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Amber Room
- lovegrenoble 1y agoThe reconstruction of 8 wonder of the World is splendid
- comrade1234 1y agoI know it's supposed to be beautiful but to me it just looks like a gaudy mess. An assault on my eyes.
- realo 1y agoIt is most likely something you need to experience in real life in order to appreciate the beauty. The smell alone must be amazing.
- esafak 1y agoIt's the maximalist aesthetic. You probably prefer minimalism. Does anyone know a monarch that eschewed the opulent trappings of his/her ancestors in favor of minimalism?
- jasomill 1y agoSort of a special case, but the (current) Dalai Lama?
- adolph 1y agoSiddhartha Gautama
- riffraff 1y agotechnically a monarch: Pope Francis, famously kept his silver cross and made a big contrast with the more grandiose style of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
- jiggawatts 1y agoAtilla the Hun. See: https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/priscus.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/priscus.html?utm_so...
- kiliantics 1y agoWouldn't really be to my taste either but this whole story just reminded me of how much more interestingly the wealthy used to spend their money. What legacies of high craftsmanship will be left by Musk and Bezos and their ilk? The rich seem to have collectively decided to no longer value good taste. And I believe this has downstream effects on the aesthetics of everyday things for the average person too. It seems the average person will never again enjoy public works projects that are aesthetically beautiful, like say the Brooklyn Bridge or New York Public Library. All the craftsmen required to build such things no longer exist because the wealthy do not employ them.
- pixl97 1y agoI mean Musk is a somewhat bad example as the rocket engines SpaceX developed are high craftsmanship to the point their competitors said the engines were impossible.
- bitlax 1y agoname checks out
- NoboruWataya 1y agoI'm not sure I know anyone who would choose to decorate their home this way; I think that level of opulence is very much "of its time". Currently minimalism and "quiet luxury" are more in vogue. But IMO it is still possible to admire it as a passer-by. If nothing else it is a fascinating piece of history.
- brians 1y agoWhat an amazing construction. It reminds me of a story from the metallurgist who visited the Breakers, the elaborate mansion complex of the Vanderbilt family, and on a tour was shown the Morning Room. The guide said the brilliant silver-white walls were silver plate. “How do you keep it from tarnishing?” He asked. The guide didn’t know, so the scientist asked for permission to test it. Stories vary on whether he tested it or someone stopped him before taking a sample, but all agree on the technology used: that’s not silver. They coated an entire room with platinum.
- PortlandICEOps 1y ago[dead]
- tetromino_ 1y agoI find it extraordinary that it took only 10 years for early 18th century craftsmen to make it, but it required 24 years to reconstruct despite having access to late 20th century tools and technology.
- p1esk 1y agoWhat late 20th century tools and technology were used to reconstruct it that weren’t available during its construction?
- tetromino_ 1y agoI don't know any details. But off the top of my head, I can think of: - photography and modern printing, making it vastly easier to distribute high-quality copies of reference images to craftsmen - electric lights, allowing work to be done at any time of day and year (extremely important factor in Northern Europe!) - thermostats, allowing optimal heat/humidity for amber work at any time of year - electric-driven tools (drills, saws, polishing equipment, etc.) - better and faster-drying adhesives and paint - personal protective equipment (e.g. masks and goggles), allowing craftsmen to work longer continuous hours without risking their health - higher-quality and more ergonomic measuring instruments - better and vastly more ergonomic optical equipment (jeweler loupes, microscopes, etc.) ... and there's probably lots more
- antisthenes 1y agoLots of nice guesses that don't make a lot of sense after a more careful analysis. > - photography and modern printing, making it vastly easier to distribute high-quality copies of reference images to craftsmen Likely less than 0.1% of actual work to be done > - thermostats, allowing optimal heat/humidity for amber work at any time of year If this wasn't necessary during the original construction, why would it speed up reconstruction? > - electric-driven tools (drills, saws, polishing equipment, etc.) Given how fine the details are, it's unlikely that anything but manual labor and hand tools were used. > - better and faster-drying adhesives and paint One of the features of the room is that it's made from materials that don't require paint, e.g. it is natural amber and gold plating (or solid gold?). Not sure about adhesives, you may have a point there. > - personal protective equipment (e.g. masks and goggles), allowing craftsmen to work longer continuous hours without risking their health There's nothing much hazardous about gold or amber. > - better and vastly more ergonomic optical equipment (jeweler loupes, microscopes, etc.) The details are fine, but not that fine. We're not making the smallest wrist-watch in the world here. This is evident from wiki pictures.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- moralestapia 1y ago>but divers subsequently discovered that the crates on the ship contained military equipment and personal belongings Riiiiiiighhhht ...