title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, or E.P.C.O.T., is an unfinished concept for a planned community, intended to sit on a massive swath of undeveloped land near Orlando, Florida, that was developed by Walt Disney in collaboration with the designers at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. One of the primary stated aims of EPCOT was to replace urban sprawl as the organizing force of community planning in the United States in the 1960s. Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future."


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: After Disney's death in 1966, the plans for EPCOT were eventually abandoned. Later, upon the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, EPCOT served as the inspiration and namesake for the resort's eponymous theme park, and the nearby planned community of Celebration, Florida. Several components and aesthetic designs of the original EPCOT vision survived and evolved into elements of the modern-day Disney World park, including the Walt Disney World Monorail System and the Disney utilidor system.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise. — Walt Disney, describing the genesis of EPCOTForerunners of Disney's EPCOT plan include Tomorrowland in Disneyland, which already featured monorails and PeopleMovers, and the House of the Future (1957), which was designed by architects from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Architect/planner Victor Gruen's plans to convert the site of the 1964 New York World's Fair was also a significant influence on EPCOT, Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar said. Concerned with the "urban crisis" of the time, which he believed was one of the biggest problems facing society, Disney also consulted urban planning literature, including books by Ebenezer Howard, founder of the architectural "garden movement," and Victor Gruen.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Numerous locations were proposed for EPCOT, including St. Louis, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and New York City's World Fair site. Walt also considered incorporating an experimental city into his plans for a Palm Beach, Florida development with RCA and investor John D. MacArthur in 1959. Eventually, Central Florida was chosen. Commenting on the choice, Walt said, "Here in Florida we've enjoyed something that we've never enjoyed at Disneyland: a blessing of size. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we could possibly imagine." The plans for "The Florida Project," officially dubbed Disney World, called for a Disneyland-style theme park and resort area, E.P.C.O.T., an industrial park, an airport, and an entrance complex.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Disney quietly purchased undeveloped wetlands in Osceola County and Orange County using dummy corporations to avoid price gouging. By June 1965, Disney had acquired 27,433 acres—twice the size of Manhattan—for an estimated $5.1 million ($ in ). Walt Disney had planned to announce Disney World on November 15, 1965 publicly. Still, after the "Orlando Sentinel" broke the story of Disney's land purchase, Disney asked then-Florida Governor Haydon Burns to confirm the story on October 25. His announcement boasted that the new theme park would be, "The greatest attraction in the history of Florida." The official announcement was made on the previously planned November 15 date, with Disney joining Burns in Orlando for the press conference. Dissatisfied with the zoning regulations he had to deal with in Anaheim, Disney developed the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) for the property. With the approval of the Florida legislature and the governor, as enshrined in the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, the District had most of the powers of a Florida county.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: In an effort to lobby the Florida legislature to approve the RCID and persuade American industries to participate in the project, a short film was shot at the Walt Disney Studios on October 27, 1966, two months before Disney's death. Written by Marty Sklar and directed by Ham Luske, the 25-minute film is hosted by Disney, who explains the plans for Disney World, focusing on how EPCOT would interrelate with other aspects of the property. The film, utilizing concept art and highly technical animation, was a start to the conceptualization of EPCOT. The EPCOT philosophy, as it became known, included showcasing the development, testing, and use of new materials and ideas from American industries to find solutions to urban problems. EPCOT would always be in a state of becoming, the philosophy detailed, focusing on the needs and happiness of residents, and generating demand for new technologies. The film was screened for Florida legislators on February 2, 1967. On May 18, 2004, the film, entitled "," was released.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Disney personally sketched a master plan for the Florida property known as the Seventh Preliminary Master Plot Plan, in 1966, the year of his death. The main features of the plan include the Magic Kingdom, hotels, camps and motels, convention facilities, EPCOT and a satellite community, a golf course, a "swamp ride," an industrial park, a tourist trailer camp, a main entrance, and a "jet airport." In addition, a monorail runs the length of the property.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Visitors would enter at the southern end of the property and be shuttled by monorail to the Disney World Welcome Center. There, they would be welcomed by "cast members" able to speak the guests' own languages. Visitors would re-board the monorail to arrive at the industrial park. There, guests would ride PeopleMovers to see warehouses and research and development laboratories from American industry. Walt hoped visitors could take ideas back home to improve their own communities. After visiting the industrial park, the monorail would take the guests to EPCOT, where they would arrive under the central city.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The EPCOT city, according to the concepts presented in the EPCOT film, was based on a radial plan, a design inspired by the garden city movement of urban planning. Based on a concept similar to the layout of Disneyland Park, the city radiates out like a wheel from a central core. The urban density of the area would dwindle as the city fanned out.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: In an article by famed architectural historian Ada Louise Huxtable, "Out of a Fair, A City," which appeared in "Horizon magazine" in May 1960, Huxtable discusses architect Gruen's vision for a plastic dome over an international bazaar in the central city. There has been much speculation about a dome for EPCOT over the years. Gruen's plan may have been an influence.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: An official of the Reedy Creek Improvement District recalled that a dome would pose fire safety issues. None of the Imagineering artwork shows the international shopping center open to a dome. However, the Florida Film does include a dome "enclosure." Walt Disney died in December 1966, while much of the EPCOT source material was produced in 1967. It is difficult to separate what Walt outlined and what was actually published in 1967. Architect Jon Jerde stated that a glass dome over 50 acres would have been "daunting" due to its cost. Walt Disney was known for striving for the impossible, which may explain the plan for a dome.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Walt Disney talked about the Houston Astrodome and a New York Times article mentioned a dome. The dome was likely another element Walt was wrestling with before his death.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The city would be connected to the other points in Disney World with a main line of transportation—the monorail. Walt Disney introduced the Disneyland Monorail in 1959. The monorail would cut through the center of the city, connecting EPCOT with the northern and southern points on the Disney World property.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Internal transportation would be provided by a new Disney transportation concept, the WEDway PeopleMover. The system uses motors located between the tracks to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails. PeopleMover cars would transport residents from the metropolitan center to the outer residential areas. The PeopleMover concept was first demonstrated at Disneyland's Tomorrowland in 1967. The PeopleMover was also installed at the Magic Kingdom as the WEDWay PeopleMover in 1975.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Because of these two modes of transportation, residents of EPCOT would not need cars. If a resident owned a car, it would be used "only for weekend pleasure trips." The streets for cars would be kept separate from the main pedestrian areas. The main roads for both cars and supply trucks would travel underneath the city core, eliminating the risk of pedestrian accidents. This was also based on the concept that Walt Disney devised for Disneyland. He did not want his guests to see behind-the-scenes activity, such as supply trucks delivering goods to the city. Like the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, all supplies are discreetly delivered via tunnels.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The two systems, the monorail and PeopleMover, would come together at the EPCOT Transportation Lobby. The Transportation Lobby would be located at ground level, above the busy automobile/truck roads. From the Lobby, a passenger riding the monorail from the Magic Kingdom Park to their home would disembark the monorail and transfer to the appropriate PeopleMover station.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Beyond EPCOT, visitors would arrive at the Airport of Tomorrow, located across from the Main Entrance to EPCOT. The airport would have been connected to the park by a monorail station.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The planned airport would have had a general aviation area with an executive terminal, and another for regional passenger travel with a large terminal building. Plans identified the airport in 1966 but was not present in the revised plans in the later 1970s.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: EPCOT's downtown and commercial areas would have been located in the central core of the city, away from the residential areas. The entire downtown would have been completely enclosed, unaffected by the outside elements. Roy Disney stated that "The pedestrian will be king" in this area, free from the danger of cars and other vehicles.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: At the center of the area would be a 30-story Cosmopolitan Hotel and Convention Center. This building was to have been the tallest building in Disney World and could have been seen for miles. The parking lot for hotel guests would have been located underneath the city core, right off of the vehicle throughway.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: On the "roof" of the enclosed area would be the recreational area for hotel guests. The pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, shuffleboard, and other activities would have been located here. According to Imagineer Bob Gurr, Walt Disney pointed to one of the benches on the scale model of the area and declared, "This is where Lilly [his wife] and I will sit when this thing is finished, taking everything in."


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Surrounding the hotel, inside the enclosure, would have been "shops and restaurants that reflect the culture and flavor of locations 'round the world." According to the concept art, these areas would be themed to each country, having the look and feel of each of the exotic locales. This concept eventually evolved into the World Showcase area of the Epcot theme park. The PeopleMover track would travel above these downtown shops and streets in a similar fashion as the system did in Disneyland. Preliminary plan indicated that the people who would have worked in these shops would have also lived in the city.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Separating the city core from the low-density residential area would be an expanse of grass areas, known to the planners as the "green belt." This is where the city services would be located. Establishments such as parks with playgrounds, community centers, schools, stadiums, and churches would be located here.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: On the rim of the city core would have been high-density apartment housing. This is where most of EPCOT's 20,000 citizens would have lived. Not much is discussed about the apartments themselves, although Walt Disney stated that no-one in EPCOT would own their land. There would be no difference between an apartment and a home. All renting rates would be modest and competitive with the surrounding market. Housing would be constructed in such a way as to ensure ease of change, so that new ideas/products could be used. A person returning from a hard day's work could very well come home to a kitchen with brand-new appliances in it.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Beyond the Green Belt was the low-density, single-family house neighborhoods. These areas would have resembled the petals on a flower, with the houses located on the rim of each "petal". Inside the "petal" was a vast green area. The area would have had paths for electric carts, light recreation areas for adults and play areas for children. The PeopleMover station for each area would have also been located in the green area. The resident could simply walk to the station from their home and on to work. As with the apartments, the houses would be built to be easily changed.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: As no one living in EPCOT would own their own land or home, residents would have no municipal voting rights (bond issues, etc.). Walt Disney wanted to exercise this control only to be able to change technology in homes easily.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: According to the film, all adults living in EPCOT would be employed, thereby preventing the formation of slums and ghettos. There would be no retirees—everyone would have been required to have a job. Residents would have been employed at the Magic Kingdom theme park, the city central core shopping areas, the hotel/convention center, the airport, the Welcome Center, or the industrial park. As the film states, "everyone living in EPCOT will have the responsibility to maintain this living blueprint of the future."


