Architectural Styles – Page 21

G for Gehry (Frank) and the Fred and Ginger Building

frizztext hosts a weekly A – Z Challenge

Event Type: General Blogging

Start Date: Tuesdays, recurring weekly

Description: Every Tuesday I offer the “A to Z challenge”, walking step by step through the alphabet.

If you would like to join in then please click here.

Tančící dům (The Dancing House)

This week brings us to Prague where this unusual modern building can be found alongside the River Vltavar. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – because the house resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous.

It was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

I’ll let you decide which one is Ginger 🙂

F for Felbrigg Hall (Fiolbrygga)

frizztext hosts a weekly A – Z Challenge

Event Type: General Blogging

Start Date: Tuesdays, recurring weekly

Description: Every Tuesday I offer the “A to Z challenge”, walking step by step through the alphabet.

If you would like to join in then please click here.

Continuing with my urban theme through this challenge I would like to introduce you to Felbrigg Hall in North Norfolk. It is a delightful National Trust property with a beautiful walled garden where you can spend hours wandering around through the colourful plantings and the productive kitchen garden.

The name ‘Felbrigg’ is a relic of the Danish invasions. ‘Fiolbrygga’ is ancient Scandinavian for a plank bridge.

The Hall is a magnificent example of a country house and has a fine gothic style library and a magnificent collection of Grand Tour paintings.

We were too late to go inside the hall as we spent all our time in the garden, where you will also find an octagonal working dovecote, dating back to the early 1750s.

The 1700 acre estate also provides several way-marked paths for you to enjoy a stroll through the fields and woodland and beside the Felbrigg Lake.

A Lingering Look at Windows: # 6

This weekly challenge is hosted by Dawn from ‘The Day After’ who invites participants to post pictures of any windows that they find curious, inviting, photogenic, or in some way tell a story. Visit her blog to see more windows and/or to join in with the challenge.

I know Dawn loves to visit wineries in her region, so especially for her, here are a few lovely shuttered windows from a delightful winery in the Sonoma Valley, only 40 minutes from San Francisco. Viansa is enchanting and transports you to Tuscany, with its lovely courtyards, statues and fountains and views. Have a glass of wine with lunch overlooking the impressive wetlands.

A Lingering Look at Windows: # 5

Situated towards the top of Corve Street in Ludlow (Shropshire) close to where another of the main gates would have been, is the world-famous timber façade of the Feathers Hotel built during the reign of James I. The ostrich feather motifs can still be seen on the collars of the three street gables, although now weathered over the centuries. It only became an inn in 1670.

D for Decorative Details (on the Taj Mahal)

frizztext hosts a weekly A – Z Challenge

Event Type: General Blogging

Start Date: Tuesdays, recurring weekly

Description: Every Tuesday I offer the “A to Z challenge”, walking step by step through the alphabet.

If you would like to join in then please click here.

On the lower walls of the tomb there are white marble dados that have been sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines.

The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings and the dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric, vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and leveled to the surface of the walls

Given that Islamic Art forbids the use of the human image, the work of Mother Nature is the obvious spotlight. That, and transcripts of The Koran that run around all the doorways, makes the delicacy and the detail of all the decoration of this lovely place a true joy to behold.

In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms (geometric and herringbone patterns) or vegetative motifs.