Architecture

Early Modern Architectural Treasures in Former Soviet Republic, Georgia

When we think of the great art nouveau cities of Europe, images of Paris’s Metropolitan and Barcelona’s Gaudi-lined streets come to mind. Even high up in the Baltics, Riga has firmly established itself as one of Europe’s iconic art nouveau cities, with its own particular brand of modernism.

Yet there is one city that is nearly bypassed on each and every list, whose name has only started to be recognised by art nouveau aficionados – Tbilisi.

Above: Narikala Fortress, Tblisi, Georgia. Photo: G. Gaeser, 2011

artes fine arts magazineMore

Santa Barbara Museum of Art Expands Collection of Early Roman Sculpture

I love museums on the move, particularly those that take their mission to educate, seriously. Located in a beautifully-renovated former post office, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (left) boasts an international collection deserving of repeated accolades. With the earliest renovation of the original structure by architect David Adler in 1939, and with several more expansions and improvements to the space over several decades, the newly renovated Park Wing Entrance and Luria Activities Center opened in June, 2006. The institution is now celebrating its 70th anniversary year with the addition of the newly-installed Lansdowne Dionysus in its entrance courtyard. Drawn from the collection of Wright Ludington, a life-long patron of the museum, the piece serves as an elegant reminder that the museum holds the second-largest collection of Greco-Roman sculpture in California, only to be outdone by the mighty museum atop a Los Angeles hill—the Getty. artes fine arts magazineMore

Philadelphia Museum of Art with Neo-Modern Vision of Multi-Faceted Architect

Image 7 Katya — The 'Z'-Chair, a Zaha Hadid design, on view at PMA

On view through spring, 2012, the Philadelphia Museum of Art features a unique exhibition, Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion. This show includes furniture and design objects in a space entirely transformed by the prominent female architect. The fluid, site-specific installation is the first of its kind in the United States, assembled by a team of designers from Hadid Architects. The show reflects Hadid’s seamless work methods, as well as her technological breakthroughs in architecture and design. artes fine arts magazineMore

Wilmington, Delaware’s Concerned Community Revitalizes Architectural Landmark

Classical limestone bank buildings line the streets of downtown Wilmington, Delaware; facades that suggest prosperity and life. But until recently, the streetlights shining vigilantly at night exposed nothing but emptiness. And, although Wilmington became a national financial center for the credit card industry – since the Financial Center Development Act of 1981 removed the legal cap on interest rates that banks charge customers – at the receiving end, its population had a median household income of $35,000 in the 2000 census. fine arts magazineMore

Coming of Age: The Birth of Modern American Architecture

New canaan modern homes artes fine arts magazine — Alice Ball House, New Canaan, CT. Design by Philip Johnson (c.1950); Interior Design, Victoria Lyon; sculpture, Matthias Alfen; Photo, Eric Roth.

“I shall confess to you that I have only had one teacher: the past; only one education: the study of the past.” – LeCorbusier (1929)

Moored like sleek Cigarette boats in a harbor full of luxury yachts, the growing number of New Canaan ‘moderns’ (more than 75 exist today), offer an unexpected visual respite in a small New England town where, for generations, tradition has ruled supreme. Their sleek, simple façades, flat roof lines, and ample, oversized windows will either shock or delight the observer today, much as they did more than a half century ago, when they were first constructed. Just like an overpowered speedboat, these bad boys of the harbor (and the men who conceived them) were out to make a point—and they succeeded. fine arts magazineMore

Metropolitan Museum of Art with Rarely-Seen Chinese Treasures Exhibition

Qianlong Garden Complex Palace Museum Beijing artes fine arts magazine — Qianlong Garden Complex, photo: Dennis Helmar, courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

In 1644, just 24 years after the English Pilgrims arrived on what is today the Massachusetts coast of the United States, the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was overthrown by the Manchu, a people from the north who were not Han Chinese. The subsequent establishment of the Qing (pronounced “ching”) Dynasty (1644-1911) signaled the end of Han rule and the installation of foreign rulers in the imperial palace complex, also known as the ‘Forbidden City,’ in Beijing.

