Guns N' Roses Keep Reunion Going for Another Round German Map Project
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SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2017 German map project to aid future rebirth of Aleppo ‘A city built with a peculiar stone that gave it a unique color’ ith its battered facades, pulverized houses and skeletons of buildings, Wone of the world’s oldest cities, Aleppo, has been utterly devastated by the war in Syria. Now, in Germany, scholars are prepar- ing for its reconstruction one day by creating a super-detailed map of the old city and its treas- ures, long listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In a bright office of a university campus in Cottbus in the former East Germany, urban planner Christoph Wessling runs his index fin- ger through the labyrinth of alleys and streets of Aleppo. Spread across his large desk lies a huge map, measuring two by 2.5 meters (more than six by Syrian doctoral student Zeido Zeido, pos- eight feet), drawn to a scale of 1:500. It is an es for an AFP interview in his office at the exceptional document that replicates the university in Cottbus. walled ancient city with its souks, hammams, mosques, churches and residential dwellings, we came upon a chain of three enchanting with infinite precision and loving detail. In total, inner courtyards with richly decorated pillars.” Urban planner Christoph Wessling poses for an AFP interview in his office at the universi- some 16,000 plots have been traced, as well as That was life before the country’s commercial ty in Cottbus. — AFP photos 400 floor plans of the main buildings of this city, center was divided between the rebel-held east which has been inhabited continuously for over and the loyalist-controlled west and became a sity, which is handling the project with the is preparing a doctoral thesis on his hometown 6,000 years. As the academic traces the ancient main battleground of the civil war. Aleppo German foreign ministry and German Aleppo, warns against excessive attention to web of streets and alleys of the Silk Road city, became the scene of a major humanitarian Archaeological Institute. “We are not politi- the old city. He said “there are other districts his minds drifts back to a place that a 12th cen- tragedy in late 2016, before it was captured by cians,” said Wessling. “But as urbanists, we with more recent architectural styles that need tury poem described as being as old as eternity. the army of President Bashar al-Assad, backed wanted to lay a foundation” so that the city can to be protected, such as late 19th-century by Russia and Iran. one day recover some of its peculiar splendor. buildings” from the era when Aleppo was one Hidden gems In coming weeks the map, created by six The hope is, he added, that construction com- of the main cities of the Ottoman Empire. Aleppo was a city of hidden gems, recalled experts with a budget of 60,000 euros panies don’t simply bulldoze the ruins and “There is no national heritage protection plan Wessling, who was a frequent visitor to the ($67,000), will be put online and made available build hotels and shopping malls atop the for the districts which are not classified by northern Syrian metropolis before the start of to anyone wishing to participate in the eventu- ancient rubble. UNESCO,” he added. The challenge of recon- the war in 2011. “In Aleppo, we would enter a al reconstruction of Aleppo. The online map will struction will be immense, according to house whose austere facade was absolutely feature “all the site plans, photos and descrip- Rest of Aleppo? researchers at the Cottbus faculty of architec- nothing special,” he said. “And then suddenly tions of a given place”, according to the univer- Syrian Cottbus student Zeido Zeido, 29, who ture. —AFP Guns N’ Roses keep reunion going for another round ore than a year after a long-mulled reunion history, 1987’s “Appetite for Destruction.” But the finally materialized, rock greats Guns N’ band also became notorious for off-stage drama, MRoses on Thursday extended their tour in often turning up on stage hours late, and Rose and North America again. The group-which starts a Slash parted ways in 1993 after closing a tour in European leg in Ireland on Saturday after hitting Buenos Aires. The long-distant pair reunited in April the Americas and Asia-announced an additional 15 2016 before headlining the Coachella festival in shows to already scheduled dates in the United California. However, the classic lineup still lacks States and Canada this year. The new concerts rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who co-wrote many include two nights at Madison Square Garden in Guns N Roses’ hits but complained about the pay- New York and will close with shows on November ment offered to join the reunion. Guns