With watercolors, brushes, ink pens, and paper in hand, Dominique Mathez walked the boulevards of her home town, documenting the architectural details that make the…
View More Parisian FlourishesCategory: Architecture
As a design and architecture journalist for more than two decades, I have seen quite a few built environments in my career so it takes quite a special project to get me excited. When I see something that stands out to me, I enjoy writing about it.
I would say about half of the architecture I’ve written about is modern. In fact, my only architecture book is titled Four Florida Moderns and it is a survey of how modernism founded by the great modernists made its way to Florida. Le Corbusier is one of these greats, of course, and his book Creation is a Patient Search is a wonderful read for anyone who wants to know how a visionary of his stature thought. I find the book in the Bienenstock Furniture Library at High Point and use it as inspiration for a post featuring his tiny cabin—Cabanon in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France—and his thoughts on creativity.
One of the architects in my book, Alberto Alfonso, was an avid believer in Corb’s version of modernism and I was able to witness a powerful piece of architecture he created at Streamsong near Tampa, the building so robust, it inspired a poem from the architecture’s point of view. An Italian modernist that I had the great pleasure of interviewing, Michele De Lucchi, impressed me greatly with his quite wisdom. My diary entry sharing the conversation with my readers is indeed A Conversation of Soul.
When I received the Rizzoli book Grand Bordeaux Châteaux, I was bowled over by the way architects had gracefully added modern additions to the grand neoclassical châteaux in Bordeaux so I knew I had to write about them so I could share the stunning visuals. The only question was whose literature would fit with the idea? When I found out the intrepid Stendhal had visited one of the wineries, I knew his travel writing about touring the area would be perfect (and it was); for proof take the time to read Architecture with Heart in Bordeaux!
French Chateau Style
Catherine Scotto’s journey to discover the owners of French châteaux listed as heritage sites in locales throughout the country can be described as nothing less…
View More French Chateau StylePresidential Residences in France
Anyone who follows me here knows that an addiction to large, gorgeous coffee table books is alive and well, and I have a new favorite…
View More Presidential Residences in FranceThe Hotel de la Marine Restored
In his foreword to The French Royal Wardrobe: The Hotel de la Marine Restored, Philippe Bélaval, the President of the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, illustrates how painstaking…
View More The Hotel de la Marine RestoredAn Invitation to Vaux-le-Vicomte
In 1641, the 26-year old parliamentarian Nicolas Fouquet, who was then the Master of Requests at the Parlement of Paris, acquired the viscounty of Vaux…
View More An Invitation to Vaux-le-VicomteThe Paris of a Pagan
This essay examining the military career of the last pagan emperor while he resided in Paris is included in my most recent book The Modern…
View More The Paris of a PaganA Passion for Paestum
This essay featuring three important perceptions of the archaeological site in Paestum, Italy, is included in my new book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…
View More A Passion for PaestumLibraries Are My Temples
This essay about the legacy of Cardinal Mazarin, which includes several libraries, is included in my book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More Libraries Are My TemplesThe Architecture of Chivalry
This essay about the built legacy of Henry VIII is included in my new book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More The Architecture of ChivalryThe Nature of Noble Loyalty
It’s spring in London and the flowers are bursting forth on Cheyne Walk, which skirts the edge of the River Thames until it gives way…
View More The Nature of Noble Loyalty