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Even in this new era where hundreds of words are getting erased from U.S. government websites, one wouldnt imagine a word like retrofit to be offensive, especially when retrofitting a building or a home can save lives and protect the pocketbooks and health of millions of Americans. And yet, retrofit programs appear to be on Trump’s chopping block. The Trump administration recently took aim at a housing retrofit program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose funding was appropriated and approved through a bipartisan Congress. This retrofit program helped ensure that vulnerable Americans, many of whom are seniors, wouldnt be too cold in the winter due to poor insulation, be burdened with unnecessarily high utility bills, be breathing in moldy or unhealthy air from failing heating and air-conditioning units, or be at significant risk the next time extreme weather rolls through. In response to the Trump administrations attempts to axe this vital service, last month a federal judge ruled that the programs funding must be unfrozen and resumed. While this was a positive development, it was a preliminary injunction in effect while the court deliberated. The risk to retrofitsand to the health, well-being, and pocketbooks of millions of Americansremains. That’s why in April, more than a dozen members of Congress sent a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner urging continuation of the program. The importance of retrofitting To date, this HUD programwhich is called the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, but could easily be renamed the Keeping Americans Safe and Healthy Programhas funded retrofitting projects for nearly 25,000 housing units across the country. Thats real impact thats reaching millions of Americans. These are housing units where landlords might be reluctant to do the necessary weatherizing, insulating, and other efficiency upgrades, all of which would improve the health of residents living there, as well as lower their utility bills. By making grants and loans available to owners of affordable housing, they were incentivized to improve a propertys energy or water efficiency, indoor air quality, and resilience to heat waves. And as our country continues to face a housing affordability crisis, any and all public-private partnerships like this that lower the costs associated with housing should be welcomed, not eviscerated. The program had three simple goals: First, reduce energy and water use in multifamily properties that HUD assists. Thats a no-brainer, as efficiency has long been a bipartisan area of congressional consensus. It saves money for anyone paying an energy or water bill (usually renters with lower incomes) and is a much-needed offset, given the increasing unaffordability of monthly rent. Second, help multifamily properties be more resilient to extreme weather events and disasters. That should also be a given, as its far more expensive for taxpayers to clean up damaged housing after a disaster than it is to prevent damage in the first place. There has been bipartisan support in Congress over the years for this kind of preparedness to extreme weather. And since extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and ferociousand more costly as a resultthe necessary upgrades to make homes more resilient, such as flood-proofing, make a ton of financial sense. Third, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from multifamily properties. And here the program took a page of out the bipartisan conservationist playbook, as a cleaner and more efficiently built and operated property requires less carbon to construct, heat, and power it. Theres another benefit to these emissions reductions, too: Cleaner and less-polluting homes lead to thousands fewer premature deaths and hospital visits per year for Americans. And it brings with it tens of billions of dollars in new economic benefits that come from healthier and more productive Americans. The financial data is clear and compelling on this. Retrofitting housing, then, couldnt be more American. Its good for American businesses who are contracted to do the upgrades, and its good for the Americans who are going to live healthier lives, save money on their utility bills, and be more protected, safer, and secure during the next superstorm. Now, lest more retrofitting programs get the axe by the Trump administration, it’s time for the U.S. courts to stand by congressionally appropriated program funding. Its also time for American communities to stand up for public-private partnerships that are good for American businesses, health, and pocketbooks. Its time to save the retrofits.
