…with a dreamy baroque historic center where old men bike around aimlessly and gather on benches with friends you imagine they grew up with on that same block, was once a rival to Lecce, it’s larger neighbor to the north, is the general area of Puglia (or Salento, as locals would hastily/testily correct you, referring ..
Category : architecture
…the Italian town I have been curious about and yet to visit was conveniently on my way from Aix-en-Provence to Brindisi, so after a long windy scenic train ride along the French Riviera with front row seats to the late August bikini-clad bathing French masses, I arrived in this pretty but rough around the edges port ..
…is the Young Architects Program originated at NYC’s PS1 and now a new summer fixture at Rome’s MAXXI, where young Roman architects have created rolling mounds of lawn, punctuated by red tulip-like lanterns, where this evening people are lounging, dogs are running, kids are playing (one in particular seeming to be around six who is ..
…was my last minute destination of choice this morning to escape the city for a day, biking to Termini and hopping on a train to take me to the ancient and current Roman beach resort town, and yes there are picturesque beaches, and yes there are Roman ruins, but most enchanting is the historic hill ..
…the marvelous Dusseldorf puzzle-like brutalist modernist masonry vertical structure from 1971 well known as the site of Joseph Beuys projects from the 70’s and early 80’s, designed by Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck as an experimental residence/gallery, and recently re-opened as an art venue by the neighboring Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, is where I am comfortably camped ..
…was the story of the day as we made long anticipated pilgrimages to both planned communities just outside of the Roman center, starting with the 11-story 1 kilometer-long crazy Corviale housing block of 1200 apartments and 6000 people in this endless concrete Le Corbusier Unités-d’Habitation-gone-wild folly designed by a team of Italian architects headed by ..
…on a Saturday night all lit up in lavenders and yellows looked a little Roman-themed Vegas Strip mixed with gladiator-themed gay disco – but I’m not complaining, it’s fun to see the Italians really occupy their cities in the summer, when every public park, villa, ruin, sanctuary, etc. can boast it’s own summer stage with ..
…the iconic influential book by Christopher Alexander is standard issue to architecture students since it emerged out of the Berkeley in the 1970’s, which we were introduced to in our first year design studio, but I don’t recall ever actually reading it at the time (perhaps it seemed old fashioned, folksy, retrograde, and even conservative ..
…the sad deserted wastelandish no-mans-land 1988 iconic civic center with town hall, theater, housing project, and modern piazza elevated on a parking podium by renowned Italian architect Aldo Rossi (with whom I did my thesis project at the I.U.A.V. in 1991) is what I happened upon on my way out of town today – while ..
…a massive architects gathering in it’s first year in Perugia – is where I headed this morning to hear from a few of the endless list of design world personalities partaking in a four day series of talks, events and conversations including Aaron Betsky, Petra Blaisse (who described some recent garden and curtain projects), Stefano ..
…Fountain is what we attempted to see pre-tourist-mob this morning (first stop on today’s familial Roman highlights tour), at an early enough hour that we might have it to ourselves, which was almost the case by the time we finally made it there – and having just finished reading Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, and Donatella ..
…whose distant dome I have become used to seeing from my desk, was a first stop with family in town touring Rome’s greatest hits, what mo..
…(the vast circuit of Roman city walls hastily built from 271-275 AD) is bursting with all variety of weedy green plant life after months of cool rainy weather, and they are looking very perky basking in today’s bright..
…(from the Italian ‘balcone‘) is the private domestic outdoor space available to most Romans, which they try to make the most of – usually full of plants and laundry (which I am also starting to consider for my Roman rooftop homestead as we head into Spring with more sun an..
…just down the hill from me, which I pass everyday on my way through Trastevere, is cool, as is any underground activity, space, home, institution or business – literally or figuratively – and I have been fascinated by underground construction since I was little – writing my 6th grade term paper on underground and earth-sheltered ..
…the Milanese architect, teacher, and magazine editor spoke tonight (being much more gracious than I would have been when the projector didn’t work and he wasn’t able to show his images) at the opening of the British School at Rome show BioMilano featuring six of his unbuilt projects, “Six ideas for a bio-diverse metropolis; six ..
…or grotta in Italian, following up on yesterday’s thoughts on rustication, is another example of the thrilling primitive architectural underbelly of the Florentine Renaissance – today seen at Grotta del Buontalenti, one of the most famous examples, but sadly without all of the dripping water and cool spongy green-stuff to be found in the really ..
…the roughly hewn stonework often used on the lower floors of palazzi as an expression of fortification and solidity – which I recall studying in college classes on Florentine Renaissance architecture – is something I have a new love for today (as I find myself back in Firenze, the city I lived just outside of ..
…in Rotterdam is mostly closed for renovations (at least their bookstore is still open in the form of a trailer out front) with the vast reflecting pool now a muddy construction site, but an attractive duck couple seemed to be making the most of it this afternoon, looking very much at home – or maybe ..
…(or Cube Houses) especially the inviting central courtyards (featuring small retail spaces occupied by nail, massage, hair, and waxing salons) which I think were meant to feel like an abstract forest interior – were the highlight of a gloomy Dutch afternoon, where I find myself in town for a few days of meetings about a ..
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