firmament, multiculturalism, go up in smoke, smoke and mirrors, flippant, down-and-out smokestack to a cultural oasis, cruise."Bowing out gracefully is a rare thing in the starchitect firmament"

Frank Gehry

Carlos Salazar Fraile  · 16分鐘  · 

DEZEEN.COM

"Bowing out gracefully is a rare thing in the starchitect firmament"

Architecture has a long tradition of famous figures working well into their old age but sometimes it's best to know when to stop, writes Catherine Slessor.

所有心情：

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“I am just the same. But behind this sameness, I secretly scatter my personal firmament with stars and therein create my own infinity.”

— The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa

The Man has the size of his dream.

Last weekend’s shootings in Copenhagen seemed to imitate those that took place in Paris a month earlier. To outsiders, it may seem surprising that such a row began in Denmark, which many picture as a free-thinking oasis. For years, even liberal Danish politicians have been calling multiculturalism a “failure”. Why? The Economist explains http://econ.st/1JtT1bV

Last night the House narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion federal budget agreement to fund the government through most of next year. But this budget has a few questionable odds and ends lurking in its 1,600 pages. One provision in particular has many in Washington, DC, wondering whether the city’s plan to legalise small amounts of marijuana is about to go up in smoke http://econ.st/1xatoq6

What it takes to keep world's largest cruise ship afloat

The Oasis of the Seas can carry 6,300 passengers and about 2,300 crew members, requiring 700 tons of supplies, 80,000 beers and careful planning.

New York is one of the world’s great drinking cities, and I raise a glass of Red Hook Rye that it will always be so. But America grew up as a drinking country, and it was once possible to come across as talented a barkeep in St. Louis, Chicago or Denver as could be found on lower Broadway. While it sometimes seems the country has become one massive expanse of big box stores, chain restaurants and strip malls, it’s reassuring to see that these drinker’s oases are not only surviving, but thriving. New York remains the shining star in America’s mixological firmament, but the clouds are clearing and the glittering expanse of the country’s boozy Milky Way is once more coming into view.

go up in smoke

firmament

ˈfəːməm(ə)nt/

noun

literary

1. the heavens or sky.

   "thunder shakes the firmament"

straw

1

informal Be destroyed by fire:three hundred tons of straw went up in smoke

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

1.1(Of a plan) come to nothing:more than one dream is about to go up in smoke

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

“Over time, we re-evaluate his attitude, demeanor, what he says, where he is,” Ms. Ra says, “all to reflect the times and also be reflective of consumer attitudes.”

For example, “he was once flippant and made a lot of jokes,” she adds, “but he was softened up a bit now.”

“Most recently, Honda wanted to make him more real,” Mr. Ra says, adding that “he’s not interacting with other individuals now” and the car on sale in each ad is “highlighted more than he is.”

Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

flippant

IN BRIEF: Having a light, pert, trifling disposition.

 The student had a very flippant attitude when the assignment was turned in late.

down-and-out Show phonetics
adjective
having no luck, no money and no opportunities:
a down-and-out loser
Nobody loves you when you're down and out.

down-and-out Show phonetics
noun [C] UK

smokestack industry noun [C] MAINLY US

traditional industries that produce large machines or materials used in other industries and create a lot of pollution in doing so:
There's been a steady decline in smokestack industries such as shipbuilding and steel.oasis Show phonetics
noun plural oases
1 [C] a place in a desert where there is water and therefore plants and trees and sometimes a village or town

2 [S] a calm, pleasant place in the middle of somewhere busy and unpleasant:
Her office was an oasis of peace and sanity amid the surrounding chaos.

oasis1Line breaks: oasis

Pronunciation: /əʊˈeɪsɪs

  

/

NOUN (plural oases /-siːz/)

1A fertile spot in a desert, where water is found:a country of oases and burning desert sands

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCESSYNONYMS

1.1A pleasant or peaceful area or period in themidst of a difficult or hectic place or situation:the park is an oasis of calm in the centre of the city

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2(Oasis) [MASS NOUN] trademark A type of rigid foam into which the stems of flowers can be secured in flowerarranging:cover the ball of Oasis with leaves and moss

MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES

Origin

early 17th century: via late Latin from Greek, apparently of Egyptian origin.

匹茲堡再興的規劃設計之功

看紐約時報周末遊匹茲堡的14張投影片
懷念請過世的哲人 Herbert Simon
先生在該市住了五十來年
所以在回憶錄中大談其建築之美
在"人工科學"中討論其城市再興的規劃設計之功

A Weekend in Pittsburgh

The city has undergone a striking renaissance from a down-and-out smokestack to a cultural oasis.