Public Space Architecture

Human scale of Sydney Opera House

The first time I saw Sydney Opera House was in 2000 during my first visit to Sydney and the obligatory walk down to the rocks. I still remember my first reaction at the time – ‘it’s not as a big as I imagined…’ but no less awe inspiring’. Many times had I seen the imagesContinue reading “Human scale of Sydney Opera House”

Road to Capella di Vitaleta

Unexpected yet direly needed relief from punishing summer heat, cool northern breeze moves in on a cloudless day. Val D’Orcia in mid-summer is an utterly beautiful expanse of golden wheat fields where harvest just completed and hay rolled up neatly doting the valley. Drive up north from Bagno Vignoni and veer off right just southContinue reading “Road to Capella di Vitaleta”

Nezu Museum and garden in Minami Aoyama

Nezu Museum sits on 20,000 sq.m. of sprawling site in Minami Aoyama and is home to Nezu Kaichiro’s collection of premodern Japanese and East Asian art. Nezu Kaichiro known as Railway King whose career included being president of the Tōbu Railway started his collection with tea ceremony artifacts and expanded into paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquerwareContinue reading “Nezu Museum and garden in Minami Aoyama”

Berlin Tegel Airport

First thing that struck me when I entered Terminal A at Tegel was ‘why did taxi drop me off on arrival floor and where’s the escalator to departure and check in hall’? It then occurred to me that I’m at Berlin Tegel, apex of two things the world needs more of: mid-century modernist design andContinue reading “Berlin Tegel Airport”

MuCEM (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée)

MuCEM, together with the renovation of the waterfront, was supposed to be the centerpiece of Marseille’s reboot into the new century when it was named European Capital of Culture for 2013. The historically gritty port’s moment in the sun to look up … a transformation of sorts. The museum is built on reclaimed land atContinue reading “MuCEM (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée)”

One Hundred Views of Edo by Hiroshige at Suntory Museum of Art

At the time of writing, Suntory Museum of Art in Midtown, Roppongi is exhibiting Utagawa Hiroshige’s One Hundred Views of Edo and Famous Views of Sixty-odd Provinces (collection of Japanese businessman Hara Yasusaburo). These two series, almost all in superb condition, are being exhibited in their entirety which must be a rare occurrence. First brieflyContinue reading “One Hundred Views of Edo by Hiroshige at Suntory Museum of Art”