Monday, August 31, 2015

At the Window

At the window, boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris

At the window
Boulevard du Montparnasse
6th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Lamentation of Christ

Compianto sul Cristo morto, Lamentation of Christ by Alfonso Lombardi, Bologna

“Compianto sul Cristo morto” (Lamentation of Christ) by Alfonso Lombardi, 1526
Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Peter)
Bologna, June 2015

See also: Sorrow over Dead Christ

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Lacoste Boutique

Crocodile outside the Lacoste Boutique, Duke Street, Marylebone, London

Crocodile outside the Lacoste Boutique
Duke Street, Marylebone
London, September 2014

“Boston, 1923. René Lacoste was strolling through the city's streets with his tennis team's captain, Alan Muhr, before the afternoon's upcoming game. In a store's window display, an elegant crocodile skin suitcase caught his eye. Time for a bet: if René won the match, Alan would buy him the suitcase. As it turned out, René didn't win, but journalist George Carens heard the story and mentioned it in his article in the Boston Evening Transcript: ‘The young Lacoste has not won his crocodile skin suitcase but he fought like a true crocodile.’” (The Story of the Crocodile, Lacoste)

Friday, August 28, 2015

Luisenstraße 48-52

Residential and commercial building, Luisenstraße, Berlin

Luisenstraße 48-52, residential and commercial building
Luisenstraße / Schumannstraße
Berlin, September 2011

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Baltasar Lobo

Grave of Baltasar Lobo with one of his own sculptures, Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris

Grave of Baltasar Lobo (1910-1993) with one of his own sculptures, 1943
Cimetière du Montparnasse, Montparnasse Cemetery
Quartier du Montparnasse, 14th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Segways in Florence

Group of tourists on Segways, Piazza della Signoria, Florence

Group of tourists on Segways
Piazza della Signoria
Florence, April 2015

See also: Segways - Segways in Berlin

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Plastic Bottle Dandelion

PET bottlePalace Street, London

Plastic bottle “dandelion” (made with PET bottles)
Palace Street
London, September 2014

Monday, August 24, 2015

San Petronio Basilica

Basilica of San Petronio, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

Basilica of San Petronio
Piazza Maggiore
Bologna, June 2015

“Construction on this vast cathedral began in 1390; and the work, as you can see, still isn't finished more than 600 years later. The wings of the transept are missing and the facade is only partially decorated, lacking most of the marble that was intended to adorn it. The main doorway was carved in 1425 by the great Sienese master Jacopo della Quercia. Above the center of the door is a Madonna and Child flanked by saints Ambrose and Petronius, the city's patrons. Michelangelo, Giulio Romano, and Andrea Palladio (among others), submitted designs for the facade, which were all eventually rejected.” (Basilica di San Petronio, Fodor's Essential Italy)

See also: Basilica of San Petronio

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Vous & Metro

Vous & Metro advertising campaign pedicabs, place Saint-Gervais, Paris

“Vous & Metro” pedicabs / bicycle taxis
Metro AG 2014 advertising campaign
Place Saint-Gervais
Quartier Saint-Gervais, 4th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Giotto

Statue of Giotto by Vincenzo Vela, Loggia Amulea, Prato della Valle, Padova

Statue of Giotto by Vincenzo Vela, 1865
Loggia Amulea
Prato della Valle
Padua, September 2013

Friday, August 21, 2015

Fashion Photographer

Fashion photographer at work, Holborn Circus, City of London

Fashion photographer at work
Holborn Circus, City of London
London, September 2014

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Counter Clockwise

Sign on the jogging track around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Central Park, New York

Sign on the jogging track around the
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Central Park
New York, September 2008

“President Bill Clinton, Madonna, and Jackie Kennedy Onassis (for whom the reservoir was named in 1994) have all run on the 1.58-mile track. For years, an unsightly seven-foot-high chain-link fence obscured the view. But when scuba divers discovered a piece of the original fence at the bottom of the reservoir, Central Park Conservancy commissioned a steel fence with cast-iron ornamentation, closely resembling the original. The current fence was completed in 2003, stands four feet high, and has opened up breathtaking views of the Park and surrounding cityscapes.” (Reservoir, Central Park Conservancy)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Maréchal Hubert Lyautey

