Issues in the Construction of the Scottish Parliament

Issues in the Construction of the Scottish Parliament Introduction This report intends to answer how a national iconic project turned into â€Å"a hugely expensive and politically embarrassing fiasco?† (Fortescue, 2004) by analyzing the reasons that led to delay, cost overrun and quality issue in construction of new Scottish Parliament Building. This report has utilized the researches available on the internet, auditors report and other articles available from varied sources. This report will start by introduction to the background of Scottish Parliament project and will continue by discussing the reason for delays and cost increases, role of the project management and at the end concluding the lessons learned from this project. The reason for selection of this project is that the Scottish Parliament building was estimated to be completed in  £40m but finished at over  £400m which is an interesting parameter to study (BBC, 2004). Background to the Scottish Parliament Project: After the referendum in 1997, Scottish parliament was established as a devolved legislature by Scotland Act 1998. Thereafter, Donald Dewar, Secretary of Scotland state adjudicated to have a purpose built facility to accommodate the Parliament in the Edinburgh city. After having a chaotic journey to completion, Scottish parliament Complex was inaugurated on 9 Oct 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II. Remarkable features of the complex consist of leaf-shaped buildings, flipped over boat shaped roof, a grass-roofed division meeting into adjacent parkland and gabion walls made from the stones. All over the building there are various repeated motifs. Scottish parliament is a complex building comprising of new and old buildings such as Dewar room, Canon gate building, Debating chamber, Garden lobby, MSP building, Media tower, Main hall, Tower building, and Queensberry house. All of these buildings were renovated or constructed as per Architects vision. High end materials like Granite, Cattiness Ston e, Oak Timber, Sycamore Timber, Steel Glass and Marble was used in the construction. Detailed environment and sustainability study was carried out which confirmed that propose built complex is environment friendly (Fraser, 2004). Brief summary of the Project: Road to Holyrood Site Selection: To begin with, Edinburgh City Council provided a long list of 27 sites in Edinburgh. In September 1997 officials short listed three leading options: two new build options, either at Leith or Haymarket, or adapting and developing the existing St Andrews House building (old Royal high school). At this stage, an engineer Jones Lang Wootton was engaged by the Scottish office to viably evaluate the acquisition costs of the shortlisted sites. Measurements of environmental issue and traffic issue were also considered at this point. Haymarket was never considered as preferred option and officials sensed real hostility in Edinburgh to house the Parliament anywhere except centrally thus reducing the chances of Leith (Auditor General, 2000). The Holyrood site was not considered at this stage as it was occupied by Scottish and Newcastle brewery and was anticipated that it would not be completed within the required deadline. However, an accidental meeting of a civil servant on train with an official of Newcastle and subsequent negotiations resulted in the company demonstrating that they would evacuate the site in early 1999. As a consequence, on 8th December Holyrood was short-listed, and design and cost viability studies undertaken. Davis, Langdon and Everest (DLE) , Cost Consultants were commissioned to provide initial cost estimate for proposed sites and the Holyrood site was selected in early 1998 from the shortlist based on the following cost estimate (Auditor General,2000).: Design Selection: Once, the location was finalized the Scottish Office announced an international competition to acquire a designer for a new-fangled building to accommodate the parliament through a competitive selection procedure. The competition was suitably setup with a press release on 26 January 1998. The final design teams named on 7th May 1998 providing the project cost as being in the range of  £50 million excluding VAT (Fraser, 2004). Under the chairmanship of Dewar, a design committee was allotted to choose from a shortlist of designer. Conceptual designs were cost and displayed for public to view and provide their opinion. Feedback from the public depicted that the Catalan architect Enric Miralles designs were one of the most popular. The design team considered public opinion on the designs, and on 6 July 1998 the Enric Miralles‘s design was selected, with work being awarded to a Spanish Scottish design company namely EMBT/RMJM (Scotland) Ltd, exclusively created for the project. Construction management system of procurement was adopted and BLL was appointed as construction manager. In June 1999, construction commenced, by demolishing the Scottish and Newcastle brewery and opening the foundation work (The royal society of Edinburg, 2001). Journey of Estimate: The construction of the Scottish Parliament Complex generated controversy