andre' salvador
PHOTOGRAPHY

Architecture Galleries

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : The Walt Disney Concert Hall is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It is designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience. From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, the 3.6-acre complex embodies the unique energy and creative spirit of the City of Los Angeles and its orchestra. The building was designed by Frank o. Gehry, Architect.

The photos were taken during my trip to Los Angeles in January 2005.

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmon ...

Updated: Sep 14, 2006 10:43am PST

CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the heart of all 287 Parish Churches and communities, it is the place where the Archbishop celebrates the major Liturgies of the year with clergy, religious and laity. Taken on 2006-06-27.

This is a small collection of architectural photographs of this cathedral.

CATHEDRAL OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the heart of all 287 Parish ...

Updated: Jul 16, 2006 5:45pm PST

SUNDIAL BRIDGE, REDDING, CALIFORNIA : To this date July 16, 2006, this is the only work done here in California by the noted Architect and Engineer Santiago Calatrava. A light, well proportioned pedestrian bridge across the Sacramento River, in Redding, California.

I took these pictures during my trip to Redding in September 2005.

SUNDIAL BRIDGE, REDDING, CALIFORNIA

To this date July 16, 2006, this is the only work done here in Califor ...

Updated: Aug 18, 2006 9:49am PST

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA : Las Vegas is a "hodge-podge" of architectural styles but a small group of American architects calls this the real showcase of American architecture. Some unusual and good images may be found here by photographers.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Las Vegas is a "hodge-podge" of architectural styles but a small group ...

Updated: Jan 17, 2007 11:59am PST

HISTORIC TAAL CITY, BATANGAS, PHILIPPINES : Taal City in the Province of Batangas has a lot of wooden domestic residences that dates back more than a hundred years. Some are deteriorating due to lack of funds.

HISTORIC TAAL CITY, BATANGAS, PHILIPPINES

Taal City in the Province of Batangas has a lot of wooden domestic res ...

Updated: Jul 18, 2006 10:21am PST

HISTORIC MIAGAO CHURCH, ILOILO, PHILIPPINES : The official name of this historic church is Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva. It is one of the four Baroque churches of the Philippines. The local people call it Miagao Church. Miagao is the name of the town it is on. This church was completed in 1797. 

These photos were taken in January 2004 and February 2009.

HISTORIC MIAGAO CHURCH, ILOILO, PHILIPPINES

The official name of this historic church is Church of Santo Tomas de ...

Updated: Mar 19, 2009 9:47am PST

JAPANESE VILLAGE PLAZA, LITTLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES : Japanese Village Plaza is a specialty shopping center in the heart of Little Tokyo. It was a redevelopment project I was involved in as the project designer. This place is on First Street near the corner of San Pedro Street. These photographs were taken in 2005 and 2006.

JAPANESE VILLAGE PLAZA, LITTLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES

Japanese Village Plaza is a specialty shopping center in the heart of ...

Updated: Aug 03, 2006 4:39pm PST

MAKATI SKYLINE, PHILIPPINES : These are a few images of the buildings in Makati.

MAKATI SKYLINE, PHILIPPINES

These are a few images of the buildings in Makati.

Updated: Jul 10, 2009 12:44pm PST

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA : Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, USA, on the Pacific coast. It borders Orange County on its southeast edge. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles.

The Port of Long Beach is one of the world's largest shipping ports. The city serves as a year-round resort noted for its long, wide beaches and beautiful active marina. It has the largest municipally owned marina in the country with 3,400 slips. The city also has a large oil industry; oil (discovered in 1921) is found both underground and offshore. Manufactures include aircraft, automobile parts, electronic and audiovisual equipment, and home furnishings. It is also home to numerous regional, national, and world headquarters for major corporations such as Epson America, Molina Healthcare, Scan Health Care, and Polar Air Cargo. Long Beach grew with the development of high-technology and aerospace industries in the area.

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, Californi ...

Updated: Aug 11, 2006 11:26am PST

STRUCTURES OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA : These are my images of the various structures and street furniture in the City of San Francisco. More images will be added to this gallery as the years go on.

STRUCTURES OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

These are my images of the various structures and street furniture in ...

Updated: Nov 15, 2006 12:45pm PST

HISTORIC CITY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA : The City Hall of San Francisco California, opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the brief "City Beautiful" movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the period 1880-1917. The present building is actually a replacement for an earlier City Hall that was completely destroyed during the 1906 Earthquake. this building is now in the National Register of Historic Places.

