architecture – Page 7

U for Ursuline Monastery

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

The Ursuline Monastery in Solvenia’s young capital, Ljubljana and the Holy Trinity Parish Church was commissioned by Jakob Schell von Schellenburg, a wealthy local merchant and financier, and his wife Ana Katarina. During the construction of the Trg republike square, the Monastery underwent a thorough reconstruction and its garden was completely destroyed.

Its undulating façade enhanced by semi-columns and a characteristic gable inspired by the famous Roman architect Francesco Borromini make it one of Ljubljana’s most beautiful and extraordinary example of Baroque architecture.

In front is the Holy Trinity Column erected in 1693 as a thanks offering for the city having been spared from the plague.

and given the number of windows in this beautiful building I am linking this to Dawn’s Lingering Windows Challenge.

T for Týn Church / Týnský chrám

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

Back in Prague (the city of 101 spires apparently) this week for one of the most recognisable buildings in the Old Town, a Gothic church called ‘The Church of Our Lady in front of Týn‘

The current church is a late Gothic style and construction began in the 14th century. The roof, the 80m high church towers and the smaller spires were completed in the 15th century. It dominates one side of the Old Town Square. (Wikipedia)

The front is decorated with a golden image of the Virgin Mary, made in the 1620s from the melted down Hussite chalice that previously adorned the church. This was during the tumultuous period when Roman Catholics were slaughtering the Hussites who had controlled the church for two centuries.

And take a close look at the two spires on the church. They are not symmetrical. They represent the masculine and feminine sides of the world. This is characteristic of Gothic architecture of the period.

The church is difficult to picture in its entirety as it is hidden behind the four-storey Týn School, and although impressively Gothic on the outside it is heavily Baroque on the inside. It is open to the public, though closed on Mondays, and often used for mass, so check before you visit.

Entrance to the church can be difficult to find as you have to negotiate through the narrow lanes behind the square. This amazing portal dates from 1390 and depicts scenes of Christ’s Passion.

Legend has it that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty Castle on this church. What do you think?

A Lingering Look at Windows: In the Garden

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.

Whilst visiting Stockton Bury Gardens in Herefordshire recently I also couldn’t help noticing some windows. The Tithe Barn obviously didn’t have windows, but does have huge doors. Now that it is used as a café new bi-fold windows have been added so that they can be open during good weather.

There is a window in the stable block, occupied by a pair of white doves it seems.

But difficult to spot them from the outside in May.

Budding wisteria in April

turns to dripping wisteria in May, and yes there is a window there if you look hard enough.

and a cute little window in the ladies loo.

A Lingering Look at Windows: In London

Office Building near Tower Hill

windows-2 — Reflection of St Dunstan’s church tower

More Modern Glass (and a black cab)

Reflections in the city

and finally The Shard – lots of windows in that building!

A Lingering Look at Windows: Week 16

Union Station in San Diego, California, much more commonly known as the Santa Fe Depot, is a train station built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace the small Victorian-style structure erected in 1887 for the California Southern Railroad Company. The massive arch of the front entrance is flanked by twin campaniles, each topped by a colourful tile-covered dome and displaying Santa Fe’s blue “cross” emblem on all four sides.

It’s quite difficult to get a good shot of the exterior of this building due to the numerous palm trees surrounding it, except from above.

The Spanish Colonial Revival style station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its architecture, particularly the signature twin domes, is often echoed in the design of modern buildings in Downtown San Diego. The magnificent complex was designed by San Francisco architects Bakewell and Brown as a “monumental reminder” of California’s Spanish heritage.

The grand interior space of the depot features natural redwood beam ceilings, highlighted by walls covered with a brightly coloured ceramic tile wainscot. Not forgetting the beautifully curved windows.

The glazed faience tile used in the wainscot was manufactured by the California China Products Company of nearby National City. Elaborate Hispano-Moorish designs are executed in green, yellow, blue, white, and black and the bottom and top edges are finished with a frieze of stylised ziggurats

The structure draws much more heavily from the architecturally distinctive Spanish, Moorish, and Mexican lines exhibited by the Mission San Luís Rey de Francia (located in the town of Oceanside in north San Diego County) than it does from the nearby Mission San Diego de Alcalá, some nine miles (14 km) away.

The historic depot is located in Centre City (Downtown San Diego) and is still an active transportation center, providing services to Amtrak, the San Diego Coaster, the San Diego Trolley, and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus system.

And though the station is beautifully designed both inside and out, the warning on the door windows is somewhat frightening.

Source: Wikipedia