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The Carousel of Progress, sponsored by General Electric, was one of four of Walt Disney's pavilions at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair (known as Progressland there). The show consisted of Audio-Animatronic "actors" presenting the progress of household technology through the decades. The same "family" was used for each time period. Guests were seated in an outer ring of six theaters that rotated around a fixed, circular stage. The Disneyland version of the Carousel opened in July 1967 and featured a huge, one-eighth scale model called Progress City. It could be viewed on foot or from the PeopleMover attraction in Tomorrowland. The model was constructed after Walt's death but featured the basic elements of the EPCOT plan: city center and hotel, high density apartments, greenbelt, and single family houses.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: The model measured 6,900 square feet and included 22,000 trees and shrubs, 4,500 buildings lit from within, 1,400 street lights, a climate-controlled center city, amusement park rides in motion, sports stadiums, an airport, an atomic power plant, underground passageways, single family cul-de-sacs, retail stores, monorails, electric sidewalks, schools, churches, electric trains, electric carts, and PeopleMovers. The city was all-electric. The show's theme song, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," was written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman and reflects Walt's view of progress and American industry.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: General Electric and Westinghouse had been in merger discussions with the Disney organization but a deal never came to fruition. EPCOT would be an expensive proposition. In a 1968 print advertisement, General Electric announced that it had "much of the technology needed... But as futuristic as it sounds, it could be built today." The ad also featured a photograph of Progress City. General Electric was prepared to tackle EPCOT.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Disneyland's Carousel of Progress closed in 1973 and the show was moved to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in 1975. A portion of the Progress City architectural model is on display on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover today, located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966. According to his older brother Roy O. Disney, Walt was still planning EPCOT in the hospital in the days before he died. Walt used the ceiling grid to lay out a scale plot plan in his imagination, each 24" x 24" tile representing one square mile. Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk Jr. signed Chapter 67-764 into law on May 12, 1967, establishing the Reedy Creek Improvement District. However, Disney directors eventually decided that it was too risky to venture into city planning now that its biggest advocate was gone. Roy persisted and took the reins on the project, coming out of retirement, but he could not convince the board to build EPCOT. The Magic Kingdom project proceeded with construction beginning the same year under the supervision of Roy, and Walt Disney World Resort opened in October 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom and two hotels. Roy insisted it be called Walt Disney World as a tribute to the man who had dreamed it up.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Even though the city was never built, the Resort represents some of the forward-thinking planning that embodied Walt's idea of EPCOT. Because of the formation of the RCID, Disney could find innovative solutions to the problems of transportation, building construction, supplying electrical power, and waste disposal. Imagineers, including John Hench and Richard Irvine, devised means of waste disposal and sewer transport. The monorail, while mainly an attraction at Disneyland, was utilized as an actual transportation system, taking guests some thirteen miles around the Resort area. The Contemporary Resort opened with the Magic Kingdom as an architectural remnant of EPCOT's modernist aesthetic.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Without Walt Disney's personal leadership, EPCOT's progress was "seriously weakened." In the late 1970s, Disney CEO Card Walker wanted to revisit the EPCOT idea, but the board was still wary and all agreed that Walt's EPCOT would not work in its initial incarnation; they thought that no one would want to live under a microscope and be watched constantly. The result of the compromise was the EPCOT Center theme park (now simply known as "EPCOT"), which opened in 1982. While still emulating Walt Disney's ideas, it was not a city, but rather closer to that of a World's Fair. EPCOT, somewhat true to Walt Disney's vision, revolves around technology and the future in the Future World area. The World Showcase is an embellished version of the downtown shopping area, albeit without the enclosure.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: In the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Company built a community on the Florida property called Celebration. It is a planned community that employs some of the ideas that Walt Disney envisioned, but on a significantly smaller scale. Unlike EPCOT, which was based on modernism and futurism, there is no radial design for Celebration. Celebration is designed based on new urbanism, and resembles a small American town, but has all the modern conveniences, without the revolutionary transportation ideas contained in the plans for EPCOT. Similar planned communities, known as lifestyle centers, are now being built by other planners.


title: EPCOT (concept)

text: Singapore is often cited as a real-life EPCOT country. William Gibson described Singapore as "Disneyland with the death penalty" in an article for "Wired" in 1993, due to its high degree of city planning and clean and orderly lifestyle, just as Walt Disney would have wanted his community to be.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics for the solution of its respective engineering problems. It also relies on knowledge of geology, hydrology, geophysics, and other related sciences. Geotechnical (rock) engineering is a subdiscipline of geological engineering.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In addition to civil engineering, geotechnical engineering also has applications in military, mining, petroleum, coastal engineering, and offshore construction. The fields of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology have knowledge areas that overlap, however, while geotechnical engineering is a specialty of civil engineering, engineering geology is a specialty of geology: They share the same principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics, but differ in the application.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Humans have historically used soil as a material for flood control, irrigation purposes, burial sites, building foundations, and as construction material for buildings. First activities were linked to irrigation and flood control, as demonstrated by traces of dykes, dams, and canals dating back to at least 2000 BCE that were found in ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, as well as around the early settlements of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in the Indus valley. As the cities expanded, structures were erected and supported by formalized foundations; Ancient Greeks notably constructed pad footings and strip-and-raft foundations. Until the 18th century, however, no theoretical basis for soil design had been developed and the discipline was more of an art than a science, relying on past experience.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Several foundation-related engineering problems, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, prompted scientists to begin taking a more scientific-based approach to examining the subsurface. The earliest advances occurred in the development of earth pressure theories for the construction of retaining walls. Henri Gautier, a French Royal Engineer, recognized the "natural slope" of different soils in 1717, an idea later known as the soil's angle of repose. A rudimentary soil classification system was also developed based on a material's unit weight, which is no longer considered a good indication of soil type.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The application of the principles of mechanics to soils was documented as early as 1773 when Charles Coulomb (a physicist, engineer, and army Captain) developed improved methods to determine the earth pressures against military ramparts. Coulomb observed that, at failure, a distinct slip plane would form behind a sliding retaining wall and he suggested that the maximum shear stress on the slip plane, for design purposes, was the sum of the soil cohesion, formula_1, and friction formula_2 formula_3, where formula_2 is the normal stress on the slip plane and formula_5 is the friction angle of the soil. By combining Coulomb's theory with Christian Otto Mohr's 2D stress state, the theory became known as Mohr-Coulomb theory. Although it is now recognized that precise determination of cohesion is impossible because formula_1 is not a fundamental soil property, the Mohr-Coulomb theory is still used in practice today.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In the 19th century, Henry Darcy developed what is now known as Darcy's Law, describing the flow of fluids in a porous media. Joseph Boussinesq (a mathematician and physicist) developed theories of stress distribution in elastic solids that proved useful for estimating stresses at depth in the ground; William Rankine, an engineer and physicist, developed an alternative to Coulomb's earth pressure theory. Albert Atterberg developed the clay consistency indices that are still used today for soil classification. Osborne Reynolds recognized in 1885, that shearing causes volumetric dilation of dense and contraction of loose granular materials.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Modern geotechnical engineering is said to have begun in 1925 with the publication of "Erdbaumechanik" by Karl Terzaghi (a mechanical engineer and geologist). Considered by many to be the father of modern soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, Terzaghi developed the principle of effective stress, and demonstrated that the shear strength of soil is controlled by effective stress. Terzaghi also developed the framework for theories of bearing capacity of foundations, and the theory for prediction of the rate of settlement of clay layers due to consolidation. Afterwards, Maurice Biot fully developed the three-dimensional soil consolidation theory, extending the one-dimensional model previously developed by Terzaghi to more general hypotheses and introducing the set of basic equations of Poroelasticity. Alec Skempton in his work in 1960, has carried out an extensive review of available formulations and experimental data in literature about effective stress valid in soil, concrete and rock, in order to reject some of these expressions, as well as clarify what expression was appropriate according to several work hypotheses, such as stress–strain or strength behaviour, saturated or nonsaturated media, rock/concrete or soil behaviour, etc.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In his 1948 book, Donald Taylor recognized that interlocking and dilation of densely packed particles contributed to the peak strength of a soil. The interrelationships between volume change behavior (dilation, contraction, and consolidation) and shearing behavior were all connected via the theory of plasticity using critical state soil mechanics by Roscoe, Schofield, and Wroth with the publication of "On the Yielding of Soils" in 1958. Critical state soil mechanics is the basis for many contemporary advanced constitutive models describing the behavior of soil.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is a method of testing physical scale models of geotechnical problems. The use of a centrifuge enhances the similarity of the scale model tests involving soil because the strength and stiffness of soil is very sensitive to the confining pressure. The centrifugal acceleration allows a researcher to obtain large (prototype-scale) stresses in small physical models.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In geotechnical engineering, soils are considered as a three-phase material composed of: rock or mineral particles, water and air. The voids of a soil, the spaces in between mineral particles, contain the water and air.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The engineering properties of soils are affected by four main factors: the predominant size of the mineral particles, the type of mineral particles, the grain size distribution, and the relative quantities of mineral, water and air present in the soil matrix. Fine particles (fines) are defined as particles less than 0.075 mm in diameter.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Some of the important properties of soils that are used by geotechnical engineers to analyze site conditions and design earthworks, retaining structures, and foundations are:


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The tasks of a geotechnical engineer comprises the investigation of subsurface conditions and materials; the determination of the relevant physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of these materials; the design of earthworks and retaining structures (including dams, embankments, sanitary landfills, deposits of hazardous waste), tunnels, and structure foundations; the monitoring of site conditions, earthwork, and foundation construction; the evaluation of the stability of natural slopes and man-made soil deposits; the assessment of the risks posed by site conditions; and the prediction, prevention, and mitigation of damage caused by natural hazards (such as avalanches, mud flows, landslides, rockslides, sinkholes, and volcanic eruptions).


