#interesting architecture

[maureen2musings]

Faroe Islands

darylswalker

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Interesting architectural choice. The structure on the roof is how they chose to display their 4 chimneys.

[bbybrownbat]

Location unknown. From @ ryanmatthewcohan IG story. If anyone knows this location/photographer please shoot me a DM so I can label this post correctly.

[labradoritedreams]

[faithandarisadventures]

St. Francis Community Services Main Office May 17, 2023 St. Louis, Missouri

[2022dirt]

A brutalist arcade in New Zealand.

[richardmark1]

Schloss Drachenburg, Germany

[ventique18]

🐉: "People used to make gargoyles with human features as well. Also referred to as Chimeras, these human-like gargoyles are famously known for being a hybrid creature with human faces or parts. Many common gargoyles are also called as such because they combine several different features from different animals such as its face, tail, wings, and body type."

🐉: "... But this is not your area of interest, so I likely must be boring you, no? Apologies. Let me instead think of something related to things you enjoy."

🌸: "No,

[lisaiese]

Penacony, Art Nouveau & Art Déco

As a Cultural Heritage major, it was inevitable for me to notice the huge Art Nouveau and Art Déco influence in Penacony.

The most evident example is Robin's poster:

It is reminiscent of artworks by Alfons Mucha (1860-1939), who often drew illustrations for advertisment, for example Bière de la meuse (1897), created to sell beer. Robin's poster is also an ad, which serves to promote the singer and her next performance for the Charmony Festival.

We can see the detail of the hair: in both illustrations it is observable how the ends of the hair curve in almost a decorative manner. In addition, both the figures are accentuated by the use of a thicker countour line.

Next, I wanted to point out the overall architecture of Penacony (particularly the architecture in Golden Hour).

Let's start by saying that Art Nouveau has its basis on a movement called Arts & Crafts, invented by William Morris (1834-1896). Morris wanted everyone to be able to own beautiful and durable objects (somewhat going against the values of the Industrial Revolution) and so Arts & Crafts was born. Therefore, Art Nouveau is mostly known for its decorations, architectures, jewels, furniture, vases, lamps etc. Art Déco can be considered an off-spring of Art Nouveau, as it spread in the 1920s and became the style to go in the USA in the 30s. The main difference between the two is that: Art Nouveau is more graceful, "spring-like" and utilises more sinuous lines (in fact, Mucha is Art Nouveau), while Art Déco is more geometric and is characterised by stronger colors.

For instance, the grand theatre in Penacony and the other structures/objects in the following pictures can all be considered Art Nouveau, let's compare them with real life examples of Art Nouveau:

And these can be considered Art Déco:

To conclude, I love how Penacony was created, both on the stylistic aspect and the gaming mechanisms aspect (like, the 3d rooms are so cool). I just wanted to write about the fascinating artistic references in Star Rail, it's just a natural consequence of the fact that I am majoring in Cultural Heritage I suppose.

[thedevilundercover]

I fucking love presentations. If I had anyone to give presentations to, I’d give one about Gothic-revival architecture because dhsjsjhw it’s so pretty.

And I saw somewhere that Wayne manor was built in the mid-1800s and I just jumped for joy lmao.

I’m a huge fucking nerd, but so are y’all because you really want to see me make a bunch of floor plans so—

[leroibobo]

thazhathangady juma mosque in kottayam, kerala, india. like judaism and christianity, islam first reached present-day kerala via trade and migration from the middle east to the malabar coast from antiquity. the mosque dates back to the 9th-10th centuries.

[flimsy-roost]

[architectureandfilmblog]

The villa of Commandant Höss: a "paradise" which shared a wall with Auschwitz.

ARCHITECTURE OF GENOCIDE: THE ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)

Before I saw this film, I'd assumed that it would illustrate the way architecture can be used to facilitate denial or self-deception. Like PARASITE (2019), in which one - in that case wholly fictional - family creates a lavish domestic retreat from which they can't see the overcrowding, poverty and suffering that surrounds them. But although Hedwig Höss speaks of planting vines to cover the wall they share with Auschwitz, there's no pretending this neighbour isn't there. The Höss's live in a pristine 1937 villa, with a manicured garden where they have parties and their children swim in a pool, and this juxtaposition is chilling. But they can still see the chimneys, and hear the screams, and nobody is denying what's next door.

This is one of the most horrifying movies I've seen, and that's due to the banality of the domestic scenes. We aren't watching a stereotypically deranged mass murderer, or even a psychopathic commandant at work inside the camp. Instead we see a comfortable house, a beautiful garden, two parents who love one another and their children. And who've somehow been able to assimilate the fact that millions are being murdered behind their garden wall.

The film is based loosely on a novel, but also on research into the lives of the real Höss's. A replica was built of their villa and garden, only metres from where the real home still stands. It's suggested that the real Rudolf and Hedwig considered themselves homesteaders, reclaiming rural territory for the 'master race', as was the Nazi ideal. In the film, Hedwig repeatedly emphasises the role of building and grounds as a status symbol. Their villa had been taken from its Polish owners and architecturally altered to fit the Höss's image. Most of the items inside would have been plundered from Jewish homes, and others, such as stools, and the wheelbarrow full of smaller seized items, would have been custom-made by prisoners. This isnt a home that is genteel in spite of the camp next door. On the contrary, everything about it, down to the fur coat on Hedwig's back, exists as a result of persecution and genocide.

The Zone was an exclusion area of over 40 sq. km around the camp, created after Poles and Jews were expelled from nearby villages. It's jarring how idyllic it appears in the film, with meadows, birdsong, a gently babbling river. While obviously not as horrifying as human apathy, the indifference of a place to the evil it houses is disconcerting, especially if you're in a profession like architecture or urban design, where places are thought to be somehow expressive of what occurs within them. We do see the horror occasionally seep beyond camp walls - a practiced scramble to leave sun loungers as crematoria smoke seeps into the garden, a wash of ash infiltrating the picturesque river.

It's likely that the filmmakers were using the extreme example of this family to remind us of our own ability to become apathetic and desensitised to the suffering of strangers, particularly when we feel our personal safety and comfort may be threatened. (Current campaigns to essentially criminalise poverty in the form of homelessness in certain cities, come to mind). Obviously the murder of millions is an evil on a completely different scale, and I have to believe that 99% of us wouldnt be capable of the Höss's actions, but it's a chilling and worthwhile reminder nonetheless.

[laurearte]

Parle plus fort meuf il entend R avec sa grosse tête la

[faithandarisadventures]

Skylight Riverchase Galleria Hoover, Alabama June 25, 2022

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Replenishing the Nonfiction Stack; or, We're Calling the Book Buying Ban a Wash, Officially.

I am not, apparently, immune to coupons for niche nonfiction that's directly up my alley (octopus minds and RUSSIAN OWLS, hello??? Thanks, bookshop!).

I thought perhaps the BURGLAR'S GUIDE would also be covered under said coupon, since it was publisher-specific (alas: it was Not, but we might as well bundle for shipping purposes). And then while I was shopping IRL for gifties I found a copy of ROOM, which has been on my list for...ever? So! Hopefully these will hold me over on the nonfiction front for a minute!