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Haussmannien architecture
The facade is the most important element of the Haussmann style. Private building had to comply with the same height and the same main front lines to make a same architectural ensemble. Height, ranging from 12 to 20 meters, must also be proportional to the width of the road without exceed 6 storeys.
The facade of the Haussmann style is built in stone. The building consists as follows:
High ceiling ground floor that can accommodate shops with a first floor – called “mezzanine” – for storage or housing. These two stages are often horizontally striped.
“Noble” second floor, with balconies and richer windows frames. Why is the second stage the “noble” one? Because at that time the civil lift does not exist yet. It therefore avoids the rich people the exhausting task of climbing stairs …
Third and fourth floors more conventional, with poorer windows frames. Individual balconies have appeared at the end of the Haussmann period following new regulations.
Fifth floor with running balcony. A floor that is not “noble” but has a balcony for the sake of balance in the aesthetics of the façade. Last floor for attic rooms.
(source: unjourdeplusaparis.com)
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Orford Castle is a castle in Orford in the English county of Suffolk, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Ipswich, with views over Orford Ness. It was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II of England to consolidate royal power in the region. The well-preserved keep, described by historian R. Allen Brown as "one of the most remarkable keeps in England", is of a unique design and probably based on Byzantine architecture. The keep stands within the earth-bank remains of the castle's outer fortifications. Prior to the building of Orford Castle, Suffolk was dominated by the Bigod family, who held the title of the Earl of Norfolk and owned key castles at Framlingham, Bungay, Walton and Thetford. Hugh Bigod had been one of a group of dissenting barons during the Anarchy in the reign of King Stephen, and Henry II wished to re-establish royal influence across the region. Henry confiscated the four castles from Hugh, but returned Framlingham and Bungay to Hugh in 1165. Henry then decided to build his own royal castle at Orford, near Framlingham, and construction work began in 1165, concluding in 1173. The Orford site was around 2 miles (3.2 km) from the sea, lying on flat ground with swampy terrain slowly stretching away down to the river Ore, about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) away. The design of the keep was unique, and has been termed "one of the most remarkable keeps in England" by historian R. Allen Brown. The 90-foot-high (27-metre) central tower was circular in cross-section with three rectangular, clasping towers built out from the 49-foot-wide (15-metre) structure. The tower was based on a precise set of proportions, its various dimensions following the one-to-the-root-of-two ratio found in many English churches of the period. Much of the interior is built with high-quality ashlar stonework, with broad, 5-foot-6-inch-wide (1.7-metre) staircases. The best chambers were designed to catch the early morning sun, whilst the various parts of the keep were draught-proofed with doors and carefully designed windows. Originally the roof of the keep, above the upper hall, would have formed a domed effect, with a tall steeple above that. The chapel above the entrance to the keep was unusually shaped; historian Stephen Brindle suggests that such a design "would not normally have been thought seemly for a room dedicated to the service of God". The keep was surrounded by a curtain wall with probably four flanking towers and a fortified gatehouse protecting a relatively small bailey; these outer defences, rather than the keep, probably represented the main defences of the castle. The marshes nearby were drained, turning the village of Orford into a sheltered port. The castle, including the surrounding ditch, palisade and stone bridge, cost £1,413 to build, the work possibly being conducted by the master mason Alnoth. Some of the timbers were brought from as far away as Scarborough, and the detailed stonework being carved from limestone from Caen in Normandy, the remainder of the stone being variously local mudstone and coralline, as well as limestone from Northamptonshire.
Orford is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB. Like many Suffolk coastal towns it was of some importance as a port and fishing village in the Middle Ages. It still has a fine mediaeval castle, built to dominate the River Ore. The main geographical feature of the area is Orford Ness, a long, wide shingle spit at the mouth of the Ore. Orford Ness has in the past been used as an airstrip testing facility and in the early 1970s it was the site of a powerful radar station as part of the Cold War defences against low flying attacking aircraft; today it is a nature reserve run by the National Trust. Orford provides the only point of access to the nature reserves of Orford Ness and Havergate Island. Both sites can only be accessed via ferry boat from Orford quay. The Orford Ness ferry runs on selected days between April and October and the Havergate Island ferry on selected Saturdays. The population of Orford greatly increases during the summer months due to its flourishing sailing club. As well as the Castle, Orford's attractions include river cruises, three pubs, a traditional post office which sells fresh bread, a traditional bakery, a smokehouse and a restaurant; the Butley-Orford Oysterage.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_Basilica_(Montreal):
Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal) is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church in the historic Old Montreal district of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is located at 110 Notre-Dame Street West, at the corner of Saint Sulpice Street. It is situated next to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary and faces the Place d'Armes square.
The interior of the church is amongst the most dramatic in the world and regarded as a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture. The vaults are coloured deep blue and decorated with golden stars, and the rest of the sanctuary is decorated in blues, azures, reds, purples, silver, and gold. It is filled with hundreds of intricate wooden carvings and several religious statues. Unusual for a church, the stained glass windows along the walls of the sanctuary do not depict biblical scenes, but rather scenes from the religious history of Montreal. It also has a Casavant Frères pipe organ, dated 1891, which comprises four keyboards, 99 stops using electromagnetic action and an adjustable combination system, 7000 individual pipes, and a pedal board.
Approximately 11 million people visit Notre-Dame Basilica every year, making it one of the most visited monuments in North America. In 2023, Notre-Dame was named the 6th most beautiful building in the world by Angi, a home service publication which analyzes TripAdvisor reviews. The publication ranked Notre-Dame de Paris second and Barcelona's Sagrada Família first.