in several aspects. Spiraling costs and the use of public capital to fund the project rendered most controversy. By early 2004, the project was estimated to be  £430m, some ten times higher. In my opinion it is not fair to compare final figure with initial figure of  £10m as it was never an estimated price but an indicative one (Fraser, 2004). Time delay and cost overrun From the beginning, the complex and its construction have been controversial. For instance, Auditor General of Scotland expressed â€Å"in the recent history of Scotland there has not been public building project as complex or as difficult to deliver as the Holyrood Project† (Prasser, S., n.d.). Almost all aspect such as location, design, architect, construction management company, project manager all have been criticized by different factions namely, politician, media and general public. Due to complexity of the project, it is very difficult to single out one reason for delay and cost overrun but infect it was compound and interaction of many factors that resulted in delay and cost overrun (Fraser, 2004). Location: Selection of Holyrood to be the seat of parliament has contributed to delay and cost overrun. Holyrood was not an easy area to work due to the approach and being located in populated area. The selection of Holyrood added  £4.5m to the project being the cost for site acquisition and clearing. As the table1.1 (Fraser, 2004) shows, according to the costing done by DLE Holyrood was not economically attractive. Design and Design Development Factor: Main cause of the delay to the project was from Sept2000 due to the production of detailed design variations and the late supply of information during the construction process (Auditor General, 2004). Construction started in June1999 but Stage D design was approved after a year. Everyone anticipated that this will put an end too uncertainly and provide some sort of anchorage for the project but it did not happen. The project was densely populated, unusual and complex and was pitted against tight deadline. In some cases, trade contractors were responsible for part design but both the architects and some trade contractors failed to deliver some critical elements on time. Design development process added another  £80m to the cost of project. It is a process of bringing approved design to detailed design. This process runs parallel to Tendering and award of work packages and subsequent work on site. From 2000 onward, client didnt change its requirements significantly but the cost of br inging envisioned design to reality escalated (Black, 2004). Increase in area: after several revisions and new requirement were incorporated, total area reached from 16000.00 m2 to 31,000.00 m2 resulting in an increase of 47% and consequently effecting schedule and cost of the project. Building users brief prepared by the authorities substantially underestimated the requirements which resulted in various revisions and thus increase in area. For instance, Mr. Stewart said that the original estimate was â€Å"absolutely, too optimistic for a public building of this nature† (Fraser, 2004). The experience and expertise in construction management was not fully developed and was not present in the early stages of development. Procurement vehicle: In 1998, Civil servants opted for fast track method known as construction management form of procurement to build the parliament complex (Fraser, 2004). It works by fragmenting complete job into several small packages that are awarded, monitored and designed independently of one another. Its advantage is that the overall design doesnt have to be complete at the start of building works. In this form of contract, risk stays with the client, which is responsible for management of each individual work package-in this case around 60. However, after keeping in mind importance and urgency of the project, construction management procurement was the only viable option available. For instance, Harry Thorburn articulated, â€Å"The reality is that construction management was the only contract option for a client wanting to make an early start on a project that was still at the design concept stage† (Fortescue, S. 2004). Communication and coordination was another issue which added to the foes of already troubled project. Fraser (2004) reports that there was a lack of communication, coordination and understanding between stakeholders, for example, resolution of many design issues was delayed due to misunderstanding and lack of communication between RMJM EMBT. Landscaping is although minor part of overall figure, still it reflects failure of system. Cost of landscaping amounting to  £ 14 m came to the surface and was added when the project was well underway during autumn 2001 (Fraser, 2004). Schedule: Time-table for completion by project management was very demanding and idealistic rather than realistic. Construction manger consistently tried to achieve the set target but failed. According to Auditor Generals report (2004), schedule set in Sept 2000 for completion by December 2002 was probably unachievable. Proper EU guidelines and procedures were not followed for appointment of Bovis Lend and Lease as