Category: Architecture

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Monday/ hello, Heidelberg

It takes about 48 minutes on the Stuttgart-bound train from Frankfurt to Heidelberg.

I took a Deutsche Bahn train to Heidelberg today in the morning, returning to Frankfurt some 4 hours later.  It’s not the best time of year to visit, of course – but Heidelberg has Heidelberg University, founded in the 14th century.  I also wanted to check out Heidelberg Castle, conveniently located on Königstuhl hill right by the Altstadt (old town).

This is Markplatz right next to Heiliggeistkirche (the Holy Ghost Church), off Hauptstrasse. It is chilly – not a lot of people around!
This is the Neckar River that runs through Heidelberg. It is a major tributary to the Rhine. To the right of the sluice gates is a set of locks, elevating the river surface upstream by a few feet.
This is the entrance to the Institute for Translation and Interpreting at the University of Heidelberg, at 52 Hauptstrasse.
This is looking west on Hauptstrasse, with Zum Guldenen Schaf (‘To the Golden Sheep’) tavern on my right.
This is an ornate and very beautiful pair of entrance doors on Universitätsplatz (University Square).
This little square is called Kornmarkt (I think) .. in the background on Königstuhl hill is the redstone buildings and remains of Heidelberg Castle.
Heidelberg has the distinction of having both the oldest and the most modern funicular railways in Germany. The lower portion opened in 1890, and was most recently updated in 2004, giving it the ‘most modern’ title as well.  Here’s the little train car on the funicular railway that goes up Königstuhl hill. There is a walkway up the hill as well (but it’s easier and way more fun to take the little train).
It’s a quick ride up, through some very old tunnel. I am sitting in the last row at the back, and this is the view down.
Alright! Let’s go inside and see what the castle looks like.
This is the back of the best-preserved part of the castle. The front overlooking the city, looks similar. The black and yellow flag on the tower on the right is the City of Heidelberg flag.
Lion’s head detail on the castle wall from the previous picture. Is this a sad lion? Like the one in the Wizard of Oz?
Here’s a zoomed-in view from the city from a vantage point on the castle.  The church towers of the Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church) on the left, and the Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Ghost Church) on the right, stand out.   That’s the Neckar River at the top of the picture.

 

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Sunday/ construction update

It was finally warm enough* for me to venture out for a walk-about in the city today, to ‘inspect’ the construction going on in downtown Seattle.

*43°F/ 6°C .. so still pretty chilly, just not freezing !

The cladding of ‘The Mark’ is progressing. The 660 ft-tall building has 44 floors and is scheduled for completion in April 2017. (I’m not an expert, but just looking at it from the outside, I think the completion will be a few months later than April!).
The three Amazon biospheres have all their panels fitted, but there is still a lot of work to be done on the inside. They are scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018.
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Friday/ Shibuya

Newly-clad copper roof of part of the Meiji shrine. The copper will oxidize and turn green over time.

I made a ran out to the Meiji Shrine in Shibuya ward on Friday .. but found it not as impressive as other shrines I have been to on previous visits. The shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken.  The emperor died in 1912, and the shrine was constructed in 1915.

This beautiful building is nearby the Meiji shrine, and houses administrative offices.  (The copper cladding on the entrance canopy has turned green).
This is in Shibuya. The tear-dropped shaped kōban (police box) on the left is unusual. Usually they really are ‘boxes’!
Half-boy, half-bird face on an advertising display panel at the entrance of a Virtual Reality arcade in Shibuya. Judging by the clientele inside, I was wa-ay too old to go in (but I did, anyway).
Inside Shibuya station.
The more mundane platforms on the old Ginza line that I use to get to Kyobashi station by the hotel.
Display panel by the door inside the train car on the Ginza line. The program generating the display not only ‘knows’ which line the train is on, it also knows which CAR of the train it is in, and displays precise directions of connecting lines and how to exit the station.
It was the Year of the Monkey, so the stock market went up and down, said the news reader at the final day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. And weatherwise it is not warm, but at least sunny here in Tokyo.  Six days ago there was a massive snowstorm north in Sapporo, trapping hundreds of Hongkongers in Sapporo and sparking violence at the airport that needed police attention.
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Wednesday/ more Hong Kong

Here are my pictures from Wednesday’s walkabouts in the city.  I spent some time on the Hong Kong mainland side (Kowloon).  My Marriott Courtyard hotel is on Hong Kong island.

