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Since first reading about Moshe Safdie's Habitat 67 I was excited about it. All of those rectangles stacked on top of eachother interspersed with greenery; it fascinated me. Going there with you, Tirza, Nadav and Ayala was such a dream! I loved exploring the geometry of its shapes and shadows, and seeing how it at once allowed for individual and collective space. I might be wrong, but I think you were likewise intrigued by our visit there, and it was a delight for me to experience it with you.

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I love this place and I spent years dreaming of going here until Yael, Ido, Nadav and I finally did in our visit to them. Have you been? It was all constructed by one man -- an immigrant. If I remember correctly, he conceived of it as a ship pointing in the direction of his home in Italy. He built the towers in his backyard -- every day combing the beach for glass for the mosaics which he'd use to cover the towers and its walls. It's what art historians would deem, an iconic example of outsider art. I think it's magical and inspiring. If he could create this in his lifetime, what kind of magic might I create in mine?

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Nadav has introduced me to many wonderful things in our time together -- new flavors, special places, and amazing artists. It was Nadav who introduced me to James Turrell, and now he's not only a favorite artist of Nadav's but also of mine. I'm totally mesmerized by how his architecture frames and shapes light. Have you heard about his lifetime of work in the desert of Arizona, Roden Crater? He's been carving out this crater into an architectural and artistic marvel for years and years and it's about to finally open to the public. I can't wait.

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Surely you're familiar with this as it's in your own backyard. This was my first introduction to James Turrell and will always be a source of inspiration to me. Framing the sky as he does, turns it into something else entirely.

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Designed by lesser known architect Andrew Rebori, I love the artful brick curves found throughout the courtyard and within the apartments. But what's really special about the place is the decorative work -- stained glass, mosaic, ironwork -- of artist Edgar Miller found inside and out of this building and others close by (his work shines even more elsewhere in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood).

I wrote about this particular building once. You can see my writing here.

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I'm guessing (apologies if I'm wrong), that despite your proximity to this place in Jerusalem, you're totally unfamiliar with it. I stumbled upon it online once and asked Yael to take me and Nadav there. It took us a lot of time searching for it, and we nearly gave up -- but we did eventually find it. I recommend that you go in search of it yourself -- not because I think it's  beautiful or even functional, I don't --  but because it's so bizarre. An architectural honeycomb. While I'd hate living here, exploring this arguably failed experiment in neo-futurism (is that what you'd call it?) was very fun.

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I stumbled upon Atlantic Mills soon after moving to Providence, and it immediately made me feel at home. I wrote a love note for the building, and I'd like to share it with you.

Dear Atlantic Mills:

When I first moved here as a big city girl, I wasn’t so sure about little old Rhode Island. But then one day I turned onto Manton Ave and found myself beneath your shadow, Atlantic Mills, and I fell in love. Gazing up at your towers I thought that perhaps I could find a future in this place after all.

I so admire your strong bones and unbeatable attitude. Hurricanes have taken bites out of you, and floods from the Woonasquatucket River have tried to wash you away. Birds find comfort inside the gaping holes in your roof, and rain and snow leave the insides of your towers wet and cold. Yet, you’re a survivor. You remind me of an old and badly beaten wrestler, still standing despite everything. And I’m so glad for it because you’re beautiful.

I love the care that was taken in laying your bricks so carefully to form the cylindrical curves of your towers, the interiors of which are rich with texture and history (even if that history isn’t all so pretty). You, your towers, and long cavernous hallways have such a story to tell, and you’re still writing it. Keep fighting Atlantic Mills. I love you.

Yours Truly,
Caroline

For more love notes to Rhode Island places, see the project I initiated through Doors Open RI: Rhody Love Notes.

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It's not that I love or even really like the buildings in Bourbon County. I just found myself so mesmerized by how the architecture was such a clear expression of its function. All across Bourbon County, KY you can find these buildings where bourbon is made. As the liquid evaporates the condensation from within the structure seeps out rusting the exterior. Nadav and I loved our visit here. You know I love wine, but did you know I also love bourbon? :-).

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United Terminal O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL

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United Terminal O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL

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It's one of the few examples of Post Modernist architecture that I actually enjoy. What's not to like? It sings and dances for you as it pulls you through the corridor. Thanks Helmut Jahn.

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Chicago was my introduction to architecture, and what is Chicago architecture without Mies van der Rohe? I've always thought this video was a fun and funny introduction to the man and his art.

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Mies van der Rohe designed this house. I love how the outside becomes the inside and vice versa.

I took this picture -- it's one that I'm proud of.

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Even more than loving the Chrysler Tower, I love this story about its race to the top of New York's skyline.

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How amazing is it that you have such an architectural masterpiece just minutes from your home? I was introduced to Dani Karavan's work in my first visit to Israel and fell in love immediately. I can't wait to take Ayala to experience his sculpture as I recall some of them had amazing sonic elements and produced great echoes. And small spaces such as the one pictured, looks as though it was made for a person just her size.

Dani Karavan died today (5/29/21) -- something I found out coincidentally in my writing this.

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Alexander Calder, anywhere and everywhere

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Alexander Calder, anywhere and everywhere

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Alexander Calder isn't an architect. But I can't think of a work of architecture that wouldn't be improved by one of his mobiles or stabiles or other works of art. He is the artist I have loved the longest so I wanted to include him here. And like most artists I find myself drawn to, I think his works have a strong architectural quality to them.