The basilica of Santa Anastasia, which retains the name of a pre-existing church from the Lombard era dedicated to the fourth-century martyr Anastasia of Sirmium, is a masterful example of Italian Gothic architecture. The building stands at the terminal section of the ancient decumanus maximus, Verona's main Roman road continuation of the Via Postumia,[9] next to the smaller, deconsecrated church of St. Peter Martyr. At the end of the 13th century, the Dominican order settled there, to whom is owed the construction of the Gothic basilica, also dedicated to St. Peter Martyr, a Dominican native of Verona and patron saint of the city along with St. Zeno.[10] A great contribution to the construction of the church is owed to the Della Scala family, Lords of Verona, through generous donations and testamentary bequests that financed its lengthy construction.[11] Work continued until the end of the 16th century, never reaching completion of the façade.[12] In the right transept of the church is the Pellegrini Chapel, famous because it contains what is considered Pisanello's masterpiece, the St. George and the Princess, frescoed on the outer wall above the entrance arch.[13]
--- Wikipedia
At 314 meters (1,030 feet) tall and with spectacular, pixelated architecture, the MahaNakhon is the second tallest building in Thailand and the most distinctive building in Bangkok. Shown are the top twenty of seventy-eight floors. The rooftop is an observation deck and the slab that is cantilevered out is a glass floor.
What an amazing architecture !! The Amsterdam Centraal railway station simply amazed me for its fascinating presence.....
A delightful scene from the jetty in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Zollverein Coal Mine Complex in Essen (More images in my series Zollverein) is one of the most impressive surviving examples of industrial culture from the modern era.
With their design of the central shaft facilities for Shaft XII, built between 1928 and 1932, Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer created the single most important part of the complex, both technically and architecturally. The industrial monument has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
The site of the Zollverein coal mine and coking plant stands symbolises industrial history and structural transformation in the economy. Here, Schupp and Kremmer created a high-performance industrial complex with clear aesthetics and a high degree of functionality. Symmetry, axiality and gradation of scale – the organising principles of the modernist formal idiom – came into their own here in a new context.
The curtain wall façades, designed in the style of New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) and made of a steel framework inset with clinker bricks, earned the colliery the reputation of being “the most beautiful coal mine in the world”, even back in its working days. Clearly visible from afar, the 55-metre-high double winding tower rises above the other buildings as an icon of mining architecture and a symbol for the entire Ruhr region. Years later, Fritz Schupp built the Zollverein Coking Plant, which went into operation in 1961, in the same style as the coal mine complex. In its day, the mine was regarded as the largest and most efficient one in the world. An era came to an end when the coal mine ceased operations in 1986 and the coking plant in 1993. A total of 600,000 people were employed here and coal was last extracted from a depth of 1,000 metres.
In the context of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park, the facility, which is protected as a historical monument, was promoted as a model project; the first phase of refurbishment began in 1989. Today, the Zollverein complex is the central anchor point of the Route of Industrial Heritage – a 400-kilometre-long trail along the industrial and cultural heritage of the Ruhr region. Based on a master plan by Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA in collaboration with the architectural firm of Heinrich Böll, the site was transformed with conversions and new buildings by Norman Foster and SANAA into a site for culture, business and education. Today, the Zollverein is a popular tourist destination that is home to the Ruhr Museum, the Red Dot Design Museum, the Zollverein Monument Trail, and the new Folkwang University of the Arts with its design department, plus the studios and ateliers of four dozen creative companies.
The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter
Stone vaulting in the Nave
A cathedral was founded in Exeter around 1050 after the seat of the bishop for Devon and Cornwall was moved from Crediton. The current building was completed around 1400 and is a fine example of English gothic architecture, the cathedral has the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world.
La torre, alta 73 metri, è la più alta torre di mattoni al mondo e un esempio esemplare di architettura indo-islamica. Il complesso di Qutub Minar, un sito del patrimonio mondiale dell'UNESCO, ospita anche numerosi monumenti storici, tra cui la moschea Quwwat-ul-Islam, la prima moschea costruita in India, e il maestoso portone Alai Darwaza.
The 73-meter-high tower is the tallest brick tower in the world and an exemplary example of Indo-Islamic architecture. The Qutub Minar complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also home to several historical monuments, including the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, the first mosque built in India, and the majestic Alai Darwaza gate.
Waterloo is Britain’s largest and busiest station.
From
www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/our-history/iconic-infra...
Waterloo Station was opened in 1848 by the London & South Western Railway as part of extending the line two miles to be nearer the city. This original station, known as ‘central station’, had six platforms.
From its very earliest days the station was popular with race goers travelling to Epsom; the original station opening in 1848 was brought forward a week to enable passengers to travel to the Derby by rail for the first time.
Through the remainder of the 19th century, Waterloo was extended in an ad-hoc way to cope with demand. In 1860 the ‘Windsor station’ was opened on the north-west side of the original central platforms. In 1878 Waterloo gained an additional two platforms on the south-east side for mainline suburban trains in an extension known as the ‘south station’. In 1885 the ‘north’ station was opened, adding a further six platforms bringing the total at Waterloo to eighteen.
It was however a confusing station for passengers with platforms divided between four different sections of the station, unclear platform numbering, four areas which were classed as concourses and poor information displays. There were significant delays to services as the whole station was served by just four approach lines, and difficult ticketing arrangements with rival railway companies such as the South Eastern Railway did not help.
A new station is designed
In 1899 London & South Western Railway (as the London & Southampton had become) sought permission to completely rebuild and expand the station. The Company sent its chief engineer J W Jacomb-Hood to America to gather information on termini buildings to assist its redesign.
Over twenty years as building work took place, Waterloo became a spacious station with a large open concourse. With 21 platforms under a huge ridge-and-furrow roof it became light and airy compared to the dark maze it once was. Widely praised for its architecture, the new curved building to the front of the station housed the LSWR’s offices and facilities for passengers including a large booking hall and upstairs dining room which were simple and elegant with Georgian style panelling in the dining room and Edwardian decoration in the bars.
The Victory Arch
As the station rebuild was drawing to a close, and as a memorial to their staff that died in the First World War, the LSWR commissioned the Victory Arch; designed by J R Scott, their chief architect and made of Portland stone and bronze it depicts War and Peace, with Britannia holding the torch of liberty above. Leading from Station Approach onto the concourse, the Victory Arch forms the main entrance to Waterloo.
International rail services
Waterloo remained largely unchanged until early 1990s when platforms 20 and 21 were demolished to make way for Waterloo International. Opened in 1994 this was the terminus for Eurostar services running through the new Channel Tunnel. However on completion of the new high speed line in 2007, Eurostar services were taken instead to St Pancras and the international platforms at Waterloo closed.
