Towering Insult in Mumbai
A 27-story concrete tower in Mumbai is lying unused and abandoned because its billionaire owners believe moving in will bring them bad luck. The billion-dollar “house” is said to have fallen foul of vastu shastra – an obscure Hindu version of feng shui.
Certainly the property, featuring six floors of parking, nine elevator banks, three helipads, a four-story open garden, health club, swimming pool, 50-seat theater, and cooling “snow” room, for starters, is comfortable enough, but according to reports, the
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Wee Kirk O’ The Heather (F.A. Hansen, Architect)
Address: 1712 S. Glendale Blvd. in Glendale, CA.
The Wee Kirk O’ The Heather is located within the grounds of Forest Lawn Memorial Park. It is said to be a reproduction of the village church attended by Annie Laurie in Glencairn, Scotland. The original church was erected in 1310 and destroyed in 1805 A.D.
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Widney Hall, USC (Kysor & Octavius Morgan, Architects) – 1880
Address: USC Campus at 650 Childs Way.
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 70)
The first building of the University of Southern California, built during the first year of the school’s existence (1880). Over the years the building came to be known as Widney Hall, its facade was altered and painted, and moved to different locations on campus. It has survived as Alumni House, now located across from the Doheny Library.
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William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Robert Farquhar, Architect) – 1926
Address: 2520 Cimarron Street in the West Adams district
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument no. 28)
The library was established by William Andrews Clark, Jr. (1877 – 1934), a prominent philanthropist and founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1919). The library is named in honor of his father, Sen. William Andrews Clark, who had built a mining fortune in Montana. Clark lived at the corner of Adams Blvd. and Cimarron Street.
Between 1924 and 1926 he engaged prominent architect Robert D. Farquhar
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Watts Towers (Simon Rodia, Designer-Builder) – 1921-1954
Address: 1765 E. 107th Street in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 15)
A colorful lacework of 17 whimsical towers designed by Sabato Simon Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years. The towers are a fantasy of found objects Rodia picked up from the nearby railroad tracks and broken pieces of pottery from the Malibu Pottery, where he worked for many years.
Scrap rebar, wrapped with wire mesh, coated with mortar, and imbedded with broken china, scrap metal, pieces of
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Warren & Belle Dunn Mansion (C.W Buchanan, Architect) – 1904
Address: Oakland Avenue and Ford Place, on the campus of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
The mansion was designed in the Craftsman style and maintains much of the character of the original design, except for the enclosure of the back porch.
The building is currently named for Herbert J. Taylor, a close friend and counselor of Charles Fuller, the Founder of Fuller Seminary. Taylor was President of Club Aluminum Company, a devoted Christian, he established the Christian Workers Foundation and was a charter
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Guilloche
An ornament used in classical architecture formed by two or more bands twisted together in a continuous series. The openings between the bands can be filled with ornaments.
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Grotesque
A carved or painted decoration that combines human elements with animal and plant elements in an unrecognized motif, i.e. not a centaur, satyr, mermaid, or recognizable religious figure. The name comes from the Italians who discovered designs in the buried ruins of their ancestors’ grottos.
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Groin
The angle formed by meeting or intersection of two vaults. In the Norman era (1066 – 1300) these were left plain, but during the Gothic era these were almost invariably covered with ribs.
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Grille
An arrangement of bars or blocks that protects an opening, either a window or a doorway. The grille is a regular pattern and can be quite ornate.
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Gazebo
A roofed structure with open sides found in public parks or large private gardens which acts as an outdoor room or venue for summer concerts and luncheons.
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Gateway
The frame for the gate or a passageway in a fence or exterior garden wall. In medieval times these were imposing structures built over entrances to provide defense and entrance control.
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Gatehouse
Either a small outbuilding or a relatively large house beside a gateway to a mansion or manor house where the gatekeeper resides to allow or disallow entrance to the grounds.
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Garland
A wreath or festoon of flowers, leaves, fruit, or other objects used to ornament a wall, doorway, mantel or other decorative feature of a building. The garland is found in Renaissance and Baroque designs.
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Gargoyle
Originating in Gothic architecture, Gargoyles are carved human, animal, or demon figures who offer the roof run-off through their open mouths or, in modern times, through winding body parts.
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Architecture in the Movies
Architecture infuses our lives with emotions, ideas, splendor, and stress all the time. It’s only fitting it does the same in great movies. Here are famous classic films where the buildings are more than a backdrop. Am I forgetting any? Let me know…
Blade Runner, 1982
The classic “architecture in the movies” movie. It has it all: hyper-vertical cities, buildings-as-advertisements, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Anyone who took an architectural class in college watched this movie.
