Tag Archives: Architecture

HUTONGS, BEIJING, CHINA

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Our last tour in Beijing was the traditional residences of China, which are slowly but surely disappearing under the crush of concrete.

Hutongs (simplified Chinese: 胡同; traditional Chinese: 衚衕; pinyin: hútòng; Wade–Giles: hu2-t’ung4) are a type of narrow streets or alleys, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing.

In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences.[1] Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining onesiheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.

Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history.

A few of my favorite shots from around the Hutongs.

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Everything is painted grey … I was told in large part due to the previous Olympics, although now it is the standard. Black and white shots seem to be the best, as it was rather hazy.

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Very old mailboxes.

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Progress. Slowly, but surely, the old buildings disappear.

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Many of the cars have pieces of carpet or wood against the wheels – to stop the dogs and cats from marking the tires.

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Mixed in behind the side streets are a few remaining temples and buildings – buried deep.

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This many hundreds of years old plaque (if I remember correctly) is a list of the local elders.

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History disappearing.

ROOFS, FORBIDDEN CITY, BEIJING CHINA

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In the Forbidden City the most interesting thing to me was the roofs. I can only imagine how much was lost during the different cultural purges of the last century.

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Right below the roof at the front of this shot is where a Starbucks use to be. It was removed prior to the Olympics as it was not good for their image. I would hate to have seen the lineup.

A few more roof shots from around the city. Grass can grow in the toughest of places.

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Deer are a popular ornament for under the roofs. Blue deer.

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Last shot.

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4:22AM

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The time the sun rises in Tokyo. For some unknown reason Japan does not believe in daylight savings time. In Japan’s semi-tropical climate, no black-out blind every made can stop that UV 14 sun.

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I wake up very early every day. I guess there are worse things in the world than sitting on the deck and enjoying a cappuccino to this sunrise.

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INSIDE THE AMBER FORT, JAIPUR

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Once inside the fort, it felt different than others we had visited. More opulent.

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You can read more of the forts history here. In a nutshell:

The aesthetic ambiance of the palace is seen within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam or the "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-e-Khas or the "Hall of Private Audience", the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. Hence, the Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace.[4] The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families. At the entrance to the palace near the fort’s Ganesh Gate, there is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of the Chaitanya cult which was given to Raja Man Singh when he had defeated the Raja of Jessore, Bengal in 1604. (Jessore is now in Bangladesh).[3][8][9]

There are really two key areas. The central court yard and the third courtyard. It is beautiful.

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Looking down from the walls you see the ruler’s herb garden. Cooled by the lake, it allowed the ruling family to grow foods that would not otherwise do well in this climate.

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But the highlight of the fort is third courtyard which is breathtaking.

The building to the left of the entrance gate is called the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely beautified with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter bright under candle nights at the time it was in use. Also known as Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace), the mirror mosaics and coloured glasses were "glittering jewel box in flickering candle light".[4] However, most of this work was allowed to deteriorate during the period 1970–80 but has since then been subjected to a process of restoration and renovation. Carved marble relief panels are placed on walls around the hall. The hall provides enchanting vistas of the Maota Lake.[14]

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A shot where wall and roof meet.

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We wandered deeper into the fort.

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An ancient ventilation shaft. Love the way the light comes through in the shot.

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A beautiful fort, well worth the rather painful trip to get to the top.

THE AMBER FORT, JAIPUR, INDIA

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Our last fort and our last site, as we finished our tour of the Golden Triangle. The Amber Fort is quite opulent, and flows across the hilltops with a great view of the town below.

A few of my favorite shots from the walls. Mostly in HDR with a Canon 5D Mark III and a Canon 28-300mm f/2.8 USM).

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Great views.

THE TAJ MAHAL, INDIA (part 2)

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The Taj Mahal, wonder of the world, ode to love. Well an ode to his 3rd wife. Not sure how first 2 felt when he embarked on this 25 year building spree to remember her.

None the less, one of the “must sees” when in India.

Our first glimpse was from down the river. It was a little bit hazy, but luckily not foggy and the sun was coming out. (Config: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 28-300mm f/3.5 USM).

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Once past the gates you come to the large entrance – effectively called “The great gate”

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Our first peek at the Taj Mahal.

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As we walked through the gate it came into full view. It was quite a unique experience.

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Even thought it was an official holiday, it was not as busy as I had expected. But there were a lot of Indians. With the recent collapse of the rupee there has been a sharp decline in travel abroad as Indians looked to more affordable travel within the country.

Unfortunately, this means that if you are a local, you can expect a very, very long line. Fortunately, as foreigners we were able to skip the lines. The lines wrapped around the Taj Mahal multiple times.

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And on that note, what else is there to say? It is the Taj Mahal. A spectacular monument that you simply stand back and soak in.

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A unique Christmas day.

DIFFERENT

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I have been an absent blogger over the past month, in big part due to travel. I am at World Mobile Congress this week. It is my 6th time in Barcelona and as always, it is a very interesting show.

Three observations/experiences from yesterday:

1. It is the first time I have had to take a passport to the gym. Plus, Spaniards look at you funny if you walk the street in gym clothes in February (they don’t know I am Canadian).
2. If you are pitching a partner on your products and the merits of working together closely, the person on your team at the front of the screen should not be doing email on his laptop. We were all looking at him …..
3. Even the most mundane of Spanish buildings are prettier and have more character than 90 percent of our buildings. Just your run of the mill store fronts …..

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BARCELONA: PART 4: TOURING AROUND

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After lunch we hit the Museu Picasso (no pictures allowed) dedicated to Pablo Picasso’s personal art collection and life. One half of the museum covers works that he collected through friendships with artists of the time and through his travels. It is an extensive collection with works from Matisse, Renoir and a host of unknown artists who were clearly his friends and colleagues.

The other half of the museum is dedicated to his life, tracing his early days, through the various periods (blue period, rose period) culminating in the works that made him famous – cubism and surrealism. Personally, I enjoyed his early works much more than his late works. But in the end, you left with a feeling that he lived a very rich life and there is no doubting his talent.

Our next stop was hill Montjüic (Jewish Mountain) the 17th century fortification that sits on top. Our goal was to take the gondola up the mountain to the castle, then take the gondola from the mountain to the harbor. Again, the public transportation made this remarkable simple with the subway actually going up the mountain.

Unfortunately, the first gondola was closed for repair so we forced to bus up the hill to the top. The views of the city were spectacular and the boys loved climbing over the World War II era harbor guns.

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The ride down the mountain afforded a great view of the city. I found the contrast between the old world architecture and the 1970’s style – square – brick and concrete – featureless building interesting and in stark contrast to my experience in England. While people in the UK complain about the planning councils, it seems that one impact is that ‘the old’ is more prevalent than in Barcelona.

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The craziest thing was the ocean. Sure, it was 65 degrees out and sunny but when the wind kicked up on the beach, it was cold. But not cold enough to stop these guys. Yes, they are kite surfing and wave surfing. It must have been REALLY cold.

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As we walked back to the hotel we came across this architectural anomaly. Whale? Fish? Bird? Big copper thing that is supposed to make the office building look different than other office buildings? Government funded boondoggle? Probably.

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In the short time we were there, we saw quite a bit – but there is more and as I mentioned, it is a perfect ‘couples’ city. The adventure continues.