det skjeve tårn i stavanger, konferansesal, engelsk Conference hall that seats up to 100 people. Two were actually implemented, with the big internal void used as a cement store for many years. Pursuant to the permit from the City of Stavanger, the Leaning Tower was planned as a temporary structure and equipped with channels for demolition charges.īut NC saw opportunities, and a number of ideas emerged. It was right at the edge of the possible at that time. The latter provided greater confidence that slipforming could be done with large variations in inclination, dimensions and geometry. This configuration called for a demanding slipforming operation, which clearly drew on all NC’s earlier experience – including construction of the Leaning Tower. The wall thickness of the shaft varied from 160 to 70 metres. The Draugen concrete gravity base structure (GBS) also had a challenging geometry, with the monotower support shaft’s diameter varying from 44.5 metres at its base to 15 at the waterline.įrom there, continuous slipforming carried it up to a rectangular top section measuring 25 by 25 metres. det skjeve tårn i stavanger, bygging, betongunderstell, engelsk Photo: Eivind Wolff/Norwegian Petroleum Museum With the top eight metres completed in lightweight concrete, it stands at an angle of 16 degrees from the vertical – compared with “just” four degrees for the leaning tower at Pisa in Italy. The completed tower stood 50 metres high, had an external diameter which varied between 16 and 23 metres and a wall thickness ranging from 75 to 100 centimetres. In addition, the company wanted to develop a new system for conical inclined slipforming and try it out in practice on a large scale. Personally, I loved it- especially the last twenty minutes.This trial structure was erected in February 1984 to demonstrate that slipforming could be used to build a large inclined structure with a variable diameter. Yet it ranks as an important point in the careers of the actors and director, and it contains enough great moments, enough in terms of the position of the camera and the often shattering music, to make it an under-rated (perhaps minor) classic. It may feel a little on the weak side compared to some of Kurosawa's magnum opuses (Seven Samurai, Ran, Yojimbo come to mind). So this mix comes together, and it turns into one hell of a picture. It becomes very theatrical in a sense, but there is also the realism that Kurosawa had on his sleeve, one that he had to express in post-war Japan (many of these post-war images are better expressed in Stray Dog, but he gives some ample time here too in a subtler, more dangerous context). There's some action, but it gets thrown into a larger, more emotional context as Mifune's character starts to deteriorate. While one might want to check this out for the context of the Yakuza part of the plot (which was one reason I wanted to check it out- not the Yakuza in today's Japanese cinema of course), the side that Kurosawa shows wonderfully in a film like Red Beard is also brought to light here. Through the course of the film, The two actors portray these people as fragile, intense, hostile, compassionate, and with all the great emotional impact that comes in Japanese dramas. He's getting signs of TB, and goes to the 'good' doctor, who refuses help to the Yakuza, having outright contempt for them. Mifune plays a member of the Yakuza crime gang, but is more of just a low level thug than a real 'somebody'. He plays a doctor who can't quite lay off the booze, even as he tries to help the people around him who seem to be contracting all sorts of bad diseases from the contaminated water (most notably tuberculosis). And it's not just the collaboration of the director and the star- there is also the co-star, Takashi Shimura, who has made his great mark on many of Kurosawa's films (the two I mentioned previous, plus his best role in Ikiru, and Seven Samurai as well). Is it their very best? Not quite, but it ranks high up there for me. While the team of Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune would become even more internationally known for the thrilling Japanese mystery Stray Dog, and the masterpiece Rashomon, this film seems to get a little under-looked by Kurosawa fans (at least those that haven't quite dug into the catalog of their work). But more-over, Kurosawa made here an important film for its time. That's not to say it's a completely dour film- some of Akira Kurosawa's trademark ironic (and subtle) humor is laced into scenes. Considering this is the first collaboration between one of the 'heavyweight' director/star combos in cinema (tops in the Japanese film world, probably their equal to America's Scorsese/De Niro), this is quite a powerhouse of drama.
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