639. Nessebre, vue generale

Dear Ivan,

Near to the ancient city of Nesebar, and facing the Black
Sea, this Resort building of 1936 follows with its concave
form the seacoast line.

Best,
R

638. The Philippine International Convention Center

Dear Corey,

"I am obsessed with forms that are massive and 

yet light" (Leandro Locsin)

Leandro Locsin was a remarkable architect, interior designer, and artist and one of the most significant contributors to the development of contemporary architecture in The Philippines.

Kind regards,
R

637. Lima, Peru. Ministerio de Educacion

Querido Luis,

Cuando he llegado a Lima el cielo estaba oscuro y muy
nublado, tal como en la foto de esta postal. En este
nebuloso dia, al contemplar este majestuoso edificio, he
recordado los sombrios y magnificos dibujos de Hugh
Ferriss en su libro "The metropolis of Tomorrow".

Un abrazo,
R

636. The New S. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco

Dear Meredith,

"I prefer to have something that works
well and is of our time."
(Pietro Belluschi)

Sincerely,
R

635. Fiuggi Fonte

Dear Mario,

"The architect is a master builder who may find in the
language of construction the necessary words for the
highest expression of art, just as the man who mastered
a language may write poetry" (Pier Luigi Nervi)

Best wishes,
R

634. Rosario, Paseo Oroño

Querido Juan Luis,

Parado delante del Edificio Gilardoni recuerdo algunos
versos del poeta Alberti:

Sube, sube, balcón mío
trepa el aire sin parar:
sé terraza de la mar,
sé torreón de navío.

Mi abrazo de siempre,
R

633. Abidjan. L'Hotel de Ville

Querido Georges,

"El medio forma parte de la verdad, tanto como el resultado.
Es preciso que la busqueda de la verdad sea a su vez verdadera;
la busqueda verdadera es la verdad desplegada, cuyos
miembros dispersos se reunen en el resultado" (Karl Marx)

Regards,
R

632. Lisboa, Hotel Ritz visto do parque Eduardo VII

Querido Eduardo,

La monumentalidad del Ritz no solo viene dada por su
tamaño (que contrasta con la escala residencial del barrio),
sino tambien por sus exquisitos acabados exteriores en
marmol blanco y muy especialmente por lo perfecto de
sus proporciones.

Un abrazo,
R

631. Lisboa. Avenidas de Roma e Estados Unidos da America

Querido Alvaro,

El Conjunto urbano Vává, situado en el cruce de dos
importantes avenidas lisboetas, exhibe una fuerte
expresión formal. La utilización estudiada de color en
fachada, la diversidad de materiales y texturas o los
escultóricos salientes a modo de cubos que sobresalen
de la fachada confieren al conjunto un valor
incuestionable.

Un abrazo,
R

630. Vue de l'horloge des pompiers, Agadir

Dear David,

Jean-François Zevaco's Fire Station in Agadir is a building
arranged around an incomplete circular courtyard that
resembles the moon shape. A great lesson of combining
function with art is condensed in this building.

Warm regards,
R

629. The Cuban Pavilion. Montreal 1967

Dear Mel,

The Cuban Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal stood for
some basic modern notions: flexibility and adaptability.
In fact, this remarkable pavilion was meant to be
re-used as an exhibition pavilion in Cuba later on, but
regrettably that never happened.

Regards,
R

628. PTT Pavillon. Landesausstellung 1939 Zurich

Dear Eugenio,

The 1939 National Exhibition in Zurich was originally
planned as an industrial "high tech" fair, but the threat
of Nazism, turned this exhibition into a platform to
declare the phenomenon called "spiritual national defense".

Take care,
R

627. Commerce Hall in Skopje

Dear Ljiljana,

The graceful Commerce Hall in Skopje, seen on the right
side of this old picture postcard, is one of the most
innovative works of local architectural modernism. This
outstanding building has clear influences from both, the
Terragni's Novocomun (1928), and the Golosov's
Workers Club (1927).

Respectfully,
R

626. Johnson Europlant, Mijdrecht

Dear Frank,

Although Maaskant based his architecture on the principles
of De Stijl, later evolved to more expressionist forms, as
these seen in the Johnson Europlant.

Kind regards,
R

625. Neviges

Dear Sarah

“I think the future of architecture does not lie so much in
continuing to fill up the landscape as in bringing back life
and order to our cities and towns.” (Gottfried Böhm)

Regards,
R

624. Monchengladbach Neues Museum

Querido Miguel,

El Museo de Mönchengladbach es una obra de arte
"transitable". Aqui la arquitectura se funde a traves de
la especial configuracion de sus espacios con las propias
obras de arte, llegando a confundirse una con las otras:
arquitectura como obra de arte expuesta.

Saludos,
R