Wednesday, December 9, 2009

THE GEDÄCHTNISKIRCHE OR KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH







THE GEDÄCHTNISKIRCHE is the symbolic centre of West Berlin and also the memorial to peace and reconciliation. After allied bombing during the WWII, the original west Tower has remained standing as a ruin. This is the only building on the square which was spared by the bombing and deliberately preserved. Built between 1891-95 in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the first German Emperor, by Franz Schwechten in neo-romanesque style, it contains photographic exhibits of the Church and liturgical objects from bygone days and mosaics.

VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, WEIL AM RHEIN, GERMANY







By Frank Gehry 1989. The vitra design museum is an abstract assemblage of cuboids and curvaceous forms. It is a small building used for the exhibit of chairs designed by Gehry. The forms are assembled without logic, and I think this is why the building is unique.

CHAPEL OF NOTRE DAME DU HAUT, RONCHAMP, FRANCE







Le Corbusier's "chapel of our lady of the height" is an excursion chapel designed in 1955
Tourists are attracted by the massive and curved walls. In addition it is so pleasant to admire at the vast shell of the concrete roof which give the building a massive, sculptural form. The exterior contrasts perfectly to the modest interior of the chapel.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

REICHSTAG DOME, BERLIN , GERMANY2




The dome is a luminous metal and glass structure with a ramp that spirals up a to a roof terrace with 360-degree views of central Berlin. The dome overlooks the debating chamber for the Bundestag and a central mirrored cone draws light into the plenary chamber. Foster was wined the Pritzker Prize in 1999 for his work on the building. The Bundestag parliament has become one of the top tourist destinations in Berlin. The line is very long winter as summer.

REICHSTAG DOME, BERLIN , GERMANY 1









By Norman Foster 1999.. The former home of German democracy was further damaged during Allied bombing of Berlin in World War II. It was left in this run until the 1960s, when it was opened as a conference center. The Reichstag was the site of the German reunification ceremonies at midnight on October 2, 1990. The Foster team's design focuses on making the processes of government more transparent

JEWISH MUSEUM, KREUZBERG BERLIN,GERMANY










Jewish Museum, Kreuzberg Berlin,Germany
By Daniel Libeskind 1998, the museum opened in 2001. This building looks unusual. The architect based his design on a moderately involved process of connecting lines between locations of historic events and locations of Jewish culture in Berlin. These lines form a basic outline and structure for the building. Libeskind also has used the concepts of absence, emptiness, and the invisible to design the building. He expresses the disappearance of Jewish culture in the city. One other detail is the window shape, which looks different and he zig-zagging zinc surface from the siding which remembers strangely containers.

HAUSE DER KULTUR DER WELT






Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin-Tiergarten, Germany
The Congress Hall was the American contribution to the International Building Exhibition in 1957. It was declared as a gift of America to its close affiliate of West Berlin. Hugh A. Stubbins, Werner Düttmann and Franz Mocken, built a technically revolutionary building in 1957. I found the roof structure very artistic. The roof is supported on both sides by steel anchors which only rest on two points. In front of the building is an impressive large pond, in the middle of which Henry Moore's bronze sculpture "Big Butterfly" can be seen. The building is used as theater, exhibition area, congress and seminar.

Friday, December 4, 2009

LA GRANDE ARCHE DE LA DEFENSE






Located just beyond the city La Grande Arche de La Défense supports the eastern end of the historic axis that stretches from the Louvre down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. The arch is actually a 35-story office building. An important point is that the area surrounding La Défense is home to modern office towers housing 14 of France’s top 20 corporations. Von Spreckelsen’s scheme was chosen by Mitterrand in an international competition for its 'purity and strength' in 1989. Unfortunately Johan Otto Von Spreckelsen died before its completion.

OPERA DE LA BASTILLE






The opera was built in1989 by Carlos Ott. It Opened on July13 in1989 with an opera gala concert, marking the bicentennial of the destruction of the Bastille fortress. The most interesting part is the Main auditorium that count 2703 seats. The building also includes the "Amphithéâtre" 700 seats, the "Studio" 237 seats. For me the insside is relly amazing.







INSTITUT DU MONDE ARABE




At Paris, 1988 and in a modern style Jean Nouvel produces a wonderfull building with a nice composition of forms. He reinterprets traditional Arab latticework screens in glass and steel. In fact 30,000 light-sensitive diaphragms are designed to regulate the penetration of light into the building. The unique use of high-tech photosensitive mechanical devices to control light levels and transparency made this building famous.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

THE CANAL+ HEADQUARTERS

Richard Meier and Partners create in1992 The Canal+ headquarters in Paris. This is a commercial purpose of Meier's method of all-white paneling, all-white detailing and glass. The result is an attractive commercial building. The side fronting the Seine and at the southern end the building is only five stories while the rest is eight stories. So enjoy the vue.

LOUVRE 2


In 1981 Ieoh Ming Pei created a new reception area and modernized entrance to the Museum with the addition of a 21-metre glass pyramid entrance.
I love that pyramid which sits at the center of the Louvre’s plaza and I think that the project has to be appreciated for what it has accomplished.

LOUVRE 1


The Louvre Museum is the largest national museum of france . The museum constructed around 1200 as a fortress and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal palace, began its career as a public museum in 1793. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801.

THE AMERICAN CENTER




The American Center builds by Frank Gehry in the mid 1980’s. The center is an interesting piece; which presents a geometrically challenging building in Paris, France. The architecture of the building is difficult to understand. The American Center’s geometry seems undetermined sometimes masterful, other times awkward and circumstantial. Parts of this include a great effort to square irregular geometry with ordinary office space. Part illustrates the intermediate step in the development of a workable process to translate irregular designs into material existence.

Monday, November 9, 2009

THE NEW FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY















The Bibliotheque Nationale de France, was the last of François Mitterand's "grand projects". Construction of the Library began at the end of 1990 and was completed in March 1995, at the cost of 8 billion francs (5.2 billion euros).
Designed by Dominique Perrault and covering 7.5 hectares it is composed of four glass and steel towers of 24 stories, 80 meters, each, modeled to give the impression of open books.


The towers of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France are named. They are the tower of Laws, of Letters, of Numbers and of Time.






Sunday, October 11, 2009

MY HOBBY

Architecture is the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. It is also the character or style of building and the action or process of building; construction. This is why I am interested on architecture.
One of my hobbies is to observe famous architectural monument from famous architect. First I tri to understand why they are so famous, then how long it took for construction, how much it cost and finally I enjoy the art.