Notes on Stephansdom (St. Stephan’s Cathedral) in Vienna, Austria. Wien, Österreich.
August 2011
Mercedes-Benz Museum by UN Studio
Mercedes-Benz Museum by UN Studio in Stuttgart, Germany.
Max Josef Platz, Munich, Germany
Max Josef Platz in Munich, Germany.
Secession Building- Jugenstil Owls
Jugenstil owls decoration, attributed to Moser, from the exterior of the Secession Building in Vienna, Austria.
Haus Lemke- Mies van der Rohe
Haus Lemke by Mies van der Rohe, in Berlin, Germany. One of my favorites.
Villa Muller by Adolf Loos
Müllerova vila, (“Villa Müller”) by Adolf Loos in Prague, Czech Republic. Loos’ raumplan at its finest.
“My architecture is not conceived in plans, but in spaces (cubes). I do not design floor plans, facades, sections. I design spaces. For me, there is no ground floor, first floor, etc…For me, there are only contiguous, continual spaces, rooms, anterooms, terraces, etc. Storeys merge and spaces relate to each other.”
Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, by Le Corbusier
Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, by Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, France. Exterior views.
Study of Notre Dame du Haut de Ronchamp
Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, by Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, France. Exterior view, plan, and window detail.
Interior views Notre-Dame-du-Haut
Interior views of Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp, by Le Corbusier, Ronchamp, France.
Herzog and de Meuron facade analysis
Herzog and de Meuron facade analysis. Examined facades from 3 distances. Includes Cottbus Library, Ricola Mulhouse, Pfaffenholz Sport Center, and Sewer House.
Neresheim Abbey
Abtei Neresheim, (Neresheim Abbey), Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.
Santa Maria del Fiore
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower). Cathedral of Florence, Italy. Duomo di Firenze, Italia. By Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Brunelleschi. Views up close and from the San Laurentian Library.
Dusk and Dawn by Michelangelo
Dusk and Dawn by Michelangelo in the Medici tomb of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy.
Berlin Philharmonic
Sketchercise from the Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic) by Hans Scharoun in Berlin, Germany.
Loos Haus
Loos Haus by Adolf Loos in Michaelerplatz in Vienna, Austria
Stoa of Attalos
Stoa of Attalos in the ancient Athenian Agora in modern-day Athens, Greece.
Ancient Delphi
Archaeological site of ancient Delphi, in Greece.
The Acropolis
The Acropolis of Athens, Greece. Sadly had few precious minutes up there, and spent most of the time looking/experiencing and not sketching.
Ancient Corinth
Archaeological site of the ancient city of Corinth in Greece.
Sanctuary of Asklepios
Sanctuary of Asklepios (theatre) at the archaeological site of ancient ‘Epidavros’, Epidaurus, Greece.
View of a street in Alberobello
View of a street in Alberobello in Bari, Puglia, Italy.
Ancient Paestum, Italy
Archaeological area of ancient Paestum, Italy.
Ancient Pompeii
Archaeological area of the forum of ancient Pompeii, Italy.
Hadrian’s Villa
Views from ‘Villa Adriana’, Hadrian’s Villa at Tibur (modern day Tivoli) in Italy.
Stoa of Attalos
Stoa of Attalos in the ancient Athenian Agora in modern-day Athens, Greece.
We had a discussion on the reconstruction of ancient ruins in order to experience them in their former glory. My notes on the topic read:
“Original ruins vs reconstruction
-value of space vs value of building
-Buddhism/Taoism-constant rebuilding
Agora-change of occupation; cultural change Greek>Roman>Modern Greek
-What is the most important artifact?
-digging through stratigraphy of historical layers
-reconstruct Greek ruins? Byzantine?
Notes on ancient ruins and cities: Corinth vs Delphi vs Mycenae
Notes on ancient ruins and cities: Corinth vs Delphi vs Mycenae.
My ramblings comparing the ancient cities of Corinth, Pompeii, Delphi, and Mycenae. I don’t know how interesting this is, but I’m posting anyway!
It reads:
“Corinth vs Delphi vs Mycenae
-‘apples to oranges’ argument of comparison.
-clear procession up hill (Mycenae) / flat of Corinth
-Corinth as Nolli map-great piazza!
-layers of history
-Delphi, Mycenae, & Pompeii “frozen in time” vs Corinth & Athens which were continuously inhabited
Athens, Rome, Venice, London
-keep historical cities from becoming museums
notion of ground plane
-small changes in section can have a big impact
-plane of ground, water
-anything on Delphi’s site would be good
Athens-history of city is walled off from locals (Acropolis museum, the Acropolis itself, etc)
-Temple of Herculean Zeus walled off-could be great park
St. Peter’s
‘Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano’, the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, Italy by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo Buonarotti, Gianlorenzo Bernini, et al.
Here it is, the big mack daddy of all Christian churches. It didn’t impress me nearly as much as the Pantheon. I think it had to do with the way in which you enter and experience the building; like cattle. St. Peter’s has to deal with so many tourists every day that even simply getting through the front door is a huge airport-TSA-line-like affair. Once you are inside it’s fine, and you’re free to explore, but the procession they’ve set up is hell in the Italian sun. I spent most of my time inside gawking at Michelangelo’s Pietà than actually looking at the building.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon, built by Marcus Agrippa (and rebuilt by Domitian, Trajan, and Hadrian), in Rome, Italy. Today known as “Santa Maria dei Martiri” (“St. Mary and the Martyrs” or “Santa Maria Rotonda”.
The inscription on the front of the building reads, “M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS.TERTIUM.FECIT” (“Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, having been consul three times, built it”). Agrippa’s house-for-every-god is home to only one these days, but fewer ethereal tenants has not diminished its splendor. Septimius Severus and Caracalla repaired the Pantheon and left another inscription “Pantheum vetustate corruptum cum omni cultu restituerunt” (With every refinement they restored the Pantheon worn by age) for a good reason.
It is absolutely amazing.
Our hotel was just around the corner from the Pantheon (down the alley from Santa Maria sopra Minerva), though we didn’t see it when we arrived. It was only later when we were out exploring that we popped around and suddenly were in Piazza della Rotonda. I instantly got goosebumps, and without any conscious volition, began to weep. It was an incredible, genuine somatic experience. This incredible building, which you’ve heard about, read about, studied, watched documentaries on the History channel, and seen in pictures your entire life was suddenly real; standing right in front of you. Full of people, birds flying around, musicians, cafes, street vendors selling squashy rubber tomatoes; the Pantheon is alive and well.
The interior was equally, if not more, impressive. You can’t help but be humbled by that dome. You’re happy to get a crick in your neck from staring upwards for far longer than you should, just to examine every cranny of coffering and of course, the oculus. You feel kind of bad for the people that attend church service there. It must be basically impossible with the gawkers milling about, bringing their pagan-respecting awe filth in your holy space.
When you’re in an intact building which has been around for nearly 2000 years, it’s hard not to be filled with a little awe.