construction manager. BLL was not the lowest, yet they were awarded. BLLs contract was supposed to be converted to Lump sum after finalization of cost plan but was not done. Conversion of fees would have provided a powerful incentive to Bovis to apply maximum rigor in relation to cost control. No system was devised and implemented neither for performance measurement nor for cost reporting, analysis and financial control. Queensberry House proved to be the most costly item, in terms of cost per square meter (Fraser, 2004). However, Queensberrys cost was comparatively minor in context of the full cost of the Project at completion. Golden triangle of quality time and cost was ignored and quality was preferred against time and cost, time was preferred against cost. The undue importance given to time and quality resulted in escalated cost. Security issue and 9/11 factor also played an important role in delay and spiraling cost of the project. Fraser in his inquiry agrees that security bill amounted to  £29.11. Design of anti-blast measures causes a sum of  £17.54m and delay associated with blast causes additional sum of  £11.57m. Another major factor to be recognized was constructing a very complex, unusual building, visionary architecture was difficult to bring to reality. The Debating chamber roof, for example, was an extremely challenging task both for designers and builders (Fraser, 2004). Proper risk analysis and cost management studies were not done. At the early stage of decision making, no independent professional project management company was involved to advise the client. Role of Project Management Role of Project management is to deliver the project on time, within budget and with acceptable quality (Fraser, 2004). In this case, Project management provided an exceptional complex of high quality but failed miserable in context to cost and time. Black (2004) criticized performance of the project management or officials responsible for delivering the project. Decision making process and control over project was not clearly recognized along with lack of leadership. Normally project director is responsible for leadership and control, client delegates the authority to project director to render the project. Here, project director should have had clear responsibility in making decisions on balancing time, cost and quality/performance of the project. Auditor General (2004) affirmed that the client (the Parliament) did not clearly establish leadership and control of project. Leading parties could not agree on cost plan which was a missing link in effective project management, a draft plan was made in late 2000, that was an indicator of the costs instead of available estimate of the cost. Under construction management, design was vague and deficient initially, therefore the risks remained with the client (Fig 1.1). Project management selected a high risk route but failed to manage it properly. Risk accounting was insufficient in early stages and there was no quantified allowance for risk facing the project. Initially project management did introduce a process for quantifying risk and conducted some reviews but the general approach was to accept the cost increase and increase in the forecast as risk materialized. No system or forceful action was adopted to reduce the increase in cost (Fraser, 2004). Project management did not fully implement cost reporting and financial controls. Regular reporting of the total estimated costs of the project only started in July 2003(Black, 2004). Earlier financial reporting was neither comprehensive nor systematic. Once, the overall budget constraint of  £195m was removed by Parliament in June 2001, management did not establish an alternative budget which gave them liberty to achieve high quality and tight deadlines without due considerations of cost implications (Black, 2004; Fraser 2004). Conclusion Project management plays an important role in the success of mega and prestigious projects. Construction of Scottish parliament has put a negative mark on the role of project management. Delay and cost overrun of the project cannot be attributed to the failure of project management only, Fraser (2004) in his inquiry stated that it was the result of systematic failure and it is difficult to single out one villain. Also, there were several mistakes but the biggest one was involved in Procurement system. They were interconnected, increased exponentially, and had a rippling effect which was visible all throughout the period of construction. Despite of all the problems, Scotland has got an architectural gem; its an iconic building representing the land. In few years, the people of Scotland will be as proud of it as the people of Sydney are of Opera House, which was also an example of project failure when it was built (Australian Government Department, 2006; Mosaic Projects, n.d.). The entire project should have agreed project budget and proper set of performance indicators. Proper benchmarking should be done to measure the performance. If, competition is commissioned for selection of design, proper evaluation of pre qualification must be done and compatibility of working cultures should be considered. While