The architect was Arthur Brown Jr., whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown also designed San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza.

HISTORIC CITY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

The City Hall of San Francisco California, opened in 1915, in its open ...

Updated: Aug 27, 2006 11:32am PST

UNION STATION, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : Union Station, built in 1939, is considered to be "The last of America's great rail stations." Located in Downtown Los Angeles on 800 N. Alameda St., between the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue (Formerly Macy St.), this was, is and will be the home of Los Angeles transportation - past, present and future.

UNION STATION, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Union Station, built in 1939, is considered to be "The last of America ...

Updated: Sep 07, 2006 3:57pm PST

BRADBURY BUILDING, LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA : The story of the Bradbury building is as dramatic as the building itself. Inspired by an 1880's science fiction story, designed with an assist from the occult by a draftsman with no architectural or engineering training and built by a mining millionaire as his monument to himself, a unque entity that would ensure the perpetuation of his name.

The Bradbury Building was built in 1893. Lewis Bradbury commissioned an architectural draftsman George Wyman to design the building. He turned the building inward upon itself. The Italian Renaissance exterior facade is of brown brick and sandstone terra cotta. It is the beauty of the dazzling center court of the interior that gave the building its fame.

BRADBURY BUILDING, LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA

The story of the Bradbury building is as dramatic as the building itse ...

Updated: Sep 08, 2006 1:55pm PST

PERSHING SQUARE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : In 1866, Mayor Aguilar dedicated this land in the middle of downtown L.A. for use naming it La Plaza Abaja (Lower Plaza). In 1886, the plaza became an office park and later still, it was redesigned in 1911 by John Parkinson, prominent L.A. architect. During WWI, it was used for the militia and named Pershing Square in honor of the general. In 1989, CRA assisted the Department of Recreation and Parks with funding renovate the park into its present form. 

World-renowned architect Richardo Legorreta brings the pure fields of color and sculptural forms of his teacher Luis Barragan to his design of the park. The distinctive, contemporary Latin American feel of the plaza embraces integrated landscapes by Laurie Olin and California artist Barbara McCarren make this a landmark of cultural activity. 

Information from  http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/11288770

PERSHING SQUARE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

In 1866, Mayor Aguilar dedicated this land in the middle of downtown L ...

Updated: Sep 11, 2006 2:54pm PST

DE YOUNG MUSEUM, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA : Founded in 1895 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the de Young Museum has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of the city and a cherished destination for millions of residents and visitors to the region for over 100 years.

On October 15, 2005, the de Young Museum re-opened in a state-of-the-art new facility that integrates art, architecture and the natural landscape in one multi-faceted destination that will inspire audiences from around the world. Designed by the renowned Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and Fong & Chan Architects in San Francisco, the new de Young provided San Francisco with a landmark art museum to showcase the museum’s priceless collections of American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and art of the native Americas, Africa, and the Pacific.

Information from www.thinker.org

DE YOUNG MUSEUM, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Founded in 1895 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the de Young Mus ...

Updated: Oct 20, 2006 8:25am PST

ASIAN ART MUSEUM - ART & ARCHITECTURE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA : The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is located in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world.

Until recently housed at the de Young in Golden Gate Park, the Asian Art Museum re-opened on March 20, 2003 in the former San Francisco city library building opposite the San Francisco Civic Center, renovated for the purpose under the direction of Italian architect Gae Aulenti of Musée d'Orsay fame. The collection has over 15,000 works of art and artifacts from all major Asian countries and traditions, some of which are as much as 6,000 years old. Major galleries are devoted to the arts of India, China, western Asia (including Persia), South-East Asia, Korea and Japan. There are 2,500 works on display in the permanent collection.

The museum owes its origin to a donation to the city of San Francisco by Chicago millionaire Avery Brundage, who was a major collector of Asian art. The Society for Asian Art, incorporated in 1958, was the group that formed specifically to gain Avery Brundage's collection. The museum opened in 1966 as a wing of the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park. Brundage continued to make donations to the museum, including the bequest of all his remaining personal art collection on his death in 1975.

In total, Brundage donated more than 7,700 Asian art objects to San Francisco, i.e. just over half the museum's current collection. In 1995, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Chong-Moon Lee made a $15 million donation to launch the funding campaign for a new building for the museum.

