2274. Millenium Park. Chicago

 

Dear Robert,

"If you are skillful about certain things, a certain 

careful reaction will come to you. You get an opposite

and equal reaction, as it were. So the order is in how

you deal with the environment of people around you."

(Frank Gehry)

Respectfully,

R

2133. Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

 

Dear Jan,

"The white stands for the colors our perception of

nature: the white allows me to perceive the ideas of

architecture and the relationship between opacity and

transparency, the difference between flat and linear

elements, and clarifies the ideas between the skin of

the building and its interior." (Richard Meier)

Cheers,

R

1934. Scottish Parliament Building

 

Dear Arthur,

"From our recollections of Scotland we find these 

images (a row of Scottish boats laying on the ground 

upside down) that stick in our minds...The boats 

offered by the land. We like these boats not only in 

their construction, but also in their delicate presence 

in a place. Something about their form floating in the 

landscape should be part of our project"

(Enric Miralles)

With gratitude,

R

1924. Forum Barcelona

 

Dear Carme,

"... a building that is topography" (Herzog & de Meuron)

Sincerely,

R

1803. Hotel Karabakh, Baku, Azerbaijan

Dear Khurshidbanu,

The postcard image depicts a rear view of Hotel 

Karabakh (former Tourist) that was built in 1974 

and demolished in 2004. An impressive brutalist 

building that sadly disappeared.

Regards,
R 

1709. MIT's Ray and María Stata Center

Dear Sarah,

"The Stata's appearance is a metaphor for the freedom, daring, and creativity of the research that's supposed 

to occur inside it." (Robert Campbell)

Regards,
R

1533. The Gherkin Building, London, UK

Dear George,

"It takes a lot of effort to make a building look effortless"
(Norman Foster)

Respectfully,
R

1328. Holyrood Building, Aug 2003. Queensberry House

Estimado Luis,

"Fue algo increible cuando me enteré de que había ganado el concurso. Había puesto una botella de champán durante una semana en la nevera, esperando y rezando que yo fuera el ganador" (E. Miralles)

R

1018. National Museum of the American Indian

Dear uncle Richard,

"We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The 

perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse,

the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky 

crests, the juices of the meadows, the body heat of 

the pony, and man - all belong to the same family." 

(Chief Seattle's words to President Franklin Roosevelt)

Love,
R

821. Antirio

Estimado José Rafael,

Este puente de Charilaos Trikoupis que une Grecia con
su mítica península del Peloponeso es una maravilla
de la ingeniería moderna. De él se han dicho muchas
cosas; entre otras que es el puente atirantado más largo
del mundo, o que está cimentado sobre placas tectónicas
distintas por lo que es fácil deducir que está situado en
una zona de alta actividad sísmica. Sin embargo a mi
lo que más me inspira es su simultanea sencillez y eficacia, es decir su elegancia. Rafael Argullol tiene incluso una manera más hermosa de definir este concepto, cuando dice que la elegancia es el dominio del espacio que compensa de la imposibilidad de dominar el tiempo.

Un saludo afectuoso,
R

773. San Diego

Dear Geoffrey,

"I think architecture is a ride, a physical ride, and I 

mean that literally: a ride like in an amusement park, 

a fascinating journey towards the unexpected"

(Antoine Predock)

Regards,
R

661. The Sage, Gateshead

Dear Elena

The spectacular Sage Gateshead's roof takes borrowed
the arched form of the adjacent Gateshead Millennium
Bridge by architect Wilkinson Eyre.

Best.
R

490. 30 St Mary Axe, London

Dear Mark,

The Swiss Re Building aka "The Gherkin" is London's
first environmentally sustainable skyscraper. The 

building consumes up to fifty percent less energy than 

a comparable high profile office tower. It was aerodynamically designed to reduce wind load on the structure. Since it was opened in 2004 the building has become an overnight icon of London.

Best regards.
R

197. Barcelona. Torre Agbar

Mary kate,

Hoy mientras te esperaba
me he sentado enfrente de
la Torre Agbar. Como hoy
es viernes, cuando ha
oscurecido la Torre se ha
iluminado y ha ido cambiando
de color lentamente. Todo ha
sido como una gran fiesta de
luz que anunciaba tu presencia.
He pensado en los cientos de
colores desplegados en los
fragmentos de azulejos del
Parque Guell al que fuimos
ayer y en los colores del
vestido floreado que llevabas.

TQS
R

104. Le viaduc de Millau

Querido Paquillo,

El viaducto de Millau, en Francia, obra del ingeniero
Michel Virlogeux y del arquitecto Norman Foster es
el viaducto construido para trafico rodado mas elevado
del mundo con sus 343 metros. Dos de sus siete pilones
son los mas altos del mundo en este tipo de estructura
con casi 245 y 221 metros respectivamente.
Solo el Royal Gorge Bridge en Colorado, el mas elevado
del mundo, esta considerado mas alto que este.
Te puedo decir sin embargo que de seguro bastante
menos elegante tambien.

Un abrazo.
R

94. Scottish Parliament

Dear Charles,

"From our recollections of Scotland we find these images
(a row of Scottish boats laying on the ground upside down)
that stick in our minds...The boats offered by the land.
We like these boats not only in their construction, but also
in their delicate presence in a place. Something about their
form floating in the landscape should be part of our project."
(Enric Miralles)

Best regards.
R

84. Experience Music Project. Aerial View

Dear Jan,

Frank Gehry said about this project that he wanted to
evoke the rock'n'roll experience without being too literal
about it.
How can you possibly be literal in that regard?
But in any case I think in this case he was literal about
himself.

Regards.
R

64. Interior, The Seattle Public Library

Jan,

To visit the new OMA's Seattle Central Library has
been an amazing experience for me. The building
indisputable rationality is fantastically combine with
voluptuous and dramatic spatial concepts. The
overwhelming all red corridors (floors, walls and ceilings)
of the meeting room level are able to make you feel as if
you were inside a monster mouth. Every space here is
absolutely magnificent.
It's a shame this building wasn't built in San Francisco...

Cheers.
R

63. Detail, Southeast Facade, Seattle Public Library

Querida Luz,

Juan Luis y yo nos vimos en Seattle.
Fuimos a visitar juntos la nueva biblioteca
de Koolhaas. Aqui hay tantos libros como
buenas ideas de proyecto. Es increible!
Me dijo que el bebe viene pronto.
Suerte y felicidades!
Y por supuesto mucho cariño, para ti,
Manolo y el pequeñin.

R