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Geotechnical engineers and engineering geologists perform geotechnical investigations to obtain information on the physical properties of soil and rock underlying (and sometimes adjacent to) a site to design earthworks and foundations for proposed structures, and for the repair of distress to earthworks and structures caused by subsurface conditions. A geotechnical investigation will include surface exploration and subsurface exploration of a site. Sometimes, geophysical methods are used to obtain data about sites. Subsurface exploration usually involves in-situ testing (two common examples of in-situ tests are the standard penetration test and cone penetration test). In addition site investigation will often include subsurface sampling and laboratory testing of the soil samples retrieved. The digging of test pits and trenching (particularly for locating faults and slide planes) may also be used to learn about soil conditions at depth. Large diameter borings are rarely used due to safety concerns and expense, but are sometimes used to allow a geologist or engineer to be lowered into the borehole for direct visual and manual examination of the soil and rock stratigraphy.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: A variety of soil samplers exists to meet the needs of different engineering projects. The standard penetration test (SPT), which uses a thick-walled split spoon sampler, is the most common way to collect disturbed samples. Piston samplers, employing a thin-walled tube, are most commonly used for the collection of less disturbed samples. More advanced methods, such as the Sherbrooke block sampler, are superior, but even more expensive. Coring frozen ground provides high-quality undisturbed samples from any ground conditions, such as fill, sand, moraine and rock fracture zones.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Atterberg limits tests, water content measurements, and grain size analysis, for example, may be performed on disturbed samples obtained from thick-walled soil samplers. Properties such as shear strength, stiffness, hydraulic conductivity, and coefficient of consolidation may be significantly altered by sample disturbance. To measure these properties in the laboratory, high-quality sampling is required. Common tests to measure the strength and stiffness include the triaxial shear and unconfined compression test. These can all be done through a third party testing company such as Intertek.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Surface exploration can include geologic mapping, geophysical methods, and photogrammetry; or it can be as simple as an engineer walking around to observe the physical conditions at the site. Geologic mapping and interpretation of geomorphology are typically completed in consultation with a geologist or engineering geologist.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Geophysical exploration is also sometimes used. Geophysical techniques used for subsurface exploration include measurement of seismic waves (pressure, shear, and Rayleigh waves), surface-wave methods and/or downhole methods, and electromagnetic surveys (magnetometer, resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar).


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The foundation of a building's or transportation infrastructure transmits loads from the structures to the earth. Geotechnical engineers design foundations based on the load characteristics of the structure and the properties of the soils and/or bedrock at the site. In general, geotechnical engineers:


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The primary considerations for foundation support are bearing capacity, settlement, and ground movement beneath the foundations. Bearing capacity is the ability of the site soils to support the loads imposed by buildings or structures. Settlement occurs under all foundations in all soil conditions, though lightly loaded structures or rock sites may experience negligible settlements. For heavier structures and/or softer soils, both overall settlement relative to unbuilt areas or neighboring buildings, and differential settlement under a single structure can be of concerns. Of particular concern is a settlement which occurs over time, as immediate settlement can usually be compensated for during construction. Ground movement beneath a structure's foundations can occur due to low bearing capacity soils (soft clay, silt, organic, loose sand), volumetric change of expansive soils due to moisture or freeze-thaw cycles or melting of permafrost, or due to unsuitable fill material with low strength, highly compressible and high water content. All these factors must be considered during the design of foundations.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In areas of shallow bedrock, most foundations may bear directly on bedrock; in other areas, the soil may provide sufficient strength for the support of structures. In areas of deeper bedrock with soft overlying soils, deep foundations are used to support structures directly on the bedrock; in areas where bedrock is not economically available, stiff "bearing layers" are used to support deep foundations instead.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Shallow foundations are a type of foundation that transfers the building load to very near the surface, rather than to a subsurface layer. Shallow foundations typically have a depth to width ratio of less than 1.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Footings (often called "spread footings" because they spread the load) are structural elements which transfer structure loads to the ground by direct areal contact. Footings can be isolated footings for point or column loads or strip footings for wall or another long (line) loads. Footings are normally constructed from reinforced concrete cast directly onto the soil and are typically embedded into the ground to penetrate through the zone of frost movement and/or to obtain additional bearing capacity.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: A variant on spread footings is to have the entire structure bear on a single slab of concrete underlying the entire area of the structure. Slabs must be thick enough to provide sufficient rigidity to spread the bearing loads somewhat uniformly and to minimize differential settlement across the foundation. In some cases, flexure is allowed and the building is constructed to tolerate small movements of the foundation instead. For small structures, like single-family houses, the slab may be less than 300  mm thick; for larger structures, the foundation slab may be several meters thick.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Slab foundations can be either slab-on-grade foundations or embedded foundations, typically in buildings with basements. Slab-on-grade foundations must be designed to allow for potential ground movement due to changing soil conditions.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Deep foundations are used for structures or heavy loads when shallow foundations cannot provide adequate capacity, due to size and structural limitations. They may also be used to transfer building loads past weak or compressible soil layers. While shallow foundations rely solely on the bearing capacity of the soil beneath them, deep foundations can rely on end bearing resistance, frictional resistance along their length, or both in developing the required capacity. Geotechnical engineers use specialized tools, such as the cone penetration test, to estimate the amount of skin and end bearing resistance available in the subsurface.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: There are many types of deep foundations including piles, drilled shafts, caissons, piers, and earth stabilized columns. Large buildings such as skyscrapers typically require deep foundations. For example, the Jin Mao Tower in China uses tubular steel piles about 1m (3.3  feet) driven to a depth of 83.5m (274  feet) to support its weight.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In buildings that are constructed and found to undergo settlement, underpinning piles can be used to stabilize the existing building.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: There are three ways to place piles for a deep foundation. They can be driven, drilled, or installed by the use of an auger. Driven piles are extended to their necessary depths with the application of external energy in the same way a nail is hammered. There are four typical hammers used to drive such piles: drop hammers, diesel hammers, hydraulic hammers, and air hammers. Drop hammers simply drop a heavy weight onto the pile to drive it, while diesel hammers use a single-cylinder diesel engine to force piles through the Earth. Similarly, hydraulic and air hammers supply energy to piles through hydraulic and air forces. The energy imparted from a hammerhead varies with the type of hammer chosen and can be as high as a million-foot pounds for large scale diesel hammers, a very common hammerhead used in practice. Piles are made of a variety of material including steel, timber, and concrete. Drilled piles are created by first drilling a hole to the appropriate depth, and filling it with concrete. Drilled piles can typically carry more load than driven piles, simply due to a larger diameter pile. The auger method of pile installation is similar to drilled pile installation, but concrete is pumped into the hole as the auger is being removed.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: A retaining wall is a structure that holds back earth. Retaining walls stabilize soil and rock from downslope movement or erosion and provide support for vertical or near-vertical grade changes. Cofferdams and bulkheads, structures to hold back water, are sometimes also considered retaining walls.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The primary geotechnical concern in design and installation of retaining walls is that the weight of the retained material is creating lateral earth pressure behind the wall, which can cause the wall to deform or fail. The lateral earth pressure depends on the height of the wall, the density of the soil, the strength of the soil, and the amount of allowable movement of the wall. This pressure is smallest at the top and increases toward the bottom in a manner similar to hydraulic pressure, and tends to push the wall away from the backfill. Groundwater behind the wall that is not dissipated by a drainage system causes an additional horizontal hydraulic pressure on the wall.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Gravity walls depend on the size and weight of the wall mass to resist pressures from behind. Gravity walls will often have a slight setback, or batter, to improve wall stability. For short, landscaped walls, gravity walls made from geocells, dry-stacked (mortarless) stone or segmental concrete units (masonry units) are commonly used.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Earlier in the 20th century, taller retaining walls were often gravity walls made from large masses of concrete or stone. Today, taller retaining walls are increasingly built as composite gravity walls such as geocell retaining walls, steel-reinforced backfill soil with precast facing; gabions (stacked steel wire baskets filled with rocks), crib walls (cells built up log cabin style from precast concrete or timber and filled with soil or free-draining gravel) or soil-nailed walls (soil reinforced in place with steel and concrete rods).