In July 2012 a first-floor balcony opened at Waterloo to help reduce congestion at the station in time for the London Olympic Games. Space has been created for passengers on the concourse by repositioning shops from the middle of the main concourse onto the balcony. With new escalators and lifts Waterloo station now provides step-free access to its neighbouring station, Waterloo East.
Did you know?
Waterloo provided the terminus of the London Necropolis Company. Opened in 1854, the small, private station was designed to accommodate mourners and hold funeral services before coffins were transported for burial at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.
The original station building was demolished in 1902 to make way for the expansion of Waterloo; its successor was destroyed during an air raid in 1941 and never rebuilt.
Joyau de l’architecture gothique flamboyante, l’église Saint-Maclou allie éclat et élégance.
Comme le veut la tradition normande, l’église Saint-Maclou possède une tour lanterne, mais celle-ci a la particularité de servir de clocher. Sa flèche de 83m de haut est l’œuvre de Jacques-Eugène Barthélémy et est édifiée de 1868 à 1872.
A jewel of flamboyant Gothic architecture, the Saint-Maclou church combines brilliance and elegance.
As is the Norman tradition, the Saint-Maclou church has a lantern tower, but this one has the particularity of serving as a bell tower. Its 83m high spire is the work of Jacques-Eugène Barthélémy and was built from 1868 to 1872.
This charming Victorian is on the tour, named Queen of the May because that was the month construction was completed... and it is obvious what a queenly residence it is. This design is by Archimedes Russell, a professor of architecture at Syracuse University who has much of his work listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This house displays the era's extravagant details and strong coloring. After WWI such statements fell out of favor, and one after another, these stunning "painted ladies" were garbed in more modern colors. It is wonderful to see so many of them being returned to their origins. (Elm Street is a particulary good area to see many stunning homes which are not listed in the tour brochure.)
The self-guided walking and driving tours of Malone include a number of historic churches and many fine homes featuring Greek Revival and Victorian-style architecture. The beautifully restored homes include many Queen Anne-style homes, "The Queen of the May" at 100 Elm Street was featured on the cover of the 1992 book, America's Painted Ladies.
Brochure available from: Malone Chamber of Commerce
The Zollverein Coal Mine Complex in Essen (More images in my series Zollverein) is one of the most impressive surviving examples of industrial culture from the modern era.
With their design of the central shaft facilities for Shaft XII, built between 1928 and 1932, Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer created the single most important part of the complex, both technically and architecturally. The industrial monument has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
The site of the Zollverein coal mine and coking plant stands symbolises industrial history and structural transformation in the economy. Here, Schupp and Kremmer created a high-performance industrial complex with clear aesthetics and a high degree of functionality. Symmetry, axiality and gradation of scale – the organising principles of the modernist formal idiom – came into their own here in a new context.
The curtain wall façades, designed in the style of New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) and made of a steel framework inset with clinker bricks, earned the colliery the reputation of being “the most beautiful coal mine in the world”, even back in its working days. Clearly visible from afar, the 55-metre-high double winding tower rises above the other buildings as an icon of mining architecture and a symbol for the entire Ruhr region. Years later, Fritz Schupp built the Zollverein Coking Plant, which went into operation in 1961, in the same style as the coal mine complex. In its day, the mine was regarded as the largest and most efficient one in the world. An era came to an end when the coal mine ceased operations in 1986 and the coking plant in 1993. A total of 600,000 people were employed here and coal was last extracted from a depth of 1,000 metres.
In the context of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park, the facility, which is protected as a historical monument, was promoted as a model project; the first phase of refurbishment began in 1989. Today, the Zollverein complex is the central anchor point of the Route of Industrial Heritage – a 400-kilometre-long trail along the industrial and cultural heritage of the Ruhr region. Based on a master plan by Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA in collaboration with the architectural firm of Heinrich Böll, the site was transformed with conversions and new buildings by Norman Foster and SANAA into a site for culture, business and education. Today, the Zollverein is a popular tourist destination that is home to the Ruhr Museum, the Red Dot Design Museum, the Zollverein Monument Trail, and the new Folkwang University of the Arts with its design department, plus the studios and ateliers of four dozen creative companies.
First Friday Art Walk in Baker City Oregon
A blustery fall evening celebrating the arts during the First Friday Art Walk in historic downtown Baker City, Oregon, multiple gallery openings, live music, and just exploring downtown Baker City's amazing architecture.
The First Friday Art Walk is one of numerous events celebrating the arts throughout Baker County. Other events include the Baker Open Artists Studio Tour in October, the monthly Thursday Art Night at the historic Eltrym Theater, the We Like ‘em Short Film Festival in August, and the Great Salt Lick Art Auction in September.
Visitors will find numerous art galleries throughout Baker City’s historic downtown including the Crossroads Carnegie Art center in the restored Carnegie Library building.
For more information about First Friday Art Walk or other art events and galleries throughout Baker County Oregon visit the Baker County Tourism website at www.travelbakercounty.com
Excerpt from www.amo.gov.hk/en/historic-buildings/monuments/hong-kong-...:
Tung Lin Kok Yuen is situated at No. 15, Shan Kwong Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, being a Buddhist monastery founded in 1935 by Lady Clara Ho Tung and her husband Sir Robert Ho Tung. The name of the monastery was derived from the couple’s name Sir Robert Ho Tung and Lady Clara (Dharma name Lin Kok).
Lady Clara was a Buddhist and lay patron who had a passionate desire to spread the wisdom and practice of Buddhism as well as to promote the education of women. She founded the Po Kok Free School and the Po Kok Buddhist Institute in Hong Kong in the early 1930s to provide education for women and training for nuns. After Tung Lin Kok Yuen was first built, it housed both the School and the Buddhist Institute. As it is located in the residential area of Happy Valley, Tung Lin Kok Yuen marked the emergence of an urban monastery model in Hong Kong, as contrasted to the traditional monastery setting in the mountains.
