Architecture · Geography · Maps · Madrid

Arab and Christian medieval cities in Spain and the Muslim origins of Madrid

The Arab (Moorish) and the Christian medieval city in Spain. An interesting piece of graphic work: the two cities are at once very alike and rather different. The Arab city strongly resembles Madrid/Majrit, whose plan is shown in the second image, and the reason is plain: Madrid is the

Drone lights outline a spire and roof above the ruins of a Gothic building under a dark cloudy sky.

Architecture · Art · Observations

The author is sceptical of drones but respects a light display over Gothic ruins

Light installations by the Dutch creative duo Drift that complete ruined or unfinished historic buildings. I am sceptical of the general infatuation with drones, unless they are used to put out fires. To my mind it is an amusement for people who were in raptures over selfie sticks, only slightly

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations

The hall at GES-2 really is very beautiful, even if the iron doors clang rather too loudly

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Heritage

The ruins of the Kreuzburg church in the present-day village of Slavskoye, Kaliningrad Region

The ruins of the Kreuzburg church in the present-day village of Slavskoye, Kaliningrad Region. The ancestors of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien came from Kreuzburg

NB! · Architecture · Observations

Instead of ugly glass skyscrapers, they might try building something like this

Architecture · Faith · Cinema · Moscow

Zhenya Lukashin's house and the Church of the Archangel Michael in Troparyovo, southwest Moscow

Where on Tretya Ulitsa Stroiteley in "The Irony of Fate" is the church, apparently of the eighteenth century? Let us take this in order. Tretya Ulitsa Stroiteley (Third Builders' Street), where Zhenya Lukashin lives, is today called ulitsa Marii Ulyanovoy, lying between Leninsky Prospekt and Prospekt Vernadskogo,

Floor mosaic detail showing a crowned Alexander holding skewers in raised hands between two griffins, with an inscription beside him.

NB! · Architecture · Art · Observations · Humour

Norman mosaic of Alexander the Great and griffins in Otranto, Italy

Mood on this birthday: Alexander the Great holds skewers of meat above his head to make two griffins carry him up into the sky. Norman floor mosaic in the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata, 11th century, Otranto, Italy

NB! · Architecture · Cinema · Pop Culture

The Crystal Temple from the Yule Ball scene in the 2005 film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · Art · Cinema

Jean Cocteau and Charlie Chaplin at the opening of the Chapelle Saint-Pierre in Villefranche-sur-Mer, restored by Cocteau

Jean Cocteau and Charlie Chaplin at the opening of the Chapelle Saint-Pierre in Villefranche-sur-Mer, restored by Cocteau. July 1957

Architecture · Museums · Observations

Concrete replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, built for an exhibition and now a museum

In Nashville, Tennessee, there stands an exact full-size replica of the Athenian Parthenon, built in the city park between 1897 and 1931. An exact copy, with the proviso that no ancient calculations, technologies or materials were used in its construction. Naturally, the Nashville Parthenon is made not of flawless

Architecture · Observations · Nature · Humour

In Salisbury a youth organisation built an insect house shaped like the cathedral

Salisbury has another outstanding sight besides its spire: an insect house in the shape of Salisbury Cathedral. The beetle hotel is a very important ecological initiative by a local youth organisation. Thanks to such structures, thousands of insects gain a safe place where they can lay their eggs and pass

Architecture · Books · Heritage

Duke Wilhelm of Urach built Lichtenstein Castle inspired by Hauff's novel

Lichtenstein Castle in winter is a chivalric ballad made real. This is precisely what literature looks like when it has been frozen in stone. Duke Wilhelm of Urach, owner of the lands in the municipality of Lichtenstein in Baden-Württemberg, was so impressed by Wilhelm Hauff's historical novel