The museum has become a focus for special and travelling exhibitions, including: the first major Chinese exhibition to travel outside China since the end of World War II (in 1975); an archaeological exhibition which attracted 800,000 visitors over an eight week period; an exhibition on Wisdom and Compassion opened by the Dalai Lama in 1991; and a display of the famous terra-cotta warriors of China's ancient city of Xi'an.

ASIAN ART MUSEUM - ART & ARCHITECTURE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is located in San Francisco, Cal ...

Updated: Nov 14, 2006 2:11pm PST

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA : Golden Gate Bridge - The real "Golden Gate" is the strait that the bridge spans. It was first named "Chrysopylae," meaning "golden gate," by Captain John C. Fremont in 1846. The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest span in the world from its completion until the Verrazano Narrows Bridge was built in New York in 1964. Today, it still has the seventh-longest main span in the world.

This gallery is still under construction. More photos will be added.

Information on the Golden Gate Bridge is from        http://gocalifornia.about.com/

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Golden Gate Bridge - The real "Golden Gate" is the strait that the bri ...

Updated: Jan 15, 2007 9:39am PST

NOTRE DAME CHURCH, HO CHI MIN CITY, VIETNAM : The Vietnamese people claim that this church is a copy of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris but in a smaller scale. This was built in the 18th. century. Althoug not as rich in architectural features as the original one it maintains the nice proportions on the exterior.

The Vietnamese Notre Dame Church is located across the historic Central Post Office of Ho Chi Min City.

NOTRE DAME CHURCH, HO CHI MIN CITY, VIETNAM

The Vietnamese people claim that this church is a copy of the Notre Da ...

Updated: Mar 07, 2007 8:49pm PST

BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE STRUCTURES, MASSACHUSETTS, USA : In the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and myself went on a tour of of the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada. It took us 7 weeks to finally be back in Los Angeles, California. This gallery shows the "architectural shoot" we did in Boston AND Cambridge, Massachusetts. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera.

BOSTON & CAMBRIDGE STRUCTURES, MASSACHUSETTS, USA

In the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and ...

Updated: Mar 23, 2007 1:55pm PST

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA , & ARLINGTON & DULLES,  VIRGINIA : In the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and myself went on a tour of of the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada. It took us 7 weeks to finish our travel in Los Angeles, California. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera. The rest of the photographs are under the AArchitectural Photo Shoot of the Architecture Category.

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA , & ARLINGTON & DULLES, VIRGINIA

In the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and ...

Updated: Mar 27, 2007 12:15pm PST

SCARBOROUGH & TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA : This gallery is part of our personal architectural observation tour. An architect friend of mine started on the second week of October in 1974, travelling through the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada, all the while driving towards the west coast. It took us 7 weeks to reach Los Angeles, California. This gallery shows the "architectural shoot" we did in Scarborough and Toronto, Canada. We slept in cheap motels or in college fraternity houses. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera.

SCARBOROUGH & TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

This gallery is part of our personal architectural observation tour. A ...

Updated: Mar 27, 2007 1:40pm PST

PHOTO SHOOT IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK : We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and myself travelled through the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada, all the while driving towards the west coast. It took us 7 weeks to reach Los Angeles, California. This gallery shows the "architectural shoot" we did in New York City, Canada. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera.

PHOTO SHOOT IN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend ...

Updated: Mar 29, 2007 9:54am PST

IFUGAO HOUSE, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES : There are many varieties of an Ifugao House. It is based on an Ifugao sub-group. This one inside the court yard of the Philippine National Museum is of the Ayangan heritage, an Ifugao sub-group, in the Mayaoyao area of the Mountain Province. It has heavy thatch roof to serve as protection from rain and cold weather of the region.

The Ifugaos, inhabit the rugged terrain of the extensive Cordillera Mountain ranges of the Mountain Province of Central Northern Luzon. They have developed and maintained a distinct culture which until recently has resisted outside influences. Until modern times ended their isolation, the only world they knew was their environment of towering mountain ranges, rolling hills, windy plateaus, warm valleys, shallow but swift rivers, dense forests, innumerable rice paddies, and their rice terraces carved on the mountainsides.

IFUGAO HOUSE, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES

There are many varieties of an Ifugao House. It is based on an Ifugao ...

