153. Bremen-Rathaus, Dom und haus der Burgerschaft

Dear Hans,

The "House of Glass" as the Deputies' Assembly Hall
of Bremen is sometimes called, by virtue of its exterior,
is a building designed and built by Wassili Luckhardt in
1959.
The facade reflects the old buildings in the mirror-like
surface of the glass sheathing as a means for converging
and linking the building with the older edifices
surrounding the historic market square.

Best regards.
R

152. Bogota Colombia. Aerofotografia del Centro Internacional

Dear Alvar

One of Rogelio Salmona's key works
is theTorres del Parque housing complex
in Bogota, which has elements in common
with Aalto's towers in Bremen and
Lucerne.
"Good architecture will become ruins.
Bad architecture disappears. I hope the
[Parque] Towers not to be ruins today
but one thousand years from now"
(Rogelio Salmona)

All the best.
R

151. Haus Wittgenstein, Wien

Dear Paul,

"No ideas but in things"
(William Carlos Williams)

Yours
R

150. Mallorca, Palma. Hotel de Mar, Illetas

Dear Tom,

The Coderch's Hotel de Mar in Mallorca was 

positioned so as to open frontally on the sea. The 

bedrooms open onto the terraces by way of a 

partition which is stepped in plan. This way and 

with the in between beautiful vertical wooden 

shutters (for shelter from the sun as well), privacy
and seclusion between the rooms are achieved.

Regards.
R

149. Solvesborg Ungersgatan

Querida Aino,

Hoy ha sido un día magnífico. Mi amigo Erkki me ha
llevado de excursión al campo donde nos hemos quedado
extasiados contemplando uno de los bosques de hayas
mas grandes de Europa.
Luego hemos ido en tren hasta Solvesborg. Al salir de la
estación, hemos caminado en linea recta con la vista puesta en el edificio al final del camino: Los Juzgados del Condado de Lister. Erkki me ha explicado que es obra del famoso arquitecto sueco Erik Gunnar Asplund que lo construyó en 1921. Por supuesto hemos entrado a visitarlo. Solemne y acogedor al mismo tiempo, me ha sorprendido por sus detalles ingenuos llenos de buen humor y delicadeza. Erkki me ha dicho que le gusta imaginar la inmensa forma cilíndrica en la parte
trasera del edificio como el resultado final del impacto de una masa ideal en movimiento que hubiera hecho el mismo recorrido que nosotros desde la estación de trenes. Erkki es buen fines, lleno de imaginación poética.

Un saludo afectuoso.
R

PS.
Como respuesta a tu comentario te diré que la idea de la masa ideal en movimiento que da pie a la formación del cilindro trasero es discutida por algunos estudiosos como algo que es posible que en realidad Asplund imaginara, pero no hay constatación explícita de ello. Por otro lado la Biblioteca de Estocolmo que también posee un gran cilindro interior que responde a otra idea distinta como es la de un universo central del conocimiento, estuvo algunos años sin la cuarta fachada que cierra el cuadrilatero dejando expuesto el cilindro completo al exterior. Tal como en Lister. El 29 de Octubre de 2012
enviaré una postal en este blog con esa imagen para que la veas.

Un saludo y gracias por tu pregunta.
R

148. Ljubljana

Enrique,

Alli, al fondo, la Biblioteca de la Universidad de
Ljubljana, arquitectura semperiana de suelo-muro-techo
de génesis textil.
El arquitecto? el referido por Le Corbusier como
"el famoso dibujante de mano temblorosa": Jože Plečnik

Abrazos.
R

147. Josep Maria Jujol, Torre de la Creu 1913-1916

Querido Juan,

La Torre de la Creu en Sant Joan Despí,
Barcelona es un proyecto de Josep María
Jujol que se terminó de construir en 1916.
Las dos escaleras que posse son elementos
que taladran los volúmenes cilíndricos de
los que esta compuesto el edificio.
Este construcción deslumbrante ha llegado a
ser comparada en su análisis con la Casa de
Melnikov en Moscú por el tema común de
intersección de cilindros.

Abrazos.
R

146. Beograd XVII Zemun rue Roi Pierre

Dear Scott,

The Yugoslavian Air Force Headquarters in Zemun,
built by Dragiša Brašovan in 1935 is one one the most
significant examples of Expressionism in Serbian modern
architecture. Regrettably it was damaged by Nato bombs
in 1999.

