Joseph Urban, From Palm Beach to New York City

Joseph Urban, From Palm Beach to New York City Trained as an architect, Joseph Urban may be best known today for his elaborate theater designs. In 1912 he moved to the United States from Austria to create sets for the Boston Opera Company. By 1917, as a naturalized US citizen, he had shifted his attentions to New York and the Metropolitan Opera. Urban went on to become scenic designer for the Ziegfeld Follies. The extravagant theatricality of his scenic designs made Urban a perfect fit to create some of the opulent architecture in Palm Beach, Florida before Americas Great Depression. Born: May 26, 1872, Vienna, Austria Died: July 10, 1933, New York City Full Name: Carl Maria Georg Joseph Urban Education: 1892: Akademie der bildenden KÃ ¼nste (Academy of Fine Arts), Vienna Selected Projects: 1904: Austrian Pavilion, St. Louis Worlds Fair (received Gold Medal)1904-1914: Set designs throughout Europe1911-1914: Boston Opera Company, set designs1917-1933: Metropolitan Opera of New York, set designs1926: Bath and Tennis Club, Palm Beach, Florida1927: Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, with Marion Sims Wyeth (1889-1982)1927: Paramount Theatre, Palm Beach, Florida1927: Ziegfeld Theatre, New York City (demolished in 1966)1928: Bedell Department Store, 19 West 34th Street, New York City1928: International Magazine Building (Hearst Building), New York City, with George B. Post- 78 years later, in 2006, Norman Fosters Tower was built on top (view photo)1930: New School for Social Research, New York City Art and Architecture Together: Joseph Urban designed interiors like an architect, incorporating skyscraper-like setbacks and Classical Greek columns into theatrical scenic designs. For Urban, art and architecture were two pencils with one point. This total work of art is called Gesamtkunstwerk, and its long been a working philosophy throughout central Europe. In the 18th Century, Bavarian stucco master Dominikus Zimmermann created Wieskirche as a total work of art; German architect Walter Gropius combined the Arts with Crafts in his Bauhaus School curriculum; and Joseph Urban turned theatre architecture inside out. Early Influences: Otto WagnerAdolf Loos Making Connections: Actress Marion Davies was a Ziegfeld girl while Urban, too, worked on sets for Florenz Ziegfeld. Davies also was the mistress of the powerful publisher, William Randolph Hearst. Its been widely reported that Davies introduced Hearst to Urban, who then designed the monumental International Magazine Building. Why is Urban Important? Urbans importance lay in his virtually unprecedented use of color, his introduction to American theater of many of the techniques and principles of the New Stagecraft, and his architectural sensibility at a time when most stage designers came from a background or training in visual art.- Professor Arnold Aronson, Columbia University Some of his buildings, like the New School for Social Research on West 12th Street in Manhattan, are good enough to be considered critical early works of modernism in America. Many others, like his extravagant house in Palm Beach for Marjorie Merriwether Post, Mar-a-Lago, if not as important theoretically, are spectacular visual triumphs....To look at Urbans work today is to be awed at the ease with which he worked in all kinds of styles, from the Vienna Secession of his early years to the International Style modernism and monumental classicism of his final years.- Paul Goldberger, 1987 Learn More: International Magazine BuildingJoseph Urban by John Loring, Abrams Publisher, 2010Joseph Urban: Architecture, Theatre, Opera, Film by Randolph Carter, Abbeville Press, 1992 Sources: Joseph Urban entry by Paul Louis Bentel, The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 31, Jane Turner, ed., Grove Macmillan, 1996, pp. 702-703; Architect of Dreams: The Theatrical Vision of Joseph Urban by Arnold Aronson, Columbia University, 2000; Joseph Urban Stage Design Models Documents Stabilization Access Project, Columbia University; Private Clubs, Palm Beach and Architects of the Boom Bust, Historical Society of Palm Beach County; At the Cooper-Hewitt, Designs of Joseph Urban by Paul Goldberger, The New York Times, December 20, 1987; Hearst Magazine Building Designation Report by Janet Adams, Landmarks Preservation Commission, (PDF) [accessed May 16, 2015]

Sunbird Facts (Family Nectariniidae)