With its arrowhead-shaped building plan, Tung Lin Kok Yuen’s appearance resembles a “giant ship” symbolising one of Mahayana Buddhism’s concepts of ferrying all beings to the “other shore”, or in other words enlightenment itself. The architect responsible for the building design was Fung Tsun, and Venerable Shi Ai Ting provided extensive advice for details which embody the Buddhist doctrine. While Tung Lin Kok Yuen adopted Western structural forms, it retained traditional Chinese designs in both its interior and exterior decorations such as flying eaves, brackets and glazed tile roofs. Following the traditional Chinese layout for a Buddhist monastery, it had a Skanda Hall, the Grand Buddha Hall and a Tripitaka Library in designated sequence. On each side of the Grand Buddha Hall were the Dharma Bell and the Dharma Drum. Behind the Grand Buddha Hall there was a courtyard which was redeveloped in 1954 into a three-storied Lin Kok Memorial Building. This was also designed by Fung Tsun to be integrated with the original building in the same style of architecture. The first floor of the Lin Kok Memorial Building now houses the Bhaisajyaguru Buddha Hall.
Tung Lin Kok Yuen was declared a monument in 2017.
Ostuni is one of the most stunning cities in southern Italy famous for the dazzling effect of its whitewashed houses. It is a genuine and charming example of Mediterranean architecture.
The city of Ostuni is a series of levels, staircases, small roads, alleys, arches. Hints of the Middle Ages are at hand in every corner, in every view to the sea, in the portal of a palace, in the walls of a convent or the front of a church.
The brightness of its whitewashed houses, set against the pink-tinged brown of its principal monument, makes the town stand out in the green of the surrounding area.
Is this happy combination of the natural and the manmade that has made Ostuni one of the most attractive cities in the region and an essential part of any tour of Italy.
The mosque-cathedral's hypostyle hall dates from the original mosque construction and originally served as its main prayer space for Muslims. The main hall of the mosque was used for a variety of purposes. It served as a central prayer hall for personal devotion, for the five daily Muslim prayers and the special Friday prayers accompanied by a sermon. It also would have served as a hall for teaching and for Sharia law cases during the rule of Abd al-Rahman I and his successors.
The hall was large and flat, with timber ceilings held up by rows of double-tiered arches (arcades) resting on columns. These rows of arches divided the original building into 11 aisles or "naves" running from north to south, later increased to 19 by Al-Mansur's expansion, while in turn forming perpendicular aisles running east–west between the columns. The approximately 850 columns were made of jasper, onyx, marble, granite and porphyry. In the original mosque, all of the columns and capitals were reused from earlier Roman and Visigothic buildings, but subsequent expansions (starting with Abd al-Rahman II) saw the incorporation of new Moorish-made capitals that evolved from earlier Roman models. The nave that leads to the mihrab – which was originally the central nave of the mosque until Al-Mansur's lateral expansion of the building altered its symmetry – is slightly wider than the other naves, demonstrating a subtle hierarchy in the mosque's floor plan. The double-tiered arches were an innovation that permitted higher ceilings than would otherwise be possible with relatively low columns. They consist of a lower tier of horseshoe arches and an upper tier of semi-circular arches. The voussoirs of the arches alternate between red brick and white stone. Colour alternations like this were common in Umayyad architecture in the Levant and in pre-Islamic architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. According to Anwar G. Chejne, the arches were inspired by those in the Dome of the Rock. Horseshoe arches were known in the Iberian Peninsula in the Visigothic period (e.g. the 7th-century Church of San Juan de Baños), and to a lesser extent in Byzantine and Umayyad regions of the Middle East; however, the traditional "Moorish" arch developed into its own distinctive and slightly more sophisticated version.
The mosque's architectural system of repeating double-tiered arches, with otherwise little surface decoration, is considered one of its most innovative characteristics and has been the subject of much commentary. The hypostyle hall has been variously described as resembling a "forest of columns" and having an effect similar to a "hall of mirrors". Scholar Jerrilynn Dodds has further summarized the visual effect of the hypostyle hall with the following.
Interest in the mosque's interior is created, then, not by the application of a skin of decoration to a separately conceived building but by the transformation of the morphemes of the architecture itself: the arches and voussoirs. Because we share the belief that architectural components must by definition behave logically, their conversion into agents of chaos fuels a basic subversion of our expectations concerning the nature of architecture. The tensions that grow from these subverted expectations create an intellectual dialogue between building and viewer that will characterize the evolving design of the Great Mosque of Cordoba for over two hundred years.
Reconstructed mosque ceiling, as seen in the southwestern part of the building today
The mosque's original flat wooden ceiling was made of wooden planks and beams with carved and painted decoration. Preserved fragments of the original ceiling – some of which are now on display in the Courtyard of the Oranges – were discovered in the 19th century and have allowed modern restorers to reconstruct the ceilings of some of the western sections of the mosque according to their original style. The eastern naves of the hall (in al-Mansur's expansion), by contrast, are now covered by high Gothic vaults which were added in the 16th century by Hernan Ruiz I. On the exterior, the building has gabled roofs covered in tiles.
This is the new 54,000 square metres large concert, congress and hotel complex in Malmö. The building consists of a composition of cubic volumes that are mutually twisted and given different sizes to meet the directions and building heights of the surrounding city. The façades are designed with a homogeneous expression to make the composition appear as one architectonic sculpture.
The new cultural centre becomes an open, expressive and dynamic building that is manifold in both its activities and its architecture. The point of departure for the building design is the modern Scandinavian architectural tradition with the clear functional organisation and the accessible and open ground floor lay-out. The building becomes the focal point and a landmark for Malmö – a place where the spirit of the city, the diversity and the intimacy is given an architectonic expression.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, widely known as St Mary Redcliffe, is the main Church of England parish church for the Redcliffe district of Bristol. The first reference to a church on the site appears in 1158, with the present building dating from 1185 to 1872. The church is considered one of the country’s finest and largest parish churches as well as an outstanding example of English Gothic architecture. The church is so large it is sometimes mistaken for Bristol Cathedral by tourists. It, unsurprisingly, enjoys Grade I listed status.
The church is notable for its many large stained glass windows, decorative stone vaults, flying buttresses, rare hexagonal porch and massive Gothic spire. With a height of 84 metres to the top of the weathervane, St Mary Redcliffe is the second-tallest structure in Bristol and the sixth-tallest parish church in the country. The church spire is a major Bristol landmark, visible from across the city and until the completion of Castle Park View in 2020, was the tallest structure ever to have been erected in Bristol.