This is the Kowloon train station entrance from the plaza by International Commerce Center (the 108-storey, 484 m skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon). The ICC is behind me.
This is the base of the International Commerce Centre skyscraper. Besides the international financial services firms, there is a Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the skyscraper as well. (Here’s to hoping that the ‘smartest guys in the room’ in their suits are not brewing up another 2008-style financial crisis for us!).
There is a Christmas tree with Fantastic Mr Fox characters on display inside the ICC. This is Rabbit, one character of many in the Fantastic Mr Fox novel.  (A children’s novel written by British author Roald Dahl, also made into an animated movie in 2009).
Lots of Hong Kong taxis outside the Times Square mall in Causeway Bay. These old Toyota taxis are hanging in there; I don’t see too many Priuses that had replaced them yet.
I cannot leave Hong Kong without a tram ride, I thought .. this is the view from one taking me to Lan Kwai Fong (‘party central’ for the expats in the city). I am sitting upstairs and right up front, and trying not to annoy my fellow passengers ‘too much’ by incessantly taking pictures.
This is the start of a whole series of escalators and stairs that make it easy to go up the hillside to the ‘mid levels’ where more shops and restaurants are.
Check out these gorgeous exterior wall decorations from a building in Wellington Street in Lan Kwai Fong.
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Tuesday/ Hong Kong at night

Tsim Sha Tsui : still my ‘favorite’ Hong Kong station name. And the new stations does not feature the little mosaic tiles on the walls.
This is inside the Landmark Atrium mall in Central District. Nevermind that Christmas Day has come and gone – the mall is still using its elaborate display to draw shoppers. (The stores are empty, though. I felt sorry for the bored shop assistants).
Bank buildings in the Admiralty district, lit up. From left to right: the Bank of China building, the Cheung Kong Center, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Main Center, the Standard Chartered Bank.
Nearby, the City Hall Public Library was in on the action as well (of lighting up its building with changing colors on the different floors and cells).
And here is a late night photo shoot taking place on the quiet streets in Central District by the designer stores. By day the sidewalks are packed with pedestrians, and the streets filled with buses, cars and trams.

Here are pictures from my late night venture into Central District.  It’s been four years since I have walked around in the city. The city continues to add to its already staggering inventory of skyscrapers, and there seems to be more Starbucks coffee shops around than ever; some of them just hole-in-the-wall take out locations.

One can now get to the Marriott Courtyard a little easier with the westward extension of the Island Line. Ironically, the hotel is right in between two new stops .. so still a good 10 minute walk from either station.   The old street trams are still running, though; some of them now nicely refurbished on the inside with new seats.

 

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Sunday/ Perth downtown

Here are some pictures from Sunday afternoon and Monday, of Perth downtown and its surrounding area.

Here’s a panoramic view of the Perth skyline from Kings Park, on the western edge of the city.
These are black ducks, in Kings Park and its botanical garden.
A protea from the small South African section in the botanical garden.
The Western Australia museum is closed for renovations, but I liked this billboard with its swimming dinosaur-lizard.
This building at 139 St Georges Terrace looks like a church, but it is a school : Old Perth Boys school, the earliest government school building in Western Australia, and established in 1852.
This bright red Alfa Romeo caught my eye, in downtown against the old buildings.
And the inevitable city tourist bus, with a kangeroo on the side with the ‘hop on, hop off’ text.
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Friday/ the Albany from yesteryear

Here are some of the older buildings around York Street and Princess Royal Drive in old historic downtown Albany.

The Albany town hall was its first civic building. It opened in 1888.
The ‘London Hotel’ is on Princess Royal Street. It is the oldest licensed hotel in Western Australia, first built in 1856 and rebuilt after a major fire in 1909.
This train came steaming through the main station in Albany this morning. It is westbound, towards the town of Denmark.
This beautiful old gazebo overlooks the main train station.
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Sunday/ Shinjuku

I made a run out to Shinjuku station on Saturday night, if only to test my mega-train station navigation chops (Shinjuku is by far the world’s largest and busiest train station).

Later on Sunday I have to head out to Narita airport for my flight to Perth, with a stop in Hong Kong.

This is the Isetan department store near Shinjuku station, in a beautiful historic building. Life is a Gift .. smart marketing? wise outlook on life? Probably both.
This giant crab on a building near Shinjuku station has animated arms, and is about 20 feet across. I assume it advertises seafood at a restaurant inside.
More upscale shopping in Shinjuku san-chome (Shinjuku Block no 3). Maybe the rainbow colors are purely incidental, or maybe not : the gay night life district is just next door in Shinjuku ni-chome (Shinjuku Block no 2).
There is still construction going on in the streets around Shinjuku station (there was last year). As far as I remember that skylight pyramid is new.
This is Sunday morning, on the Yamanote line from Japan Railways company. I’m at Shimbashi station, going to Tokyo station. Check out the old controls on the pillar on the left.

 

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Saturday/ Ginza and Akihabara

Here are pictures from the time I spent in the Ginza district and in Akihabara.  I spent way too much time in the Yodobashi electronics store – some of it drooling over a beautiful $430 Seiko titanium watch (no! go and think about it first is what I told myself).

