Between Silence and Light essays

Between Silence and Light essays Architecture is a meeting place between the measurable and the unmeasurable. The art of design is not only rooted in the aesthetic form, but in the soul of the work. In Phenomena and Idea, Stephen Holl once wrote, " The thinking-making couple of architecture occurs in silence. Afterward, these "thoughts" are communicated in the silence of phenomenal experiences. We hear the "music" of architecture as we move through spaces while arcs of sunlight beam white light and shadow." Undoubtedly, Holl adopted this concept from its author, Louis I. Kahn. Unquestionably, I am referring to "Silence and Light", a concept created and nurtured by Khan, and one that dominated the later half of his work. Kahn had chosen the word Silence to define the unmeasurable or that which has not yet come to be. According to Khan, the unmeasurable is the force that propels the creative spirit toward the measurable, to the Light. When the inspired has reached that which is, that which known, he has reached the Light. Eloquently expressing the architect's passion for design, Khan wrote "Inspiration is the of feeling at the beginning at the threshold where Silence and Light meet. Silence, the unmeasurable, desire to be. Desire to express, the source of new need, meets Light, the measurable, giver of all presence, by will, by law, the measure of thing already made, at a threshold which is inspiration, the sanctuary of art, the treasury of shadow." Khan believed that in order for architectural theory to be credible, it had to be constructed. Thirty years ago, Khan began one of his most successful executions of the Silence and Light with the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy. This New Hampshire landmark physically illustrates and ideologically embodies many of Khan's concepts and incorporates many of his beliefs, synthesizing them into a tight little package with a powerful punch. The subtleties of materiality coupled with multiple plays of light truly e...

Why has Nucor performed so well in the past Essays

Why has Nucor performed so well in the past Essays Why has Nucor performed so well in the past Paper Why has Nucor performed so well in the past Paper The following section discusses the reasons that Nucor has been able to perform so well in the past. It examines the internal and external (industry) factors impacting success. Industry Analysis This section examines industry forces using Porters Five Forces Analysis (See Appendix 1). Porters Analysis illustrates that both Industry Competition and Barrier to Entry are HIGH. Threat of Substitutes and Buyer Power are Medium and Supplier Power is Low (See Appendix 1 for detailed analysis). However, even in the face of such stable and fiercely competitive market, Nucor was continually able to maintain its strong position within the industry. Thus we now look to Nucors internal characteristics as a source for competitive advantage. Internal Analysis This section compares Nucors superior resources and capabilities to its competitors, and discusses how it has exploited them for competitive advantage. Resources Capabilities * Strong Financials Resources with forecasted growth in cash flows further strengthening its investment or borrowing capacity. * Pioneering technology and technical sophistication in Thin Slab casting * Critical Mass of existing Mills and geographic locations in proximity to customer base. * Its reputation, brand equity and relationships with suppliers within the industry. * Its large existing customer base. * Its highly motivated workforce, build through a series of performance goals and high powered performance incentives (Nucor Case, 1990) * Lower cost production through pioneering technology. * Technological Superiority for greater efficiency in volume production * Rapid supply to assist in low inventory levels for customers. * Extensive experience in building Mini Mills efficiently * Consistent investment in maintaining capacity of production. * Long Term experience and success in the industry. * Lean, flat, decentralised organisational structure for rapid decision making. Michael Porters resource-based view suggests that the key to profitability is not through doing the same as other firms, but rather exploiting differences (Grant,2002). Aside from strong financial resources, Nucor understood its greatest resource was is its people. It utilised a combination of non unionised workforce, incentive systems, training and decentralised decision making to ensure the more effective is (was) to communicate with employees and the greater autonomy they had to make rapid and effective decisions (Nucor Case, 1990). This lowered production costs and improved employee productivity. In addition, Nucor had other significant resources at its disposal such as modern technology, advantageous locations, cheaper and more co-operative labour, entrepreneurial management, and narrow product lines, that let them wrest away share from integrated steel makers in the segments they served (Nucor Case, 1990). Nucor also demonstrated superior capabilities by effectively using its resources to develop efficiencies in volume production, and bring products to market more cheaply and more quickly than its competitors. There were three components to this capability. Firstly, Nucor utilised combination of research and development activities that refined speed and efficiency of the production process. Nucor had invested steadily and heavily in upgrading its capacity, old as well as new, (Nucor Case, 1990) and leveraged this capability to lower production time and costs. In addition, Nucor was consistently able to defend itself against substitutes through its cost reduction capabilities and lower prices. Secondly, Nucor was able to lower its investment/construction costs using their extensive experience in building and remodeling Mini Mills in ways other firms were unable to emulate. Nucor designed and built plants concurrently, reducing engineering costs to 2% of total costs, from the industry standard of 10%. With this experience, Nucor was able to make adjustments on the fly, and reduce time to project completion, thus providing positive cash-flows more quickly. Finally, it had speed of delivery to customers and suppliers by locating mills in similar geographic regions. Nucor was able to leverage these competencies to create sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. From a positional advantage (Porter, 2000) perspective, Nucor used its resources and capabilities for cost advantage. It was able to utilise its superior MM technology to lower its cost structure by taking advantage of the declines in integrated steel makers demand for scrap and eliminating coke ovens and blast furnaces (Nucor Case, 1990). No other competitor in the industry has used this focus to create value for its customers and superior profits for itself as Nucor had. Nucor was the low cost leader in the market. With this unique combination of resources and capabilities, Nucors distinctive competencies enabled high levels of innovation and efficiency in Mini-Mill (MM) production technologies. Such technology had the effect of reducing the minimal efficient scale of production from millions of tons to hundreds of thousands of tons, or less (Nucor Case, 1990) as well as reducing the capital cost per ton of capacity by a factor of 10.

Sucess and Misery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sucess and Misery - Essay Example These challenges include becoming a success or failure in terms of academic achievements or the ability of a child to become strongly involved in sports activities. (pp. 16 – 17) When a child becomes unsuccessful in either school or sports activities, they tend to develop a self-inferiority complex as they grow old even if they have very supportive parents (p. 16). There are also cases wherein some children may not experience financial problems because their parents are able to financially support his/her material needs. However, not all of these children are able to enjoy a good family life since their parents need to spend more time on career rather than spending time on them. On the contrary, some children can experience having supportive parents but failed to enjoy the benefit of having excessive monetary wealth. The childhood experience of each person has something to do with their ability to balance having a good career and a family life. Normally, children who had experienced having a good childhood and family life are the ones with a greater chance of being able to maintain a successful family life when they get married. Some people are unsuccessful when it comes to balancing a successful career and a good family life. As a result of staying focus on career growth, some people could be experiencing enormous success with his or her professional life but remains empty in terms of being able to maintain a good relationship with a special someone or build a long-term happy family (p. 3). It is not a very bad thing to become successful in business or having a stable profession. However, the consequences of spending too much time on career development is so great that we tend to lose our relationship and attachment with our love ones. As an end result, a married man can have uncontrollable family and relationship problems which may have started from the absence of regular communication and quality time with the wife and children. Eventually, a successful