The Third Man, 1949 Full Post
Heliotrope Rotating House (Freiburg, Germany)
Green to the extreme, Architect Rolf Disch built a solar powered home that rotates towards the warm sun in the winter and rotates back toward its well-insulated rear in the summer.
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Raymond Hood (1881 – 1934)
American architect Raymond Hood straddled the centuries. He became famous for Neo-Gothic and Art Deco buildings. By the end of his career, however, Raymond Hood was designing buildings so modern that they foretold the International Style.
Raymond Hood became famous in 1922 when he and John Howells won a competition to design the Chicago Tribune Tower. The design by Raymond Hood and John Howells was selected over some 200 entries, including designs by great names like Walter Gopius, Adolf Loos, and Eliel Saarinen.
Raymond Hood
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Gallery
A long narrow room or corridor that is notable for its scale and decorative treatment. Galleries were popular in medieval architecture as the place where people could congregate in a large building.
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Upside-Down House (Syzmbark, Poland)
This upside down design seems totally nonsensical, but that is exactly the message the Polish philanthropist and designer, Daniel Czapiewski was trying to send. The unstable and backward construction was built as a social commentary on Poland’s former Communist era.
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A (very) brief Guide to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Yerushalayim in Hebrew and Al Quds in Arabic, is the capital and largest city of Israel. The city is considered a holy city by adherents of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; it contains sites sacred to all three religions. The city has been a focal point for conflict between Arabs and Israelis since the establishment of Israel in 1948.
The city is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. It straddles the Judean Hills, which run north-south in Israel. The city is built on a cluster of hilltops and valleys.
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William H. Monroe House, ‘The Oaks’ (Solon I. Haas) – 1887
Address: 250 N. Primrose Avenue, Monrovia, California
The Oaks, also known as William N. Monroe House, is a Stick/Eastlake Queen Anne Style house built for William N. Monroe, for whom the city of Monrovia was named. Monroe first brought his family to the Los Angeles area in 1875; serving on the Los Angeles City Council from 1879 until 1882, moved to Texas, and then returned in 1884. That year he purchased 240 acres for $30,000 from E.J. ‘Lucky’ Baldwin, land which was part of the Azusa de Duarte and Santa Anita ranchos.
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Union Station Walking Tour
The Union Station tour covers architecture, art, culture, and social history as it celebrates one of the great landmarks of Los Angeles, the 1939 Union Station.
The grand opening of Union Station was celebrated with a three-day extravaganza attended by nearly half a million people. The station’s monumental architecture, a unique combination of Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco styles, assured that it would be one of the most identifiable landmarks in the city. It also turned out to be the last great railway station built in
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Downtown Renaissance
Explores the former financial heart of the city, an area of Spring Street and Main Street that has a rich past and a vibrant future.
Main Street is one of the oldest streets in Los Angeles. Originally lined with haciendas and livestock corrals, it evolved into the city’s first major business district in the mid-nineteenth century. By the 1880s, the hub of commerce was shifting west to Spring Street, and Main Street emerged as an entertainment district with theatres, restaurants, and hotels, several of which remain.
Spring
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Historic Downtown Walking Tour
The Historic Downtown tour provides an overview of the historical and cultural landmarks of downtown Los Angeles. Covering a wide range of architectural styles, and including anecdotes about the people behind the buildings, this tour is a great way to become acquainted (or re-acquainted) with the unique character of downtown L.A.
Historic Downtown, as the area around Pershing Square is known, is the heart of downtown. Some of the most beloved Los Angeles landmarks are in this area, such as the Central Library, Angels Flight, and the
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Downtown: Modern Skyline Walking Tour
From architecture to public art to public space, Los Angeles’ Central Business District is a microcosm of the growth and development of Los Angeles.
From the 1880s when Victorian mansions crowned Bunker Hill, to today when sleek skyscrapers define the downtown skyline, the built environment of the Bunker Hill area has constantly evolved, reflecting the tastes, aspirations, and economics of the city’s population.
Experience the skyscrapers, plazas, and public art that define the bustling financial district today, and
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Broadway: Historic Theater and Commercial District
The Broadway Historic Theatre and Commercial District tour explores the social, cinematic, and architectural history of this unique street.