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: For "reinforced-soil gravity walls", the soil reinforcement is placed in horizontal layers throughout the height of the wall. Commonly, the soil reinforcement is "geogrid", a high-strength polymer mesh, that provides tensile strength to hold the soil together. The wall face is often of a geocell or precast, segmental concrete units that can tolerate some differential movement. The reinforced soil's mass, along with the facing, becomes the gravity wall. The reinforced mass must be built large enough to retain the pressures from the soil behind it. Gravity walls usually must be a minimum of 30 to 40 percent as deep (thick) as the height of the wall and may have to be larger if there is a slope or surcharge on the wall.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Prior to the introduction of modern reinforced-soil gravity walls, cantilevered walls were the most common type of taller retaining wall. Cantilevered walls are made from a relatively thin stem of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete or mortared masonry (often in the shape of an inverted T). These walls cantilever loads (like a beam) to a large structural footing; converting horizontal pressures from behind the wall to vertical pressures on the ground below. Sometimes cantilevered walls are buttressed on the front, or include a counterfort on the back, to improve their stability against high loads. Buttresses are short wing walls at right angles to the main trend of the wall. These walls require rigid concrete footings below seasonal frost depth. This type of wall uses much less material than a traditional gravity wall.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Cantilever walls resist lateral pressures by friction at the base of the wall and/or "passive earth pressure", the tendency of the soil to resist lateral movement.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Basements are a form of cantilever walls, but the forces on the basement walls are greater than on conventional walls because the basement wall is not free to move.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Shoring of temporary excavations frequently requires a wall design that does not extend laterally beyond the wall, so shoring extends below the planned base of the excavation. Common methods of shoring are the use of "sheet piles" or "soldier beams and lagging". Sheet piles are a form of driven piling using thin interlocking sheets of steel to obtain a continuous barrier in the ground and are driven prior to excavation. Soldier beams are constructed of wide flange steel H-sections spaced about 2–3 m apart, driven prior to excavation. As the excavation proceeds, horizontal timber or steel sheeting (lagging) is inserted behind the H-pile flanges.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The use of underground space requires excavation, which may cause large and dangerous displacement of soil mass around the excavation. Since the space for slope excavation is limited in urban areas, cutting is done vertically. Retaining walls are made to prevent unsafe soil displacements around excavations. Diaphragm walls are a type of retaining walls that are very stiff and generally watertight. The horizontal movements of diaphragm walls are usually prevented by lateral supports. Diaphragm walls are expensive walls, but they save time and space and are also safe, so are widely used in urban deep excavations.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In some cases, the lateral support which can be provided by the shoring wall alone is insufficient to resist the planned lateral loads; in this case, additional support is provided by walers or tie-backs. Walers are structural elements that connect across the excavation so that the loads from the soil on either side of the excavation are used to resist each other, or which transfer horizontal loads from the shoring wall to the base of the excavation. Tie-backs are steel tendons drilled into the face of the wall which extends beyond the soil which is applying pressure to the wall, to provide additional lateral resistance to the wall.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Ground improvement or modification is defined as the alteration of site foundation soils or project earth structures to provide better performance under design and/or operational loading conditions. Usually, the properties modified are shear strength, stiffness, and permeability. Ground improvement has developed sophisticated methods to support foundations for a wide variety of buildings and transportation infrastructure, as urbanization and infrastructure spread to areas with challenging geotechnical conditions. Soil reinforcement is one of the most popular ground improvement techniques used to improve soil stiffness and strength. This can be achieved through different materials and techniques, e.g, reinforcement geosynthetics such as geocells and geogrids, which disperse loads over a larger area, thus increasing the load-bearing capacity of the soil. Properly applied, i.e. after giving due consideration to the nature of the ground being improved and the type and loading of the structures being built, hydraulic, mechanical, chemical and/or biological ground improvement methods reduce direct and long-term costs.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Slope stability is the potential of soil covered slopes to withstand and undergo movement. Stability is determined by the balance of shear stress and shear strength. A previously stable slope may be initially affected by preparatory factors, making the slope conditionally unstable. Triggering factors of a slope failure can be climatic events that can then make a slope actively unstable, leading to mass movements. Mass movements can be caused by increases in shear stress, such as loading, lateral pressure, and transient forces. Alternatively, shear strength may be decreased by weathering, changes in pore water pressure, and organic material.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Several modes of failure for earth slopes include falls, topples, slides, and flows. In slopes with coarse-grained soil or rocks, falls typically occur as the rapid descent of rocks and other loose slope material. A slope topples when a large column of soil tilts over its vertical axis at failure. Typical slope stability analysis considers sliding failures, categorized mainly as rotational slides or translational slides. As implied by the name, rotational slides fail along a generally curved surface, while translational slides fail along a more planar surface. A slope failing as flow would resemble a fluid flowing downhill.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Stability analysis is needed for the design of engineered slopes and for estimating the risk of slope failure in natural or designed slopes. A common assumption is that a slope consists of a layer of soil sitting on top of a rigid base. The mass and the base are assumed to interact via friction. The interface between the mass and the base can be planar, curved, or have some other complex geometry. The goal of a slope stability analysis is to determine the conditions under which the mass will slip relative to the base and lead to slope failure.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: If the interface between the mass and the base of a slope has a complex geometry, slope stability analysis is difficult and numerical solution methods are required. Typically, the exact geometry of the interface is not known and a simplified interface geometry is assumed. Finite slopes require three-dimensional models to be analyzed. To keep the problem simple, most slopes are analyzed assuming that the slopes are infinitely wide, and can therefore be represented by two-dimensional models. A slope can be drained or undrained. The undrained condition is used in the calculations to produce conservative estimates of risk.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: A popular stability analysis approach is based on principles pertaining to the limit equilibrium concept. This method analyzes a finite or infinite slope as if it were about to fail along its sliding failure surface. Equilibrium stresses are calculated along the failure plane and compared to the soils shear strength as determined by Terzaghi's shear strength equation. Stability is ultimately decided by a factor of safety equal to the ratio of shear strength to the equilibrium stresses along the failure surface. A factor of safety greater than one generally implies a stable slope, failure of which should not occur assuming the slope is undisturbed. A factor of safety of 1.5 for static conditions is commonly used in practice.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: Geosynthetics are a type of plastic polymer products used in geotechnical engineering that improve engineering performance while reducing costs. This includes geotextiles, geogrids, geomembranes, geocells, and geocomposites. The synthetic nature of the products makes them suitable for use in the ground where high levels of durability are required; their main functions include drainage, filtration, reinforcement, separation, and containment. Geosynthetics are available in a wide range of forms and materials, each to suit a slightly different end-use, although they are frequently used together. Some reinforcement geosynthetics, such as geogrids and more recently, cellular confinement systems, have shown to improve bearing capacity, modulus factors and soil stiffness and strength.These products have a wide range of applications and are currently used in many civil and geotechnical engineering applications including roads, airfields, railroads, embankments, piled embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs, canals, dams, landfills, bank protection and coastal engineering.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: "Offshore" (or "marine") "geotechnical engineering" is concerned with foundation design for human-made structures in the sea, away from the coastline (in opposition to "onshore" or "nearshore"). Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of such structures. There are a number of significant differences between onshore and offshore geotechnical engineering. Notably, ground improvement (on the seabed) and site investigation are more expensive, the offshore structures are exposed to a wider range of geohazards, and the environmental and financial consequences are higher in case of failure. Offshore structures are exposed to various environmental loads, notably wind, waves and currents. These phenomena may affect the integrity or the serviceability of the structure and its foundation during its operational lifespan – they need to be taken into account in offshore design.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In subsea geotechnical engineering, seabed materials are considered a two-phase material composed of 1) rock or mineral particles and 2) water. Structures may be fixed in place in the seabed—as is the case for piers, jettys and fixed-bottom wind turbines—or maybe a floating structure that remains roughly fixed relative to its geotechnical anchor point. Undersea mooring of human-engineered floating structures include a large number of offshore oil and gas platforms and, since 2008, a few floating wind turbines. Two common types of engineered design for anchoring floating structures include tension-leg and catenary loose mooring systems. "Tension


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: leg mooring systems have vertical tethers under tension providing large restoring moments in pitch and roll. Catenary mooring systems provide station keeping for an offshore structure, yet provide little stiffness at low tensions."


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: In geotechnical engineering, during the construction of earth structures (dams and tunnels for example), the observational method is a continuous, managed and integrated process of design, construction control, monitoring and review enabling appropriate, previously-defined modifications to be incorporated during (or after) construction. All these aspects must be demonstrably robust. The objective is to achieve greater overall economy, without compromising safety.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The observational method was proposed by Karl Terzaghi and discussed in a paper by Ralph B. Peck (1969). This was in an effort to reduce the costs during construction incurred by designing earth structures based on the most-unfavorable assumptions (in other words, geological conditions, soil engineering properties and so on). Instead, the design is based on the most-probable conditions rather than the most-unfavorable. Gaps in the available information are filled by observations: geotechnical-instrumentation measurements (for example, inclinometers and piezometers) and geotechnical site investigation (for example, borehole drilling and a CPT). These observations aid in assessing the behavior of the structure during construction, which can then be modified in accordance with the findings. The method may be described as "learn-as-you-go".


