Postales Inventadas/ Making up Postcards: 2017

1591. Tampere, Sampola House, Tampere Adult Education Center

Dear Bolivar,

"If one has to choose between building and architecture, I will choose building. The task of a designer is to serve people and not worship architecture. Honesty is a characteristic of people, not of objects." (Timo Penttilä)

Happy new year,
R

1590. Ještěd Tower, Liberec

Querido Walter,

Esta es la torre Ještěd en Liberec de la que tú me hablastes. Aunque sé que la visitaste no sé si sabes que su volumen sigue las directrices de un hiperboloide de revolución para adaptarse mejor al contorno de la montaña en la que está asentada. Seguro que ésta imagen te traerá buenos recuerdos.

Disfruta de tus merecidad vacaciones.
Un abrazo,
R

1589. Grundtvig's Church, Copenhagen

Mamá,

La iglesia de Grundtvig en Copenhague es un

interesante templo compendio de mucho estilos

diferentes. Este templo se inauguró en 1927 y

se terminó en 1940. Una de las cosas más

llamativas es la fachada principal que recuerda

mucho a la forma de un órgano.
Te la envio hoy para desearte una muy feliz

Navidad. Iremos juntos a verla en verano.

Te quiero mucho,
R

1588. Carlton Center. Johannesburg, South Africa

Dear Ted,

Since built in 1972 the Carlton Center has been the tallest office building in all Africa. Its topmost 50th floor is widely known as the "Top of Africa".

Best,
R

1587. The Transamerica Pyramid

Dear Juan,

"William Pereira is one of those modernist who truly shaped postwar California. His buildings did as much as those of any architect to give modern architecture public face and to make it the symbol of the new world taking form in California in the nineteen-forties, fiftties, ans sixties" (Paul Goldberger)

Sincerely,
R

1586. Edificio Bretagna, Sao Paulo

Querido Miguel Angel,

Esta es una postal que muestra una vista aérea del Edificio Bretagna en Sao Paulo, obra del arquitecto y constructor brasileño de padres españoles Artacho Jurado.
Este, junto a otros muchos muchos otros grandes complejos de habitación que Jurado construyó en Sao Paulo, muestra una mezcla de estilos que van del moderno, al decó o al moderno tropical y que se ajustó bien a los sueños y necesidades de la clase media y media-alta brasileña de la época con sus magníficos servicios comunales que incluían piscina en la terraza,
restaurante, bar y otras áreas de recreo para los residentes.

Un abrazo,
R

1585. Suomen Urheiluopisto, Vierumäki.

Dear Alex,

The beautiful Vierumäki Sports Institute very near

to LakeValkjärvi was built in Bauhaus-inspired

functionalism. The vintage postscard shows an

early picture of the front and lateral sides of the

building.

Regards,
R

1584. Nieuw Heerlen

Dear Victor,

The building for City hall of Heerlen was built from

1936 to 1942 by local architect Frits Peutz who also

designed the Glaspaleis or Glass Palace for Schunck.

Regards,
R

1583. Berlin im Wiederaufbau. Lehniner Platz

Abuelo,

El cine Universum en el distrito Wilmersdorf de

Berlín fue la primera sala modernista cinematográfica

del mundo y se construyó más concretamente en estilo

Streamline o Aerodinámico al gusto de la época.

El resto del complejo WOGA que incluía comercios y

viviendas en estilo Racionalista (Nueva Objetividad)

más sencillo y funcional.

Besos,
R

1582. Ioannina, Hotel Xenia

Dear Aris,

"The snail does not build its house, but let it grow out of
its body" (Lichtenberg)

R

1581. Nogales Public Library, Arizona

Dear Marcos,

"Bennie Gonzales’s architecture was often more playful and
his architectural response to our desert climate and ‘place’
more appropriate than that of many of his contemporaries."
(Will Bruder)

Sincerely,
R

1580. Trellick Tower.

Dear Jim,

"The success of any scheme depends on the human factor
- the relationship of people to each other and the frame to their daily life which the building provides."

(Ernő Goldfinger)

Yours faithfully,
R

1579. Epidaurus. General view by air.

Querida Cristina,

En la foto aérea, a la derecha del gran teatro de

Epidauro se aprecia los camerinos para los actores

que el gran humanista y arquitecto Aris

Konstantinidis levantó en éste lugar mágico en 1957.

Besos,
R

1578. Aalto-Musiktheater Essen

Dear Elisa,

"Human life is a combination of tragedy and comedy.

The shapes and design that surrounds us are the music accompanying this tragedy and this comedy"

(Alvar Aalto)

Best,
R

1577. Casa Negre, Spain

Papá,

Ave gratia plena dominus tecum

R

1576. The Round House, Helsinki, Finland

Dear Leena,

The circular shape of the KOP building in Helsinki

was chosen to provide relief from the traffic at this

busy city area.

