On April 8th 2008 at 8 o'clock in the evening our friends from Badalona are going to arrive in Athens.
We are very happy because we 'll meet them on Wensday April 9th, at school.
Some students from our C class
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Waiting for the Spanish people
We are very happy because we 'll meet them on Wensday April 9th, at school. Some students from our C class 
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Earth Hour 2008
Think and act!
Earth Hour is an international event that asks households and businesses to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one hour on the evening of March 29th at 8PM local time to promote electricity conservation and thus lower carbon emissions. 
Υπερθέρμανση του πλανήτη
Η αλλαγή μιας εύθραυστης ισορροπίας
Στο παρελθόν, το κλίμα της γης έχει πολλές φορές μεταβληθεί ως αποτέλεσμα φυσικών αιτίων. Όμως, οι αλλαγές που παρατηρούνται τα τελευταία χρόνια και αυτές που προβλέπονται στο μέλλον, οφείλονται κυρίως στην ανθρώπινη συμπεριφορά: μέσα από τις ανθρώπινες δραστηριότητες απελευθερώνονται κάθε χρόνο στην ατμόσφαιρα μεγάλες ποσότητες διοξειδίου του άνθρακα - 29 δισεκατομμύρια τόνοι το 2004 - και αυτό έχει σαν αποτέλεσμα να θερμαίνεται ο πλανήτης.
Η αύξηση της συγκέντρωσης του διοξειδίου του άνθρακα στην ατμόσφαιρα οδηγεί στον εγκλωβισμό υπερβολικής ποσότητας θερμότητας με συνέπεια την αύξηση του πάχους της "κουβέρτας του θερμοκηπίου". Αυτό προκαλεί την αύξηση της θερμοκρασίας της ατμόσφαιρας της γης, η οποία με τη σειρά της οδηγεί στην αλλαγή του κλίματος.
Στις 29 Μαρτίου2008 , το χρονικό διάστημα από τις 20:00 μέχρι τις 21:00 ελληνική ώρα, έχει ανακηρυχθεί "Ώρα της Γης". Κλείσε τα φώτα... Σκέψου και δράσε! Για μας, για τις επόμενες γενιές και τον πλανήτη μας, για όλους!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Barcelona-Preparations
Click to the link: Maps-General view
Come with us to Barcelona! Let's get to know Barcelona virtually...
Click to the link: Maps-General view
Friday, March 21, 2008
Salvador Dalí'
(For more details look at our presentation...)
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.
Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in 1931.
Salvador Dalí's artistic repertoire also included film, sculpture, and photography. He collaborated with Walt Disney on the Academy Award-nominated short cartoon Destino, which was released posthumously in 2003. He also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
Dalí insisted on his "Arab lineage", claiming that his ancestors were descended from the Moors who occupied Southern Spain for nearly 800 years (711-1492), and attributed to these origins, "my love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental clothes."
Widely considered to be greatly imaginative, Dalí had an affinity for doing unusual things to draw attention to himself. This sometimes irked those who loved his art as much as it annoyed his critics, since his eccentric manner sometimes drew more public attention than his artwork. The purposefully-sought notoriety led to broad public recognition and many purchases of his works by people from all walks of life.
Joan Miró
Joan Miró (1893-1983).
For more details look at our PowerPoint Presentation...
Another artist greatly associated with the Surrealist movement was Joan Miro, who painted whimsical and bizarre images in his works.Joan Miro's painting Carnival of Harlequin, completed in 1924, displays a scene of brightly colored organic forms and shapes in a humorous manner.
The creatures or figures in Miro's paintings appear almost as if they are cartoons, taking up the entire canvas so that the viewer doesn't focus on merely one aspect of the scene.
Some of the shapes appear to be floating in the top corners of the canvas while others, such as the one on the left side, use ladders to climb up through the work.
The figures in Miro's Carnival of Harlequin are "lively, remarkably vivid, and even the inanimate objects have an eager vitality“
For more details look at our PowerPoint Presentation...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Nikos Engonopoulos
Nikos Engonopoulos (October 21, 1907 – October 31, 1985) was a modern Greek painter and poet.
He is one of the most important members of the Greek Generation of the '30s as well as a major representative of the surrealistic movement in Greece.
(Presentation)
"Poet and his muse"
Aquarelle and ink on paper26 x 21 cm.
For more details about Engonopoulos' painting see our presentation!
"Kavafis", 1948
Egg tempera on wood30x40 cm.
For more details about Engonopoulos' painting see our presentation!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Surrealism - Cubism
(Salvador Dalí. (Spanish, 1904-1989). The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas)For more details look at our presentation
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members.