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E-Commerce
If youve ever been to the Vatican or watched for a puff of white smoke on live TV, you probably noticed something colorful. Or rather, something wholly mind-blowing in the modern era of tactical military designa troop of tri-color pantalooned papal protectors wielding halberds, seemingly straight out of a Raphael painting. But these are not hired cosplayers. This is the Swiss Guard, the popes personal security teamand today theyre protecting the college of cardinals as they vote on the next Catholic leader, decked out in what Encyclopedia Britannica has dubbed among the oldest uniforms in continuous use. Its more Met Gala than military. Heres how this bold anachronism came to be. Pope Francis walks past a Swiss guard, June 1, 2024. [Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images] SWISS ARMY LIFE Of course, theres another anomaly at play here: Why the mini army is dubbed the Swiss Guard despite being located within the worlds smallest country (Vatican City), which is nestled within Rome. As it turns out, rather than being a false eponym, the name is quite literal. In the late Middle Ages, Swiss mercenary forces were revered for their highly effective (read: deadly/terrifying) tactical fighting. Other countries in the region hired them to great effectso in 1506, Pope Julius II brought 150 of them to the Vatican. It was a fortuitous decision, and one that would save Pope Clements VIIs life in 1527. On May 6the day in which new Swiss Guard members are now traditionally sworn in every year, though that has been postponed in 2025 due to the conclaveCharles Vs soldiers sacked Rome. Of the Guards 189 members, 147 were killed, and they saved the popes life by ferrying him to safety through a secret passage. Today, the Vatican has a police force, which handles general security and law enforcement in the city. But the Swiss Guard exclusively protects the pope and his residence, and also travels abroad with him, in addition to safeguarding conclaves. And they do it with more than just those halberdsall members of the Guard must be between 19 and 30, Catholic, unmarried, and have already completed basic training with the Swiss Army, giving the 135-strong force proficiency with military tactics and modern firearms, which they are indeed equipped with. Theres more than meets the eye in those pantaloons. And not everyone is wearing themsome guards are in plain clothes and may appear to be tourists walking next to you. A painting of a Swiss Guard by Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot, ca. 1810. [Image: Wiki Commons THE MOST PICTURESQUE UNIFORM OF ALL If you were to Google just what the heck, exactly, the Swiss Guard are wearing, youd quickly discover that the uniforms were designed by Michelangelo, who Julius II also commissioned to paint the Sistine Chapel. And that would be a myth, which everyone from The New York Times in the 19th century to Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown has perpetuated. Rather, as the Vatican has detailed, when the mercenaries first rolled into the city, they were dressed like any other soldier of the 1500s, donning doublets and stockings. Its believed that Julius II gifted them with the beginnings of their signature stylistic flair when he incorporated yellow and bluecolors from his family coat of armsinto their uniforms. According to the Vatican, clothing had become finer and more colorful during the Renaissance, and red was in vogue. So Julius IIs successor, Leo X, took the opportunity to incorporate it into the uniforms as a nod to the colors of his family, the powerful Medici, during his reign from 1513 to 1521. Tweaks and revisions were made over time, with history intervening at various points. For example, as the Vatican details, there was no money to make updates to the uniforms during Napoleons rule, but some years later, under Leo XII, various attempts were made to copy Napoleonic uniforms, but fortunately without success; otherwise the splendid old uniforms would have been lost forever. [Photo: Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images] The current incarnation of the uniforms came in the early 20th century when a man named Jules Repond refined their form as we know it today (and who the Vatican notes was gifted with an exceptionally fine taste for colors and shapes”). Pope Pius X appointed him as commander of the Swiss Guard in 1910and he immediately managed to rankle the ranks. The Swiss Guard had become largely ceremonial, so he brought back rigorous military exercises and rifle practice. He mandated that only true Swiss natives could enroll. And he studied Raphaels frescoes and refined the uniform, drawing inspiration from its Renaissance-era appearance. Over the years the uniforms had been variations on a theme, and by 1914, Repond brought them to their final form. Today, 11 years on, theyre nearly the exact same design. [Photo: Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu/Getty Images] TAILOR-MADE There are a medley of variations to the uniform for different occasions, and even a subdued blue exercise uniform that is worn by the Guard during night operations and when working, say, the gate at the St. Annes entrance. (The Guard politely declined to comment for this story, given, you know, the whole conclave at handbut as they detail on their website: The main roads are also located there, and the colorful Gala uniform would cause too much distraction for the motorists.) No matter which uniform a member of the Guard sports, theres a good chance it was made by Ety Cicioni, the Vaticans chief tailor since 1997. As the CBC reported, the biggest challenge is keeping the uniform the same as Reponds vision despite the passage of time, and its impact on materials and techniques. Still, he and a team of seven manage to churn out 120 a year using prized wool from the Italian city of Biella. Per the CBC, every outfit is made from 154 pieces of fabricand Cicioni has also designed costumes for Vatican-adjacent films, such as 2019’s The Two Popes and 2023’s The Popes Exorcist. [Photo: Vasily Krestyaninov/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images] The one thing that has changed in the overall design of the uniformthe Swiss Guard got a helmet glow-up in 2019 when their scorching metal morions were replaced with breathable 3D-printed PVC counterparts. Ultimately, being a guard isnt all halberds and Renaissance history. In their off-time, they play on the FC Guardia soccer team, and compete against museum attendants and other groups in the Vatican Championship. They can join the Vatican band. They get to dine on Swiss and Italian cuisine cooked by Albertine nuns from Poland. What they cant do is play fast and loose with those wild uniforms. Theyre allowed to keep them for five years after they leave the Guard, or they can be buried in them. But they are explicitly banned from selling them. Still, if youve got $47,500, you could always try eBay.
