I just saw the new Frank Gehry building in New York in the NYT and I can't wait to see it in person. My favorite city for buildings though is Chicago. Have you ever done the architecture on the river tour?
I love the Gehry Guggenheim building in Balboa, but for sheer magic, it is hard to beat the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona.
Architecture always interests me because it can be so wrong or so right. This is the single instance Prince Charles made sense to me. When he decried the awful architecture of the seventies and eighties.
So what building do you like best?
What is your favorite building? If you notice them at all.
14 comments:
Oh, the Guggenheim at Balboa by Frank Gehry. To me this is a sublime modern building.
For a classic older building, little can compare with Westminster Abbey and, of course, The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiori with it's dome by Brunelleschi.
The Taj Mahal.
I could go on and on. Great topic.
One of the good things about HORIZON magazine, when it flourished in the late '70s and early '80s, was the mix of architecture with the other visual arts coverage...a lot of good buildings, hard to think of a single one which trumped all the others.
Hmmm. Some sentimental choices...such as the gardens and ponds even more than the building itself at the East/West Center at the University of Hawaii.
I've always loved the architecture of Savannah, GA. Just some really beautiful stuff and they've done a great job of preserving it.
Also really like the new Salvador Dali museum here in St.Pete. Gives a great view of the water.
I have a warm spot in my heart for The Bradbury Building in my hometown. Used in so many films and TV shows over the years (BLADE RUNNER, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, D.O.A., the classic DEMON WITH A GLASS episode of THE OUTER LIMITS, etc.), the list goes on and on.
Believe it or not, my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana has some nice mid-century architecture fueled by the oil boom. The Commercial National Bank building of 1941 (there are two others) and the Caddo Parish Courthouse are especially nice:
CNB Building
Caddo Courthouse
I'm with ya! I am very interested in architecture, aesthetics and functionality. All these choices are cool! Interiors are fascinating, too.
Savannah is one of my favorite cities. I love those squares. Charleston is terrific too. If we're going for whole cities, they are hard to beat. Haven't been to Shreveport yet. And I am going to look at the Bradbury Building.
England has so many gorgeous buildings. York is perhaps my favorite entire city there.
I agree the Gaudi stuff is great, though I haven't seen them in person. Some of the others mentioned have the same problem for me.
I like the Chrysler Building a lot. The Flatiron Building is fun too.
For "whole cities" I'd go with Paris over Savannah. Sacre Coeur is pretty amazing (just to name one). I do like York, and walking around the walls is very evocative. My favorite British city, however, is Edinburgh. The old city of Burke & Hare looking down on the "new" (18th Century) city below in a great sight.
Jeff M.
Nothing beats Paris although Venice is close. York is my favorite small city in GB. Edinburgh was great although it was 16 years ago now and we stayed in a horrible place. That castle is amazing and the trip up incredible.
Am hoping we do make it to NY again. If the price of hotels would just come down.
I was hoping no one would beat me to the Chrysler Building. The Bradbury Building is beautiful inside but bland outside. Thye Dearborn Building in Chicago is interesting to walk around, having bits of other historical buildings embedded in it. Then there are the great cathedrals in Europe. I love great achitecture.
Here's an elevator in the Chrysler Building.
I like art deco a lot.
Jeff M.
I prefer the older buildings with relief carvings and art deco on them.
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