The works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur, however many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost with the works being an artifact, and leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.
From the Dada activities of World War I Surrealism was formed with the most important center of the movement in Paris and from the 1920s spreading around the globe.
- Cubism was a highly influential visual arts style of the 20th century that was created principally by the painters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris between 1907 and 1914.
- The Cubist style emphasized the flat, two-dimensional surface of the picture plane, rejecting the traditional techniques of perspective.
Modernism etc.
(Pablo Picasso, Le guitariste, 1910, oil on canvas, 100 x 73 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.)
The term covers many political, cultural and artistic movements rooted in the changes in Western society at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation.
Modernism encouraged the re-examination of every aspect of existence, from commerce to philosophy, with the goal of finding that which was 'holding back' progress, and replacing it with new, progressive and therefore better, ways of reaching the same end. In essence, the modernist movement argued that the new realities of the industrial and mechanized age were permanent and imminent, and that people should adapt their world view to accept that the new equaled the good, the true and the beautiful.
Modern (quantum and relativistic) physics, modern (analytical and continental) philosophy and modern number theory in mathematics also date from this period. Embracing change and the present, modernism encompasses the works of thinkers who rebelled against nineteenth century academic and historicist traditions, believing the "traditional" forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated; they directly confronted the new economic, social and political aspects of an emerging fully industrialized world.
Some divide the 20th Century into movements designated Modernism and Postmodernism, whereas others see them as two aspects of the same movement.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Antoni Gaudí's Barcelona
Searcing and discovering the Antoni Gaudí's Works in Barcelona...
Small details of architectural masterpieces: buildings, coloured ceramics, sculptures, bizzare pavilons and curves surfaces through gardens and avenues. All looklike as a fairy tale...
Click to the link to see these phantasmagoric works!
Antoni Gaudí - Biography
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet (was born in the province of Tarragona in southern Catalonia, Spain in 25 June 1852 – and died in 10 June 1926) – sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí – was a Spanish, Catalan architect, who belonged to the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs.
Gaudi, as an architecture student at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona from 1873 to 1877, achieved only mediocre grades but did well in his "Trial drawings and projects".After five years of work, he was awarded the title of architect in 1878.
His Earlier projects are:
1878–1879: Lampposts for the Plaça Reial at Barcelona;
1878–1882: Several designs for the Obrera Mataronense at Mataró.
1878–1879: Lampposts for the Plaça Reial at Barcelona;
1878–1882: Several designs for the Obrera Mataronense at Mataró.
1883–1885: Casa Vicens;
1883–1885: Villa "El Capricho" at Comillas (Santander);
1884: Finca Güell: Entrance pavillion and stables for the palace at Pedralbes (first completed building for Eusebi Güell);
1884–1891: Completion of the crypt of the Sagrada Família
1883–1885: Villa "El Capricho" at Comillas (Santander);
1884: Finca Güell: Entrance pavillion and stables for the palace at Pedralbes (first completed building for Eusebi Güell);
1884–1891: Completion of the crypt of the Sagrada Família
1885–1889: Palau Güell;
1887–1893: Episcopal palace at Astorga;
1889–1894: Colegio Teresiano;
1891–1893: Outer walls of the absis of the Sagrada Família;
1892–1894: Casa de los Botines at León,
and later: Casa Milà, in the Eixample, Barcelona.
1887–1893: Episcopal palace at Astorga;
1889–1894: Colegio Teresiano;
1891–1893: Outer walls of the absis of the Sagrada Família;
1892–1894: Casa de los Botines at León,
and later: Casa Milà, in the Eixample, Barcelona.
Gaudi was an ardent Catholic, to the point that he devoted his life to Catholicism and his Sagrada Família. He designed it to have 18 towers, 12 for the 12 apostles, 4 for the 4 evangelists, one for Mary and one for Jesus.
On June 7, 1926 Gaudi was run over by a tram. He died three days later. La Sagrada Família his unfinished masterpiece is going to being completed in 2026.
Artistic style
Gaudí's first works were designed in the style of gothic and traditional Spanish architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, proved a major influence on Gaudí.
Gaudí's first works were designed in the style of gothic and traditional Spanish architectural modes, but he soon developed his own distinct sculptural style. French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, proved a major influence on Gaudí.
In Gaudi's hanging model a system of threads represents columns, arches, walls and vaults. Sachets with lead shot resemble the weight of small building parts.