Monument to Maréchal Hubert Lyautey by François Cogné, place Denys-Cochin, Paris

Monument to maréchal Hubert Lyautey by François Cogné, 1985
Place Denys-Cochin
Quartier de l'École-Militaire, 7th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

“Lyautey has been suggested as the author of the aphorism that ‘a language is a dialect which owns an army, a navy and an air force’ (Une langue, c'est un dialecte qui possède une armée, une marine et une aviation), but there is no good evidence for this.” (Hubert Lyautey, Wikipedia)

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Fontanella del Nettuno

Fontanella del Nettuno, drinking fountain of Neptune, Piazza del Nettuno, Bologna

Fontanella del Nettuno (Drinking fountain of Neptune)
Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune) by Giambologna, 1567
Piazza del Nettuno (Palazzo d'Accursio on the left)
Bologna, June 2015

See also: Fontana del Nettuno

Monday, August 17, 2015

Search for Enlightenment

Search for Enlightenment by Simon Gudgeon, One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, London

“Search for Enlightenment” by Simon Gudgeon, 2011
One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge
London, September 2014

“The fact that the figures are displayed outside the Candy Bros Occasional Home for the Stupendously Rich tends to indicate that they were bought off the shelf from the same dealers that supply Ramada hotels with all that stuff they put in their foyers. But that may be my prejudice. The work is called Search for Enlightenment, and is by the British artist Simon Gudgeon. They are male and female, which you can easily see because the male has an Adam's apple the size of Suffolk. Their brains are empty, waiting to be filled with enlightenment.” (One Hyde Park SW1, Ornamental Passions)

See also: Isis

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Lawrence of Rome

San Lorenzo, Lawrence of Rome by Stefano Galletti, Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, Rome

San Lorenzo (Lawrence of Rome) by Stefano Galletti, 1865
Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls
Piazzale del Verano
Rome, April 2013

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Square du Croisic

Square du Croisic, résidence fermée (Gated community), boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris

Square du Croisic, résidence fermée (Gated community)
Boulevard du Montparnasse
Quartier Necker, 15th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Friday, August 14, 2015

Trading Shots

Venice

Tourists on the Canal Grande (Grand Canal)
Seen from the Rialto Bridge
Venice, October 2012

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Heron Tower Building

Heron Tower Building by Kohn Pedersen Fox, Bishopsgate, City of London, London

Heron Tower Building by Kohn Pedersen Fox
Bishopsgate, City of London
London, September 2014

“Among all the recent and upcoming skyscrapers in London, Heron Tower, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, is perhaps not the most innovative (the competition after all includes both 20 Fenchurch Street also known as Walkie Talkie, and 122 Leadenhall, already nicknamed The Cheesegrater). It still managed to spark some controversy – one of the reasons was it’s developer Gerald Ronson, once infamously imprisoned for his part in the Guinness scandal of the 1980’s – the tower is considered to be his redemption. The main argument behind the controversy is however the fact that it raised concerns that it would spoil the protected view of St Paul’s cathedral and in 2002 English Heritage run a inquiry to investigate the plan and spectacularly lost the case. The permission was granted and as a result shaped the upcoming London’s skyline, making way for a march of skyscrapers.” (The Heron Tower Building, e-architect)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Porticoes

Porticoes, Piazza Santo Stefano, Bologna

Porticoes
Piazza Santo Stefano
Bologna, June 2015

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Lycée Buffon Sundial

Sundial on a wall of the Lycée Buffon, rue de VaugirardParis

Sundial on a wall of the Lycée Buffon
Rue de Vaugirard
Quartier Necker, 15th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Monday, August 10, 2015

Chimera of Arezzo

Bronze copy of the Chimera of Arezzo, Giardino della Gherardesca, Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Florence

Bronze copy of the “Chimera of Arezzo”, c. 400 BC
Giardino della Gherardesca
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Florence, April 2015