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E-Commerce
Bible designs tend to be variations on a themetissue-thin paper and unforgiving font sizes, owing to the 783,000 words crammed into a single normal-sized book (the average novel, by comparison, clocks in at 70,000100,000 words). Cheap faux-leather covers. A bookmark ribbon, maybe. If youre a person of faith, its perhaps not the most fitting frame for what is defined as the literal word of God. If youre a design zealot, its heretical object quality. If youre both, wellprayers. The Bible is a book utterly ripe for a redesign. So Dylan Da Silva did just that with his Byble project, which released a bespoke hypermodern 11.5-pound edition of Genesis (the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament) last fall, and this week is launching its next volume, Matthew (the first book of the Christian New Testament). Our mission, I guess, is simplecraftsmanship beyond words, Da Silva says. Crafting products so beautiful, they elevate the experience of reading the most powerful book ever written. The Genesis Da Silva is not a designer, nor does he work in publishing. Rather, he comes from a property development background. Around 2022, the Sydney-based Da Silva was pondering how he could build a business around something of great meaning to him. He realized that while many people own a Bible, they generally dont display it. And given that we live in a consumer society driven by aesthetics, he saw an opportunity to craft something new in that blank space. While he lacks visual design creds, he has experience with architectural design, and the Bible is very much a structural design challenge owing to its system of numbered verses and chapters. Da Silva wanted to keep the focus exclusively on the text (here, the King James Versionthe word is beautiful enough as it is), so he decided not to feature any illustration or photography, and instead offer a solution that was purely typographic, which he developed with a partner in Greece over the course of two years. Another key goal was to design a system that would allow for a deeper reading of the Bible. To that end, he is breaking the Bibles many books out of the larger whole and into single volumes, starting, naturally, with Genesis, which dominates the spine and cover of the first release in a debossed Grotesk. Da Silva drew inspiration from the Gutenberg Bible, with its distinct columns and margins and occasional typographic flair, and also sought to home in on particular moments for readers in pull quotes, translucent overlays, and bold all-caps spreads (the brand dubs these yield moments, thus the Y in Byble). It has the effect of slowing the books down and allowing text to breathe in an otherwise daunting 783,000-word experience. We obsess over every detail, every page, every layout, he says. Ultimately, we are accessible to the reader. OPENING A DOOR In addition to the new text presentation, Da Silva went wild on the production specs for the 13×10-inch volumes. Rather than fragile gossamer pages, he brought in a hefty 220 gsm stock. Hardcovers with silkscreened fabric. Typographic edge painting. Each book is available in two colorwaysin the case of Genesis, black or green, the latter being a tip of the hat to the Garden of Eden. And for Matthew, white and red, the latter signifying the blood of Christ. All this production value comes at a cost: Currently the Byble costs $149, which has rankled some commenters on social media. Our cost to produce is quite expensive, Da Silva says. The margin is not massive; it’s a standard margin for a business. I think we’re reasonably priced. I knew there was always going to be a pushback. Following Matthew, Da Silva is focusing on eight of the other most popular books of the BiblePsalms, Proverbs, Exodus, Romans, Mark, Paul, John and Revelation. He wants to have five or six out by the end of the year, and then keep launching more from there, with special editions mixed in. His target audience? The devout, of course, but also design lovers and those who the Byble aesthetic could resonate with in new ways. The goal for us is really reaching that younger generation who might be curious to learn more, who might think that the Bible is boring, or religion is boring, Da Silva says. We’re trying to open up a door for them.
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E-Commerce
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