This is really random, and not at all related to architecture, but are you familiar with Calder's circus? If not, I encourage you to watch this short video of Calder with his circus. It's wonderful. I've recently become fascinated by the magic of toys, and nothing surpasses the magic of this circus -- especially with Calder as the ringmaster.

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I've always loved the work of Louis Sullivan. He was first the mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright and then his rival. But that's not what's important. What's important about Sullivan is how he manages to spin magic out of his illustrative ornamentation. At the height of his career he had major commissions in Chicago -- my favorite being the Carson Pirie Scott Building, but he hit hard times later on and tried to get by on these small commissions for banks in small cities across the midwest. They've become known as his "jewel boxes". One of my dreams is to take a road trip to find them all. The one pictured below is in Grinnell, IA.

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The curves! The colors! Oh how this building makes my heart melt!

Designed by Eero Saarinen, it was closed for many years and only very recently reopened as an unparalleled hotel lobby. I was lucky to see it during an Open House New York event when it was still closed to the public, with all of it's original TWA signage and detailing preserved. So cool.

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This place really is as transcendental as it looks. It was one of Louis Kahn's greatest masterpieces. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to visit. I went here with a beautiful friend who very soon after died unexpectedly, making my experience here all the more meaningful.

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Isn't it fabulous? An art deco masterpiece in the middle of Cincinnati, OH. My heart skipped a beat when I found myself in here having not known what to expect.

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I'm sure you've been here -- maybe more than once. But I'd wager you haven't been INSIDE the Treasury Building -- or at least most people who visit aren't invited past the barricades in front. But we were. Nadav and I decided that we wanted to watch the sun set from within the park and see the treasury building in the moonlight. Everyone left and no one was paying any attention to us or forcing us to leave. So we stayed. We had the entire park to ourselves and it felt a little scary, but mostly magical.

Then the man who operates the tourist stand (which had long before closed up shop for the night) returned to break his fast and invited us to join him. He served us a tasty meal and then he invited us inside the Treasury building. We learned that he sleeps in there at night in the winter when the park is covered in snow. Can you imagine? I couldn't help but be in awe of this kind man. Without our asking, he turned the lights of his stand on to light up the treasury building and walked Nadav up a hidden path where he could see the building from above for this picture that he took with a long exposure.

I've never felt more privileged than I did gazing up at this building in the glow of the moonlight with the man who calls it home.

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This place holds a special place in my heart as a treasure hidden in plain sight. The Uptown Theater is the grandest of all of Chicago's old movie palaces, and it's been mothballed for decades. I've dreamed for years of exploring this place, and treasure the memory of the small peak I managed to get. I was walking by with Nadav and saw a door propped open with a broom. Someone was cleaning inside. We poked our heads in -- and the cleaning person was gracious enough to let us stand in the doorway and take the deteriorating grandeur in.

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Oscar Niemeyer. Just wow.

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Another shot of the same stairs in Itamaraty Palace. I'm in love.

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The Monadnock Building more than any other represents Chicago to me. I love its simplicity -- how it seems to rise out of the earth like the mountain for which it's named. Better than any other, the Monadnock tells the story of the rise of the Chicago skyscraper. The first half was built brick upon brick, as a masonry load bearing building (the exterior walls supporting the weight of the structure, much like a pyramid -- the walls 6ft thick at the base and 6 inches wide at the top), and the other half built just two years later in 1893, was built with a skeleton frame -- a Chicago development that then allowed for unlimited height in building around the world there after.

I once wrote about the building for the old blog I used to maintain, Blueprint Chicago.

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The memory of exploring the caves of Cappadocia will always be among my favorites. The whole area felt like one big treasure hunt. I'm not sure there is a map to the caves, but if there is we didn't find one. Instead, we just stumbled upon them -- sometimes very unexpectedly. I remember one opening within a rockface that didn't look like anything from the outside but we decided to peek our heads in regardless. And we discovered a cathedral, complete with arches, columns and decorative capitals. It was incredible. We felt like we were in on a very special secret. But that wasn't what I loved most about the place.  What most inspired me was seeing the layers of history in every cave. Deteriorating Byzantine murals exposed much more primitive Christian murals beneath. One thing you couldn't see in any of the figures painted on the walls were eyes -- each and every eye had been scratched out by the Muslim families who inhabited the caves years later. Some people may see the scratching out of the eyes as a devastating loss, but I thought it was beautiful. Together all of these layers added and taken away were telling me a remarkable story about the human experience.

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If Oscar Niemeyer isn't my favorite architect (maybe he is?) he's at the very top of my list. I really don't know anything about him, and I've never seen any of his buildings in person. But I dream of traveling to Brasilia to tour his buildings in the capital city. It's almost as if he paints with concrete. More than any other architect I've seen, I think Oscar Niemeyer straddles the boundaries between sculpture and architecture.

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Kreitman Building, Ben Gurion University: Beersheba, Israel

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Kreitman Building, Ben Gurion University: Beersheba, Israel

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I'd be lying if I were to say that this particular building was among my favorites, though I really do like it. What I like about it most though is the memory I have of touring the campus with you. That is something I treasure.