selecting the design, attention should be paid to cost and execution problems that may arise due to complexity of design. Procurement route must always be chosen with care coupled with comprehensive evaluation. Construction management procurement route should be used rarely for public projects. Before construction starts adequate time should be available for the planning stage. As Fraser (2004) reports that investing time initially, to develop complete definitions reduces the chance of changes later. Good planning will involve (a) right sequence of construction to avoid delays and extra costs, (b) risk management (c) using value management to evaluate the role of each element of the construction processes (Black, 2004) (d) Selection of proper planning system â€Å"There must always be sufficient time for procurement to allow the clients requirements to be adequately defined so that it may obtain fixed and firm prices for the work in a competition† (Black, 2004). In all projects, performance payment incentives system should be initiated for contractors to perform against targets for quality, time and cost. Clearly defined duties and single point of leadership with explicit authority and responsibility should be ensured. Strong system of reporting and transparent channels of communication must be devised. It is essential that full contracts, guarantees and bond should be secured to prevent the risk. Early involvement of contractors in design phase might help in solving the problems later on. Concurrent engineering should be carried out to avoid complications during execution. Safety measures needs to be a considered as an integral part. In this particular case, no one would have anticipated the impact of 9/11. So it is better to have some contingency plan in place to tackle unforeseen events. Bibliography: Auditor General (2004). ‘Management of the Holyrood building project prepared for the Auditor General for Scotland Project overview, the reason for later delivery and increased costs, project management and control. Chapters 1-5., pp 1-92. Available from: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/central/2004/nr_040629_holyrood_project.pdf [Accessed: 2nd April 2010]. Auditor General (2000). ‘The new Scottish Parliament building an examination of the management of the Holyrood building project prepared for the Auditor General for Scotland. Available from: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/central/2000/nr_000919_new_parliament_building.pdf [Accessed: 3rd April 2010]. Australian Government Department (2006). ‘Sydney Opera House Nomination by the govt of Australia. Available from: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/uploadedFiles/About_Us/Ad_Hoc_Information_Pages/WorldHeritageNominationDocument.pdf [Accessed 8th April 2010] BBC (2004). ‘Timeline: Holyrood. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3210729.stm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010]. Black, R. (2004). ‘Presentation by the Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black to the Audit Committee of the Scottish Parliament, on his report, Managing of the Holyrood building project Available from: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/docs/central/2004/nr_040629_holyrood_projec_statement_pr.pdf. [Accessed: 4th April 2010] Black R. (2004) ‘Audit Scotland. Available from: http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/publications/pdf/2004/04pf07ag.pdf [Accessed: 4th April 2010] Black R. (2004) ‘Audit committee official report 29 June 2004 Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/audit/or-04/au04-1402.htm [Accessed: 4th April 2010] Edinphoto (n.d.). ‘Scottish Parliament Complex at Holyrood. Available from: http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_buses_terminus_36_holyrood_024373.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fortescue, S. (2004). ‘The  £431 million question. Available from: http://www.pennwood.org.uk/Level%20Four/L402/Holyrood%20example.pdf [Accessed: 3rd April 2010] Fortescue, S. (2004). ‘The  £431 million question supply management. Available from: http://www.supplymanagement.com/analysis/features/2004/the-431-million-question/ [Accessed: 3rd April 2010] Fraser, R. H. L. (2004). ‘A Report by the Rt Hon Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC on his Inquiry into the About Holyrood Project. SP Paper 205. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-00.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010]. Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Events Prior to 1 May 1997. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-02.htm. [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘White Paper to the Passing of the Scotland Act 1998. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-03.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Selection of the Holyrood Site. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-04.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Appointment of the Architect Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-05.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Evolution of the Building User Brief. