Category: Architecture
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On Love: Socrates Sculpture Park
Because of the well-documented, highly complex relationship between the world and humankind’s sensation and perception of it, I am of the opinion that even relatively simple messages are often exceptionally hard to convey. As such, any tool used for the communicative purposes of conveying such a feeling or message, should, if deployed successfully, subtly suggest…
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A Love Letter To Flemish Cities
I’ve recently become enamored with the historic cities of Flandres, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. Whilst I used to only pass through Flandres in the past, often on my way to France, I first discovered Flemish cities on a study trip to the region in 2007. Wandering through places like Bruges or Ghent with a…
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A Love Letter to Austin
Dear Austin, Though it’s been some time since we were last together, I find myself wandering back to your memory during the cold vortex evenings in New York. We were a classic case of opposites attract. Me, the seasoned urbanite and native New Yorker accustomed to high density design, a 24-hour transit system and excellent…
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Is the architect an artist?
By Alyssa Campbell Is the architect an artist or is he simply the creator of functional buildings? John Ruskin, a famous architectural writer, once remarked, “No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder.” (1) From…
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Architecture of Love and Death (part II)
This is the second, and last post, of Architecture of Love and Death. In the first post, I proposed that Egyptian pyramids were built in preparation of Death for their nobility, while Muslim mausoleums such as the Taj Mahal were built by family members out of love and devotion for the deceased. Islamic orthodoxy frowns upon building permanent structures over graves, fearing…
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Architecture of Love and Death (Part I)
This post is about funerary architecture of two different people in different times and places, ancient Egyptians and Muslim Mughals in India. Both of these people built great pieces of architecture to their dead. In Part 1 I will focus on the religious thought or absence of it behind these great pieces of architecture, i.e. Pyramids and Taj Mahal. I believe the former…