January 2018 The Art House Project was a large leap into the lives of the locals of Naoshima Island. There are many articles out about how the local people were not sure about the entire Benesse project, and how through the years they have learned more and more about contemporary art, and have learned to … Read more
January 2018 Benesse – To Live Well The biggest employer on Naoshima is a Mitsubishi metals processing plant, but due to automation, and therefore, downsizing, the population of the island dropped from around 8,000 in the 1950s and 1960s to a little over 3,000 now. The island has been “saved” by art thanks to Benesse Holdings, … Read more
December 2017 Getting around Hokkaido in the winter is not the easiest of tasks, so this trip is limited to Sapporo. There are lots of fun things to keep one busy if you dress warm and have patience. After enjoying the Sapporo TV Tower and the lights in Odori Park, or the Snow Festival if … Read more
December 2017 Otaru is a lovely little town situated on Ishikari Bay of the Sea of Japan. It was an Ainu (native peoples of Hokkaido) settlement, and the name “Otaru” is recognized as being of Ainu origin, possibly meaning “River running through the sandy beach”. Otaru was recognized as a village by the bakufu (The … Read more
The Book Building at 1249 Washington Blvd, Downtown Detroit So much has been written about Detroit’s decline, and yet so little has been written about its renaissance. Yes, the outlying areas have a long way to go, but the new construction and renovations happening in the downtown area are staggering. This post by no means … Read more
October 25, 2016 Athens held the Olympics in 2004, and its stadium, like many after the Olympics, is abandoned and sad. There is much speculation that the Athenians were so wrapped up in the crash of their economy to properly find re-use purposes for the buildings, but there is other discussion that they just didn’t … Read more
October 2016 This is really an adjunct to the post on Safranbolu. The town of Yörük Köyü is just a few miles outside of Safranbolu, but has not been restored. This gives one an excellent chance to see what is underneath the plaster finishes of a completed Ottoman House. This post will just be photographs, if you … Read more
October 6, 2016 In researching about the homes of Safranbolu I came across the Gülevi Safranbolu dissertation on the history, preservation and future of Safranbolu. It is a text worthy of a thesis, and difficult to absorb without having a full understanding of the area. I found it to be a necessary piece of writing, … Read more
125 W. Fullerton Parkway Lincoln Park Chicago, Illinois Chicago’s official motto is “Urbs in Horto,” which translates to “City in a Garden”, much of the garden aspects of this town can be attributed to Alfred Caldwell and his mentor Jens Jensen. Lily Pond is the work of Alfred Caldwell. During the depression, Caldwell worked on … Read more
Parque Cespedes Santiago de Cuba Diego Valazquez was the first governor of Cuba. He was a cruel despot by all accounts, but his home, built in 1515 still stands as the oldest colonial-era house on the island. The home is of the Mudéjar style (or Hispanic-Moorish). This style is characterized by its balconies, carved ceilings … Read more
Santo Tomás and Enramada Streets Santiago de Cuba This small corner park was designed by American architect Walter Betancourt. Betancourt was born in 1932 in New York, son of Cuban parents that had escaped to Florida during the Cuban War for Independence. As a child of Cubans, Betancourt vacationed often in Cuba. After graduating with a … Read more
The city of Tulum is not something to write home about. It, like Cancun and Playa del Carmen developed due to, and for, tourism, it does not, in any way, represent the architecture or spirit of Mexico. However, at the edge of the city sits the great ruins of an ancient civilization, and they are worth … Read more
October 2015 Jim Thorpe was originally called Mauch Chunk (Bear Place in the Lenape Indian Language). It is the seat of Pennsylvania’s, Carbon County, and is called both “Switzerland of America” and “Gateway to the Poconos”. This was the company town of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company. The company developed a gravity-fed rail system … Read more
October 2015 This is now the Radisson Hotel, however, it originally was the Lackawanna Train Station a vital piece in the development of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Scranton began as an iron mill town, these mills began manufacturing iron rails for the trains, which till then, had been imported from England. This manufacturing made the organization of railroads … Read more