Home to an astonishing twelve movie palaces built between 1910 and 1931, and to nearly two dozen major department and clothing stores, Broadway was once the entertainment epicenter of Los Angeles. Although the theatres no longer regularly show films (special event venue, filming location, and retail are among the current uses), their elegant presence remains. Still a vibrant shopping street, the
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Biltmore Hotel Walking Tour
The Biltmore Hotel tour explores the architecture and rich history of this magnificent hotel, known in its early days as “The Host of the Coast.”
The Biltmore Hotel opened in 1923 as a 1,000-room hotel that was “first class in every respect.” This was the first hotel commission for the newly founded architecture firm of Schultze and Weaver, who later went on to design such grand hotels as the Park Lane and Waldorf Astoria in New York, and the Miami Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida. In addition to the lobby and grand hallway
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Art Deco Walking Tour
The Art Deco tour is an in-depth look at the history, materials, and style of Art Deco architecture popular in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s.
Officially debuted at the 1925 L’Exposition Internationale des Artes Decoratifs et Industriels Moderne in Paris, the style now known as Art Deco took the western world by storm. New, modern, and angular, the style was perfect for the machine age, and was used for everything from jewelry to teapots to skyscrapers.
Typified by vertical lines, geometric patterns, and references to
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Angelino Heights Walking Tour
The Angelino Heights tour explores the architecture and history of this charming Victorian neighborhood east of Echo Park and south of Dodger Stadium.
Angelino Heights is considered one of the first suburbs of Los Angeles. Built on a hill just a few miles west of the city center, the area was developed in the mid-1880s by William W. Stilson and Everett E. Hall. It is one of the few neighborhoods in Los Angeles remaining intact from the Victorian era.
The main part of the tour explores Carroll Avenue, a street lined with
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Highland Park Heritage Trust Walking Tour
This tour explores the rich and varied architectural and social history of the Sycamore Grove area of Highland Park, one of Los Angeles’ oldest neighborhoods.
Located along the Arroyo Seco, Highland Park was created in 1870 by developers who purchased the territory from Spanish and Mexican landowners. Incorporated into Los Angeles in 1895, it quickly became a thriving part of the city, and was once home to both Occidental College and USC’s School of Fine Arts. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Arroyo Seco was a
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William H. Perry Residence (E.F. Kysor, Architect) – 1876
Designed by noted Architect E. F. Kysor for lumber baron William Hayes Perry in the Greek Revival/Italianate Style. The house originally stood in Boyle Heights, a fashionable suburb of Los Angeles at the turn of the century. Its design and sheer size reflect the social class of the owners: marble fireplace mantles, formal staircase and fine hardwood floors. It was considered in its time to be the ‘finest and most expensive home yet seen in Los Angeles.’
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William Mead House (Hudson & Munsell) – 1914
Address: 4533 Cockerham Drive in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Described as a ‘Prairie’ influenced-style, the house was designed by the eminent architectural firm Hudson & Munsell for William Mead, a pioneer real estate developer in Los Feliz. Mead purchased 400 acres adjoining Griffith Park in 1911 from Col. Griffith J. Griffith and began planning what would become one of the City’s most beautiful subdivisions. He added another 132 acres to his holdings in 1925. For a period of time, Mead owned the
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William Mulholland Memorial Fountain (W. Clayberg, Designer) – 1940
Address: Intersection of Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Blvd. in Los Feliz
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 162).
William Mulholland was a ‘penniless Irish immigrant’ and a self-taught engineer who became head of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works & Supply at a time when business and civic leaders in Los Angeles were realizing that development would remain limited without additional water resources. Mulholland, with the support of another visionary, Fred Eaton, implemented a plan to redirect water
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William R. Staats House (Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury) – 1924
Address: 293 S. Grand Avenue in Pasadena, California.
French Provincial Revival style house designed for William Staats, by the distinguished firm Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury in 1924. Staats arrived in Pasadena in 1887, establishing what would become a well-connected real estate firm. Henry Huntington hand-picked him to subdivide and sell the exclusive Oak Knoll area.
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A (very brief) Guide to Bangkok
Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is not just an old city, but also a crossroads where people of different races, regions and religions have for centuries converged.
Ancient Buddhist temples that sparkle in the sun, the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha – this is just the beginning of what Bangkok, the City of Angels has to offer.
Boasting some of the most lavish hotels in the world, Bangkok is also known for its extraordinary museums, shopping centers and street stalls with incredible bargains.
Predominant
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Mushroom House (Cincinnati, Ohio)
So disparate in materials and shapes this hodgepodge house looks like it’s been welded and glued together. It was designed by the professor of architecture and interior design at the University of Cincinnati, Terry Brown, and was recently on the market for an estimated $400K.