Updated: Apr 11, 2007 8:37pm PST

RIVER AND BEACH HOUSES, PHILIPPINES : These are pictures of domestic river houses, accessory water structures and beach houses of average and poor people in the Philippines. The photos were taken n Bohol, Batangas, Navotas and Malabon. I intend to add more to this gallery in the future.

RIVER AND BEACH HOUSES, PHILIPPINES

These are pictures of domestic river houses, accessory water structure ...

Updated: Apr 12, 2007 2:53pm PST

DEIR EL-BAHRI TEMPLE, EGYPT : The impressive Deir El-Bahri mortuary temple of Queen Hatshesut is an architectural wonder built against the backdrop of a looming cliff face of the western Thebes' mountains. On the east side of the mountain where Deir El-Bahri is located is the Valley of Kings and to it's south are the ruins of the Colossi of Memnon. Deir El-Bahri is the most famous of temples along the western Thebes. Deir El-Bahri is an Arabic name meaning "Monastery of the North".

More photos may be seen of this temple at, TRAVEL:EGYPT

DEIR EL-BAHRI TEMPLE, EGYPT

The impressive Deir El-Bahri mortuary temple of Queen Hatshesut is an ...

Updated: May 28, 2007 11:28am PST

TEMPLE OF AMON-RA, LUXOR, EGYPT : In Luxor, all that remains of its glorious past is the temple that the ancient Egytptians built to the glory of Amon-Ra, King of the Gods and which they called "Southern Harim of Amon". Its construction was commissioned by two pharoahs, Amon-Ofis III, who started it and Ramses the II, who completed it. When the city of Luxor is mentioned it means this temple of Amon-Ra and Karnak Temple.

Excerpted from the book Casa Editrice Bonechi.

TEMPLE OF AMON-RA, LUXOR, EGYPT

In Luxor, all that remains of its glorious past is the temple that the ...

Updated: May 28, 2007 12:01pm PST

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL RUINS OF KARNAK TEMPLE, EGYPT : Karnak temple is the biggest temple in Egypt owing its monumental size to 1300 years of construction. It was started by XII dynasty's Sesostris I. After that every pharaoh down to the Ptolemic period tried to stamp his authority by outdoing the previous one in his (or her) contribution. Karnak actually encloses three separate temples, the biggest being the temple of Amun, the biggest God of the new kingdom. These photographs are of the ruins of the Temple of Amun.

The temple used to be connected to its counterpart, the Luxor temple, via an avenue of sphinxes most of which except a few yards outside each temple are destroyed by now. The approach to the temple was through an avenue of ram headed sphinxes which ended in the first of the six pylons. The first pylon is actually still unfinished and the abandoned mud ramp behind along with some nearby unfinished columns give us an idea of the ancient methods of construction. The forecourt also contains a triple shrine dedicated to the Thebean triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu and a granite colossus of Ramesis II with his favourite wife Nefertari nestled between his feet. 

Additional travel pictures may be seen at KARNAK TEMPLE

Information taken from  http://www.travel-notes.org/karnak_temple.html

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL RUINS OF KARNAK TEMPLE, EGYPT

Karnak temple is the biggest temple in Egypt owing its monumental size ...

Updated: Jun 25, 2007 8:35pm PST

SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK : Nature not only provided the museum with a respite from New York's distractions but also leant it inspiration. The Guggenheim Museum is an embodiment of Wright's attempts to render the inherent plasticity of organic forms in architecture. His inverted ziggurat (a stepped or winding pyramidal temple of Babylonian origin) dispensed with the conventional approach to museum design, which led visitors through a series of interconnected rooms and forced them to retrace their steps when exiting. Instead, Wright whisked people to the top of the building via elevator, proceeding downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp. The galleries were divided like the membranes in citrus fruit, with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda afforded viewers the unique possibility of seeing several bays of work on different levels simultaneously. The spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another. 

Even as it embraced nature, Wright's design put his unique stamp on Modernist Architecture's rigid geometry. The building is a symphony of triangles, ovals, arcs, circles, and squares. Forms echo one another throughout: oval-shaped columns, for example, reiterate the geometry of the fountain and the stairwell of the Thannhauser Building. Circularity is the leitmotif, from the rotunda to the inlaid design of the terrazzo floors. 

