Tag Archives: architectural detail

Historic Forum Theatre Interior & Reflection in Melbourne, Australia

Go back a few days and you will find the post I made about the lovely old Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. An artist friend of mine, Kate, mentioned that she remembered the beautiful interior of the lobby. So today I am showing you that grandly old-fashioned lobby — followed by a reflection of the marvelous old theatre into the frankly modern exterior of the entry to the NGV Ian Potter art museum at Federation Square which is directly across Flinders Street.

What you can’t really see on the glowing dark blue skies are the tiny stars — and apologies for the slightly fuzzy-focus of the columns. The lighting inside was SO subdued that the camera was having a hard time in all of that darkness.

Enjoy!

Interior lobby of the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia

Ornate columns holding lighting inside the interior lobby of the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia

Reflection of the lovely and old Forum Theatre into the starkly new and modern glass facade of Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia

Photo Of The Day: The Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia

Isn’t that a simply stunning and ornate exterior! But it really does reflect the craftsmanship and high level of architectural detail that used to go into buildings such as these. The Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia has been around since the late 1920s and thank heavens it wasn’t torn down to make way for yet another slab of modern glass architecture. We do NEED a mix of styles instead of wall-to-wall modernity.

Opened in 1929, the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, Australia

Angles and Curves on A Barcelona Museum

We’re back to coverage from Spain for today’s photo of the day which was taken in front of MACBA — the Museum of Contemporary Barcelona Art.

People sitting atop & walking by a low wall in front of MACBA, a contemporary art museum in Barcelona, Spain.

This museum is right in the middle of the University of Barcelona district, so it is draped with young people every single day. I’ll have another variation of this museum front facade in a very different kind of mood tomorrow!

Barcelona Days Out: Gaudi’s Casa Mila aka La Pedrera

You know you have arrived at one of the more popular tourism sites for art and architecture in Barcelona, Spain when the Barcelona Bus Turistic is parked outside.

The Barcelona Bus Turistic parked outside the very popular Casa Mila, better known as La Pedrera, in Barcelona, Spain.

Casa Mila — which is also known as La Pedrera — is one of Antoni Gaudi’s most beloved architectural creations. Built as a private residence for the Mila family, there was strong objection to Gaudi’s designs and overt religious symbolism at the time of construction and many of the details had to be scaled back to comply with what the governing board deemed acceptable.

We were lucky enough to tour the rooftop area during one of the two ‘golden light’ periods of the day, just before dusk. Although we were jostled constantly by other tourists, I did manage to get several good shots that weren’t cluttered with people.

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A visual link to Gaudi’s masterpiece church, the Sagrada Familia, is available from the rooftop view from Casa Mila – La Pedrera in Barcelona.

My next article will be on the interior of the building including the period furnishings that are in place and the architectural details that Gaudi designed. This building is still lived in on several floors, so although the museum floors of the Casa Mila are open to the paying public, many other places are private and only for the use of the residents.

Hope you are enjoying these glimpses of Barcelona!

Amazing Architectural Details in Barcelona

Jostled by fast moving lunch-time pedestrians, I felt compelled to ignore the annoyed stares of people walking by and simply stand my ground for a tiny minute as I shot these photos. These carvings were around the entry door of the urban gothic style Casa Amatller, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. This elegant building is right next door to Gaudi’s Casa Batlli (photo essay coming up in another article) on Passeig de Gràcia in the district of Barcelona known as Eixample. This particular block is also known as Illa de la Discòrdia — a reference to the radically different and, at the time, quite controversial style of Modernista architecture.

Sculptural element on front facade of Casa Amatller in Barcelona, Spain

This is a particularly stunning part of Barcelona and should be high on the list of ‘must see’ locations when visiting this vibrant and diverse city.

Photo Of The Day: Historic & Ornate Red Brick Warehouses in Melbourne, Australia

We’re completely on the other side of the world from yesterday’s picture from France.

Another black and white image for you today — red brick warehouses from the 1880s taken on a day when the sky was completely flat and gray. These are right in the heart of the central business district in Melbourne and are an easy walking distance from the main shopping streets. Look at the architectural detail that went into these historic buildings. What a far cry from today’s plain facades in concrete and metal!

1880s red brick warehouses right in the heart of Melbourne, Australia’s central business district.

The two colour images below will enlarge if you click on them.

Blue plaque on the wall of Mark’s Warehouses in Melbourne, Australia

Closer image of American barrel-hoist on the top of an 1880s red brick warehouse in Melbourne, Australia.

Photo Of The Day: Overgrown Beauty in France

It would have been rather easy to stroll by this vine and weed-filled corner of a chateau, but lingering in the tangle of greenery were these lovely ruins. The Chateau-de-Fougeres is a massive fortified chateau, but within its walls are various less noticed places that have not been reconstructed.

Covered with vines and weeds, this section of ruins resides within the walls of the otherwise very tidy medieval fortress Chateau de Fougeres in Brittany, France.

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