Architecture · Museums · Science · New York · Society
A cunning bacterium has been found in the cooling tower of the Guggenheim Museum, infecting people through clouds of vapour. The bacterium is called Legionella, and its history belongs to the twentieth century. It was isolated after 1976, when participants in a convention of the American Legion fell ill at
Architecture · Art · Moscow · Observations · Heritage
A couple of days ago I posted a reel about the sad, dilapidated state of the wonderful openwork cast-iron Demidov fence in front of the Pedagogical Library in Bolshoy Tolmachyovsky Lane, and literally today word came that restoration work has begun on the spot. I do not yet know
NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations
I enjoy watching the construction of the pedestrian bridge along Bolotnaya Embankment. It will probably be open in time for City Day
Architecture · Art · London · Monarchies
A model of the memorial to Elizabeth II in St James's Park. The three-metre bronze figure will be based on a portrait of the Queen in her youth. In the background one can see a small sculpture of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The memorial complex
Architecture · Books · Moscow · Observations · Heritage
The restoration of the Melnikov-Yemelyanova-Toplenin house on Mansurovsky Lane has been completed. This wooden residence on a nineteenth-century stone plinth is commonly called "the Master's house": rumour assigns the Master of The Master and Margarita a little basement flat in this very building.
Architecture · Heritage · Paris
Preparations for the restoration of the Paris Opéra Garnier, opened in 1875, have uncovered toxic lead in the structure of the stage, so works planned to take two years will stretch to at least five. As yet no decision has been made on the method by which the lead is
NB! · Architecture · Art · Museums
Archaeology · Architecture · Books · Rome
Pliny the Elder writes that Caesar the Dictator stretched awnings over the whole Roman Forum and over the Sacred Way, from his own house up to the Capitol, and that the spectacle was judged more wondrous than the gladiatorial combats themselves. Fabric awnings against the sun, vela in Latin, were
Architecture · Cinema · Observations · Heritage · Paris
Perhaps some will recall one of the most beautiful interiors in Paris from Kieślowski's "Three Colours: Blue" with Juliette Binoche, and from "Amélie". This canary yellow belongs to the Piscine de la Butte-aux-Cailles... or rather, to the Pontoise swimming pool. The landmark
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Society
To the cautiously floated question "what is so important about the Electrozavod?", one might reply, so as to avoid explaining oneself to the valued fools, with a question of one's own: "is the city really in such need of new square metres of offices and
Architecture · Geography · Heritage
The Acropolis Restoration Service has announced that it has completed the western pediment of the Parthenon. The external scaffolding has been removed from the western façade for good, for the first time in several decades. The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, says that the façade now stands in its full
Archive · Architecture · Moscow · Heritage
The Dovecote Dacha, or simply the dacha behind the Donskoy Monastery, is one of the unusual and enigmatic buildings of old Moscow. A great deal is known about it, but just as much has been invented, as so often happens, by city tour guides and mere lovers of historical sensations.