Best regards,
R

145. Prague. The Dancing House

Dear Pier,

This well-known building was originally named
Fred and Ginger (after the famous pair of dancers),
though for some people it is difficult to understand this
metaphoric image. Others, however, have nicknamed
it "Drunk House".
That's easier!

Cheers.
R

144. Munich Allianz-Arena

Dear Julia,

In this new football stadium in Munich the different stairs
follow the line of greatest slope of the outer shell
underscoring the procession-like approach of visitors to
the building. Here's a view of the stadium under
construction where you can see the shadows of those
stairs.

Best.
R

143. Vitoria, Iglesia de Ntra. Sra. de los Angeles

Querida Olga,

La solución a un solar triangular muy complicado
fue absolutamente brillante por parte de estos dos
grandes arquitectos. La calidad "flotante" de las
paredes y la cubierta, con su aparentemente
complicada pero en el fondo sencilla solución, es
admirable.

Besos
R

142. Malmo Stadsteatern

Dear Aino,

Sigurd Lewerentz and his colleagues Erik Lallerstedt
and David Helldén built in 1944 what is considered
to be of one of the masterpieces of Swedish
Functionalist architecture: The Malmo Opera House.

All the best.
R

141. City Hall Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dear Silke,

One of the most distinctive landmarks of Toronto,
The new City Hall was designed by Finnish architect
Viljo Revell along with his collaborators and finished
in 1965. The overall arrangement is somewhat like
two hands cradling the council chamber which stands
between the two towers.

Best Regards.
R

140. Copenhagen. Gammeltorv and our Lady's Church

Dear Pier,

Designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1938,
the "Stelling Hus" is located in the
northern side of the old Gammeltorv
square. The building situated in an
old part of the town was, at the time,
criticized for its irreverent modernism.
Today, however, it is possible to
appreciate how well the building
measures up to the scale of the old
built neighbors, and how much even
its building material is in keeping with
the congenial atmosphere of the
district.

Regards.
R

139. Mercado de Santa Caterina, Barcelona

Domenec,

"The city appears at once brutal and romantic.
Stuffy and cramped yet filled with memories.
The market had to be remodeled in order to bring
back to live its neighborhood. Conducting the traffic
flow from Via Layetana towards the interior of this
area was also essential. Nevertheless, the work was
almost uniquely about designing a roof that would
be able to do all that." (B.Tagliabue)

Best.
R

138. Amsterdam, Reguliersbreestraat

Dear Felix,

The Amsterdam Cineac movie theatre was located
directly opposite the famed Tuschinski Theatre on
the narrow Reguliersbreestraat. It symbolized modern
rationality versus old-fashioned romanticism.
It opened on 18th October 1934 and the architect
Jan Duiker managed to create on an awkward
site an ingenious auditorium in which the
projection room was tucked away, under the balcony.
To open up the mystique of the operation of the
cinema, the operations within the projection room
(located over the front entrance) could be seen from
the street as it had glass walls on two sides.

All the best.
R

137. Uruguay-Balneario Atlantida, Planeta Palace Hotel

Querido Juan,

Este maravilloso edificio, el Planeta Palace Hotel, fue
construido por el empresario italiano afincado en
Buenos Aires, Natalio Michelizzi en 1939. La forma de
barco responde al nombre mítico de Atlántida y al maravilloso paisaje de playas y naturaleza que le rodean.
Se que esto es pura especulación pero desde el principio
me sorprendió su parecido con el famoso Isokon Building
en Hampstead (Londres) diseñado por Wells Coates en
1934 como ejemplo de vivienda colectiva experimental y
muy elogiado incluso por Le Corbusier.

Abrazos.
R

136. Sevilla. Puente del Alamillo

Gracias Rafa, por venir a Sevilla conmigo.
Por cruzar el charco a mi lado coloreando tus libros
de hombre araña, viendo Wall-E conmigo, y
preguntandome si "ya hemos llegao" cada 5 minutos.
Todo, lleno de alegria e inocencia, haciendome ver
las cosas que conocia de toda mi vida de otra manera,
con tus maravillosos ojos de niño curioso.
Aqui te mando un puente que es tambien un caballo
gigante.

Te quiero mucho.
Papa

135. Nordens Hus

Dear Stefano,

This building is a small Congress Hall built by
all the Nordic Countries in Reykjavik. It was finished
in 1968 and designed by Alvar Aalto, naturally!

