701. Bauhaus, Dessau


Dear Marianne,

"When I was a small boy, somebody asked me what 
my favorite color was. For some years my family 
poked fun at me saying, after some hesitation: 
Multicolor is my favorite color. The strong desire to include every vital component of life instead of 
excluding part of them for the sake of too narrow and dogmatic is an approach has characterized my whole 
life" (Walter Gropius)

Respectfully.
R

700. The Knights of Columbus, New Haven, Conn.


Dear John,

The Knights of Columbus Building is
a remarkable 23 story tower designed
by Roche and Dinkeloo in the 1960s.
The four powerful cylindrical corners
make the building to resemble a fortress.
These four corner towers are made of
poured-in-place concrete and support
the core's corten steel structure.

Best,
R

698. Turku. Abo Sampo Building


Dear Tapio,

Looking the simple, serene, and harmonious shapes 
and finishes of the original Sampo building comes 
to my mind Johannes Kepler's thought about nature's 
love for simplicity and unity.

Best regards.
R

697. Lake Point Tower, Chicago Illinois


Dear Sam,

Schipporeit and Heinrich, the architects
of this beautiful building, were former
students of Mies van der Rohe. Their
Chicago building was inspired by Mies'
project for a glass curtain wall skyscraper
in Berlin of 1922.

Best.
R

696. Castle Restaurant, Dudley Zoo



Querido Juan,

El Restaurante del Castillo o de la Reina Mary en el Zoo
de Dudley, es casi siempre citado por su popularidad
social y por su bella relacion axial con el castillo. Por esta
componente relacional y por lo racional de su arquitectura
te dejo el pensamiento de Unamuno de que lo racional no
es sino lo relacional; la razon se limita a relacionar
elementos irracionales.

Un abrazo,
R

695. De La Warr Pavilion and Colonnade Bexhill on Sea


Querido Abuelo,

El Pabellon De La Warr en Bexhill on Sea, fue la primera
obra de arquitectura moderna construida en estructura de
acero en el Reino Unido. Cuando fue terminado en 1935,
debido a su estructura de planteamiento novedoso y a la
sofisticacion de sus detalles constructivos fue reconocido
como un importante logro tecnologico y ejemplo de
referencia para el sector de la construccion del pais.

Un abrazo.
R

694. The Peabody Terrace of Harvard University


Querido Xavier,

"Necesitamos tiendas, luces, vida a ras de suelo; en la
ciudad, queremos sentir todos esos elementos a nuestro
alrededor" (Josep Lluís Sert)

Saludos,
R

693. Torres de Oficinas Trade, Barcelona






Dear Carlos,

"We must be as fully aware as possible of the 
problems peculiar to our time, but also of the 
essential human needs, which have not changed, 
insofar as the human is our principal unit of 
measurement." (Jose Antonio Coderch)

Regards.
R

692. Finnish Pavilion, New York 1938-39


Dear Ben,

"God created paper for the purpose of
drawing architecture on it. Everything
else is at least for me an abuse of paper."
(Alvar Aalto)

Best,
R

691. Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, Hotel Parque



Querida Amparo,

El Hotel Parque era cuando se inauguro un edificio multiusos que constaba de dos plantas bajas para comercios, los bloques extremos para viviendas 
(dos por planta) y el Hotel en el centro. Su autor, 
Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre fue un gran arquitecto racionalista canario que estudio y trabajó
con Secundino Zuazo. Urbanista y arquitecto, es
autor de obras como la Colonia Alvarado, el edificio 
del Cabildo Insular, el edificio Staib o la Casa del 
Marino, todas ellas en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Besos.
R

690. Kaufhaus Selfridges in Birmingham


Dear Laura,

"You have to be an architect 24 hours a day; eight hours
is not enough" (Jan Kaplicky, founder of Future Systems)

Best.
R

689. Rio de Janeiro Av. Atlantica e Praia de Copacabana.


Dear Paulo,

The Copacabana promenade with its Portuguese black and
white cobblestone pavement with wavy pattern makes me
recall my beloved Lisbon, far away, across the Atlantic Ocean.
And from there to Gaudi and his wavy benches at the "Parc
Güell" in Barcelona. And why not ending in the wonderful
Carlos Ferrater's new seafront of Benidorm?

Waving at you.
R

688. Arango House, John Lautner. Acapulco, Mexico


Dear Ariana,

"As far as structure is concerned I think
we should continually experiment and
discover every new material and method
and use it." (John Lautner)

Best.
R

687. Malaysia



Dear James,

The park near the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
was the last work by Brazilian landscape architect Roberto
Burle Marx. He said about this work that all he wanted was
to "leave the world a little more sensitive and a little more
educated to the importance of nature".

Sincerely,
R

686. Case Study House 22 (The Stahl House) 1960. Los Angeles


Dear Jan,

"You constantly have to go back and
remember the important things. I think
this is what I did successfully in this
case so that Los Angeles becomes an
extension of the house and vice-verse.
The house is just part of the city"
(Pierre Koenig)

Cheers.
R