Louvre Pyramid, Paris

Credit to I. M. Pei for his daring design and credit to the French for accepting it.  Completed in 1989.

Snippets of Provence

The Pont du Gard, ancient Roman aqueduct: The picturesque village of Gordes: Oppède Le Vieux: The imposing Palais des Papes in Avignon:

Great Court of the British Museum, London

Formally known as the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court.  Designed by Foster & Partners and opened in 2001.

Istanbul skyline

The view southwest across the Golden Horn, towards the magnificent Suleymaniye Mosque.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Hagia Sophia.  Santa Sophia.  Aya Sofya.  Church of Holy Wisdom.  Has any other church in the world been witness to so many monumental events in history?  The eruption of the Great Schism.  The sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders.  The fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Turks. Rebuilt many times over the years,… [Read more…]

Snippets of Venice

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

The view from one of the towering spires of Antoni Gaudi’s unfinished masterwork, La Sagrada Familia Basilica.

Casa Mila, Barcelona

Detail of rooftop architecture.  Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera, by Antoni Gaudi.

Wylies Baths, Sydney

Built in 1907, the heritage-listed Wylies Baths in the Sydney beachside suburb of Coogee are one of the many ocean pools and baths that adorn Sydney’s coastline.

Australia Square Tower, Sydney

Detail of the lobby ceiling.  Designed by noted Austrian-Australian architect Harry Seidler, the tower was completed in the late 1960s.

Customs House, Sydney

Sydney’s Customs House is located near Circular Quay and is one the city’s most important historical landmarks. It was constructed in 1845, a very old building by Australian standards.

Taman Sari, Yogyakarta

This Escher-like structure is part of the Taman Sari or Water Castle in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, built originally for the pleasure of the Royal Family of Yogyakarta.

Prambanan, Indonesia

Prambanan is one of the largest Hindu temple complexes in South East Asia.  Built over a thousand years ago, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is located near the Javanese city of Yogyakarta. Unfortunately a 2006 earthquake caused major damage to the site rendering much of it unstable and off-limit to visitors.

Stupas at Borobudur, Indonesia

Itself conceived as one giant stupa, Borobudur is adorned with a further 72 individual stupas, each housing a statue of the Buddha.  Each level of the monument represents a level of consciousness on the path towards enlightenment, until ultimately at the very top, there remains one giant empty stupa – enlightenment and the banishment of… [Read more…]

Statue of the Buddha at Borobudur, Indonesia

Borobudur is a giant Buddhist monument located in central Java, Indonesia.  Built over 1,200 years it is in essence a vast stupa, decorated with over 2,000 bas relief panels and 500 individual statues of the Buddha. Long after Islam had replaced Buddhism as the major religion in the Indonesian archipelago, locals still revered the place… [Read more…]