Regards
R

134. Stockholm. Katarinahissen

Dear Sean,

This lift was built in 1935 as part of another building,
the Kooperativa Forbundet or simply KF, and
together they form a classic example of early Swedish
Functionalism or colloquially in Sweden and Norway
"Funkis". In a glass gangway at the top of the lift there
is a restaurant which offers guests a wonderful view of
the city along with their meals.

Best.
R

133. London Millennium Dome

Dear Anna,

This tensile structure is the largest of its type in the
world. The canopy is made of a durable and
weather-resistant plastic, and is 50 m high in the middle.
During the political controversy surrounding the dome
back in the 90's, Wonderbra ran an advertising campaign
with the slogan 'Not all domes lack public support'.

Cheers.
R

132. Valparaiso (Chile), Correo Central

Querida Luz,

El edificio del Correo Central en la Plaza Sotomayor
de Valparaiso se terminó en 1936 y está considerado
una obra maestra de la arquitectura moderna no solo en
Chile sino en todo el continente.
Por la elegante solución curva y continua de la fachada
me recuerda mucho al Establecimiento Schocken en
Chemnitz (Alemania) acabado solo seis años antes,
obra muy conocida de Erich Mendelsohn.

Besos.
R

131. La Bastilla , Medellín, Colombia

Querido Paquillo,

El edificio La Bastilla en Medellín (Colombia) es una obra acabada en 1944 que manifiesta una fuerte influencia
expresionista, especialmente inspirada en la obra de
Mendelsohn. La forma de marcar las esquinas con volúmenes curvos conformados por una serie de balcones es de indudable belleza y pone de relieve tal inspiración.

Un abrazo.
R

130. Helsinki. The Market Place

Dear Peter L.,

Enso-Gutzeit Headquarters is one of Aalto's most
controversial building and a stark contrast to the
adjacent Uspensky Cathedral. The main facade
material of the building is white Carrara marble
divided up into squares. Aalto said of the Enso-Gutzeit
building that it "opens up seaward, in a manner
assuming the same role in the townscape as the Riva
degli Schiavoni in Venice" (Venice's principal waterfront)

Best regards.
R

129. Rectoria de la C.U. Mexico, D.F.

Cristina,

El edificio de la izquierda es el Pabellon diseñado por
Felix Candela en la Ciudad Universitaria de Mejico
en 1952. La sobriedad decorativa de este, contrasta
con el despliegue de colores y formas del mural de la
Rectoria, al fondo, obra de Mario Pani.

Besos.
R

128. Hamburg Chile-Haus

Dear Jan,

Here's a building I'm sure you will be very familiar with:
The Chile-Haus. A ten-story office building that was
designed by the architect Fritz Höger and built between
1922 and 1924. It is considered to be a masterpiece of
German clinker expressionism. The typical dark-red to
violet fired "clinker" bricks that are characteristic of brick
expressionist style, and connected to the reinforced
concrete core as the load bearing structure.

Warm regards.
R

127. Terminal 4. Aeropuerto de Barajas, Madrid

Hola mami,

Rafa y yo hemos llegado a Madrid y todo ha ido bien.
En unas pocas horas estamos en Sevilla. Ya os
echamos de menos a ti y a Luisito.

Mil besos de Rafa y mios.
R

126. Vila de Conde, Edificio de Alvaro Siza Vieira

Dear Joel,

Alvaro Siza's Banco Borges & Irmao in Vila do Conde
(Portugal) is notable for its vertical identity and its dramatic rotational character, with all the interior floors visually related as in Le Corbusier's Carthage villa.

Hope you are doing well.
R

125. The New Hong Kong Bank Building

Dear Carme,

The current HSBC building was designed
by Norman Foster and engineers of Arup.
The main characteristic of this building is
its absence of internal supporting structure
and that natural sunlight is the major source
of lighting inside the building. It is one of
the most expensive buildings in the world,
costing nearly US $1 billion.

Regards.
R

124. Ricola-Europa SA Production and Storage building, Mulhouse-Brunnstatt, France

Dear Eliel,

The translucent printed panels on this storage building,
recall textiles, like the inner padding of a box. Besides
the building form recalls a cardboard box with open flaps.
When daylight diminishes the printing is barely visible
from outside and the opposite when it is dark outside.