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The observational method is suitable for construction which has already begun when an unexpected development occurs, or when a failure or accident threatens or has already occurred. The method is not suitable for projects whose design cannot be altered during construction.


title: Geotechnical engineering

text: The most serious blunder in applying the observational method is failing to select (in advance) an appropriate course of action for all foreseeable deviations (disclosed by observation) from those assumed in the design. The engineer must devise solutions to all problems which could arise under the least-favorable conditions. If he or she cannot solve these hypothetical problems (even if the probability of their occurrence is very low), he or she must revert to a design based on the least-favorable conditions.


title: Beren Saat

text: Beren Saat (; born 26 February 1984) is a Turkish actress. Since the beginning of her career, she has received critical acclaim and numerous accolades for her acting. While studying at Başkent University, she participated in the acting competition "Türkiye'nin Yıldızları" and was discovered by Turkish director Tomris Giritlioğlu, launching her professional acting career.


title: Beren Saat

text: Beren Saat made her acting debut with a minor part in the television series "Aşkımızda Ölüm Var" (2004). She was then prepared by Tomris Giritlioğlu for her first major role in "Aşka Sürgün" (2005–2006). She starred as a feisty tomboy named Yasemin Ünsal in the ATV's political series "Hatırla Sevgili" (2006–2008) and came to international attention for her role as Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil, an unfaithful wife, in the Kanal D's romantic series "Aşk-ı Memnu" (2008–2010), for which she received critical acclaim and won numerous accolades, including two Golden Butterfly Awards. Her other major roles in television includes a rape victim, Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz, in the social drama "Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?" (2010–2012), and an avenger named Derin Çelik/Yağmur Özden in the drama series "İntikam" (2013–2014), a remake from the American television series "Revenge". Her film career began with the drama film "Güz Sancısı" (2009), and continued with "Gecenin Kanatları" (2009), "Rhino Season" (2012) and "Benim Dünyam" (2013). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as the titular character in the historical drama series "," for which she was said to be receiving 90,000 per episode. Between 2019 and 2021, Saat had the leading role on the Netflix original series "The Gift".


title: Beren Saat

text: Saat was the highest-paid actress in Turkey from 2008 to 2014. She has participated in several movies as a voice actor. She was named Actress of the Year in the "2010 Damgasını Vuranlar" list published by "Radikal" newspaper. In addition to her acting career, Saat is noted for her charitable efforts. She has been married to singer Kenan Doğulu since 2014.


title: Beren Saat

text: Beren Saat was born on 26 February 1984 in Ankara, to Ayla Saat (née Dikmen) and Hüseyin Avni Saat, both graduates of sports academy. She has a brother, Cem Saat. Raised in Ankara, she primarily studied at TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School and briefly attended Başkent University's Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences before pursuing a career in acting. With the support of her college friends, she applied to an acting competition called "Türkiye'nin Yıldızları" in which she became the first runner-up. After that, she appeared on TV commercials of "Tofita" directed by Sinan Çetin. She was discovered by the renowned director Tomris Giritlioğlu and debuted in her first series "Aşkımızda Ölüm Var".


title: Beren Saat

text: In 2004, she was cast as Nermin in the TV series "Aşkımızda Ölüm Var", directed by Nazif Tunç and Ümit Efekan. Her character was the sister of Ece Uslu's character in the series. In 2005, she starred as the female lead Zilan Şahvar Azizoğlu in "Aşka Sürgün" which was produced by Tomris Giritlioğlu and directed by Cemal Şan. Her co-star in this series was Mahsun Kırmızıgül. In 2006, she was cast as Yasemin Ünsal in the popular series "Hatırla Sevgili" directed by Faruk Teber and Ümmü Burha. She shared the leading role with Cansel Elçin and Okan Yalabık. The series focused on the political events occurred during 1950–70 and Saat achieved great success and nationwide fame during the period of its broadcast. Saat's friend and co-star Cansel Elçin gave an interview in which he described Beren Saat as a "super artist of high quality". In 2007, Saat appeared as a guest actress on episode 121 of the series "Avrupa Yakası".


title: Beren Saat

text: Later in 2008, she was cast in a leading role as Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil in "Aşk-ı Memnu" ("Forbidden Love"), a romantic drama series which was adapted from author Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil's novel of the "same name". The series was directed by Hilal Saral. Saat shared the leading role with Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, Selçuk Yöntem and Nebahat Çehre. The story is about a girl, Bihter Yöreoğlu Ziyagil, who falls in a forbidden love with her husband's young nephew, Behlül (portrayed by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ). "Aşk-ı Memnu" received positive response from the audience and was the most watched TV series in the history of Turkish television productions. Three out of every four people in Turkey watched the final episode titled "Veda". Beren Saat received critical acclaim by the critics for her performance in the final episode and the suicide scene of Bihter broke viewing records. Turkish film actress Selda Alkor commented on the final performance of Saat saying: "I congratulate Beren Saat. She really played great. She portrayed the character's psychology so great that I believe she'll become one of the most important actresses of the industry like one of us". The series became one of the most common complaints during its broadcast and some of these complaints were issued by RTÜK from time to time and were rebuffed by some ministers. After the show was broadcast around the world, Saat rose to international prominence specially in the Middle East and Europe. On 24 June 2010, the final episode aired which featured Bihter's death and the following year on the character's death anniversary people shared messages mourning her decease. The series also reached great popularity in Egypt and a TV channel made a documentary about Beren Saat's life. Hamdi Alkan, a member of "Türkiye'nin Yıldızları" jury was interviewed and detailed information about Beren Saat. At the end of 2010, Media Monitoring Center after a research announced that Saat has been one of the most popular TV series actors and the most talked actress of the year. She was named as Actress of the Year in the "2010 Damgasını Vuranlar" list published by "Radikal" newspaper.


title: Beren Saat

text: In an interview, she stated that "I've learned a lot from what the writers wrote about the mentality of Bihter". For her role in the series, she won two Golden Butterfly Awards, and was the first nominee to win the award for two consecutive years. After the series' conclusion, the scenario was sold to Italy in 2010 and to the United States in 2012 for making adaptations in these two countries.


title: Beren Saat

text: "Güz Sancısı" ("Pains of Autumn") was her first feature film experience, a period film directed by Tomris Giritlioğlu. Co-starred with Murat Yıldırım, Okan Yalabık and Belçim Bilgin, Saat portrayed the Greek prostitute Elena. In 2009, she also acted in Serdar Akar's film "Gecenin Kanatları" ("Wings of the Night"), written by Mahsun Kırmızıgül. She shared the lead role with Murat Ünalmış, Erkan Petekkaya and Yavuz Bingöl. She played the character Gece. There was a long discussion over a sex scene involving Saat and her co-star Murat Ünalmış on whether to show it or not and later the images of this scene was shown in the film's trailer which resulted in Saat's extreme backlash. She didn't attend the film's premiere and later sued the producer. In 2013, she withdrew the case against the producer. In 2010, she dubbed the voice of Barbie in the Turkish version of high-grossing animation "Toy Story 3". In the summer of 2010, she became the face of the chips brand "Patos" for which she participated in numerous commercials and advertisements. Thereafter, the sales of Patos chips increased by 45% . In the same year, Saat became the face of advertisements for "Rexona".


title: Beren Saat

text: In 2010, Saat acted in the series "Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne?" a screenplay adaptation of the movie written by Vedat Türkali in 1986. The series was directed by Hilal Saral and written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu. Her role Fatmagül Ketenci Ilgaz portrayed a victim of rape. Saat's principal partner in this series was her friend from "Türkiye'nin Yıldızları" competition, Engin Akyürek. The other main actors were Sumru Yavrucuk, Musa Uzunlar, Serdar Gökhan and Deniz Türkali. One of the most discussed scenes in this series was the dramatic rape scene in the first episode which broke the rating records. The series was well received by the audience and was among the top-rated series of the recent years. Saat received psychological support for this role together with some friends before playing the rape scene. The series was later contained among the items of the parliament's agenda because of its sexual scenes and a campaign was launched to stop the series' broadcast. A written statement was issued by several deputies of the Bundesrat of Germany supporting the series because of its emphasis on women's rights. After the series was broadcast in numerous countries around the world, Saat's face began to appear on the covers of magazines in different countries. After her portrayal of Fatmagül, a website published a video game on internet and converted her into one of its characters. During the game Saat could get dresses from a wardrobe that contained items such as clothes, shoes, wigs, etc. It was one of the most played games at the time of its publication. For her role in this series she was nominated for an Antalya Television Award in the Best Drama Series Actress category.


title: Beren Saat

text: In 2012, Saat acted in her third film "Rhino Season" directed by the Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi. She was cast as Monica Bellucci's daughter Buse. Yılmaz Erdoğan, Caner Cindoruk and Belçim Bilgin were among the Turkish actors and Behrouz Vossoughi and Arash were among the Iranian actors that starred in this movie. The world premiere of the film was held at the Toronto International Film Festival. In September of the same year, the animation "Brave" was released in Turkey. Saat dubbed the voice of Merida in the film's Turkish version.


title: Beren Saat

text: At the end of 2012, Saat began filming the series "İntikam" which is based on the original American series "Revenge". She continued her TV career after six months of absence with "İntikam". She took private lessons to improve her fighting ability for the role. The starring cast included Mert Fırat, Yiğit Özşener, Zafer Algöz, Arzu Gamze Kılınç and Engin Hepileri. The show premiered in January 2013 and Saat portrayed the character Derin Çelik/Yağmur Özden. Her dressing style was one of the most talked topics beside her acting performance. In the summer of 2013, Saat took the leading role in the movie "Benim Dünyam", an adaptation from 2005 Indian movie "Black". Saat shared the leading role with Uğur Yücel and played the character Ela Bayındır. Other co-stars included Ayça Bingöl, Turgay Kantürk and Hazar Ergüçlü as well as the child actress Melis Mutluç. She portrayed a blind, deaf and dumb character. After her role in this film, an American website named Beren Saat as one of the "stars" in the world and said the characters that were shown in the adapted movie were portrayed better than the original one. Also in 2013, she became the face of "Duru Perfume Duş Jeli" brand and was featured in an advertising film that took two days to shoot.