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Rozak House (Darwin, Australia)
It’s pretty gutsy to build a stilt-house in cyclone country, but these residents came prepared. Even if Mother Nature knocked their house off the grid, their solar power panels and rainwater collection systems would keep them self-sufficient.
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Pod House (New Rochelle, New York)
People assume this oddball home is UFO-inspired, but it turns out the weed Queen Anne’s lace is where it got it’s roots. Its thin stems support pods with interconnecting walkways.
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Berman House (Joadja, Australia)
Surrounded by lush vegetation and wild animals of the outback, this striking split-level cliff house hangs over a deep river cut-canyon.
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Richard Morris Hunt (1827 – 1895)
Living during an era when American business leaders amassed huge fortunes, Gilded Age architect Richard Morris Hunt became known for designing palatial homes with lavish interiors.
Working with artists and craftspeople, Richard Morris Hunt designed lavish interiors with paintings, sculptures, murals, and interior architectural details modeled after those found in European castles and palaces.
Outstanding Work:
1888-1892: Vanderbilt Marble House, Newport, Rhode Island
1888-1895: Biltmore Estate
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Anna Keichline (1889 – 1943)
Anna Keichline was the first woman to become a registered architect of Pennsylvania.
An inventor, Anna Keichline patented seven inventions. Anna Keichline’s first patent was for an improved combined sink and washtub design. In 1924, she patented a kitchen design that included sloped countertops and glass-doored cabinets. In 1929, Anna Keichline patented a design for a space saving bed that folded away into the wall.
Her best known invention was the K Brick patented in 1927. The K Brick was a precursor to the modern
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Maya Lin (1959 – Present)
Maya Lin grew up in Ohio surrounded by art and literature. Her educated, artistic parents came to America from Beijing and Shanghai and taught at Ohio University.
Maya Lin is best known for her large, minimalist sculptures and monuments. When she was only 21 and still a student, Lin created the winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Many people criticized the stark, black monument, but today the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most famous monuments in the United States. Throughout her career, Maya
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Paulo Mendes da Rocha (1928 – Present)
Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha is known for socially responsible architecture that uses simple shapes and minimal resources. Paulo Mendes da Rocha often called a “Brazilian Brutalist” because his buildings are constructed of prefabricated and mass-produced concrete components.
During the 1950s, Paulo Mendes da Rocha joined an avant-garde movement in São Paulo, Brazil. His work, known as Paulist brutalist architecture, used simple shapes and materials. Importance was placed on people and society rather than
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Gable
The triangular end of a roof above the eaves which closes the roof on that end. Also the triangular end of a dormer or a triangular cut in a roof for a window or door. For Gothic designs the slope tends to be acute; for Classical buildings the slope is gentler.
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Frieze
Originating from Greek architecture (600 – 400 B.C.), a frieze is a continuous horizontal band of carved or painted decoration. It was originally the middle band of an entablature which lies between the architrave and the cornice.
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Fret
A wall or cornice decoration of Classical origin that is formed by small fillets intersecting each other at right angles. Numerous varieties of this pattern are produced by cutting away the background leaving the rest as grating.
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Fresco
Paintings done on walls using water-based pigments that are added to plaster and applied over a freshly spread plaster. The earliest frescoes are Minoan (1600 B.C.).
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Wilshire United Methodist Church (Allison & Allison and Whittlesey, Architects) – 1924
Address: 4350 Wilshire Blvd. in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 114).
The architects were among the most important architects in Los Angeles during the first half of the 20th Century. The church combines Romanesque and Gothic elements in the design. The tower and facade were inspired by La Giralda in Sevilla, Spain as well as the facade and 140-foot tower, inspired by Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Brescia, Italy.
Singer Jeanette MacDonald married Gene
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Wilshire Blvd. Temple (Edelman, Tilden Norton & Allison, Architects) – 1922-29
Address: 3663 Wilshire Blvd. (at the corner of Hobart Boulevard).
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 116).
The Wilshire Boulevard Temple reminds of other great churches and temples of Byzantium. Massive and mysterious, the interior is opulent with black marble, inlaid gold, rich mosaics, rare woods and exquisite murals depicting the history of the Hebrews (by Hugo Ballin). The temple is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Wilshire Ebell Theater & Club (Sumner Hunt & Silas Burns, Architects) – 1924-27
Address: 4400 Wilshire Boulevard in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 250).
Neoclassical in style, the Wilshire Ebell Theater and Club was founded as a non-profie woman’s organization in 1894, and is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.