Despite their non-Han origins, however, the Qing produced two of the greatest imperial patrons of art in China’s long history: the Kangxi (pronounced “kang-shee”) and the Qianlong (pronounced “chee’en-long”) emperors, the grandfather and grandson who ruled from 1662 to 1722 and from 1736 to 1799, respectively. fine arts magazineMore

New York City Architect, William Green, Takes a Critical look at Our ‘Built Environment’

urban architecture artes fine arts magazine — A mid-20th century architectural rendering for urban renewal

“E xcept man, nobody lies. A rosebush cannot lie. It has to produce roses; it cannot produce marigolds — it cannot deceive. It is not possible for it to be otherwise than it is. Except man the whole existence lives in truth. Truth is the religion of the whole existence — except man. And the moment a man also decides to become part of existence, truth becomes his religion.” –Indian Mystic, Osho

Architectural Forensics is a term to describe how it is that the ‘built environment’ perfectly expresses the intrinsic quality of any society’s sociological, economic, and political nature. In the search for truth, the parsing of concepts, deliberation of ideas, or the use rhetorical analysis to glean the essence of our reality pales in comparison to the truth at it is revealed by the world which we have wrought; and with this fact, there can be no mistake or equivocation. fine arts magazineMore

Norwegian Architects, Jensen & Skodvin Create Woodland Escape with Minimal Environmental Impact

ARTES: This is such an unusual structure, projecting so much of the natural beauty of its surroundings, that it attracted my attention at a recent Scandinavia House exhibition in New York. I just had to contact you. Tell me a bit about the inspiration for the Juvet Landscape Hotel.

J&S: The Juvet Landscape Hotel is located at Valldal, near the town of Åndalsnes in north-western Norway. Passing tourists are attracted by a spectacular waterfall, in a deep gorge near the road in Gudbrandsjuvet. The client, Knut Slinning, is a local resident. The idea emerged as an opportunity to exploit breathtaking scenery with minimal intervention, allowing locations which would otherwise be prohibited for reasons of conservation. fine arts magazineMore

Charlotte, N.C. Mint Museum’s New Uptown Facility Opens with Bold Machado & Silvetti Design

Mint Museum Uptown fine arts magazine — Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte, N.C. (photo by Jeff Clare)

The Mint Museum welcomed a record-breaking 17,000 visitors to its new facility in uptown Charlotte during its grand opening weekend on 1-3 October, 2010. The debut of the Mint Museum Uptown was accompanied by a 24-Hour Grand Opening celebration, featuring free admission, live entertainment, and art activities for all who attended.

Designed by the architectural firm of Machado and Silvetti Associates, of Boston, the Mint Museum Uptown was the final attraction to open in the Levine Center for the Arts, located in the heart of Charlotte’s business district. Housing the internationally-renowned Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as American and contemporary art and select works from the European art collection, the 145,000-square-foot facility includes two full floors of galleries, each featuring 12,000 square feet of permanent collection space and 6,000 square feet of changing exhibition space. A dramatic multi-story atrium, named for the late Robert Haywood Morrison in honor of his foundation’s generous gift to the Museum, serves as a central hub of activity and features a 60- by 60-foot glass curtain wall offering spectacular views of the urban landscape. fine arts magaziMore

North Carolina’s Black Mountain College: A New Deal in American Education

Black Mountain College was founded in the fall of 1933 by a group of faculty who had broken away from Rollins College following a fracas in which several faculty members were fired and others resigned in protest. It closed in the spring of 1957 after a judge ordered that academic programs should be ended until all debts were paid. In the intervening twenty-four years, the college evolved into a unique American venture in education, and the energy and ideas engendered there continue to influence the arts and education in the United States. Fine Arts Magazine