title: Beren Saat

text: In 2014, it was announced that "" would begin in September 2015 and Saat was among the candidates to portray the leading role Kösem Sultan. The other actresses that were supposed to take the leading role included Bergüzar Korel, Tuba Büyüküstün and Hazal Kaya. The show's producer Timur Savcı refuted these allegations and said that the person who was chosen to portray Kösem Sultan would remain unrecognized. But in June 2015, it was announced that Saat would portray Kösem Sultan in this new TV series. She entered the series from episode 7 and left it after finishing season 1. Her co-stars included Hülya Avşar, Mete Horozoğlu and Erkan Kolçak Köstendil. In July 2015, together with her husband, she appeared in an advertising film for "Arçelik". The advertisement begins with an action scene by Saat, while Doğulu is singing a song at the same time. The commercial also shows her while she's on a film set receiving an award in an event and in her home with Kenan Doğulu. In July 2015, she dubbed the voice of Scarlet Overkill in the Turkish version of "Minions". In September 2015, the film was released in Turkey and Kenan Doğulu also dubbed the voice of Scarlet Overkill's inventor husband, Herb Overkill.


title: Beren Saat

text: Between 2019 and 2021, Saat starred in the Netflix original series "The Gift", in which she portrayed the lead role Atiye, an artist who comes across universal secrets in Anatolia. It premiered on 27 December 2019. The series was included on BBC's list of 10 most recommended series for December 2019. Writing for "Hürriyet", Onur Baştürk mentioned that there was "no trace of the childishness or disharmony" that he had seen in "The Protector", and praised the performance of all the actors, including Saat and her co-star Mehmet Günsür. The love scenes in the TV series became subject of discussion on social media and drew mixed reactions. Its second season was released in September 2020, followed by a third and final season in June 2021. As of 2022, she is shooting her upcoming movie for netflix alongside Kivanc Tatlitug.


title: Beren Saat

text: Beren Saat began dating Kenan Doğulu in February 2012. Saat and Doğulu became engaged on 23 February 2014 in Istanbul and were married on 29 July 2014 in a private ceremony in Los Angeles, California in the United States.


title: Beren Saat

text: Saat has participated in many social projects. In 2011, she became the face of deodorant brand "Rexona" and donated all 100.000 that she had earned to "Mor Çatı", a women's shelter foundation. In 2012, she designed some T-shirts for "Elle" magazine with her face on their covers and most of the money that was earned from selling the T-shirts in NetWork stores was donated to Nar Taneleri Projesi ("Pomegranate Seeds Project"), a charity which educates young orphan girls aged between 18 and 24. In December of the same year, she appeared on a calendar that was made and designed by Trendus.com, with a girl suffering from leukemia with Snow White costume on its cover. The Money that was earned by selling these calendars was donated to "Health and Education Foundation for Children with Leukemia". Saat, later went in front of the camera for a video supporting a project organized by European Union and Afghanistan's Ministry of Health for women's healthy childbirth in Afghanistan.


title: Beren Saat

text: In September 2014, Saat vocalized in "Baba Beni Okula Gönder" (Daddy Send Me to School) campaign's advertising film directed by Ozan Açıktan. In the "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" in October 2014, she appeared in Abdi İpekçi Arena and performed a symbolic jump ball with a pink ball during EuroLeague basketball competition. In the same month, Saat along with many other celebrities participated in "Gençliğe Hitabe" program for addressing young people with hearing disabilities using sign language. She was also one of the first people who reacted to the murder of Özgecan Aslan by publishing messages in her social media accounts. The messages contained information about her own experiences of challenges and difficulties of women in Turkey.


title: Stay Alive

text: Stay Alive is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by William Brent Bell, who co-wrote it with Matthew Peterman. The film was produced by Joseph McGinty Nichol, and released on March 24, 2006 in the United States.


title: Stay Alive

text: It was the first film in five years released by Hollywood Pictures, and also Disney's only horror film to date (not counting any from Dimension Films before 2005, nor those inherited from the 20th Century Fox catalog).


title: Stay Alive

text: After playing a video game titled "Stay Alive", Loomis Crowley, his roommate Rex, and Rex's girlfriend Sarah are killed the same way as their characters were killed in the game.


title: Stay Alive

text: At Loomis' funeral, his friend Hutch meets Abigail – a friend of Sarah – and receives some of Loomis' possessions, including "Stay Alive". Hutch, his girlfriend October, and her brother Phineus decide to play the game as a group. They are joined by Abigail and another friend, Swink, while Hutch's boss Miller plays online from his office.


title: Stay Alive

text: The game is set in a derelict mansion on Gerouge Plantation, but it only starts when the six players recite "The Prayer of Elizabeth," a request for "all who resist" to perish so that their blood can keep the Countess Elizabeth Bathory young. The players fight through a cemetery of evil ghost children, heading toward a mausoleum and tower. Miller is directed by the game to pick up a rose. October, a reader of occult literature, explains that undead spirits cannot move across wild roses. Separated from the others, Miller throws the rose to dispel the spirits of undead girls. Since he is now out of roses, a woman in a red dress, the Countess, kills Miller's character. Minutes later, the Countess appears in Miller's office and kills him by stabbing him with conjoined scissor blades like the ones in the game.


title: Stay Alive

text: Two detectives, Thibodeaux and King, question Hutch about the homicides. Hutch realizes that Loomis and Miller played "Stay Alive" right before they died, and that they died the same way as their game characters did. October researches Bathory and learns she would drain young women of blood, bathing in it to maintain her youth. Her weakness was mirrors because she could not stand to see herself growing old. Phineus decides to play alone, and despite quitting the game before his character can die, he is killed in real life when he is run over by a horse-drawn carriage. The survivors agree to stop playing "Stay Alive". However, Detective King ignores Swink's warning and plays until his character dies. King is then killed in his car.


title: Stay Alive

text: Hutch and Abigail search Loomis' house and learn of the game developer's location: the real Gerouge Plantation. October has discovered that the real Countess Bathory was locked in the tower of her estate as punishment for her gruesome acts and vowed to return one day for revenge, which she is now able to do, as The Prayer of Elizabeth has resurrected her. The Countess can only be killed by driving three nails into her body to trap her soul. October sees the Countess in real life and tries to kill her but realizes that she is a ghost. She has her throat slit by the Countess. The three survivors realize that once the game has begun, it can play by itself. Swink stays in a van and plays the game on his laptop to distract Bathory, while Hutch and Abigail search Gerouge Plantation.


title: Stay Alive

text: The Countess begins cheating, arriving in her carriage to kill Swink in real life, even though his character is alive. Swink decides to run for it until he falls over into a bush of roses. Hutch and Abigail return to the van to find Swink's character dead. They take the laptop and some wild roses, which they drop to deter undead children as they move toward the tower. They become separated and Hutch performs the ritual on Bathory's body alone. Bathory's phantom attacks Abigail. At the top of the tower, Hutch finds the preserved body of Elizabeth Bathory and hammers three nails into it, after which the spirit disappears. Bathory's body reanimates; recalling that the Countess hates mirrors, Hutch uses the reflective laptop to repel her before setting the room ablaze. Swink, still alive due to the rose bush, bursts in with Abigail and rescues Hutch. As Bathory's body burns, the three leave the tower.


title: Stay Alive

text: Meanwhile, the gaming store is now selling copies of "Stay Alive." Intrigued, a worker puts a copy in a PlayStation 2. As the intro to the game begins, the group reciting Elizabeth Bathory's prayer is heard as the game zooms to Bathory, staring out her window.


title: Stay Alive

text: "Stay Alive" was released in U.S. theaters on March 24, 2006. The film opened at #3 in the U.S. box office with $10.7 million that first weekend. It ultimately grossed a total of $23.08 million in the United States. The movie grossed a total of over $27.1 million worldwide.


title: Stay Alive

text: "Stay Alive" received negative critical reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 24 out of 100 based on 17 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes holds this film with a 10% rating based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 3.20/10. The site's critics consensus states: "A by-the-numbers teen horror flick, "Stay Alive" fails to exploit its premise for any real scares."


title: Stay Alive

text: Writing for "Newsday", John Anderson commented that "'Stay Alive' spends a lot of time inside the video game system, and what will terrify the audience very early on is the realization that there's better acting in the video game than on the big screen." Meanwhile, writing for "Variety", Anderson concluded: "Seldom is there anything close to real passion or panic on display here from cast members." Gregory Kirschling of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a D− and commented, "this dopey movie keeps flouting its own rules, so that one character who dies in the game gets to live, while poor suckers get offed for real even though we never saw their Game Overs." "Entertainment Weekly" gave the "Unrated Director's Cut" version a C+.


title: Stay Alive

text: Despite its initial negative reception, "Stay Alive" has been regarded by some in the years since as a cult classic horror movie.


title: Stay Alive

text: The DVD was released in the United States on September 19, 2006. It was made available in an unrated edition (100 minutes) and a "PG-13" edition (85 minutes). The 15 minutes of new unrated footage include a new character and subplot. The unrated edition features more adult material. As of December 2011, the total amount of DVD units sold is 874,827, bringing in $13,636,869 in revenue.


title: Stay Alive

text: In August 2022, Bell revealed that developments for a potential sequel film are ongoing. The filmmaker stated that creatives "are trying very hard to make another one".