The meticulous vision took decades to be fulfilled. Originally, the large rotunda was to be accompanied by a small rotunda and a tower. The small rotunda (or monitor building, as Wright called it) was intended to house apartments for Rebay and Guggenheim but instead became offices and miscellaneous storage space. In 1965, the second floor of the building was renovated to display the museum's growing permanent collection, and with the restoration of the museum in 1990–92, it was turned over entirely to exhibition space and rechristened the Thannhauser Building in honor of one of the most important bequests to the museum. 

Wright's original plan for the tower—artists' studios and apartments—went unrealized, largely for financial reasons. As part of the restoration, a 1968 office/art-storage annex (designed by Wright's son-in-law William Wesley Peters) was replaced by the current structure, designed by Gwathmey Siegel and Associates, Architects. This tower provides four additional exhibition galleries and, some thirty-five years after the initiation of construction, completed Wright's concept for the museum. In 2001, the Sackler Center for Arts Education opened to the public. Located just below the rotunda, this 8,200-square-feet education facility includes the Peter B. Lewis Theater, part of Frank Lloyd Wright's original architectural design for the building. 

Some people, especially artists, criticized Wright for creating a museum environment that might overpower the art inside. "On the contrary," he wrote, "it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before." In conquering the static regularity of geometric design and combining it with the plasticity of nature, Wright produced a vibrant building whose architecture is as refreshing now as it was 40 years ago. The Guggenheim is arguably Wright's most eloquent presentation and certainly the most important building of his late career. 

—by Matthew Drutt

SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, NEW YORK

Nature not only provided the museum with a respite from New York's dis ...

Updated: Sep 30, 2007 2:10pm PST

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA CHURCH - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN : La Sagrada Familia is a huge church that was started by Antonio Gaudi hundreds of years ago and up to now is still under construction. This church has 18 towers and its columns are leaning. None of the columns are at right angle to the floor. The architectural society in Spain has called the style of this church as "Warped Gothic". The rippling contours of the stone façade make it look as though Sagrada Familia is melting in the sun, while the towers are topped with brightly-colored mosaics which look like bowls of fruit. Gaudí believed that color is life, and, knowing that he would not live to see completion of his masterpiece, left colored drawings of his vision for future architects.

Antoni Gaudí worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavour. Gaudi died in 1926. The work continued under the direction of Domènech Sugranyes till it was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War in 1935. Since 1940 the architects Francesc Quintana, Isidre Puig Boada, Lluís Bonet i Gari and Francesc Cardoner have carried on the work. The current director and son of Lluís Bonet, Jordi Bonet i Armengol, has been introducing computers into the design and construction process since the 1980s. They expect to complete this church in 2041.

Information taken from Wikipedia.

LA SAGRADA FAMILIA CHURCH - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN

La Sagrada Familia is a huge church that was started by Antonio Gaudi ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2007 4:41pm PST

CASA BATLLO & LA PEDRERA - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN : Casa Batllo is a building designed by both Antonio Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol. It was built from 1905 to1907. Casa Batllo is on Paseo de Gràcia, Barcelona.

The La Pedrera Building done also by Antonio Gaudi contains the Fundacio de Casa Catalunya, a well known exhibition space in that building.

CASA BATLLO & LA PEDRERA - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN

Casa Batllo is a building designed by both Antonio Gaudí and Josep Ma ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2007 4:57pm PST

PARK GUELL - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN : Park Guell is named after the the property owner and developer Eusebi Guell. Antonio Gaudi was his architect. His property was high above the the hills at some distance from the city during those times, in the 1920's. Gaudi's design was too radical and for its time and, as a real estate project, was a failure. The Barcelona City Council bought the property in 1922 and was converted by the city into a municipal park.

PARK GUELL - ANTONIO GAUDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN

Park Guell is named after the the property owner and developer Eusebi ...

Updated: Oct 09, 2007 5:02pm PST

GALA-RODRIGUEZ ANCESTRAL HOME, SARIAYA, QUEZON, PHILIPPINES : This ancestral house was built by Dr. Isidro Rodriguez in 1930's as a gift to his ailing wife gregoria Gala at the height of the depression era, and completed in 1935. It was the wish of his wife to have a "Dream Home" for their seven children. Dr. Rodriguez commissioned Architect Juan Nakpil to design and build a house with a team of fine carpenters and craftsmen and to furnish it with items from Manila's leading furniture atelier, Don Gonzalo Puyat. The house was furnished with French Provincial furniture. The house was completed and formally inaugurated  on the birthday of Dona Gregoria on May 4, 1935. However Dona Gregoria succumb to her lingering illness, two days before the celebration. But the family cherished their new home , a "labor and a gift of love".