St Mary Redcliffe has received widespread critical acclaim from various architects, historians, poets, writers and monarchs. Queen Elizabeth I, on a visit to the church in 1574, described St Mary Redcliffe as “The fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England”; Simon Jenkins gives St Mary Redcliffe the maximum five-star rating in his book ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’, one of only eighteen to receive such a rating, describing it as a “masterpiece of English Gothic”; and Nikolaus Pevsner says that “St Mary Redcliffe need not fear comparison with any other English parish church”.
This description incorporates text from the English Wikipedia.
Located near Grantham, Lincolnshire, Belton House was built between 1685 and 1688 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It has been described as a compilation of all that is finest of Carolean architecture, the only truly vernacular style of architecture that England had produced since the Tudor period.
Until 1984, Belton House was the seat successively of the Brownlow family and of its heirs the Cust family (in 1815 created Earl Brownlow).
Successive generations made changes to the interior of the house which reflected their changing social position and tastes, yet the fabric and design of the house changed little.
Following World War 1 the Custs, like many wealthy English families, were faced with mounting financial problems and finally in 1984 they donated the house, with most of its contents, to the National Trust which now opens Belton to the public.
Kasuga Taisha Shrine locates in the central Nara Prefecture. The shrine was built in 768. It is one of the prestigious shrines in Japan, in terms of its history and beauty of architecture. The place is filled with uncontaminated air due to surrounded mature trees. Visitors can enjoy a sense of serenity by walk.
Only twice a year, 3,000 stone and iron lanterns have been illuminated by candle lights more than 800 years. I waited for a year to celebrate this moment. Unfortunately and very unfortunately a tripod is not allowed to use and so that I increased ISO. Nara is Japan's ancient capital before Kyoto. Its history, architecture and landscapes are deep and profound. I have discovered Nara!!!
In St Pancras train station
you can experience the magic of Christmas like never before with much-loved Christmas Tree, this year partnering with Universal Pictures UK to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated film of the season: Wicked.
Christmas is about experiences and this tree, fuelled by imagination, immersion and a little bit of festive magic, provides the best thing to see this Christmas in London.
The stunnafying tree is an ode to the Emerald City featured in Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, based on the global blockbuster stage musical. Standing at 11 metres-high, this beacon of striking green and opulent gold showcases the splendour of the film, while complementing St. Pancras’s architecture
The tree is a visual spectacle designed to delight from all angles, immersive Ozian booths form the base and will delight with photo opportunities and music from the film. While illuminated towers house tiny windows with characters and iconic film features. The most amazyfying of all the details lies within the centre of the tree, where a hidden diorama of the wonderful land of Oz awaits in all its glorious hand-crafted detail for visitors to discover.
More: stpancras.com/news-events/st-pancras-international-2024-w...
The stonework and its result, have in Elorrio a magnificent exponent in its buildings and civil architecture.
The stone is treated like a treasure and its result shows it.
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (French: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, now formally known as the Basilique-cathédrale de Saint-Denis) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.
The basilica became a place of pilgrimage and a necropolis containing the tombs of the French Kings, including nearly every king from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century. Henry IV of France came to Saint-Denis to formally renounce his Protestant faith and become a Catholic. The Queens of France were crowned at Saint-Denis, and the royal regalia, including the sword used for crowning the kings and the royal sceptre, were kept at Saint-Denis between coronations.
The city of Bhaktapur in Nepal was damaged twice from two massive earthquakes, one in 1934 & the other very recently in 2015. I have been visiting Nepal since 1997 and enjoyed my walks on several occasions in this ancient city of beautiful 14th century architecture. The very first vision while entering the city is of red open brick infrastructure and that somehow gives a feeling of the old world charm. Come 2023 and I see a lot of change - the Durbar Square lost a lot of buildings because of the earthquake and there is continuous restoration going on. However this time I left my heart in the city of Bhaktapur.
Famed sneaker boutique Solebox has opened up a brand new shop in Amsterdam in January 2017, and true to Solebox’s unique and distinct tastes, it’s quite the work of architecture.
The concept for the store was inspired by a chemistry lab, which is readily apparent in its aesthetic. You’ll actually find a full-out periodic table within, as sneakers elegantly hang above lab desks. It’s also subtle, but the most feature of the lab aesthetic are the multiple tiles surrounding the floor and walls of the new location, which serve to truly give off the science-inspired vibe.
... the Light and Color
A masterpiece of popular architecture, the Carrasqueira pier is unique in Europe, built on seemingly fragile irregular wooden stakes of the 1950s and 1960s, which serve as mooring for the fishing boats that lay there, sometimes buried in the mud or in the water, according to the tides.
Despite the degradation, the dock continues to fulfill the mission for which it was built: allow access to boats of fishermen, even during the low seas.
Integrated into the nature reserve of the Sado Estuary, the riverside village preserves an impressive network of staking that stretches hundreds of meters along the muddy estuaries of the river Sado.
A tourist attraction point, it is one of the most visited places in the municipality of Alcácer do Sal and one of the most famous spot for landscape photographers in Portugal.
Nikon D810 + Nikkor AF-S 15-35 f/4 ED VR @ 16 mm
ISO 200 - f/7.1 - 30 sec
Filter Used:
PROGREY G-150X holder + PROGREY AURORA GND 0.6 SE + PROGREY AURORA GND 0.6 HE
An iwan is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called pishtaq, a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework, and geometric designs. Since the definition allows for some interpretation, the overall forms and characteristics can vary greatly in terms of scale, material, or decoration.
Iwans are most commonly associated with Islamic architecture; however, the form is Iranian in origin and was invented much earlier and fully developed in Mesopotamia around the third century CE, during the Parthian period of Persia.
Also shown is a Muqarna. which is an ornamentation and transition element applied in Islamic architecture. The muqarnas, which is a transition and filling element that provides a three-dimensional image, is an architectural art element that fills the inner parts of the semi-domes with its honeycomb shape.
Grohman "barrels".
