Columbus, Indiana is actually a city of 47,000. Not a town, but considering its small size, a mecca for world-renowned architecture. The American Institute of Architects ranked it sixth in the nation for architectural innovation and design – right behind Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. There are more than ninety buildings and pieces of public art … Read More
Bilbao, Spain – Day 2, Part 1 – The Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao, Spain – Day 2, Part 1 – The Guggenheim Museum Today needs to be split into a couple of entries, because there is just too much for a single entry. I spent many hours at the Guggenheim Museum, it was the major reason I wanted to visit the city. Both outside and in, Frank Gehry’s architecture is captivating. Over … Read More
Embellishment
Yesterday I showed rooflines; today I’m focusing on architectural embellishment. While I didn’t have a preference for the rooflines in San Sebastian or Amsterdam, Amsterdam wins hands down for embellishment. Dutch merchants wanted to show off their wealth. On many of their buildings there are gold adornments, sculptures, elaborate coats-of-arm or fancy trimmings. They liked cherubs and angels, heroic figures, … Read More
Architectural details
Anyone who has been following me has figured out that architectural details capture my attention. On my recent trip to Greece and Türkiye the details were stunning, and very different from what I’d just seen in Spain and Amsterdam. The shapes and sensibility harkened back to antiquity, though many of the places were built within the last hundred years. When … Read More
Vienne and Lyons, France
Prior to this trip I’d never heard of Vienne, so I was surprised by how much I liked it. We took a “Toonerville trolley” to a high point above the city that had an expansive view of the city. The Rhone River snaked through a city awash in red-tiled roofs. Directly below where we stood was the massive, ancient Roman … Read More