Looking at buildings gives me a sense of the age of a place, style, and how lively and economically vibrant it is. You won’t see construction cranes on the horizon if people aren’t doing well. Melbourne is very dynamic, with a skyline full of cranes, new buildings pushing out the old. The skyline is developingContinue reading “Melbourne Architecture”
Tag Archives: Architecture
Summer in Ellwood
We’ve been following summer around the world for five years, and I enjoy summer in every locality. Now that we’ve been in Melbourne for a week, I’m getting a sense of what summer is like right here. Our neighborhood is Ellwood, a close-in suburb of Melbourne. For Chicagoans, it’s like living in Evanston near theContinue reading “Summer in Ellwood”
Out of the Frying Pan….
We left Hobart under a cloud of cold smoke, with the temperature around 60°. We arrived in Melbourne in similar weather but without the smoke. The coming days are forecast to be in the 90°s. Rolling blackouts in Melbourne last week ended with a lot of finger-pointing. I’m waiting to see what happens during ourContinue reading “Out of the Frying Pan….”
Architecture and Design NZ
Like other parts of New Zealand, living along the water is a preferred location, and new houses are squeezed onto steep hillsides facing the bays or open ocean. We have seen houses built very close to the roadside, or on stilts that are three stories on the downhill side with the foundation sitting on theContinue reading “Architecture and Design NZ”
Northland, New Zealand
We wanted to see the far north of New Zealand. We didn’t get to Cape Reinga, the tip of a long finger of land that points north from the rest of the island, but we got to the knuckles, around Doubtless Bay. One long sandy bay after another stretches along the north end of NewContinue reading “Northland, New Zealand”
Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant
We couldn’t help but notice the houses built on top of apartment buildings near the airport in El Alto, on the plain above La Paz, Bolivia, since they are brightly colored and decorated like casinos. The more we found out, the more fascinated we became. These buildings are considered “Neo-andino” architecture by some, and areContinue reading “Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant”
Sucre and the Tarabuco Market
We spent three nights in Sucre. The Hotel Monasterio used to be a monastery and still has some great decor–Bolivian Baroque? It was comfortable and placed us in the heart of Sucre. We walked down to the central plaza for dinner each night and found good places, La Taverne (French-Bolivian), Cosmo Cafe, and Cafe FlorioContinue reading “Sucre and the Tarabuco Market”
Irish Houses
As you drive around the Republic of Ireland, you notice only variations on a single house type. Abandoned Cottage Occupied cottage Architecture in Ireland appears to take a simple cottage as the basic model for all housing. There are hundreds of abandoned cottages (L), and there are many restored, rebuilt, or new cottages (R). SomeContinue reading “Irish Houses”
Architecture in Cuba
I’d like to begin by discussing the really ancient architecture of Cuba, but we didn’t get to any archaeological sites apart from the footings of a few colonial-era walls that have been cleared in Old Havana. Archaeological work in Havana is directed by the city Historian, who seems to be in charge of a lotContinue reading “Architecture in Cuba”
Scottish Castles and then some
Southern Scotland is full of castles. How do you choose which ones to visit? After I realized that we couldn’t visit them all, we chose a couple from a range of time periods to see whether we can see any changes over time. What I found is that castles didn’t change much between the 12thContinue reading “Scottish Castles and then some”
Llywindatravels 2025 