October 2015 Let us start with, how do you pronounce Wilkes-Barre? The town was named in honor of British Parliament members, John Wilkes, and Isaac Barre and throughout its history, the city’s name has gone through various spellings, including Wilkesbarre, Wilkesborough, Wilkesburg, Wilkesbarra, Wilkes Barry and Wilkes Berry. The two widely accepted ways to pronounce this hyphenated name … Read more
October 2015 Saint Stephen’s church is a masterpiece in understated elegance and master craftsmanship. It sits on South Franklin Street and is a downtown landmark. The church is built of locally-quarried yellow stone and was the second church that Philadelphia architect Charles M. Burns designed for the site: the first, built in 1885, burned down on Christmas Day … Read more
October 2015 This is the Luzerne County Courthouse, it is an architectural wonder, not to be missed if you are in Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre was once part of Connecticut. At the beginning of its history, the territory belonged to Northampton County, Connecticut. In 1786, after the establishment of Pennsylvania’s claim to the disputed territory, Luzerne County was formed … Read more
October 2015 This is the Memorial Presbyterian Church, at 29 West North Street, built in 1872. It has been abandoned and is searching for a new loving owner. The church was built by Calvin Whitehead, he lost his three children to scarlet fever, and they are memorialized in these stained glass windows “being dead, might … Read more
October 2015 The Hollenback Cemetery Association was formed in 1855 with 15 acres gifted by Colonel George M. Hollenback. Although this is the cemetery for the “upper crust” it resides in a neighborhood that is primarily surrounded with old miners homes. In 1887 John Welles Hollenback gave an additional five acres as a gift … Read more
May 2015 Savannah, Georgia is like other towns in the United States that have a plethora of historic architecture. They have more houses to tour than is humanly possible and more historical groups than can be counted on both hands and all toes. Savannah suffered greatly in the beginning of the second half of the … Read more
May 2015 I am in the south for the Victorian Society Annual meeting. I have never been to this part of the south, and am anxious to explore the architecture and the history. Today was spent in Beaufort, South Carolina, a one hour drive from Savannah, Georgia. I did not even know this town existed until … Read more
It is April 2015 and I have returned to Cuba. This time I am traveling with a Cuban national, one of the approved ways of entering the country. Santiago de Cuba, or Santiago, is the second largest and second most important city of Cuba. However, the hospitality of the “Santiagueros” is second to none! I … Read more
April 2015 I have come to Guantánamo to visit my friends family. This post is really just a walking tour of the downtown. The town of Guantánamo was founded in 1796 to handle the French fleeing the slave revolution of Haiti. Along with being famous for the naval base, the song Guantanamera (girl from Guantánamo) … Read more
Delhi February 2015 It was a long day today, packed with many places, all of which I have seen before. We started at the Indian Gate, and you can see pictures of the gate here. Built in memory to the of the 90,000 Indian soldiers who died during World War I, and those that died in the … Read more
After a buffet breakfast we were bound for Trinidad. Before leaving town we headed to the local Mercado. It was a fairly typical Mercado and yet fun to explore. * Our first stop out of town was a Batey. Batey is a Cuban word for a small community that centers around a sugar plantation and … Read more
November 2014 What do you do in Washington D.C. when you have a day and you have already seen “the famous” National Monuments? Well here is my wild and crazy schedule. Some of it is walkable, some of it was done by cab and some of it was done on mass transit. That part is up … Read more
July 2014 Louisville is an interesting town. Everyone knows it for the Kentucky Derby, and I have always wanted to go, not to see the Derby, but to see the fireworks display on the bridges the night before. I found myself in Louisville for the weekend in the middle of June, and yes I suffered … Read more
Our day started at the Channing Memorial Church. (E. Boyden and Sons 1881). William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century. We were at the church to view the John LaForge stained glass windows. I promised I would tell this story, so here goes. Charles Lewis … Read more
Dublin February 2014 I am traveling with my friend Mari Zatman. We arrived at 9:00 am, which means for a long, long day to keep from falling victim to jet lag. We took a 6 euro ($8.24) bus from the airport to the neighborhood where our hotel is. Fortunately, it was just a few blocks … Read more