Kölner Philharmonie

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Kölner Philharmonie
Bischofsgartenstraße
Cologne, September 2024

“The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building ensemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Cologne Main Station. The ensemble was designed by the architects Busmann + Haberer in the 1980s. Roughly 400 concerts are performed annually with approximately 600,000 visitors. The Kölner Philharmonie is the home base for the Gürzenich Orchester Köln and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. The concert hall was made like an Amphitheatre, to get a close to perfect room acoustic. Therefore, there are no walls which are in parallel to each other, to produce no echo. Size and art of the padding for the seats (the seats were made by the German manufacturer Recaro, which is known for making car [sports] seats) is selected in a way, that the acoustic quieting is constant, independently of the fact if the seat is used by a person or not. The hall has no columns in it and has place for 2,000 people. The size of the hall gives some problems: The hall is below the public Heinrich-Böll square. Walking noise from people with stiletto heels or driving noise from skateboards or trolleys can be heard in the hall. Due to this reason, the town square is closed during performance.” (Kölner Philharmonie, Wikipedia)

Usho

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“Usho” (Cormorant Fisherman) by Kosei Tateno, 1982
Piazza Gavinana
Florence, December 2024

“A Japanese man in the traditional costume of a fisherman, leans over a basket holding the neck of a cormorant, a sea-bird, with his proper right hand as he rests his proper left hand on the bird's back. The bird is standing on the lid of a basket. The man wears sandals, a long pleated skirt, a rope and belt at his waist, an apron-like bib, and a long-sleeved shirt. A pointed scarf covers his hair and is tied over his forehead. The sculpture is mounted on a short base that sits on a concrete pad.” (Cormorant Fisherman, Smithsonian)

Ein Haus für Goethe

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“Ein Haus für Goethe” (A House for Goethe) by Eduardo Chillida, 1986
Taunusanlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“With his architectural sculpture, sculptor Eduardo Chillida raises several questions. It is far removed from the usual monuments to great poets and thinkers: concrete instead of bronze, abstract forms and geometric structures instead of figurative representation. Indeed, the work connects to a completely different point than the monument tradition: It belongs to a group of works by Chillida that includes homages to well-known artists, scientists, and philosophers. With ‘Ein Haus für Goethe’, Chillida provides the public with unique access to Goethe and his works: He created a space that is open at the front and therefore accessible. This house also does not have a roof—perhaps the artist was thinking of Goethe's interest in ‘light’ and didn't want to exclude this from a house for Goethe... Several monuments to poets have been erected within the ramparts. A brief comparison of the Schiller Monument and the Heine Monument with ‘Ein Haus für Goethe’, which you can find in the text on the first-mentioned object, demonstrates how different the artistic interpretations can be.” (Ein Haus für Goethe, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Frankfurt)

Fountain of Madonna Verona

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Fountain of Madonna Verona, 1368
Piazza delle Erbe
Verona, May 2025

“The square's most ancient monument is the fountain (built in 1368 by Cansignorio della Scala), surmounted by a statue called Madonna Verona, which is however a Roman sculpture dating to 380 AD. Also historical is the capitello, dating to the 13th century, during which it was used for several ceremonies, including the oath of investment of the city's medieval podestà and pretors. Towards Via Cappello is another column, with a 14th-century aedicula with reliefs of the Virgin and the Saints Zeno, Peter and Christopher.” (Piazza delle Erbe, Wikipedia)

Rathausbrunnen

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Rathausbrunnen (Town Hall Fountain) by Georg Wrba, 1908
Burgplatz
Leipzig, September 2024

“On Burgplatz, in front of the entrance to the Ratskeller, is the Town Hall Fountain, which was dedicated on October 7, 1908, the third anniversary of the inauguration of the New Town Hall. Since the completion of its complete renovation in 1999, the fountain has been in operation again after a five-year hiatus. The Town Hall Fountain was financed by Leipzig citizens and designed by the Dresden sculptor Georg Wrba (1872–1939). It consists of an octagonal water basin made of shell limestone, with a round column at its center. Attached to this column is the ‘Fairytale Wreath’, decorated with small figures from German fairy tales. Atop the column stands a group of bronze figures consisting of a life-size youth playing the flute and two boys playing at his feet. This makes the fairytale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin the central motif of the fountain, which is why it is also called the ‘Pied Piper Fountain’.” (Fountain in Leipzig, Wikipedia)

Santa Maria dei Servi

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Santa Maria dei Servi
Piazza delle Biade
Vicenza, May 2025

“Santa Maria in Foro, known as the Church of the Servi, is a church in Vicenza located in Piazza Biade, a small square adjacent to Piazza dei Signori. Its construction was begun in the early fifteenth century by the order of the Servants of Mary. The church's portal was made by the workshop where Andrea Palladio worked at the beginning of his career and could be one of his very first works. The construction of the current building of the church of Santa Maria in Foro was begun on a pre-existing building after 1404, the year in which Vicenza came under the dominion of the Republic of Venice.” (Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Servi, Wikipedia)

Johanneum

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Johanneum (Dresden Transport Museum)
Jüdenhof
Dresden, September 2024

“The Johanneum is a Renaissance building, originally desingated as Stallgebäude mit Harnischkammer because it was constructed as the elite part of the electoral mews. It was the first museum of modern times built in 1586-1588 and is located at the Neumarkt in Dresden. Today the Johanneum is home to the Dresden Transport Museum (Verkehrsmuseum Dresden), which displays vehicles of all modes of transport and their history. The Johanneum was built between 1586 and 1590 as Stallgebäude mit Harnischkammer, the elite stables of the adjacent Dresden Castle. The two halls on the building's ground floor provided space for 128 expensive riding-art horses imported in part from Italy. The stands for the horses were decorated with spectacular horse-paintings, modeled after the Sala dei cavalli in Mantua's Palazzo Té. In the stable, that was designed as a princely exhibition of elite horses, 35 rooms were lavishly decorated to contain horse and rider figurines, elaborate sleighs as well as an expensive arms collection of the Saxon Electors. Later also stuffed horses, a stuffed bear and wax figurines of the electors were exhibited. One of the exhibited horses, the Merseburger, became famous for its 8 m long mane.” (Johanneum, Wikipedia)