Monday, 31 December 2018

Marrakech 2018 / XII

Abandoned catering kiosk surrounded by palms and olive tree. Menara Gardens, Marrakech, Morocco. 

Pavilion / Menara Gardens

Pavilion or 'minzah' (beautiful view), built C19 in the Alawi style for use by the sultan and his family. It is thought that the building rests on the remains of a C16 Saadian structure [source: www.morocco.com]. The artificial lake is fed by water from the Atlas mountains—20 miles away—then used to irrigate olive groves. Menara, Marrakech, Morocco. 

Sunday, 30 December 2018

La Gare / Marrakech

Architect: Youssef Melehi, 2008. Main railway station with a design representing some features of the city, and bearing an overall Islamic style. Marrakech, Morocco.

Palmeraie / Marrakech

Palm oasis to the north-east of Marrakech city. With 100,000 date palms, some upmarket residences and hotels, plus tourist attractions. Route des Jardins de la Palmeraie, Marrakech, Morocco.

Saturday, 29 December 2018

Ensemble Artisanal / Craft Centre

Government-sponsored workshops and retail for Moroccan handicrafts. Avenue Mohammed V, Marrakech, Morocco. 

Musée de Marrakech / Le Patio

View through to le patio of the Musée de Marrakech, originally an open courtyard of 709 sq.m. with fruit trees. When the building was converted to a museum, the courtyard was given a translucent covering along with a huge copper chandelier. At Fondation Omar Benjelloun, Place Ben Youssef, Marrakech-Médina, Morocco. 

Marrakech 2018 / VI

Floor and wall zellige at the Musée de Marrakech, once the palace of Mehdi Menebhi. Built late C19 in the classical Andalusian style. At Fondation Omar Benjelloun, Place Ben Youssef, Marrakech-Médina, Morocco. 

Friday, 28 December 2018

Ramparts / Royal Palace

Off Rue Bab El Arhdar, Marrakech, Morocco. 

Palm / Bab Er-Robb

Date palm near the ‘Lord’s Gate’, Marrakech, Morocco.

Minaret / Kasbah Mosque

Originally constructed c.1190 by Yaqub al-Mansur in the Almohad style. Recently restored. Also known as the Moulay El Yazid Mosque. Kasbah district, Marrakech, Morocco. 

Wall / Jardins de l'Agdal

Marrakech, Morocco. 

Marrakech 2018 / I

Les couleurs à Marrakech. Kasbah district, Marrakech, Morocco.

Saturday, 22 December 2018

Battersea Flower Station / SW11

Battersea Flower Station garden centre lamp. London Borough of Wandsworth.

Friday, 21 December 2018

Mödling House / Cranbrook Estate

Architects: Francis Skinner, Douglas Bailey & Berthold Lubetkin, 1964. Bethnal Green, London Borough of Tower Hamlets. 

Thursday, 20 December 2018

Withy House / E1

Maisonette block built early 1960s by Tersons Ltd for London County Council. 11 storeys, 81 dwellings [info source: www.towerblock.eca.ed.ac.uk]. London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Wednesday, 19 December 2018

'Twentytwo' / 22 Bishopsgate

PLP Architecture for Lipton Rogers Developments / AXA Real Estate. View of work-in-progress on 22 Bishopsgate. The relative magnitude of this building in the Square Mile now becomes apparent. 62 floors above ground, 278.2 m / 913 ft, completion in 2019.

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Tate Modern / Tower

Architect: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, c.1953, being the chimney of the former Bankside Power Station. Retained when the building was re-purposed as Tate Modern in 2000. London Borough of Southwark.

Monday, 17 December 2018

London Studios / Kent House

London Studios aka Kent House, by EPR Architects, 1973. Given a Certificate of Immunity from Listing by Government, this elegant high-rise is now vacated and demolition possible. Also in view, the Max Rayne Centre, South Bank Tower and the execrable One Blackfriars. Photographed from Waterloo Bridge, London Borough of Lambeth. 

Sunday, 16 December 2018

Holy Trinity / Wallington

Architects: E. Habershon & E. Loftus Brock, 1867, in Gothic Revival style finished in flint with Bath stone dressings, 110ft limestone spire. Renovations completed 2017, Thomas Ford & Partners. Grade II listed. Wallington, London Borough of Sutton.

Saturday, 15 December 2018

South Bank Tower / West

Original architects: Richard Seifert & Partners, 1978, then known as King's Reach Tower. Renovation architects, incorporating 11 additional floors: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, 2015. Seen from the west on Stamford St., Lambeth, although the building is in the London Borough of Southwark. 

Friday, 14 December 2018

Plinth / Upper Terrace

Stylized plinth, one of four in the Grand Vista area that were originally supporting tall pyramids. Designed by John Piper and Osbert Lancaster for the 1951 Festival of Britain. Battersea Park. London Borough of Wandsworth.

Thursday, 13 December 2018

Mirror Pool / Battersea Park

Descendants from the 1951 Festival of Britain at the Grand Vista, Battersea Park. London Borough of Wandsworth.

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

Coal Drops Yard / II

Architects: Heatherwick Studio, 2018. Victorian warehouses and train viaduct conversion into upmarket retail. King's Cross, London Borough of Camden. 

Tuesday, 11 December 2018

Lawfords Wharf / II

Architects: JTP, 2003. Residential development on a former builder's yard, next to the Regent's Canal. London Borough of Camden.

Monday, 10 December 2018

Bridge 28 / Regents Canal

Reflections on the Regent's Canal as it passes under the Royal College Street bridge (No. 28). London Borough of Camden. 