N’ Roses 24 and 25 in Los Angeles, the band’s home base. grossed more than $188 million worldwide by tour- Guns N’ Roses, led by Axl Rose’s raw, sweeping ing last year, trailing only Bruce Springsteen, voice coupled with Slash’s intricate guitar, still hold Beyonce and Coldplay, according to the industry the record for the top-selling debut album in US publication Pollstar. — AFP In this file photo, Shawn Mendes arrives at the iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. — AP Shawn Mendes:‘You should never be afraid to enjoy music’ ays after the deadly bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in England, Shawn Mendes says fans should “never be afraid to enjoy music.” Fan Dvideo shows the 18-year-old Canadian pop singer delivering that message Wednesday night at his show in Paris, where nearly 90 people were killed during an attack at an Eagles of Death Metal concert in 2015. After mentioning Monday’s attack at the Grande concert, Mendes called music “one of the very rare things in life that can bring people together in a way that words cannot describe, but we can only feel.” He said fans “should never be afraid to live life to the fullest.” A suicide bomber killed 22 people This file photo taken on April 23, 2016 shows, (from left) Musicians Duff McKagan, Axl Rose, Frank during the attack outside the arena in Manchester, England, just after Ferrer, Slash and Melissa Reese of Guns N’ Roses perform onstage during day 2 of the 2016 Grande’s show ended. — AP Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Weekend 2 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. —AFP SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2017 German map project to aid future rebirth of Aleppo ‘A city built with a peculiar stone that gave it a unique color’ ith its battered facades, pulverized houses and skeletons of buildings, Wone of the world’s oldest cities, Aleppo, has been utterly devastated by the war in Syria. Now, in Germany, scholars are prepar- ing for its reconstruction one day by creating a super-detailed map of the old city and its treas- ures, long listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In a bright office of a university campus in Cottbus in the former East Germany, urban planner Christoph Wessling runs his index fin- ger through the labyrinth of alleys and streets of Aleppo. Spread across his large desk lies a huge map, measuring two by 2.5 meters (more than six by Syrian doctoral student Zeido Zeido, pos- eight feet), drawn to a scale of 1:500. It is an es for an AFP interview in his office at the exceptional document that replicates the university in Cottbus. walled ancient city with its souks, hammams, mosques, churches and residential dwellings, we came upon a chain of three enchanting with infinite precision and loving detail. In total, inner courtyards with richly decorated pillars.” Urban planner Christoph Wessling poses for an AFP interview in his office at the universi- some 16,000 plots have been traced, as well as That was life before the country’s commercial ty in Cottbus. — AFP photos 400 floor plans of the main buildings of this city, center was divided between the rebel-held east which has been inhabited continuously for over and the loyalist-controlled west and became a sity, which is handling the project with the is preparing a doctoral thesis on his hometown 6,000 years. As the academic traces the ancient main battleground of the civil war. Aleppo German foreign ministry and German Aleppo, warns against excessive attention to web of streets and alleys of the Silk Road city, became the scene of a major humanitarian Archaeological Institute. “We are not politi- the old city. He said “there are other districts his minds drifts back to a place that a 12th cen- tragedy in late 2016, before it was captured by cians,” said Wessling. “But as urbanists, we with more recent architectural styles that need tury poem described as being as old as eternity. the army of President Bashar al-Assad, backed wanted to lay a foundation” so that the city can to be protected, such as late 19th-century by Russia and Iran. one day recover some of its peculiar splendor. buildings” from the era when Aleppo was one Hidden gems In coming weeks the map, created by six The hope is, he added, that construction com- of the main cities of the Ottoman Empire. Aleppo was a city of hidden gems, recalled experts with a budget of 60,000 euros panies don’t simply bulldoze the ruins and “There is no national heritage protection plan Wessling, who was a frequent visitor to the ($67,000), will be put online and made available build hotels and shopping malls atop the for the districts which are not classified by northern Syrian metropolis before the start of to anyone wishing to participate in the eventu- ancient rubble.