Grohman's barrels - a gate at 46 Targowa Street in Łódź, which is the entrance to the Grohman factory.
It was built in 1896, according to the design of Franciszek Chełmiński, then a city architect.
In the years 1945–1989, the Cotton Industry Factory was located here.
It is built of unplastered red brick. Its appearance refers to the neo-gothic architecture. The neo-Gothic arch is based on two columns in the shape of spools of thread. They were just called "barrels".
An urban legend from the beginning of the 20th century claimed that a treasure was hidden inside the "barrels".
The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture.
The complex was begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the first Nasrid emir and founder of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim state of Al-Andalus. It was built on the Sabika hill, an outcrop of the Sierra Nevada which had been the site of earlier fortresses and of the 11th-century palace of Samuel ibn Naghrillah. Later Nasrid rulers continuously modified the site. The most significant construction campaigns, which gave the royal palaces much of their definitive character, took place in the 14th century during the reigns of Yusuf I and Muhammad V. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered. In 1526, Charles V commissioned a new Renaissance-style palace in direct juxtaposition with the Nasrid palaces, but it was left uncompleted in the early 17th century. After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, with its buildings occupied by squatters, the Alhambra was rediscovered following the defeat of Napoleon I, whose troops destroyed parts of the site. The rediscoverers were first British intellectuals and then other American and Northern European Romantic travelers. The most influential of them was Washington Irving, whose Tales of the Alhambra (1832) brought international attention to the site. The Alhambra was one of the first Islamic monuments to become the object of modern scientific study and has been the subject of numerous restorations since the 19th century. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
During the Nasrid era, the Alhambra was a self-contained city separate from the rest of Granada below.[6] It contained most of the amenities of a Muslim city such as a Friday mosque, hammams (public baths), roads, houses, artisan workshops, a tannery, and a sophisticated water supply system. As a royal city and citadel, it contained at least six major palaces, most of them located along the northern edge where they commanded views over the Albaicín quarter. The most famous and best-preserved are the Mexuar, the Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, and the Partal Palace, which form the main attraction to visitors today. The other palaces are known from historical sources and from modern excavations. At the Alhambra's western tip is the Alcazaba fortress. Multiple smaller towers and fortified gates are also located along the Alhambra's walls. Outside the Alhambra walls and located nearby to the east is the Generalife, a former Nasrid country estate and summer palace accompanied by historic orchards and modern landscaped gardens.
The architecture of the Nasrid palaces reflects the tradition of Moorish architecture developed over previous centuries. It is characterized by the use of the courtyard as a central space and basic unit around which other halls and rooms were organized. Courtyards typically had water features at their center, such as a reflective pool or a fountain. Decoration was focused on the inside of the building and was executed primarily with tile mosaics on lower walls and carved stucco on the upper walls. Geometric patterns, vegetal motifs, and Arabic inscriptions were the main types of decorative motifs. Additionally, "stalactite"-like sculpting, known as muqarnas, was used for three-dimensional features like vaulted ceilings.
The Catherine Palace is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of central St. Petersburg. It was the summer residence of the tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. The display of the Catherine Palace (known until 1910 as the Great Palace of Tsarskoe Selo) covers the 300-year history of this outstanding edifice and presents the work of architects involved in its construction and decoration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and also with the achievements of the restorers who returned the palace to life after the Second World War. Of the 58 halls destroyed during the war years, 32 have been recreated.
In 1717, while St Petersburg was being created on the banks of the Neva, the architect Johann Friedrich Braunstein started supervising the construction of the first masonry royal residence at Tsarskoe Selo that has gone down in history as “the stone chambers” of Catherine I. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth (the daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I) in late 1742 or early 1743 it was decided to enlarge the building. From late 1748 until 1756 the construction of the Tsarskoe Selo residence was directed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700–1771), the chief architect of the imperial court. On 10 May 1752 Empress Elizabeth signed a decree on the complete reconstruction of the old building and on 30 July 1756 Rastrelli was already presenting his new creation to his crowned mistress and foreign ambassadors.
The next stage in the decoration of the state rooms and living quarters came in the 1770s. The new mistress of the residence, Empress Catherine II, was fascinated with the art of the Ancient World and wanted to have her apartments finished in keeping with current tastes. She entrusted the task to the Scottish architect Charles Cameron (1743–1812), an expert on ancient architecture. The interiors that he created in the Zubov Wing and the North Part of the Palace are marked by refined beauty, austere decoration and especially exquisite finishing. In 1817, on the orders of Emperor Alexander I, the architect Vasily Stasov (1769–1848) created the State Study and a few adjoining rooms that are finished in a commons style – all these rooms were devoted to extolling the brilliant victories that the Russian army won against Napoleon in 1812 and afterwards. The last note in the symphony of palace state rooms was struck by the new Main Staircase created in 1860–63 by Ippolito Monighetti (1819–1878) in the "Second Rococo" style.
Dwarfed by modern day architecture, the Keenan skyscraper is one of the oldest among Golden Triangle buildings.
Constructed in 1907 at a cost of $2 million, it was the tallest building in Pittsburgh and the shiniest. The dome was ‘crowned’ by the eagle and a series of portraits. The ‘penthouse’ once served as lavish living quarters for Col. Thomas J. Keenan, Jr., the owner of the building AND one-time owner of The Pittsburgh Press.
History and background:https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2014/07/07/the-t-j-keenan-building/
In Riga, at 18 Lāčplēša Street, there is a tenement house built in 1906 by architect Jānis Alksnis. One of the first buildings in Riga with Art Nouveau features in the facade architecture. The facade is decorated with exquisite ornamental bricks. On the top of facade there are expressive figural compositions with a female and male group common in the decorative decoration of Art Nouveau buildings.
Between the pandemic and a foot injury I'm home bound for awhile so I've decided to dig into the archive to find some hidden treasures and to re-work some photos. This is a re-work of a previously published photo.
The Texas Medical Center in Houston is the world's largest medical center and arguably the best medical center in the world. It is also home to some unique and interesting architecture. The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) part of the the Texas Children's Hospital is characterized by its iconic "collaborative tower" — a glass-encased helical tower with panoramic views — which serves as an area where scientists can meet and collaborate. Next to it is the John P. McGovern TMC Commons with its 60-foot water wall.
