How do you renovate a two thousand year city?

"The Italian capital has a logistical nightmare: juggling ambitious restoration projects at the Colosseum and the Porta Maggiore basilica with trying to run and update the city – and all without a mayor?

The €25m (£17.6m) cleanup started two years ago following lengthy delays, as the Italian government dilly-dallied over whether to allow the bill to be paid by billionaire Diego Della Valle – owner of Tod’s, a luxury shoe and handbag business."

Check out the story in the Guardian

Architecture in Japan rocks!

"Jutaku is the simple Japanese word for house, yet, as our author Naomi Pollock points out in the introduction, there’s nothing simplistic about 400 Japanese houses featured in this new book. Jutaku: Japanese Houses is a fast-paced, shock to the system that shines a Harajuku–bright neon light on the sheer volume, variety and novelty of contemporary Japanese residential architecture."


House on the left is called "HOJO"by Australian architectual firm Architecton,
House on the right is called "Tunnel House" by architect , Makiko Tsukada

Read the story on Phaidon

Sky-high swimming pool..... cool!

"In what appears to be a word first, developers in London are planning a swimming pool suspended high between two buildings with a clear shell that enables swimmers to feel like they're in the sky.
The 25-metre-long pool would connect two apartment complexes that are part of the 2,000-home Embassy Gardens development in London's new Nine Elms quarter, reports Dezeen.

It's the work of architecture firm Arup Associates with help from structural design engineers at Eckersley O'Callaghan and also from Reynolds, an aquarium design firm."

The design of the apartment buildings are pretty cool also.

Read the story on CTV News

"Size Matters"

Toronto's CN Tower - 553.33 meters - completed in 1976 - cost $63million - Architect: John Andrews

"Snowcone" by the Ryerson Dept of Architectural Science

Today - Kew Beach - Toronto

"Snowcone is a playful outdoor project that mimics the protective organic form of the pinecone and borrows the simple, effective technology of the native igloo," says Ryerson architects Lily Jeon and Diana Koncan of their installation.

Roman side street

Side street off Via Cavour, Rome - today

Roman high rises

On the street Vicolo De Bovari - Rome - yesterday 

Note: If you're going to Rome

The Trevi Fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi in the 18th Century, is waterless and under renovation. 

Arches of the Palatino

The Palatino is where Romulus and Remus were saved by the wolf. It is also where Rome was founded in 752 B.C. It is the most central of Rome's seven hills.

2000 year old drinking fountain

Piazza Pollardola - Rome, Italy - today

Archway and man

Side street- Sotoportego Vendramin, Venice- today

Lovely Venetian Gothic

The Grand Canal, Venice on a cloudy day

Why can't all Starbucks look like this ?

Having my morning coffee at Starbucks in Paris

I could live here!

Front St. Niagara-on-the-Lake

Ain't the life of a writer grand?

Working on my sixth novel while sipping an Americano in the Art Gallery of Ontario's lovely atrium.

"Send in the clowns.. There ought to be clowns"

Cirque du Soleil - Toronto

First attested in English 14th century, the word circus derives from Latin circus,^[1] which is the romanization of the Greek κίρκος (kirkos), itself a metathesis of the Homeric Greek κρίκος(krikos), meaning "circle" or "ring".^[2] 

In the book De Spectaculis early Christian writer Tertullian claimed that the first circus games were staged by the goddess Circe in honor of her father Helios, the Sun God. This claim accords well with the fact that many Roman games were indeed dedicated to the Sun God.

.... Wikipedia

The Theme Building - Los Angeles International Airport

LAX - as my wife and I arrived today on our honeymoon

"The Theme Building is an iconic landmark structure at the Los Angeles International Airport, which opened in 1961. The Theme Building and it is an example of the Mid-Century modern influenced design school known as "Googie" or "Populuxe"."

The distinctive white building resembles a flying saucer that has landed on its four legs. It was designed by a team of architects and engineers headed by William Pereira and Charles Luckman, that also included Paul Williams and Welton Becket. The initial design of the building was created by James Langenheim, of Pereira & Luckman.

The appearance of the building as a single homogeneous structure is a constructed illusion. The building's two crossed arches actually consist of four steel-reinforced concrete legs that extend approximately 15 feet above the ground, and a hollow, stucco-covered steel truss constituting the remaining lower arches and entire upper arches. To avoid changing the appearance of the structure with overt reinforcement, the Theme Building was retrofitted with a tuned mass damper to counteract earthquake movements."



.... Wikipedia

Toronto City Hall

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell (with Heikki Castrén, Bengt Lundsten, Seppo Valjus) and landscape architect Richard Strong, and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in 1965. The 'modernist' style building costs $31 million to construct.

Inspired architecture!

7 Cobourg St - Stratford, Ontaro

Love this house!

Lovely Heritage facade

BCE Place - downtown Toronto - today


Regrettably, the Cro-magnons tore down the building!