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Ninth Congress of UIA in Prague
THE ninth bi-annual Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) is to be held in Prague from July 3 to 7. 1967. Its theme will be "Architecture and the Environment", and congress members will discuss aspects of this theme in one of the following five working groups:
1. The organisation of the settlement pattern 2. The historical heritage and the present
3. The living environment
4. Industry and the working environment 5. Man and the landscape.
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Simultaneous interpretation will be arranged in the four working languages of the UIA English, French, Spanish and Russian. A meeting of women architects will be held on the morning of July 2. The congress will be fol- lowed by a week of tours including a 'town planning day' in Bratislava on July 11.
The congress secretariat is: Czechoslovak Section of the UIA. Union of Architects of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. Letenska 5. Praha 1 Mala Strana. Czechoslovakia.
Bridge and Structural Engineering Symposium
DESIGN Philosophy and its Application to Precast Con- crete Structures is the theme of a symposium to be held from May 22 to 24, 1967 in London, by the International Association for Bridge
and Structural Engineering
(IABSE).
There will be four technical sessions on the follow- ing subjects: Basic criteria concerning overall stability, including dynamic effects (General reporter: Mr. P. É. Malmstrom. Denmark): Special design problems loads and forces, joints, effects of shrinkage and creep (General reporter: Professor G. Oberti, Italy); Construction pro- blems and the use of special materials (General reporters: Mr J. Despeyroux, France); Recommendations for codes of practice, tolerances and standardization (General re- porter: Mr. T. J. Griffiths, United Kingdom).
The symposium will cover the design of building and civil engineering structures, but will not include pure architectural considerations. Further information is avail- able from The Cement and Concrete Association, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.1.
Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral Almost Complete
LIVERPOOL'S new Roman Catholic Cathedral, is to be consecrated next month, almost five years after work began on the site.
Designed by Frederick Gibberd and Partners and erected by Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd., the conical building comprises 16 reinforced concrete trusses forming a circular nave in the centre of which is a high altar. with the congregation grouped around on three sides. The roof supported by the trusses is developed into a tapering tower filled with coloured glass and concrete and this in turn is surmounted by pinnacles.
Eight small chapels are housed in independent stone-
Far East Architect & Builder April, 1967
Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral
faced buildings standing between the trusses and separated from them by stained glass windows. A free-standing entrance porch and bell tower gives the circular plan direc- tion and provides an introductory space to the nave.
The whole 270 ft. high structure is raised above the rocky site on a podium which provides two-level vehi- cular/pedestrian segregation. Externally only white and pale grey colours are used to contrast with the dark tones of the glass and bronze doors and windows.
The cost of the building, which incorporates over 2.500 precast concrete units, was about £2.5 million.
Hollow Core of 21-storey Block is Air Conditioned
THE Roman atrium has been adopted in the design of a new 21-storey hotel at Atlanta, Georgia. A rectangular block, its hollow core is roofed over and completely air conditioned, with landscaping at lobby level. Inner balconies overlooking the courtyard serve as corridors to guest rooms and each room has a private outside balcony.
Another unusual feature of the courtyard is a bank of five lifts riding on the outside of a shaft on the south wall. Each lift cab is a plexiglass bubble that affords the passenger a spectacular view as he goes to or from his
room.
Some 75ft, above the roof of the hotel is a circular lounge with an inner platform that rotates at the rate of one revolution an hour. The lounge sits on a pedestal and is served by two of the main lifts.
Architects for the hotel, which is known as Regency Hyatt House, are Edwards and Portman, of Atlanta.
Atlanta hotel, showing exposed lift shaft
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