A Nissan concept self-driving car in a display on a street corner in Ginza.
This giant ‘polar bear’ with two cubs is in the Wako department store. There is a button in the window that passers-by can push to ring the golden bell (up and to the left of the little guy checking out the bear). And then the bear stirs lazily and opens her eyes, and go back to sleep.
Many of the streets in Ginza were closed for traffic, to allow shoppers to wander around in the streets. Several light displays of giant flowers add some festivity.
Here’s the Sony building in the Ginza district. Look for a sleek all-electric BMW i8 at the bottom of the picture in black and white.
This is the Ginza station on the Hibya line. I’m getting ready to go to Akihabara.
This is a new sign, evidently warning of the dangers of texting or browsing while walking around on the platform at the same time. Yes – it can be very dangerous.
The Yodobashi electronics and appliance emporium is as popular as ever, and I spent a lot of time there. That’s the iPhone 7 that is featured on its billboards.
There are many, many sets of make believe characters in the toy department : the Sylvanian rabbit family, Lego friends. monsters and warriors, and then there are the ‘pose skeletons’. (A little weird, not?).
Another somewhat jarring concept: anime characters dressed up in Christmas gear, for a show called ‘Precious Christmas’.

 

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Tuesday/ the Newhall Building

It’s November!  The weeks seem to be turning into days as the year-end is rushing up at us, working away on our project.  I do make a point of us to get out of the office over lunch time, and to go for a walkabout here in downtown.

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The beautiful Newhall Building on California St at Battery St in downtown San Francisco was completed in 1910 (so: after the big 1906 earthquake that struck the city). It is steel and brick, and built in the Beaux-arts architectural style.
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Tuesday/ Mission Street

Here are some interesting sights from Mission Street in downtown San Francisco.

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The Salesforce Tower construction continues nicely, from the looks of it about halfway done to the top (building with blue covers in the middle; will have 61 floors when done). The building with the modern prism-like architecture on the left of it is 535 Mission Street. It has 27 floors and opened in 2014.
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This People Tower is by artist Jonathan Borofsky, and is on the plaza at 555 Mission Street, in front of the Deloitte Consulting firm’s San Francisco office. (For my Seattle readers: Borofsky also created the giant black Hammering Man that is in front of the Seattle Art Museum). The odd little head sculpture in front of the ivy wall is by Ugo Rondinone.
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Here is Salesforce West, around the corner from the new Salesforce Tower, a 1985 building. Look at the ‘waterfalls’ in the lobby inside. It’s not real water, but giant LCD panels that go from black and ‘water’ starting to flow, up to full-on ‘waterfalls’ cascading down the wall.
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Monday/ to San Francisco

Another week started in San Francisco for me.  I went for a nice walkabout during lunch time. Sunny but mild outside (57° F/ 13° C), so light jacket weather – to ward off the wind chill from the breeze from the ocean.

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It was foggy at Seattle-Tacoma airport this morning. This is shortly after 7 am as we are getting pushed back from the gate.
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This sign is posted in the Embarcadero station. Finally! some new train cars are about to replace the 40-year old train cars from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
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This is the Royal Insurance Building at 201 Sansome Street. It is a San Francisco landmark. The Georigan Revival ornament is white marble.
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The Mills Building in the Financial District is another San Francisco landmark. The building across the street (in the reflection) is the Russ Building. It houses the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
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Tuesday/ Market Street

It was a beautiful 63°F/ 17°C outside today when I took a walk at lunch time around the north end of Market Street here in downtown San Francisco.

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This is the corner of the Palace Hotel on Market Street. There is a Ghirardelli Chocolate store inside.
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The date on the Patrick & Co building on Sansome St says 1906: the year of the San Francisco Earthquake. A fire destroyed the building after the earthquake, but in 1920 the building was remodeled, and the stationary store was in business once again.
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Here the Muni train arriving at Embarcadero station. If you’re just going a few stops, the Muni train is much nicer than the BART.
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Wednesday/ Fog City

Well, the heat is gone. It was decidedly cool tonight at 6.30 pm on San Francisco’s streets (57 °F/ 13°C), with the high buildings shrouded in the fog that blanketed the city.

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Here’s the mural across from the No 38 bus stop on O’Farrell Street (see? the bus in the mural is No 38). I’m on my way in to the office; 7.30 am in the morning.
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This is the inside of Powell Street station in downtown San Francisco. The Muni Metro train to Powell Street Station is my other means of transportation. I can walk to the hotel from there.
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This is the corner of Powell Street and Ellis Street .. check out the fog around the building a few blocks away.
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Monday/ it’s warm in San Francisco

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I love this depiction of Einstein, wild hair and all (at the Saleasforce Tower constructon site). It’s the Salesforce Einstein, the artificial intelligence ‘engine’ in Salesforce that analyses customer and sales data.