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Wilshire Vermont Station- (Arquitectonica Architects) – 2007
Address: Intersection of Vermont St. and Wilshire Blvd.,
Miami firm Arquitectonica designed this eye-catching complex, sitting atop the Metro subway station in the heart of Koreatown. The station is highlighted by a gigantic (8200 square foot) image by artist April Greiman. The complex held its grand opening on October 7, 2007.
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Wilshire Ward Chapel (Harold W. Burton, Architect) – 1928
Address: 1209 Manhattan Place.
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 531).
Harold W. Burton was the most prolific architect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The outstanding feature of the church is the octagonal tower in a Moderne/Art Deco motif.
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Wiltern Theater (Morgan, Walls & Clements, Architects) – 1930-31
Address: 3780 Wilshire Boulevard (corner of Western Avenue).
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 118).
The Pelliser Office Building and Wiltern Theater(formerly the Warner Brothers Western Theater) is among the most recognizable and loved landmarks in the City of the Angels. Located along the Wilshire Boulevard Corridor, The exterior is completely covered with blue-green glazed terra cotta tiles in a style referred to as French Zigzag Moderne.
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Ziegler Estate (Hornbeck & Wilson, Architects) – 1904
Address: 4601 North Figueroa Street.
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 416).
The Zeigler Estate located in historic Highland Park combines Queen Anne, Craftsman and Shingle Style into an elegant statement. The mansion has 6 bedrooms and four baths and features an arroyo stone wall. It is situated in the historic core of Highland Park next door to Casa de Adobe.
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Yoakum House, 1895-1915
Address: 140 S. Avenue 46
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 287).
Tudor Revival style house built by volunteer labor for Finis Ewing Yoakum, founder of ‘Pisgah House’, a halfway home. Located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Wrigley Mansion ‘Tournament House” (G. Lawrence Stimson, Architect) – 1906-1914
Address: 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd
Owned by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley, the Wrigley Mansion was given to the City of Pasadena in 1958, upon Mrs. Wrigley’s death, with the stipulation that it be used as the headquarters for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. The house is magnificently situated at. and includes the Wrigley Gardens, with 4.5 acres of roses representing 1,500 varieties.
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Wright-Mooers House, 1880
Address: 818 S. Bonnie Brae Street
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 45).
The Wright-Mooers House is representative of the ‘West Coast Victorian’, an eclectic blend of Queen Anne Victorian with other styles. Note the small pairs of Romanesque columns and the elongated domed roof, perhaps a touch of the Islamic. Located at in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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Wolf’s Lair (Milton Wolf, Designer) – 1927
Address: 2869 Durand Drive
Historic castle-chateau located at the end of the hiking trail which runs alongside the Castillo del Lago at the foot of Lake Hollywood. Designed by Developer and Art Director Milton Wolf, it has been the residence of both Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Doris Day and was featured in the film, ‘Return from Witch Mountain’, starring Bette Davis. The fairy-tale fortress with its crenellated walls, turrets and towers gained a local reputation as being haunted after Wolf died at the dining room table.
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Woit House (Jno H. Fleming, Architect) – 1934
Address: 3607 Shannon Road
Architect Jno H. Fleming designed the English Tudor Revival style house for Charles S. Woit in 1934. Located in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles. The architect also designed the Spanish Revival style Lee Holtz Residence on Amesbury Road in 1935.
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Wirin House (Richard Neutra, Architect) – 1950
Address: 2622 Glendower Avenue
(Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 812)
Located directly across the street from the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House in Los Feliz, the Wirin House was purchased by celebrity photographer Mark Seliger in 2004. An extensive restoration under the direction of Architect Sharon Johnston-Lee was completed in 2008. Located in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT ARCHITECTS?
Q: How are buildings shown in the architectural bible?
A: Plans, sections and revelations.
An architect is said to be a man who knows a very little about a great deal and keeps knowing less and less about more and more until he knows practically nothing about everything, whereas, on the other hand, an engineer is a man who knows a great deal about very little and who goes along knowing more and more about less and less until finally he knows practically everything about nothing. A contractor starts out knowing practically
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Floating House from Movie ‘Up’ recreated in Real Life
The folks over at National Geographic have built a house inspired by the Pixar movie Up! that can really fly. Using 300 helium-filled weather balloons, a team of scientists, engineers, two balloon pilots and dozens of volunteers, have managed to get the small house 10,000 feet into the air.