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-06.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Construction Management. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-07.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Appointment of the Construction Manager. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-08.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Project Management 1998 to 1 June 1999. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-09.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Project from Handover to February 2000. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-10.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Early 2000 and the Establishment of the Holyrood Progress Group. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-11.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Holyrood Project June to December 2000 -Stage D The Cost Plan. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-12.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Project from Late 2000. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-13.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Planning, Queensberry House and the Role of Historic Scotland. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-14.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Programming and Design Delay- Factual Background- Construction Manager. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-15.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘Security Issues. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-16.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Fraser, R.H.L. (2004). ‘The Holyrood Project from Autumn 2003 Onwards. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-17.htm [Accessed: 2nd April 2010] Meredith, J.R. Mantel, S.J. (2006). ‘Project management a managerial approach 6th edition. John Wiley sons, New York. Mosaic Projects (n.d.). ‘Avoiding the successful failure. Available from: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/PDF_Papers/P046_Successful_Failure.pdf [Accessed: 8th April 2010]. Prasser, S. (n.d.). ‘Parallels with Overseas Experience: The Holyrood Building Project, Scotland Overcoming the White Elephant Syndrome in Big and Iconic Projects in the Public and Private Sectors. Available from: http://epress.anu.edu.au/anzsog/imp/mobile_devices/ch05s07.html [Accessed: 4th April 2004] Project Management Institute (2004). ‘A guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge third edition (PMBOK Guides). Project Management Institute. Newtown Square. USA.:Philadelpia. Roberts, D (2003). ‘MSP says Holyrood builders are left idle Available from: http://www.scotsman.com/politics/MSP-says-Holyrood-builders-are.2459894.jp [Accessed: 4th April 2010]. Supply management.com (2004). ‘The  £431 million question. Available from: http://www.supplymanagement.com/analysis/features/2004/the-431-million-question/ [Accessed: 3rd April 2010] Scottish Parliament, (2001). ‘The Scottish Parliament building. Available from: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/pdf_res_notes/rn01-64.pdf. [Accessed: 5th April 2010] The royal society of Edinburg (2001). ‘Engineering the Scottish Parliament building. Available from: http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/events/reports/2000-2001/rae_01.pdf [Accessed: 4th April 2010] The Scottish Government (2007). ‘The government economic strategy. Available from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/202993/0054092.pdf. [Accessed: 3rd April 2010] Westland, J. (2006). ‘The Project Management Life Cycle. London: Kogan Page.

Eugene Delacroix Essay

Eugene Delacroix is a French romantic painter who lived between 1798 and 1863. He was born Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix in Charenton Saint Maurice, France on April 26, 1798. His father was Foreign Minister Charles Delacroix, although for some reasons he was assumed to be the son of Tallyrand, a famous diplomat, whom he resembles much in form and appearance. His mother had died in 1814, around nine years after the death of Charles Delacroix’s. The incident left him orphaned at the tender age of 16 year old. It as a year after that when he started his painting career. It was in 1815 when he became the pupil of a popular French painter, Pierre Narcisse Guerin and eventually entering l’Ecole des Beaux-Art in 1816. During that period in time, he had successfully produced more than 850 works and had completed numerous numbers of murals, sketches, and drawings. Prior to his education under Guerin, Eugene Delacroix early schooling was at the Lycee Louis le Grand. There is where his talents were first discovered, as he went on winning awards for his drawings during his stay in the institution. It was under Guerin though, that he had learned the neoclassical styles of Jacques Louis David. But even so, he was better influenced by the techniques of Peter Paul Rubens and a fellow French painter Theodore Gericault, as far as choice of colors and the visual impacts that his works portray. During his entire career as a painter, Delacroix had created masterpieces in the likes of Massacre at Chios, Death of Sardanapalus, Liberty