Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Friedensreich Hundertwasser  (1928 –2000) was an Austrian artist and architect who spent his whole career championing the curve of organic nature against the straight line.

Children’s Day-Care Centre Heddernheim, Frankfurt, Germany

 

Born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928, the Viennese artist most commonly known as Friedensreich Hundertwasser (or ‘Kingdom-of-Peace Hundred-Water’) started his artistic revolution by adopting a new name.

The Waldspirale, Darmstadt, Germany

 

Even though Hundertwasser first achieved notoriety for his boldly-colored paintings, he is more widely known for his individual architectural designs.

Kuchlbauer Tower, Lower Bavaria, Germany

 

The common themes in his work utilize bright colors, organic forms, a reconciliation of humans with nature, and a strong individualism.

Hundertwasser House, Bad Soden, Germany

 

From the mid 70s, all his amazing buildings were ergonomically curved and ecologically integrated with natural features of the landscape.

Kunsthaus Abensberg, Abensberg, Germany

 

There are no corners, edges or straight lines. Instead, there is the courage to create organic forms, colors, joy, and include the human dimension –  living works of art.

Hundertwasserbrunnen Fountain, Zwettl, Austria

 

Many of his creations highlighted architecture with uneven floors, unique windows, and spontaneous vegetation.

Green Citadel , Magdeburg, Germany

 

Hundertwasser stood out as an opponent of “a straight line” and any standardization, expressing this concept in the field of building design.

Ronald McDonald Kindervallei, Valkenburg, Netherlands

 

More of Friedensreich Hundertwasser‘s amazing architecture can be found at https://hundertwasser.com/  and https://www.touropia.com/hundertwasser-architecture/.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Alex Chinneck

British sculptor Alex Chinneck creates temporary surreal architectural sculptures that show social awareness, humor, and an interest in regeneration.

The artist is a Chelsea College of Art alumnus and is a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.His work animates the surrounding urban landscape in an ingenious combination of engineering, architecture, and art.Chinneck’s pieces merge sculpture with architecture to create masterpieces that play with both our visual and social expectations.“I like to make work that blends in with its surroundings, but which at the same time stands out,” Chinneck says. “Illusions are visually engaging, mesmerizing and accessible – everyone can understand and enjoy them.”More of Alex Chinneck‘s sculptural creations can be found at https://www.alexchinneck.com/.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) was a Catalan architect whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous color and texture, and organic unity. 

Sagrada Familia

 

Gaudí was born in Catalonia on the Mediterranean coast of Spain on June 25, 1852. He showed an early interest in architecture and went to study in Barcelona — Spain’s most modern city at the time.

Artigas Gardens, La Pobla de Lillet

 

Once he got his degree in architecture in 1878, Gaudí began working on  larger projects.

Casa Calvet

 

He soon became one of the most sought-after architects, and began taking on larger commissions, leaving behind many other one-of-a-kind works in Barcelona.

Casa Vicens

 

Gaudí’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion.

Bodegas Güell

 

He considered every detail of his creations and integrated into his architecture such crafts as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry.

Church of Colonia Guell

 

Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Episcopal Palace, Astorga

 

Gaudí’s was highly innovative in terms of his explorations of structure, searching through a variety of regional styles before seizing on the parabolic, hyperbolic, and catenary masonry forms and inclined columns that he developed through weighted models in his workshop.

Casa Batlló

 

These are often integrated with natural and highly symbolic religious imagery that encrust the structure with vibrant, colorful surfaces.

Sagrada Família School

 

More of Antoni Gaudi‘s work can be found at https://www.casabatllo.es/en/antoni-gaudi/ and https://sagradafamilia.org/en/antoni-gaudi/. 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Unique Libraries

In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.  ~ Mark Twain

 

Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego

 

Library of Birmingham, United Kingdom

 

Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Chicago, Illinois

 

Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, Canada

 

Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri

 

National Library of the Czech Republic, Prague

 

National Library of Korea, Sejong City, Korea

 

La Bibliotheque Louis Nucera, Nice, France

 

Stuttgart City Library, Stuttgart, Germany

 

Central Library, Seattle, Washington

 

Qatar National Library, Doha, Qatar

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was an architect and writer whose distinct style helped him became one of the biggest forces in American architecture. 

Taliesin

 

Wright started his own firm and developed a style known as the “Prairie School”, which strove for an “organic architecture” in designs for homes and commercial buildings.

Dana Thomas House

 

These were single-story homes with low, pitched roofs and long rows of casement windows, employing only locally available materials and wood that was always unstained and unpainted, emphasizing its natural beauty.

Fallingwater

 

Wright believed in designing structures that were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture.

Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium

 

As a founder of organic architecture, Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing three generations of architects worldwide through his works.

Unitarian Society Meeting House

 

Wright designed original and innovative offices, churches, schools, skyscrapers, hotels, museums, and other structures. He often designed interior elements for these buildings, as well, including furniture and stained glass.

Affleck House

 

Considered one of the most radical architects in history, Wright used revolutionary building technologies and materials and experimented with using the natural landscape as part of his designs.

Lewis Spring House

 

Wright was a great originator and a highly productive architect. He designed some 800 buildings, of which 380 were actually built and a number are still standing.

Nathan G. Moore House

 

You can find out more about Frank Lloyd Wright at https://franklloydwright.org.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery Blog — Architecture in Blue

I was blue, just as blue as I could be
Ev’ry day was a cloudy day for me
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door
Skies were gray but they’re not gray anymore

8 Spruce StreetBL

Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see

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Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long

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Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you’re in love, my how they fly

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Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on

Architectural Details 005

I never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you’re in love, my how they fly

arch in blue1

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on

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Lyrics by Irving Berlin

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery Blog — Glass Houses

…People in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Stones…

There are all sorts of glass houses jutting out majestically from other buildings, upper floors, and lower levels. My choice this evening are glass houses that are just that — glass houses.

Standing free and glistening under sunrise and sunset.

~imagine~

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glass-house

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Northfield, IL

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Reiteiland House, Amsterdam

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Unusual Buildings

Architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves.
Julia Morgan, Architect

Banknote Building (Kaunas, Lithuania)

Bank Note Building, Lithuania

Umeda Sky Building, Osaka

Umeda Sky Building, Osaka, Japan

Temple Sagrada Familia (Barcelona, Spain)

Temple Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Azadi(Ex Shahyad) Tower (Tehran, Iran)

Azadi (Ex Shahyad) Tower, Tehran, Iran

agbar-tower.jpg The Agbar Tower Barcelona

The Agbar Tower,  Barcelona, Spain

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Elephant Building or Chang Building, Thailand

bahrain world trade center, manama, bahrain

Bahrain World Trade Center, Manama, Bahrain

Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai

Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American Architect, and the first woman architect licensed in California. In 1919 William Randolph Heart commissioned her to build a country house that came to be known as Hearst Castle at his family ranch at San Simeon, California.

Hearst Castle pool

Hearst Castle