Sunbird Facts (Family Nectariniidae) Sunbirds are tropical nectar-sipping birds belonging to the family Nectariniidae. Some members of the family are called spiderhunters, but all are considered to be sunbirds. Like unrelated hummingbirds, they feed primarily on nectar. However, most sunbirds have curved bills and perch to feed rather than hover like hummingbirds. Fast Facts: Sunbird Scientific Name: NectariniidaeCommon Names: sunbird, spiderhunterBasic Animal Group: BirdSize: Less than 4 inchesWeight: 0.2-1.6 ouncesLifespan: 16-22 yearsDiet: OmnivoreHabitat: Southeast Asia, Africa, northern AustraliaPopulation: Stable or decreasingConservation Status: Least Concern to Endangered Species The Nectariniidae family consists of 16 genera and 145 species. All birds in the family are sunbirds, but those in the genus Arachnothera are called spiderhunters. The spiderhunters are distinct from other sunbirds in that they are larger and both sexes have the same dull brown plumage. Description Sunbirds are small, slender birds measuring less than 4 inches in length. The smallest sunbird is the black-bellied sunbird, which weighs about 5 grams or 0.2 ounces. The largest sunbird is the spectacled spiderhunter, which weighs 45 grams or 1.6 ounces. Generally, males are larger than females and have longer tails. Most members of the family have long, downward-curved bills. Except for the spiderhunters, sunbirds are strongly sexually dimorphic. Males often have brilliant iridescent plumage, while females tend to be duller or different colors than males. Some species have distinctive juvenile and seasonal plumage. Male and female sunbirds may have very different plumage colors. Irtiza7 / Getty Images Habitat and Distribution Sunbirds live in tropical forests, inland wetlands, savannas, and scrubland in Africa, southern Asia, the Middle East, and northern Australia. They tend not to favor coasts or islands. Some species migrate seasonally, but only a short distance. They are found from sea level to 19,000 feet of elevation. Some species have adapted to live near human habitation in gardens and agricultural land. Diet For the most part, sunbirds feed on flower nectar. They eat from orange and red tubular flowers and are important pollinators for these species. A sunbird dips its curved bill into a flower or else pierces its base and then sips nectar using a long, tubular tongue. Sunbirds also eat fruit, small insects, and spiders. While hummingbirds hover to feed, sunbirds land and perch on flower stalks. Behavior Sunbirds live in pairs or small groups and are active during the daytime. They aggressively defend their territories from predators and (during the breeding season) other bird species. Sunbirds tend to be talkative birds. Their songs consists of rattles and metallic-sounding notes. Reproduction and Offspring Outside of the equatorial belt, sunbirds breed seasonally, usually during the wet season. Birds that live near the equator may breed any time of year. Most species are monogamous and territorial. A few species engage in lekking, where a group of males gather to put on a courtship display to attract females. Female sunbirds use spiderwebs, leaves, and twigs to build purse-shaped nests and suspend them from branches. However, spiderhunter nests are woven cups attached beneath large leaves. The female lays up to four eggs. Except for spiderhunters, only sunbird females incubate the eggs. Purple sunbird eggs hatch after 15 to 17 days. Male sunbirds help rear the nestlings. Sunbirds live between 16 and 22 years. Olive-backed female sunbird with chicks. Paul T Photography / Getty Images Conservation Status The IUCN classifies most sunbird species as least concern. Seven species are threatened with extinction and the elegant sunbird (Aethopyga duyvenbodei) is endangered. Populations are either stable or decreasing. Threats Threats to the species include habitat loss and degradation from deforestation and human encroachment. The scarlet-chested sunbird is considered an agricultural pest, as it spreads parasitic mistletoe in cocoa plantations. Although sunbirds are stunningly beautiful, they are not typically captured for the pet trade because of their specific nutritional needs. Sources BirdLife International 2016. Aethopyga duyvenbodei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22718068A94565160. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22718068A94565160.enBirdLife International 2016. Cinnyris asiaticus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22717855A94555513. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22717855A94555513.enCheke, Robert and Clive Mann. Family Nectariniidae (Sunbirds). In del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Editions. pp. 196–243. 2008. ISBN 978-84-96553-45-3.Flower, Stanley Smyth. Further notes on the duration of life in animals. IV. Birds. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, Ser. A (2): 195–235, 1938. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1938.tb07895.xJohnson, Steven D. The pollination niche and its role in the diversification and maintenance of the southern African flora. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 365 ( 1539): 499–516. 2010. doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0243