Leading the People, Travel to North Africa, and The Barque of Dante, among others. In 1824, Delacroix submitted his second work in the Paris Salon exhibition, after his had submitted â€Å"Dante and Virgil in Hell† two years prior. His painting entitled â€Å"Massacre at Chios† has garnered good reviews and had caught the attention of a lot of art critics. This masterpiece depicts Greek civilians all sick and dying, while being slaughtered by the Turks. Because of this particular work, Delacroix shot up to fame and recognition to be the leading Romantic painter in all of France. His painting was the exact representation of the French sentiments during those times. The 20,000 Greeks that were suffering under the hands of the Turks, as shown in the painting, was what it takes to convey the sympathy that the French are feeling for the Greeks in their war for independence. It was the French government who get to buy his work and it had cost 6,000 francs. His other work entitled â€Å"Death of Sardanapalus† is a depiction of the death of an Assyrian king named Sardanapalus. The piece was an adaptation from the literary play that is created by Byron. This masterpiece is created with stunning colors amidst the tragic event it portrays. In the picture, the king is watching quite impassively as his guards carry out his own orders of killing animals, servants, and concubines in front of him. In the actual play though, there isn’t a reference at all to concubines being killed. It is believed that the addition of naked ladies in the painting is an exercise of Delacroix’s artistic freedom. The artwork is indeed a tragic representation of death and all its horrors, which during that time, were never drawn or painted, even in the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Aside from his notable paintings, Eugene Delacroix also associates closely with writers and playwrights that are prominent during his time. He had illustrated the many works of writers in the likes of Sir Walter Scott, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and of course William Shakespeare. Many of Delacroix’s works are portraits of people, religious subjects, and scenes drawn from history and literature. He also got to make landscapes and flower pieces, and of them made him one of the greatest artists of all time.

Humanities Today Paper Essay

Humanities are branches of knowledge that investigate human beings, their culture, and their self-expression. Distinguished from the physical and biological sciences and, sometimes, from the social sciences, the humanities include the study of languages and literatures, the arts, history, and philosophy. The modern conception of the humanities has roots in the classical Greek paideia, a course in general education dating from the fifth century BC that prepared young men for citizenship. Humanities also draw on Cicero’s humanitas, a program of training for orators set forth in 55 BC. The Renaissance humanists contrasted studia humanitatis (studies of humanity) with studies of the divine; by the 19th century the distinction was instead drawn between the humanities and the sciences (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006). The humanities are a group of academic subjects united by a commitment to studying aspects of the human condition and a qualitative approach that generally prevents a single paradigm from coming to define any discipline. The humanities are usually distinguished from the social sciences and the natural sciences and include subjects such as the classics, languages, literature, music, philosophy, the performing arts, religion and the visual arts. Other subjects at times included as humanities in some parts of the world include archaeology, area studies, communications, cultural studies and history, although these are often regarded as social sciences elsewhere (Wikipedia, 2006). Humanity in general is the experience of being human. The experience can be visual, audible or by touch. The philosophy of being human is also the aim within the general perception of humanity, thus separating the commonality understanding humanity from the personal experience of being human. The difference between the visualization of humanity and the practical application of humanity is the understanding of the critical observation of what humanity should be versus what humanity is. The larger interpretation deals with the different disciplines of science, medical and even in psychology. I do not believe that anyone can understand that the present situation globally has anything to do with humanity. For example, I do not believe that killing and raping like in Darfur or in other areas like Iraq or Iran has anything or needs much explanation if that is also humanity and if it is not, what is it? ArtThe art of painting has been said that the painter’s soul speaks within the creation of the painting. For example, Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of Mona Lisa is not proven that Mona Lisa really smiled, yet in the eyes of the soul of Leonardo DaVinci he saw this smile which leads to the conclusion that humanity has a soul which one cannot assume in contrast to an animal. In the