From the architect. For many decades now, excavations at the complex of Palaeolithic (the period of mammoth hunters) settlements have unearthed a huge number of stone and bone tools and artwork, as well as the skeletal remains of anatomically modern humans. This puts Pavlov and Dolní Věstonice high on the list of the world’s leading archaeological sites. The site reminds us of a past historic age and is both part of the universal cultural heritage and a symbolic integral element of the local culture, fundamentally forming a relationship between the local population and the region. It has embodied cultural values that the local population takes pride in and establishes their relation to the country.
This outstanding and attractive architecture and exhibition covers an area in excess of 500 m2 and combines contemporary audiovisual technology with traditional museum displays. It allows the public to become acquainted with the most important discoveries that scientific research has uncovered here. In addition to photographs and documents that detail the history of the various digs at these sites, the museum will also display the actual finds and explain the spiritual world of these ancient people. Special emphasis will be placed on topics such as hunting, the everyday life of hunters, their art, and their burial rituals, as well as other aspects of their world.
The Archeopark has a delicate location in the sense of broader urbanistic considerations. It is located on the border between the village boundary and the open countryside and forms part of the Pálava hills’ impressive scenery. The majority of the construction is situated underground, with just the white concrete towers projecting above ground.
The architectonic solution is based on the location’s conditions and formed according to three principal aspects:
1.The construction site is part of a national cultural monument, limiting construction to the area already archaeologically excavated and researched, with the only exception being the “in situ” exposition.
2.We assumed the archaeological excavations are located 4–5 meters under the current terrain.
3.The construction site is part of a protected landscape area (PLA).
Based on these aspects, the concept of an underground construction arose together with the loose paraphrase of “limestone rocks standing out from green meadows and vineyards”.
The main exhibition area—as well as the administrative, technical and social areas—is hidden in the hillside. The skylight tower projects to the exterior, as does the conical entrance and the look-outs to Děvičky and the lake below. The intention is for the building to be reminiscent of the shape of a cave. Regarding the materials, up-to-date means are used to express monolithic reliefs with concrete, oak wood and glass.
The entrance area is defined by gabion walls and forms when entering the Archeopark. This zone is multifunctional: It could be used also for open-air activities, such as theatre performances or further background for archaeological works.
This open-air landscape project accommodates spatial and functional use of the area while subtly contributing to the scenery under the Děvín hill.
School’s back in session and a new season of learning has begun. But for entrepreneurs, the learning never ends. And it starts from the very beginning when you’re faced with choosing the legal structure for your business.
Selecting the right legal structure—sole proprietor, LLC (Limited Liability Company), S-Corporation, or C-Corporation—affects multiple aspects of your business. From liability protection to taxes to ongoing compliance requirements, you need to study up on the options so you’ll know enough to make the right choice.
For many small businesses, the LLC structure offers a lot of advantages. So I’m going to give you a head start on your homework and share more about it here.
Protection of personal assets – Because the LLC is a legitimate corporate entity, it provides a degree of separation between your personal assets and those of your business. In the event of legal action against your company, your home, family car, your kids’ college funds, and other personal property will be protected. This is a big advantage over running your business as a sole proprietorship.
Easy breezy – With an LLC, you’ll have less formation paperwork and ongoing compliance requirements to haggle with than you would with an S-Corporation or C-Corporation. You don’t have to create a board of directors, create annual reports, hold annual shareholders meetings, or deal with the other formalities that come with incorporating your business. Got an aversion to complexity? Then the LLC may be the right choice for you.
Taxation flexibility – As an LLC, you may opt to have your taxes treated as though you’re an S-Corporation or have your business profits pass through to your personal federal income tax return.
With S-Corporation tax treatment, self-employment taxes (FICA and Medicare) are only applied to salaries and wages, not distributions paid to you or other LLC members. If you choose pass-through tax treatment, your business’s profits and losses get passed to your members’ personal tax returns. So if your business isn’t profitable, you’ll lower your personal income tax obligation.
Professional Cred – With “LLC” following your company name, you have some added credibility in the eyes of customers, prospects, vendors, and the business community. Not that you wouldn’t be taken seriously as a sole proprietor, but forming an LLC can help instill confidence and trust.
While there aren’t many downsides to operating as an LLC, the structure isn’t right for everyone.
Possible confusion over roles and responsibilities – If your LLC has multiple members, you may clash over who should be doing what and who is authorized to make certain decisions. Unlike the S-Corporation and C-Corporation, roles aren’t specifically defined. With an Operating Agreement, however, you can avoid the shades of gray and clearly define roles and responsibilities.
Sting of self-employment tax – While pass-through tax treatment may benefit you, it could instead work against you. If you don’t select S-Corporation tax treatment, all profits will flow to your personal income tax return and get hit with the social security and Medicare taxes. Depending on your situation, that could result in more tax than if you’d be taxed as a corporation.
Challenge to grow – Unlike with S-Corporations and C-Corporations, LLCs don’t sell stock. With no shareholders as a source for generating funds, you may find it challenging to grow your business as quickly or to the degree you’d like.