Carmen the eldest of the seven siblings took charge of the house and her siblings. The house, since then had been known as "Dona Carmen's House'. In 1942, during the occupation of the Japanese forces of Sariaya, the second floor became the residence of the Officers of Japan Imperial Army. The family was allowed to occupy the the ground floor and the basement.

In the 1950's Carmen married Judge Vicente Arguelles. She bore him an only child, Glady, who continued to preserve and conserve the house. It is her pioneering idea to open her house to the visitors of Sariaya, sharing the personal and historical memories of the place.

For colored photos of this place you may visit the  Travel: My Philippines Galleries

GALA-RODRIGUEZ ANCESTRAL HOME, SARIAYA, QUEZON, PHILIPPINES

This ancestral house was built by Dr. Isidro Rodriguez in 1930's as a ...

Updated: Nov 21, 2007 1:16pm PST

OUR LADY OF MANAOAG CHURCH, MANAOAG, PANGASINAN, PHILIPPINES : Our Lady of Manaoag is located in Manaoag, Pangasinan. It was given it's canonical coronation in 1926 though the church was built in 1610. Our Lady of Manaoag is a religious shrine with with countless miraculous tales and healing powers. It is considered the pilgrimage shrine of northern Philippines.  The Pilipino Catholics consider Our Lady of Manaoag as the revered patroness of the sick, the helpless and the needy.

I came here with friends who regularly visit the place. I wanted to offer prayers to my friends who are sick, to give thanks for the blessings my wife and I received through the years and to photograph an old church.

I was able to do the things I wanted to do but was dissapointed in not being able to take good pictures as the place was too crowded outside and inside the church. The facade of the church, to me was remodelled and not restored to its original design. The rest of the structure was left untouched.

The following pictures were taken in February 2008.

More photos of Manaoag may be seen in this gallery, MANAOAG CHURCH

OUR LADY OF MANAOAG CHURCH, MANAOAG, PANGASINAN, PHILIPPINES

Our Lady of Manaoag is located in Manaoag, Pangasinan. It was given it ...

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 2:16pm PST

THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS, GREECE : The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007. The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock which rises 150 m (490 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Kekrops or Cecrops, the first Athenian king.

The photos shown here were taken in the year 2000 and 2007. More photos on Greece may be seen at Travel: Greece

Description on Acropolis taken from Wikipedia.

THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS, GREECE

The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on t ...

Updated: Mar 26, 2008 8:50am PST

MIKRI METROPOLI, THE LITTLE CATHEDRAL, ATHENS : This old church is called either as "Mikri Metropoli, The Little Cathedral" or "Church of Our Lady Who Swiftly Hears". It is at the heart of the Plaka (Market Place) District of Athens and may be reached by taking the Monastiraki Line of the Athens Metro.

Photos taken in September 2007.

MIKRI METROPOLI, THE LITTLE CATHEDRAL, ATHENS

This old church is called either as "Mikri Metropoli, The Little Cathe ...

Updated: Mar 26, 2008 11:46am PST

PANATHINAIKON, ATHENS, GREECE : Olypic Stadium in Athens. This modern Stadium was built between 1869 and 1870 for the first Olympic Games held in modern times in 1896. This marble stadium structure was built by Herodes Atticus.

Photos taken in September 2007.

PANATHINAIKON, ATHENS, GREECE

Olypic Stadium in Athens. This modern Stadium was built between 1869 a ...

Updated: Mar 26, 2008 12:49pm PST

THE ROMAN PANTHEON, ROME, ITALY : The Roman Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the Gods" is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 125 AD during Hadrian's reign. The intended degree of inclusiveness of this dedication is debated. The generic term pantheon is now applied to a monument in which illustrious dead are buried. It is the best preserved of all Roman buildings, and perhaps the best preserved building of its age in the world. It has been in continuous use throughout its history. The design of the extant building is sometimes credited to the Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus, but it is equally likely that the building and the design should be credited to the emperor Hadrian or his architects. Since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Christian church. The Pantheon is currently the oldest standing domed structure in Rome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft).