style of surrealism, one can make the statement that the soul is talking in a language that only the painter can understand. To finish this topic of art and humanity, it is possible to say that the soul in humanity has many different faces that is only understood by the creator. The harmony or the dis-harmony to be attracted to one or the other like Ruben’s painting versus Picasso’s abstracts indicates that the resonance of the viewer is enchanted or dismayed, thus this only shows the uniqueness of the soul. MusicMusic from the viewpoint of one’s understanding of humanity is the rhythm of life. One would find oneself during the day humming this or that tune. One may not know why but one would be expressing the humming as joy. Theoritically one could ask the question, is music also the expression of the soul and if the answer is yes then why does the symphony entice some people but not all? So often one is confronted with the social expression that many people are gathered to be stimulated by the melody rather than the words. Case and point, when men have get togethers they are singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall which has nothing to do with the harmony or the expression of the soul and yet they are happy. Then the men start to come up with all kinds of variations of the song. If music is the expression of humanity or if humanity is the expression of music, then joy is the same. An opera for someone that likes opera, can be very moving in emotions. An overture can also be very moving. There are many people that like overtures and a cello concert and there are many people that like Christina Aguilera, Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash. One can see as diverse the music, so diverse is humanity’s perception of it. ArchitectureThe visualization of an architect to create a structure is based upon the landscape and the scenery that can entice the architect to think and then create. It would be interesting to understand a child that creates the architecture in the clouds and tells his or her mother to look at the castle in the sky versus an architect that see’s the scenery and skillfully builds the castle. That would be the different findings. Throughout history, one has seen different styles of architecture like Roman and Gothic. Roman architecture is round and gothic is more triangular. Looking at Baroque, we see straight lines. All those different architectural styles are the expression of humanity and humanity’s evolution. PhilosophyPhilosophy in one’s opinion is the most intriguing part of humanity. To ask a question and to not have an answer or not wanting an answer, that is philosophy. Philosophy is the purest of the interpretation of humanities which means that humanities in action is at it’s best. The progression of thinking. What does it mean when Socrates says, I know that I don’t know or Shakepeare in Hamlet who says to be or not to be. With other words, philosophy represents the capabilities of humanities. LiteratureHumanity and literature go hand-in-hand with the evolution of humans and the different societies. Ancient texts like the Bible and other writings represent the history of humankind as written words where more and more use for communication. As the Bible seems to be the representation of the history of a particular group of people like the Jews, other groups like in the Mesopotamian history became less and less a real representation of history by geographic means. Literature became more poetic. For example the Mesopotamian epic story of Gilgamesh. Throughout the evolution of humankind, technology has changed the socio-economic structure which means from hieroglyphs communicated in clay or stone tablets to the skillfull calligraphy in monasteries and the triumph of the printing press by Gutenberg. Today literature is different because reading a book in the time of internet is almost a sacrilege. In not reading books in the way that it was done in the past, society has almost no time to read complete sentences because literature has also fallen in a trap that unfortunately takes away the thinking which is the hallmark of humanity. Humanity is comprised of many different cultures. Each culture has their own set of rules for humanity. The uniqueness of literature is lost in the complexity of it’s many interpretations. Humanities are about being human. The idea is to draw connections between all the various creative movements and influences that exist in a culture at any given moment, as well as how these movements and influences have influenced what has come later and what we are experiencing now. ReferencesEncyclopedia Britannica Online (2006). Humanities. Retrieved November 2, 2006 fromhttp://www. britannica. com/ebc/article-9367537Fiero, G. (2006). The Humanistic Tradition: The European Renaissance. The Reformationand Global Encounter. Boston, Massachusetts: McGraw-Hill. Robinson, J. (2003). What is Humanities? Retrieved on November 5, 2006 fromhttp://fp. uni. edu/robinsoj/Humanities/WHAT%20IS%20HUMANITIES. htmWikipedia the free encyclopedia (n. d. ). Humanities. Retrieved November 1, 2006, fromhttp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Humanities.