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the "Dvaita" (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy "Tattvavāda" meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya was born on the west coast of Karnataka state in 13th-century India. As a teenager, he became a Sanyasi (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of the Ekadandi order. Madhva studied the classics of Hindu philosophy, and wrote commentaries on the Principal Upanishads, the "Bhagavad Gita" and the Brahma Sutras ("Prasthanatrayi"), and is credited with thirty seven works in Sanskrit. His writing style was of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the "Anuvyakhyana", a philosophical supplement to his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras composed with a poetic structure. In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of Vayu, the son of god Vishnu.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya was a critic of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta teachings. He toured India several times, visiting places such as Badrinath, Bengal, Varanasi, Dwaraka, Goa and Kanyakumari, engaging in philosophical debates and visiting Hindu centres of learning. Madhva established the Krishna Mutt at Udupi with a murti secured from Dwarka Gujarat in CE 1285.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya's teachings are built on the premise that there is a fundamental difference between Atman (individual soul, self) and the Brahman (ultimate reality, God Vishnu), these are two different unchanging realities, with individual soul dependent on Brahman, never identical. His school's theistic dualism teachings disagreed with the monist teachings of the other two most influential schools of Vedanta based on Advaita's nondualism and Vishishtadvaita's qualified nondualism. Liberation, asserted Madhva, is achievable only through the grace of God. The Dvaita school founded by Madhva influenced Vaishnavism, the Bhakti movement in medieval India, and has been one of the three influential Vedānta philosophies, along with Advaita Vedanta and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. Madhva's historical influence in Hinduism, state Kulandran and Kraemer: "has been salutary, but not extensive."


title: Madhvacharya

text: The biography of Madhvacharya,srimadhva vijaya is unclear about his year of birth. Many sources date him to 1238–1317 period, but some place him about the 1199–1278 period.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvācārya was born in Pajaka near Udupi, a coastal district in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. Traditionally it is believed that his father's name is Naduillaya (Sanskrit: Madhyageha, Madhyamandira) and the name of his mother is unclear, although many sources variously claim it as Satyavati and Vedavati. Born in a Tulu-speaking Brahmin household, he was named Vāsudeva. Later he became famous by the names Purnaprajna, Anandatirtha and Madhvacharya (or just Madhva). Pūrnaprajña was the name given to him at the time of his initiation into "sannyasa" (renunciation), as a teenager. The name conferred on him when he became the head of his monastery was "Ānanda Tīrtha". All three of his later names are found in his works. Madhvācārya or Madhva are names most commonly found in modern literature on him, or Dvaita Vedanta related literature.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva began his school after his Upanayana at age seven, and became a monk or "Sannyasi" in his teenage, although his father was initially opposed to this. He joined an Advaita Vedanta monastery in Udupi (Karnataka), accepted his guru to be Achyutrapreksha, who is also referred to as Achyutraprajna in some sources. Madhva studied the Upanishads and the Advaita literature, but was unconvinced by its nondualism philosophy of oneness of human soul and god, had frequent disagreements with his guru, left the monastery, and began his own tattvavada movement based on dualism premises of "Dvi" – asserting that human soul and god (as Vishnu) are two different things. Madhva never acknowledged Achyutrapreksha as his guru or his monastic lineage in his writings. Madhva is said to have been clever in philosophy, and also to have been tall and strongly built.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya never established a "matha" (monastery) dedicated to Dvaita philosophy, however his lineage of students became the sanctuary for a series of Dvaita scholars such as Jayatirtha, Sripadaraja, Vyasatirtha, Vadiraja Tirtha, Raghuttama Tirtha, Raghavendra Tirtha and Satyanatha Tirtha who followed in the footsteps of Madhva.


title: Madhvacharya

text: A number of hagiographies have been written by Madhva's disciples and followers. Of these, the most referred to and most authentic is the sixteen cantos Sanskrit biography "Madhvavijaya" by Narayana Panditacharya – son of Trivikrama Pandita, who himself was a disciple of Madhva.


title: Madhvacharya

text: In several of his texts, state Sarma and other scholars, "Madhvacharya proclaims himself to be the third avatar or incarnation of Vayu, wind god, the son of Vishnu". He, thus, asserted himself to be Hanuman – the first avatar of Vayu, and Bhima – a Pandava in the Mahabharata and the second avatar of Vayu. In one of his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras, he asserts that the authority of the text is from his personal encounter with Vishnu. Madhva, states Sarma, believed himself to be an intermediary between Vishnu and Dvaita devotees, guiding the latter in their journey towards Vishnu.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva is said to have performed several miracles during his lifetime, including transforming tamarind seeds into gold coins, consuming four-thousand bananas and thirty big pots of milk in one sitting, fighting and winning against robbers and wild animals, crossing the Ganges without getting his clothes wet, and giving light to his students through the nails of his big toes after the lamp went out while they were interpreting a text at night.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya is said to have quoted some verses from his unique recensions of scriptures. Also, he is said to have quoted many unique books like Kamatha Sruti. The interpretation of Balittha Sukta by Madhvacharya and his followers to prove that Madhvacharya was an incarnation of Vayu is considered highly unique by standard commentaries on them like Sayana and Horace Hayman Wilson.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Thirty seven Dvaita texts are attributed to Madhvacharya. Of these, thirteen are bhasya (review and commentary) on earliest Principal Upanishads, a "Madhva-bhasya" on the foundational text of Vedanta school of Hinduism – Brahma Sutras, another "Gita-bhasya" on Bhagavad Gita, a commentary on forty hymns of the Rigveda, a review of the Mahabharata in poetic style, a commentary called "Bhagavata-tatparya-nirnaya" on Bhagavata Purana. Apart from these, Madhva is also attributed for authoring many stotras, poems and texts on bhakti of Vishnu and his avatars. The "Anu-Vyakhyana", a supplement to Madhvacharya's commentary on Brahma Sutras, is his masterpiece, states Sharma.


title: Madhvacharya

text: While being a profusely productive writer, Madhvacharya restricted the access to and distribution of his works to outsiders who were not part of Dvaita school, according to Sarma. However, Bartley disagrees and states that this is inconsistent with the known history of extensive medieval Vedantic debates on religious ideas in India which included Dvaita school's ideas.


title: Madhvacharya

text: The premises and foundations of Dvaita Vedanta, also known as "Dvaitavada" and "Tattvavada", are credited to Madhvacharya. His philosophy championed unqualified dualism. Madhva's work is classically placed in contrast with monist ideas of Shankara's Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva calls epistemology as "Anu pramana". It accepts three "pramānas", that is three facts or three correct means of knowledge, in contrast to one of Charvaka and six of Advaita schools of Hindu philosophies:


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva and his followers introduced "kevala-pramaana" as the "knowledge of an object as it is", separate from "anu-pramana" described above.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva's Dvaita school holds that Vishnu as a God, who is also Hari, Krishna, Vasudeva and Narayana, can only be known through the proper "samanvaya" (connection) and "pramana" of the Vedic scriptural teachings. Vishnu, according to Madhvacharya, is not the creator of the Vedas, but the teacher of the Vedas. Madhva's school of thought assert, knowledge is intrinsically valid, and the knower and the known are independently real. Both the ritual part ("karma-kanda", Mimamsa) and the knowledge part ("jnana-kanda", Upanishadic Vedanta) in the Vedas, asserted Madhvacharya, are equally valid and interconnected whole. As asserted by the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy, Madhvacharya held that the Vedas are author-less, and that their truth is in all of its parts (i.e. the , , and )...


title: Madhvacharya

text: The metaphysical reality is plural, stated Madhvacharya. There are primarily two "tattvas" or categories of reality – ' (independent reality) and ' (dependent reality). Ishvara (as God Vishnu or Krishna) is the cause of the universe and the only independent reality, in Madhvacharya's view. The created universe is the dependent reality, consisting of ' (individual souls) and "Jada" (matter, material things). Individual souls are plural, different and distinct realities. 's are sentient and matter is non-sentient, according to Madhvacharya.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva further enumerates the difference between dependent and independent reality as a fivefold division ("pancha-bheda") between God, souls and material things. These differences are:


title: Madhvacharya

text: This difference is neither temporary nor merely practical; it is an invariable and natural property of everything. Madhva calls it "Taratamya" (gradation in pluralism). There is no object like another, according to Madhvacharya. There is no soul like another. All souls are unique, reflected in individual personalities. The sea is full; the tank is full; a pot is full; everything is full, yet each fullness is different, asserted Madhvacharya.


title: Madhvacharya

text: According to Madhvacharya, even in liberation (moksha), the bliss is different for each person based on each's degree of knowledge and spiritual perfection. This liberation according to him, is only achievable with grace of God Vishnu.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhva conceptualised Brahman as a being who enjoys His own bliss, while the entire universe evolves through a nebulous chaos. He manifests, every now and then, to help the evolution process. The four primary manifestation of Him as the Brahman are, according to Madhva, Vasudeva, Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarasana, which are respectively responsible for the redemptive, creative, sustaining and destructive aspects in the universe. His secondary manifestations are many, and all manifestations are at par with each other, it is the same infinite no matter how He manifests. Brahman is the creator of the universe, perfect in knowledge, perfect in knowing, perfect in its power, and distinct from souls, distinct from matter. For liberation, mere intellectual conceptualization of Brahman as creator is not enough, the individual soul must feel attraction, love, attachment and devotional surrender to Him, and only His grace leads to redemption and liberation, according to Madhva.


