Category: Architecture

Misguided

Architecture, Modernism, Travels

This little promo caught my attention:

Forget Vienna and Salzburg, there’s another Austrian city that is proving the perfect weekend destination, with a fabulous food culture, gorgeous green spaces and even a friendly alien.

Unlike its imperial sisters, Graz has long flown under the radar, despite being Austria’s second largest city. It’s hard to understand why. A historic beauty, Graz boasts the remnants of a medieval hilltop castle, prettily situated among the old baroque houses, church spires, and gabled roofs, and surrounded by wooded mountains.

So far, so good.  I’ve always wanted to go to Graz, having already visited Vienna (several times), Salzburg, Linz and the gorgeous Innsbruck.  Austria is one of my favorite countries on the planet and frankly, if someone were to point a gun at my head and say, “You have to leave the U.S. and live in a furrin country”, Austria would be pretty much at the top of the list.

All the more so when you see pictures like these:

Hubba hubba, book that tick– wait a minute, what?

JHC, what is the matter with these people?  I thought the Parisians were crazy, what with the I.M. Pei pyramid and the godawful Pompidou Centre;  but Paris is a huge city and you can hide all sorts of awfulness away there.

But Graz is tiny (relatively speaking), so plonking those “friendly alien” (my ass) structures into so small an area is just some architectural vandal stabbing a middle finger right into your eye.  That gorgeous bucolic river view assaulted by that horrifying glass worm of a bridge:  it’s like finding a festering carbuncle on Scarlett Johannson’s nose.

I still want to go to Graz, of course, but just a little less so now.

Relative Value

Architecture, House & Home

Here’s an interesting exercise.  Let’s assume that you were looking to buy a new residence and had, say, about $950,000 to splash on it.

Do you go for Place A:

…or Place B:

Okay, maybe it’s a trick question.  While both places are listed for $950k, Place A is in Texas, USA and Place B is in Wales, UK.

Your choice in Comments, with reasons.

Piling On

Architecture

I don’t know how much more of this I can stand:

The White House on Tuesday reportedly fired members of Washington, D.C.’s Commission of Fine Arts, which advises on architectural developments in the capital, including the White House.

The White House has fired all six commission members who were installed under former President Joe Biden, and whose terms were expected to end in 2028.

“We are preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies,” a White House official told The Hill.

So… does this mean no more government buildings that look like this?

Fire away, then.

Old-Time Marvels

Architecture, Beauty

I recently saw this SOTI:

…and I was immediately reminded of a pic of some medieval town I’d seen at C.W.’s place a while back, which triggered a similar response from me:

Add “Without aerial photography or observation”  to the above list.

I don’t know how they did it, but they did, and it’s wonderful.  I stand in awe.

This “Western civilization” is a fine thing, isn’t it?

Renaissance Man

Architecture, Beauty, Classic Beauty, Culture, Fine Art

What do you call a man who was a professor of Architecture at Turin University, photographer, writer, skier, inventor of engines and designer of race cars, acrobatic pilot and mountaineer?  Carlo Mollino.

I have to say that I’m not enamored of his exterior architecture designs — there’s way too much Gropius and not enough Athens, never mind art nouveau;

…although not all the time:

His interiors are a little too Scandi and not enough Edwardian:

…although his Teatro Regio in Turin is incredible:


…from the inside;  the outside?

…and of his furniture we will not speak.


(Follow the link above for a full exposition of all these, and more.)

But how can you not enjoy his design of something as mundane as a bus?

And then there was his Basiluro race car, which at Le Mans 1955 (yes, that Le Mans race) managed to reach 135mph with a 750cc engine (!) until it was forced off the track into a ditch by a Jaguar:

However, it was Mollino’s photography which first caught my attention (guess why):

And my favorite:

His ultimate expression was this statement:

“Humans matter only insomuch as they contribute to a historic process; outside of history, humans are nothing.”

And Carlo Mollino sure left his mark on the historical process, in so many fields.  Che uomo!

Not Just Chrysler, Not Just Manhattan

Architecture

I wailed about the difficulties facing the people trying to fix up / sell New York City’s Chrysler Building, and saw the possibility of the disappearance of that wonderful structure.

Well, it’s not just Manhattan.  Heeeere’s London:

A number of major London office blocks costing more than £300million each have recently been put up for sale at the same time.

The four buildings have hit the market at a time where deals have been extremely rare due to rising interest rates and continuous uncertainty about working from home.

All the same issues facing the Chrysler.

Unlike the Chrysler, however, the four London skyscrapers are anything but wonderful:

The first three are of the Le Corbusier-Gropius-Modernist ilk — and frankly would be no great loss to any skyline, let alone London’s — while the last, the aptly-nicknamed Can of Ham, is an architectural carbuncle of the direst kind, but at least it has something of a sense of fun about it.

And while I and many others would dearly miss the Chrysler Building, these British edifices would not only not be missed, but applauded in their implosion.

So mote it be.