monaco Archives - Page 62 of 171

The mission: to recycle gray water in Antarctica

23/08/2022

Newly minted Monaco Tech alumni FGWRS will join the Prince Albert Foundation, Paul-Émile Victor French Polar Institute and the European Space Agency for a sustainability mission to Antarctica in December.

1,600 kilometres from the South Pole, the French-Italian Concordia base is about to be the test centre for a new type of gray water recycling system. The Firmus Gray Water Recycling System (FGWRS) will debut the programme on 6^th December and will have a special guest join the team at the base camp.

Special guest Justin Sargenti, former student of Institut François d’Assise, Nicolas Barre (FANB) and winner of the Students On Ice 2015 competition organised by the Prince Albert II Foundation (FPA2), as well as a graduate of the National School of Architecture in Strasbourg, will live on the Franco-Italian Antarctic research station until 4^thFebruary 2023.

Passionate about photography and polar environments since his expedition to the Arctic in 2015 with Students On Ice, Justin has always been interested in the protection of the poles and life in this hostile environment. In addition, he is currently working toward a doctorate relating to comfort in the stations.

*Justin Sargenti will join the mission on 6th December.*

He has had to undergo rigorous medical examinations and will participate in a training course by the Concordia technical team for enduring Concordia winters by Monaco’s French counterpart FGWRS France.

“Since my expedition to the Arctic in 2015 following the Students On Ice competition with the FPA2, my dearest dream was to set foot on the Antarctic continent,” said Justin Sargenti. “Today, thanks to FGWRS and its work on the Concordia scientific base, I am offered the opportunity to live there for two months. It goes beyond anything I could ever dream of and motivates me to continue working in the polar environments and their preservation.”

The mission at Concordia station, which is in partnership with the Prince Albert II Foundation, the French Polar Institute and the European Space Agency (ESA), will test a new type of membrane that consumes less energy than the one currently in place. It will also, in conjunction with ESA, study the possibility of installing other recycling processes for yellow and black water at the research station.

Previous collaborations have been carried out by the French Polar Institute, the European Space Agency and FIRMUS, and gray water recycling was officially put into use at Concordia in 2005.

Since its installation, the process has been free of any technical or health incidents and more than six million litres of water has been saved via recycling water from the kitchen, showers, sinks and washing machines, which is treated and reused.

Spider’s sister sells for record €40 million

by: Stephanie Horsman

22/08/2022

A steel version of Louise Bourgeois’ iconic Spider, similar to the giant sculpture featured last year in the gardens of Monte-Carlo, has been sold by art gallery Hauser & Wirth for €40 million, the biggest sum ever paid for a work by the artist.

The all-steel 1996 version of artist Louise Bourgeois’ Spider went on the block at Art Basel’s first VIP day, selling for the enormous sum of €39.9 million. The massive piece, which matches its hefty price tag, is 3.35 metres long and towered over the Hauser & Wirth booth at the Art Basel Fair, which was held in June.

The sculpture came from the private collection of Ursula Hauser, mother of gallery co-founder Manuela Hauser, and was passed onto another private collection. As the Spider is made from steel not bronze like many of Bourgeois’ other works, it is an “indoor-only” piece.

The spider sculpture that featured in the Boulingrins Gardens as part of Hauser & Wirth’s Louise Bourgeois exhibition last year, was the bronze version. The art gallery confirmed to Monaco Life that this particular piece is still part of the private collection.

Louise Bourgeois has had huge success with her Spider sculptures. A 1997 bronze version sold in 2019, also at Art Basel, via auction house Christie’s for €31.9 million, and a smaller rendering, Spider IV, sold in April at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for €16.4 million, making it the most expensive sculpture ever sold in Asia.

The big sums being bandied about for the sales of these works is significant, as female artists usually don’t command the same as their male counterparts. Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) became the most expensive 20^th century artwork to sell at auction when it sold last month at Christie’s New York to Larry Gagosian for $195 million. The three most expensive sculptures to ever sell at auction are all by Alberto Giacometti, each going for more than $100 million, with L’Homme au doigt (1947) selling at Christie’s New York in 2015 for $141.3 million.

Though the €40 million is an impressive number, American modernist artist Georgia O’Keeffe holds the record for the biggest sale by a woman artist. Her Juimson Weed/White Flower No. 41 sold for $44.4 million in 2014 at Sotheby’s in New York.

HAUSER AND WIRTH TO OPEN GALLERY IN MONACO

Photo above by Monaco Life

Monaco qualify for Rugby 7s final

by: Luke Entwistle

22/08/2022

Monaco Rugby 7s won the second round of the In Extenso Rugby Sevens on Saturday to qualify for the grand final, which will take place in Paris later this year.

The Principality side won the La Rochelle round of the competition, demolishing Pau 26-12 at the Stade Marcel Deflandre. Their success sees them qualify for the grand final, which takes place at the La Défense Arena on 19th November. The side will be hoping to go one better than last year, where they were defeated in the final by the Barbarians.

Monaco booked their place in the finals in convincing style. They outclassed Toulouse (40-7), Bordeaux-Bègles (34-19) and Stade Français (31-7) in order to reach the final against Pau.

Monaco swept Pau aside in the first-half, scoring 14 unreplied points. The onslaught continued into the second-half as Monaco eased to a 26-12 victory. Saturday’s win is particularly sweet given that Pau beat Monaco in the final of the first qualifying round the previous weekend.

The identities of Monaco’s rivals in that grand final in November will be known after the third and final round of qualifying, which takes place on 27th August. Having got a taste of lifting a trophy on Saturday, the objective will now be to replicate their dominance later this year and bring a more coveted piece of silverware back to the Principality.

