focusonarchitecture

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Day 173 — Temple of Hathor

The Dendera Temple complex in Egypt, which contains the Temple of Hathor, covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mud brick wall. The present Temple of Hathor dates back to July 54 BC, at the time of Ptolemy XII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius.

Photo: Eastern Gate from the temple roof, 1985

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Day 172 — Parking Garage IV

The South Lawn Car Park at the University of Melbourne is known for its distinctive entrance, which features two large Atlas statues. These statues were originally part of the Colonial Bank on Elizabeth Street and were relocated to the university when the bank was demolished in the 1930s.

Photo: 2022

Day 162 — Parking Garage III Day 103 — Parking Garage II Day 102 — Parking Garage I

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Day 171 — MCG

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), is a sports stadium located within walking distance of the Melbourne CBD. It is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the eleventh-largest stadium globally, and the second-largest cricket stadium by capacity.

Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has undergone numerous renovations. It served as the main stadium for the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, as well as hosting two Cricket World Cup finals: 1992 and 2015.

Photo: 2025

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Day 170 — Skyline IV

Photo: Florence, 1987

Day 149 — Skyline III Day 144 — Skyline II Day 127 — Skyline I

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Day 169 — Melbourne Museum II

Photo: Museum 'blade' canopy and Royal Exhibition Building, 2022

Day 2 — Melbourne Museum I

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Day 168 — Arts Centre Spire II

Photo: 2024 Day 141 — Arts Centre Spire I

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Day 167 — Staircase V

Built between 1109 and 1119 by the Asinelli family, to give prestige to the family and with a defense function, it is the highest leaning medieval tower in Italy.

There are 498 steps to climb, for a total height of 97.20 meters, to reach the tower roof terrace with a panoramic view of the entire city. It is one of the 22 towers that still define the city of Bologna skyline.

The Torre degli Asinelli was hit several times by lightning bolts and in 1824 a lightning rod was installed to protect it. It withstood various fires and emerged unscathed from the bombings of World War II.

Photo: Asinelli Tower staircase, 1987

Day 165 — Staircase IV Day 155 — Staircase III Day 100 — Staircase II Day 96 —Staircase I

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Day 166 — Viaduct

The Malmsbury Viaduct is a large brick and stone masonry arch bridge over the Coliban River at Malmsbury on the Bendigo Railway in Victoria Australia. It was erected between 1858 and 1861, and was at the time the largest masonry arch railway bridge built in Victoria.

Photo: 2021

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Day 165 — Staircase IV

A maze of staircases and tunnels lead between the Museum of Old and New Art's (MONA) three levels of art display spaces. There are no windows and the atmosphere is intentionally ominous.

Photo: MONA, Tasmania, 2024

Day 155 — Staircase III Day 100 — Staircase II Day 96 —Staircase I

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Day 164 — City Hall

San Francisco's City Hall (1916) is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917.

The principal architect was Arthur Brown, Jr., of Bakewell & Brown, whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage.

Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe (1954) were married at City Hall as were Jon Rendell and Mikael Wagner (2018).

On November 27, 1978, former Supervisor Dan White assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk inside of City Hall.

Photo: City Hall rotunda sunlit balcony and floor, 2019

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Day 163 — Concrete Knot

In 2012, a sweeping redevelopment of Hamer Hall transformed this once-unloved section of the riverbank.

Designed by ARM Architecture, this addition is characterised by its sculptural form, often referred to as a "concrete knot." It serves as an outdoor/indoor lift, enhancing accessibility between the riverside and the interior of the hall. This design element provides a striking contrast to the original circular geometry of Hamer Hall, designed by Roy Grounds and completed in 1982.

Photo: 2021

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Day 162 — Parking Garage III

The South Lawn car park is an underground parking garage at the University of Melbourne constructed in 1971–72 using reinforced concrete shells with parabolic profiles supported on short columns designed by Jan van der Molen, an engineer.

The columns encase pipes to drain the soils above for the planting of lawn and trees of the South Lawn. Van der Molen's design of sophisticated hyperbolic-paraboloidal platforms, was described as …saucer-shaped flowerpots on columns, interconnected to form arches. The deep dishes of the concrete forms allowed large trees to be planted on its roof.

Photo: 2025

Day 103 — Parking Garage II Day 102 — Parking Garage I

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Day 161 — The Roxie

The Roxie in the Mission District of San Francisco is one of the oldest continuously operated cinemas in the United States under various names since 1909.

After a neon makeover in 1933 it became renown for its distinctive Art Deco facade, a design style that gained prominence in the early 20th century. Hallmark Art Deco elements, include geometric patterns and a central stepped gable adorned with a prominent sign spelling out "Roxie." This design reflects the era's emphasis on bold, streamlined forms and decorative motifs.

Photo: 2012

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Day 160 — The Spot

The Spot at 198 Berkeley Street, Carlton, is the University of Melbourne’s certified 5 Star Green Star building and home to the University’s Faculty of Business and Economics. Commissioned by Professor Margaret Abernethy and designed by architects Metier3, The Spot is a purpose-built teaching and research centre for business and economics learning and innovation.

The University made a commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent by 2010 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. To help reach this target, the University decided to benchmark The Spot against the yet-to–be-released Green Star Education tool. The University committed to achieving the Green Star rating to provide independently verified evidence of the building’s environmental credentials and to help the project team to adopt a holistic approach to the building’s design.

The Spot achieved a 4.5-star NABERS Energy rating, using 46% less energy than comparable buildings. This resulted in annual savings of over $180,000.

Photo: 2021

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Day 159 — Sum Kum Lee

Chinatowns as iconic enclaves exist in several Australian cities. Among them, Melbourne Chinatown is the oldest, which dates back to the gold rush in the 1850s. Early Chinese migrants settled along the Little Bourke Street on the outskirts of the city, which served as a staging post on their journey to goldfields. Lodging houses were established providing cheap accommodation for sojourners. Gambling houses, opium shops, and brothels also emerged, resulting in the notorious reputation of this ethnic precinct. It was common for the general public to stigmatise this area as a fearful slum.

The Sum Kum Lee Building is in the heart of Chinatown and was constructed 1887-88 for wealthy merchant and Chinese community leader, Lowe Kong Meng. It was designed by architect George De Lacy Evans and is a three storey brick building with basement. It served as a business warehouse and residence until 1889 when it was occupied by the publishers of the newspaper Table Talk. The newspaper vacated the building in 1903 and it has since had a variety of commercial uses. The design is a very unusual Mannerist composition incorporating Chinese architectural motifs into an elaborate boom style classicism facade.

It is currently occupied by Shanghai Village Chinese Restaurant, reputed to be one of the best Chinese dumpling houses in the city!

Photo: 2022

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Day 158 — SFMOMA I

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, and has built an internationally recognised collection with over 33,000 works of painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, design, and media arts.

The museum was founded in 1935 and in 1995 the museum opened its current location at 151 Third Street, adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens in the SOMA district. Mario Botta, a Swiss architect from Canton Ticino, designed the new $60 million facility.

In 2016, following a three-year-long closure for a major expansion project by Snøhetta architects, the museum re-opened to the public with more than double the gallery space and almost six times as much public space as the previous building.

Photo: 2017

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Day 157 — Beyoncé III

Photo: Premier Tower, 2023

Day 27 — Beyoncé II Day 17 — Donkey Wheel House & Beyoncé I