As always, your faves and comments are appreciated. Constructive criticism and suggestions are especially welcome as I believe they help to make me a better photographer. Thank you for taking the time to look at my photos.
Best viewed on black, so please press "L" to view large in Lightbox mode and "F" to fave.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my permission. Copyright Mike Schaffner. All rights reserved.
The Leon County Courthouse & Jail have both architectural and historical significance. The courthouse & old jail are simple yet dignified expressions with Classical lines; the 1918 jail (seen in the photo above) displays Medieval military architectural elements. All are located on the Centerville public square which has been the center of governmental activities since the founding of the town.
Late in 1885, the courthouse at that time burned and a resolution was introduced to build a new courthouse on the same plan as the old. Several years later the county judge and four county commissioners determined to build a new jail. Facilities for the detention of criminals up to this time had never been satisfactory. The orders which had authorized a new jail in 1873 culminated in the purchase of a store building from V.H. McAnnally for $2,500. This served as a temporary jail which was entirely also unsatisfactory.
Finally in 1893, a contract for the construction of a new jail was awarded to contractors Robb and Wilson for $3,850 and shortly there after the old temporary jail was sold at public auction. Early in 1894 it was completed and a new fence was set up around the building. In 1906, new cells furnished by the Southern Structural Steel Company were installed, and various repairs were made. Since this jail still proved inadequate, a second jail was built near the courthouse and the earlier jail. In 1918, the Southern Structural Steel Company of San Antonio was contracted to build a new jail, according to plans they furnished. The building was completed and accepted that year. The style of the 1918 jail symbolized strength. Incorporated into the design are corner towers and crenellations — representations of Medieval military architectural features.
Although the building is no longer used for detention, it is still sound and serves county functions such as the office of the county surveyor and others. And, for its political & governmental history and its architecture, the jail (along with the county courthouse) were added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1977. All of the information above was found on the original documents that can be viewed here:
catalog.archives.gov/id/40972831
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
Fred & Ginger! :-)
Diesmal ein Haus mit moderner Architektur. Das tanzende Haus von Prag.
Links: die Frau mit gläsernem Kleid und vielen Beinen, dafür ohne Kopf. Rechts: der Mann mit Kopf und Haaren, Turm als Körper und nur einem Bein.
This time, a house with modern architecture. The Dancing House of Prague.
Left: the woman with a glass dress and many legs, but no head. Right: the man with the head and hair, tower as a body and only one leg.
Hauptstadt (capital)
Prag (Prague) - Tschechien (Czech Republic)
Dezember (December) 2014
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The Teepott is a sight in the Warnemünde district of Rostock, whose roof was designed by the civil engineer Ulrich Müther and whose restaurant was designed by the architect Erich Kaufmann. The three-storey circular building was built in 1968 and is a prominent example of hypar shell architecture. The Teepott is located near the harbor entrance next to the lighthouse on the Warnemünde sea promenade.
Dieses Gebäude mit den Backsteineinfassungen passt auf den ersten Blick nicht in die moderne Architektur des Neuen Medienhafens in Düsseldorf. Im oberen Teil des Fotos ist allerdings eine moderne Glasfassade zu sehen. Auch hier wurde alte Bausubstanz mit moderner Architektur geschickt kombiniert. Das schöne Gebäude wird aktuell von einer Modefirma für die Präsentation der aktuellen Kollektionen genutzt. Diese Fassade konnte ich nur mit Hilfe meiner Weitwinkel Brennweite so ablichten. Verzerrungen musste ich bei der anschließenden Entwicklung mit LrC ausgleichen.
Mehr Fotos und Berichte von meinen Fotowalks, Touren und Reisen:
At first glance, this building with the brick surrounds does not fit into the modern architecture of the New Media Harbor in Düsseldorf. In the upper part of the photo, however, a modern glass facade can be seen. Here, too, old building fabric was cleverly combined with modern architecture. The beautiful building is currently used by a fashion company for the presentation of the current collections. I was only able to photograph this facade with the help of my wide-angle focal length. I had to compensate for distortions with LrC during the subsequent development.
More photos and reports from my photo walks, tours and trips:
Lancing College Chapel is the chapel to Lancing College in West Sussex, England, and is an example of Gothic Revival architecture.The chapel was designed by R.H. Carpenter and William Slater. The foundation stone of the college chapel was laid in 1868 and, although building work stopped in 1977, the chapel remains unfinished. The chapel was dedicated to St Mary and St Nicolas in 1911 but the college had worshipped in the finished crypt from 1875. The chapel is built of Sussex sandstone from Scaynes Hill. It is a Grade I listed building.
Lancing College Chapel is one of the tallest interior vaulted churches in the United Kingdom. The apex of the vaulting rises to 90 ft (27.4m) above the floor. The original plans called for a tower at the north side and the foundations for it were laid but not used; the tower would have raised the height to well over 300 ft (90m). The chapel design is based on 13th Century English Gothic, with French influences. It follows a standard English Gothic plan, with a triforium and a very high clerestory. The French influences are noticeable not just in the massive clerestory, but also in the apse and the massive rose window on the west end. It is the largets school chapel in the world. (wik)
Angkor Wat ("Capital Temple") is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world measuring 162.6 hectares. It was originally constructed in early 12th century by King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire and gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia (national flag) and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.
Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru. Within the moat is the outer wall 3.6 kilometers long and there are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the center of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas (deity) adorning its walls.
This charming Victorian is on the tour, named Queen of the May because that was the month construction was completed... and it is obvious what a queenly residence it is. This design is by Archimedes Russell, a professor of architecture at Syracuse University who has much of his work listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This house displays the era's extravagant details and strong coloring. After WWI such statements fell out of favor, and one after another, these stunning "painted ladies" were garbed in more modern colors. It is wonderful to see so many of them being returned to their origins. (Elm Street is a particulary good area to see many stunning homes which are not listed in the tour brochure.)
The self-guided walking and driving tours of Malone include a number of historic churches and many fine homes featuring Greek Revival and Victorian-style architecture. The beautifully restored homes include many Queen Anne-style homes, "The Queen of the May" at 100 Elm Street was featured on the cover of the 1992 book, America's Painted Ladies.
