Architecture

World Heritage sites of Tamil Nadu
Four WH Sites In Tamil Nadu
The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are well known places like, buildings, cities, complexes, deserts, forests, mountains, monuments or lakes etc. that is listed by the UNESCO as of extraordinary cultural or physical importance. The list is keep up by the 'International World Heritage Programme' which is administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their UN General Assembly. There are 29 World Heritage sites in India and four of them in T...

Umbrella House | Early Masterpiece by Paul Rudolph
Living Inside a Work of Art
One of the benefits of selling real estate in Sarasota & Her Islands is touring fabulous homes for sale in this upscale community located on the west coast of Florida. Even so, nothing prepared me for visiting the Umbrella House when my office had the listing about five years ago. When I told my wife about the open house, she insisted on coming along because, as a Jacksonville, Florida, native, she admired the Milam House also designed by Paul Rudolph. When we stepped inside, we felt as thr...

C d'Zan | House of John Ringling
A House Fit for a Circus King
Remember the 1998 movie adaptation of Charles Dicken's novel, Great Expectations starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow? Anne Bancroft played the crazy Nora Dinsmoor, the richest lady living on the Florida Gulf Coast and Ca d'Zan won the role as her crumbling residence. That was before the six-year $15 million restoration completed in 2002. Historians call Ca d'Zan "the last of the Gilded Age mansions" built in the United States. John and Mable Ringling engaged architect Dwight James Baum...

Sanderling Beach Club | Sarasota Modern by Paul Rudolph
Architectural Motifs Reflect Surroundings
Designing his first commercial project in the early 1950s, Paul Rudolph looked at the site on the south end of Siesta Key, a barrier island on the Gulf of Mexico. When I visit Sanderling Beach Club, I imagine him as a young architect who just opened his own practice in Sarasota, Florida. I see some of what Rudolph saw when he stood there: blue sky, the Gulf of Mexico, sand, seagrape and other tropical plants in a rather flat site. Then I look at how the young architect reflected what he saw...

The Architecture of Palladio
Andrea Palladio and His Work
Perhaps the most influential architect... ever. It's hard to quantify the importance of Andrea Palladio's work. His buildings are beautiful and - 500 years later - remain a popular and important architectural pilgrimage for architects, students, and lovers of architecture. But it was his book, the famous Four Books of Architecture, that spread his fame farthest in his own day and, through his written explanations and illustrations, continue to carry his design ideas world-wide. Palladio's a...

The Architecture of Atlanta
The Modernist Municipality
Atlanta has taken a lead in urban renewal and rejuvenation through modern architecture. Several distinguished architects have created significant buildings in and around the city center. (Image from Flikr, Some rights reserved under Creative Commons, by Tim Brown Architects)

Pearsall House | Historic Sarasota Residence
Mediterranean Revival Style Still Holds Sway
Much to the chagrin of Sarasota Modernism buffs, local residents continue to favor Mediterranean Revival architecture. Perhaps we feel the romance of foreign countries or bygone eras when we live in castle-like surrounds. John and Mable Ringling's home Ca d'Zan represents Sarasota's most famous example of this architectural style The Pearsall House located on a pleasant residential street in Sarasota on the west coast of Florida exemplifies this gracious style. The architect Thomas Reed Mar...