Regards,
R

1575. Tech Town, Otaniemi, Finland

Dear Erik,

Alvar Aalto won the competition for the Otaniemi campus in 1949. Years later, in 1973 three

triple-tower complexes were carried out by Heikki

Siren and Martti Melakati. The emphasis of the

original design was on social contact with groups

of rooms arranged around a common living cell.

Regards,
R

1574. Cádiz. Vista aerea

Mamá y familia,

Esta postal la compré en la Plaza de las Flores de Cádiz
cuando estuvimos de vacaciones allí. La foto muestra el
sitio donde años después construyeron los apartamentos
donde nos quedamos y al fondo mis admirados pilones de
Cádiz.

Besos,
R

1573. Finlandia Talo

Dear Richard,

"Happiness is a place between too much and too little"
(Finnish proverb)

Regards,
R

1572. Varldsarvet Skogskyrkogarden

Querida Cristina,

"Aquello que desean cantar siempre encuentran una canción"
(Refrán sueco)

Besos,
R

1571. Nueva catedral de Managua, Nicaragua

Querido Walter,

Me ha costado algunos años encontrarla pero al fin he
conseguido una postal de la Catedral Metropolitana de la
Purísima Concepción, aunque como tu me dijistes muchos la conocen como "la chichona". He leido que en la explanada de afuera se pueden congregar hasta 100,000 personas mirando hacia el altar exterior que tiene esta interesante catedral.

Un abrazo hermano, y te veo el lunes.
R

1570. Eames House, Pacific Palisades, California

Dear Richard,

"Design addresses itself to the need"
(Charles Eames)

Best regards,
R

1569. Citroëngebouw, Amsterdam

Dear Jan,

Next to the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium built by Jan Wils, stands this magnificent showroom for Citroën also designed by Wils and still in use.

Best,
R

1568. Sydney Opera House, Early model.

Dear Betty,

This is a large and impressive model of the Sydney

Opera House in the studio of its architect Jørn Utzon,

in Denmark, 1960.

Regards,
R

1567. Arniches y Domínguez. La arquitectura y la vida.

Querida Inés,

Espero que estés bien de salud y la vida te sea amable. Me
mandaron a casa ésta postal y me acordé de tí y de nuestra
estupenda exposición de postales de 2013. Si no estás en
México, disfruta de Madrid, su gente estupenda y sus edificios
hermosos.

Besos,
R

1566. Verona. Museo di Castelvecchio

Papá,

Sé que esta imagen te gustaría: lo antiguo fundido
armónicamente con lo nuevo.
Felíz cumpleaños. Te echamos mucho de menos.

R

1565. Frankfurt A.M. Niederrad-Zickzackhausen

Dear Angela,

"Economic lobbies are the new authorities in urban planning. ... no wonder the architect is dismissive:

I do not build as good as I can, but as bad as

I must." (Ernst May)

Regards,
R

1564. Arthur Heurtley House, 1902

Dear Ingrid,

"In architecture, plasticity is only the modern expression of an ancient thought" (Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House)

Regards,
R

1563. Otter Creek Club House

Dear Louis,

"My father was Episcopalian, my mother Presbyterian, and
I’m an architect" (Harry Weese)

Best wishes,
R

1562. Oulu. The Town Theater and the Library

Dear Jan,

Visiting the high-tech city of Oulu in Northern Finland.
City Hall and Main library are two very modern and
picturesque buildings. Beautiful city with some good
restaurants.

See you soon,
R

1561. Moscow. New Apartment Building

Dear Georgi,

The very large VTsIK residential complex was reserved for officials of the Communist Party when built in 1931. Later during the Stalinist purges many tenants dissapeared and the building began to be known popularly as the "House of Ghosts"

Best regards,
R

1560. Stuttgart, Weissenhofsiedlung

Dear Max,

" The house must fit its occupant like a good suit; it

must clothe him. The main aesthetic principle is this:

the look of the rooms without people in them is

irrelevant; what counts is how people look in them."

(Bruno Taut)

Regards,
R

to make a few experiments and find out what it is

really like to be ill" (Alvar Aalto)

R

1549. Madrid. Puerta del Sol

Dear Elena,

"La marquesina es como un caleisdoscopio urbano,

una suerte de faro que nunca se apaga, como

tampoco cesa la actividad en esta plaza"

(Antonio Fernandez Alba)

Recuerdos,
R

1548. Jean Prouve. Grenoble, France

Dear Jean,

The picture features a view of the architectural model for the hall for the Grenoble Fairgrounds. The girders are supported by columns that Prouve called "taburet" (stools).

Regards,
R