As you can see, forming an LLC offers a number of upsides, but don’t ignore the downsides. Choosing the legal structure for your company will be one of the key decisions you’ll make when starting a business. I recommend learning all you can about the options before you select which one is right for you. So study up! And ask both legal and accounting professionals for guidance in the process to ensure you’ve done all the homework necessary to decide what’s best for your business.
RELATED: 6 Easy Steps to Incorporating Your Business
The post Back to School, Back to Basics: Could the LLC Structure Be a Smart Choice for Your Business? appeared first on AllBusiness.com
The post Back to School, Back to Basics: Could the LLC Structure Be a Smart Choice for Your Business? appeared first on AllBusiness.com. Click for more information about Nellie Akalp.
London Design Festival 2016: Studio Furthermore injected sponge and foam with porcelain to create this collection of vessels (+ slideshow). (more…)
You’re reading The Powerful Morning Habits You Should Steal From Highly Successful People, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Getting up early with the sunrise or even before is considered a must for successful people. Simply ask the boss of your boss, any politician or professional and the answer you would get is that they all wake up at the crack of dawn. This allows them to gain a leg up on anyone who gets up late.
Many find it hard to resist and prefer to snooze till 9 a.m. at least. Creating a routine and sticking to it requires stamina and willpower – the key traits of any powerful individual. You may not think so, but your self-discipline is really strong in the mornings as later in the day you can get exhausted and therefore other priorities like resting and eating arise. Hold off the snoozing and read through our tips to adopt morning habits to guarantee a productive day!
The things you have to do are quite easy when you think about it. Try not to focus on the fact that this is done early in the morning but on the actual tasks. In the first days, it helps a lot.
We would like to particularly focus on several key steps without which no successful person starts their morning. They are easy to follow, and most highly successful people follow them.
Yes, there is that extra hour in a day. But you’ve simply overslept it every time. This extra hour gives you time to adjust and think about the upcoming day. The research shows that early risers relatively more optimistic, and they also foresee problems and find better ways to solve them. This is something to think about when you want to reach new heights in business.
It does help your body. Having a cup of water in the morning before coffee and anything else does several good things to your body. It helps start your metabolism, wakes up your body and aids your digestive system. Of course, if you love coffee, you don’t have to skip it from now on. It is actually the morning beverage of most people. It gives you that extra kick. But, first, drink some water.
What are the most important things that you have to accomplish this day? Outstanding entrepreneurs always keep their goals in mind at the start of the day. This allows them to focus on work hard to achieve them throughout the day.
For example, financial professionals check the stock markets immediately after waking up. For those who are at the top of their game the result is enormous, as the information, they gleaned on stays with them for the whole day and saves lots of time analyzing the market later on.
Other entrepreneurs, meanwhile, start with stretching and meditation before going head-first into the business. Steve Jobs’ phrase illustrates it the best way: “For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
We fully agree with Jobs’ suggestion as it is a great way to start every day. This way you get a concise assessment of the direction you are heading in. Great things start with small steps. Just take a few minutes to think about your truly important goals as they deserve it each morning.
———
Veronica Hunt is an experienced blogger from Delaware City, DE. She loves travelling and provides readers with up-to-date info in the spheres of marketing, motivation and productivity. You can find Veronica on Facebook and LinkedIn.
You’ve read The Powerful Morning Habits You Should Steal From Highly Successful People, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
A list of the excuses Trump offers for why he won’t release his tax returns
via A list of the excuses Trump offers for why he won’t release his tax returns — Eideard
From the architect. A duplex house located in a small neighborhood north of Tel-Aviv, Israel, resides two families of close friends. Both are well attuned to modern architecture as owners of construction technology solutions businesses.
The goal was to design two different single family houses, each with its own unique plan, and still maintain a unified and coherent architectural element.
The architectural design sets a dialogue between the modernist basic principles of the early 20th century of basic, simple and decoration free geometry, and the latest technological solutions that can be used in today’s homes.
The first House is composed of two basic shapes that create a minimalistic and balanced composition. It contains two concrete masse, with one floating on top of the other and creates a feathery feeling despite the massive materials. These two shapes extend over a horizontal axis. some parts are overlapping while in other areas they detach and break out opposite directions. The meeting point of these two masses is a vertical axis that cuts the horizontal position with a use of a staircase that goes through all levels of the house. These opposites across the horizontal and vertical lines create the architectural conflict and strain.
The two masses also enable clear functional separation with the lower mass containing the public spaces and the upper one hosting the private section.
The upper unit is a box that opens up to the view. The interior functions are separated by partitions while ensuring all facing the open view.
The lower structure delivers an open space that is connected to the outside. Without a formal entry point, these openings merge the interior and the exterior and allow a daily and unformal passage between the inside and the outside.
The floating mass at the top provides shading to the parts below and thus creates an outdoor space that feels like an integral part of the interior. The yard and swimming pool are part of the structural composition as well, and made of clear and minimalistic lines.
To enhance the minimalistic design, the materials used provide a sense of rawness, sincerity and coherency. The exposed and clean concrete gets a lighter and more open interpretation thanks to the constructive technology that allows the usage of big openings, a wide open floor plan and the hovering of the upper mass into the open view.
Sig Nordal 