Moscow's flat houses and the irregular shape of building plots

Flat-fronted houses in Moscow owe their existence to the way building plots were cut and the price of land. With an irregularly shaped plot, the landowner faced a choice: lose floor area or find an ingenious solution by means of a cunning layout. The houses on Taganskaya Street (1/2, building 2) and Presnensky Val (36 and 38, building 1) look flat when viewed from a certain angle, because one corner is cut off at a slant. Yet the flats inside differ hardly at all from ordinary ones, and there is room enough.

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Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Professor Oba Mie of Kanagawa University writes that Japan could become a third partner for the ASEAN countries alongside the USA and China. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserves its independence under the slogan of "centrality": the bloc's members seek to remain the principal forum

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

On 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron of animals and of nature, animals are blessed in churches all over the world. Stories of his sermon to the birds and of the wolf of Gubbio are associated with the name of Francis,

Blessing of animals on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi in New York and other communities

The blessing of the animals at the Episcopal Church of Saint John in New York on 4 October, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron saint of animals and nature. Francis is associated with the tale of his sermon to the birds and

Letter from the Decembrist Mikhail Lunin to his sister, written in the village of Urik on 29 September 1836

I live among people who see me and do not understand me, or with the Invisible One whom I cannot comprehend. The darkness of my sins veils him, even when the deadly lead had grown numb in my body; a gleam of his gaze flashed before me when the blade

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Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

Blessing of animals on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi in New York and other communities

Letter from the Decembrist Mikhail Lunin to his sister, written in the village of Urik on 29 September 1836