“Over the years, more replicas were cast and hence original size copies of the Chimaera are now commercially available (the one in the picture above is shown here courtesy of Galleria Frilli in Florence). As obvious, an original size bronze cast of the Chimera, ca. 80 cm tall, is not cheap and so the number of such copies made remains limited. To the author's knowledge, besides Italy, original size replicas of the Chimera exist only in Brazil, Mexico and Japan.” (The Chimera of Arezzo, Chimeras)

See also: Chimère - Chimera

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Laurence Olivier as Hamlet

Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, by Angela Conner, Royal National Theatre, South Bank, Lambeth, London

Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, by Angela Conner, 2007
Outside the Royal National Theatre
South Bank, Lambeth
London, September 2014

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Friday, August 7, 2015

Oldsmobile Cutlass

Oldsmobile Cutlass 1967, rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques, Paris

Oldsmobile Cutlass 1967
Rue des Fossés-Saint-Jacques
Quartier du Val-de-Grâce, 5th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Via de' Giudei

Stylized map of the former Jewish ghetto, via de' Giudei, Bologna

Stylized map of the former Jewish ghetto
Via de' Giudei (Street of the Jews)
Bologna, June 2015

“The layout of Bologna's 16th century ghetto can still be precisely traced amid the narrow streets in the medieval heart of the city: here, a maze of alleys, covered bridges and small windows tells the story of a whole community forced to live in a specific area of the town by order of the Papal State beginning from 1556. In Bologna, Jews lived in the ghetto until 1569, when they were expelled for the first time. In 1586, they were allowed to come back to town and lived here again until 1593, year of their final expulsion: 900 people left Bologna and no Jewish community was allowed into town for more than two centuries” (The former Jewish ghetto and its workshops, Bologna Welcome)

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Whitechapel Gallery

Whitechapel Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, Tower Hamlets, London

Whitechapel Gallery by Charles Harrison Townsend
Whitechapel High Street
London, September 2014

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Worth Monument

Worth Monument and Commodore Criterion building, Madison Square, New York

Worth Monument (1857) and Commodore Criterion building
General Worth Square / Madison Square
New York, September 2007

“Not too long ago I was giving an architectural walking tour in the Madison Square Park area when somebody asked me ‘what's going on with the Commodore Criterion building?’ If you've been by the park you've probably seen the building at the intersection of Fifth Avenue, 25th Street, and Broadway with its name fixed atop the tall stone parapet. I had no answer to the question, except that the Christmas display over the front door had not come down in years, meaning the building was most likely vacant. What I did not know at the time was that Spanish tile/kitchen/bath company Porcelanosa bought the building last summer. Since my tour I've also learned that Porcelanosa hired Foster + Partners to transform the six-story building into their US/NYC flagship showroom.” (From Commodore Criterion to Porcelanosa, A Daily Dose of Architecture)

Monday, August 3, 2015

La République

La République, The Republic by Jean-François Soitoux, Quai Malaquais, Paris

“La République” (The Republic) by Jean-François Soitoux, 1850
Quai Malaquais
Quartier de la Monnaie, 6th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Via dell'Inferno

Via dell'Inferno (Hell Street), Via del Purgatorio (Purgatory Street), Florence

The corner of Via dell'Inferno (Hell Street)
With Via del Purgatorio (Purgatory Street)
Florence, April 2015

Saturday, August 1, 2015

The Rush of Green

The Rush of Green by Jacob Epstein, Edinburgh Gate, Knightsbridge, London

“The Rush of Green” (or “The Bowater House Group”) by Jacob Epstein, 1959
Edinburgh Gate, Knightsbridge
London, September 2014

The Rush of Green was Jacob Epstein's last work, completed on the day he died in 1959 and cast in bronze posthumously. It was commissioned to stand outside Bowater House, a monstrous headquarters block for a paper company, designed by Guy Morgan for developer Harold Samuel. The block was huge but cheaply finished and made no concessions to anyone at street level where the dominant accents were the entrances to service courtyards and underground car parks.” (Edinburgh Gate SW1, Ornamental Passions)