Sunday, 9 December 2018

Star Wharf / Camden

Architects: Applin Design | Sprunt, c.2007. Canal-side apartments, up to 5 floors over basement car-park. On a former industrial site. London Borough of Camden.

Saturday, 8 December 2018

Coal Drops Yard / N1C

Architects: Heatherwick Studio, 2018. Victorian warehouses and train viaduct conversion into upmarket retail. King's Cross, London Borough of Camden. 

Friday, 7 December 2018

THE FACE / Covers

Outdoor exhibition showing front covers of THE FACE, from the period 1980-2001. Lewis Cubitt Square, King's Cross, London Borough of Camden.

Thursday, 6 December 2018

One Pancras Sq / 2018

David Chipperfield Architects, 2013. RIBA Regional and National awards. King's Cross, London Borough of Camden.

Wednesday, 5 December 2018

N°5 / Red


2.5m high replica of the iconic perfume bottle, advertising Chanel's (temporary) red variant. King's Road, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, London.

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

10 & 12 Hook Rd / Epsom

Grade II listing: "C18. Weatherboarded. Hipped old tile roof. Central brick stack. Two storeys, two ranges of sashes with glazing bars. Modern doors with flat hoods over." Epsom, Surrey, UK.

Monday, 3 December 2018

Kanazawa Castle / Restoration

Restoration of the the two turrets (Hishi and Tsuzuki Yagura) and a long storehouse (Gojukken Nagaya) between them, 2001. Rebuilt using traditional techniques, the roof tiles are made of lead with a trace of copper. Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Sunday, 2 December 2018

Hishi Yagura / Kanazawa Castle

Restoration of the Hishi-Yagura (菱櫓 (ひしやぐら) "diamond turret") watchtower, the original destroyed over 120 years ago. Constructed using traditional building techniques, 2001, it now looks as it did in the mid-C19. The roof tiles are made of lead with a trace of copper. Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Saturday, 1 December 2018

Hirosaka Govt Bldg / Kanazawa

Multi-departmental Government building from 1965. Eight floors above ground, total area 17,908 sq.m. Upgraded foundation-base and middle-layer isolation for seismic resistance, 2010. Hirosaka, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Friday, 30 November 2018

Nishi Chayagai / Kanazawa

The West Chaya District (西茶屋街, Nishi Chaya-gai) has buildings preserved from the Edo period. A chaya (茶屋, lit. teahouse) is an exclusive type of restaurant where guests are entertained by geisha who perform song and dance. [info source: japan-guide.com]. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Thursday, 29 November 2018

Saigawa / Kanazawa

The Sai River (犀川, Sai-gawa, Sai River), viewed from the Saigawa-Ohashi Bridge. In the distance, the Ryōhaku Mountains. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Samurai House / Kanazawa

In the Nagamachi (長町) district, situated at the foot of the former Kanazawa Castle. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

APA Hotel / Kanazawa

APA Hotel Kanazawa-Ekimae. 1 Chome-9-28 Hirooka, Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art / Kanazawa

Architects: Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, 2004. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan.

Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Hisagoike Pond / Kenrokuen

View of the Hisago-ike Pond (瓢池) — including tea-house, lantern, stone bridge and Kaiseki Pagoda. Kenroku-en (兼六園) is regarded as one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 

Kaiseki Pagoda / Kenrokuen

Stone pagoda, 4.1m high, on a small island in Hisago-ike Pond — the pond fed by a waterfall known as Midoritaki. This area is said to be where Kenroku-en was first started as a garden in early C17. Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan.

Monday, 26 November 2018

Kimono / Kenrokuen

Young women in traditional dress celebrating Autumn in Kenroku-en (兼六園 lit. "Garden of the Six Sublimities"), Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken, Japan. 
©2018 All Rights Reserved. Do not use - no release available.

Fan Mural / Ōkura

Folding fan mural on the ground floor of Hotel Ōkura Niigata, Niigata-ken, Japan.

Sunday, 25 November 2018

NEXT 21 / Niigata

To the left, with the unusual pinnacle, is NEXT 21 tower, 128m, 21 floors, 1994, designed by Nikken Sekkei and Taisei Corporation. To right, Grand Maison Nishi-Tori Tower (apartments), 112m, 29 floors, 2009. In the Furumachi business district of Niigata, Niigata-ken, Japan. 

Bandai Bridge / Niigata

Third-generation Bandai Bridge (萬代橋 Bandai-bashi), spanning the Shinano River in Niigata City. Ministry of Interior Reconstruction Bureau (Takeo Fukua, Yutaka Tanaka, Katsutake Naruse), 1929. Niigata, Niigata-ken, Japan.

Saturday, 24 November 2018

Persimmon / Kakunodate

Has culinary uses in Japan, but left here for autumn colour. Kakunodate, Akita-ken, Japan.

Samurai House / Interior

Interior of a samurai house on Bukeyashiki Street in Kakunodate, where there are some of the best examples of samurai architecture and housing in Japan. Kakunodate, Akita-ken, Japan.

Friday, 23 November 2018

Samurai House / Kakunodate

Samurai house on Bukeyashiki Street in Kakunodate, where there are some of the best examples of samurai architecture and housing in Japan. Kakunodate, Akita-ken, Japan.

Nezuneko / Kakunodate

Sign for Nezu-neko coffee/curios shop near the Denshokan Museum, Kakunodate, Akita-ken, Japan.

Thursday, 22 November 2018

Ebisu-Daikoku Island / Lake Towada

Lava island with small shrines to the kami Ebisu and Daikoku. Towada Lake lies within a double caldera formed by eruptions 40,000 and 13,000 years ago. Aomori-ken, Japan.