The 4.8m x 4.8m x 5.5m house built from light-weight materials flew across California’s High Desert for about an hour with two people inside, just like the Disney Pixar film.
The project is part of a wider Nat Geo series called “How
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New elementary school promotes learning through color.
When a private foundation stepped forward to provide the funding for this public elementary school campus in 2007, their intention was to create a model for future schools that was both environmentally friendly and an inspiring learning environment for students. They were looking to break away from traditional design patterns so prevalent in the United States, patterns which too often revolved around isolated monochromatic interior rooms with little connection to their outdoor environment.
The result is a building where half the
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Ideal Palace (France)
The Ideal Palace stands in a small village in central France. This structure was built single handedly by a postman who was popularly known as Postman Ferdinand Cheval. This palace is said to be one of the most astonishing and amazing visionary structures ever to be built in the world. The building of this structure began in the year 1879, and Ferdinand Cheval finished building it in 33 years.
Cheval had dreamt of having a wondrous palace, but he wasn’t really a builder. One day, when he was out, he came across a stone that was
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Chapel in the Rock (Arizona, USA)
Spectacularly situated between red-rock towers in Sedona, the Chapel of the Holy Cross is a Catholic chapel with amazing views, especially around sunset, making this a special attraction for those seeking divine inspiration.
The unique architecture and location of the Chapel of the Holy Cross are the inspirations of Marguerite Bruswig Staude, who went on a trip to New York City in 1932. She observed that a cross could be seen in the newly constructed Empire State Building when viewed from a certain angle, and was inspired to built a
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Kunsthaus (Graz, Austria)
The building, designed by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier in 2003, has an organic shape with a skin made of iridescent blue acrylic panels. One of the most unusual museums you’ll ever visit.
At night, the building glows by way of a computerized lighting system beneath the transparent skin. With large, tube like “nozzles” for windows that stick out from the curved roof, the structure undeniably reminds of an outer-space creature that has landed in the middle of Graz and its historic town center.
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A (very brief) Guide to Beijing
In Beijing, the slew of construction for the 2008 Summer Olympics gave shape to an emerging national identity. China wanted to prove it had more to offer the world than its ancient culture and architecture. And so the world watched as Bejing built Western-inspired buildings that went above and beyond the limitations of Chinese architecture.
Now, Beijing is home to a collection of both traditional and contemporary buildings.
Predominant Architecture:
The traditional style reflects Chinese beliefs and
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A (very brief) Guide to Dubai
Short a construction crane for a building project? Blame it on Dubai. It’s estimated that this architecture capital has 25% of the world’s cranes working around the clock. Although Chicago gave birth to the skyscraper, in recent years Dubai has been the city to master constructing these tall and extravagant buildings.
Dubai’s economy was initially built on oil, but its oil reserves have already been significantly depleted and only account for a small percentage of the economy. So the government recently decided to reinvent its
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A (very brief) Guide to Brasilia
The basic structure of Brasilia was completed in just four years, from 1956 to 1960, under the leadership of President Juscelino Kubitschek, with the slogan “fifty years of progress in five”, and the city is in a sense a memorial to him.
In less than four years, this place went from an idea to Brazil’s living and breathing capital city. Thought up by urban planner Lucio Costa in 1957, with buildings designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, the city was laid out as a cross, but better resembles a butterfly or airplane shape
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Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (1950 – Present)
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are two important Swiss architects known for innovative construction using new materials and techniques. The two architects have nearly parallel careers. They were born the same year, attended the same school, and in 1978 they formed the architectural partnership, Herzog & de Meuron.
In 2001, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were chosen to share the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Outstanding Work:
2008: Beijing National Stadium, Beijing, China Full Post
Zaha Hadid (1950 – Present)
Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Zaha Hadid was the first woman to win a Pritzker Architecture Prize. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts and encompasses all fields of design, ranging from urban spaces to products and furniture. Zaha Hadid is also known for her exhibition designs, stage sets, furniture, paintings, and drawings.
From parking garages and ski-jumps to vast urban landscapes, Zaha Hadid’s works have been called bold, unconventional, and theatrical. She studied and worked under Rem Koolhaas, and like
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Eileen Gray (1878 – 1976)
Eileen Gray began her career as a lacquer artist. She is best known for her furniture designs. In the early 1920s, architect Jean Badovici encouraged Eileen Gray to begin designing small houses.
