architecture – stephenlirakis.com

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ARCHITECTURE

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As an Easterner, I am told constantly that California is a vapid place. It is very large but certainly not short of exciting things to see. There is not much of the 18th century unless it is Spanish or Mexican, however the examples of those styles are truly wonderful. Distances are a different scale, the opposite of the East.

I am more familiar with Los Angeles and still discovering San Francisco and the surrounding areas, but there is no shortage of discoveries.

The cow parade was just too good not to include.

COMPARISON

The similarity is striking, for me. so I couldn’t resist posting the two side by side. Antonio Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and the Watts Towers

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

I am constantly told that Los Angeles is architecturally devoid. These photos are in a six block area of Broadway. Built between 1880 and 1930, the same prosperous era as elsewhere. The Los Angeles Conservancy does what it can to preserve this rich history, with volunteers manning walking tours of downtown.

DOOR HANDLES

Door handles serve many purposes, the obvious function of opening and closing a door, decoration, symbols. I have regarded door handles as a sort of gargoyle for a house, but they can be just a fantasy of imagination as well.

LOS ANGELES ARCHITECTURE

Never let anyone tell you Los Angeles is not fun. It is a most diverse city; culturally, architecturally; gastronomically. Full of Flowers. All that money has truly attracted the best of the best.

There is however , never a quite moment. there is always noise from something somewhere. It is a walking city contrary to urban myth. There are so many neighborhoods. The weather, what can I say, coming from New England, it is paradise.

I am a New Englander, burdened with the past, the puritan ethic that I deserve to suffer; and if I am having fun, something must be wrong and I will be somehow punished. It makes it hard to embrace paradise feeling that way, but I can try.

Honfleur

The theme of my blog would appear to be focused on sailing. As I wrote earlier, I am pleased to from time to time diverge to another aspect of life. at least to a point. Leave it to me to find a thread tying life to the sea.

I recently visited Honfleur, in Normandy at the mouth of the Seine river, which as one may be aware winds it’s way to Paris.

Honfleur’s location made it pivotal to the history of France; both as a trading port and as a point of departure for the French navy, particularly with it’s attacks on England. Colbert, in 1684 directed the inner harbour be built.

The 15th century cathedral of St. Catherine built in wood by the same shipwrights who built the French navy, the largest wooden church in France. Striking by its difference from the usual stone edifices found in France.