Brochure available from: Malone Chamber of Commerce
Taken in Wells Cathedral chapter house architecturally the most beautiful in England. (Wikipedia)
This kind of photo is simple with a fisheye lens using RAW file to get shadows inside and daylight through windows. No need for tripod or stitching shots together.
Thanks for visiting and especially for comments. And thanks to Kimhaz for his heads up. I've altered the title.
The Woodruff-Riter-Stewart Home is a mansion on Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City, Utah. It sits on the corner of State Street and 200 North on the south slope of Capitol Hill.
Originally built for Edward D. Woodruff, a Union Pacific doctor who partnered a successful laundry business, the home was designed by architects Headlund and Wood and was finished in 1906. The home is an example of Renaissance architecture.
The building was purchased by Philip McCarthey in 2003.The bed and breakfast, Inn on the Hill,was reopened in 2004 and is open daily.
IMG_7590r
THE ÉGLISE NOTRE DAME DE Lorette, with its gilded ceiling and profusion of paintings and frescoes, is one of the most ornate churches in Paris. Constructed in the neoclassical style of architecture, the austere façade of the church stands in sharp contrast to the ornamental excesses of its interior.
During the 19th century, as the area to the north of the Grands Boulevards was undergoing rapid expansion, the city government decided to hold an architectural competition for a new church. It would be constructed at the site of a chapel destroyed in 1796 in the 9th arrondissement.
The French architect Louis-Hippolyte Lebas won the competition and began building the church in 1823, completing construction in 1836. A protected historical monument since 1984, the church has mostly remained off the tourist map, but is no less a jewel in the city’s cornucopia of architectural treasures.
Sumptuously furnished with marble and gold, the extravagant interior of the church wasn’t initially very popular among Parisians who considered it lacking in spirituality. Furthermore, the church’s location in a neighborhood inhabited by wealthy men who kept mistresses earned it the pejorative moniker of being the church of the lorettes (prostitutes).
In a city like Paris with an embarrassment of architectural riches, the Church of Notre Dame de Lorette is still a sight to behold. Its interior and exterior offer a study in contrasts. In its architectural style, the church was inspired by the design of the Roman basilicas. The façade, unadorned to the point of severity, consists of a massive pediment, displaying the sculpted allegorical figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity mounted on tall Corinthian columns.
The interior of the church, on the other hand, is lavishly decorated. The ceiling, richly appointed in dark blue and gold, is embellished with the initials of the Virgin Mary. The walls of the church are adorned with vividly colorful hand-painted murals that have been brought to life against a burnished gold background. The artwork, executed in an Italianate style and biblical in subject, is what makes this church truly spectacular.
In addition to its grandeur, the church has another local claim to fame. Inside this colorful sanctuary is where painter Claude Monet was baptized. Monet was born in 1840 and was baptized into the local church parish a year later. His family, however, did not stay in Paris for long and moved away in 1845 to Le Havre in Normandy.
Cozia Monastery, erected close to Căciulata by Mircea the Elder in 1388 and housing his tomb, is one of the most valuable monuments of national medieval art and architecture in Romania.
The name of the monastery is of Cuman origin and it means "walnut grove", from Turkic word koz, meaning walnut.[1] The original name of the place was the Romanian equivalent, Nucetul, but already in 1387, a document of Mircea cel Bătrân uses the current name.[1]
The fortified cloister dates from the foundation (1388) and is the only in Byzantine style preserved in Romania. The appearance of the church was modified under Neagoe Basarab (1517), Şerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu (1707), who added a veranda, a new fountain, a chapel and a watch tower, adding to its architecture the 'brâncovenesc style'. (Wikipedia)
Pete 5D's photos on Flickriver
This was an absolute cow of a shot to set up, thanks to the staff for their perseverance.
Equipment
- Canon 5D Mark III
- EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM
- Manfrotto
- MH057M0-RC4 Mag Ball Head
- 055CXPRO3 Tripod
- iMac
Excerpt from www.amo.gov.hk/en/historic-buildings/monuments/hong-kong-...:
Tung Lin Kok Yuen is situated at No. 15, Shan Kwong Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, being a Buddhist monastery founded in 1935 by Lady Clara Ho Tung and her husband Sir Robert Ho Tung. The name of the monastery was derived from the couple’s name Sir Robert Ho Tung and Lady Clara (Dharma name Lin Kok).
Lady Clara was a Buddhist and lay patron who had a passionate desire to spread the wisdom and practice of Buddhism as well as to promote the education of women. She founded the Po Kok Free School and the Po Kok Buddhist Institute in Hong Kong in the early 1930s to provide education for women and training for nuns. After Tung Lin Kok Yuen was first built, it housed both the School and the Buddhist Institute. As it is located in the residential area of Happy Valley, Tung Lin Kok Yuen marked the emergence of an urban monastery model in Hong Kong, as contrasted to the traditional monastery setting in the mountains.
With its arrowhead-shaped building plan, Tung Lin Kok Yuen’s appearance resembles a “giant ship” symbolising one of Mahayana Buddhism’s concepts of ferrying all beings to the “other shore”, or in other words enlightenment itself. The architect responsible for the building design was Fung Tsun, and Venerable Shi Ai Ting provided extensive advice for details which embody the Buddhist doctrine. While Tung Lin Kok Yuen adopted Western structural forms, it retained traditional Chinese designs in both its interior and exterior decorations such as flying eaves, brackets and glazed tile roofs. Following the traditional Chinese layout for a Buddhist monastery, it had a Skanda Hall, the Grand Buddha Hall and a Tripitaka Library in designated sequence. On each side of the Grand Buddha Hall were the Dharma Bell and the Dharma Drum. Behind the Grand Buddha Hall there was a courtyard which was redeveloped in 1954 into a three-storied Lin Kok Memorial Building. This was also designed by Fung Tsun to be integrated with the original building in the same style of architecture. The first floor of the Lin Kok Memorial Building now houses the Bhaisajyaguru Buddha Hall.
Tung Lin Kok Yuen was declared a monument in 2017.