US Road Trip 2009: Architecture

Subtitle: Buildings, bridges & other stuff

California

The houses along the canals in Venice Beach made me think of the colourful houses in Puerto Rico Petchie often tells us about

Danish architecture has found its way all the way out in California! Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish teachers who moved there to avoid the harsh winters in the midwest. They tried to make a living through the usual stuff, farming, etc. but soon realised people came to look at the different architecture. So they quickly started making money on all things Danish! Today the town has about 5,000 inhabitants and several bakeries, restaurants and shops offering a "taste of Denmark". There is also a copy of the Little Mermaid (of course).

Bixby Creek Arch Bridge was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was built in 1932

Old, cute little cottages in Carmel is also architecture! I just wish now that I went in and bought some sweets so that I would have seen what it looked like inside!

The famous Six Sisters in Alamo Square, San Francisco, examples of few surviving Victorian architecture from earthquakes and fires

Golden Gate Park is a mix of ancient and modern. The modern building is de Young Art Museum and opened in 2005 (the old museum was destroyed in the 1998 earthquake). We didn't go in though; we left the museums to the New York leg of our trip.

No caption necessary

I could easily live in a beautiful house on a San Franciscan hill!

San Fran also has some modern architecture

Architectural still life. Bay Bridge as backdrop

New York

Just two of many, many bridges in New York City

An ugly construction but a clever solution; a park and recreation area featuring playgrounds and a ballpark above one of the city's sanitation facilities, for maximal use of space.

Iron art

The little red lighthouse at the bottom of a bridge, inspiration for the children's books with the same name

Very common sight in the US or the UK; signs and printing on (brick) buildings and metal signs

Queensboro Bridge, connecting Queens and Manhattan, equipped with a tramway and what looks like a rollercoaster underneath

The UN building was apparently built too quickly when it came up in 1950 so now it needs a major renovation (to be carried out by Swedish company Skanska)

Another bridge - maybe Saltis can identify it??!!

Bridge galore in this post! Bridges can be so cool and beautiful at the same time!

The Woolworth Building

Who said a ferry terminal had to be ugly?! These ferries go to Staten Island, one of New York's five boroughs (the others being Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens)

One of New York's most famous pieces of architecture, the Statue of Liberty. Or would you call it art? Or both.

The Standard Hotel, where guests are known to moon the visitors to High Line Park below (thanks Petra for the photo!)

The famous Flatiron building

New York also has some cute mews; here I'm posing in Washington Mews

The narrowest house in New York (and in the world?) at 75½ Bedford Street. It was built in 1873 and is 9½ feet wide. But I'm sure several of houses in the Netherlands beat that! Earlier in the autumn it was for sale for a mere $2.7m. Not sure if it's now sold or not.

Another iron building

The New York Post Office is a grand building

And so is the New York Public Library

Remnants of the shipyards in Long Island City in Queens

Mix of old and new - view from Long Island City

Old Egyptian temple at The Met . The Temple of Dendur is a Nubian temple that was built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and dedicated to Isis, Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain, Pediese ("he whom Isis has given") and Pihor ("he who belongs to Horus").[1] The temple was commissioned by Emperor Augustus of Rome and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1978.

We also went to Hearst Castle but I think that deserves its own post!