412. Siemensstadt, Berlin

Dear Peter,

"We must call on things and let them unfold their own forms.
It goes against our nature to impose forms on them, to
determine them from without, to force upon them laws of
any kind, to dictate to them"
(Hugo Haring "Approached to Form"1925)

Thank you for your book and best regards
R

411. Milano. Corso Italia, Nuovi Palazzi

Dear Matt,

"In architecture, more than in other arts, the power and 

the will to exist beyond the natural and the useful is a 

fundamental quality, distinct from the simple fact of 

construction. Architecture arises as a terrible act of 

existence, everlasting, and is justifiable only in this 

sense" (Luigi Moretti)

Sincerely
R

410. Paimion Parantola

Dear Elissa,

"Intuition can sometimes be astonishingly rational"
(Alvar Aalto)

Regards.
R

409. St. Catherine's College, Oxford

Dear Joao,

The St. Catherine's College on the outskirts of Oxford was
designed entirely in 1960-63 by the great danish architect
Arne Jacobsen. He draw all from its setting down to the
furniture or even the cutlery.

Best regards.
R

408. Kunsthaus Bregenz. Fassadeninstallation James Turrell

Dear Jim,

"The real has it own magic. Of course, I know the magic
that lies in thought. The passion of a beautiful thought.
But what I'm talking about here is something I often find
even more incredible: the magic of things, the magic of
the real world" (Peter Zumthor)

Best regards.
R

407. Tate Modern. London

Dear Mark,

" Our strategy was to accept the physical power of the
massive mountain-like brick building and to even enhance
it rather than breaking it or trying to diminish it. (...)This is
a kind of Aikido strategy where you use your enemy's
energy for your own purposes. Instead of fighting it, you
take all the energy and shape it in unexpected and new
ways." (Jacques Herzog)

Regards.
R

406. La Solana del Mar. Vista nocturna

Querido Ricardo,

"Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada mas
Caminante, no hay camino
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atras
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
(Antonio Machado)

Un abrazo
R

405. Kaufhaus Schocken, Chemnitz

Querido Abuelo,

El edificio para los grandes almacenes Schocken en la
ciudad alemana de Chemnitz es considerado por muchos
la obra maestra de Mendelsohn. Construido en 1930 se
ha dicho de el que su equilibrado diseño es un clasico
debido a su tremenda dignidad y aparente sencillez.

Un beso.
R

404. Santa Coloma de Cervello. Cripta de la Colonia Guell

Carme,

"de la llar lo foc, visca lo foc de l'amor"

Salutacions cordials
R

403. Aalborg. Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum

Dear Alvaro,

KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art is located in
Aalborg and was designed by Elissa and Alvar Aalto
in 1972. Because of the mobile partition wall system
the building offers very flexible spaces that can be
adapted to different exhibitions requirements. But I
would say that to me the most striking feature of this
museum is the wonderful use of natural light.

Best regards from Denmark.
R