Portofino

The beautiful Italian fishing village of Portofino is one well known I'm sure by many, it has had countless films visit this location, as well as just being so picturesque.

The beautiful marina encloses traditional Mediterranean architecture, as the town has been built around the water front.

 

 My particular favourite aspects of the town is the roofline of the buildings surrounding the marina, the uneven heights, depths and widths of the architecture only adds to the charm of the area.

Vienna, Austria

The Natural History and History of Art museums

Due to an architectural project at university I had the pleasure of visiting the city of Vienna in February. The main focus of my trip was the Ringstraße, this is a ring road that circles the medieval core of the city.

The Parliament Building 

The Ringstraße was built due to the destruction of the original city defence wall. The need was expansion was necessary being the main contributor for the destruction of the wall.

From the destruction of the wall came the construction of many impressive structures around the city centre.

Historic maps of the city planning

The main focus of my trip was looking at the museums located along the Ringstraße. The two museums are located opposite one another, built in a Neo-Renaissance style.

 The History of Art Museum

Inside The Natural History Museum

The State Opera, Known for hosting famous balls

The Looshaus designed by the famous architect Adolf Loos

The beautiful St. Stephens cathedral located in the centre of the city

Archways into the State Opera

Outside the Natural History museum

Nice, France

Nice is found in the South-East of France, along the southern coast. It has recently undergone renovation, and so the city is looking particularly vibrant.

The main square has undergone much improvement, with trams now running through, and the surrounding buildings and paving have all undergone a facelift.

 Down the road is this lovely little street, which has a large flower market running down the centre of the street, the majority of the buildings house restaurants, which give the street a lovely atmosphere.

Nice has much likeness to other Mediterranean cities, like Barcelona, the thin streets lined with local shops and tall storey building, it makes an intricate space, which is pleasant to stroll through.

Even though it was christmas time it was still sunny in town, in the central park that runs down between two of the main roads, there was a christmas funfair, and a small German Market.

Broadway, The Cotwolds

Broadway of the Cotswolds is a small village not far from the town Evesham, the architecture is typical Cotswold. All the buildings are sandstone, known as cotwold stone in the UK, and have timber beams as well. 

There was a gallery in the village that featured this piece outside, a piece I have seen before, by the artist Rick Kirby, known for his figurative pieces.

Brussels

I travelled to Brussels after Amsterdam. The architecture here was quite a contrast to Amsterdam I found. Through Amsterdam there are endless beautiful simple houses all thread around the canals. Brussels showed much grander buildings, this specifically shown in the Grand Place, shown further down this post. 

 These Pictures first two images are of the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, finished in 1847, a beautiful arcade filled with chocolatiers (of course for Belgian Chocolates) and restaurants, as well as other retail shops. The Galerie is split in two, each section spanning longer than 100m, a very impressive piece of architecture.

The building that houses the Brussels Stock Exchange,  finished in 1873.

 The Grand Place, possible one of the most beautiful squares i have ever been too. Every direction you look is an elaborate building. One of the most striking aspects of the Place is the combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles, all clashing together in one square, to make quite an astounding sensation. 

 The majority of the Place is surrounded by these Guildhalls.

 What i enjoy most about the Guildhalls, is the miss-match of the window alinement, I think this is something that really gives each building it's own individuality, rather than viewing the buildings as a whole row. If one was to compare this to British London townhouses, where the building can be seen as a whole as there is nothing to distinguish one another except a front door and porch.

 The Maison du Roi, a classic example of Gothic architecture placed alongside Baroque. Which I believe makes this particular building quite striking.

 The famous town hall of Brussels, opposite the Maison du Roi.

The Cathedral St. Michael and St. Gudula, was constructed between 1226 and 1276. Placed away from the main city centre, this building particularly reminded me of Notre-Dame, even though that was not build until the 1800's, the front facade's show similar features.