Eileen Gray’s contributions were overlooked for many years, but she is now considered one of the most influential designers of modern times. Working with geometric forms, Eileen Gray created plush furniture designs in steel and leather. Many Art Deco and Bauhaus architects and designers found inspiration in Eileen Gray’s unique
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Fractable
A decorated gable end carried above the roofline, a coping that covers the slope of the roof and provides an ornamental silhouette. These were very popular in both Dutch and Muslim architecture. -
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Flying Buttress
Buttresses not fully attached to a building. To allow for the quantity of window space on stone Gothic churches, flying buttresses were introduced to take some of the load onto external support.
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Fortress
A fortress is an urban center that has a massive stone enclosing wall to protect the inhabitants from bands of thieves, vagrants and advancing armies. Fortresses were known in the Mycean civilization (2000 B.C.), all through the middle ages, and are being built again in smaller and more sophisticated form as “gated communities.”
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Closet Design is an Art
You may be thinking, ‘How hard could it be to design a closet? Surely anyone can do it!’
It’s not as easy as it looks. Today ‘do-it-yourselfers’ purchase parts, hardware and accessories to outfit their dream closet, but they overlook the many issues that must be considered when creating a successful closet design, such as:
Height, width and depth of available space
Ceiling/Wall light fixtures
Air-Conditioning Ducts
Electrical Boxes or Outlets
Windows and Doors
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Did you know… Googie architecture
Googie architecture is a form of modern architecture, a subdivision of futurist architecture influenced by car culture and the Space and Atomic Ages. Originating in Southern California during the late 1940s and continuing approximately into the mid-1960s, Googie-themed architecture was popular among motels, coffee houses and gas stations. The term “Googie” comes from a now defunct coffee shop and cafe built in West Hollywood.
Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass,
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The 2011 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Eduardo Souto de Moura, a 58 year old architect from Portugal, is the 2011 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, the world architecture’s highest honor.
The purpose of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which was founded in 1979 by the late Jay A. Pritzker and his wife, is to honor annually a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through architecture.
During
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Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN)
An upside down house building and an amusement park for the mind with over 100 interactive exhibits, located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Everything here is upside down, an interesting experience because the visitor feels like running against gravity.
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Ripley’s Building (Ontario, Canada)
Known for the collection of odd and unbelievable things and artifacts Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise just had to have this kind of building.
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A (very brief) Guide to Rome
No city in the world equals the history of the Eternal City. Founded 2700 years ago, Rome long reigned as Capital of the World. Rome’s history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe.
Monumental buildings like the Colosseum are reminiscent of the era when emperors like Nero and Trajan ruled the Roman Empire. But today’s Rome owes much of its attractiveness to the Renaissance period when new squares
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A (very brief) Guide to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, the capital and largest city of Argentina, is one of the most mesmerizing cities in the Americas. Plenty of magnificent buildings and monuments recall the city’s heyday in the 19th and early 20th century when Europeans emigrated to this prosperous metropolis.
Despite its European connections, Buenos Aires has a flavor all its own. Street performers doing the tango are as much a part of the landscape as famous buildings like the opulent, French-designed Teatro Colon. Local culture is celebrated in the weekly
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Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869 – 1924)
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was an innovator who combined Gothic and Hispanic designs with modern ideas. He revolutionized church architecture by reawakening Medieval traditions, and his fanciful Spanish Churrigueresque buildings for the Panama-California Exposition brought new energy to Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the United States.
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue never attended college. Instead, at age fifteen he went to work in the New York office of Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell. In 1898, he formed his own partnership with
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Bruce Goff (1904 – 1982)
Bruce Goff did not receive a formal education in architecture. At age 12, he apprenticed to Rush, Endacott of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bruce Goff became a partner in the firm in 1930, and later became a professor of architecture at the University of Oklahoma.
Expressive and original, Goff’s buildings were often constructed with unusual, throw-away materials. Bruce Goff was a friend of Frank Lloyd Wright’s, and, like Wright, Goff based his works on the principles of Organic Architecture. However, Goff developed his own approach to
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Flute
Originally from Greek columns, these are hollows or channels cut vertically in the shafts of columns or pilasters. The upper surface can be sharp edged or finished with a radius. The flute is a stone version of a bundle of sticks that were originally used for columns.
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Finial
Finials were originally an ornamented stone carving at the top of a buttress to offer added weight for vertical support. Now they can be any ornament added to the top of a gable, pinnacle, canopy, or spire. These are a Gothic element.
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Can Architects predict the future?