Photo source: Supersevens – presseport

The deadly storm that Corsica never saw coming

by: Cassandra Tanti

21/08/2022

Prince Albert has sent his condolences after hurricane-strength winds and rain ripped across Corsica killing five people, including a 13-year-old girl.

As the south of France experienced more rain in just a few hours than in recent months combined, hail, heavy rain and winds reaching upto 225 km per hour hammered the island of Corsica Thursday morning, smashing boats and cars, uprooting trees and damaging houses.

“It’s such a paradox,” Gilles Simeoni, President of the Executive Council of Corsica, told franceinfo. “For weeks we had been living in fear of fires … and this rain which was supposed to be beneficial turned into a deadly windstorm.”

The storm claimed five victims: a 46-year-old man whose bungalow was crushed by a tree in a campsite in Sagone, a 13-year-old girl who was also killed by a falling tree in Corse-du-Sud, a woman aged 72, also in Corse-du-Sud, who was killed when a straw hut’s roof landed on her car, a 62-year-old fisherman whose cause of death has not been revealed, and a female British tourist, who clung to the side of a stricken kayak with her husband for two hours before dying.

A natural catastrophe decree is expected to be approved next week, which will help residents and businesses with insurance claims for damage caused by the storm.

“I was woken around 7:30am by a very huge storm that knocked out both electricity and mobile phone networks,” said Benjamin Roux, a 26-year-old tourist. He had planned to go scuba diving but found himself saving the passengers of a boat who were sleeping aboard when it was suddenly thrown onto the shore by waves.

“They managed to get out without injuries, but they’re just devastated,” he told AFP.

Monaco’s Head of State, Prince Albert, has sent his condolences to the people of Corsica. In a letter addressed to Gilles Simeoni, he says, “With my family and the population of the Principality of Monaco, I would like to express our deep sympathy for you with regard to the dramatic consequences of the violent storms which fell in Corsica.

“In this painful circumstance, I express my deepest condolences to you and express to the families of the victims, to the injured and to all those affected by this tragedy, my feelings of deep sympathy.”

Two people in Italy also died in Thursday’s storms.

The storm warning in Corsica was only upgraded to orange – the second highest alert level – just moments before the violent storm battered the island, making any emergency evacuation impossible.

During a press conference Thursday, Météo France called it an “exceptional” and unforeseen phenomenon, with extreme winds that had formed in a matter of minutes.

“We were a little surprised by the strength of the gusts, which were quite exceptional and had never been observed before,” admitted Christophe Morel, head of the forecasting office. The situation was “difficult to predict” because “we cannot observe the gusts as long as the storms are on the sea,” added forecaster François Gourand.

Monaco and mainland France bore less of the brunt of the storm than originally expected, although intense rains, which produced flash flooding and fierce hail, did hit much of southern France following weeks of punishing drought.

Photo above: credit Jules Jagger on Facebook

Enjoy the last days of Mada Lounge

by: Stephanie Horsman

19/08/2022

Jardins des Boulingrins near Casino Square has been hosting the Mada Lounge pop-up bar since the start of July. Now, it is in its last days, so get out and enjoy an al fresco drink under the stars before it ends with the summer breeze.

Mada One’s summertime pop-up, nestled in the Jardins des Boulingrins, has been a hit since it first started serving refreshing cocktails on 1^st July. Now, the lounge is wrapping up the season, with the last day set for Sunday 28^th August, so guests have a few last chances to enjoy the beautiful setting with an unparalleled view onto the Casino de Monte Carlo.

The Mada Lounge has made a name for itself not only for the beverages served, but also for the cool vibe set to the backdrop of live music or DJs.

For its last week, the performances will be by Pab Emsen or London Harlem accompanied by live music and a DJ on Wednesday evening. Thursday features a local DJ and Friday evening chilled out musician Sylow Music will play for the crowd. The summer at Mada Lounge winds up Saturday and Sunday with more live music.

The lounge is open from 4pm to 10pm. No reservations are required.

Photo by Monaco Life

‘Munegu Family’ return en masse

by: Luke Entwistle

19/08/2022

Following two years of absence, the ‘Munegu Family’ has made its long-awaited return, filling their allocation during the first two home games of the season.

First during last week’s premier leg against PSV Eindhoven, and then during last weekend’s draw against Rennes, nearly 1,000 fans packed the Seconde B to support Philippe Clement’s men.

What is the ‘Munegu Family?’

The ‘Munegu Family’ allows an adult and a child to attend all of AS Monaco’s Ligue 1 home matches for just €450.

In a specially dedicated stand, the Seconde B, fans of the Principality club are treated to a range of activities, supplementing the on-pitch excitement. From a magic show to make-up stands and the chance to meet the club mascot, Bouba, there is something for everyone.

For Monaco’s previous two encounters, the stand has been full, welcoming almost 1,000 fans and places for this Saturday’s encounter against RC Lens are still available.

The return of the ‘Munegu Family’ after two years of absence due to the Coronavirus pandemic is welcome, and is now supplemented by a range of other campaigns made to encourage matchday attendance.

As well as providing a family-friendly way in which to watch the matches, other campaigns such as the ‘MuneGo’ car-sharing app also facilitate travel to both home and away games. Combined, the campaigns allow fans to get closer to the team that they love.

For Olga Dementeva, assistant Director General, the aim of the scheme is clear. “The will of the President is to reinforce the links between the club and its local supporters, by allowing children access to the stadium. The objective of the ‘Munegu Family’ is to offer a privileged environment to families, in order to give them the desire to come as often as possible to encourage the team at the stadium.”

The success of the scheme thus far is undeniable, and the hope is that fans continue to benefit from this memorable, unique experience throughout the entire Ligue 1 season.

Photo source: AS Monaco