title: Madhvacharya

text: The Vishnu as Brahman concept of Madhvacharya is a concept similar to God in major world religions. His writings led some early colonial-era Indologists such as George Abraham Grierson to suggest the 13th-century Madhva was influenced by Christianity, but later scholarship has rejected this theory.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya considered Jnana Yoga and Karma Yoga to be insufficient to the path of liberation without Bhakti. Lord Vishnu was the supreme God to Madhva, who can only be reached through Vayu – the son of God; he further states, faith leads to the grace of God, and grace leads to the liberation of soul.


title: Madhvacharya

text: The knowledge of God, for Madhvacharya, is not a matter of intellectual acceptance of the concept, but an attraction, affection, constant attachment, loving devotion and complete surrender to the grace of God. He rejects monist theories believing that knowledge liberates, asserting instead that it is Divine grace through Bhakti that liberates. To Madhva, God obscures reality by creating Maya and Prakriti, which causes bondage and suffering; and only God can be the source of soul's release. Liberation occurs when, with the grace of God, one knows the true nature of self and the true nature of God.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Evil and suffering in the world, according to Madhvacharya, originates in man, and not God. Every "Jiva" (individual soul) is the agent of actions, not "Jada" (matter), and not "Ishvara" (God). While Madhva asserts each individual self is the "Kartritva" (real agency), the self is not an absolutely independent agent to him. This is because, states Madhva, the soul is influenced by sensory organs, one's physical body and such material things which he calls as gifts of God. Man has free will, but is influenced by his innate nature, inclinations and past karma.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya asserts, "Yathecchasi tatha kuru", which Sharma translates and explains as "one has the right to choose between right and wrong, a choice each individual makes out of his own responsibility and his own risk". Madhva does not address the problem of evil, that is how can evil exist with that of a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. According to Sharma, "Madhva's tripartite classification of souls makes it unnecessary to answer the problem of evil". According to David Buchta, this does not address the problem of evil, because the omnipotent God "could change the system, but chooses not to" and thus sustains the evil in the world. This view of self's agency of Madhvacharya was, states Buchta, an outlier in Vedanta school and Indian philosophies in general.


title: Madhvacharya

text: This accusation of David Buchta is answered by the arrangement that the tripartite characteristic is intrinsic of the souls. That is to say, those characteristics define the soul. And any attempt to change that would mean replacing souls themselves. Seeing no point in repairing the prevalent characteristics if the very identity of the souls is in danger, the omnipotent does not change them. Thus answering the problem of evil.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Moral laws and ethics exist, according to Madhva, and are necessary for the grace of God and for liberation.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya was a fierce critic of competing Vedanta schools, and other schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. He wrote up arguments against twenty one ancient and medieval era Indian scholars to help establish the foundations of his own school of thought.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya was fiercest critic of Advaita Vedanta, accusing Shankara and Advaitins for example, as "deceitful demons" teaching Buddhism under the cover of Vedanta. Advaita's nondualism asserts that Atman (soul) and Brahman are blissful and identical, unchanging transcendent Reality, there is interconnected oneness of all souls and Brahman, and there are no pluralities. Madhva in contrast asserts that Atman (soul) and Brahman are different, only Vishnu is the Lord (Brahman), individual souls are also different and depend on Vishnu, and there are pluralities. Madhva criticized Advaita as being a version of Mahayana Buddhism, which he regarded as nihilistic. Of all schools, Madhva focussed his criticism on Advaita most, and he wrote four major texts, including "Upadhikhandana" and "Tattvadyota", primarily dedicated to criticizing Advaita.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya disagreed with aspects of Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita. Vishishtadvaita school, a realist system of thought like Madhvacharya's Dvaita school, also asserts that Jiva (human souls) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are different, a difference that is never transcended. God Vishnu alone is independent, all other gods and beings are dependent on Him, according to both Madhvacharya and Ramanuja. However, in contrast to Madhvacharya's views, Vishishtadvaita school asserts "qualified non-dualism", that souls share the same essential nature of Brahman, and that there is a universal sameness in the quality and degree of bliss possible for human souls, and every soul can reach the bliss state of God Himself. While the older school of Vishishtadvaita asserted "qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls", states Sharma, Madhvacharya asserted both "qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls".


title: Madhvacharya

text: Shankara's Advaita school and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita school are premised on the assumption that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation; in contrast, Madhvacharya posited that some souls enjoy spreading chaos and irreligion, and even enjoy being eternally doomed and damned as such.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya's style of criticism of other schools of Indian philosophy was part of the ancient and medieval Indian tradition. He was part of the Vedanta school, which emerged in post-Vedic period as the most influential of the six schools of Hindu philosophy, and his targeting of Advaita tradition, states Bryant, reflects it being the most influential of Vedanta schools.


title: Madhvacharya

text: The Madhwa Sampradaya fostered Bhakti and search of Knowledge. Madhwacharya and his ascetic followers propagated the Dvaita Siddhanta through their commentaries and critical lectures. Such literature and works for critical thinking were written majorly in Sanskrit and not readily accessible to common people . An alternate avenue evolved organically by Sishyas or Bhaktas of the Madhwa Philosophy who studied these core books, read philosophy, practised asceticism though living a householder's life, dedicated themselves to the service of God. This set of followers undertook the mission of carrying Madhva's teaching to the four comers of the country using Kannada or the local language as a vehicle of communication. These spirited missionaries were known as the Hari-Dasas. The HariDasas pioneered in breaking the shackles of caste, creed and regionalism – they practiced devotion in its purest form and were instrumental in delivering the marvels of Madhwa Siddhantha to the common man by way of songs, suladees and Bhakti Dasa Sahitya. These Haridasas came to be known as the Dasa Section or Dasa-Kuta of the Madhwa Sampradaya in contrast with the Vyaasa-Kuta who were Scholars, Pandits or teachers of literature & critical thought.


title: Madhvacharya

text: There is no difference between the Vyasa-kuta and Dasa-Kuta in their learning, training, or approach to philosophy. While Vyasa-Kuta being scholars, Acharyas or Pandits strongly believed in acquiring Jnaana/Knowledge traditionally, the Dasa-Kuta simplified the acquired knowledge into Bhakti or devotion. The terms 'Dasaru' and 'Vyasaru' first came into vogue at the time of Purandaradasa and his religious preceptor, Vyasaraya. Over time, 'Vyasakuta' meant the branch of devotees who were well-versed in Sanskrit and who knew the philosophy in the original, and '"Dasakuta"' or "Dasa Dasapantha", meant that branch of devotees who conveyed the meassage of Dvaita philosophy through simplified vernacular Bhakti movement.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Other influential subschools of Vaishnavism competed with the ideas of Madhvacharya, such as the Chaitanya subschool, whose Jiva Gosvami asserts only Krishna is "Svayam Bhagavan" (supreme form of God), in contrast to Madhva who asserts that all Vishnu avatars are equal and identical, with both sharing the belief that emotional devotion to God is the means to spiritual liberation. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1496–1534) is said to be a disciple of Isvara Puri who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha who was a disciple of Vyasatirtha (1469–1539) of Madhvacharya's Sampradaya. According to Sharma, the influence of Madhva's Dvaita ideas have been most prominent on the Chaitanya school of Bengal Vaishnavism, and in Assam.


title: Madhvacharya

text: A subsect of Gaudiya Vaishnavas from Orissa and West Bengal claim to be followers of Madhvacharya. Madhva established in Udupi Krishna Matha attached to a god Krishna temple. Gaudiya Vaishnavas also worship Krishna, who is in the mode of Vrindavana.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Madhvacharya was misperceived and misrepresented by both Christian missionaries and Hindu writers during the colonial era scholarship. The similarities in the primacy of one God, dualism and distinction between man and God, devotion to God, the son of God as the intermediary, predestination, the role of grace in salvation, as well as the similarities in the legends of miracles in Christianity and Madhvacharya's Dvaita tradition fed these stories. Among Christian writers, GA Grierson creatively asserted that Madhva's ideas evidently were "borrowed from Christianity, quite possibly promulgated as a rival to the central doctrine of that faith". Among Hindu writers, according to Sarma, SC Vasu creatively translated Madhvacharya's works to identify Madhvacharya with Christ, rather than compare their ideas.


title: Madhvacharya

text: Modern scholarship rules out the influence of Christianity on Madhvacharya, as there is no evidence that there ever was a Christian settlement where Madhvacharya grew up and lived, or that there was a sharing or discussion of ideas between someone with knowledge of the Bible and Christian legends, and him.


title: Madhvacharya

text: There are also assumptions Madhva was influenced by Islam. The "Madhvavijaya" tells about Madhva meeting the Sultan of Delhi and saying to him in fluent Persian that both worship the same one God of the universe, and that he spreads the faith in God. The sultan is said to have been so impressed by this that he wanted give half of the empire to Madhva, which he refused. However, the indologist and religious scholar Helmuth von Glasenapp assumes that monotheism can also be derived from the Indian intellectual world, and that there is no reason supporting the theory that Madhva's views on afterlife were influenced by Muslim or Christian impulses.