Malcolm X And Controversial African American Civil Rights

Malcolm X was one of the most influential and controversial African American civil rights leader in the United States during the 1960s. In the United States, African Americans were racially segregated by Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws referred to practices and laws that served to separate African Americans from white people. The most common type of Jim Crow Laws separated black and white citizens in public places. Some of the places that separated the blacks and the whites were restaurants and theaters. States and cities were able to punish whoever broke the laws. During the 1960s, black people did not have the same rights as white people had. Malcolm X was radical as he had the conception that the only way to improve the lives of African Americans was racial separation. Malcolm X believed that it was best for the blacks to create their own society so they would not have to deal with the whites. He did not like the idea of the black people living with white people. Malcolm X remains to be a hero for many young people today. Malcolm remains as a hero and is still remembered to this day because he changed the lives of African Americans by giving them more freedom. He stood up for black people s rights and made sure they had the opportunity to voice their opinions in everything. Malcolm helped stop racism and made people s lives better. Although he made some bad decisions in life, he changed and became a huge impact in many people s lives. Early Life Malcolm X was born asShow MoreRelatedMalcolm X and the Civil Rights Movement Essay730 Words   |  3 PagesThe Civil Rights Movement includes social movements in the United States whose objective was to end racial segregation as well as discrimination against African-Americans. Civil rights are a class of rights that protects individuals freedom and ensure ones ability to participate in the civil and political life. Civil rights include the ensuring of life and safety, protection from an individual. The United States tries to get voting rights for them. The phase of the movement began in 1954 and endedRead MoreMalcolm X was a Symbol of the Civil Rights Movement1573 Words   |  6 Pagesprepare for it today.† Malcolm X The 1920’s, or the â€Å"Roaring Twenties†, was a time in American history described as the â€Å"Wild West†. Prohibition brought controversy and anarchy to the once civilized American society, with mobs and gangs at the peak of their power with leaders such as Al Capone supplying alcohol and guns to the public. This was also a time of heightened racial segregation, with boundaries being set such as only white bathrooms and schools. Malcolm (X) Little was born in thisRead MoreMalcolm X Draft 21700 Words   |  7 PagesSocial Impacts of Malcolm X The Black Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century pushed for and achieved different levels equality through its many prominent activists. Prior to the movement, millions of Black Americans faced brutal abuse and segregation with little to no government action taking place against such wrongdoings. The movement included passionate advocates for black equality such as Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. These civil and human rights activists inspiredRead More The Influence of Malcolm X on United States History Essay1639 Words   |  7 Pageswho have greatly influenced the nation, including Malcolm X. Malcolm X both positively and negatively affected American society. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history, while being a tremendous public speaker and human rights activist, specifically advocating for the rights of African Americans. 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African Americans were fortunate to have outstanding leaders who fought for a difference and change duri ng the Civil Rights movement. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two powerful individuals who gave hope to African Americans and oppressed people in the United States. They are both well known individuals for their Civil Rights protesting. Martin LutherRead MoreMalcolm X Essay855 Words   |  4 PagesMalcolm X was one of the most prominent and controversial leaders during the civil rights era of the 1950’s and 1960’s. By the early 1960’s he had grown frustrated with the non violent, integrated struggle for civil rights and worried that blacks would ultimately lose control of their own movement. Malcolm X was a key spokesman for the nation of Islam, epitomized the â€Å"Black Power† philosophy. 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Many famous African Americans, from musicians to authors and leaders to entertainers, sprouted from the influence of this period. Two strong leaders from this era were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr. made a bigger impact on the population than Malcolm X because of his speeches, beliefs, direct and p eaceful activitiesRead MoreMalcolm X Assassination Essay808 Words   |  4 Pages Mr.Cheney 9th Grade Literature December 7th 2017 The Unjust Assassination of Malcolm X At the young age of 39, Malcolm X was assassinated by Thomas Hagan in cold blood. In Washington Heights, New York City , NY in the Audubon Ballroom(Malcolm X Assassinated), he was shot 15 times at point blank range. The date of February 21, 1965 signified the Nation of Islams, once great leader’s fall. Although Malcolm X was seen as dangerous because of his disagreement to non violent protest, his Assassination