Abu Dhabi has recently announced plans to turn itself into a sort of Arabian Left Bank, with cultural venues designed by Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, and Jean Nouvel. Beijing, meanwhile, has completed the giant steel bird’s nest, the titanium-egg National Theater, and the unusual state television headquarters, which locals have dubbed “the twisted donut.” A tiny sheikhdom on the Gulf and the world’s largest Communist state have unexpectedly become the latest hotbeds of avant-garde architecture.
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In Weak Housing Market, Some Homeowners Investing in Green
It’s a tough housing market. The nation is awash in anxiety over mortgage defaults, credit problems, debate over bailouts and haggling over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
People are staying in homes longer, rather than flipping houses, and they are now investing in their houses and buying bigger-ticket items. In a trend that at first seems counterintuitive given the weak housing market, many homeowners are spending considerable amounts of money in green building features, such as energy efficiency upgrades and
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Kitchen Trends for 2012
Remodeling your kitchen is a great way to add function and appeal, while increasing the overall value of your home. You may choose to build new kitchen cabinets and countertops or reface the old ones. Plan carefully for a kitchen design that will not only look great, but will also maximize space and efficiency.
My wife and I have just completed the remodeling of our kitchen. Like most people, we got inspiration from several sources and kept on top of the latest and greatest. Most people like clean lines and neutral colors in their
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The Never Was Haul (Berkeley, California, USA)
Inspired by the work of Jules Verne, the Neverwas Haul is a fantastic steam-powered, mobile 3 story Victorian mansion that was constructed for Burning Man 2006 by a team of industrious lunatics.
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Kerala House Boats (Kerala, India)
Kerala Houseboats (Riceboats) are country boats that were used in the early days for the transport of goods from the isolated interior villages of Kerala Backwater area. With the advent of roads, bridges and ferry services, gradually the kettuvalloms went off the scene. Now these kettuvalloms are back again as a major tourist attraction as a modern moving boat.
The materials that go into the making are all local and Eco friendly bamboo poles, coconut fiber ropes, bamboo mats, etc. The main wood used is “Anjili”.
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Festoon
A Renaissance ornament of fruit and vines with leaves that hang between or drape down from a rosette or carved head.
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Fenestration
Derived from the French word fenêtre. It describes the layout of the windows. In medieval times when glass was scarce, this described the layout of wooden panels used to shutter the windows.
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Fanlight
A window over the door that is curved or shaped like a fan. A transom is the rectangular version of the fanlight.
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Cass Gilbert (1859 – 1934)
Best known for his Gothic Revival skyscraper, the Woolworth Building, Cass Gilbert had enormous influence on the development of architecture in the United States.
Although Cass Gilbert’s name is rarely mentioned today, he exercised enormous influence on the development of architecture in the United States. He is perhaps best known for his Gothic Revival skyscraper, the Woolworth Building, which was the world’s tallest building at the time. Combining modern technologies with historic ideas, Gilbert designed many public
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Bruce Graham (1925 – 2010)
A leading architect for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Bruce Graham transformed Chicago’s skyline, designing some of the City’s most famous skyscrapers.
Bruce Graham was considered one of America’s leading designers of high-rise buildings. Although he never studied with Mies van der Rohe, he was instrumental in applying “Miesian” ideas to Chicago’s skyscrapers. Most significantly, Graham used the tubular frame principle for several important buildings.
After the 1970s, America began to look
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A (very brief) Guide to London
London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, was founded 2000 years ago by the Romans as Londinium. The city has been Western Europe’s largest city for centuries: as early as in 1700 more than 575,000 people lived in London.
Today London is not only the largest city but also one of the most visited thanks to its numerous famous attractions such as the Tower Bridge and the Big Ben.
Predominant Architecture:
The city of London is not characterized by any particular architectural style,
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A (very brief) Guide to Vancouver
Vancouver is a very young city; it wasn’t until after the World Exposition in 1986 before Vancouver changed from a sleepy provincial city to a booming metropolis.
Even today the city continues to expand at a high rate: once abandoned industrial areas have thus turned into fashionable and lively districts such as Yaletown and Coal Harbour.
Predominant Architecture:
Vancouverism is a term that refers to tall, but widely separated, slender towers interspersed with low-rise buildings, public spaces,
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A (very brief) Guide to Stockholm
Stockholm, the largest city in Scandinavia, has a surprisingly large number of interesting sights, with plenty of palaces and monuments that are reminiscent of a time when the Swedish empire was one of Europe’s largest powers.
The city is defined by its location on a large archipelago, and it is spread over 14 islands. The abundance of water and the many riverboats have given Stockholm the name ‘Venice of the North’.
Predominant Architecture:
Stockholm has a history that dates back to