 

There was a giant mosquito caught in a little spider’s web in the corner of my front door’s frame this morning when I left the house at 5.15 am.

Our flight out to San Francisco went without delay.  There was no fog around, at all. The reason : it was a record (94°F /34°C) in San Francisco on Sunday, and still very warm today ( 90°F/ 32°C).   It does look like we are on a cooling curve with the day time highs for the rest of the week here, though.

 

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Here is the Pacific Gas And Electric Company building where I work on my project. That must be a California grizzly bear down below, surrounded by farm produce. The building was completed in 1971 and has 34 floors.
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Here’s an up-to-date picture of the Salesforce Tower’s construction progress.
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Wednesday/ Post & Taylor Streets

Every night this week, after taking the bus uphill to the hotel,  I have walked back down to Union Square and Market Street to get something to eat.

The sun sets at 7.15 pm, leaving just enough daylight to check out the buildings that line Post, Taylor and O’Farrell Streets.

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Here’s the lie of the land for downtown San Francisco. The green diagonal street is Market Street, and SOMA means South of Market Street.
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This is the Owl Tree Bar, a hole-in-the-wall bar on the corner of Post and Taylor Streets. It has red carpeting and black leather booths inside.
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Here is 420 Taylor, the current headquarters of bulletin-board discussion/ social media company Reddit. Reddit is a play on ‘I read it on Reddit’ and bills itself as ‘the front page of the internet’.
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666 Post is an apartment building, beautifully refurbished inside and out, from the looks of it.
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And here is Foley’s Irish House on O’Farrell. ‘Time for a Pint’ (of Guinness, I’m sure) says the sign on the corner.
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Monday/ Union Square (sort of)

Monday was the start of another week for in San Francisco for me, and I’m staying in the Courtyard Marriott ‘Union Square’.  The name of the hotel is a little bit of a stretch, seeing that Union Square is five blocks away.  The area around the hotel does have a good inventory of art deco buildings, and art galleries.

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Here’s the Taylor Hotel (no frills-budget hotel) on Taylor Street.
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I love the green copper clad Art Deco exterior of the Skechers (shoe store) building on the corner of O’Farrell and Powell.
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This apartment building is on the corner of Sutter and Leavenworth.

 

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Saturday/ the ice cube has landed

I took the light rail train down to Pioneer Square on Saturday to check out the ice cube (that I wrote about last Sunday). It’s pretty cool (icy, to be exact), but not a solid cube.   Afterwards I walked up six blocks to University Street station and stopped along the way to check out The Mark, a new high-rise building under construction on Fifth Avenue.

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So .. here is the ice cube at noon on Saturday. It ‘landed’ in this spot in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle on Friday night. I suspect it was put together on the spot, the eight layers of ice bricks that make the cube. The edges of the bricks are warmer than their core, and starts melting first, of course.
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This is a bike rally making their way up First Avenue, by Pioneer Square. The guy in front with the Rainier brewery sidecar has a ‘Thin Blue Line’ American flag : showing support for the nation’s police force.
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Here is The Mark, a 660-foot (200 m) high building that will have 44 floors when completed in April 2017. The base has the smallest footprint of all the floors. I’m sure that is why those diagonal beams are necessary: to add rigidity to the bulging structure.
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Wednesday night/ Lombard Street

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Lombard Street runs along the eastern segment in the Russian Hill neighborhood.
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Here is an early evening view from the top of the crooked section of Lombard Street (it’s nicely paved with brick all the way down).  I believe that’s the straight section of Lombard Street in the distance, running by the hilltop on the right with Coit Tower at its top.
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Just an interesting apartment or condo building that I walked by. The homes in the neighborhood are eclectic : all a little different, or Victorian, or unusual.

There was a picture of Lombard Street (‘the world’s crookedest street’, with its 8 hairpin turns in one street block), in my hotel room.   And since it was just a few blocks away from the hotel, I had to go check it out.

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Wednesday/ the Embarcadero’s history

There are several parallels between San Francisco’s Embarcadero waterfront, and Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct.  The Embarcadero had an ugly double-decker freeway (built in the 1960s) that was finally undone and demolished in 1991, following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct has been a long-time eye-sore as well; and damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.  It’s demolition will finally be under way in the next 18 months or so, with the completion of a replacement tunnel.

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I’m on the Embarcadero, the waterfront street with street car tracks. The Ferry Building”s clock tower shows 6.50 pm, and I’m finally on my way back to Fisherman’s Wharf to the hotel.
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Check this little bit of history posted on a memorial of sorts with photographs and all : there used to be an ugly Embarcadero Freeway in the 1960s. It was finally torn down in 1991, after being severely damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.