Regards.
R

123. Caracas Monumental. Liceo Fermin Toro

Querido Juan,

Cipriano Dominguez, arquitecto venezolano de este
fantastico edificio caraqueño dijo una vez:
"El movimiento, el desarrollo, la alegría del vivir,
el mecanismo mismo de la vida son mi pasión...
Hago los planos de una ciudad contemporánea"
Para mi esta frase es la sintesis perfecta del espiritu
nuevo de la arquitectura moderna.

Besos.
R

122. Capri. Punta Massullo

Dear Juan,

"Too much sky, and too much sea for one man alone;
and alas, not enough earth! Yet I already feel that I
love this poor island, as a sailor loves his drifting ship,
dismantled by the storm. Perhaps I also am but a
shipwrecked sailor, clinging to an overturned keel, a
piece of driftwood, a shelf of rock. From the castle
terrace, I survey the sea...I look over the sea and I
feel that I am contemplating from the height of a tower
the piazza of a provincial town, an admirable scene for
the comedy of which Ulysses is the hero."
(Curzio Malaparte)
Juan, "Seek and ye shall find", but loved your improvised
card anyway. Thanks a lot.

Love and warmth.
R

121. Het Nationale Park, De Hoge Veluwe, Jachtslot St. Hubertus

Dear Oscar,

The Hendrik Petrus Berlage's St. Hubertus casino in
Otterlo was designed based on this socialist principle:
Opennes and frankness in the structure equals open
expression to the urban public of the building's
community functions.

Regards.
R

120. Bergen, De Drie Landhizen, Park Meerwijk

Dear Francesco,

This trio of adjacent houses under one roof designed
by J.F. Staal has biblical names: Zophar, Eliphaz and
Bildad

Best regards.
R

119. Bergen, Huize de Beukenhoek, Park Meerwijk

Dear Maristella,

The villa Beukenhoekk designed by M. Kropholler
in 1916/18 has the silhouette of a ship. Furthermore
the visitor to the house crosses a bridge to reach the
entrance. The front yard projected forward as a sea
of a grass. The metaphor of shipping, as appealing in
the Amsterdam School architecture inspired much
later on the house Figueiredo in Gondomar designed
by Alvaro Siza in 1984.

Regards.
R

118. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek

Dear Jan,

Here's the Staatsbibliothek with its famous stockroom 

also known as "the spine of the book". Jacques Herzog 

said he used to love Scharoun's work. He found it 

ugly, strange, very real and unreal at the same time. 

He loved the aluminum gold clad so they intended 

to clad in gold the skylights of the Photo Studio Frei 

but it was too expensive and problematic.

All the best.
R

117. Dominus Winery, Yountville, California

Dear Alvaro,

Talking about the gabions placed in front of the facade
of the Dominus Winery, Jacques Herzog said:
"You could describe or use of the gabions as a kind of
stone wickerwork with varying degrees of transparency,
more like skin than like traditional masonry"

Regards.
R

116. Praha, XII, Namesti Krale Jiriho

Dear Norman,

The Church of the Sacred Heart in Vinohrady (Prague)
is a project of Jože Plečnik finished in 1932. The clear
glass rose windows on either side of the wide bell tower
contrast with the general heaviness of the building.
Indeed the emphasis of this church is put on the exterior
although the interior is a very unique space which
nevertheless has a recognizable religious aura.

Regards.
R

115. Avenue de l'Europe, le Pavillon Philips, Bruxelles 1958

Dear Joseph,

The architecture of Le Corbusier and the soundtrack of
the "Electronic Poem" by Edgar Varese composed and
played for the occasion, join forces to create an ephemeral
total work of art in the Philips Pavilion of 1958.

Regards.
R

114. Berlin Panorama vom Funktrum mit Haus des Rundfunks

Dear Rem,

The Haus des Rundfunks is the oldest self contained
broadcasting house in the world. It was designed by
Hans Poelzig in 1929. The building contains three large
broadcasting rooms located in the center, shielded from
street noise by the surrounding office wings.

Best regards.
R

113. Auditorio de Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Mama,

Gracias por enviarme esta postal tan
bonita del Auditorio de Santa Cruz
de Tenerife.

Muchos muchos besos.
R

112. Neue Nationalgalerie

Dear Jean,

Mies was fully aware of the great difficulties for the
exhibiting of art caused by the huge dimensions of
the hall. He said: "But it has such potential that I
simply cannot take those difficulties into account"
This picture that is a sort of beautiful partial cross
section shows the hall and the interior of the podium
underneath.

Regards.
R