Gaudi spent ten years working on studies for the design, and developing a new method of structural calculation based on a stereostatic model built with cords and small sacks of pellets.
Gaudi spent ten years working on studies for the design, and developing a new method of structural calculation based on a stereostatic model built with cords and small sacks of pellets.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Valencia: Calatrava's town
Valencia: Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Valencia:The town of Arts and Sciences
The futuristic train station in Liège by Calatrava
Here is the wonderful final project of the station that will stand in Liège, Belgium, designed by Santiago Calatrava
Learning to Fly by Calatrava
Calatrava's Architecture and Sculpture is a lesson for thoughts' flying...
We are listenig to Pink Floyd "Learning to Fly"
Great Architects - Santiago Calatrava's projects
The Calatrava's projects are located in Europe, Asia and America!
Great Architects - Santiago Calatrava
Biography
Architect, artist, and engineer Santiago Calatrava was born on July 28, 1951, in the town of Benimamet, near Valencia, Spain. He attended primary and secondary school in Valencia and then enrolled in the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura, a relatively new institution, where he earned a degree in architecture and took a post-graduate course in urbanism.
Attracted by the mathematical rigor of certain great works of historic architecture, and feeling that his training in Valencia had given him no clear direction, Calatrava decided to pursue post-graduate studies in civil engineering and enrolled in 1975 a the ETH (Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich. He received his Ph.D. in 1979. It was during this period that he met and married his wife, who was a law student in Zurich. 
After completing his studies, he began to enter competitions, believing this was his most likely way to secure commissions. His first winning competition proposal, in 1983, was for the design and construction of Stadelhofen Railway Station in Zurich, the city in which he established his office.
In 1984, Calatrava won the competition to design and build the Bach de Roda Brdige, commissioned for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. This was the beginning of the bridge projects that established his international reputation. Among the other notable bridges that followed were the Alamillio Bridge viaduct, commissioned for the World's Fair in Seville (1987-92); Campo Volantin Footbridge in Bilbao (1990-97); and Alameda Bridge and underground station in Valencia (1991-95). 
Calatrava established his firm's second office, in Paris, in 1989, when he was working on the Lyon Airport Station (1989-94). He opened his third office, in Valencia, in 1991 to facilitate work on a very large cultural complex and urban intervention, the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia (ongoing). Other large-scale public projects from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s include the BCE Place mall in Toronto (1987-92); the Oriente railway station in Lisbon (1993-98, commissioned for Expo '98); and the winning proposal in the design competition to complete the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City (1991), a project that has not been realized.
Exhibitions of Calatrava's work include a retrospective at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London, in 1992, and the exhibition Structure and Expression at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1993. The latter exhibition included an installation in the museum's Sculpture Garden of Shadow Machine, a large-scale sculpture with undulating concrete "fingers." The most complete exhibition was Santiago Calatrava: Artist, Architect, Engineer at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy (2000-2001). 
Major projects that were recently inaugurated include Sondica Airport, Bilbao (2000); The Bridge of Europe, Orleans, France (2000); the Bodegas Ysios winery in Laguardia, Spain (2001); Calatrava's first building in the United States, the acclaimed expansion of the Milwaukee Art Museum (2001); the James Joyce Bridge, Dublin, Ireland (2003); and Tenerife Auditorium, Santa Cruz, Canary Islands (2003).
Among the projects that are currently coming to completion are Petach Tikvah Bridge, Tel Aviv, Israel; Quatro Ponte sul Canal Grande, Venice, Italy; Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding California; the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (summer 2004); and the Valencia Opera House (2005), the last major building in Santiago Calatrava's City of Arts and Sciences.
Recent commissions include the design of Symphony Center for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, Georgia, and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City.
Many Honors and Awards are given to Santiago Calatrava and 12 Honorary Doctorates until today.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Clean Monday's customs
The last Sunday of the Carnival season the central square of the town is filled with many happy faces, dressed as clowns, soldiers, and butterfly costumes, and this is the main attraction at this year’s Festival. 
Everyone is entering into the Spirit of Carnival, and confetti is covering as carpet the streets. Everyone is joining the Parade.
On Clean Monday the people organize outdoor excursions, consume shellfish and other lenten foods as lagana (lagana is an azymous bread), beans without oil, taramasalata (hard roe with oil and vinegar) and a sweet pie named halvas.
The wather is usually good and all around remind the beginning of the Spring season. 
When the wind is blowing slightly the kites' flying is enjoyable on Filopappou's hill, near Acropolis of Athens.
In Methoni of 
Peloponnese, instead of kites some aerostats made of paper are raised on the sky.
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