil. The last of the summer bedding plants are often for sale at bargain prices in garden centres and supermarkets at this time of year. Most are tired and badly rootbound by now, while time is rapidly running out for them to make enough fresh growth to give impact. But if you can't resist the temptation, then give them a fighting chance by cutting back all faded flower stems, gently loosening their root-balls and thoroughly soaking the latter in a solution of liquid seaweed before planting them into weed-free, friable, fertile ground, or a container filled with a very good quality compost. Take precautions against slugs and snails. Dates for your diary A Fiesta of Dahlias June Blake's garden, Tinode, Blessington, Co Wicklow, every Saturday and Sunday in July from 2pm. A celebration of this remarkable genus of plants with free workshops, expert talks, plus tours of the garden. Carlow Garden Festival 2025 Saturday, July 26th to Sunday, August 3rd, with expert guest speakers including Financial Times gardening correspondent and author, Robin Lane Fox (Huntington Castle, August 2nd); author and head gardener of Kilmacurragh, Seamus O'Brien (Burtown House, July 30th); British garden designer Sarah Eberle (Borris House, July 31st); organic kitchen gardener Tanguy de Toulgoët (Shankill Castle, July 30th); and Peter O'Mahony in conversation with Adam Frost (Arboretum Garden Centre, Leighlinbridge, July 26th), booking essential. .