Information on the Pantheon taken from Wikipedia.

THE ROMAN PANTHEON, ROME, ITALY

The Roman Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the Gods" is a building in ...

Updated: May 12, 2008 1:08pm PST

THE FOUNTAIN OF TREVI, ROME, ITALY : The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi)is the largest — standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide — and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. It is located in the rione of Trevi.

The backdrop for the fountain is the Palazzo Poli, given a new facade with a giant order of Corinthian pilasters that link the two main stories. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork, and filling the small square. Tritons guide Oceanus' shell chariot, taming seahorses. 

In the center is superimposed a robustly modelled triumphal arch. The center niche or exedra framing Oceanus has free-standing columns for maximal light-and-shade. In the niches flanking Oceanus, Abundance spills water from her urn and Salubrity holds a cup from which a snake drinks. Above, bas reliefs illustrate the Roman origin of the aqueducts.

The tritons and horses provide symmetrical balance, with the maximum contrast in their mood and poses (by 1730, the rococo is already in full bloom in France and Germany).


A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Among those who are unaware that the "three coins" of Three Coins in the Fountain were thrown by three different individuals, a reported current interpretation is that two coins will ensure a marriage will occur soon, while three coins leads to a divorce. A reported current version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain.
Approximately 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain, including some using a magnetized pole. 

Information taken from Wikipedia.

THE FOUNTAIN OF TREVI, ROME, ITALY

The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi)is the largest — stand ...

Updated: Jun 05, 2008 4:35pm PST

JOHN F. KENNEDY AIRPORT, NEW YORK : This is one of the four photographs I was able to take inside the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York before I was approached by 3 National Guards telling me that photography is not allowed inside and outside the immediate vicinity of the JFK Airport. This happened inside the Terminal 4 Building. There was no sign that photography was prohibited. The Guards told me that they will confiscate my camera if I keep on taking pictures.

The airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1963, one month after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 


This gallery is under construction.

JOHN F. KENNEDY AIRPORT, NEW YORK

This is one of the four photographs I was able to take inside the John ...

Updated: Nov 29, 2008 10:06am PST

MOLO CHURCH, MOLO, ILOILO, PHILIPPINES : The first temporary church was built in 1863 using nipa palm leaves for walls and roof. A plan was made for the erection of a permanent stone church in 1866. This was approved by the bishop Mariano Cuartero in 1869. The church was designed along the lines of Gothic-Rennaisance architecture. It was constructed fast and offered in honor of Saint Anne. This information is etched on the cast iron plaque outside the church.

Molo Church earned the moniker “women’s church” because of the presence of 16 images of women saints inside. The centerpiece in the retablo is the image of Sta. Ana, the patron saint of Molo. The Church of St. Anne, looms above the old Chinese district of Molo. Its towering gothic design distinguishes it from the typical baroque-influenced churches in the country.

MOLO CHURCH, MOLO, ILOILO, PHILIPPINES

The first temporary church was built in 1863 using nipa palm leaves fo ...

Updated: Mar 17, 2009 1:05pm PST

THE BUILDINGS OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA : We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and myself travelled through the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada, all the while driving towards the west coast. It took us 7 weeks to reach Los Angeles, California. This gallery shows the "architectural shoot" we did in the Mecca of Architecture in USA, Columbus, Indiana. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera.

THE BUILDINGS OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA

We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend ...

Updated: Jul 15, 2009 9:29pm PST

ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH CENTER, BOULDER, COLORADO : We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend of mine and myself travelled through the United States and Canada. Starting from Key West, Florida, we went up along the Eastern seaboard all the way to Toronto, Canada, then down south again and up zigzagging through the U.S. and Canada, all the while driving towards the west coast. It took us 7 weeks to reach Los Angeles, California. This gallery shows the "architectural shoot" we did in the Mecca of Architecture in USA, Columbus, Indiana. These photos were some of the good ones worth scanning from my old slides. The slides were taken using my old Minolta SLR camera. These are photos of the Atmospheric Research Institute, designed by Ieo Ming Pei, architect.

ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH CENTER, BOULDER, COLORADO

We started on the second week of October in 1974, an architect friend ...

Updated: Jul 16, 2009 9:29am PST

All photographs on this site © by Andre'Salvador